Chapter 25- Traveling through the underground
Garett flew through the wall of fire.
The flames sizzled as his flesh cooked, but only for a moment as he came out on the other side of the wall an instant later.
[Player Garett: Burning]
[Player Ashley rolling for intelligence: 7]
[Player Garett is burning for 7 damage per second over 1 second inside the fire]
Garett of course had no time to react to the burning, as the second he landed the Wild earth burrower followed right after him.
The burrower erupted from the dirt, in the spot that Garett was standing before Trevor had pushed him, and followed Garett through the fire, narrowly grazing his shoulder with its sharp teeth.
[Player Garett: HP: 24/35]
The worm too was now burning as a roll determined the effect of the wall of flames.
[Player Ashley rolling for intelligence: 5]
[Earth burrower is burning for 5 damage per second over 1 second inside the fire. Magical resistance negates 2 of this damage]
The worm's outer skin burst into flames and it's silky skin oozed with a horrifying puss. Cysts and burns boiled, and the worm hurried to bury itself back in the ground.
[Player Garett HP: 17/35]
[Wild Earth Burrower HP: 27/30]
Garett quickly patted himself and the fire was put out, however his red skin was slightly darker in the places that the fire had spread.
Garett did not bother to complain nor yell at Trevor, for this situation was very similar to the one that happened a while back with Samantha.
The wall of fire had dissipated shortly after the worm had entered through it.
"Blue, put up a barrier or something!"
"Alright alright! Where?"
"There!!"
Trevor pointed at the ground below Samantha, and she quickly jumped upwards and placed a barrier below herself, landing on the glass and stepping on it.
[Player Samantha: MP: 32/40]
[Intelligence roll: 5]
The barrier lasted for 5 seconds, however before it gave out, there was a loud 'thunk' as the wild earth burrower hit the glass panel below Samantha, bearing its horrible fangs at her, opening it's mouth in an attempt to consume her.
"EEK!", Samantha screamed, and in a panic cast [Physical Resistance Down. (Lvl 2)] on the enemy.
[Intelligence roll: 5. Physical defense reduced to 2]
[Player Samantha: MP: 27/40]
"Ho? That's a good improvement, being able to make a rational decision even while panicking. You're learning, useless woman."
As Trevor said this, the barrier shattered, and the worm, which had been banging against it, took 2 arrows to the 'face'.
[Player Trevor uses [Powered shot] Dexterity roll: 4]
[Player Trevor MP: 28/30]
[Wild Earth Burrower HP: 24/30]
[Player Trevor uses [Powered shot] Dexterity roll: 5]
[Player Trevor MP: 26/30]
[Wild Earth Burrower HP: 20/30]
One arrow hit the worm inside its mouth, causing it extreme pain when it tried to close its mouth, and the other hit in in its face where eyes would be if it had them.
From both wounds, a white puss flowed. It seemed that this worm had this fluid instead of blood.
The worm had stopped its advance to attack Samantha- who was right next to it after jumping off of her barrier before it dissipated- due to being hit by the arrows, and it turned once more to hide back in the ground.
But Garett wasn't about to deal with that.
'As if I will let this thing escape when it's right in front of me'
Garett grabbed his club. His hand filled with pain from the burns, but he bit down and bore it. Picking up the wooden club, he brought it up and smashed it down onto the worm.
But it was too late.
The worm had disappeared from his sight by the time the club came down on the ground.
"Ah shit."
Garett said these words extremely calmly. It was such a calm tone that it was creepy. One would have never guessed that he was in a life or death situation based off the amount he seemed to not care about what just happened.
"Red? Whats going on over there?", Trevor asked. "I can't seem to get a read on the worm anymore!"
"I just realized what this thing has been trying to do this whole time. We thought it was blindly aiming for us, but that couldn't have been any more wrong."
Garett grinned horrifyingly, as he jumped backwards, freefall style.
"We got a bad roll guys. Better get out of the way while you can."
"What do you mean!?", Samantha shouted, but Trevor had realized it before her and jumped at her, grabbing her and getting her out of the way.
Ashley floated over behind Garett to catch him, and just as this happened the earth beneath them caved in.
----
"Another cave in!?", Samantha shouted as her and Trevor were just barely hanging from an edge, hugging each other.
"No time to think woman. If you have time to complain then help me pull us up from here"
Garett and Ashley both crawled over to the edge and grabbed the hands of Trevor and Samantha respectively, pulling them up. Inside the crater that had caved in, the worm seemed to be waiting below for them to fall into its jaws, but that did not happen.
