After this short break to recover from our emotions, I asked with curiosity:
— Do you know how to harvest slime?
— You have to collect the fluid in bottles. Apparently, it's used to make many products like potions or lotions, Elise replied, starting to take a vial from her bag.
She knelt near the gelatinous puddle but had a lot of trouble collecting it. The fluid was so slimy and elusive that each time she tried to take it, it slipped through her fingers and fell back to the ground with a disgusting sound.
Elise certainly knew a lot of things, I wondered how she did it. I stepped forward to help her, then I remembered something and started to smile mischievously.
— Haven't you forgotten something, my dear Elise? I asked her, giving her a small, hesitant pat on the buttocks.
— Sorry, Master, I forgot, she said, wiggling her buttocks in front of me as if she wanted another spanking.
I was embarrassed by this situation; I just wanted to point out her oversight. Despite her efforts to collect the slime, she finally managed to grab it with her bare hands. I then saw her transfer it into the bottle, the slimy liquid suddenly falling and completely filling the container.
— It's not a big deal. But don't forget for this last day, I replied, stammering.
— I'm going to go pick the mushroom, Master. She headed towards the mushroom.
As she crouched, the lantern cast her shadow on the damp walls of the cave and highlighted her magnificent curves. I couldn't help but look at her: her dress molded her body, which made her buttocks and chest stand out. I began to feel heat rising within me.
Elise managed to retrieve the mushroom and put it in her bag.
— We can continue, Master, she said.
We noticed that it was a dead end. So we turned around and headed to the right at the intersection. We continued to move forward in this damp and narrow cave, then we saw another mushroom. We headed towards it, but we noticed a goblin.
I gestured to Elise to hide. The goblin hadn't seen us; it was walking straight towards the mushroom. This creature was a concentrate of horror. Barely taller than a child, its scrawny body was a sickly, almost translucent green, stained with ingrained grime. A simple, putrid, ill-fitting animal skin served as its loincloth, revealing dirty and pockmarked flesh. Everything about this silhouette inspired disgust, but it was its head that chilled the blood: a gleaming, bumpy skull, topped by a bulbous, disproportionately wide and twisted nose. Small, bloodshot eyes shone with a malevolent glimmer deep in its sunken sockets. Its ears, pointed like a bat's, trembled with every movement. And its mouth… a gaping slit from which sharp canines hung, still soiled with fresh meat scraps, proving its bestial and carnivorous nature.
My throat was knotted seeing this creature. Elise began to caress my back to reassure me.
— It's going to be okay, he's all alone. The two of us should be able to handle it, plus he only has a club, Elise whispered confidently.
I pulled myself together.
— Can you hit him from here with your light arrow?
— No, it's too far.
— I'll get closer slowly and you'll follow me. When the time is right, you'll shoot, and if he dodges, I'll block his blows.
I came out of hiding and started to approach the goblin who was looking at the mushroom with envy. Elise was right behind me. I walked slowly, and at one point, I stepped on a puddle of water from the cave's humidity. The goblin suddenly turned towards us, and its eyes filled with a lustful look.
— He saw us! Shoot! I shouted to Elise.
Elise reacted instantly. Her staff was ready, the luminous point shot straight at the goblin. The light arrow hit its scrawny leg. A dry crack resounded, making it howl in pain as it fell heavily onto the damp ground.
Without waiting, I charged at him, my sword already raised. He got up with an unexpected leap.
— HAAAAAAARGGG! the goblin screamed.
The goblin rushed at me. The scream froze my blood, but I managed to block the blow of its wooden club with my shield. The impact made my bones vibrate.
Taking advantage of the opening, Elise struck the goblin's bumpy skull with her staff. A dull thud, like an overripe fruit being crushed, but the beast was barely shaken. Its small, bloodshot eyes blazed with renewed fury.
— HAAAAAAAAARGGG! he re-screamed, pure rage in his voice.
He managed to get past my defense and hit Elise, who had a hard time blocking with her staff. The blow still caused her some damage.
I prepared my powerful sword strike. I brought my blade down with all the strength I could muster, aiming for the head. The goblin, though wounded, attempted a desperate backward movement. My sword still sliced, sinking into its filthy flesh, opening a deep gash that started from its torso and went down to its belly.
