It did, however, look like a very cutegunk.
The round, almost spherical blob of blue jelly-like substance looked up at her with a shocked expression. Tiny black eyes that floated to the surface welled with misted fear and betrayal - the coveted dagger just but a small leap away from its grasp.
“What the what.”
“That's a Blue Slime,” Humphrey answered sagely, “you can tell by the way that it is.”
“You didn't mention these.” Sally stood in awe at the semi-transparent creature as the Lure started to pulse green more frequently than red.
“You did interrupt me.”
“So what do I do-” Her question was interrupted as the Taming Lure burst with green light and small sparkly stars, a wave of relief washing over the Slime as it became friendly.
[Blue Slime successfully tamed]
[No room in Party]
[Make Space] [Release]
“No, no, I don't want to release you. Oh dear, our friendship was so short-lived.” She turned with a glum expression to her zombie friends, who were still doing a top-tier job of being inert corpses.
She brought up the Party menu and cycled over to McDoots. She sighed as she brought up the options and selected [Kick].
The zombie, formally known as McDoots, clambered to its feet awkwardly. As if a spell had been broken, they slowly observed the group around them and then started lumbering off back in the direction of the diner.
[Blue Slime added to Party]
“Maw, so sad to see them leave. Let’s see what Bubbles can do.”
She flipped through to the Party Information screen for the new pet.
[Bubbles - Blue Slime]
[Skills: [Absorb Water] [Nibble]]
“Bubbles?” Humphrey questioned rhetorically. “They will act in a similar manner to your… zombie companions, as they are a Monster you control.”
Sally knelt down and prodded the Slime. It wobbled around and cooed at her, much to her delight. “I’ve only had Bubbles for two minutes, but I will kill anyone that hurts them. What is the maximum Level for monsters?”
“It is also Fifty. Usually, a Monster won’t get too much higher over their starting Level - both due to their slower experience progression, but also the reward for killing them increases, and they end up hunted by Adventurers.”
“So for a Monster to even level up sets them aside from their kin pretty quickly?”
“There is a gradual scale - One Level over; the Monster is Experienced. Two Levels, and they are an Elite. Three is Champion, and Four is Mini-Boss.”
“Five Levels is Boss, then?” Sally popped the Slime on her lap, sitting on the tree stump, and slickly stroked the gooey surface.
“In theory. In three or so weeks, however, it would not be possible for a Monster to attain such a Level.” The Observer reconsidered this statement with a head shake. “Unless they destroyed a town of the highest-level Players, maybe.
“Best add that to my checklist then,” she hummed back, “although - I get levels like a Player rather than a Monster, right?”
“Shrug.”
“You… can’t just say that.”
“It appears that you have the experience curve of a Player, but your skill selection is unlike any of the Classes.” Humphrey bobbed around and looked back out into the woods.
Sally waved her hand through the menus, trying not to let Bubbles slip to the floor. The Slime wasn’t exactly making her dried-gore-encrusted uniform any better, but also not really any worse either.
She frowned.
“I can’t see an experience bar anywhere, though?”
“No?” The Observer floated back down and stared blankly closer to her face. “You’re just a slightly bit off.”
“Aw, nice! I just need to find a hapless Novice or two in these here woods, and then chompin’ time!” She shooed the Slime off her lap and wiped her hands on the sides of her dress as she stood. “Or, hope to not run into evil adventurers after my bounty.”
“Yes.”
Sally glared at the skull. “If you had a neck, I’d wring it. Welp, no point standing around here all-“
“Ahem.” Humphrey nodded his head towards the STAR as best as he was able to.
It was glowing a dim golden colour, eager to be pressed again.
“Oh, Quest complete, right?”
[Quest Complete]
[Reward Granted]
[Error Experience]
[5 gold]
[Basic Armour Chance Box (1)]
“Did my experience go up at all?” Sally folded her arms. This error business was really getting on her nerves. “Five Gold is meagre too, but at least it wasn’t another dagger box.”
“Experience did go up - you’re just slightly off.”
“You said that last time!” She waved her hands in the air in frustration.
With a sigh, she withdrew the Chance Box from her Inventory and opened it up. The small fanfare of the item reveal was starting to grate on her nerves - in part because getting basic Common items was underwhelming.
The hiss of the opening box drew the attention of the whole Party as the object emerged.
