Chapter 31 – Bulking Up!

Resh had also managed to recover the rest of its health, stamina, and mana within the first few hours. Quickly taking advantage of this it used up all its mana to fire off as many shots of Water Gun as it could. And it had become much stronger over the last few days. Even with the 50% damage reduction, Resh was now able to 1-shot the Darter Fish and some of the other small creatures that lurked under the bridge, Resh was the King of this domain. The apex predator of…something… finally! This was the dream! This is what Resh had been working towards. But it couldn't help but feel like it was still missing out as there was something great in that place with all the structures and the Humans! Resh knew that there was more than one and not only that but they had found a way to become incredibly strong. Resh needed to find that as well if it wanted to survive in this place. So many strong creatures and enemies that wanted to eat it. Resh couldn't think of a better way to survive!

Water Gun has increased to Level 8!

Water Gun has increased to Level 9!

Water Gun has increased to Level 10!

Congratulations on reaching Level 10! Your Water Magic Water Gun has improved to Water Burst range has increased from 3cm to 10cm per level. Beam angle for the Spell had increased from up to 30 deg to up to 75 deg! The cooldown for the Spell has decreased from 60sec to 30sec!

Water Gun has increased to Level 11!

…

Water Gun has increased to Level 14!

Resh could now hit targets that were a little way away from it. Previously it had needed to be very close to the targets otherwise the spell would fizzle out before it got to the target. The range was nothing amazing but at 1.4m that was still not on top of it and the range would get better. The spell could travel a bit. The best thing was that there was a huge reduction in the cool down, now Resh could fire off shots twice as fast. Still slow but any improvement would be appreciated by this Water Slime! The cost of each strike was becoming a little prohibitive though, 42 MP per shot was becoming a lot more than Resh could handle. Only 7 shots and then Resh was out of Mana.

During all this time Resh had also encountered numerous creatures of the shadowy domain that it had made its temporary home. Even though Resh was, quite literally, spread thin over the bottom of the river. It was still able, with its large bulk, to mobilise its numerous weapons. Identify went to work on all the enemies within the vicinity.

River Screw Level 3, River Ottre Level 5, Water Brever Level 8, Water Rat Level 2, River Crab Level 7, River Crab Level 3, Submarine Worm Level 8, Water Brever Level 12, Fanged Carp Level 18, Fresh Water Mallusces Level 2.

Underneath the bridge, in its shadows, the river teemed with life. So many creatures enjoyed living in the dark away from the sun, more so than the ones that were out in the brighter parts of the river. Resh could not fight all of the creatures that it found in that place. Some were simply too strong for it. Of the ones, it had not encountered before the River Ottre was way too strong. It was the largest creature that Resh had met apart from the Panther and Humans. Even compared to the larger Resh it was big.

Resh could not count the number of creatures it ensnared and snuck upon. With that 30% damage bonus for the first ten seconds of each fight, Resh cleaned up. When a fight inevitably ensued after the initial sneak attack, all other creatures ran from the site of the battle. Nature's law of survival of the fittest. When a larger and stronger predator passed by, Resh would maintain perfect stillness, and Strong Camouflage and Strong Odour Alteration did their work.

Gradually Resh refined its ability to stay still and blend with the environment so that it could be the perfect middle feeder in the food chain and maintain some level of safety as well. Resh was confident in its ability to hand the small animals, it would lay in wait for any small creatures to swim over it. Resh had its eyes on the tops of its body and watched silently and perfectly still. As soon as a crab, or darter fish or small prey came up and started walking over its Water Slime body their mouths or legs or whatever part was touching Resh would sink in slightly. At first, the prey would not notice anything other than the softness of the ground. Next thing, Resh began oozing upwards, trapped their bodies in its goo. In most cases, this did not then result in much further damage to the Water Slime.

