The air grew thick, as if an invisible curtain were forming.
Leo thought he heard Jade shouting, but the heavy clicks and psychic whirrs were all he could hear. Worst of all, he couldn't see anything in front of him.
Leo tried to move, but the slime was now at his ankles. His quads burned, femurs straining like they might snap loose. The more he struggled, the stronger it got. Seeping into his shoes, latching onto his calves. It wanted him to stay.
There was no way this was slime. This was more like superglue than anything slimy, or trying to walk through a sea of bricks. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Slime wasn't that easy to play with. Sure, it was easy to stretch, but trying to walk through it would be different, especially at this scale.
Leo flinched as a hand clamped onto his shoulder.
"Leo! We need to get out of here!" Roland shouted over the noise. Then his arms wrapped around Leo, yanking him out of the slime. "This slime is filling up way faster than we thought. It's too dangerous, since the monster isn't even here yet!"
Leo's heart dropped. The monster wasn't even here yet. They never had a chance.
Slime clung to his pants, gluing the fabric onto his skin even as he was ripped from it. Jade was already standing by the rope. Streaks of silver cut through the air as she fought back sewer monsters. Giant rats engulfed by slime lunged at her, while hands made of sewage grasped out of the dark.
Her eyes locked onto his, lips moving, but nothing came out.
They were being drowned out.
Jade shook her head, probably realizing that they couldn't hear her. She cut a slimy hand in half before pursing her lips. Then she pointed at them before snapping her fingers towards herself.
An invisible force ripped them in her direction. Leo's chin smacked against his chest as Roland's arms crushed his ribs. It hit like a freight train. It was unstoppable.
Tears filled his eyes as the wind blasted them. But that wasn't even bad, considering that he couldn't even see Jade anymore. All he could see was the slimy floor, which was where his head was going to be.
Then water surged from the floor, swirling like a tornado. Leo gasped from the cold as it soaked him. The water wrapped around them like a blanket, pulling them upright, correcting their posture like marionettes on a string. His head spun from the sudden changes. He could barely moveâa ragdoll at the mercy of magic.
"We need to get up the rope, now!" Jade's voice managed to squeak through the noise. Her chest heaved as she staved off the monster. There were cuts on her pants and rips on her shirt, exposing red, bare flesh.
The water around them vanished. Leo's feet slammed against the slime before sinking again. His heart drummed, pounding in his ears like a critical timer in a video game.
He had to act fast.
His legs churned through the top of the slime. He tried to put as little pressure as possible so he wouldn't sink. It felt like running on lily pads. Too much pressure, and he was gone. Too little and he wouldn't make it.
Each breath shook, carrying adrenaline and terror out of his body. The rope was in front of him. It was close enough that he could smell it. Close enough to reach.
But it wasn't that easy. He was in a monster's domain. This was its home.
A green hand burst from the slime, fingers stretching unnaturally wide, as it swallowed the rope in a single lurch.
His heart stopped, eyes widening. Time slowed down, giving him barely enough time to think, but enough to react. He could see each ripple in the slimy hand, the curvature of the rope, and the distance closing between them.
He couldn't fight. There was no way his dagger could kill this thing. The interface didn't even show up, like it knew doing so was a waste of time, since he was going to die anyway.
Leo's heel dug into the pool of slime as he skidded to a stop, sending his center of gravity sideways. His arm reached out to catch himself, sinking into the cold slime. Then his elbow plunged in. He couldnât screamâcouldnât think. All he could do was try not to disappear.
Then it engulfed his side.
It was like being underwater. The world sounded like he was sinking. It was muffled and distant. But he could still hear the clicks and feel the vibrations of whatever whirred around them. But it wasn't water. It wasn't forgiving at all. There was no buoyancy here to save him. Gravity was the only force here, and it wasn't on his side.
He flailed in the slime, but it only made him sink further. Yet, that wasn't all.
The hand slammed down onto him, blasting the air out of his chest. Slime swallowed him, melding into his skin, flooding his nostrils, and trying to push past his lips. Everything got quieter. The fight in him was fading as he drowned.
He was dying.
His lips pursed, resisting the slime, but he couldn't resist the need to breathe.
No. Not like this. Anything but this. But it hurt. His lungs burned, and his mind began to float. He wanted to breathe so bad. Could he breathe through the slime? Please, tell him he could.
