Syl: Chapter 31 - 40 (Patreon)

Chapter 31: Goblin Chief

We were traveling casually since Garz was carrying the unconscious Zizz on his back. I had offered to carry Zizz, but despite our defused hostile situation, Garz had his doubts, which was pretty dumb from my point of view as he was an even more vulnerable and easy target with them slow and together.

I started scrolling through the goblin profile to see how it compared to other monsters and the favored elves. The profile was a thought-provoking blend of what I had known from monsters and the elf profile. All goblins were born with [Dark Vision], [Robust Stomach], and then up to two random traits from a pool - this pool was where I had spied my old friend [Enhanced Strength]. Unlike elves, goblins didn't seem to have any unique traits tailored for them, and [Robust Stomach] was just a generic trait with no levels that let you eat almost anything, rotten or raw, without consequences.

"Garz," I said, causing him to flinch. How do you spend your traits?"

"Traits are weak. Worthless. We get one or two to help our class, then try to ignore."

His response honestly shocked me. Traits were practically my entire repertoire, even with the few skills I had picked up.

"I know the enhanced attributes aren't that exciting, but what about something like [Mana Circulation]?"

"Useless. Not shaman class, so mana not important."

"How did you get your class?"

"Born." Garz was now giving me a questioning look.

"Wait. You were born with your class?"

"Yes..?" Garz now looked beyond disbelief.

"Sorry if it sounds like a stupid question, but I wasn't born with a class, and I still don't have one."

Garz's eyes went wide with shock, "How? So strong with no class. No skill points. Wasting experience on race and not class."

"I evolved." I blurted out, probably giving too much information, but I needed to defend my classless self, "Don't goblins evolve?"

Garz nodded, "Yes, but class more important. Focus on class. Get evolution eventually. Hobgoblin not much stronger than goblin," he paused to think a bit, "Maybe Chief can help you get class."

I nodded and thanked him for his explanation. Assuming their evolution worked similarly, I wondered if the goblins knew about the possibility of unlocking other evolution options. I decided to keep this to myself and focus on spending my trait points. Nothing caught my eye, so I purchased [Enhanced Willpower] and hoped it would stop the nightmares of having my body puppeted.

<[Enhanced Willpower]

Bolsters mental fortitude to resist mental afflictions and willingly suppress emotions, scaling with trait level.>

<Trait [Enhanced Willpower LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 0.>

Not having much to do, I used my freshly acquired hands to play around with the various tools and weapons I had obtained. Garz seemed curious but held his tongue. Eventually, we reached another larger cave entrance with a crudely crafted wooden palisade. Garz stopped and turned to face me.

"I go in and call Chief to talk. Tell him you have bears to give us," he explained. "I tell them you won't attack unless attacked. Also, drop off Zizz."

I nodded and watched him run off and enter through the palisade gate. Trying to pass the time, I practiced utilizing my mana as I had a copious amount due to [Elven Legacy]. It was probably stupid, but I was literally punching rocks and doing a pretty good job, thanks to combining [Enhanced Strength], [Mana Reinforcement], and [Slime Density].

I finally stopped my rock punches when I saw two goblins and Garz approaching. One of the goblins looked like a bodyguard, holding a spear and donned in a rough patchwork of metal bits and leather. The other goblin was wrinkled, slightly larger than both Garz and the bodyguard, and wearing a large fur cloak. The older goblin stepped forward, and the word 'worthy' tickled in the back of my mind.

"Garz speaks the truth. You do look exactly like Tarz." He spoke while scratching his chin, "I am Chieftain Krutz. I understand you wish for peace between us and even deliver us two bears."

"Nice to meet you, Krutz. I was given the name Syl, and yes, I'd prefer peace and perhaps some information."

I manipulated my two tendrils to lower the cubs and present them, which caused the bodyguard to tense immediately. He might have stabbed at them if Garz hadn't grabbed his arm.

"Don't," Garz told the bodyguard with an undertone of fear.

"Sorry..." I responded sheepishly, "Anyway, here are the cubs."

The Chief examined the cubs and then looked at my pseudopod. I heard him mutter "Slime?" to himself as if in question. He then gestured to the gate, and two other unarmed goblins approached and held out their hands to accept the cubs. They nervously took them, and I retracted my pseudopods.

"Thank you, Syl," Krutz said with a polite bow and then gestured to the entrance, "Shall we go inside and have a discussion?".

I nodded and was escorted to the palisade gate. Once we were all safely inside, the lookouts closed the gate again. It was a short tunnel, and then the cave abruptly opened to a makeshift town of mud huts and wooden shacks. There were so many goblins, and as I followed the Chief, I kept seeing them point at us and repeatedly heard curious murmurs of "Tarz."

<Proficiency gained. [Identity Block LV 2] improved to [Identity Block LV 3]>

Apparently, fooling an entire village had given me a massive chunk of experience. We entered the largest hut together and sat on the floor around a makeshift table. The unnamed bodyguard stood directly behind the Chief while Garz went deeper into the hut.

"So, Syl, what do you wish to know?" Krutz asked.

"I wanted to know if there was a way to get a class and if there was any information on discovering traits and skills."

"So you do truly not have a class. I was curious because your profile says you are Apex Hunter Tarz, a level 16 goblin."

"You can see my profile?"

"Yes. I have the [Identification] skill. A rarity amongst goblins."

I frowned. It was good to know that there was an identification skill and that my false profile was working, but I wasn't too happy about being called Tarz.

"Oh. It changed. It says you have no name. Fascinating." Krutz suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

'My name is Syl. My name is Syl. My name is Syl. My name is Syl.' I chanted mentally.

"And again. Apex Hunter Syl, a level 16 goblin," Krutz sounded genuinely curious, "I know there's a way to block identification, but I've never seen a profile like this before."

Garz returned with three bowls, placing one in front of each of us, and sat down with his own. It appeared to have a warm liquid inside, and the Chief gave thanks before taking a deep sip. I tried to copy him and embarrassed myself by struggling to swallow and spilling some from the overflow.

'Who needs a mouth and throat anyway... Absorbing things is so much more efficient.' I thought grumpily.

"Us goblins are born with our class. But there is a way for Chiefs to guide our people and help them advance their classes." Chief Krutz spoke up, scratching his chin again, "Perhaps this could give you one?"

"I'm willing to try almost anything. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot by not earning skill points." I responded positively.

"Yes, skill points are preferred to trait points. One of my main duties as Chief is changing the experience distribution of my people to focus on their classes." He paused to take another sip. I waited with bated breath, eager to hear the rest, "And my other duty is to guide them with skill and trait choices, which might satisfy your other question."

He held an open hand, and magical words materialized above his open palm: [Enhanced Strength].

<[Enhanced Strength]

Increases physical strength per trait level.>

"By showing someone else a trait or skill makes them eligible to purchase it." He continued, "As the oldest goblin in our tribe, I must collect the knowledge and ensure it gets passed down to the next generation."

"Can anyone do this? Can I do this?" I asked curiously.

"Yes and yes," He responded with a nod and smile, "Simply open your status menu, focus on the trait or skill, and think of displaying it."

I opened my status menu and looked for something inconspicuous to show. I copied his hand gesture, although it probably wasn't required, and stared at [Dark Vision]. Display. The magical script formed above my palm, projecting the trait [Dark Vision].

"This is how we spread knowledge amongst our tribe. Sometimes, by chance, a new one is obtained, then we share it so that others may either purchase it directly or try unlocking it themselves."

I was curious, so I opened the goblin profile and looked at [Robust Stomach]. I didn't own this trait and was curious if profiles worked the same way. I focused on it and thought of displaying it, and the magical text formed in the middle of the table.

"Ah yes, you don't need to use your hand. It just helps you choose the display location." Krutz added, seeming unaware I was displaying from a profile.

We continued to chat, and I was informed that his Chieftain class gave him minor system control. This allowed him to change the experience distribution of a willing person. Normally, this would be an even split between race and class, but they usually adjusted it to 90% class, which was the maximum, and explained why the goblins I defeated had such strange levels.

He also explained that classes could be advanced, similar to evolutions, and he could advance classes when they reached the maximum level. He proposed that this process could possibly finally give me a class. But there was a catch; he required a higher Chieftain level to get more advanced functions.

This led to me learning more about how to earn experience. Ordinarily, only the person who claimed the kill received experience, which explained why Sylthaeryn had me kill her. However, there was a system anyone could use called parties that allowed the experience to be shared equally amongst all participants.

My immediate concern was dividing up the experience too much would severely hamper personal growth. Krutz explained that bonus experience is granted based on party size, and then that pool of experience was distributed. He wasn't sure about the exact bonus, but an example was two goblins getting roughly 60% of the experience rather than the expected 50%.

Krutz suggested cooperating with the goblins to defeat invading humans and consider forming a large party to take down the bear matriarch. Both options appealed to me, and we came to an agreement. I was even offered a home to stay in, which I suspected had belonged to Tarz.

Our meeting finally ended with Garz offering to give me a tour.

Chapter 32: Goblin Tribe

The goblin camp was more than I expected, considering it was inside a cave. There seemed to be a constant team of goblins who worked towards expansion and digging deeper. There were goblin cooks, farmers, and crafters. They really had a whole community in here. They only lacked smiths to make better arms and armor; any metal bits they owned came from dead humans.

I was apparently the talk of the town, as goblins approached me or stared from a distance, often calling me Tarz. I could have changed to one of the other two absorbed goblins, but that might lead to more questions, and I'd still be another stolen identity. Turning back into my slime form would likely cause a panic, and I'd be unable to communicate.

