Syl

Chapter 86: Claims

"Your stupid slime killed my salamander." A disgruntled youthful boy said scornfully.

"It ate him and harvested him for parts, too. Quite pathetic," a womanly voice, filled with amusement, said with a chuckle.

"Now, now. There were no rules against the experiments killing each other; the only thing was preventing any of us or our staff from directly interfering." An elderly voice replied, trying to defuse the situation.

"It feels unfair that your slime has class levels." The boy complained.

"My demon has class levels." A voice countered.

"My subject does as well." Another added.

"Even my moping sack of shit has one. Who cares?"

"You're all so lucky... Mine still hasn't even left the ocean... Just keeps hiding in its shell." A dismayed voice replied.

"Well... Still, you gave it too many traits!" The boy swapped his form of attack.

"Indeed. I've confirmed as well. There is no foul play." The womanly voice responded.

"Also, with how lost he was to his instincts, adventurers would have dealt with him anyway. At least this way, he got to grow another experiment." The elder pointed out.

"You bastard..." The boy muttered in outrage through gritted teeth.

"Besides, I'd sooner complain about the literal dragon than a little slime." Another voice added.

"Don't mock my slime. You should see how much it's got stored away. I'd hardly call it little."

"Yes, yes... I'm sure it's quite the glutton."

"Remind me why we agreed to allow a dragon?" A voice interrupted.

"I believe the argument was that it's starting as a baby, which should be enough of a handicap."

"Really? In adventurer terms, even a baby dragon is a Silver-rank threat. That hardly sounds like a handicap."

There was an awkward silence before someone cleared their throat and finally responded, "In our defense, when we accepted the condition, none of us had worked on dragons before or in a very long time."

"You know... There was a saying in my old world: ignorance of the law excuses not."

After that statement, there was a loud kerfuffle and plenty of shouting and curses before a loud whistle broke the chaos.

"Look. What's done is done." The elderly voice said, "If you want to prevent the likelihood of our experiments killing each other, I believe I have a solution. I believe the mistake was not giving them [Universal Language] at the start. My own subject was extremely upset about that."

"You have a point. We originally excluded it to prevent contamination, but the experiment has been going on long enough that giving it now shouldn't interfere."

"I mean, they could just work to get a class. It doesn't feel right to give the slackers a free skill."

"Do you honestly expect his crab to ever get a class?"

"Hey... I'm sure he will eventually stop collecting shells."

"Look at it this way; it might prevent your subject from becoming dragon food in the future."

"You raise a point... But I still don't think it should be free."

"What if we give the ones who earned it beforehand a skill point?"

"I guess that's fine."

"Agreed."

"Same."

"Likewise."

"Approved."

"I bet my slime will freak out at randomly gaining a skill point."

"Is it really that neurotic?"

"You have no idea..."

"Gramps?" Odark asked.

"Yeah, Gramps. The voice that speaks to us when we evolve? Probably asked you to join this experiment?" I asked, curious about his unique experience.

"I didn't know his name was Gramps..."

"Well, I don't know if that's actually his name, but he sounds like a Grandfather, so that's what I call him," I stated, my voice filled with a mix of uncertainty and conviction. "He's never corrected it, so I assumed he was happy with it."

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"Wait. My voice doesn't sound like a Grandfather at all." Odark objected, "If anything, mine sounds like a raging drunk. He's always whining that I'm losing him bets."

"I guess you got a different God. I usually complain about Gramps being cryptic, but judging by your situation, I suppose it could have been worse," I mused, acknowledging the stark contrast in our experiences.

"I'm surprised you can even converse with yours. I just get shouted at." Odark said dejectedly, his subtle demeanor betraying his monstrous appearance.

"Did you get given any instructions or goals? I got told to explore the world."

"It's been a long time since I spoke with him, but he only said I needed to level up quicker."

"Well, if you want to do that, you should try to find a dungeon. That's where I gained the most levels in rapid succession other than finding and fighting a big evolved monster."

"Is that why your race level is so high?" He asked.

"Partially... I was born without a class, and it took ages for me to acquire one."

The shock and surprise on his face were palpable. "That's... Wow..." He struggled to find the words, "I'm honestly surprised you even survived. That's like missing half of yourself."

Maybe he was more trusting than me because he opened up after I told him that. He told me how he was born an orc shaman, which was vital in keeping him alive from the other newly spawned orcs trying to prove their worth. Unlike the others, the chieftain couldn't change his experience distribution, so he was forced to gain more race levels than class levels and always felt like he was falling behind the others.

I told him it was due to the experiment and that I couldn't change my distribution either. His reaction to this information was like being forced to swallow horrendous medicine. Since he was forced to gain more race levels than his brethren, he had no choice but to try to train his skills as much as possible manually, as he didn't have the excess skill points from class levels to excessively spend. However, things changed for him when he reached twenty and evolved. He had a few orc mutation options but picked the troll evolution, which, from the description, was a higher-tier species.

