Chương 12: 1-11 Rebellion against monarchy

What is happening to me? Josef couldn't move. He couldn't breathe either. Nor could he see. He wanted to scream, but his mouth only filled with something wet, slimy and painful. His thoughts raced. What happened? How did he get stuck? Why did it hurt so much? Struggling to open his eyes, fighting through the searing pain, he saw it. King Slime: True Royal - Level 25 A gelatinous mass of frightening acidity and deceptive intelligence. All but immune to blunt force.

The pinnacle of slime evolution and true authority on all things amorphous. Josef was inside a slime. The king of slimes. A gelatinous blue mass. He had learned the why, but what about the how? He realized it must have dropped on top of him. Straight up swallowed him without even giving him a chance to fight back. Cana was sure to pull him out of this predicament, or so he hoped. Could he hold out? Health 36/56 His health was dropping rapidly. At this pace, he wouldn't be able to last for long. He had to buy time.

Regeneration Fear gripped his heart as the numbers showed how quickly his end was approaching. Fuck no. He couldn't die. Not like this. Not- A black blur caught his attention. Was that Dusty? Josef couldn't see clearly, but he assumed he was right. His familiar got caught in here with him. And he was fighting his way through the slimy mass that surrounded them, wriggling, biting, and crawling. But where was he headed? To the outside? No, there was something else. Something solid. The core was right there.

If they destroyed the core, surely the slime would break down, just like all the other slimes had done before. Josef started inching his way forward, fighting for the tiniest bit of progress as his sizzling skin burned with every passing moment. At this rate, he wasn't going to make it. Dusty meanwhile had managed to reach the core, biting into it and ripping at it like he was trying to tear a piece of meat. He couldn't fall behind his familiar. He needed to move!

Focusing on his mana, he opened the floodgate and let it run throughout his body, all around. What he needed wasn't a conventional spell. He needed water. To keep away the acid and to ease his movement. His mana answered. It still felt like he was swimming in a swamp, all movements stupidly slow, but he finally made headway. On top of that, while it couldn't keep away all the acidic slime, at least it eased the amount of damage he took. Health 22/56 Regeneration was still going, but it was losing ground quickly.

Emptying his mana into a Minor Heal wasn't going to cut it here, either. Healing the damage was meaningless if he couldn't remove the source of his injuries. If he could even out heal acid in the first place. He was just about to reach the core. Just a couple of centimeters were left. His hand was almost level with Dusty. And then the bunny was gone Your familiar 'Dusty the dustbunny - Level??' has been slain. Time until recovery: 23: 59: 59 Josef wanted to scream, pain burning him without and within.

He was going to end that stupid slime and the entire rest of its slime family. Rip out their cores and stomp on them until there was nothing left. With a final push of silent rage, he pushed through and got his hand on the core, fingers wrapping around it as far as they could. It was much larger than any of the other cores he had seen before. But how could he break it? Water Prison wasn't going to do anything here, and punching it with mana wasn't an option when he could barely move at all.

Guiding mana into his fingers, he started to squeeze with everything he had. Health 13/56 The core didn't react the slightest to his attempt, and time was running out quickly. He spared a quick glance at his status, looking for another way. Could he just put the core in his hoard? It might just barely fit the core. Unfortunately, the skill didn't react to his desire. Maybe he could make a new spell? Rip it away with some kind of space affinity magic? No time. His health had almost hit single digits.

He really wished he had taken the Emergency Heal skill right about now. But there was one spell he could try, as ridiculous as the notion was. And if he committed to that route, then mana wasn't going to be an issue anymore. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He focused on using Minor Heal. Mana was already distributed all throughout his body from his prior spellwork, and since the magic only demanded touch, he decided to use the distribution that was already there.

There was a new kind of resistance as he changed the intent flowing through his mana, and some energy was wasted because of it. But as he pushed through, the healing effect took hold. The drain was faster than ever before, but converting everything into health quickly was his plan in the first place. Continuing until there was barely anything left, he took status before pushing on. Health 42/56 Mana 9/112 He suppressed the system notification that was tugging at his attention. There was no time for that.

If Josef had to stand on his own strength, he would have probably swayed and fallen. The mixture of relief and pain flushing through his skin and the lack of mana clouding his brain were overwhelming him. But all he had to do was keep his fingers around the core and pull. Not with his arms, though, but with his heart. Forming a line with his remaining mana, he jabbed it directly into the core in front of him. This time, he had no channels to move through, as he was already right there.

The core rejected him, pushing back at the touch of his mana. But the connection was there. Mana Syphon. Fresh energy filled him. First it was only a trickle, but the rush increased with every moment. The pain shooting into his heart was almost negligible compared to the burning sensation of merely existing. Again and again his heart clenched down on the foreign mana, munching and crunching and filling its belly like a ravenous beast. He left it all to the stone in his chest, as his focus was required elsewhere.