I asked one of the crafters if they were able and willing to make me a better outfit if given the materials. There was hesitation until I pulled out some of my boar hide and the mostly ruined bear pelt. I also sweetened the deal by offering a few tusks to use as spear points. If I liked her work, I planned to ask her to make something for my elf form, assuming I could get it working. The goblins were shocked that I had a 'storage power' as the Chief had the only storage bag in the entire tribe, looted from a dead adventurer ages ago.

Lastly, Garz brought me to the lodging they offered me, which wasn't much, and it seemed devoid of any furnishings and belongings. I was used to living inside a tree, so upgrading to four walls and a door was an upgrade as far as I was concerned. Garz's tour might have been so they could claim the contents before bringing me. I thanked him, and he said he would fetch me in the morning.

With privacy obtained, I started to strip until I got the idea to use my storage directly. The clothes vanished inside, saving me a lot of fumbling around if only I could do it in reverse. I confirmed my earlier theory by shifting into the other two goblins I had consumed, and then I moved on to my brand-new bear form. My core automatically pulled from my slime reserve to fulfill the volume requirement, and I felt myself growing into the bear form.

<Proficiency gained. [Shape Slime LV 4] improved to [Shape Slime LV 5].>

<Proficiency gained. [Shapeshifting Mimicry LV 2] improved to [Shapeshifting Mimicry LV 3].>

'Yes! I thought I was close to a mimicry level, but I won't complain about both going up. The perfection and first-time bonuses are so damn good. I should ask the goblins if they know of any other bonuses.'

Wanting to test my success, I cycled through every form I had perfected. The shifting between forms was smoother than ever, with only a minor delay. If I could solve the clothing situation, I could lose a pursuer by walking around the corner and rapidly shifting.

I spent the rest of my evening trying to turn into Sylthaeryn. There was a noticeable improvement from my improved traits alone, and I could walk, but it was still far too goopy. It was finally complete enough for me to test [Mana Sight], which created glowing auras of anything containing mana. Looking around, I saw that almost every aura had a nearly unique coloring and was distinctly goblin-shaped. When I casually raised my hand in front of my face, I let out a gurgled scream when I was suddenly almost blinded by the bright light and canceled [Mana Sight].

'Okay. That felt dumb, like staring directly at the sun. I maybe should have expected that with [Mana Slime] being maxed out...'

It was time for sleep, but I wouldn't do so out in the open. I focused on making a tiny hole using [Acid Slime], barely larger than my core, and ensured my tunnel wasn't just straight down by including a few curves. It was surprisingly entertaining drilling through the rock like this, and if I didn't want to keep my cards hidden for now, I'd likely even volunteer to join the miners. I finished off my hiding spot by using my [Sub-Core] to plug the hole by turning it into a rock, connected back to my body with a trail of minimal-density slime.

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core LV 2] improved to [Sub-Core LV 3].>

Waking up to a surprise notification was great, and my sleep was peaceful without any nightmares. My [Sub-Core] had once again been a diligent worker throughout the night. I should definitely consider giving it to some subordinates eventually. I transferred vision to check for threats, and when I confirmed it was safe, I exited my hole, which I plugged with a real rock that I still had in my inventory.

I turned back into a goblin and then tried withdrawing my clothes directly, which sadly didn't work out, so I fumbled my way through putting them back on. Deciding to wait for my escort, I started to experiment now that I finally had hands.

I withdrew slime into my palm, forming a large ball, which I then shifted into shapes of various armaments. A sword, a spear, a mace, a greatsword, a shield, a dagger, and obviously a rapier. I tried making a bow, but it was pretty bad and unlikely to work, so I withdrew the bow that belonged to Tarz and consumed it. With [Consuming Osmosis] giving me information, I tried again. This attempt was better, and if I bought the trait [Elastic Slime], I could probably create one of the best bowstrings ever.

<Profile [Bow] 60% analyzed.>

I thrust a slime spear at the ground as hard as possible and noted the impact. I then absorbed both spears I had claimed, completed the profile, and created another spear to repeat the process.

<Profile [Spear] complete.>

The impact point was much more noticeable, and examining the spear closely, it had a sense of actually being the weapon. My theory was that the first spear only used [Shape Slime], while the second spear was also being enhanced by [Shapeshifting Mimicry].

"I'm going to be eating one of everything at this rate... Gluttonous really was appropriate," I muttered, then slapped my hand to my mouth, "I'm so used to talking to myself, and now I can actually talk to others..."

Garz finally arrived while I was in the middle of swinging a sword around. He was surprised at first and then actually laughed at me.

"Tarz, you swing that around like a goblin child." He declared, then realizing his mistake, corrected himself, "Syl, I mean. Sorry."

"Well, honestly, I don't have any weapon skills —or many skills at all." I responded dejectedly, "It took me forever to get [Evasion]..."

"Maybe you can train with warriors. Need good dodging, or humans kill us easy."

"That sounds like a good idea," I replied while putting away my sword, hoping to disguise it as my 'storage power' they knew about. Also, I was wondering if I could trade more fangs and tusks for some weapons. I need one more bow. I'm not sure if you have two swords. Any weapons, I think even broken, would work."

Garz agreed and took me to a crafter who was different from the one I met yesterday. I ended up trading many wolf fangs for a bow, which evidently was hard for the goblins to make. I traded all my remaining boar tusks and a few wolf claws for two rusted swords, two broken shields, and a greatsword with a cracked blade near the cross-guard. Without a doubt, I kept my rage boar tusk and wouldn't even show it to the goblins unless they had something amazing for trade.

<Profile [Bow] complete.>

<Profile [Sword] complete.>

<Profile [Shield] complete.>

<Profile [Sword] has been updated.>

After sneakily consuming my acquisitions, we headed towards the training grounds, but not before another surprise notification, and I suddenly could see much further in the cave.

<Proficiency gained. [Dark Vision LV 1] improved to [Dark Vision LV 2].>

"Garz, what level is your [Dark Vision]?"

"Five. Maxed. Like most goblin."

I nodded and thanked him. It made sense if they lived in a cave, the trait would be constantly in use. Speaking of traits, I decided to use [Enhanced Strength], [Enhanced Dexterity], and [Enhanced Agility] for my mimicry. I wanted to keep the maximum mimicked traits active to put pressure on my core, which was much harder to do since improving [Core Refinement] and purchasing [Enhanced Intellect].

I was eager to see and join the goblins in their training.

Chapter 33: Goblin Sparring

The goblin training ground was sparse, mostly open space except for a few archery targets. The sparring was done armed with sticks and trying to dodge each other's blows. I questioned why they only focused on avoiding and not blocking with shields or parrying. Garz pointed out that raw strength was a rarity amongst goblins, and instead, they prioritized their small size to focus on evading.

When I asked if I could join the practice, the goblins were surprisingly accepting, and I soon found myself locked into a duel with sticks. My non-existent sword skills made me unable to land a blow on my opponent, but likewise, he couldn't land a blow on me. After a lot of back and forth, eventually, his stamina must have run out, and I managed to land a swing on his head, causing him to admit defeat. I kept getting called Tarz by the other goblins, which irked me and made me wonder if the Chief had kept my real identity a secret.

One of the more experienced warriors challenged me, baiting my dodges into a direct thrust to my chest. He smirked until he realized I hadn't flinched or even reacted to his blow, and then he had to dodge my clumsy counterattack. Not feeling any pain through my slime was an unfair advantage, and then the outer layer combination of [Slime Density] and [Mana Reinforcement] likely made me invulnerable to sticks.

"Shit! Why Tarz so tough?" He cursed and then charged at me again.

The spectators were baffled at the display. Blow after blow landed on me, but I didn't show any reaction beyond simply trying to hit him back. This strange fight progressed much longer than my first, and even though I was finding more success evading, I realized it was likely due to his building fatigue. I was so desperate to land a blow that when one finally connected, my stick shattered into splinters, sending him tumbling across the field.

"Shit..." I muttered softly, "I might have put too much force into that. Maybe I shouldn't be using [Enhanced Strength]."

I was expecting panic, but the audience actually cheered, "Tarz! Tarz! Tarz!"

The goblin was unconscious but only had superficial wounds, so he was carried home without much fuss. Garz approached, congratulated me on my win, and apologized for the goblins misunderstanding my identity.

"It's not a big deal. If they knew the truth, it could cause too much panic." I responded, "Although, won't they ask questions about my abilities?"

"Chief is saying Tarz got a rare class from killing bear," Garz answered.

"I guess that works..." I reluctantly agreed.

The rest of the day was spent doing more dodging practice and taking a small break, during which Garz had me try to use a bow, which I was embarrassingly bad at. I even got some raw meat and mushrooms for lunch and dinner, and attempting to fake eating them was likely my greatest challenge of the day. I spent the evening trying to improve my elf transformation while using [Mana Sight].

Once again, I spent my morning trying out weapon shapes until Garz picked me up. We went straight to the training ground, and I participated in back-to-back sparring. Shortly after lunch, my effort was rewarded.

<Proficiency gained. [Evasion LV 1] improved to [Evasion LV 2].>

During dinner, the Chief and the crafter both came to visit.

"Greetings, Syl, I hope you've been enjoying your stay." Chief Krutz began, "I've heard you've been giving quite the workout for the warriors."

"It's been fun. I'm finally actually evading rather than just being a training dummy." I replied.

"Yuzz here has been working with the leather you gave her. Your outfit should be ready tomorrow, but she had some questions-"

"Why is this hide so good? I've never gained a skill level so fast before." Yuzz blurted out, interrupting the Chief.

Krutz cleared his throat before speaking, "Yes. I had a look myself, and it's exceptional."

"I harvested it myself with my [Dissection] skill," I started to explain, causing Krutz to nod in agreement, "As for your skill... I'm guessing you're getting bonus experience either from perfection or, perhaps, a quality bonus? I'm not sure how it works for crafting skills."

