Floor 4 – Part 1

The air shifted abruptly, signaling my arrival on the fourth floor.

As I blinked, the oppressive atmosphere of the previous level gave way to something far more sinister.

A fetid stench of decay and chemicals clung to the cavern's humid air. Faint luminescence from overhead fungus bathed the scene in an eerie green glow, casting unsettling shadows across the pits filled with churning slime.

Narrow stone ledges and precarious bridges crisscrossed the pits, their surfaces slick with condensation.

I closed my eyes, activating my spatial sense.

The ability, a gift from the goddess, allowed me to map the environment as if I were an all-seeing observer. Information flooded my mind instantly: the cavern was larger than the second floor by at least a kilometer.

My spatial radar pinged two anomalies—peculiar objects nestled in the far reaches of the cavern.

Their exact nature remained a mystery, compelling me to investigate.

Yet, there was no time for idle curiosity. The ledges and bridges crisscrossing the pits were perilously narrow, their surfaces slick with condensation.

One misstep, and I'd fall into the slime pits below—a mistake I had no intention of making. 

The first slime emerged from a nearby crack in the cavern floor, its gelatinous form undulating with a sickly green glow. It was definitely an advanced form of slime from what I have encountered before.

Its body shimmered as though alive with acid, and the very sight made my skin crawl. More slimes followed, their numbers multiplying with unnerving speed.

The system displayed reality to me as if on purpose.

[Welcome to Floor 4: Slime-Filled Pits.] 

[New Floor Rules Applied: Slime splits will reduce reward value. Use caution.] 

[Threat Detected: Harmless slime pits may turn otherwise. Acidic slime pits dissolve all organic and inorganic materials. Centipedes will soon be summoned after 5 minutes]

[Beware: Monster density has increased by 100%.] 

I steadied myself, muttering, "Unfair doesn't even begin to cover this." I felt a little grateful that it had informed me at least.

The system chimed in, cold and indifferent.

[Trial Protocol: Difficulty is proportional to growth potential. Complaints are irrelevant. And previous floor penalty is applied]

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk," I grumbled.

I focused, letting cosmic energy surge within me. "Space Crack!" I swiped my hand through the air, splitting space itself.

The rift cleaved through the first slime, reducing it to two smaller versions of itself. They quivered ominously before lunging toward me.

"Right, cosmic radiation is out of the question, and this splitting won't do" I murmured, sidestepping their attacks.

Another slime leapt at me, forcing a hasty retreat. I froze the space around it briefly, giving me a moment's reprieve.

But my sense tingled with warning. I could feel their gaze on me. From the cracks and pits, more slimes rose—only these were darker and more volatile, their forms hissing as acidic vapor escaped.

To make matters worse, the pits themselves began to shift, a nauseating ripple spreading across their surfaces.

They weren't just repositories of monsters; they were living entities, they began to consume the fellow slimes they had once spit out.

It was obvious that they compressing themselves into something far worse.

The rapid moments of the slime made me unable to intervene immediately. I had to be alert to their random attack bent on reducing me to nothing.

"This might be fun," I muttered under my breath, my voice tinged with a mix of sarcasm and grim determination. There was no way I would allow myself to die from this situation.

The smaller slimes didn't waste a moment, slithering toward me with surprising speed. I shifted backward onto one of the narrow stone ledges, careful not to lose my footing.

The pits to my far left and right bubbled ominously as they continued to compress. 

I visualized the space around the smaller slimes compressing. "Space Freeze!" 

The air shimmered, and the creatures froze mid-motion, their gelatinous forms locked in place.

I quickly created another space crack and swept it through the immobilized slimes. This time, I was careful to obliterate them entirely, ensuring no division could occur.

But the respite was short-lived. More slimes began to emerge, and I heard a new sound—a clicking, mechanical rhythm echoing from the walls. 

"Great. Now centipedes."

From cracks in the walls emerged another threat: giant centipedes. Their segmented bodies gleamed in the green light, their grotesque forms a hideous mockery of natural life.

Oozing venom dripped from their mandibles, sizzling where it touched stone. Their eyes, multifaceted and alien, locked onto me.

Their pincers clacked menacingly, and the venom dripping from their mandibles hissed as it hit the stone. 

I didn't need anyone to tell me that getting bitten by one of these things would end badly. There won't be a body left if that ever happened.

The first centipede lunged with terrifying speed. I twisted space just in time, elongating the distance between us. It drained my reserves at a terrifying pace.

But I could not even think about that as the centipede hissed, spraying venom into the air.

The gas it emitted spread rapidly, an acrid cloud that burned my lungs even from afar. I could feel my energy devouring the invader immediately which brought relief. I knew I could always count on it in times like this.

"Disgusting," I muttered, suppressing a gag as I retaliated. A spatial vortex materialized near the poison cloud, redirecting it into one of the slime pits.

The effect was immediate and catastrophic. The pit roared, its surface churning violently as the poison interacted with the acidic slime.

As if waiting, the pit spread it gelatinous liquid greedily absorbing the poison and even moved to eating the centipedes too. I had at last provided a meal for it to grow from.

I hurriedly dispatch the monsters that have gotten close to me while trying to prevent the pit from killing them.

