The smaller slimes wobbled toward me, and suddenly the room got smaller. Slime Prime stood steady at the back like a boss commanding its minions. So, after a little stun, it wanted to lay back for a bit and send its minions to corner me. How cowardly.
'Okay... okay, think.'
At the current moment, I was standing in a watery tunnel. Lightning was my main ability, and I had a conductor in both the water around me and the silver chain. But the question was: would the slime conduct the electricity, or absorb it?
The appraisal said that it could disperse physical damage and redistribute mass. My lightning attacks were elemental, not physical, but so far they had just stunned the big thing.
Well, anyway, it was clear that brute force was pointless.
Which meant I needed something else. Perhaps if I could predict the slime's movement, I could better test my attacks. The idea of narrowly dodging death by a hair-breadth, then countering, didn't sound very appealing.
I needed something that would make the monsters commit to a predictable movement pattern.
My eyes flicked to the silver chain tucked in my hoodie pocket.
Then to my backpack in the water. Words from Mr. B started ringing through my head.
"Blood trackers!"
It was at this moment my plan formed fully. It was a terrible plan, a risky one. But it was all that I could think of at the moment.
If I survived this, I'd make sure to make a thread post titled, "How I Got Nearly Dissolved for a Strategy That Shouldn't Have Worked."
'Hahaha.' Here I was, possibly facing impending death, and the only thing that I could think about right now was shitposting on the forum.
"…Alright," I muttered. "Here goes Operation Redbull."
One of the small slimes lunged. Wow, it waited for me to formulate my idea. How kind.
I yanked the chain out of my pocket and swung it wide.
The links clinked, glinting in the dungeon light.
The slime hit the chain mid-air—
—and the chain bit into it, sinking slightly into the gel like it was cutting through thick jelly.
Gross.
I gagged.
Then I forced my hand forward and triggered Lightning Burst again, sending a tight discharge straight down the chain.
ZZT—KRAK!
The electricity traveled through the silver like it had been waiting its whole life for this.
The small slime convulsed violently, bubbling like boiling water.
It let out a sound that wasn't a scream, but somehow felt like one.
Then it burst into sloppy fragments that splashed into the water with a wet slap.
I froze.
Then looked at the chain in my hand.
Then looked back at the dissolved slime.
"…Hahahaha. It worked!"
My chain crackled faintly, electricity licking along the links for a second before fading.
So it worked on the smaller slime, but wasn't effective enough on the bigger Slime Prime. 'Interesting.'
[Slime Prime Jr Slain. 10 EXP Gained. Points Gained: +2]
Upon seeing their companion meet their demise, the two remaining small slimes hesitated.
However, the same could not be said for Slime Prime.
Its whole body pulsed, and the chamber water rippled again.
I think it was mad.
Good.
Angry things were stupid.
Angry things charged.
I raised my backpack with my free hand, half submerged, and my eyes narrowed.
The next part of the plan required something I didn't want to do, but had to.
'Hopefully this works.'
I scraped my hand against the rough rock fragments that had spread out from the slime's previous attacks.
Stone met skin as a sharp pain spread down my hand. Blood slowly leaked from the wound, dripping down onto the floor.
"Damn, this hurts!"
I smeared the wound against the front of the backpack, using it as a makeshift cloth to absorb most of the blood. This would be my double-edged sword.
Blood welled immediately into the bag fabric.
Enough for what I needed. It was time. I lifted the bag.
"HEY," I yelled, voice echoing around the chamber. "SLIME PRIME!"
There was no response.
'Oh yeah these things are almost deaf, whoops.'
Sometimes I felt like a real idiot. Anyway words didn't have to be said, the bag grabbed the slimes undivided attention.
Their mass shifted.
The smaller slimes wobbled excitedly.
I waved the backpack like I was trying to summon a taxi.
"YOU WANT THIS?" I shouted. "COME GET IT!"
I couldn't believe I was taunting a slime with my own blood.
But the effect was instant.
Slime Prime's body compressed, harder than before.
This time it didn't go diagonally, flank or split. Instead, it locked onto the backpack like I'd just dangled like its favourite snack in front of it.
And then it charged.