Yuzz's eyes were wide with astonishment while Krutz scratched his chin in deep thought. Maybe I was giving too much away at this point, but I felt like they earned it since my last few days had been rewarding.

"I'm one of our best crafters, but I don't think I'd call my work perfect," Yuzz responded.

"I didn't even know there was such an experience bonus," Krutz added, "The only bonuses I'm aware of are tutoring and risk."

"Oh, it's risk and not just a combat bonus?" I asked, hoping to extract some valuable information.

"Since combat is inherently risky, I can see why you came to that conclusion," Krutz said with a chuckle, "But no. The greater the risk, the richer the rewards."

"Maybe I should get the warriors to use real weapons against me, or maybe even the archers to shoot arrows at me..." I murmured in thought, "And tutoring?"

"If you get direct guidance from someone with a higher skill level than you, you get a bonus. The greater the level difference, the bigger the bonus. Since I have some of the highest crafting skills, I often help tutor the others." Yuzz explained matter-of-factly.

"Indeed. You should seek someone to tutor you in [Evasion] if you wish to focus on it, although your actual weapon plan would also work, especially if combined with tutoring... I only ask that you keep using sticks since our warriors don't share your endurance."

"So what's the perfection bonus?" Yuzz excitedly asked.

"I don't think it's only for perfection, but when you work with or produce something, you get a bonus based on the job done. I've gained massive amounts in [Dissection] by doing flawless extractions and harvests."

"Like I said, my work is good, but I don't think it's that good... Not enough for me to gain a skill level so easily like that."

"You mentioned quality, Syl? So your theory is that better materials give a bonus?" Krutz questioned.

"I don't have crafting skills, so I can't guarantee it, but it makes the most sense."

"I get extra experience and better products. You should do all our harvesting." Yuzz proposed.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe I could arrange a tutor for you in exchange?"

"I don't mind as long as you remove any meat you want to keep beforehand and consider anything beyond claws, bones, hide, and fangs lost once you give me the carcass."

There was a pregnant pause before the Chief agreed to my terms. I now had a source of extra slime mass on the side for minimal effort. We exchanged a few more pleasantries before they departed, Yuzz telling me to fetch my outfit tomorrow.

My evening and the following morning were both a repeat, but when Garz arrived, he told me he would be out hunting today. He offered for me to join them, but I wanted to visit Yuzz and do some more training.

Yuzz was vibrating with excitement to see me when I arrived. I found out the reason when she took me not to my new outfit but to the carcass of a strange creature I had never seen before. Roughly midway between a wolf and a bear in size. It had thick and coarse black and white fur and two massive front claws that I'd hate to be on the receiving end of.

"I was wondering if you could harvest this for me. Miners ran into it, so I made sure no amateur took it apart." Yuzz requested.

[Dissection] was already frantic about starting work on a new creature and highlighted the claws and fur.

"Alright. My skill tells me its fur and claws are the only valuable things, but I assume you also want the bones."

"Yes, we use the bones for tools or reinforcement. This creature has a sturdy skeleton, so those should be very handy."

I nodded, placing my hands on the carcass and extracting slime mass till I had enveloped the creature. I thought this method might be more subtle than having pseudopods erupt from my goblin body. Yuzz stared in fascination, with plenty of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' thrown in. Then, it was a simple matter of mentally excluding the fur, bones, and claws and turning on [Acid Slime]. Rapidly, all the unneeded bits melted away.

<Profile [Badger] 30% analyzed.>

'Only 30%? Maybe because I didn't eat enough of it?' I thought to myself.

I withdrew my slime, leaving behind the monster parts, and Yuzz started clapping frantically with joy.

"That was amazing! Although, with how quickly you did it, it felt like cheating!" She said while picking up a bone, then a claw, and finally touching the fur, "No, this is undoubtedly cheating. What the heck? I've never seen such a clean harvest."

I smiled nervously, not expecting so much genuine praise, and mentioned I'd be glad to harvest more of those creatures. Yuzz said that they live throughout the mountain and tunnel wherever they please, sometimes popping up in the cave accidentally, and other times, a lair of theirs is discovered when the miners expand.

She finally gave me my new outfit and helped me put it on. It was visually appealing over the random bits and mismatched pieces I was wearing previously. The armor was light and comfortable, emphasizing mobility and stealth, and decorated with little patches of bear fur on the wrists and ankles. She also included a cloak made of bear fur; I was genuinely surprised she managed to get so much usable material out of that partially melted monstrosity.

Depositing my old outfit, I started heading towards the training area after saying farewell to Yuzz, who was already all over the badger parts.

Chapter 34: Goblin Skill Tutoring

I wanted the goblins to use real weapons against me to see if the risk bonus the Chief mentioned was real. The downside I shortly realized was this would ruin my brand new outfit. I could've regressed to wearing my old rags but felt oddly vain about showing off. After some internal debate and looking through my traits, I found a solution using a forgotten aspect of [Chroma Shift].

I had been so focused on using it to perfect my mimicked forms that I forgot the trait also worked in reverse. I covered my entire goblin body and outfit in a slime layer and reduced the opacity to the absolute minimum, which sadly did not turn it completely invisible. I was playing around with getting the layer to match the color beneath, but this was taking up far too much mental capacity for my liking before even fortifying it with [Slime Density] and [Mana Reinforcement].

I eventually resigned and set everything to transparent white. If anyone asked, I'd say I have a mana barrier, which was technically almost true and would likely be more believable to the uninformed goblins about why Tarz was suddenly surviving real weapons. If I perfected this, I could likely add it to any future disguises without much fuss.

The goblins were reluctant to use real weapons on me, as they had seen how bad I was at dodging and questioned my toughness. I pointed out my mana barrier, which caused a reluctant agreement. The first trainee was very soft with her spear thrusts, and I intentionally ate a hit to prove my point. After the initial gasps and proving my point, she finally started to put real effort into it.

After getting in some dodges and taking some weapon blows from the warriors, I headed to the archery range and asked the scouts if they'd like some live shooting practice. They agreed much more readily than the warriors, likely because it was hard to level up shooting skills safely.

When the rain of arrows came down upon me, I almost regretted my decision as I took arrow after arrow. That blade wolf made dodging multiple projectiles look simple, but the coordination between the scouts was baffling. They would bait me into dodging one arrow, only to get hit by three. After a full afternoon of tanking more hits than dodging, I didn't gain a level in [Evasion] but an old friend instead.

<Proficiency gained. [Slime Density LV 4] improved to [Slime Density LV 5].>

Garz came to fetch me with a few other goblins dragging carcasses and, to my shock, two large bears.

"Wait, weren't those cubs a few days ago?" I asked in disbelief.

"Baby monsters grow when they level up," Garz answered.

"Talk about a growth spurt... amazing what levels can do. I'm also surprised at their obedience."

"Scouts can sometimes become tamer. Bond with baby monster."

I froze when I heard those words, remembering what had happened with Sylthaeryn. Thankfully, I recovered before anyone noticed my slight panic.

They led me to their butcher's hut, and we got to work. The goblins couldn't believe my speed since I was harvesting quicker than their butcher could simply remove the meat. Their spoils were a wolf, two deer, and one badger. I really wanted more of those badgers.

<Profile [Badger] 60% analyzed.>

Once again, I spent the evening practicing my transformations and using [Mana Sight]. The closer I completed the form, the more memories of that day leaked into my mind. I hoped those bear cubs wouldn't experience the feeling of their bond being severed.

The next day, I finally received my tutor. It was the bodyguard who refused to give his name. He gave me some pointers, which mostly involved signs to look out for when predicting an attack and the optimal dodging directions for a thrust versus swing. After some practical application and a bit of a beat down, I got my improvement.

<Proficiency gained. [Evasion 2] improved to [Evasion 3].>

Eager to put it to use, I engaged in spars with the warriors, and once again, I could see the improvements firsthand. While I likely could tank almost anything the goblins threw at me, it was nice to know that dodging was now an option, and I was getting into a rhythm of dodging into a counterattack. After I won a few spars, I gained an unexpected notification before landing a clean blow against my current opponent.

<Skill [??? LV 0] has become [Melee Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1]>

He blinked a few times in confusion while rubbing his side where my stick had landed. I walked over and lent him a hand to get back up. I told him I had gained a skill for melee weapons, and he nodded in understanding and confirmed my suspicion there was a ranged weapon equivalent. I asked one of the archers if they'd mind showing me how to use a bow, which caused a lot of confusion.

"Tarz, weren't you scout? Don't you have bow skill already?" One of the archers asked.

"My rare class changed my skills." I lied, and the goblins actually nodded in agreement.

"Worth it. Your mana barrier so strong!" Another archer replied.

"Yes, but I've had to start from scratch now. Please help me."

The scouts agreed, and I got a few pointers and fired a few arrows until it was time to go home. When I got home, I finally checked my status menu and noticed that I had three [??? LV 0] skills in my list and a single unknown in my trait list. One I guessed might have been for ranged weapons, but I wondered what the other two were. The unknown trait I had suspected was [Mana Sight]. I also looked at the description for my new skill.

<[Melee Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1]

Imparts a basic understanding of melee weapons and their utilization, scaling with skill level.

In addition, gain a minor accuracy and damage adjustment for melee attacks.>

While the skill wasn't anything flashy, I liked that it would allow me to pick up a weapon and at least know if I was supposed to stab with the pointy end, slash things to pieces, or simply bash them over the head. During my evening elf practice, I did gain the trait I had suspected.

<Trait [??? LV 0] has become [Mana Sight LV 1]>

<[Mana Sight LV 1]

See the flow of mana throughout the world.