— HHAAAARRRRRR! the goblin howled, this time in panicked fear.
— Elise, finish him off! I shouted to Elise.
Elise, who was still recovering from the blow, aimed at the goblin, paralyzed by terror. Her hand trembled for a moment, then she shot. The light arrow filtered through the dark air, pierced its heart, and extinguished the beast on the spot. The scrawny body collapsed with a final gasp, a trickle of greenish blood spreading on the rocky ground.
— Are you okay, Elise? I asked with a worried and breathless voice.
— Yes, I'm okay, the blow hit my staff and the shock reached my arms, and you? she replied.
— I'm okay too.
We moved towards the goblin's corpse. A sour and musky smell, a mixture of blood, sweat, and grime, assaulted our nostrils. The scrawny body lay in a sticky pool of its own greenish blood, its small dead eyes staring into the void.
— We'll have to skin the goblin, the skin can be used to create armor or other things. The bones can be used to make potions, and we can keep the meat to eat later or give it to people in poor neighborhoods, Elise said, her nose wrinkled by a mixture of pragmatism and disgust.
The idea of touching that thing made me nauseous, but I knew it had to be done.
— I'll get to it then, I replied, my voice rougher than expected, taking a knife from my sheath.
I knelt down next to the beast, holding my breath. The sensation of its clammy and rough skin under my fingers made me shiver. With a firm hand, I planted the blade under its leg, tracing an incision along its flank. The blood, thick and nauseating, gushed out, warm and sticky. Every movement of the knife, every scraping of flesh against bone, was an effort. The skin peeled off in places with gooey noises, releasing putrid odors. I felt my hands slide on the greenish fat, the dirt embedding itself under my nails.
Once the skin was removed, a veil of pale muscles and glistening tendons appeared. I grabbed the goblin's broken club to break some bones more easily, the cracking sounds echoing strangely in the cave. Finally, with the last ounce of courage, I retrieved a few pieces of lean, already foul-smelling flesh. The task was finished. I backed away, my hands soiled and my heart heavy, wishing for only one thing: to find water to wash myself.
I gave Elise the mission to grind the bones to make powder. When we had retrieved everything we could from the goblin, Elise put away the mushroom. We only needed two more and we could leave.
We continued into this narrow cave. I was starting to get tired; I wanted to rest. This quest was harder than I thought. "Come on, we have to keep going," I told myself in my head to encourage myself.
— There's another mushroom! Elise said to me.
I ran towards the mushroom. Elise bent down to retrieve it.
Now, Elise had the hang of it and retrieved the mushroom quite quickly.
— Elise, we have a problem! I announced, my voice resonating with barely contained alarm.
In front of us, two gelatinous and translucent masses emerged from the darkness, moving slowly but inexorably towards us. Slimes. I tensed, my shield already ready, my muscles strained at the thought of parrying the blows of their sticky tentacles. Beside me, Elise didn't lose a second. Her charged staff pointed at one of the slimes, and I could see the light intensifying at the end of her wand, a sign that she was preparing her light arrow. The air became charged with an electrical tension, and the silence of the cave was broken only by the slight splotch of the slimes advancing.
Elise fired. Her light arrow, thin as a line, struck a tentacle of the slime which, cleanly severed, crashed to the ground with a disgusting thud. The slime's gelatinous body, despite the loss, came dangerously closer. Elise was already preparing a second arrow, her face concentrated.
But the second slime, the one that wasn't injured, lunged at me. I only had a fraction of a second to prepare to block its blow. Its tentacle, fast and viscous, shot out and struck my shield with all its force. The impact was brutal, a dull shock that made my bones vibrate and sent a searing pain up my arm.
Elise took advantage of this opening. Her second arrow, precise and dazzling, flew and pierced the slime, hitting it directly in its core. The creature shuddered and began to retract. But Elise, out of breath, was breathing loudly. She clearly didn't have many spells left to cast.
The first slime, although wounded, charged again. A new tentacle, smaller but just as fast as the old one, burst from its slimy mass and gave me a sharp kick to the foot that made me stumble. I fell heavily. Elise was about to cast another spell, but the slime threw itself at her with unexpected speed. She fired in an emergency, but her arrow only hit a part of the monster's body which, when hit, decomposed into a pestilential jelly.
