Chapter 29 - Dungeon, Evolution and Success (3)
“That! Give it back to !”
“You can’t take back what you gave .”
“Ooh-gooooo.”
The two of them now knew the value of the gem. They still didn’t know what kind of gem it was, but at the very least, they knew that it was the main reason why n had desperately tracked them down when they ran away from the palace.
However, Artpe stuck out his red tongue as he teased them. He continued to pour Mana into the Demite’s Gemstone.
“Can you hear ? No , I don’t think it can communicate yet.”
The Demite’s Gemstone won’t show its true worth until it was refined.
However, it was such an amazing gem that it could amplify one’s Mana, and it had the ability to rember magic spells. Even at its current form, it was a remarkable item. Artpe was satisfied with it until now.
“What are you trying to do with that! Are you perhaps going to feed it to the Sli like the rocks from before?”
“You are mad. If you do that, the Sli would most definitely evolve a step forward....”
“That is what I want.”
The Giant Sli was desperately looking for a power that would allow it to overpower Maetel.
Again, the Dungeon’s 10th floor acted in concert with the Giant Sli’s struggle. Large changes occurred once again. The walls that divided the rooms lted away. All the secret passageways were revealed. The Dungeon allowed the Giant Sli to encounter the rest of the remaining Slis.
[Keeeeeeee!]
[Gee-geek! Gee-gee-gee!]
The floor abruptly beca a large plaza, and all the Slis thrown away by the Dungeon knew what the Giant Sli intended. They didn’t want to die in vain, so they did their best to oppose the Giant Sli.
The party was watching re Slis. It would theoretically be ridiculous for them to feel any emotions for the Slis. However, they were faced with an impressive and overwhelming sight.
“Even such simple organisms fight hard to live...”
“They are no different than humans.”
“What kind of.... Humans are....!”
“Quiet.”
He didn’t want to have a discourse about life with a brat. Artpe let out a deep sigh, then for the last ti, he injected his Mana into the Demite’s Gemstone.
His preparation was at an end.
“How’s your Mana reserve, Maetel?”
“If it is just maintaining Berserk, I have enough. If I use the Option.... I think I can use it about three tis.”
“All right. You should be on standby.”
Artpe didn’t hesitate as he threw the purple colored gemstone held by his hand. Coincidentally, one of the Sli, who had been opposing the Giant Sli, swallowed it.
[Gee-eeee-eeee]
“It really ate it!”
Of course, it didn’t matter how high the Sli’s level was. The Demite’s Gemstone wasn’t an item that would be dissolved so easily. The Sli, who possessed the gem, knew it had beco stronger. It coordinated with the other Slis to attack the Giant Sli.
[Goo-ohhhhhhhhhhhh!]
The Giant Sli ate all of them. The Giant Sli’s wound healed easily from just eating its brethren.
The Giant Sli’s anatomy was simple, so it was easy for it to heal itself. By eating its brethren, it was able to grow imdiately, and it was leveling up at a fast pace. This was why the Giant Sli had targeted them.
“The number of Slis is decreasing.”
“In the beginning, there were around 5,000 of them.”
“I don’t know how this Dungeon was made, but the effects of Mana becos stronger as one travels deeper into the Dungeon. This is why this floor has stronger Slis, and they are more nurous here.”
It was easier for strong monsters to spawn at location with high density of Mana. Even if it was Maetel and Artpe, it would have taken them several days to kill all the Slis that ca out all at once from the secret passageways. However, the Giant Sli was killing all of them instead.
“This really is like the Record Link!”
“It isn’t a completely closed system, so it won’t be efficient like the Record Link. However, if one wants to see an organism ‘evolve’, this might be a better thod than the Record Link.”
“I look forward to it!”
It was very rare to co across such a high ranked Sli, so they would be able to look forward to the reward. Artpe and Maetel was still conversing in a calm manner in front of such an overwhelming spectacle. Silpennon and Leseti were taken aback by this fact, but they reached a point where they decided not to think about it any further.
“Ah. It went in.”
The Delmite’s Gemstone was inside the Giant Sli’s body. At that mont, the nurous mana-infused stones that was within its body reacted to the Delmite’s Gemstone. A small resonance started to occur. Of course, this was what Artpe had been aiming for.