Mana sight can see through obstructions based on trait level.

Trait level also determines the minimum level of mana and detection range that can be detected.>

Disabling the mimicked version of the trait allowed me to compare the difference between trait levels, which was startling. Distant mana auras became snuffed out when I swapped to my inferior version, but I was glad to have it available in all forms now.

I spent the next morning and afternoon with the scouts, getting tutoring on the bow. Tarz had become quite popular amongst the goblins since I had replaced her, and I had multiple scouts offering me pointers.

<Skill [??? LV 0] has become [Ranged Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1]>

<[Ranged Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1]

Imparts a basic understanding of ranged weapons and their utilization, scaling with skill level.

In addition, gain a minor accuracy and damage adjustment for ranged attacks.>

'I wonder if this would apply to [Slime Shot]?'

While I was preoccupied with my new skill, a horn blew and echoed throughout the cave. All the goblins began to scramble, and while I looked around sheepishly, Garz came running up to me.

"Humans have been spotted."

Chapter 35: Goblins Versus Humans

"How many?" I asked while following after Garz.

"Four. Two warriors. Archer. Magic." Garz replied, "Already killed ten goblins."

I couldn't believe that many had died already. How powerful and dangerous were humans? When we got to the cave entrance, the group was roughly twenty goblins and myself. That was when I received a notification.

<Garz has invited you to join a party. Accept?>

'Yes'

<You have joined party; 6/6 members.

Garz, Zizz, Roz, Kwez, Vulz, Syl.>

Immediately upon joining the party, I could sense the other members of my party like a faint tickle in the back of my mind. Even if they were amongst hundreds of goblins, I could point towards all of them individually.

"How did you do that?" I asked Garz.

"You ask in head for person to join party. Tell in head that you want to leave party." Garz answered me, "Must use word party. Important."

I nodded and looked around at our group, wondering why we weren't sending more or using the bears.

"Are only us going?" I asked.

"Yes. Send too many, then humans run. Tell other humans. Army comes and kill all." Garz informed, "Chief comes from old tribe killed by humans. They smart. We must also."

Even though I was thankful Garz would share information with me, I wish he spoke as clearly as Krutz or Yuzz. I looked at the other party members; all four had spears, and I recognized the one who survived the bear attack.

Our groups left the cave and spread out into separate parties, but they all headed in the same general direction. I didn't want to stand out among the goblins, so I formed a short spear since that seemed to be the generic goblin weapon. I planned to hide among the crowd and pull off an assassination.

We were not the first to arrive on the scene as I spotted the four humans already fighting goblins. Of the two warriors, one was a heavily armored blonde woman with a sword and shield, while the other was a red-haired boy wielding two axes and wearing animal pelts. The archer wore blackened leather and a cloak, a belt lined with small knives, and his features obscured. Finally, the caster was an older gentleman who wore a greyish-white robe and had a staff with a golden tip. The goblins were being slaughtered.

"Wow, there's a lot of the bastards." The axe boy commented.

"Focus, Samuel." The armored woman ordered.

"It's Sam. Only my mom calls me Samuel." He retorted while cleaving a goblin into chunks, "It's just goblins. Don't get so worked up."

An arrow struck his shoulder, and he quickly ripped it out. The older gentleman chanted something, and a golden-hued white light enveloped him, causing the wound to close rapidly.

"Healing magic?" I whispered questioningly.

"That's bad," Garz replied, gritting his teeth in a nasty snarl.

"I'm confident in my [Stealth] skill. I can sneak around and take out the healer." I suggested.

Garz nodded and then started communicating with the rest of the team while I disengaged. I gave a wide berth and looped around to approach from a blind spot. Between the two warriors blocking any approach, the archer sniping from the backline, and the healer mending any wounds, it was looking dire for Team Green.

Thankfully for me, they didn't spot me approaching the healer from behind, and I thrust my spear at the back of his skull with all my might. My spear hit a strange barrier, deflecting my blow, while a loud shattering noise erupted. Seeing my spear fail, I released my left-hand grip on the shaft and open-palmed fired [Slime Burst] point blank at the man.

"Wha-!?" He shouted in surprise before being coated in burning acid. Then he started screaming.

"Fuck! Toby, I thought you had [Perception]?" Sam shouted.

"Only level two! The goblin must have a higher [Stealth] skill." Toby, the archer, replied while effortlessly nocking two arrows and firing them at me.

That golden-hued white light enveloped the healer, but I didn't want to risk getting hit. I attempted to dodge, but one of the arrows still met its mark. Surprising everyone present, however, the arrow failed to penetrate my barrier. I leaped at the healer and started stabbing him repeatedly.

The man was flailing and trying to heal himself, but he was progressively looking worse, unable to heal through the accumulating burns and stabs. More arrows rapidly hit me, but they still failed to penetrate my barrier.

"I can't hurt it, Sam!" Toby screamed.

Sam started to rush towards me, his axes glistening with blood, when two goblins ran to intercept him. As if by instinct, he swung around and bisected one of them.

<Party member Kwez has died.>

He was about to swing at the other goblin when two arrows were fired at him, one sinking into his arm. He grunted in annoyance but pushed through the pain to cleave through the spear and the goblin.

<Party member Roz has died.>

<Human LV 4 Cleric LV 11 defeated. Experience shared with the party.>

"You fucking bitch! I'll kill you!" Screamed Sam as he charged at me, blindly ignoring everything else as two arrows punctured into his back.

I refused to sit and wait for him to reach me and switched to using [Slime Shot], pulling on my vast reserves of already compressed acidic slime. Either he wasn't good at dodging, or my skills were better, as he failed to dodge any of the shots and had taken three acidic globules directly to the chest before finally reaching me.

"Acid magic or something!" Sam bellowed while swinging at me, but I dodged the blow.

"So Old Tom was right," Toby muttered, focusing now on shooting at the goblins he could kill.

"We have to warn the guild." The lady responded as she blocked an arrow.

I was glad the rest of the goblins were keeping the others busy so I could focus on axe boy. I fired another explosion of slime from my left hand while trying to stab with my spear, but he endured the burst despite the burning and swung his axe through my right arm. He grinned triumphantly as my arm and spear fell to the ground. The shock and horror on his face, when in mere moments it regrew, was priceless.

"Regeneration!?" He shouted before receiving two exploding bursts of acid directly to his face.

<Proficiency gained. [Slime Burst LV 1] improved to [Slime Burst LV 2].>

He screamed and started flailing wildly. I grinned as I ran towards the archer, easily dodging his blind axe swings.

"Sam? Shit! Kathryn, I need help." Toby shouted, but not before knocking and firing two arrows that killed the goblins distracting her.

<Party member Vulz has died.>

That was not good. I did not want to deal with her right now. I raised an arm and fired my greatest [Slime Burst] to date, drawing deep on my reserves, combining it with [Adhesive Slime] and opting out of [Acid Slime]. I hoped the sticky terrain would delay her until I dealt with the archer.

"What spell was that?" Kathryn asked in shock.

"No idea, but it missed," Toby replied.

Instead of running, he started drawing on his bow, the tension on the frame and string so tight that you could hear the wood creaking. It looked bad, but I had no choice but to approach him. I tried firing a few bullets of slime as I charged, but he sidestepped them. Then he released his bowstring. I couldn't even see the arrow's trajectory as it suddenly ruptured through the entirety of my left torso.

"Ha! Bullseye! Can't deflect [Power Shot], you bitch!" He celebrated prematurely.

'I'm so glad I'm not stupid enough to keep my core in my chest region.' I thought to myself, but not before putting extra effort into reinforcing my pelvic region, where my core was.

I faked a death stagger and fired a transparent-white [Slime Shot] aimed at his ankle from one of my fingers. It struck without him noticing, causing him to curse in pain and nearly topple over. When my chest cavity was stitched back together, and I continued my charge, he shrieked.

"Kathryn, help! This thing is a monster! It regenerated even its heart!" He screamed.

"Toby! I'm stuck! It's like trying to walk through a swamp!" She shouted in response.

I looked towards her and noticed she was advancing at a snail's pace, each step glacially slow, as she had to yank her foot from the ground sludge. I glanced at the axe guy and saw he was actually collapsed on the ground and riddled with arrows, like a human-sized porcupine. Garz had been busy.

Toby had started to panic and tried to retreat despite Kathryn screaming at him, but as soon as he turned his back on me, I started firing [Slime Shot] again. When I got within range, he hastily flung daggers at me. But, like his arrows, they couldn't get through my barrier. As his last stand, he pulled a short sword from his waist, ready to fight.

<Party member Zizz has died.>

'What? How?' I was startled at the notification.

<Human LV 3 Barbarian LV 15 defeated. Experience shared with the party.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 7.>

<1 Trait Points are now available.>

"Fuck! Sam! Shit!" Toby screamed in rage and thrust his blade into my chest.

I erupted two tendrils from each arm and engulfed his head. He started to thrash and stab repeatedly as I tried to force the acid down his throat. The flailing slowed down until he collapsed.

<Human LV 4 Sniper LV 9 defeated. Experience shared with the party.>

I engulfed the entire body and deposited his equipment as he was rapidly absorbed. Despite his size, he gave a surprising amount of slime, once again making me question the conversion ratio. I'd regain all my spent slime with just one, maybe two more of the humans.

<Profile [Human] 60% analyzed.>

Kathryn was near the edge of the sticky slime trap I had created, glaring at me with tears in her eyes.

"How could you? You monster!" she screamed at me, pointing her sword. Those were my friends!"

"Did you expect us to roll over and die for you?" I interjected.

"What!?" She shouted, flabbergasted.