The slime landed on Elise. Its gelatinous body began to insinuate itself into her respiratory tract, blocking her breath, trying to make her pass out. I struggled to get up, my ankle screaming. Without thinking, I charged at Elise, my eyes desperately searching for the core through the transparent mass of the monster. I finally found it, a luminous point in the heart of the jelly. I grabbed this core with my bare hands and, with all the strength I had left, I managed to break it.
When the core broke, the entire mass of the slime collapsed heavily on Elise, burying her under a warm and sticky jelly.
Elise, trapped, immediately began to cough violently, a hoarse and guttural sound. She was desperately trying to expel the slimy fluids of the slime that had flooded her throat, suffocating her. I rushed to her side, the pain of my sprained ankle almost forgotten in the urgency. I knelt on all fours on the damp ground and helped her to sit up slightly, her head wobbling. With my still trembling hand, I stroked her back with wide, firm gestures, patting her to help her spit. Gushes of thick, transparent liquid escaped from her mouth, crashing to the ground to form a disgusting puddle.
— Are you better? I asked, my heart pounding, my voice barely a whisper.
Elise slowly nodded, her eyes still veiled by the effort and past panic. She took a deep breath, then another, before finally being able to speak, her voice weak and raspy.
— Yes... Yes, it's good, I can breathe again, she replied, panting. I really thought I was going to die, Master. she told me, laughing.
— Master, aren't you hurt in the foot? she asked me, her soft voice breaking the tense silence.
— Yes, I replied, my voice still a little hoarse.
Without another word, Elise moved closer, her gaze resting for a moment on my swollen ankle. Then, she delicately placed her hand on the painful area. A gentle but intense warmth immediately spread from her fingers, enveloping my injury. The searing pain first faded into a tingling, then disappeared entirely, leaving my muscles relaxed. It was almost instantaneous.
Watching her, I noticed that the viscous slime fluid, although disgusting, made her strangely sexier. Her hair, damp and matted, hugged the curves of her magnificent face, framing her delicate features. Her dress, now coated with this gelatinous and translucent material, clung to her skin like a second skin, boldly highlighting her curves, especially her buttocks and chest, in an incredibly suggestive way. My eyes lingered for a moment too long, and a new warmth, very different from that of healing, began to rise within me.
— Come on, Master, we have to collect it! she told me, her voice betraying a certain impatience mixed with resignation.
This sentence woke me from my stupor. I looked at Elise; her eagerness was palpable, her eyes fixed on me with determination.
— We can only collect one, because the other is still on me, she replied, grimacing slightly. I hope I can take a shower soon! she added with a deeply disgusted tone. The slime was dripping down her dress, leaving glistening trails on the ground.
She headed towards the first slime we had killed. With a decisive movement, she gathered the gelatinous mass with her bare hands. The sticky, warm material stretched as she lifted it. She then quickly and abruptly poured it into a glass bottle.
— Ah! It's disgusting! she exclaimed, wiping away a patch of jelly that had splashed on her face.
She turned around and moved closer to me.
— You have to help me, Master, I can't hold back anymore, she told me, her voice strangely raspy and tinged with an almost feverish awkwardness.
— What do I have to do? I had barely stammered these words when she threw herself on me, sealing my lips with hers in an ardent kiss. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and her body, still gooey from the slime, pressed against mine with an unexpected force. I could feel every curve, every tense muscle under the clinging dress, and the viscous slime fluid, far from being disgusting in that moment, made the sensation strangely more intense, almost primitive.
After this deep and troubling kiss, she pulled back slightly, her warm breath on my cheek.
— Phew! That's a little better, she murmured, her gaze still feverish. But you have to promise me: as soon as we get out of here, I want you to fuck me like a monster! she added, a mischievous and provocative smile stretching her slightly swollen lips.
We continued our journey, the silence filled with this new tension. The cave reminded us of our goal: to find the last mushroom. Further on, a flickering glow caught our eye. We finally saw the desired mushroom. But right next to it, leaning against the damp wall, a person was sitting. She was sweating profusely, her skin glistening in the cave's humidity. Her features were drawn with pain, her body shaken by shivers, and a hoarse groan escaped her cracked lips. She clearly looked like she was suffering terribly.