But it was getting difficult as the pit shows unusual intelligence and agility. At last. It reverted the gelatinous liquid into itself after stealing a lot of prey.

I found the freedom to quickly kill the remaining monsters. The only fortunate thing is that there was no more slimes being summoned, but waves of centipedes were still being born from the cracks in the walls.

But separating me from the centipedes was the other slime pits which greedily killed the centipedes as if waiting for them.

The total number of them was 5. But I was not going to give up without a fight.

Time for something bigger. I extended both hands, drawing on my reserves. 

"Spatial Vortex." 

The air above the centipedes shimmered violently, distorting as space itself twisted into a spiraling void.

The pull was immediate and overwhelming, dragging the creatures into its center. Their bodies stretched and tore, caught in the vortex's relentless force. I succeeded in taking away their means of nutrition.

The vortex collapsed with a sharp crack, leaving nothing behind but faint wisps of energy.

For a moment, the bubbling pits seemed almost disappointed as they stopped moving. Before they began to cannibalize on themselves.

I knew any more moment that I allowed these monstrosities to have their way will result into something more dangerous.

But I also had to catch my breath, my mental exhaustion was piling up and my energy reserves were getting low. I was halfway past my total reserve pool.

But to my surprise the cannibalizing pits were already done by the time I noticed them.

Only one single pit survived, from the depths emerged a monstrosity—a single giant slime, its body towering and pulsating with malevolent energy and it big core moved endlessly inside it liquid body.

The whole pit had turned into giant dense slime.

[System Alert: Floor Boss Detected. Threat Level: High.]

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed, backpedaling. The system remained silent.

The giant slime loomed over me, its body quaking as it absorbed nearby centipede carcasses, growing larger and more menacing.

The centipedes hadn't stopped their assault either, new centipedes were still being born from the walls but the giant slime gladly put an end to them.

I concentrated, attempting to freeze the giant slime with spatial energy while it was focusing on the centipedes.

The air shimmered as space locked into place—but the slime resisted, its immense size and density breaking my hold.

But at least I got it attention as it sent long burst of acid towards my direction. Opening a crack won't do the job neither will freezing space.

Instead, I tried spatial elongation, twisting the distance between us. The giant slime roared in frustration as the space stretched unnaturally, temporarily halting its advance.

The acid burst melted the cavern floor as a dangerous hiss sound resonated.

The maneuver drained almost all my energy, leaving me gasping for breath.

Then came the moment of Desperation.

Panting, I collapsed to one knee, my reserves nearly depleted. I closed my eyes, trying to draw in natural cosmic energy to replenish my strength.

The air hummed with tension as the giant slime advanced, its gelatinous form shuddering with each ominous step.

It was now done with the centipedes, and I was the only prey still alive on this floor.

"Not yet," I whispered, gritting my teeth. The slime let out a guttural shriek, a sound that resonated deep in my bones.

My vision blurred as exhaustion set in. Things were not going the way I wanted them.

Then, the system chimed, its usual detached tone replaced by a deeper, foreboding resonance that seemed to seep into my very soul.

[System Override Detected. Communication Link Established: God of Order.]

The air grew oppressive, the cavern trembling as if reality itself had acknowledged a greater force. A faint pulse rippled through the atmosphere, sharp and cold, cutting through the humid air.

[Divine Message: Explorer's existence disrupts equilibrium. Intervention authorized. Casualty balance will be restored.]

A sense of dread clawed at my chest. I struggled to stand, but my body refused to cooperate. The system chimed again, this time tinged with an unnatural weight.

[System Update: Floor Boss Enhancement Commencing. All the other monsters will be consumed immediately!]

[Source: God of Order.]

The cavern trembled violently. The giant slime's form, already monstrous, began to shift. Its gelatinous body pulsed with a sickly luminescence as the faint golden light of the divine seeped into it.

The oppressive green glow of the cavern was swallowed by this unnatural radiance, twisting the atmosphere into something alien and terrifying.

The slime let out a guttural roar, its body expanding and condensing simultaneously, becoming denser and more volatile. Its surface bubbled with an acidic sheen so intense it distorted the air around it.

A halo of shimmering energy now surrounded the creature, crackling ominously as the divine power reshaped it into an even greater monstrosity. It was the king on this floor now.

The system's voice returned, colder than ever.

[Floor Boss Enhanced: Order-Cursed Slime. Threat Level: E-rank.]

[Survival Likelihood: Less than 1%.]

[System Notice: casualty compensation applied. Double rewards upon survival.]

"Great," I muttered, my voice barely audible over the rumbling cavern.

My legs wobbled as I forced myself upright, every instinct screaming at me to run, though I knew there was nowhere to go. My energy was still being replenished at this point.

The slime's transformation completed with a deafening roar, its body now brimming with disastrous energy.

Long, whip-like tendrils of acid lashed out, sizzling against the stone floor, carving deep grooves into the rock. Its core pulsed like a malevolent heart, radiating raw destructive intent.

The system chimed one last time, its tone carrying an undeniable finality.

[God of Order's Directive: Explorer must be eliminated.]

I clenched my fists, my breathing ragged but determined. The monster loomed larger than ever, a direct manifestation of divine wrath.

"Guess I'll just have to prove you wrong," I whispered, my voice defiant, even as the massive creature lunged, its body quaking with the force of its assault.