Syl

Chapter 207: Combat Trials

"It feels good to be out of the city!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"I guess... I hope you packed me a lunch in your storage?" Vee questioned, her tone more playful than demanding, as she sat on my shoulder in her extremely shrunken form.

"You better be careful, or you’ll become a bloated spider..." I teased.

"Ha! Even if that were true, my stomach is in a pocket dimension, so I can eat as much as I want without changing physical size!" Vee smugly snapped back.

"I have to say that’s a weird ability for a spider..."

"A dimensional spider," Vee quickly corrected. "It’s not as useful as your storage, though; I can’t use it to store and retrieve stuff unless I feel like vomiting. Where you can just pluck things out willy-nilly."

"Agreed. Honestly, without it, I’d have to either be a lot more frugal with my usage by having almost no reserves or take up a much larger form," I said as I gestured to my elven body. "I don’t think I could have this form unless I reach some level of super compression or something... Actually, maybe uncapping [Morph Slime] would do that?"

"You going to show off some of your shapeshifting for me since we will be deep in the kobold caves?" Vee questioned.

"Might as well... It’s been some time since I got to stretch out the slime, and as long as I manipulate my profile, it should be good."

"Not sure if your [Spatial Sense] can detect any kobold tunnels..." I suggested.

"I’ll give it a shot, but I don’t think its range is as good as your [Tremor Sense]," Vee replied.

We spent some time scouting out the rocky outskirts of the cavern, and eventually, I found a hidden entrance buried under rock and rubble.

"Jackpot!" I said excitedly.

Using my recently acquired [Earth Magic LV 4], I finally got to put [Sand Pit] to use and started transmuting the rock and rubble to clear a path for us. Once the hole was big enough, we both jumped in.

My magical digging must have notified the kobolds, as shortly after our arrival, a small detachment attacked us. Vee began throwing out [Acid Dart] spells, artificially boosted by the [Sub-Cores] I had assigned her.

Since we were entering an enclosed space, our poisonous and acidic fumes would undoubtedly become prevalent; I cast the [Zephyr Shroud] buff on her to keep her air supply fresh and clean.

As for my own magic, I had [Force Bolt], which I had not really tried that much since acquiring it. I cast it at one of the kobold geomancers at the back, fully empowered and with an upward direction set to the max.

When the arcane projectile struck the kobold, his body was dramatically flung upward, and when he crashed against the ceiling, his relatively frail body became pasted.

"Holy shit, you gibbed that guy!" Vee shouted while she continued to melt the kobolds with acidic magic.

Some of the kobolds began trying to retreat when I withdrew one of my spell orbs and used [Slime Shot] to fire it like a cannon. Once the small orichalcum orb struck the kobold, it exploded, followed by a surge of sparking lightning.

I knew lightning was the way to go! Those rock golems were just the exception!

The retreating kobolds didn’t survive the blast, and Vee easily finished off the remaining ones to fight.

"This feels almost like bullying..." Vee commented.

"Yeah, these low-level kobolds aren’t much," I agreed. "But once we go deeper into their domain, we will start seeing real resistance. The only reason I sort of went all out was in case they start trying to collapse the tunnel on us when they retreat."

"Oh, I fully agree with that decision. I’d rather not have the entire mountain dropped on my head!" Vee replied.

"Well, since Thern didn’t come with us, it won’t be as bad. I’m a good burrower, so we can dig ourselves out or toward them," I explained.

"You can turn into a mole or something?" Vee asked.

I grinned, and since the coast was clear, shifted into the badger I had defeated long ago. While my slimy form shaped itself, I could hear Vee’s exclamations of surprise and shock as I changed right before her eyes.

"Or something..." I responded as I lifted up one of my sharp front claws.

"I definitely didn’t have a giant scary porcupine badger on my bingo card!" Vee responded. "Still... I know you said you could change your form, but seeing it is another thing entirely!"

Feeling like showing off, I transformed into a miniaturized version of the magma-forged worm I had fought.

"Don’t worry, Syl, even if you’re a worm, I’ll still be your friend!" Vee responded before giggling like a schoolgirl.

I didn’t understand why she was laughing, so I tilted my wormy head confusedly. "Thanks? Even if you’re a spider, I’ll still be your friend."

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Vee sighed. "Sorry... Something from my scrambled memories."

I chuckled and changed into one of the spiders I had fought. "No problem, spider friend!"

"Okay, show off..." Vee teased. "Let’s go deal with the kobolds before they decide to drop the mountain on us."

"Sure thing," I replied, taking on my blueblin form.

"I think I preferred you as a cute elf..." Vee replied.

"Yeah... But I can’t use tentacles and slime as an elf," I replied. "At least this way, if anyone spots me, I can pretend to be some strange unknown monster. Speaking of which, you should activate [Identity Block] and hand me your tag."

"Makes sense... I’m still shocked you managed to level up the skill for me while I slept!" Vee replied as she effortlessly plucked the thread and flicked the tiny guild tag to me.

I carefully grabbed it and deposited it in my storage for safekeeping. As for how I power-leveled Vee’s skill, I simply had her activate the skill before bed and had my [Sub-Cores] spam [Identify] repeatedly on her. If we were going to work together, she would need a way to prevent her identity from leaking out.

Maybe once Trixie finally shows up, she can help? She’s certainly done something with her own profile, so she could perhaps craft an illusion for Vee?

I still hadn’t seen any sign of Trixie. I had even started taking her coin out at night and leaving it in a pocket rather than inside my [Core Storage] during the day. I hoped she was just running late and not in any kind of trouble.

She probably lost track of time catching up with her friends and family. From what she said, she was captured for an extremely long time.