“I see the end to the Slis.”
“We really don’t have much ti left. Be ready, Maetel.”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
There really were many varieties of Slis nesting here. Dungeons were sothing that was rare on the continent. Maybe they were worth researching.
However, he was watching a single Sli consolidating all the Slis it had eaten.
[Geeeeeeeeeeeeee!]
In the end, all the structures on the 10th floor were gone, and the whole floor had been turned into a wide open plaza. If one discounted the living and breathing mbers of Artpe’s party, there was only one Giant Sli on the floor.
It had eaten everything within the Dungeon. Everything that possessed Mana was within its body. This was an unprecedented feat. This being was pushing itself towards a higher Class.
[Goo-ohhhhhhhhhhhhng!]
“My god. It is letting out light.... This is...”
“The Sli must be evolving!”
“There is a higher Class that can be reached!?”
Artpe’s eyes let out a strange light as he looked at the Sli letting out light from all over its body. This was sothing that had never been seen before on this continent. This mont was sweet and exciting!
Artpe had a smile on his lips before he knew it. He had co here in an attempt to educate Silpennon, so he had never expected to hit a jackpot here. As expected, a Demon.... A human should be good to other people in one’s life!
[Giant Sli]
[Level : 199]
When it went past level 100, it was given the na of Giant Sli.
At so point, a much bigger body appeared from within the light.
[Huge Sli]
[Level : 200]
The body of the Sli was letting out a rainbow light. Its body possessed enormous amount of Mana, and its intelligence increased by another tier.
Its body was much bigger than before, but when it moved, it was more efficient in its use of energy. Artpe imdiately checked it with his Read All Creation ability, and he found out the Sli had several new skills. These skills helped the Sli efficiently capture and digest its prey. These needed skills were gathered in one place to strengthen the Sli.
The part that gave Artpe most joy was its na of Huge Sli. It sounded extrely simple, but the na of this entity never existed on this continent before. If he ranked how rare it was, it would probably be considered to be ultra rare.
“There we go.”
[There we go.]
It was as if Artpe and Sli had made a promise to speak at the sa ti.
As expected, it gained enough intelligence to be able decipher the human’s intention!
[I can eat you all!]
When its body was trembling from delight, Artpe raised his voice to yell out loudly.
“You can attack it now, Maetel!”
“Understood!”
[I can now eat you all!]
The Sli was large enough to fill the plaza. The evolved Sli attacked the party. However, before it could use its skills, the Sword Energy gathered at the tip of the long sword was let loose. The golden energy traveled in a straight line to impact on the Sli!
[This isn’t enough.....!]
The Huge Sli was strengthened so much that Maetel’s Mana-infused attack pierced its body once before it healed its wound. Maetel’s attack stalled the Sli for only 3 seconds!
“Hyper Rubbing!”
However, Artpe had completed all his preparations beforehand, so he had plenty of ti to pull the trigger.
[Ggoo-ooooo-ooohk!?]
The Huge Sli let out a terrible scream as its body started to writhe. The preys it had wanted to eat was right in front of it, yet it started to hit its body against the blaless Dungeon floor and walls. It threw a fit.
It had gained higher intelligence, so the pain it perceived had increased dramatically. The fact that it had been sure of its victory made the defeat a bitter pill to swallow.
“I never knew magic could be used this way....”
“Magicians are a scary existence!”
The target of Artpe’s Hyper Rubbing were the rocks and the Delmite’s Gemstone swallowed by the Sli.
It had assud that these objects were part of its body, but they started rubbing crazily against its body as if they had a mind of its own. There was no way it could endure the spell without losing its mind!
[Goo-oooooooh······!]
Still, it refused to give up. It had broken through from the 1st floor to the 10th floor, and it had greedily eaten all the mbers of its race. re pain wouldn’t make it give up on its objective. Its greed was too strong for that to happen.
“Tsk. As expected, this level of attack won’t cut it.”
The Delmite’s Gemstone boosted the power of Hyper Rubbing by a ridiculous amount, so he had hoped this attack would be able to bring down the Sli. However, he had underestimated its willpower.
[Goo-ooohhhhhh! I’ll eat! I’ll eat! I’ll eat! I’ll eat!]