But as with every other experience Resh had in this destructive world, there was one major exception to the rule. A Fanged Carp Level 12 was swimming overhead, this was a large fish and so far Resh had avoided them as it had the other large creatures. By this point, Resh was already much larger than the Carp and so could completely encapsulate the fish in its larger and heavier body. What Resh had not counted on was that the Fanged Carp would have magical ability. Not only did the Fanged Carp blast it very quickly and efficiently in all directions with Water Gun. It also seemed to have some ability to drain mana from Resh. Resh quickly found itself drained of most of its mana and also at a loss for how to stop this fish from destroying it utterly. The Water Gun from the Fish had caused some serious damage! Injured and shocked by the turn of events Resh once again realised that it did not have the strength to survive here yet. It needed to continue to strengthen itself to survive. Why was it that each time it tried to put itself out there in a fight or go for a larger target it just got shut down? At some point, it was either going to win a fight, or it was going to die. Resh was getting tired of not becoming strong fast enough. After over a month it was unable to beat a Fanged Carp. Hopefully Consolidate would help, and the Level ups from the fights it had.

You have Consumed 12 Darter Fish, 6 River Crabs, 13 Submarine Worms, 12 River Screw, 8 Water Rats! You have gained a total of 795 Exp!

YOU HAVE REACHED Water Slime Level 7! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Vitality, +1

Command, +1 Focus, Talent Water Born +5 has increased to Water Born +6, Water Resistance +10%

YOU HAVE REACHED Water Slime Level 8! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Strength, +1 Reaction, +1 Accuracy, Talent Water Born+6 has increased to Water Born +7, Water Resistance +10%

YOU HAVE REACHED Water Slime Level 9! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Vitality, +1

Command, +1 Focus, Talent Water Born +7 has increased to Water Born +8, Water Resistance +10%

YOU HAVE REACHED Water Slime Level 10! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Strength, +1 Reaction, +1 Accuracy, Talent Water Born+8 has increased to Water Born +9, Water Resistance +10%

Just like that for a few days and a few creatures, Resh had reached the maximum Level of Water Slime. It would check its evolution options in a bit, for now, Resh had managed to assimilate several traits from the creatures it had Consumed.

You have Assimilated 1 River Crab and can now choose what to Assimilate from the River Crab. Would you like to Assimilate the Legs, Pincers, Eyes, or Shell? If you do not choose then an option will be selected at random!

You are awarded Limb Skill Shell of the River Crab! Congratulations, you have gained an exoskeleton, this will harden your skin to match the density of the Texture you are copying so that you are not as soft! This will only work up to and including your current density. In addition, it will reduce the amount of damage you take with Level.

You have Assimilated 2 Submarine Worms and can now choose what to Assimilate from the Submarine Worm. Would you like to Assimilate the Skin, Mouth, or Tail? If you do not choose then an option will be selected at random!

You have chosen Mouth. You have gained Mouth of the Submarine Worm! Your skills Corrupt Mouth that Feeds and Mouth of the Submarine Worm are compatible and as such have merged to form Oral Devastation! You will gain +1000 Exp for this adjustment, your ability to form coherent sounds further improves. 50% Experience bonus from Earth now extends to Water as well.

Oral Devastation has increased to Level 13!

You have chosen Tail. You have gained Tail of the Submarine Worm Level 1! Your Limb Skill Tail of the Burrower Worm and Tail of the Submarine Worm have merged to form Double Wormtail's! You will gain +500 Exp for this adjustment.

Double Wormtail's has increased to Level 6!

Double Wormtail's has increased to Level 7!

Your Melee Skill Tail Stab has evolved to Dual Wormtail's Stab, Earth and Water elemental damage have been added to this skill! You will gain +200 Exp for this adjustment. You can now use this skill underwater, underground, and above ground.

Dual Wormtail's Stab has increased to Level 2!

Dual Wormtail's Stab has increased to Level 3!

Dual Wormtail's Stab has increased to Level 4!

Your Melee Skill Tail Rod had evolved to Tail Pole Smash! Bonus to bludgeoning damage. Increased chance of dazing the enemy. You will gain +200 Exp for this adjustment. You can now use this skill underwater, underground, and above ground.

Tail Pole Smash has increased to Level 2!

Tail Pole Smash has increased to Level 3!

Tail Pole Smash has increased to Level 4!