Straight, fast, and violent. Like a bull seeing red, it charged straight for the bag, its split forms hopping slowly behind.
My heart jumped.
"Oh my GOD, it worked—"
I waited until the slime approached mere millimetres away from me, then let go of the bag dodging sideways at the last second, letting the slime commit fully to the line.
Slime Prime slammed into the backpack instead of me—
—and the backpack hit the floor, blood smearing across the water like a trail.
Slime Prime absorbed part of the bag immediately, gel sticking to fabric.
Its mass anchored for a half-beat.
That was all I needed.
I lunged forward and whipped the chain around, throwing it like a lasso.
The links wrapped partially around the slime's front edge, embedding into the gel.
I gritted my teeth, planting my feet in the water and my other hand into the water.
"Okay," I hissed. "Come on, lightning."
I fired Lightning Burst again, this time from both my feet and other arm as the nexus point forcing the discharge through my body and down the chain.
ZZZZT—KRAAAK!
The electricity surged through my body and into the chain, the water amplifying it. I'd just turned myself into a living extension cord.
A violent snap bit straight through bone and into my teeth.
Every nerve lit at once, like someone had hooked barbed wire to my veins and yanked. My fingers spasmed so hard I thought they'd tear off the chain, my shoulder locking as a hot, white jolt ripped down my spine and made my vision pop with little black stars.
I couldn't even scream properly.
It came out as a strangled, breathless sound, my throat clamping shut like my body was trying to protect itself from me.
For a terrifying second, I honestly thought that I was going to die.
Then the sensation shifted.
The brutal, tearing shock didn't vanish, but it stopped being a knife and became a pressure. It spread through my muscles like a hard, vibrating current that I could feel and guide.
A message flashed across my vision, crisp and smug.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Trait Unlocked: Lightning Rod (Lv.1)
Description: Reduces self-inflicted electrical backlash when conducting electricity.
Note: Resistance is not immunity. Don't get too stupid or you might die.
I sucked in a ragged breath, my whole body trembling.
"Oh," I rasped. "Thank you. Love the timing."
The remaining pain finally settled.
But the current kept flowing.
Through me and through the chain, with its final target being Slime Prime.
'Let's hope your resistance is as good as mine, buddy.'
The silver links flared, crackling brighter than they had ever shone before, and when the charge hit the slime's gel body, it didn't just lick the surface like last time.
It spread.
The slime's translucent mass lit up with branching white veins, lightning crawling through it like a storm trapped under glass. The water around its base sparked in frantic bursts, ripples jumping outward.
Slime Prime convulsed.
Its body tried to redistribute, to absorb, but it wasn't enough—
It was facing the full blunt force of my electric attack.
Realising that the ten-second cooldown was complete, I stacked another lightning attack. The system warning flashing faintly in the corner like it was sweating. A heavy strain was being put on my body.
I pulled the chain tighter and gave one final burst.
KRAK—ZZT!
Slime Prime's entire body spasmed, then collapsed inward like a deflated balloon.
A wet whoomp echoed through the chamber.
The massive gel bulk sagged, then split, then melted into a pool of twitching sludge.
The remaining two small slimes froze…
Then dissolved too, as if their parent had been holding them together through spite alone.
Silence fell.
Only dripping remained.
Drip... drip... drip...
I stood there, panting, chain hanging from my hand, backpack ruined, palm bleeding.
For three full seconds, I didn't move.
Then I slowly raised my head and stared at the puddle that used to be Slime Prime.
"…I just jumped a D-rank slime," I whispered.
The system chimed.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Entity Slain: Slime Prime. 50 EXP Gained. Core Level increased 2 >> 1. Stat Points gained: +10
I blinked.
Then I started laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because if I didn't laugh, I was going to scream.
"Hah... hah..." I wheezed, wiping my forehead with the sleeve that wasn't slimed. "Beginner dungeon. Sure. Totally."
The dungeon remained indifferent. All that remained on the floor was a glowing blue monster core. This was my yield from today's victory. The blue core shone brightly, a token of the win.
I lifted the core like a trophy.
"Today humanity has won against the slimes."
Now that the miniboss had been complete, it was time to clear out the rest of the stupid slimes and leeches and take on the dungeon boss.