Syl: Chapter 196 (Patreon)

Chapter 196: Vee

"Well... To be honest, you didn't really damage me," I admitted.

The spider stared at me long and hard. The turmoil going through her head was evident even without [Telepathy].

"I decapitated you," she responded.

"You cut off a hunk of slime," I responded.

"Aren't you literally a slime, so how does that not hurt you?"

"Technically, it's more like my... Appendages?" I tried to answer.

"Anyone else losing an entire appendage would be hurt. I certainly can't just shrug off losing a leg, and I've got eight of them!" She complained.

"It's like if you're fighting a rock elemental," I tried to explain. "The rocks are just what they control; in reality, they are the crystal center. It's the same for me. The slime is just something I control to make up my body."

"Okay... Sure... But what about your Mana being full?" She asked. "You were throwing around spell after spell pretty much with reckless abandon."

I shrugged. "You're not going to like this answer... But I'm a Mana Slime. That and everything I've picked up along the way means that I could almost say I have endless Mana, and even if I do spend it, it regenerates rather rapidly."

"You're right. I don't like that answer... You're telling me you're literally made out of Mana?"

"No, I'm not a spirit. I'm still a slime at the end of the day," I replied. Seeing her still not understanding, I tried to explain it further. "Think of it more like I'm a walking Mana potion rather than the concept of Mana itself?"

"Okay... I guess..." She relented. "So what have you done to my Mana?"

"Oh..." I realized I hadn't canceled my order to have [Mana Burn] refreshed and quickly did so. "I had an affliction cast on you; it burns away Mana. It's really good if you ever fight spirits. I've stopped it refreshing."

"Well, that just seems unfair..." She replied.

"It's effective, but not usually this effective. Normally, my opponents start with full Mana, so it can take a while to empty them unless they expend a lot themselves. I fought a monster that regenerated more passively than I could burn away."

"My Mana emptied itself when I caught you in my portal trap... I didn't expect it to be so expensive to teleport you such a short distance!" She explained.

"Oh... Yeah, I've been told I'm dimensionally heavy," I murmured.

"You're dimensionally fat?" The spider asked bluntly, clearly unamused.

"I have a dimensional storage, and you didn't teleport just me but everything inside my storage."

"That's... Absurd... Even if what you're saying makes sense, the amount in your storage must be utterly ludicrous!"

I chuckled. "Well, you said you're bigger on the inside. I am, too. I have a lake of slime hidden away."

"How much have you eaten to have a lake of slime!?" She exclaimed.

"Well... I do spend a lot of it, but I recently ate two worms, so I gained a lot."

"You ate two worms? Two entire worms!?"

"Oh yeah, they were delicious."

"I see..." She sounded defeated and quickly moved away from the subject. "So, can you rename me now?"

"Sure, we can try that," I replied happily. "Do you have any ideas for your name? Because I really want to call you Terry for some reason."

"No! Not Terry! Ugh... It needs to be something short and cute so I can repair my tarnished image."

I didn't think a cute name would help a monstrous spider, but I held my tongue.

We spent some time going back and forth, throwing out random names or even sounds thrown together that sounded vaguely namelike. She was oddly picky about it, but after having the name of "The Terror" thrust upon you, I guess I could sort of understand. Not everyone can get a great name like Syl on the first try.

"Vee," she said.

"Vee," I repeated.

"It's short and unassuming," she explained.

"It's definitely short. Only three letters like my own, I can see the appeal."

"I think we have a winner," she said rather happily.

"Now I just need to figure out how to actually do this..." I replied.

I tried thinking of the wording Sylthaeryn used when she had given me my moniker.

"I shall grant you the name, Vee," I declared with a slightly authoritative tone.

<[Bonded Companion] The Terror has been renamed Vee.>

<Vee [Bonded Companion]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

"It worked!" Vee said happily.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. Glad to have you aboard, Vee,' I sighed with relief.

"Yeah! Thanks for not eating me," Vee joked. "And... You know, giving me a chance to get out of these caves."

"Hey. I was mostly joking about eating you."

"Mostly!?"

"Well, if you were irredeemable and I killed you, I wasn't going to let it just... Go to waste. You know?" I replied.

"Bloody hell... What have I signed myself up for." Vee chuckled nervously.

"Magic training! Class training! Dungeon raiding! The works!" I said excitedly.

"Sure... Just remember to feed me," Vee joked.

"If you think that food was good, wait till you try food from someone with high levels in Chef!"

"Sounds divine... So, what's the next steps?" Vee asked. "I've regained enough Mana to no longer feel like I've been sleep-deprived for weeks."

"Well..." I paused to think. "Getting you registered with the guild is probably the first step. Obtaining a class will make things easier. As for teaching you magic... It would help if we had a common type between us so I could show you how I approach it."

"I only have [Dimension Magic] though... It came with my evolution for free."

"Well, since you're a spider, I'm assuming you might have an affinity with Corrosion. I hope you've got a skill point to spare."

I held out a hand and projected [Corrosion Magic] to her.

"I got an error; it says I lack the basic class proficiency to unlock it," Vee said, sounding disappointed.

"That's good news!" I said happily.

"How is that good?"

"The error you want to avoid is it saying you lack the required affinity! That means you do have Corrosion."

Vee seemed confused, so I gave her the basic rundown of affinities and what I knew about them. I avoided going too deep into the weeds; there was no need to mention ascensions or me acquiring more affinities through cores or new elemental ones by deriving them.

Thankfully, she seemed like a pretty smart spider and caught on relatively quickly.

