Syl

Chapter 77: Salamander

While continuing down the tunnel toward the scent and my ultimate goal, I did manage to come across a single rock elemental. It didn't notice me, and I managed to land a fully boosted [Permeable] on it. Now that it was primed and ready for my assault, I cast and held [Torrent] with Alpha while the rest paired up and held two empowered [Water Orbs].

We coordinated our attack, but the [Torrent] was far faster than anticipated and blasted through the rocky hide of the elemental. Chunks of rock were blasted under the high-velocity water, rapidly eroded into crumbled rock and mud when they struck against the walls. When the orbs hit, what little remained of its body was thoroughly soaked, and the orb's detonation from opposite ends rapidly crumbled what remained of its rocky hide into a muddy slurry.

I could see the elemental trying to reconstitute its form with [Mana Sight] as it desperately tried to flood the earthen slurry with its own mana. I could see the water interfering with its attempts; it was a rock elemental, not a mud elemental, after all. Combining [Sneak Attack] with a Debuff and another attack spell was a deadly combination. It was great to see my skills interacting, bringing back fond memories of when I combined multiple of my slime traits.

Speaking of my slime traits, I regretted hardly using them in this excursion. I had evolved and gained new strengths, but with my low skill levels, I had prioritized them. I could have simply engulfed the rock elemental and assaulted it with [Acid Slime], but then I'd gain experience, further advancing my class without allowing my skills to catch up.

I approached the elemental, rapidly burning through its mana, grabbed it with a pseudopod, and began to work on the [Dissection]. Any more spells risked shattering its valuable crystal, and if I wanted to purchase slime cores for myself, I needed all the money I could get.

'Still, I wonder what the salamander is even doing in a silver mine?'

Sneaking through, I eventually found a giant red lizard monster lazing on a pile of unrefined silver ore. It was currently snacking on the charred remains of a spider. Blackened bones and a few random weapons and tools surrounded the pile. I noticed four significantly melted remains of an elemental crystal.

'What, do you think you're a dragon or something sleeping on a treasure hoard?' I questioned.

The salamander was mainly red except coated in an outer layer of blackened scales that seemed to pulse a deep orange in tune with its breathing. It was about the size of an overgrown horse, definitely one of the most diminutive evolved monsters I'd ever encountered. I assumed it must be on par with the Earthshaker bear and myself regarding monster tier, although I also had almost twenty class levels to rely on.

I'd be taking full advantage of my skills here by starting the fight by laying down all the available debuffs and landing a major [Sneak Attack]. I started off with [Permeable], then [Erode], and finally [Flammable] just for the extra experience.

Shocked, I cast the spell three more times before it landed successfully. Being such a fire-based creature, I could only assume the world wasn't happy with me trying to lower its fire resistance - not that I planned on actually trying to damage it with [Fire Magic]. Thankfully, despite the salamander resisting the spell, my level in [Vanish] was too high for it to even notice what was going on.

My groundwork prepared, we coordinated three empowered [Water Orb] spells pushed to their maximum. I wanted all three to land simultaneously to ensure [Sneak Attack], and I was a little worried about [Torrent] potentially damaging its scales. With silent precision, we launched our spells at the salamander; it let out a horrendous shriek before it was silenced as its living space was flooded by three massive quantities of water. We immediately started creating another set of spells when I noticed a blinding heat source at the center of the flooded room.

I had to disable the trait as the white-hot coloring emanating was becoming blinding. The water in the room was rapidly transformed into steam as a fiery inferno burst outwards. We fired our three orbs again at the creature, briefly extinguishing the expanding flame before it reignited and evaporated the water. With all the steam and flame, the room must have felt like a sauna, and I was grateful that I wouldn't have to relive the experience of being boiled alive again.

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The salamander, now free from all the water, glared at its assailant, me. Its blackened scales no longer pulsed with an orange glow and instead blazed in a blueish white with hints of the previous orange. It let out a hissing screech full of reptilian rage as it unleashed a torrent of flame at me. The flames blanketed my body, and I could only smirk as they washed over me with no impact at all.

The creature must not have been able to sense what was transpiring under its blanket of flames, as when I snaked a pseudopod from behind to blast it with more water, it was caught completely unawares. I watched its eyes frantically dart towards where the attack came from. It expected a new foe, but my tendril had already snapped back into my form. I fired another water blast while it was distracted and could visibly see the shock on its face when I was completely unharmed.