Garett seemed to be enjoying himself. A lot.
His face was filled with a sadistic and enthusiastic grin, as if he couldn't take the suspense and truly had gone nuts because of it.
"If you become a burden to us because you enjoy almost dying so much then that's going to be a problem, red.", Trevor lectured.
"Don't worry. I'm completely sane right now. Nothing could be better"
His words said one thing while his eyes said another.
As Garett said this, he took his club and threw it at the monster, who was waiting below, almost looking a little disappointed.
The club hit the monster square in the jaw, causing some more white puss to spew from the openings where the arrows had lodged themselves.
[Player Garett: Dexterity and Strength Averaged Roll: Strength: 6 Dexterity: 2 Average: 4]
[Wild Earth Burrower: HP: 18/30]
The worm wasn't exactly affected by the club, however Garett was now weaponless.
"What are you... nevermind. Ghost girl, as usual we have to depend on your firepower."
Ashley nodded and stood forward at the edge of the cliff, and started to throw fireball after fireball at the monster inside the pit.
[Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!]
One after another the balls of fire formed in each hand and she threw them down into the pit as if she was throwing dodgeballs at a defenseless person who had fallen to the ground, continuously pegging them without allowing them to so much as stand or beg for mercy.
[Intelligence roll: 21]
[Intelligence roll: 14]
[Intelligence roll: 6]
It was complete overkill.
An enormous ball of fire large enough to fill the entire pit erupted at first, completely charring the dirt and killing the creature. The second and third fireballs completely wreaked havoc on the surroundings, however when the smoke cleared, the body of the worm laid there dead but relatively in tact.
[Wild Earth Burrower: HP: 0/30]
[Player Ashley MP: 45/60]
"Theres no stage 2 right... right?", Samantha asked.
"Not every monster has a stage 2.", Ashley replied.
"That was thrilling"
Garett seemed to be intrigued by the random element which completely determined the effectiveness of their techniques.
"Even so... it really does seem that Ashley is the only member here who is capable of dealing a ton of damage... Trevor you need to hurry up and get on her level."
Trevor sighed.
"As if you have anything to say to me. I am the one who deals with the negotiations. Without me who knows how things would have gone in the slime village."
"Haha... perhaps you're right. I suppose I'm the only one really holding us back these days..."
"That's not true, Garett. Your crafting abilities have proven useful already, and surely will do so in the future." Ashley tried to comfort him.
"She is right. We each should simply stick to what we do best... still, thank you for always taking the battle into your own hands... it seems that we happen to be incompetent on our own." Trevor stated.
Ashley didn't really know what to say at being praised. She simply looked down and stayed silent.
"Lets see if we can loot anything off this guy", Garett proposed.
Before they could loot however, a message popped up.
[You have defeated an enemy of a higher level than you. Bonus experience!]
[Level Up!] Lvl 8
[Level Up!] Lvl 9
Current Party experience: [0/50]
----
[Player Garett: Strength +5, Charisma +4, Perception +2]
[Strength: 13]
[Dexterity: 2]
[Perception: 3]
[Charisma: 7]
[Intelligence: 6]
[HP 50/50 MP 25/25]
[New tools added to toolbox- hunting knife and skinning tools]
[Player Trevor: Strength +5, Dexterity +8, Perception +6, Charisma +4, Intelligence +7]
[Strength: 10]
[Dexterity: 20] (-1 For Suit)
[Perception: 14]
[Charisma: 10] (+5 with cultured beings)
[Intelligence: 16]
[HP35/35/ MP 35/35]
[Powered shot has leveled up to level 2. Cost: 5 MP. +5 Damage to bow shot]
[Beast slayer has evolved to beast eradicator. +100% damage against beasts]
[Player Samantha: Strength +2, Deterity +2, Perception +4, Charisma +10, Intelligence +6]
[Strength: 7]
[Dexterity: 7]
[Perception: 10]
[Charisma: 22] (+5 Halo)
[Intelligence: 16]
[Current Status: HP 30/30 MP 50/50]
[Heal has leveled up to Lvl 2. Cost: 5 MP, Heals 10 HP]
[New skill: Deception (Lvl 1). Change the way one or all of your party members appear to others. Cost: 10 MP. Roll based on average between charisma and intelligence. Lasts 2 minutes for every point rolled, unless canceled by user. Upgrades to illusion.]