"You attacked us, and we defended. You killed four of my party." I replied with a shrug and gestured to all the dead goblins, "Not to mention all the others."

She seemed to hesitate for only a moment before she spat out, "Fuck you, monster! Even if I die, the guild will know and kill you all!" She screamed, swinging her blade.

I sighed and started to swell in size, withdrawing my outfit as I abandoned my goblin form - with Garz as the only survivor, there was no need for disguises. She continued to hack away at an endlessly growing mass of slime. But her screams of rage were soon replaced with screams of terror. Large and thick slime tendrils burst out of my form to grab her limbs, restraining her. She continued to scream until I silenced her, covering her entire body in slime. She struggled till the very end, even trying to swim through the slime mass to the edge, but it was over.

<Human LV 4 Knight LV 12 defeated. Experience shared with the party.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 8.>

<2 Trait Points are now available.>

<Profile [Human] complete.>

Chapter 36: Essence

Garz only approached me once I started to shift back into my goblin form. He undoubtedly had complex emotions about this outcome; the humans were dead, but the loss of goblins was over sixfold. I felt oddly calm about being surrounded by death, and I thought my first time killing a human would have affected me. But if anything, I felt more upset about the dead goblins, which still couldn't even compare to Sylthaeryn. I decided to break the silence.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. No." He was looking at all the corpses with a resentful expression.

"What happened to Zizz? I thought all the humans were dead or incapacitated."

"He... Wanted to stab axe human. Kill him. Get glory. When he stabbed human. Suddenly human come to life," Garz said bitterly, "Human killed Zizz. Then human die."

That was a horrible outcome. He was on the verge of death and still managed to claim another life. It reminded me of the last burst of life from the Rage Boar, and looking at the notification, maybe the Barbarian class was the reason.

"Sorry Garz. At least we protected the rest of the tribe."

He nodded but didn't say anything. I walked over to where the cleric and barbarian corpses were and started dissolving them through tendrils, depositing what remained of their equipment in my storage. Everything went inside except for a backpack belonging to the barbarian - it absolutely refused to be stored. I opened the backpack to look inside, but it was empty.

"Storage bag," Garz suddenly told me.

He had walked over while I was looting. I handed it over to him, and he turned it inside out. Suddenly, various contents spilled out from nowhere: bottles, food, sleeping bags, and a few copper and silver coins. However, I was startled when a bunch of goblin ears fell to the floor.

"Chief says they collect ears. Proof to other humans." Garz explained after seeing my confusion.

"You take the bag, I don't need it."

Garz nodded and started to collect the goblin equipment. I took the copper and silver coins, leaving everything else from the pouch to him, and then began to help gather all the goblins together. I was tempted to absorb them, but Garz mentioned something about essence and plants and requested that I don't eat any goblins. I complied, half out of respecting his wishes and the other half wanting an excuse not to be called a glutton.

<Party has been disbanded.>

Garz left the party while we worked. While doing the monotonous task, I could spend time thinking; I had two trait points to spend after all. I had previously peeked at the partially complete badger profile and surprisingly found one trait that ignored my lack of organs.

<[Defy Death]

Survive lethal damage a number of times equal to trait level.

Refreshed daily.>

It sounded perfect, although the method of potentially leveling up the trait was a terrifying thought. Putting myself in an actual death scenario was not on my to-do list, but perhaps through willpower and a serving of masochism, I could inflict lethal damage on myself before sleep.

<Trait [Defy Death LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 1.>

The human profile was strangely more similar to the goblin profile than the elf profile. They had a chance to be born with a random amount of random traits and only a single exclusive trait, which they were born with.

<[Untapped Potential]

Greatly increase the speed and ease of learning new traits and skills.

This trait has no levels.>

Getting that first level could be painfully long, and by my estimation, it was easier to get a skill to level two and most of the way to three than it was to learn a fresh skill. While browsing, I found something familiar in the list of random traits.

<[Prodigy]

Receive extra experience towards improving traits and skills.

This trait has no levels.>

It sounded amazing. No wonder my past self bought it, and now my present self was going to.

<Error.>

'What...?' I thought and tried again.

<Error.>

"What?!" I questioned and tried again.

<Error.>

I was frowning now, and Garz had approached from my outburst.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to purchase a trait, and it won't let me."

"I've never heard that before."

"Neither have I. When I tried to purchase something incompatible previously, I received an entirely different message." I explained and tried to purchase [Untapped Potential] to confirm.

<Trait [Untapped Potential] is incompatible with your race.>

I tried to purchase [Prodigy] again.

<Error.>

"Dammit Gramps..." I muttered, causing Garz to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

I moved to another trait I had eyed out earlier and tried to purchase it.

<[Elastic Slime]

Allows increasing or reducing the elasticity of slime mass.

This trait has no levels.

Compatible with other slime traits.>

<Trait [Elastic Slime] obtained. Trait Points remaining 0.>

"Ugh... Don't worry, Garz." I sighed in frustration.

After waiting around, a group of goblins arrived to collect the dead. I still wasn't sure what they were doing, but I held my questions until I saw the Chief. The goblins were a strange mix of mournful but celebratory, and by asking around, puzzled together that the death toll versus humans was usually far worse.

Back in the cave, I finally met Krutz. He thanked me for my contribution and exchanged some pleasantries before I asked about the dead.

"When a being dies, we receive only some of its essence for the deed. The remaining goes to the Gods, with a leftover portion feeding the land itself."

"But what is essence?"

"Our levels, traits, and skills. Everything that makes up our being and that we've earned."

"So you bury the dead near the crops for the essence to leak into?"

"Yes. In the human lands, they have beings they call Heroes. When a Hero dies, it is almost a worldly celebration, and they entomb the Hero surrounded by crops and far away from spawns."

"That's rather grim... What are spawns?"

"Areas where monsters can emerge. When an area is overly saturated in enough essence, then monsters can magically spawn. My original tribe was from a spawn. If we left the dead out in the forest, chances are wolves and boars would spawn."

Krutz was happy for the tribe to have another storage bag and agreed with Garz keeping it. After saying farewell to Garz and Krutz, I was about to leave for my abode when I remembered the last adventurer.

"One more thing... The last adventurer screamed something about a guild knowing of their death."

Krutz looked deeply troubled after I told him that. He started muttering to himself and then sighed and shook his head.

"We will need to prepare. We will need to kill the matriarch as soon as possible. We need to gain more strength."

When it looked like the discussions had ended, I nodded and went home. I tried out my human form, and thanks to the complete profile and high trait levels, it was a first-try success. When shifting over to my elf form, the knowledge of a similar humanoid form was quite compatible, and after only a little more effort, I had finally completed my form.

I then started looking over the loot I had taken from the adventurers, consuming the weapons to add to my existing profiles and adding a brand new profile.

<Profile [Axe] complete.>

<Profile [Bow] updated.>

<Profile [Sword] updated.>

<Profile [Shield] updated.>

I found bottles containing pinkish-red and blue liquid that glowed from my [Mana Sight] and decided to devour some of them.

<Profile [Potion] complete.>

<Profile [Potion] updated.>

"Health and Mana potions... Interesting." I mumbled to myself while looking over the details, "Wait... aren't Mana potions made from blue slime?"

I frowned at the remaining mana potion and deposited it along with the remaining health potion. The only other things that glowed with mana were four necklaces with an attached crystal. When I tried to absorb one, I felt immense pain in my mind and spat it out. I gave up on trying to eat one, so I tried wearing one instead, and strangely got a notification.

<User unregistered with Adventurers Guild.

Identification attempt blocked.

Please return this ID to the nearest Adventurers Guild.>

"Well... That's something."

Chapter 37: Breach

"Okay, this is a really stupid idea..." I muttered to myself.

I was holding a slime sword with all the bells and whistles directly in front of my exposed core. Logically, it made sense, as the only way to improve the trait was to use it, but my emotional side was not happy even if I was trying to shut it up with [Enhanced Willpower]. Due to my unique biology, I had become very unaccustomed to pain, and to say I was terrified would be an understatement.

"On the positive side, I think this will also help [Core Refinement]..." I said with a sigh.

I swung the sword at my core, almost immediately regretting my decision while it was in motion, and then the pain came. It hurt like hell, and that was an understatement. My [Shapeshifting Mimicry] actually struggled to maintain my form, causing me to half-revert to a puddle of inert slime. The worst part... One swing wasn't enough. It took two more swings before it finally happened.

<You've taken critical damage. [Defy Death] has been activated.>

I collapsed into a lifeless puddle at the relief of it finally being over, as the self-inflicted torture had taken a great mental toll. I considered using a healing potion to end my suffering, but I found my core already injecting and consuming slime to fill its cracks. I crawled into my hole and went to bed.

When I woke up, the first thing I did was inspect my core, and to my relief, the scarlet red orb was back to its flawlessly smooth perfection. However, this recovery was significantly costly in slime mass, eating into most of what I had earned yesterday.

"Perhaps I should consider [Slime Conversion] soon, or I'm going to run into a daily deficit."

When it looked like Garz wasn't coming this morning, I decided to head out myself. I used my bear cloak to cover the gap in the armor to retain some modesty before leaving. My destination was Yuzz's home, and during the trip, I received a lot of praise for dealing with the humans from the goblins going about their work. I still wasn't happy that everyone thought I was Tarz, and I was grateful that at least Yuzz was one of the few who did.

"Morning Yuzz."

"Morning Syl, what can I-" She stopped and stared at the gaping hole in my armor, "Dammit, your new armor! Wait, how the hell did you survive something like this?"

"I was lucky." I lied because even if we were friendly, I would never reveal that any damage not to my core was superficial at best.