His evolution gave him new strength, and when he seized leadership, he entered the period of his most explosive growth. He was constantly challenged and forced to kill, which led to him gaining many levels until he grew tired of it all and forfeited his position. It sounded absolutely barbaric, and he would even be attacked in his sleep by the more conniving orcs. I was staggered by how much he poured out on me; he seemed desperate for someone to vent his frustrations.

"I'm surprised you've stayed with them."

"Where else would I go, looking like this?"

I tried to answer him, but I couldn't think of anything. The best he could maybe do was hope for an evolution or mutation that would allow him to change form, but I didn't know how feasible that was, and I didn't want to give him false hope. Regardless, if he stayed with the orcs or couldn't convince them to leave, the adventurers would slaughter him with them when they were eventually discovered.

The awkward silence was interrupted by screams and wails echoing through the underground tunnel complex. Odark's mood plummeted, and he stared at the ground.

"Oh no... Not more..." He muttered under his breath.

"More what?" I asked.

"Claims..."

I remembered what the orcs said about me and how the ones on the road had tried to capture me. A horrid feeling welled inside me, and I sprinted out the door to the source of the cries.

"Hey! You can't!" Odark tried to protest.

I ran unimpeded through the crowd by either dodging or simply sliding through the gaps with my malleable form. I hoped my gut was wrong, but I couldn't help but feel dread as I got closer and heard sobs and pleading amongst the cries.

A group of women and children were tied up and looking beaten. [Identify] showed them as merchants or crafters, none of their levels above single digits. A guttural feeling of hatred swelled inside of me. Maybe it was hypocritical since I had killed humans before, but those were adventurers seeking battle. I didn't mind the orcs fighting adventurers, as they would naturally conflict, but these were defenseless noncombatants.

"Hey, it looks like one of the claims escaped!" An orc said and grabbed my shoulder from behind.

I spun around and reflexively transformed my arm into a blade armed with [Acid Slime], [Blaze Slime], [Mana Reinforcement], and the highest compression available. The orc had no time to react as the blade cleaved straight through his neck, sending his head careening through the air. There were gasps, shocks, and even chuckles from the orcs. Some mocked the orc for dying so pathetically.

One of the captured women spotted me and, with tears in her eyes, pleaded, "Please save my children!" before one of the orc capturers backhanded her, and her body crumpled into unconsciousness.

Some of the orcs laughed at her final cry, but I was already churning mana through the [Inferno Sac]. One of the orcs ordered me captured, although the nearby crowd was already approaching me before the order even arrived, each one with a glint of desire in their bestial eyes. With the roiling flames built up in the organ from my rapidly available mana, I opened pathways along my torso and limbs and vented the blue flame around me.

The orcs immediately around me were vaporized in the intense flame, while the others nearby were charred lumps. While the orcs didn't have high levels, the startling ease at which they fell to the blue flame made me realize why Luke and Lisa were so worried about me fighting the salamander. Unfortunately, my robe was lost to the attack, revealing the draconic scales that coated my form, which, now that they were shown, I spread to cover the rest of any exposed skin.

"Release them, and I'll let the rest of you live!" I demanded, pointing towards the orcs that held the prisoners.

"That's no claim!"

"It's some lizard thing!"

"Kill it!"

The orcs started shouting, completely ignoring my demands. Some threw weapons at me while the shamans cast spells that launched rocks at me. While keeping them distracted with spells and weapons forming in my hands with help from Epsilon, I dedicated Alpha to control tendrils and snake them along the ground to attack the orcs holding the prisoners. Meanwhile, I had Beta, Gamma, and Delta coordinating to empower a [Bubble] spell on the prisoners once the orcs were removed from their vicinity.

When Alpha sent the signal, we all coordinated together. Tendrils grabbed the orcs by the legs and dragged them toward me and away from the prisoners. Ropes and bindings were cut with tiny and well-placed shots of acid slime to prevent the captives from being dragged with them. Then, the water barrier was cast and rapidly formed, the speed and complexity easily overshadowing my work on the caravans. I hoped it would be enough to protect them from any collateral damage, but I dared not go too overboard with the [Inferno Sac] or pull off the explosion I did in the mineshaft. Releasing poison gas through [Vaporize Slime] was another option I considered, but the threat to myself didn't warrant it right now, and I didn't want to gamble [Bubble] being able to stop it or not - even though I was confident it would.

"Stop!" A voice shouted and pleaded throughout the din of battle, "Stop fighting!"

But the orcs just continued attacking. Despite the deaths and the grievous wounds, they all seemed elated and reveled in the thrill of battle. If their weapon broke on my mana-reinforced scales, they instead used their fists. If their dominant arm was limp and broken, they'd effortlessly swap to the other and continue. If their legs were crippled or severed, they would crawl towards me. Their shamans launched rocks at me, often hitting an orc if I dodged or causing minor lacerations on them from the shrapnel burst from the rock rupturing on contact.

'What a terrifying race. Sadly, I don't think this will end no matter how much you shout and beg, Odark.'