[Player Ashley: Strength +2, Dexterity +3, Perception +2. Charisma +1, Intelligence +15]
[Strength: 8](+5 Against Defenseless)
[Dexterity: 8]
[Perception: 10]
[Charisma: 3] (+5 with lawful beings)(+5 Wish subjects)
[Intelligence: 38]
[HP 30/30 MP 80/80]
[Fireball has leveled up to level 3. MP: 5 Damage=1.5*Int Roll]
[Wall of fire has leveled up to lvl 2. Costs 10 MP, lasts 2 seconds for every intelligence point rolled. Damage taken is based on another intelligence roll, and is calculated based on number of seconds that the enemy remains within the wall of fire]
The levelups this time around were getting out of hand. Even Garett had improved more than before, though not by that much. He had gained a new tool for his toolbox though. He assumed that the hunters knife would be used to collect materials from corpses and hunted animals.
Even though Garett had not improved much, with the new skills and abilities, Trevor would no longer have any issues dealing massive amounts of damage to enemies.
That said nothing of Ashley's ridiculous powerup though.
15 Intelligence points!? Garett was flattered when he saw this. She was already single handedly dealing over 70% of the damage for the entire party, and now she was even stronger!?
'Well, as long as she's with us, it's actually better for her to be stronger', Garett thought.
There was one more thing that interested Garett, and this was the [Deception] skill that Samantha had obtained. It said that it would allow them to change their appearance. Perhaps this could come in handy if they came into contact with any more humans.
Garett and Trevor discussed the implications of these new skills briefly, while the other two listened, and then the group looked over to the side of the cliff.
"We could just jump down... it is only a few meters... though perhaps that would be a bad idea..." Trevor suggested.
"Why jump when you can float?", Ashley said monotone, as she grabbed Garett by the collar of his shirt and floated down the edge slowly.
"I'm... eck!! Agh!! You're choking me!!"
"Ah be quiet and deal with it. Isn't it your fault that we were trapped under here?"
Ashley said this with a crisp smile, but it was not a mean one. She cared about Garett and was only messing around with him.
After dropping Garett she then floated back up, slowly, and grabbed the other two to bring them down.
Garett wondered how they would get out of here at first, but now realized that Ashley could just carry them back up.
He walked over to the burnt corpse of the worm like creature, and a message appeared when he came close.
[Would you like to disassemble the Wild Earth Burrower?]
[Yes]
And with that, the toolbox visualized and the pocket knife floated into Garett's hand. He began cutting it up like a master chef, slicing off skin, meat, bones, and fangs, and collecting each of them in his inventory.
[Obtained Earth Burrower drops. 10 Fangs, 6 pieces of flesh, 8 large bones, and 5 spools of silk.]
{Recipes unlocked. Blueprints awaiting design]
Blueprints awaiting design? Perhaps if Garett could think up a use for these materials, he would then be able to try to craft with them. He would have to try to think up some uses for the materials.
But after seeing the meat, Garett, Ashley, Samantha, and Trevor, remembered something very important that they had been forgetting.
It had been very chaotic since taking over the slime village the other day.
"Ah!" They all said simultaneously.
"We haven't eaten anything!!!"
----
A fire crackled from the hand of Ashley as she cooked 2 of the pieces of flesh. They were large enough that half of one would fill even a starving person.
[Player Ashley: MP: 75/80]
Garett was the one holding them because for some odd reason, when the other tried to hold the pieces over the fire, an error occurred.
[Error. Only craftsmen may do any form of manipulation of items properties. Cooking is included in this]
So it seemed that while the others were allowed to help out in the preparations of crafting items, such as the crushing of herbs for the potions, they were not allowed to do anything that would actually create a finished product.
This gave Garett a slight amount of confidence, as he no longer felt useless.
Well, it was more like he was able to do some extremely simple tasks that for some reason everyone else was banished from doing.
It was kind of like when everyone left the easy job for the slow guy, and if they did it for him they would get scolded because he was unable to get any other work done, and thus he would be doing nothing if someone else did the job for him.
Even so, Garett was pleased that the party would likely not be able to function properly without him. Or at least, they would have a lot more issues than they did now.
They would have to rely on others outside the party for things like cooking, and if they couldn't find anyone, what would they do? The slimes had no compelling need for food, and as a result did not cook much. They were able to obtain most of their nutrients naturally by consuming vegetation or other materials.
"Heh heh... perhaps the roll I got wasn't so bad after all..."
Samantha was looking at the food with a disgusted look.
"Do I... really have to eat that? Its... that's a worm! That's... ugh...."