<Skill [??? LV 0] has become [Acting LV 1].>

I managed to hide my shock of suddenly gaining a new skill, helped by Yuzz being too busy examining the damage.

"I can fix it, but it'll be patchy, unfortunately."

"Thanks. I was also hoping you'd make a new outfit for me."

"Oh? More rare materials?" Yuzz said with sparkles in her eyes.

I pulled out the intact bear pelt along with my remaining boar hide. Yuzz was practically drooling already.

"Do you mean multiple outfits?"

"No, just one, for a bigger body."

Yuzz was curious, and I asked if she had somewhere more private for me. She opened a door and led me to her bedroom, afforded thanks to her station as one of the best crafters. I removed the broken armor, set it aside, and deposited the rest. Finally, I shifted into my elf form. I stretched my new limbs a bit before heading towards the door.

"Don't freak out, Yuzz," I warned.

"Syl? Your voice is different." She questioned.

"Yes, it's me. Again, don't freak out..."

I slowly opened the door. Yuzz's eyes widened so much I thought they'd rupture.

"Human? No... Something else?" Yuzz questioned. I was just glad she didn't start screaming or trying to stab me.

"An elf. This one gave me my name," I explained, gesturing to the body for emphasis.

"I don't think I've heard of an elf before. Was she your creator?"

"Not exactly... Anyway, I'd like clothes for this form, and I know you're the best." I finally made my request.

Yuzz's eyes began to sparkle again as she looked at the elven body and all the materials. Her love of crafting and working with rare materials made it an easy sell.

She promptly agreed and started measuring me. When I mentioned she could keep the leftovers, she was so excited she was visibly vibrating. With the measuring complete, I borrowed her bedroom to transform back into a goblin, wearing the old clothes combined with the cloak.

We chatted until she shooed me out of the house, eager to start working without me distracting her. I was heading towards the training ground when I saw a commotion of goblins all heading towards the farm. Curiously following the crowd, I heard the mutterings of "breach" among the crowd's din and hastened my steps.

When I got closer, I heard the echoes of battle and goblins shouting. The farm was being invaded. Those badger monsters were emerging from a large hole in the cavern wall, and the goblins were scrambling to hold them back. Cursing, I formed a spear and charged into the fray.

I joined a group of goblins in a pincer maneuver against one of the creatures. My spear stabbed through its defense with an audible fizzing noise. It roared in anger as it ignored the goblins and directed its fury on me. I was thankful for all the training as I dodged its threatening claws and entered a flow of counterattacks.

I thought it had finally died when it collapsed, only for it to suddenly burst with renewed vigor, thrashing wildly and, unfortunately, taking out one of the goblins. I thrust my spear deep within the creature and activated [Slime Burst] on the tip of my spear; the spearhead swelled with slime and then exploded deep within the monster.

<Badger LV 6 defeated. Experience gained.>

"[Defy Death]..." I muttered to myself, remembering they were the source of my recent purchase.

I left behind the corpse to join another battle, as I knew it would be my job to harvest them later. This one went down without too much trouble, and unfortunately, I wasn't the one to land the killing blow after it triggered [Defy Death]. I kept hopping from battle to battle, getting a full workout of my combat skills.

It was far too effective using [Slime Burst] to detonate my spear point inside a creature, easily worth the slime mass expenditure. The bigger problem was it ruined the meat the goblins needed for food, and while I would be fine eating melted innards, I assumed even [Robust Stomach] wasn't good enough to eat acid.

<Badger LV 4 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Badger LV 2 defeated. Experience gained.>

During the encounters, I claimed two more kills myself, and eventually, the farm became free of badgers. I joined a group of warriors for what looked like a debriefing. I was thanked for my swift participation and praised for my effective fighting style, although internally, I knew I only looked untouched thanks to lacking flesh and blood.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Cave breach. Too much dead. Too much essence. Monsters attracted." One of them explained and pointed to the hole.

"We should go in. Find nest. Kill all!" Another enthused goblin suggested.

"I don't mind going to explore the hole. I'm good at sneaking." I offered. If I went in alone, I could stop holding back and earn valuable experience for my neglected traits like [Pseudopod].

"Tarz strong. Killed even humans. Good idea." One of the goblins agreed.

There was a bit of back-and-forth, but eventually, the warriors gave me the go-ahead. I was told to scout and retreat if things became too dangerous. I wasn't sure where Garz and Krutz's usual leadership was during all this, but it could wait since there was a cave to explore.

I approached the breach and looked down the long, roughly dug-out tunnel.

"Time to explore," I said with an excited grin.

Chapter 38: Spelunking

Once I was deep enough in the hole, I deposited my equipment and reverted to my comfortable blob form. It was far easier to travel like this without worrying about legs or cramped conditions. During the monotony of travel, I looked at the new skill I earned.

<[Acting LV 1]

Deceive others with your presence, actions, and words.

Take on false roles and blur the lines of truth.

The effectiveness of your deception is based on skill level and circumstantial evidence.>

'Is it just me, or do some of these descriptions feel like they've been written by different people?' I wondered, 'I'm assuming I got this because I've not been entirely truthful to the goblins. Not to mention, the majority still think I'm Tarz.'

<Proficiency gained. [Dark Vision LV 2] improved to [Dark Vision LV 3].>

My vision received a much-needed improvement as the dark cave suddenly lit up, and I could see further along. The first point of trouble that came in my spelunking was when I reached a fork in the tunnel, both leading far into the dark. I shifted into my wolf form and started sniffing each direction for the fresher trail.

'Time to put this nose to work.'

Both forks had scent trails, but thanks to my skill and mimicked traits, it was simple to find the fresher one and head in that direction. I ran into my first straggler when the badgers retreated, which was occupied with eating the remains of a goblin. It snarled and growled at me, probably thinking I was a wolf after its meal.

Rather than fight as a wolf, I rapidly dropped the form while withdrawing slime mass, enough to plug the tunnel. Cramped and tight spaces were definitely to my advantage, and it was a simple matter of flooding forward until I engulfed the badger monster. It did try to claw at the wall of slime and tried to retreat when it saw it was ineffective, which was when I sent the tendrils to grab it.

<Badger LV 3 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Profile [Badger] complete.>

I continued to travel along the tunnel until I came across what looked like another cavern breach. Before sticking my head out, I gave it a quick sniff in my wolf form and caught multiple scents.

'I think I found their nest.'

I could have gone in guns blazing and come out fine, but I had a new form and skill to give a workout. Shapeshifting into a badger, I picked out the following traits to copy: [Enhanced Claws], [Enhanced Strength], [Thick Skin]. I could have mimicked a higher level of [Defy Death], but I didn't want to risk using more than my own single use, and then when I turn back into a slime, I just suddenly explode and die.

I cautiously entered through the breach and into a cave expanse. It was much larger than I expected, possibly a natural cave that the monsters spawned directly in, and then they branched out or perhaps another entrance from elsewhere. Surprisingly, it wasn't completely dark, and a few bioluminescent mushrooms were growing along the walls.

The badgers were either sleeping or eating, and I mentally held my breath when I neared one, but it barely glanced at me. Grateful for my successful disguise, I continued to scout the cavern, and that was when I spotted the nest and the largest monster I had ever seen, easily twice the size of a bear.

Its front claws were comically big and seemed to leak a dark liquid. Its black and white fur had spiked protrusions emerging from its back that were also slowly leaking. The image that came to mind was if a badger ate a porcupine, and then the porcupine tried to burst out of its back. As if it wasn't happy with its overall spikiness, its tail was also fully covered in bristles.

Worthy.

Looking at it with [Mana Sight], it didn't have much of an aura, but then I caught sight of a small orb of mana between its paws. I approached cautiously and discovered it was currently chowing down on a slime! Its slime was purple, and it contained an apple-green core. I wanted that core.

'I recall purple being a poison slime type. So this monstrosity is literally eating poison?'

Suppressing my urge to jump in and grab it, I wondered if I could convince the creature to share its food. I was currently one of its kind, so let's test my [Acting] skill. I sat near the beast and started to make mewling noises to get its attention while staring at the slime. The profile hinted that these monsters communicated with a pheromone gland in the posterior, so I just hoped my [Shapeshifting Mimicry] and [Acting] would cooperate. Unexpectedly, it made a hissing noise at me, but not out of anger and instead what felt like a warning.

'Is it warning me that it's poison? What a good parent or... boss? I'm still unsure about the whole monster society thing going on.'

I kept insisting that I wanted to eat it. The monster seemed to be thinking for a moment, and I was waiting for the rejection but then started digging in the nest. Plucked out with its stupidly large claws, it dropped an even smaller slime in front of me.

'What the hell, is it keeping a nest full of snacks for itself?' I thought and stared at the smaller purple slime with a notably weaker aura, 'So it's letting me have a trial taste with the weaker one?'

Resisting the deep urge to just gobble it down, I kept up my act by taking a small nervous first nibble. When nothing bad happened, I ate a bit more. The giant monster actually had a nervous smell at first, but as I kept eating and showing no ill signs, the smell was slowly replaced with something similar to pride. However, my patience had run its course, and in a single big bite, I chomped down on the core.

<Slime (Purple) LV 2 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Profile [Slime] updated.>

<Compatible core detected. Integrate new core at a penalty?>

'Yes! Yes! Yes!' I answered impatiently.

<Slime (Purple) Core absorbed. Trait [Poison Slime LV 2] gained.>

<Trait [Poison Slime LV 2] reduced to [Poison Slime LV 1] for integration penalty.>

My celebrations were interrupted by a growl and getting smacked by the badger. I thought it might have turned hostile, but I just smelt hints of anger and disappointment. I faked a yelp noise while scurrying away. It didn't follow, thankfully, and resumed snacking.