His chest lurched, then his body began to jolt. It wanted oxygen. It was suffocating, not because of the slime, but because of himself. He didn't want to take a breath. He was denying his body what it needed.
He'd always wondered how strong his will wasâif he could will his team to victory, or push past the feeling of giving up. This was the time to prove itâto break his limits.
Only if it were that easy.
Slime pushed into the back of his throat in an instant. His eyes widened, burning with tears as it choked him. His chest heaved violently, convulsing as the air it expected was slime instead. He fought it the best he could, but his will wasn't strong enough.
A dark tunnel formed at the edges of his vision, growing larger with each jolt. The faint sound of laughterânot from the monster, but from a memoryâcut through the muffled noise. The woody, earthy smell of home sent a nostalgic warmth through his veins. Anna's smile faded into reality. He missed her. She protected himâhis guardian, his beloved elder sister.
Did he not want it bad enough? He wanted to live. But maybe deep down, he didn't. His body acted on its own, and that was his answer. He didn't want it bad enough. The monster wanted it more.
The dark tunnel narrowed even further, leaving a small dot of light in the center.
Something ripped him out of the slime.
"Damn it! We lost the rope!" Jade shouted as she pulled the slime from his nose. "Leo, stay with us, alright? We'll make it out of here."
His stomach lurched as Jade punched it, forcing the slime out of him. He gagged out whatever was left. His chest nearly caved as he finally took a breath.
The sound of screams pierced through his conscience. Red letters scratched onto the air.
[Cursed Sewer Slime]
LEVEL: 200
HEALTH: 100%
DANGER LEVEL: A+
WARNING: Danger Level A or higher!
SURVIVAL PERCENTAGE: 5%
'A slime made of sewage, powered by something ancient...'
"It's finally here," Jade muttered, wiping the sweat from her brow.
The slime was up to Leo's knees, but then it pulled back, like a tide. It went silentâno clicks or whirrs. The world held its breath. What should've felt like victory was instead filled with dread.
Then the world exploded.
The sound of a bomb blasted through the reservoir. His eardrums burst, injecting pain right into his brain. Balance left him, dropping him to his knees. Then it hitâlike a meteor slamming into the reservoir. The Earth trembled from the impact.
[Leo Somberthorn]
WARNING: LOW HEALTH!
'Please take a Health Potion or heal if possible.'
HEALTH: 15%
EFFECTS:
[Slow], [Poison]
'Reduced movement speed by 10%.'
'Every minute, -4% health from poison damage.'
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Leo reached across his belt, taking off a pink potion. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was actually glad the interface showed up. There was no way he would've taken one if it hadn't.
He popped the cork off and chugged it. A hard, slightly sweet taste filled his mouth. It burned on the way down, like an ultra-aggressive soda, but at least it was good for him.
"This is way more than I thought," Roland exhaled, walking over to them. He looked up, eyes trailing up the severed rope. "We might be able to leave. The rope's long enough for us to reach."
Jade shook her head. "This damn thing is finally here. I wanna kill it and take what it has. Besides, if we leave, we won't complete the quest."
Something began to seep into Leo's shoes. He looked down.
Slime. Again.
It began to pool at their feet. He lifted his foot, and there was almost no resistance. It felt more like a heavy liquid nowâslicker, fasterâbut no less dangerous.
The bottom of his boot pressed into it before slipping. It was like walking on ice, but ice that moved with each step he took. This might be worse than before. If they slipped and fell, they might never be able to get back up.
"Are you sure, Jade? We haven't had an A-level quest in a while," Roland said in a low voice. Despite the hesitation in his words, Roland reached into his bag, drawing a broad, double-edged sword.
She grinned, tying her golden locks into a bun. "Exactly. And this slime pissed me off. Time to pay it back."
Roland shook his head with a smile. "You're right. It's about time we let off some steam."
On cue, slime monsters grew from the floor. Some were slimy rats, while others were slimes in different shapes and sizes.
Roland stretched, rolling his shoulders. Jade wiped her blade before taking a swig of her strength potion.
"Leo, like I promised, you don't have to fight," Roland said, popping the cork off his potion. "You've done your job."
Leo looked up at the rope. Did he want to leave? Yeah, part of him didâbut another part didnât. He didn't even remember the way back out of the sewers. So it wasn't like dying was out of the question.
