Syl: Chapter 197 (Patreon)

Chapter 197 : Bonding Threads

It was surprisingly easy to chat with Vee. Our struggles as relatively weak monsters and discussing our various troubles at the start were an almost instant bonding experience.

Although I'd argue my start was a lot harsher, I'd started at tier 1, after all, barely considered a monster according to the system.

On the other hand, Vee had her own unique challenges, having started at a higher tier and faced different obstacles.

Although I did gain an extra evolution choice and ten extra levels that way compared to her. I wonder if that's what's being factored into why [Apex Hunter] thinks I'm a higher level than her?

I was relieved to see my makeshift barricade intact when we left the mine. With a cast of [Shatterquake], I unblocked the passageway by exploding it into shrapnel. I had half expected another ambush, but either they were waiting further ahead or had truly given up.

"That's [Earth Magic], right?" Vee questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah, it's the third-level spell," I clarified.

"Hopefully, I'll get something a little more directly offensive with [Dimension Magic]..." Vee muttered.

"When we get to your lessons, perhaps we can take a basic projectile spell and modify it to accept Dimensional Mana?" I suggested. "However, we can start there once we get you [Corrosion Magic]. Its first level spell is called [Acid Dart] and would give you a good firsthand showing of the basic spell components."

I demonstrated the spell by firing the brightly colored acidic dart against the wall. The rock melted away as the acidic magic continued to eat at it.

"That is a first-level spell?' Vee asked, sounding surprised and doubtful.

"Oh..." I realized my mistake and recast it completely unmodified. The result was far less impressive without the additions I had made to it. "I forgot I had customized the spell; that second one was the original. You can take components of spells and, with some trial and error, mash them together."

"Okay... I can see why she wanted you to teach me. I don't think I'd ever discover any of that if I'm working with only [Dimension Magic]..."

"Don't sell yourself short. You discovered the connection between those coordinate spells and your [Rift Thread] all by yourself. If you had seen what the dwarves and humans had to resort to to create a teleportation platform, you'd be shocked. I can only assume the natural compatibility between the spell and your thread is providing some natural support."

"Thanks..."

"No problem. I should probably take that [Companion Training] skill... Would probably help."

"You don't have to waste a skill point on me," Vee rejected the idea.

"Oh... I mentioned this before, but class levels give you skill points. I'm currently sitting at 15, so I definitely have some wiggle room."

Vee sighed. "You have 15 skill points just sitting around? That's crazy!"

"Well, when you figure out it takes 10 to uncap a skill, it doesn't seem like that much. Not to mention 5 or fewer points to uptier a skill."

"You make me feel like I've been living under a rock..." Vee sighed.

"Technically, you have been," I teased.

Vee groaned at the bad joke, and I bought the skill.

<Skill [Companion Training LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 14.>

"Once I'm done with Elementalist... Maybe I should consider Monster Tamer again?" I postulated. "Who knows what other skills there are?"

"I mean, that sounds great... But maybe only do that after we confirm whether I'm staying long-term? No offense..." Vee suggested honestly.

"Oh yeah, no problem!" I agreed. "I want to get Elementalist to maybe 20 or 30 to see if I get any good milestone skills."

"Do classes evolve?" Vee asked.

"No, but there are natural progressions," I began explaining. "A normal Mage would go to Sorcerer and then Archmage, for example. A specialist would go Mage to Pyromancer to Arch Pyromancer. These are broken into the class categories; basic, intermediate, and advanced."

As we walked back, that became our topic of conversation. I also finally went over my notifications from our fight. Obviously, there were no class or race levels, but I still made some progress.

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

<[Arcane Magic LV 5] spell [Force Bolt] learned.>

Oh? Arcane finally decided to catch up with the rest of the team! My multiple [Aegis] spell barrier finally pushed it over the edge. Crazy that it was still not enough to stop those dimensional threads, though!

When I first looked at the spell, I was a little disappointed. After all, this was a fifth-level spell; it should have been something amazing! I initially thought the projectile would impart a directional force onto its hit target, but I incorrectly summed it up as a "get away from me" spell.

I was wrong.

The directional force was not limited purely to "away." You could pull a target, push a target downwards, or even possibly throw a target up into the air. Of course, the default "away" was the most likely configuration, but I could see myself using "pull" to bring something into my slimy grasp. Especially since the spell had the added benefit of being quite fast and relatively hard to see with the naked eye.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 2] improved to [Air Magic LV 3].>

<[Air Magic LV 3] spell [Zephyr Shroud] learned.>

I had expected this level up, as I was up against a high-level foe even without the boost from [Apex Hunter]. It looked like [Air Magic] was taking a page out of [Water Magic's] book, as this was also a buff very similar to [Bubble].

[Zephyr Shroud] created a moving air current that filtered harmful toxins, smoke, or even odors, creating a revitalizing environment for whoever was in its comforting shroud. It was entirely useless for me, but I could see myself using it on Vee or anyone I was in a party with to avoid them being caught in my own harmful ailments.

It's also another spell for me to try to decipher the "buff" concept. I'll have to put in the effort to break that apart, especially if Vee is potentially sticking around.

<Proficiency gained. [Derived Element (Air) LV 3] improved to [Derived Element (Air) LV 4].>

Okay... Three levels in less than a day? Crazy!

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

<[Earth Magic LV 4] spell [Sand Pit] learned.>

Damn, I guess I don't have an excuse anymore to let Thern do the digging. All things considered, this is a relatively simple spell. Although the breaking down of rocks into a lesser component is intriguing.

Much to my regret, [Metal Slime] hadn't leveled up. I started crafting various metallic needles inside myself over and over in the hopes that it would finally be enough to push it over the edge so I could eat that glorious silver slime core sitting in my storage.

