Syl: Chapter 203 (Patreon)

Chapter 203: Acid Magic 101

Entering the dungeon was bizarre. The entire thing felt far more clinical than I had ever expected. At first, the guards checked that I didn't have any controversial Emblem equipped and then had me reassure them I didn't have any looting skills or traits.

I offhandedly mentioned [Dissection] just in case, which caused the guards to actually look very pleased.

"We will be expecting some good harvests then!" The one guard had cheered.

Once inside the dungeon, the entire thing was labeled with floor markings and signs to indicate the area. Heck, some of them were even color-coordinated!

"Are all dungeons like this?" Vee questioned.

"Not at all," I immediately answered. "The first dungeon I ever did was undead-themed, and the entire place felt like a rotted-out crypt. The first floor had wandering zombies and skeletons."

"Wow, sounds almost like a haunted house at an amusement park!" Vee replied excitedly.

"The second dungeon I did was more like an underground cavern, although as we got deeper, the flooring got better. The final room with the boss felt like an almost underground temple."

"Neat!" Vee responded. "I'm presuming we won't be able to do anything like that here?"

"I doubt it; they even gave me this!" I replied, gesturing towards a little pamphlet the one guard had handed me. On it was a list of rules and regulations.

"Apparently, killing a boss monster causes unnecessary strain on the dungeon and should be avoided without express permission!"

"Bummer... Well, if getting class levels is as quick as you said, hopefully, we will be out of here, and we can either go find another dungeon or explore the caves!"

"Yeah, there's some kobolds I wouldn't mind getting some revenge on... They dropped an entire tunnel on top of me the last time."

Vee winced. "Yeah... I ran into those little lizard buggers too. However, rather than collapsing a tunnel on top of me, they kept trying to throw chains and nets at me. I think they wanted me as a pet, or perhaps they prefer their food live."

"Or even try to domesticate you for your spider silk; no doubt it's super good quality."

"Gee, thanks! Trying to butter me up?" Vee teased.

"Well, if it gets you to show me some of your traits, then sure!" I teased back.

By now, we had reached the Earthen section of the dungeon, as indicated by the floor tiles, which were now taking on a browner tinge. I pulled out the map and started following it toward the area that spawned the lower-quality elementals.

The room was sealed with a door that didn't match the dungeon's decor and a corresponding lever; I pulled it, which raised the door, revealing a room entirely made of loose gravel, rock, and mud.

At the center of the room, attached to the ceiling, was a giant brown crystal that positively radiated Earth essence. Rather than being singular, it looked like it was created by grafting multiple crystals together.

"Wow! Pretty crystal!" Vee exclaimed.

"Looks like that is how they've ensured the room is aligned to earth," I explained.

When we entered the room, the piles of rocks began moving, and a freshly spawned elemental rose from the rubble.

"Right, so I'd suggest trying to kill it by only using [Acid Dart] to familiarize yourself with it. Once you've gained some Mage levels, you'll have more skills I can use to help you purchase and make better progress."

"Sounds good to me!" Vee said and hopped off my shoulder.

She began somewhat clumsily casting the spell, and I watched the familiar luminous dart of acidic energy form and fire at the rock elemental. Immediately after the spell struck, the elemental became enraged and started lumbering towards the source of its ire.

"Unlike with your coordinate spells, you should be able to pour more Mana into the spell construct to empower the spell," I advised.

"More Mana, got it!" Vee replied with excitement.

More and more [Acid Dart] spells began forming and firing at the elemental. I'd sort of forgotten how the unmodified spell was, and even though Vee was melting through its rocks, it would reinforce its form by collecting from the plentitude of available material scattered about the room.

"Uhh... Not to disparage your teaching, but I don't think this spell is going to cut it!" Vee replied as she dodged out of the way of a slow, lumbering fist.

"I'll debuff it a bit then," I replied, casting a few spells.

Putting on both [Hexed] and [Erode] reduced both its physical and magic defenses, and I hoped it would be enough to give Vee the edge with such a basic spell. When her next spell struck the rock elemental, rather than splattering, it pierced somewhat inside it.

"Woah! What the heck?" Vee questioned before firing more spells at the monster.

With the aid of my debuffs, the elemental was soon barely holding itself together. A final spell was fired against it, and it was defeated.

"Man... I haven't struggled against a monster like that in a while. If I used my threads or a trap, I probably could have torn it to shreds in seconds!" Vee replied.

"No doubt. Looks like we have quite a bit of work ahead of us..." I answered.

"Joy..." Vee sighed.

***

We spent a lot of time slowly pulling a single elemental out at a time for Vee to test her magic against. Although the elementals were not ideal enemies, it was certainly convenient that they would spawn relatively frequently and would not attack us unless we got too close or attacked them first. Effectively, we had a nearly endless supply of target dummies.

Once she had gained a few levels, I started showing her various skills to dump her points into. It didn't take her too long to unlock [Poison Cloud], but sadly, that would be entirely useless against a rocky foe like this.

When Vee's Mana bottomed out, I offered her a "Mana Potion," which she happily drank to replenish herself. I kept the miraculous brew's source a secret from her, but the effect was immediately noticeable.