Jade's voice broke his trance. "It's up to you, Leo. Maybe you've got a score to settle with this sludge monster, too."
Thatâs right. This slime had nearly killed himâand it wished it had. No remorse, no heart. All it did was take. This was his chance to take revenge with no regrets, no mercy. To unleash everything heâd bottled up: the pain, the fear, the quiet suffering heâd endured without complaint. All of itâon something that deserved it.
He turned to look at the slime. It towered above them, like the wave of a tsunami. Slime rats gnawed the ground as they crawled closer. Fanged blobs rolled beside them, merging into the towering wave of sludgeâa pit formed in his stomach.
Just because he could, didn't mean he should. This was too ambitious.
"I'll leave, I don't want you two to worry about me," Leo said.
He didn't expect Jade to laugh.
"You think it's going to be safer up there? I'll wish you luck, Leo," Jade grinned. "Because I'm sure some monsters are waiting for us up there as well."
Well, that was great. So now that the big boss was here, all the other monsters wanted to show up.
Another explosion ripped through the reservoir. Leo's knees buckled while the slime shifted beneath his feet. He looked back up at the rope.
It wasn't there.
Okay, so his first option was gone now.
"The rope's gone," Leo said, turning to Jade.
"Then we fight," she answered, raising her blade.
Leo couldn't say anything as a slimy rat leaped towards them.
A ribbon of silver carved through the air, splitting the monster in half. Then a gust of wind blasted from Jade's palm, parting the sea of slime.
She looked over her shoulder. "Come on, Leo, let's go."
It was time. There was a path to victory.
He nodded, squeezing the handle of his dagger. Then he followed her.
Their boots clicked against the stone floor. Slime slowly slithered back into the path, but it was too slow. They already ripped through each monster that came their way. Well, it was mainly Jade doing the ripping. But he managed to sneak in some hits, contributing to the kills, so he wasn't entirely useless.
His legs ached, burning as a unit. He forgot that his body was essentially brand new. It wasn't conditioned for stuff like this. But his lungs were worse. Cold knives cut his throat with each breath. While every cough rattled his ribs, scraping his windpipe. It was probably the toxic fumes that caused this. He was also drenched in slime, shivering like a wet dog. Either way, it wasn't good.
"You alright, Leo?" Jade asked, looking behind her.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine," Leo panted. He wasn't fine. His throat burned, but for some reason, his mind was clear. The stiffness had left his joints. His muscles burned, but it felt good, like playing a sport. He was in the zone.
She grinned, revealing her teeth. "You look like you're enjoying this. So why don't we finish the story?"
A breathless laugh left Leo's lips. Maybe he was enjoying this. However, he didn't have much of a choice. It was either be scared out of his boots, or enjoy the moment. And somehow, he was enjoying it.
"Sure. It's about time," Leo said, returning the grin.
They raced toward the titanic slime. Monsters threatened to swarm them as they popped up out of nowhere, but Jade made sure it wouldn't happen. Her blade fluttered through the air without resistance. Spiked slimes turned into puddles. Rats were sliced into pieces. Leo couldn't remember getting a kill, but he didn't mind.
The reservoir darkened as they stepped into the shade. The Cursed Sewer Slime loomed over them. Its shadow was heavy and hostile. Each breath was shallower than the last. Leo's limbs ached, burdened by an invisible force. It was like being tied to boulders.
Fewer monsters spawned near the massive slime. Those that did were quickly crushed and absorbed, feeding their host. The slime's grotesque form pulsed only a few feet away.
"Where's Roland?" Jade asked. Her head swiveled as she looked.
Leo looked around, but there wasn't any sign of him.
"I don't know," Leo said.
Jade didn't say anything. Her eyes narrowed.
A cold knot twisted in Leoâs stomach.
There was no way Roland was dead. If a Dwendol like himself was alright, then Roland must've been fine. But this was an A-plus ranked mission. Anything could happen.
Jade finally cleared her throat. "He's still alive. The interface says heâs on the fieldâ¦but I canât see his status."
The ground quaked with a deafening roar, throwing Leo to the ground. It was as if the Earth had shattered.
The slime movedâfor the first time.
It was slow, but far too fast.
A blade of wind slashed in front of Jade. She had vanished from his sideâtaken by the wind.
He was alone.
His heart disappeared. His limbs locked up. His throat collapsed onto itself. He was suffocatingâsuffocating from the pressure, the fear, and the will to live. There had to be something he could do.