The kobolds began acting slightly differently now that I had taken a different appearance. They still hissed and screeched with reptilian rage, but now there were accusations of goblin invaders trying to seize their territory.

I personally found the situation somewhat hilarious and wondered how often monstrous humanoids fought for territory. I certainly hadn’t seen or heard any mention of goblins in the dwarven adventurer’s guild, so I thought they were nonexistent in this region.

Since the kobolds were throwing bodies at us, I had plenty of material to replenish my slime mass and constantly test my spell orbs with. I had hoped that by continually crafting them, I’d be working on multiple skills and traits simultaneously.

[Metal Slime], [Nitro Slime], and [Morph Slime] were the obvious traits gaining experience from each crafted orb. Meanwhile, on the skill front, I had hoped I was training [Rune Engraving], [Mana Manipulation], and whatever type of magic I placed inside them.

[Lightning Magic] was still my go-to, as I loved its sheer raw power, but I started including my other elements to avoid them falling behind. [Earth Magic] and [Air Magic] both needed to catch up to level 5, while [Fire Magic] and [Water Magic] were no doubt both close to level 6.

Rather than make any ice bombs, I just kept [Glacial Aura] active. The aura was significantly effective against the kobolds, and now that Vee was my companion, she was automatically excluded from the negative effects.

I didn’t bother with acid bombs, as my [Corrosion Magic] was undoubtedly getting a good workout with my [Sub-Cores] assisting Vee. She was getting a thorough workout thanks to the seemingly endless supply of kobolds swarming at us, and I’d give her a "Mana Potion" to keep her reserves topped up and healthy.

"You know..." Vee spoke while we were taking a short break. "Those spell orbs... Once you have [Dimension Magic], they might become absolutely terrifying!"

"Teleporting them rather than shooting them?" I asked.

"Exactly!" Vee responded excitedly. "I’m sure then it would count for [Sneak Attack] and maybe even [Trap Mastery]?"

"I could give you some orbs, and you could try teleporting them for me?" I asked as I formed one in the palm of my hand.

"I wish... But unless I combine it with [Rift Thread] and make a portal, that seems like it’s impossible at the moment."

"Hmm... Maybe we should do that anyway? Try to push your [Dimension Magic] to level 3?" I offered.

"We could... Although we would need to set it up beforehand?" Vee began thinking.

"Or... Maybe I could set portals up and then teleport the exit portal? Would that work?" Vee questioned.

"Go for it, I’ll make sure no kobolds ambush us while you work," I offered.

Vee nodded and began spinning some of that impossible thread. She created two circular frames from her web before reinforcing them with additional threading. To my surprise, she lifted them up as if they were solid rings, and after examining them closely, she began casting her two spells.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I tried my best to examine the spells, but they were utterly alien to me, even if I could vaguely recognize them as Dimension Mana now. I couldn’t help but think Mother was callous, expecting Vee to suddenly comprehend all this without guidance. The fact that she had figured out how to make portals with the spells alone was already miraculous.

When she was done, the two discs shimmered vibrantly. She immediately tested her work by placing a leg through the one portal, and it poked out of the other side.

"Okay, the portal is set up!" Vee said excitedly. "Although I worry about the portal’s integrity if I teleport it, these usually stay at fixed points, and I’m not sure what effect such drastic movement would have on them."

"Well, we will throw through a spell orb, so it should be fine?"

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t recommend one of us going through a potentially unstable portal..." Vee shuddered. "Who knows where you could end up?"

"Probably wherever the original Kappa went..." I replied with a chuckle.

"Kappa?" Vee asked.

"A brave coworker who sacrificed itself for the greater good," I answered while failing to hide my cheeky smile.

"Sacrificed how?" Vee asked with a hint of worry.

"I was trying to see if I could further expand space..." I began trying to explain. "I put expanded space on top of another expanded space, and Kappa went poof into a pinprick of a tiny void hole."

Vee remained silent, and I could sense her dumbfoundedness at my previous statement. "Did you accidentally create a black hole?"

"Yes? No..? Maybe?" I replied confusedly. "I’m not sure what that is. It was certainly a black void hole... If that counts?"

"You know... Forget I asked. I think the world would be safer if we avoid going down that rabbit hole," Vee replied, hesitantly chuckling. "How about we try out these portals instead?"

I nodded and pulled out a bunch of spell orbs I had prepared. Vee stared at my small stockpile, and I could sense a hint of exhaustion from her. Vee positioned the one portal on her back with a makeshift harness she had created with more thread wrapped around herself.

"Okay... So, I’ll teleport the exit portal and give you the go-ahead, and then you can throw your balls through the entrance portal on my back."

"Sounds good to me!" I replied excitedly.

"... Just checking... But they won’t detonate unexpectedly, will they?" Vee asked nervously. She kept glancing at the metallic balls clinking together as I walked.

"I fully control when and where they explode," I answered, hoping to relieve her. "I can set up triggers, but I figured that manual detonation would be better for an experiment."

"Perfect!" Vee replied, relief flooding through.

We continued our journey deeper into the tunnel when the perfect test opportunity presented itself. The kobolds had set up a small barricade and were hiding behind it. They hurled hisses, insults, and threats at us when they spotted us.

Vee wasted no time, manipulating the exit portal between her front legs. I had expected some magical poof or flashy display of otherworldly energy, but instead, it simply vanished as if it were never there in the first place.

"Bombs away!" Vee informed me, a nervous hope in her emotions.

I grinned and began tossing the balls through the portal. Thanks to my connection to them and being able to pinpoint their location, I felt each orb vanish and appear behind their fortification.

Vee and I shared a glance. She raised one of her legs, and I gave her a thumbs-up in return.

"Boom!" I giggled and flipped the metaphorical detonator on every spell orb simultaneously.