<[Poison Slime LV 1]

This slime contains harmful poisons and toxins, producing various harmful or deadly effects on its victims.

Different effects can be mixed at a reduced potency for each combination and are limited to the trait level.

The potency of any malignant condition scales with trait level but can also be affected by outside factors such as dilution, concentration, or delivery method.

Additional effect types must be acquired through sampling poisons, toxins, or venoms.

Available effects: [Paralysis].

Compatible with other slime traits.>

'And I thought [Acid Slime] was crazy... Not only does the trait have levels, but it also has its own catalog that I can expand on by sampling. It always comes back to eating things. Maybe I need to consider gluttonous at this point...'

I looked at the updated slime profile from the new species. Common traits were [Slime Shot] and [Slime Burst], which made sense because how else would it deliver its poison? The rare trait made me scared when I read its name alone, thinking it was a self-destruct button, but the description disarmed my paranoia.

<[Vaporize Slime]

Allows slime mass to be vaporized into a gaseous form, dispersing into the air.

This conversion process is irreversible, and the expended slime mass is unrecoverable.

This trait has no levels.

Compatible with other slime traits.>

'So the common purple slimes would spit their goop at foes to poison them, while the rare ones can emit noxious gases. Sounds utterly horrendous, and I'm so glad that I'm immune to poison.'

I wanted this trait, and I happened to be surrounded by tons of free experience. Who knew that cave spelunking could be so rewarding?

Chapter 39: Badger Badger Badger

I planned to target any badgers on the outskirts of the den. If not for their [Defy Death], I could have used [Sneak Attack], so the plan was instead to surprise engulf and combo [Acid Slime] and [Poison Slime]. I snuck up on my first target, happily eating the remains of one of the goblins. I jumped and expanded to engulf, hoping my slime would muffle any sounds from the creature. It flailed wildly but wasn't strong enough to escape such dense slime. The paralysis poison was sadly too weak compared to my acid, and the creature died before it took hold.

<Badger LV 5 defeated. Experience gained.>

Then, I transformed back into my disguise and walked to my next target. It was a simple and effective method that was easy to replicate.

<Badger LV 2 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Badger LV 6 defeated. Experience gained.>

'Yuzz is going to be so happy with all this fur.' I thought with a mental chuckle, picturing the overeager crafter vibrating with excitement.

After reducing the monster badger population, I found one far away enough from anything else noticing, even if I was slower. I wanted to see the effects of [Poison Slime], so I disabled my acid before engulfing it. Like the others, it frantically tried to escape and slowly began losing its motor control.

<Badger LV 3 defeated. Experience gained.>

It must have suffocated shortly after the poison stopped it squirming. I was slightly disappointed in the poison, but it was only level one, so it was all up from here. I reread the description of the trait.

'Affected by outside factors such as delivery method, huh...' I mentally mumbled, 'Skin contact is probably the worst delivery method, so ingestion or maybe direct access to the blood?'

I gazed at the big monster badger and found it lazily sleeping, completely unaware of the danger. I moved on to my next target, although I was running low on badgers now. This time, after engulfing it, I stabbed it with a replicated dagger on a [Pseudopod]. The results were noticeable, and it stopped moving long before suffocating.

<Badger LV 3 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 9.>

<1 Trait Points are now available.>

<Trait [Vaporize Slime] obtained. Trait Points remaining 0.>

I immediately bought the new trait. Unfortunately, testing my new attack method would have to wait, as I did not want to wake up the sleeping beast, and I could hazard a guess that the badgers would make a noise when inhaling poisonous fumes.

I turned back on [Acid Slime], but I only wanted it to melt enough to create exposing wounds for the poison. I caught the unsuspecting monster and proceeded as planned, and the conclusion was a far quicker application of the paralysis poison.

<Proficiency gained. [Poison Slime LV 1] improved to [Poison Slime LV 2].>

<Badger LV 5 defeated. Experience gained.>

Satisfied with lowering the numbers, it was finally time to deal with the big boss. The remaining badgers felt a little too risky to take out without alerting others, and ultimately, the big one. I wanted the element of surprise, my fight with the Blade Wolf still fresh in my mind. I crawled up the cavern wall sneakily until I was above the monster, and then I started to grow. I silently praised [Adhesive Slime], which made clinging to the roof effortless.

<Proficiency gained. [Stealth LV 3] improved to [Stealth LV 4].>

Using all four [Pseudopods], I created replicas of the mightiest weapon I had available, greatswords. A culmination of multiple traits all working together: [Slime Shape], [Shapeshifting Mimicry], [Slime Density], [Acid Slime], and [Mana Reinforcement] to empower these four blades. I allocated plenty of slime mass to my general size for safety and to get a helping hand from gravity.

I couldn't think of any further preparations, and so I dropped. I allocated two greatswords to cleave the creature's neck like scissors while the other two would penetrate the torso and then promptly detonate from the inside.

<Proficiency gained. [Sneak Attack LV 2] improved to [Sneak Attack LV 3].>

<Proficiency gained. [Pseudopod LV 4] improved to [Pseudopod LV 5].>

<Proficiency gained. [Mana Reinforcement LV 3] improved to [Mana Reinforcement LV 4].>

<Proficiency gained. [Melee Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1] improved to [Melee Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 2].>

Multiple notifications blazed through my head, but I ignored them. Despite all the advantages, my two blades were not strong enough to decapitate the monster in one go. But the wounds were excessive, and the threat of having its head sheared off was real. The two blades that pierced the torso sunk deep, and then their entire blades erupted into acidic shrapnel thanks to [Slime Burst].

The creature howled a raw and guttural scream of pain and rage. I wondered how it was even still alive. I knew it would have [Defy Death], but surely it would simply die after a few extra hits. I was clinging to its back and took another swing at its neck, only for my greatswords to meet with newly and rapidly regrown flesh. I kept hacking away at the neck when suddenly its bristled tail crushed me against its back. The force was enough to reach my core, and I felt crushing pain.

<Proficiency gained. [Enhanced Vitality LV 1] improved to [Enhanced Vitality LV 2].>

<Proficiency gained. [Enhanced Willpower LV 1] improved to [Enhanced Willpower LV 2].>

I endured the pain, but it wasn't enough to trigger my [Defy Death]. I wrapped a tendril around its chest, and when it raised its tail for a follow-up swing, I retreated my core from its back to its front. It could keep smacking its back all it wanted now, and I couldn't care less now that my core was safe.

I stabbed my remaining two greatswords into the previous wounds, which were struggling to close up thanks to all the acidic slime, and detonated them both. This was costing a lot of slime mass, but this is what my savings were for, and I would reap plenty from its corpse. With no more greatswords, I went for the simpler spear approach, using all four unoccupied tendrils to stab and then detonate.

<Proficiency gained. [Slime Burst LV 2] improved to [Slime Burst LV 3].>

<Proficiency gained. [Acid Slime LV 4] improved to [Acid Slime LV 5].>

I recalled one of my spear tendrils and wrapped it around its neck where the slime was like a noose, tightening as much as possible and melting away at the fresh flesh.

At this point, its entire torso was engulfed by my whole body, and its frantic tail smacks were joined by its claws digging into whatever slime it could reach. It must have asked for help because even the other badgers had come and started trying to claw and bite at me.

If it was going to have its minions attack me, then I'd use my own. I told my [Sub-Core] to deal with them and armed it with [Slime Shot], [Adhesive Slime], [Acid Slime], and [Poison Slime]. It immediately got to work and started firing shot after shot at each target, the sticky slime clinging to them to deliver the poison payload.

<Proficiency gained. [Enhanced Intellect LV 1] improved to [Enhanced Intellect LV 2].>

'I swear my head is ringing with so many notifications...' I groaned, 'Why won't it just die already...'

To my surprise, it gave up on trying to attack me and then started to dig, its claws practically gliding through the rocks. I moved my cores to a safe spot and clung tightly to its body with my slime mass. As I lost vision of the cave, I saw numerous badgers had collapsed to the ground, having succumbed to the paralysis.

The giant badger kept digging while I kept leaking slime into its wounds. Suddenly, the digging stopped, and like the flip of a switch, it became dead still. Then it jerked and dug some more and stopped. Then again, and stopped.

'What the hell?' I questioned before finally the notification arrived.

<Venom Barbed Badger LV 16 defeated. Experience gained.>

<You have met the requirement for [Apex Hunter].>

<1 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 10.>

<1 Trait Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 11.>

<2 Trait Points are now available.>

'Oh... I forgot about my emblem. I guess that explains all the traits and skills. It wasn't kidding around with the experience bonus.'

I stared at the giant corpse, and [Dissection] frantically pointed out the valuable parts. Claws, fangs, spikes, fur, this thing was a buffet of treasure. I started to chow down, and now that it was dead, I seemed to have little to no trouble digesting it. It was quite horrific how little of the monster remained inside, with its insides thoroughly melted away. Once again, I questioned how it had continued to fight for so long.

'I don't think I'm going to break even with my slime mass spending, but the rewards were certainly worth it.'

<[Bloodrot] has been sampled. [Poison Slime] updated.>

<Profile [Badger] updated.>

<Proficiency gained. [Dissection LV 4] improved to [Dissection LV 5].>

Looking at the new poison type, it would dangerously hamper natural regeneration or healing and literally cause your blood to rot into a runny black sludge. It sounded like a hemotoxin on steroids.

'So that monster would cut you with its massive claws, and assuming you didn't die outright, then you'd uncontrollably bleed to death from the Bloodrot.' I puzzled together with the profile and sample, 'I guess it's a good thing I fought it alone, or there would be so many dead goblins.'

Chapter 40: Poison

Searching the updated profile with the evolved badger, I found the source of its partial immortality.