I had thought perhaps I could teach her how to create [Dissolve], but she was struggling because she did not have very good levels of [Mana Manipulation]. I had thought that with guidance and [Companion Training], perhaps I could give her a rapidly progressing crash course, but it seemed like that might not be possible.

It's too bad I don't have the [Apprenticeship] skill, although I don't think it would help in this regard. Would Vee even be able to equip the [Apprentice] Emblem if she's got [Bonded Companion]?

I was looking through all my skills, trying to figure something out, when I came across something that triggered a spark of inspiration, [Ritual Casting]!

"Vee, take this skill when you get your next level up and skill point," I said and showed it to her.

<[Ritual Casting]
Coordinate with other spellcasters to form Grand Spells.
Each participant with this skill adds to the ease of the spell's formation in a reduction in time or complexity.
This skill has no levels.>

"Oh?" Vee said, reading the skill. That sounds cool. Would we be able to make spells together?"

"I think so. I've only ever done it with myself, but it should work!"

"Wait... How do you coordinate with yourself?" Vee asked, sounding genuinely baffled.

"Uh... Secret!" I waved it off.

"Right..." Vee murmured. "I'm half tempted to show you some stuff to get some answers."

"Please do!" I immediately agreed.

"I'll think about it..." Vee muttered before beginning her next fight.

While Vee spent her time fighting, I spent time trying to grind out the next level I needed in [Metal Slime]. It was becoming increasingly frustrating with how close I felt as I wanted nothing more than to crunch down on those delicious slime cores.

Internally, I started creating small objects, such as my metallic needles. Between my hands, I was effectively playing around with the slimy goop in my hands and shaping it for fun. I started with simple things like cubes and spheres before moving on to more and more complex shapes.

At some point, I even created a silver sculpture of Vee by watching her closely. When Vee finished her latest fight and returned to my side, she eyed the tiny spider statue with great curiosity and interest.

"That's cool... Is my butt really that big?" Vee asked.

"It's pretty accurate, I'd say," I replied. I primed the tiny sculpture and placed it on the ground before her.

Vee curiously poked at it before picking it up and examining it closer. She seemed somewhat impressed by the silver replica of herself.

"Couldn't you make a fortune doing stuff like this?" Vee said as she poked the lifelike sculpture.

"Well... It will only stay like that for 36 minutes. After that, it will revert to a bunch of slime," I answered honestly.

"If you were running a scam operation, that could be pretty good!" Vee nodded. "Although it's a pity it's got such a short time limit."

"Well, I don't think turning it into tiny replicas was the original intention of the trait. I sort of figured this might be a useful idea to trick enemies."

"Wait, what is the original purpose?" Vee asked curiously. "And how would you trick your foes? I don't think throwing a tiny silver spider at someone is the best distraction, although I give it points for absurdity."

I chuckled as I picked up the silver spider sculpture and tossed it at one of the somewhat inert earth elementals. When the metal clinked against the rock, I triggered the explosion, which detonated and caused the top half of the elemental to crumble apart.

"The hell!?" Vee exclaimed in shock. "It exploded! I know you could create landmines, but that seems somewhat absurd!"

I somewhat ignored her outburst and continued my explanation. I formed a bronze sword between my hands and gave it a tiny flourish. "I thought if I created a sword or something if an enemy took it, I could then detonate it in their hands."

I threw the sword at the remains of the elemental before detonating it again, causing the last remnants of its life to plummet.

"That's brilliant and nasty!" Vee blurted. "Did I mention that I'm glad I'm on your side?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I think your threads were much scarier. I was stacking so many defensive traits that they cut through my arms like butter. Sure, it's not the most mobile of attacks, but the results if it lands are terrifying."

"I mean, sure... But mine is like a hidden threat; yours is like... Manipulative trickery? If that makes sense?"

I tilted my head questioningly, and Vee continued talking.

"They don't see my attack coming. It's humane, sort of? Meanwhile, you've tricked them into thinking it was something beneficial, and then the table is turned!"

"How's that a bad thing?" I questioned.

"I'm not saying it's bad... Just... Crafty, cunning, deceitful, underhanded..." Vee continued.

"I suppose..." I relented. "But if it works, it works!"

I created a little replica jackelope in my hand and winked at Vee.

"Oh, what the hell!?" Vee shouted. "That's even nastier than I thought! That looks like an actual rabbit!"

"Yeah, I tricked a wolf once with this. Boom!" I giggled.

"Wait..." Vee paused. "The duplicate you left behind! Were you planning on tricking me and blowing it up?"

"Maybe?" I responded. "I definitely had it guarding the exit, so to speak. It really depended on whether you were in a talkative mood."

"You sure you haven't gone evolution crazy?" Vee pressed.

"Just a regular amount of crazy," I teased. "I mean, I was turned into a slime; nobody comes out of that normal, I think?"

Vee looked at herself and sighed. "Yeah... I guess, as a spider, I can't judge. Anyway, I leveled up! So I can grab that new skill."

"Great!" I cheered. "Hopefully, when you take that, I can help train you more directly."