Logan recoiled, an arm rising to cover his nose as the creature fully erged from the shadows. The massive green blob rippled with rot, its body a swirling mass of sli and decay. The stench hit like a punch to the gut.
He gagged. "Ugh—definitely not a normal sli…"
The monster let out a warbling shriek that echoed through the labyrinth chamber, vibrating with what seed to be corrupted mana.
"Frost, blow it away with your coldest wind! Stormwing do your best as well! I can't breathe through this stench!"
Logan tugged Elarion's reins, guiding the unicorn back several ters. The last thing he needed was for the radiant steed to be caught in the cold or electric crosswinds or contaminated by the monster's aura.
Wyver, already in motion, unleashed Glacial Gale, his frosty breath blanketing the battlefield with a sub-zero blast that froze the air itself. Shards of frost spiraled outward, colliding with the sludge's outer mbrane and halting its advance—but not its stench.
Stormwing, however, was far from subtle.
The thunderbird's wings flared wide. A storm front materialized instantly above them, coalescing into a swirling mass of black clouds. Static snapped in the air.
He wasn't just following orders—he was furious.
A streak of lightning leapt from his feathers to the cloud overhead, triggering Tempest's Wrath.
The sky cracked.
Bolts of lightning burst outward in a chain reaction, all zeroing in on the foul green blob. Thunder bood, deafening and brutal. The sli was engulfed in arcs of blinding electricity, twitching and bubbling beneath the onslaught.
Even Wyver had to retreat, flapping back to avoid the sheer chaos of the storm overhead. Arcs of stray lightning sparked dangerously close.
"Stormwing!" Logan shouted through the roaring wind. "Work with the team! Don't fry your allies!"
He thrust his arm upward, casting Gale Blades—two slicing bursts of wind that cleaved through the edge of the cloudbank. The currents split the pressure, thinning the storm above and redirecting so of the ambient static away from his other creatures.
The thunderbird dipped slightly in the air, as if in acknowledgnt—but his wings still sparked with residual fury.
[Sli offends. It dies,] ca Stormwing's curt ntal reply, crackling through the Empathic Link.
"Yeah, well, coordinate next ti!" Logan grunted, already moving into position to flank the monster. "No solo plays while in a team—we'll be in far more chaotic situations during the war. Control yourself."
The green sludge twitched again, still clinging to life. But this wasn't just another random spawn. Logan could feel it—this was a hidden boss. And not just any boss… one that felt like it was chosen to specially appear, as if the labyrinth itself was rewarding him probably .
[Yes. Forgive. I used more mana than intended. Made skill… go wild,] Stormwing said over the Empathic Link, his tone a rare mixture of apology and frustration.
anwhile, Gaia hadn't moved. The massive ent stood rooted in place, wisely avoiding the chaotic storm of wind and lightning. The sli had begun to bubble and warp, its thick form vibrating as if it were being microwaved alive.
"Well, at least you left it halfway dead. Wyver, use Polar Rift—but don't kill our jellied friend. Let Stormwing finish it. He deserves the kill, you've had enough experience," Logan ordered, keeping the EXP balance in mind.
Wyver responded with a shrill screech and swooped in. His wings spread wide as an arctic wind exploded from his jaws. Polar Rift unleashed a barrage of sub-zero energy that struck the sli like a glacial cannon.
The creature instantly began to freeze over. Its grotesque shape hardened, layers of ice crystallizing across its gelatinous body. A mont later, a massive bolt of lightning from above—Stormwing's final strike—shattered the frozen sludge into steaming fragnts.
Silence fell.
The air cleared, and Logan finally felt safe breathing again. The stench was gone, although so of its remains clung to his nostrils like an insult.
He sighed. "I still don't get why the others had so much trouble with this labyrinth… it's not even that hard."
And yet—sothing caught his eye.
Beneath the shattered remains, instead of loot or materials, a single object remained behind.
Or rather… a piece of the monster.
It twitched.
"What the hell…" Logan muttered. He tried to activate his storage ring, attempting to suck it in like the rest of the loot.
It didn't budge.
Still mounted, Logan frowned. Then with a slight groan, he dismounted from Elarion and walked toward the strange leftover. The object was no larger than a teacup, a small blob of semi-solid green jelly that jiggled slightly, as if breathing.
"Aww, damn it… don't tell I just got rewarded with a monster," he muttered, rubbing his temple.
The blob quivered at his approach, almost shy.
"I don't have ti to raise such a gelatinous pet…" he sighed again, but he already knew what he had to do.
Drawing a small dagger from his belt, Logan pricked his finger. A single drop of blood fell and landed on the sli.
It absorbed it instantly as the pact was created.
The creature greedily absorbed the drop of blood, shivering with delight as its surface rippled. A few thin tendrils extended outward, twitching toward Logan's hand as if begging for more.
Logan stared at it, then sighed. "Really? You're already acting spoiled?"
Still, he couldn't help but smirk.
"Well… looks like you'll need to be fed up to level 40, huh? Alright then. Let's give you a head start."
From his satchel, Logan pulled out several darkness mana stones—each one faintly pulsing with shadowy light. He chose the smaller ones first, tossing them one by one toward the blob, which imdiately absorbed them, its body bubbling and twitching as it devoured the energy.
But Logan didn't stop there.
"You know what? Let's speed this up."
He reached into his personal collection and withdrew one of his largest darkness-infused crystals—one he'd been saving for a major evolution of one of his dark elental creatures. Without hesitation, he offered it to the sli.
"Here. Take them all."
He tossed in over twenty crystals, their power crackling in the air as they were sucked into the creature's gelatinous body. The sli pulsed with each absorption, glowing slightly as veins of mana flickered through its translucent form.
Then, he backed off.
More than a few ters.
The stench had returned—sharp, pungent, and acrid. Not as overwhelming as before, but still potent enough to wrinkle his nose. It made his eyes water slightly.
"Damn… it's just like the boss sli. Smaller, sure, but that scent…" Logan muttered, waving a hand in front of his face.
Still, sothing about it intrigued him.
A creature like this… one born from the labyrinth's mana… one that wasn't supposed to be real, but was now reacting to him like a living being.
"So the monsters in here…" he murmured, eyes narrowing. "They're fake. Or at least created by the dungeon. But… they can still beco real sohow…"
He didn't have the full picture yet, but this was a hint. A thread he'd pull later.
For now, the blob had stopped pulsing.
It was trembling violently, its shape wobbling as if sothing inside it was changing.
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