<[Raging Regeneration]

Through your rage, you will persevere.

Rapidly convert mana into health, efficiency scaling with trait level.

Upon activation, the regeneration will not stop until health is full or mana depleted.>

I wanted it.

<Trait [Raging Regeneration] is incompatible with your race.>

'Damn it!'

I crawled out of the escape tunnel to the sight of so many paralyzed badgers. My [Sub-Core] suddenly started firing at their bodies, which made me realize it still had its standing order, which I canceled to stop wasting slime.

'That gives me an interesting idea. Maybe I could give it self-defense orders? It would always be waiting to jump in to help. I've definitely not been utilizing it properly except for nightshift work.'

I'd deal with the badgers later. My first priority was to check the nest. Using [Mana Sight], I found the spot and melted a path to it, revealing a very emaciated-looking purple slime.

<Slime (Purple) LV 4 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Purple) Core absorbed. Trait [Poison Slime] gained.>

<Existing trait [Poison Slime LV 2] improved to [Poison Slime LV 3].>

<Existing trait [Slime Shot LV 3] improved to [Slime Shot LV 4].>

<[Sleep] has been sampled. [Poison Slime] updated.>

'Huh... Was this the badger's bedtime snack?'

Now, I had to deal with the badgers, seven of them at my mercy. From an outside perspective, it might have seemed cruel, but these things showed no sympathy when they invaded the goblin cave.

I first tested out Bloodrot by making a small dagger and cutting two of the badgers. The effect was not at all pleasant to witness, as the blackened blood seemed to spread throughout the creature and leak rapidly from the open wound as if the body were trying to eject it. They both eventually died, and when I dissolved them, I noted they gave less slime mass than I was used to.

Next, I finally got to test out my [Vaporize Slime] trait. I felt a bit unsettled seeing my slime turn into a gas, and the unfortunate monster who breathed it in started coughing up blackened blood. I had to give it another dose of Bloodrot gas before it eventually died. It was less effective than the open wound application but very nasty.

I tried out an acidic gas next, and the results were horrific and ruined almost every bit of harvestable material. [Dissection] scolded me for being so wasteful. I would have vomited if I had a stomach, which was saying something since I literally melted things to eat. I'd probably need to lock this away as a last resort or invest more in [Enhanced Willpower].

Next was trying out the sleep poison on the three remaining lab rats. I tried three different delivery methods: ingestion, inhalation, and injection. Inhalation seemed to work best, and I watched the creature gradually fall asleep. Next was injection, and lastly, ingestion. I delivered three swift [Sneak Attacks] to execute the badgers.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Mimic Slime (Blue) is now LV 12.>

<3 Trait Points are now available.>

'How much experience did that damn apex badger give me?' I wondered when I saw the notification, 'If the bear matriarch is also an apex, I will get another two levels at this rate.'

After harvesting all the badgers, I had a small net positive in slime. Although tonight's [Defy Death] training would make that a loss, I considered getting the rare blue slime trait [Slime Conversion].

<[Slime Conversion]

Spend mana to generate slime mass.

There is a daily conversion limit, scaling with trait level.>

I had three trait points and a skill point. I immediately tried to purchase [Prodigy] again.

<Error.>

'Annoying...'

There was a skill I saw the Blade Wolf use that I could see from its profile, [Wind Step].

<[Wind Step]

Move a short distance with near-impossible speed, even in mid-air.

Skill level determines mana efficiency and maximum chained usage.>

It sounded like a must-buy to me, and having aerial mobility couldn't be understated.

<Skill [Wind Step] requires Air Affinity.>

'No! Gramps, why!?' I slammed a pseudopod against the cavern floor, 'What the hell is Air Affinity now?'

Obviously, I got no answers, so I'd need to ask one of the goblins. Before leaving, I snacked on some glowing mushrooms, adding to my [Mushroom] profile. I kept thinking about my trait purchases during the return trip to the goblin cave. I felt good and powerful, but Gramps had pointed out that magic was my greatest weakness. My first purchase went towards the much-delayed magic resistance.

<[Magic Resistance (Lesser)]

Adds a minor amount of passive magic resistance to offensive spells and spell effects, scaling with trait level.

Resistance can be temporarily disabled to allow effects to pass.

Beneficial spells from oneself automatically overcome resistance.>

<Trait [Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 2.>

Next, I didn't want to be bleeding slime mass every day, and with [Vaporize Slime] being added to my arsenal, I needed to be able to replenish my resources. Speaking of resources, ever since I got [Elven Legacy], I don't think I've ever seen my mana level drop below Overflowing. So if elf bullshit is going to give me more mana than I know what to do with, I better spend it.

<Trait [Slime Conversion LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 1.>

I immediately activated it and felt my mana trickling away and slime mass generating, which I routinely compressed and stored away. I spent a lot of time thinking about my next purchase. I was tempted to save it, but I knew we were fighting the bear matriarch soon, and I'd likely gain two, if not more, trait points from that.

After much internal debate, I settled on purchasing a second [Sub-Core]. It felt like they had so much untapped potential, especially if I started leaving them with standby orders.

<Would you like to improve an existing [Sub-Core] or create a new one?>

'A new [Sub-Core].' I mentally responded, and a large quantity of slime mass immediately began to compress to an impossible level until forming another small red core.

<Trait [Sub-Core Beta LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 0.>

<Trait [Sub-Core LV 3] has become [Sub-Core Alpha LV 3].>

<Would you like [Sub-Core Alpha] to share experience with [Sub-Core Beta]?>

This was certainly unexpected. My cores could have their own little party amongst themselves. I was concerned that my second would never catch up to the first unless I deliberately hampered the first's growth, not to mention if I wanted to add a third and beyond.

'Yes.'

<[Sub-Core] experience link created.

[Sub-Core Beta] will receive donated experience from [Sub-Core Alpha] until level equilibrium.>

'This trait clearly had a lot of thought put into it. I want to assume Gramps made it. Krutz did mention Gods, plural. Assuming that the Gods made this whole system might explain why some trait and skill descriptions are so wildly different. Well, whoever made it, thanks, and sorry for neglecting it for so long!'

For now, I set Beta to withdraw slime mass and Alpha to deposit it, a small loop for some passive experience gain. I also had Alpha use [Mana Reinforcement], with its spare capacity, on Beta and itself.

I made sure to turn back to my goblin form as I drew nearer. When I emerged from the tunnel, an impressive defensive perimeter had formed. I waved friendly to the goblins and got some cheer from the warriors. Apparently, I had been gone for a lot longer than I thought, and the goblins were growing worried that I had perished.

I informed them that I found the nest and cleared it out, downplaying the exact number of creatures and not mentioning the apex. I warned them that there was an unexplored fork in the tunnel, so there could be some surviving stragglers.

When I was walking home, Krutz approached and seemed a bit surprised. Before he greeted me, I thought I had overheard him muttering "four more levels" to himself. I pretended not to hear, and we exchanged pleasantries.

"Do you know what Air Affinity is?" I asked.

"A-Air Affinity?" He choked before clearing his throat and continuing, "I believe that's one of the types of mana. Why do you ask?"

"I tried to buy a skill, but it told me I lacked Air Affinity. I had never seen that before."

"S-skill? I see. That's... unfortunate for you. Some do have prerequisites to purchase."

The poor guy seemed under the weather. I had not seen him act this way before. The stress of the human attack, badgers invasion, and impending adventurers guild must be getting to him. And he was still planning our attack on the bear matriarch.

"Do you have a skill you'd recommend purchasing? I had my heart set on that one, but it seems unlikely unless I can somehow get Air Affinity."

There was a pregnant pause before he responded, "As far as I'm aware, your affinity is determined at birth. As for skill recommendations..." He paused again, "Could you give me some time to think on this? Then I can give you more optimal advice."

"That works for me. No rush." I nodded, "I know a lot has been happening lately. We still need to deal with the bear matriarch."

We said our farewells, and I headed home. I relaxed and checked my updated status menu, which needed some organizing.

Name: Syl [Apex Hunter]

Race: Mimic Slime (Blue) LV 12

Class: -

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:

[Experiment]

[Apex Hunter]*

[Elven Legacy]

Traits:

Slime:

[Mana Slime LV MAX]

[Acid Slime LV 5]

[Poison Slime LV 3]

[Adhesive Slime]

[Elastic Slime]

[Pseudopod LV 5]

[Slime Density LV 5]

[Slime Shot LV 4]

[Shape Slime LV 5]

[Slime Burst LV 3]

[Vaporize Slime]

Core:

[Core Refinement LV 4]

[Core Storage LV 4]

[Sub-Core Alpha LV 3]

[Sub-Core Beta LV 1]

[Consuming Osmosis LV 3]

Mimic:

[Shapeshifting Mimicry LV 3]

[Chroma Shift LV 2]

Mana:

[Mana Circulation LV 3]

[Mana Well LV 1]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 4]

[Mana Sight LV 1]

[Slime Conversion LV 1]

Attributes/Other:

[Enhanced Intellect LV 2]

[Enhanced Vitality LV 2]

[Enhanced Willpower LV 2]

[Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 1]

[Dark Vision LV 3]

[Defy Death LV 1]

Trait Points remaining 0

Skills:

General:

[Universal Language]

[Dissection LV 5]

[Mapping LV 2]

[Tracking LV 1]

Combat:

[Evasion LV 3]

[Melee Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 2]

[Ranged Weapon Proficiency (Lesser) LV 1]

[Improved Accuracy (Lesser) LV 2]

Sneaky Stuff:

[Stealth LV 4]

[Sneak Attack LV 3]

[Identity Block LV 3]

[Acting LV 1]

Skill Points remaining 1