[Common Basic Boots]
“Rah!” Sally immediately grabbed them and chucked them out into the bushes some twenty feet away.
Humphrey made the wise choice not to remark on the outburst.
“Let’s just go do the stupid tomb quest then,” she shook her head with a sigh. “It’s in… a direction, right? Why do I not have a map?”
“Well-“
“Monsters don’t have maps, right? Just more evidence the System is broken. Or maybe I am broken? People don’t go into Monster bodies, right? Only Players? Am I the only hybrid, Humphrey?”
“Sally. You are asking too many questions that my ‘Yes’ will have no meaning.”
She bared her sharp teeth at the skull. “I’m just pretty hungry actually; let’s take Bubbles and get some fresh Novice meat.”
“Shrug.”
The woods felt a lot calmer now that it was heading into the latter part of the afternoon. Shade had spread wider, and they had fewer periods spent avoiding the direct sun. Sally kept her eyes peeled for Parties of Novices, but unfortunately for her grumbling stomach, they hadn’t caught sight of a thing.
It was acceptable, if not a shame that any wildlife was easily scared off from their approach. They would be worth little experience, even if their internal meaty bits would satiate her hunger. But surely, any adventurer worth their salt wouldn’t be similarly scared off? Not that she wanted particularly salty ones, but by now, she wasn’t too fussy.
“We aren’t wandering into a high-level area or something, Humps?” She wondered to the skull.
“No, not for a while. I would warn you if that were the case.” The Observer had spent this leg of the journey a few feet above the woman, keeping an eye out for any potential danger.
“Aw, how protective,” she teased before looking back at her Party.
“Your existence is unique - my interest is only academic,” Humphrey murmured to himself, rising higher in the air.
She grinned and allowed him to go unheard to save his embarrassment. She hadn’t known many skulls in her life - none that weren’t hiding away in a face, at least - but despite his annoying tendencies, Humphrey was at least the closest thing to a friend she had in this world—ten points for the floating Observer.
Bubbles had received bonus points in her mind for being slightly faster than the zombies. They did make a boip sound every time they hopped, which was becoming more grating every ten minutes or so. She shuddered, remembering the weird noise it had made when Chuck tripped over it at some point when the Slime had been distracted eating some woodland garbage.
It was safe to say that Sally was tired of walking through the woods. At first, sure, it was enjoyable. A brief holiday through nature with warm sun, slight breeze, and all the shades of green you could shake a Lure at. But now, she missed walls. The structures and stability of something carved out via intent. She idly wondered if the Novice Players had a quaint little starter town nearby, a sense of community and a place to grow new friendships or forge strong Parties.
And she wondered if she could eat them all.
Doubt welled up in her stomach, pushing the hunger to the side for a brief moment. Could she even kill anyone? Without tricks up her sleeves, a group of Level Three Novices could easily roll the zombies - and she was no melee expert. These ill seeds of sinking confidence had a familiar but distant taste to them. She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths, in through the mouth, out through the nose.
“Everything okay, Sally?”
She opened her eyes to the skull floating in front of her, at arms reach. They had stopped in a narrow pathway between trees and bushes - almost a natural alleyway between groupings of plant life. The zombies stood idle and surprisingly quiet. Bubbles hopped beside her and gazed up with those tiny, innocent eyes.
A smile spread across her face as she turned from the blob creature to the skull, opening her mouth to confirm- but stopped.
Sally turned to the left as a rustling of leaves came from the side. Before she could draw her dagger, a figure jumped forth. A humanoid shadowed from the sun, a darkened shape of light-brown leather and dark iron. Their weapon - a shortsword - was already in mid-swing.
A flash of white light followed the blade as it swung down in a huge arc, catching the sun in a radiant blaze.
Bubbles popped. The impact of the attack sent globules of slimy jelly splashing against her legs and the grass around them.
[Party: Bubbles Has Died]
Red hot anger burned through her eyes - before they met those of the assailant.
Sally froze and gasped; her mouth hung open.
It did, however, look like a very cutegunk.
The round, almost spherical blob of blue jelly-like substance looked up at her with a shocked expression. Tiny black eyes that floated to the surface welled with misted fear and betrayal - the coveted dagger just but a small leap away from its grasp.
“What the what.”
“That's a Blue Slime,” Humphrey answered sagely, “you can tell by the way that it is.”
“You didn't mention these.” Sally stood in awe at the semi-transparent creature as the Lure started to pulse green more frequently than red.