Outraged at the transgression, the flames between its scales shone even brighter as it inhaled deeply. I tried firing some water into its mouth directly while presenting such an exploitable opening, but the water turned to vapor when it neared the vicinity of its toothy maw. It was frustrating to see how its flame had defeated my meager level of water magic, I had wanted to beat it with magic, but it appeared I'd need to overpower it with slime instead.

Before I could switch to attacking with slime, it completed what it attempted and unleashed another column of flame from its gullet, matching its scales in a gradient of blue-white-orange. The flames crashed into me. I felt no damage to my core, but this time, I could feel it was destroying my slime mass. I rapidly replaced the burnt-away slime with fresh slime from the storage and triggered [Slime Conversion] simultaneously.

I was about to flee from the flame when I had an epiphany. Instead, I changed my chimeric monstrosity skin into that of the greyish green of a hobgoblin and grabbed the [Fire Resistance] trait. The change was immediately noticeable, and the depleting slime mass halted; combining my newly borrowed trait and [Blaze Slime] gave me the fire immunity required to overcome this blue flame.

I could have attacked again, but I decided to instead wait as [Mana Sight] told me this creature was rapidly using up its natural supply to fuel its flame organ. I could see the mana flow from its extremities and focus down into a specialized organ inside its chest cavity. This attack was powerful but would cost it significantly, and then I'd strike while it was fatigued. My desire to watch how the creature's mana flowed gave me insight and led to another skill upgrade.

When the flames started dying, I could see the creature almost collapsing to the ground. It had expended far too much energy, but it must have wanted to ensure I was vaporized in its flame and wasn't willing to risk not giving its utmost effort. The molten rock around me had turned to a sort of lava, and the few present ores had turned into slag. Was this really a Silver-rank monster? Or had it evolved recently? I wouldn't have survived the encounter if I wasn't a slime, even if I was actively dodging. I certainly couldn't imagine anyone in Roderick's party surviving such an encounter, although admittedly, I'd never seen them fight seriously.

When I emerged unharmed from the flame, I could see the despair in the creature's eyes. Its blackened scales were no longer accented by the fiery glow but instead looked like the last coal embers. It tried to retreat, but I was far too fast for it as I promptly blocked off its retreat paths with tendrils. It tried lashing out with its front claws and even biting with its maw, which probably still held some threat to ordinary creatures; I'd give it a personal rating of more potent than the wolves but weaker than badgers.

It was straightforward for me to grab the creature by its limbs and lift it up so it was helpless. It flailed and tried launching some weakened flames, but nothing I couldn't handle. I engulfed the entire creature in slime; its natural body temperature was very high, and in desperation, I could feel it briefly flaring to some extreme temperatures. Compared to its hide, internally, it was fragile, and it died shortly after I invaded and turned up the acid. [Dissection] happily pointed out all the valuable parts.

I was a little disappointed I didn't gain a class level, too, but that was short-lived when I looked over the new profile of the creature. It had two traits that were both juicy targets for mimicry: [Inferno Sac], which was the improved version of [Fire Sac], and [Draconic Scales (Lesser)]. Being able to breathe fire was very impressive, and I couldn't wait to try it out, but the scales were fascinating.

Provides high defense and minor resistance to most elements, scaling with trait level.

Unlike true dragon scales, however, it does not provide magical resistance as your draconic lineage is far too distant and inadequate.>

I applied the scales to myself and admired them. Most surprising was that I could apply the trait to myself even when in a human or elven form, hinting that both races could have a bloodline with a dragon. I was just happy I had another trait I could use while adventuring without creating some elf-salamander hybrid form.

As for harvested goods, its flame organ, scales, claws, and fangs were all identified as valuable. I could feel [Dissection] proudly showing off the work of the preserved flame organ, which was by far the most valuable part. Despite being extracted, the organ still pulsed with a dangerous level of heat, definitely not for unprotected hands.

After depositing it all, I formed my own organ, filled it with mana, and let out a small belch of blue flame. While an immediate thought was creating a hydra of salamander heads, all belching fire, my freedom of form meant I could also, in theory, just place the organ in my arm and create my own channels to let it erupt from my hands.

I let my mind wander happily while scavenging what remained of the salamander's small treasure hoard.