I had tried to get Vee to share a few traits with me, but she had refused for now.

"It's my only bargaining chip in this situation... When I've got my class, and we've known each other for more than a day, then I'll feel more comfortable showing you some traits. Plus, I don't think you could even learn [Spatial Sense] without Dimension affinity."

I nodded reluctantly. I desperately wanted to see those traits and see if they were compatible with me. But... I couldn't fault her for being a bit paranoid; I'd do the same, and I'd certainly not gone and shared all my traits and skills with the goblins when they taught me such things. Other than giving The Misfits some resistance traits and Whitney [Eagle Vision], I'd not really shown much to others.

In my defense, though, I'd be super worried that I'd shown some monster-only trait. Imagine they try to purchase it and they get a notification saying, "error, incompatible species." Sure, maybe I could try to blow it off as an elf-only trait, but that feels like I'd be pushing it.

When we approached closer to the city, we both heard the distant echoes of miner dwarves jovially talking about their day. Vee immediately flinched.

"Hey, don't worry!" I tried to reassure her. "Trust me, I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks... It's just... It's been very 'kill on sight' whenever they've seen me before."

"Well, if they attack you while you are literally sitting on my shoulder, minding your own business, I'll blast them myself," I told her. "Hell, I can set up a reactionary [Aegis] spell to protect you if you want."

"You can set up reactionary spells? How absurdly advanced is your magic?" Vee asked, clearly shocked.

I was about to explain when I hesitated and decided not to. Instead, I gave her a cheeky wink.

"I'll tell you when you show me your secrets..."

"Spoilsport!" Vee protested. "But sure, if you can, I'd appreciate it. Assuming you weren't making it up."

Rather than reassure her verbally, I instead ordered one of my [Sub-Cores] to cast [Aegis] if an attack threatened Vee. I gave it to Theta since their names sounded similar.

Then, I began subtly casting an [Icicle] spell and changing its origin point to come from a distance. The spell fired off from a distance, heading straight towards Vee.

"Ah!" She screeched mentally, having spotted it moments before the [Aegis] spell appeared between them and the dangerous frozen shard shattered upon it.

"See, I've set up a reactionary defensive spell for you," I explained.

"You didn't have to literally shoot a spell at me to prove your point!" Vee shouted as she frantically waved her front little arm legs to demonstrate her outrage.

"I thought seeing is believing..." I teased her. "Anyway, as long I can sense the attack coming, then a shield like that will appear and attempt to block it."

"Point made... Sure, thanks," Vee grumbled.

When we reached the dwarves, she was still tense, and I could feel some of her emotions bleeding across the telepathy bond. She was terrified of the dwarves. Likely, her entire confidence against them was due to being surrounded by her previously impenetrable fortress of tricks and traps.

Most of the dwarves didn't even notice her on my shoulder. The few who saw her seemed to shrug it off, and only one nosy-looking older dwarf seemed to take offense.

"Elf girl! That better not be an ant you're bringing into our home!" He demanded.

"She's a spider. I bonded her as my adventuring companion," I explained relatively politely.

I thought the dwarf might complain, but he adjusted his goggles while appearing to take a closer look.

"One, two, three... Eight!" The dwarf mumbled. "I guess you're right; that ain't no ant. Apologies."

I waved it off. "Don't worry, I understand, I fought a Fire Ant Princess the other day; she was a nightmare."

The dwarf's demeanor immediately flipped. "Ah! Good, so you know how terrible those six-legged bastards are! I'm glad you're a good adventurer who knows where the real threats lie! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Let me buy you an ale?"

"I'd love to, but I need to report my latest quest's success. Another time, maybe?"

"Ah, no problem. Sorry for taking your time, miss. Thanks for keeping peace!" The dwarf said joyfully, waving us off.

Once we were a further distance away, Vee turned to me questioningly.

"Okay, how the heck did you do that? You handled that situation perfectly. Much smoother than our conversations."

"I have a skill called [Acting], I lean on it quite heavily for these types of awkward situations... It's gotten me out of some real jams in the past," I answered over the telepathic link. No reason to let anyone hear my side of this conversation.

"I see..." Vee muttered. "I wish these damn dwarves would stop calling me an ant, though. As much as I hate being a spider, I wish they knew the difference. What's their deal anyway?"

"The ants multiply their numbers at an out-of-control rate and dig endless tunnels into the dwarven defenses. As clearly evident, they hate them with the burning passion of a thousand suns, and even the slightest hint of a nearby nest gets an extermination quest promptly issued."

"Well... I'm extraordinarily glad I didn't pick the Broodmother evolution then if they hate monsters that spawn and multiply that much."

"Was it a final evolution for you?" I questioned.

"I think so. The description mentioned the word 'final' a lot; I was too scared to pick it... Plus, I didn't like the idea of laying eggs..." Vee admitted.

"On that we can agree on! Laying eggs is terrible and should never happen no matter how much a pixie complains."

"Uh? Moving on... Did you get Broodmother evolution? I can't imagine how slimes reproduce, or do you simply split your slime in half, and now there's two of you?"

"I wish. Slime separated from me just turns into useless goop on the ground," I bemoaned. "But to answer your question, I have a Queen Slime evolution. It mentioned significant boosts to all stats, and it would let me create slime cores. I figured I'd pick it when it was the end of the road."

"A Queen evolution sounds way cooler than Broodmother. I don't think I'd ever pick it, even if it promised me great stats. Even if you're vouching for me, if the dwarves react that badly to ants, imagine what they might say if a teleporting spider was suddenly reproducing."

I nodded. "Point taken. A swarm of teleporting spiders sounds horrifying," I teased.

By now, we'd finally reached the dwarven gate. Vee was staring at the massive construct with awe.

Let's hope my [Bonded Companion] emblem is enough for these dwarves...