Move.
Anything.
But he couldn't.
Slime wrapped around him, welding itself into his flesh. Pain seared through his joints as he pulled. A cry of desperation echoed throughout the chamber, but nothing happened. No matter how hard he pulled, it was useless.
The slime was glued to him, refusing to let go.
Teeth sank into his lower lipâhot blood flooded his mouth. Screams of agony left his throat as skin was ripped from his body. Leo's eyes widened. Heart skipping from the pain.
This was it.
Then it happened.
A blindfold covered his eyes. Then it came off.
He couldn't hear anything. The world was underwater, distorted and wavering. His vision was a green haze, a prism of fractured glass. The weight of the world crushed him. Flattening him like a pancake. The blood vessels in his head throbbed from the pressure. His chest heaved, while his body jolted as the last breaths he'd held were leaving him.
Tears stung his eyes. He tried to blink, but couldn't as the slime blocked his eyelids. The knot in his stomach tightened.
Why did he decide to do this? He was in over his head. This was deservedâit was destiny.
The green lens blurred as his thoughts grew weaker. A faint surge of warmth flooded through him as his limbs relaxed. The heaving in his chest slowed. Eyelids growing heavy.
Somehow, he was breathingâa laugh formed in his chest.
That's funny. There was no air in here.
Then something dark pierced before his eyes. Was it a dark plank? Probably not, because it narrowed into a point at the tip. It was also quite broad. So what was it?
His torso was bent upright as the slime moved. The dark point withdrew, then carved a wide arc above him. The slime shifted in response.
What was happening? He didn't know, but it didn't matter. He was getting sleepy.
Why was he here anyway? What was the reason? Who even was he?
A familiar jingle pierced through his drowsiness. Letters began to burn onto the green world. Then they faded.
His eyes widened. Why did it disappear?
Then it clicked. A zap of clarity entered his conscience.
He was dying. He had to do something.
But what could he do? He couldn't use his body, and he knew no magic.
Wait. That wasn't true. He knew magic, even if it was just one spell. One word. He couldn't speak, but he didn't have to.
The slime coiled around him. Each pulse that ran through the monster also went through him. He could feel the environmentâthe size of the slimeâthe object at its core.
Mundare.
He couldn't see it, but he felt itâa surge of mystic electricity, like a rush of sugar.
A bell that rang through his soul.
Nothing happened.
Then everything happenedâall at once.
The coils of slime around him wiggled against his skin, then slipped away. The green haze around him faded into obscurity. Violent pulses ran through the slime. It convulsed, writhed, and twisted as the spell took effect. The immeasurable size of the monster was now gone. Its presence was wiped clean. The borders that once surrounded him had been broken. And now he was being carried by something else.
"Run!" a deep, familiar voice shouted.
The sound of a flooding dam surged through the reservoir. Cold liquid breached Leo's nostrils as he gasped. His limbs flailed in the violent current. The world muffled in and out as he dipped beneath it before resurfacing. He couldn't catch his breath.
Then whatever air he had was slammed out of him. His back crashed into a wall. Pain cracked through the back of his skull.
The current pressed him against the wall, lifting him as it rose. Some of it splashed into his mouth. He swallowed it as he took a breath.
Water.
"Leo! Stay calm, okay? You'll be out of there in a moment!" Roland's voice shouted over the roaring waves.
They did it.
They killed the Cursed Sewer Slime and completed the quest.
A sound of joyful bells rang through his ears. Then it appeared.
[Quest Complete!]
'Defeat the Cursed Sewer Slime and restore the East Gate Sewers'
QUEST DIFFICULTY: A+
REWARD:
Legendary Item [Tri-Sphere of Cleansing]
EXP GAINED: 1,256,172
The water bubbled as it reached the top, but Leo didn't move.
He stared at the words before him.
His muscles ached, pulsing uncontrollably as he shivered. Dried blood stuck to his lip and chin. Soaked hair clung to his face, while his clothes plastered onto his skin. The cold water rocked against him, comforting him.
Then another gentle jingle rang out. Softer this time.
Like a lullabyâa song a mother would hum to calm her child.
Glowing letters bloomed into the air before him, gentle as petals on water.
[Motherly Blessing]
Effect [Grace] has been activated...
'The Earth Mother has given you grace...'