Even as its body was breaking apart from within, it moved its body to attack the party. When Silpennon and Leseti saw the enormous body of the Sli move slowly towards them, they didn’t offer any resistance. They just trembled in fear.
At that mont, Artpe put one hand atop Maetel’s hand, which was gripping the longsword.
“Let’s attack it for the second ti, Maetel.”
“Y...yes..”
This was physical contact initiated by Artpe. Maetel’s heart felt as if it was on cloud nine. She was so happy that it was difficult to maintain her Berserk skill. If the skill was canceled, they would lose to the Sli.
She was having a hard ti controlling her emotions, so her eyes started to spin.
Artpe didn’t realize what she was feeling. He gave her an order with a calm voice.
“You just have to attack like before. You should gather your energy and shoot it towards the Sli. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Yes, I’ll try......”
Maetel worked desperately to control her heart, and she gathered her Mana at the tip of her sword. At that mont, he used the Mana Link to provide Mana to her. When she realized what was happening, Maetel used Record Divide, so Artpe could share more Mana with her.
Even if it was the sa skill, its power would be amplified by a lot.
“Shoot it. Mana String.”
Moreover, it was possible for the two of them to share each other’s skills and options! It was possible to combine all of them into one attack!
“!?”
Maetel felt the energy gathered inside the longsword change through magic, but she used her instinct to shoot it.
There were black stripes mixed in with the golden light as background. This strange energy impacted on the Huge Sli’s body, and it pierced through....
[Koo-ahhhhhhhhhng!]
Artpe’s will took hold of the attack. The trajectory changed sharply as the attack drilled deeper into its body once again!
“Hyper Rubbing!”
The attack wasn’t at an end yet. The Mana Strings that had manifested around the beam of light were imbued with the option of Hyper Rubbing. The energy within him manifested as friction within, and it was being delivered right into the Sli!
It was a ridiculous composite spell. The thod Artpe had used possessed such a high degree of difficulty that it would have made all the other magicians on the continent feel disheartened!
“As expected, a mage is amazing!”
“Artpe was always amazing!”
“C...cool......”
Of course, everyone gathered in this place were idiots, so the only feedback he received was the fact that it was cool and amazing!
[Koo-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhng!]
The Huge Sli let out a roar that contained its rage and pain. It finally acquired the power that would enable it to eat all of its enemies. It had been so sure, yet an unexpected attack had been used against it!
It couldn’t use its power, because the stones within its body were constantly vibrating. On top of that, an additional attack had been used against it. It was so painful that it was driving it nuts!
[I’ll kill you at all cost! I’ll kill and eat you! I’ll kill you!]
“Are you going to ask the Dungeon for help again? Well, the Dungeon no longer has anything hidden away that it can give you. So what can you do?”
There was a cruel light in Artpe’s eyes as he looked at his struggling enemy. The Sli extended its body to hit the wall, and it attempted to eat the weaker mbers of Artpe’s party. However, all of its attempts were thwarted by the Hyper Rubbing.
It was as he said. The Dungeon had given everything it had hidden to the Huge Sli. There were no thods available to the Huge Sli that would allow it to strengthen itself again. Its struggle was wasted. It was all in vain.
“Uh. The purple gem.....”
Leseti found herself to be pathetic, since she was trembling in front of the enemy without putting up any resistance. She tried to right herself when she caught sight of the change that was occuring to the gem within the struggling Huge Sli. The purple light was getting stronger as ti passed.
“Ah. As that bastard reached the high rank Class, its ability to dissolve substance also increased by a lot. The Demite’s Gemstone is probably providing it with more power as it beco more refined as ti passes.”
When Artpe kindly gave an explanation, Leseti’s expression turned more peculiar.
“You... you planned on refining the gem, while attacking your enemy....!?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If I wanted to kill it, I could have killed it with my modified Mana.”
“You......!”
Artpe had an impudent smile on his face as he replied to her. Leseti grinded her teeth when she saw the annoying smile of the brat. However, she couldn’t deny she was slightly in love with that smile.
After three minutes, the Huge Sli stopped its fruitless struggles. It ekly faced its death.
A new piece of history was recorded on the continent, and it was quietly buried at that mont.
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