(11) Stronger Slimes

Glancing down at his leg, he saw that it was the first creature that had caught him. Dark brown mud had moved up from the ground and wrapped around his right ankle. It wasn't enough to hold him down, but certainly, enough to cause him to trip when it wasn't expected.

Even though it wasn't intentional, he was grateful for the assist. If he'd fallen unconscious from being struck in the head, he would likely die there.

Albus had explained to him that regardless of his high Defense or HP if a blade sharp enough was to decapitate him, he would die. Of course, if someone tried to slit his throat and didn't finish the job, his insane Recovery could heal him before he bled out.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he sent another kick towards the mud Slime and freed himself from the trap. This time, he stayed on the opposite side from the Rock Slime.

Now, when the rock Slime's attacks would be thrown at him, they would whittle down the mud Slime's HP instead.

'It's a great thing that these creatures have little to no intellect.' Even once the mud Slime had completely faced him, the most it could do was grab at his feet weakly with its mud ability while it tried to extend its body to pull him in. There was no contest.

With the help of the rock Slime, the first creature's HP proceeded to drop to 0. The bulky body of the creature fell to the floor in a wet mess. Along with it fell a core and another small item that was covered in mud.

Geth was immediately intrigued, but the stone that was now flying at his head let him know he didn't have time for his curiosity. He dodged to the left and watched the rock Slime, he wouldn't charge in blindly.

He started luring it back towards the first corridor while timing its throws. The next rock came flying after about 10 seconds. The one after was also 10 seconds.

After letting the Slime attack for the next two minutes to confirm there were no other tricks he made his move. As soon as the next rock appeared in front of the creature's midsection, he dodged to the right and sprinted forward.

He kicked the Slime twice and moved back to wait for the next stone while checking its HP.

:Slime; HP- 230/250:

An exasperated sigh left his lips. "I really need a weapon of some sort." He muttered to himself.

This process continued for a few minutes dodging, sprinting, kicking. Each kick took off a decent chunk of rock, his skin had strengthened to be as hard as rock on its own. He actually took a single damage every time his kicks connected, and each move stung a bit.

A blister was trying to form on his heel, but it would always mend itself before it could show any lasting effects.

This process went on for the next six minutes before the creature finally crumpled into a pile of rubble. The rubble turned to dust and settled to the floor to reveal a core in the middle. This core was definitely larger than the ones he'd collected so far.

He snatched it up and went to the remains of the mud Slime, feeling through the mud until he found its core along with the other item. The item was rectangular and the shape and size were extremely familiar.

He quickly wiped off the mud. "What the fuck?!" He exclaimed, "This is a damn trading card."

Right on cue, Albus chimed in :This could be similar to a trading card in your past, yet it would be much more valuable. When creatures reach Level 5, they receive their first Talent, the same as you. The only difference is that they typically don't learn passive Talents, they learn Skills. When you kill a creature, there is a slim chance that one or more pages from its Grimoire can survive.

The higher the level of the creature, the more likely it is for it to drop a page or more. That isn't because they are more likely to do so as much as they simply have more pages that can drop:

'Well, what are the odds then?'

:Actually, since this was the first creature you've killed that had a Grimoire, it was guaranteed. From this point on, the chances will be one in one thousand per page individually. For example, a Level 5000 creature would be almost guaranteed to drop one unless you are just ridiculously unlucky:

'I absolutely would not have killed Muk over here first if I'd have known that, Albus.' He thought, quite annoyed that he could have gotten the flying stone ability. He really needed an ability for dealing damage.

:Don't blame me, I didn't receive the information until you touched the card. Quit whining:

'Ooooh someone's getting a bit touchy.'

He looked down at the card and saw that it had a hand-shaped mass of mud reaching out of the ground. The description read; The ability to force solid earth to change state to form mud. Can also be used to turn mud into solid earth. In the initial stages, creating and controlling a small puddle of mud is the limit, will not be able to turn mud to earth.

'This isn't as bad as I thought.' Geth wondered about the many different applications in the later stages.

:You can also trade the card off for different abilities: Albus reminded him.

'I think I'll keep it. Now that I have this information, I should get Zolis to kill one of these creatures as well. There likely aren't many creatures with elemental abilities at this stage.'

He looked back into the large cave, the Slimes had spread a bit further from each other due to the now vacant space.

'It looks like I can fight the rest without attracting another's agro. Albus, how do I learn this?'