All that mattered was the flow, and he concentrated all his mental faculties into it. And as the notifications in the back of his mind increased in number, the growth in mana started catching up with the rate his health plummeted. The rates weren't equal yet, but he was getting there. When Josef's health once again reached the single digits, he severed the connection and healed himself. Regeneration, Minor Heal, Mana Syphon.

Health 34/56 There wasn't enough mana to heal as much as the first time around, but it would have to do. Once more he went into the fray, fighting for every drop of the life giving resource. As his struggle continued, the balance eventually tipped in his favor. Mana Syphon had hit some sort of qualitative increase. Now, the mana wasn't simply syphoned from the core. It was redirected. Part of the slime's own magical current diverted its path and rushed into him.

Not only was it increasing the rate of drainage several times over, it left parts of the creature's own channels barren. The section of its slimy body where Josef was stuck no longer received any mana. And the effect of that became increasingly obvious as the seconds passed. Sticky gelatine that had barred his every move before now became dry and crumbly. The burn of its touch decreased with every moment. Like when the blood supply gets cut off from a limb, this part of the creature's body was dying off.

At this rate, he would pull through. Josef's Regeneration could finally fight against the remaining acid. Only a little longer and he- The Slime King jumped. Josef stared dumbfounded as he was suddenly left behind in a pile of withering slime chunks, as the monster escaped his grasp and moved away. The damn creature was fleeing from him. After all the pain it inflicted on him, burning his skin and killing Dusty, it had the gall to flee.

He wanted to rush after it, plunge his hand into its center and finish what he had started. Unfortunately, his legs didn't cooperate as he almost took a spill on the floor. His state was miserable, with clothes in tatters, hair hanging down in clumps as bald spots were showing, and his skin was an angry tomato red. Taking a deep breath, he reoriented himself. Tunnel-vision wasn't going to help him. He had to remain aware of his surroundings. Cana wasn't looking much better than him, facing an opponent of her own.

The slime king wasn't the only boss that dropped in on them, it appeared. Bouncing away from her swipes was another royal menace. Queen Slime: Royal Consort - Level 24 A gelatinous mass of dangerous acidity and great intelligence. All but immune to blunt force. Consort to the king of slimes, she follows wherever he leads. The lycan was being kited by the boss, much like he had done to the prince before. With every bounce the queen built distance and unleashed a torrent of acidic slime on his companion.

Her attacks looked like someone had pierced a giant pink water balloon and directed the flood at a target. Going by Cana's state, there was no doubt just how bad the acid splashing her was. Fur was falling from her body in clumps and a part of her muzzle was already exposed, red skin. She needed healing badly. Josef couldn't just rush over to her, though. His own opponent was still bouncing nearby, no doubt waiting for an opening.

The king of slimes might be hesitant to engage him right now, but he couldn't risk letting it slip past where it could team up with the queen. No, he had to take down this slime before he rushed over to Cana. If only he could be in two places at the same time. If only Dusty were around, he could have his familiar engage the monster while he focused on healing. Finally, he realized another option he had open.

It had slipped his mind after his earlier celebration was interrupted, but he still had the gains from his last battle. He still had a second slot for a familiar. Calling upon his moderately filled mana, he put his intent on Summon Familiar. Since he didn't recall how he had summoned Dusty before, he could only trust the spell to guide him along. First, he needed to paint his mana in another color, infuse it with an affinity.

He still had no idea if a familiar of summoning was even possible, and he didn't have time to experiment. His first choice had to count. Earth? He hadn't used it before. The affinity was still unknown to him. Space suffered from the same issue, as his only contact with it was the usage of his storage skill. It was a choice between water and healing. And it was clear what Cana needed most right now. If the patient didn't come to the healer, then the healer would send his assistant.

Josef wanted a familiar of healing. One that could join his friend in her fight. He thought about Dusty and how the little guy often sat on his shoulder. They didn't need to be big. They needed to be fast and nimble, reach the patient and latch on until they were healed. The spell took shape, mana pouring out of him as a small, vague shape formed in his cupped hands. For a moment he feared his mana would run out, but it was barely enough.

Maybe it was a lucky choice to aim for a smaller size, as creating a familiar of a rare affinity apparently took a lot of energy. As the pull on his reserves stopped, the summoning still wasn't finished. It still lacked the last component. A name. The energy flooded his mind as images came and went, combined and overwrote each other, until a match was found. Josef took in his surroundings. His little helper would be a healer, but not one born of sterile work and education.

Someone who brought the cure as they climbed out of the rot and grime of the sewers. Understood the pestilence they were treating, as if they were old friends. He thought of the beak-masked healers of old.

"I name you.." Josef stared down at the little shape in his hands. He could almost see it take shape. The fluff on its body, its adorable little ears, tiny paws, and a long, thin tail.

"Nibbles, the plaguerat." With a loud squeak, his new familiar announced his arrival to the world. A body of pure white, with paws and tail of pink. From the neck up, he was pitch black, with only his eyes showing in a vibrant emerald green. They had reclaimed the numbers advantage. Now it was time to take back the fight.