"No, woman. You don't have to eat it. You have another option." Trevor offered.
"Another option? What is it?!"
"To starve."
"Urg!"
Aside from Samantha, the other three burst out laughing.
"If you don't suck up your pride and eat this worm then you'll probably die."
"Even if it looks nasty and is covered in blood and puss it can't be that bad, right?"
"Even if it is, it's better than dying. Down the hatch."
Trevor took one of the puss covered pieces of white flesh, and slid it down his throat in a single motion.
"Kinda salty. Not bad"
Garett seemed to struggle to wolf it down, and then started beating his chest like he needed some water.
"Ugh! That was horrible!"
"No point complaining. That's your cooking, you know."
Ashley too gulped down the meat, and one could see it's outline through her transparent skin as she swallowed it.
"You think I'll eat one after seeing that!?"
"Don't make me knock you out and feed it to you through a feeding tube. If you don't eat it then you'll slow us down. Now, take it"
Trevor handed Samantha her share, and she held it up looking at it, completely disgusted and horrified.
"AH!! WHATEVER!! Were monsters now! This should be nothing for us!"
She tore at it with her sharp fangs, eating like a pig. After she had finished, she looked like she was about to puke, but she held it in even after gagging a few times.
"I'm sick of being a monster... why can't we live like we did when we were humans..."
Trevor put his hand on Samantha's shoulder.
"We won't ever be able to live like we used to."
Looking up, Trevor smiled ever so slightly.
"But someday we might be able to live even better"
----
While the others sat down and were resting inside the caved in sinkhole, Garett was tinkering with the items he had obtained.
He ended up creating a blueprint for his club, which he had retrieved, as well as some basic clothing.
He had created a blueprint that would allow him to attach the fangs he collected to the club, using the puss as an adhesive. After put under low heat, the puss became dry and sticky, which Ashley helped him to test with.
[Fanged Club Crafted from wooden club]
[Strength +4]
He also discovered that he was able to use one of the sections of his hunting knife, which by the way had many different compartments and tools like a Swiss army knife, as a tool used to weave thread. After doing some work for a while, he had crafted 4 outfits from the silk. It looked like chain mail, but made of thread, however the thread was extremely durable.
When he tried to tear or even cut it, it was able to withstand the blade of his knife.
[Silk Armor. Physical Damage Resistance +5, Magic Resistance +2]
While Garett had been working for a long time on the Silk armor, the others were resting up and regaining their health and mana slowly over time. It seemed that resting would allow them to slowly regenerate.
Garett made many mistakes and had a large amount of bad dexterity rolls while crafting the armor, and as a result his fingers were littered with cuts from slips with the knife, but because the thread did not cut easily, he never lost or wasted any material, and as such was able to eventually produce 4 of them.
With their backs turned, each of the members changed into the silk armor. He made dress variations for Ashley and Samantha, and Shirt/Pants variations for himself and Trevor.
"This is an insult to any sense of fashion..." Samantha complained.
"We're all matching. Now we look like a real team" Ashley said in a quiet voice.
"The statistics on these are higher than that of anything we have previously used. They will benefit us the most if we get into further battles", Trevor analyzed.
"This is the best I can do with what I have. For now, we are just gonna have to look like a group of cocoons that happened to sprout arms and legs", Garett replied to Samantha.
That was exactly what they looked like.
It was as if they were insects that spiders had wrapped up- but instead of just wrapping them up in a single elliptical shape, the wool was in the shape of clothing, with protrusions for arms legs and heads.
"What are we going to do if anyone sees us like this!? We will become a laughing stock!!"
"In this world, strength matters a lot more than fashion. If we put them in their place while wearing these, they wouldn't be able to deny that they got beat by a walking cocoon."
Garett let out a 'Pfft' as he said this, imagining the humiliation someone would have losing to them while wearing something that looked so out of the ordinary.
"I would like to do that", Ashley commented.
"Looks like we might have to now..."
"Absolutely not!!! I will use my deception spell to change out appearances if any humans come near us like this!!!"
"Do as you want"
Garett and Ashley continued laughing as they daydreamed up all the scenarios that they could make fun of others while looking like this.
Trevor, on the other hand, was calculating carefully what to do next.
The group rested up, and Samantha casted some healing on Garett's hand, and eventually, they were all carried out of the cliff by Ashley and ready to continue exploring.
"Things might become dangerous, so we had better keep an eye out. We likely are not even in the actual cave yet." Trevor warned.
And so, the group set out to continue exploring.