"So we both have Dimension and Corrosion Affinity," Vee started.

"Well, my Dimension is locked... But hopefully soon. In the meantime, as soon as we get you a class, I can start teaching you all about [Corrosion Magic]. It's great; it has poisons, acids, afflictions, and debuffs!"

"I wish I could tell you more about [Dimension Magic], but I've struggling to make heads or tails with it," Vee admitted.

"Even with the default spells it gives you?" I asked curiously. "Admittedly, I only have intermediate magic, so I don't know what advanced magic has in store. But even so, I would assume it would give you at least something usable."

"The first spell it gave me lets me get coordinates."

"Uhh..."

"The second spell let me assign coordinates..."

"That's... Not great?"

"Tell me about it..." Vee sighed. "That's as far as I've gotten. I've only found one use for the two spells by combining it with my [Rift Thread]. If I build a web with the thread, get those coordinates, build another web, and then plant the first coordinates inside the second web, I can create a portal between them."

"Is that how you teleported me into that pit?" I asked.

"Yeah... It was my secret trump card. Nobody has survived it until you sprouted wings."

"I think I would have survived the fall even if I didn't have wings. I can change the density and elasticity of my slime pretty much on demand."

Vee grumbled.

"Moving on..." I said, changing the subject. "It sounds like advanced magic is quite... Hands off in its teaching. Basic magic gives you nothing but spells and how to use them, while intermediate focuses more on concepts or more unique applications."

"And I got it as my first and only magic..." Vee sounded bitter.

"I always wondered how evolution granted magic worked... I wonder if you were supposed to have instincts or something installed with it. Or perhaps the magic component is only there for Dungeon Masters? Since they would likely understand everything about it and could just assume direct control over their minions... Yes, that makes the most sense, while wild versions of your species probably only use the traits-"

"Syl! You're going on a tangent again!" Vee interrupted.

"Sorry..."

"I'm astonished you managed to get anything done if you tend to go on these mental tirades so often," Vee teased. "So it looks like no magic lessons until I get a class or you unlock [Dimension Magic]."

I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me unlock it early, Mother?

Sadly, there was no reply. I guess she wouldn't take me at my word alone.

"Okay... So, I have an idea regarding the city and the guild. Exactly how small can you shrink?" I asked curiously.

"Extremely!" Vee said proudly and shrunk to a size that would easily fit into the palm of my hand. "I usually don't go this small since while it makes me harder to hit, I think it reduces my defense. I try to balance it out to be agile and maneuverable, but I can't be stomped to death."

"That's a really good idea," I complimented her. "When I'm not pretending to be an elf, I have a smaller form I've hybridized, which is about the size of a goblin. I find the smaller profile definitely helps avoid getting hit."

"Thanks..." Vee said happily. "So, is the idea that I sit on your shoulder and look like a perfectly tamed companion?"

"Yeah! Well, I had initially hoped you could go down to about the size of a dog, but I reckon this will work out even better."

"I'm glad my original idea of looking small and cute will finally be able to pay dividends."

"Yeah, I'd definitely say you look cute like this," I agreed.

"Thanks!" Vee sounded very happy.

I offered her my shoulder, and she leaped up, taking a comfortable seat thanks to her diminutive size. I began walking toward the exit.

"You know... I think I could get used to traveling around like this," Vee joked. "If you didn't cost so much to teleport, I'd offer to take us both straight to the exit."

"Well, when we leave the dwarven lands, I can also take you on some flights. Some incredible things are up in the sky, like floating islands!" I explained.

"Right... Flying sounds interesting. Although, at the moment, I'm happy to stay more grounded until I get a bit better with [Blink] and [Dimension Magic]..."

"Yeah, having an emergency teleport to the ground in case you fall would probably be good. Although, can't you make something with your webs?"

"Like a parachute? Maybe..." Vee replied.

"Parachute?" I questioned.

"It's a safety device if you're falling out of the sky," Vee answered.

"Never heard of it. Although my memories are quite scrambled since becoming a slime..."

"Right... We both got quite screwed in that regard. Kind of crazy that they would take all of that from us."

"I figured it was so we couldn't get revenge or meet up with anyone we knew in a previous life. Apparently, I was poisoned to death by my elder brother. On my birthday, no less."

"The hell?" Vee sounded outraged. "What kind of shitty family is that?"

"A noble one, apparently... I was a noble prodigy with latent dimension magic and died without accomplishing anything... Then Gramps offered me a second chance, and I ended up as a slime."

"Wait... So you're from this world?" Vee asked.

"Yes? Aren't you?" I asked curiously.

"I definitely don't think I'm from here originally... I certainly don't remember there being magic, monsters, elves, and dwarves!" Vee replied.

"Huh... Interesting. I'll have to ask Gramps on my next evolution,"

"How close are you?" Vee asked. "I think my next one is at 50."

"That's going to slow down when you get a class. Your experience will be split among your class and race. As for me... I'm quite far; I'm only 5 levels into my current one, so another 35 to go."

"Bummer..." Vee said dejectedly.

"Well! I have a plan for that. If we get you a class and head to the nearest dungeon, we could do some extreme leveling!"

"Dungeon? Where they keep prisoners?" Vee asked, tilting her head.

"Nope, a dungeon where monsters spawn nearly endlessly! Experience galore!"

"Oh... Well, if you think it's for the best. I'll defer to your judgment since you're the supposed adventurer."

I nodded happily. It sounded like a wonderful idea.

And perhaps I can convince the dungeon to spawn a slime for me? That would be great.