“You did interrupt me.”
“So what do I do-” Her question was interrupted as the Taming Lure burst with green light and small sparkly stars, a wave of relief washing over the Slime as it became friendly.
[Blue Slime successfully tamed]
[No room in Party]
[Make Space] [Release]
“No, no, I don't want to release you. Oh dear, our friendship was so short-lived.” She turned with a glum expression to her zombie friends, who were still doing a top-tier job of being inert corpses.
She brought up the Party menu and cycled over to McDoots. She sighed as she brought up the options and selected [Kick].
The zombie, formally known as McDoots, clambered to its feet awkwardly. As if a spell had been broken, they slowly observed the group around them and then started lumbering off back in the direction of the diner.
[Blue Slime added to Party]
“Maw, so sad to see them leave. Let’s see what Bubbles can do.”
She flipped through to the Party Information screen for the new pet.
[Bubbles - Blue Slime]
[Skills: [Absorb Water] [Nibble]]
“Bubbles?” Humphrey questioned rhetorically. “They will act in a similar manner to your… zombie companions, as they are a Monster you control.”
Sally knelt down and prodded the Slime. It wobbled around and cooed at her, much to her delight. “I’ve only had Bubbles for two minutes, but I will kill anyone that hurts them. What is the maximum Level for monsters?”
“It is also Fifty. Usually, a Monster won’t get too much higher over their starting Level - both due to their slower experience progression, but also the reward for killing them increases, and they end up hunted by Adventurers.”
“So for a Monster to even level up sets them aside from their kin pretty quickly?”
“There is a gradual scale - One Level over; the Monster is Experienced. Two Levels, and they are an Elite. Three is Champion, and Four is Mini-Boss.”
“Five Levels is Boss, then?” Sally popped the Slime on her lap, sitting on the tree stump, and slickly stroked the gooey surface.
“In theory. In three or so weeks, however, it would not be possible for a Monster to attain such a Level.” The Observer reconsidered this statement with a head shake. “Unless they destroyed a town of the highest-level Players, maybe.
“Best add that to my checklist then,” she hummed back, “although - I get levels like a Player rather than a Monster, right?”
“Shrug.”
“You… can’t just say that.”
“It appears that you have the experience curve of a Player, but your skill selection is unlike any of the Classes.” Humphrey bobbed around and looked back out into the woods.
Sally waved her hand through the menus, trying not to let Bubbles slip to the floor. The Slime wasn’t exactly making her dried-gore-encrusted uniform any better, but also not really any worse either.
She frowned.
“I can’t see an experience bar anywhere, though?”
“No?” The Observer floated back down and stared blankly closer to her face. “You’re just a slightly bit off.”
“Aw, nice! I just need to find a hapless Novice or two in these here woods, and then chompin’ time!” She shooed the Slime off her lap and wiped her hands on the sides of her dress as she stood. “Or, hope to not run into evil adventurers after my bounty.”
“Yes.”
Sally glared at the skull. “If you had a neck, I’d wring it. Welp, no point standing around here all-“
“Ahem.” Humphrey nodded his head towards the STAR as best as he was able to.
It was glowing a dim golden colour, eager to be pressed again.
“Oh, Quest complete, right?”
[Quest Complete]
[Reward Granted]
[Error Experience]
[5 gold]
[Basic Armour Chance Box (1)]
“Did my experience go up at all?” Sally folded her arms. This error business was really getting on her nerves. “Five Gold is meagre too, but at least it wasn’t another dagger box.”
“Experience did go up - you’re just slightly off.”
“You said that last time!” She waved her hands in the air in frustration.
With a sigh, she withdrew the Chance Box from her Inventory and opened it up. The small fanfare of the item reveal was starting to grate on her nerves - in part because getting basic Common items was underwhelming.
The hiss of the opening box drew the attention of the whole Party as the object emerged.
[Common Basic Boots]
“Rah!” Sally immediately grabbed them and chucked them out into the bushes some twenty feet away.
Humphrey made the wise choice not to remark on the outburst.
“Let’s just go do the stupid tomb quest then,” she shook her head with a sigh. “It’s in… a direction, right? Why do I not have a map?”
“Well-“
“Monsters don’t have maps, right? Just more evidence the System is broken. Or maybe I am broken? People don’t go into Monster bodies, right? Only Players? Am I the only hybrid, Humphrey?”
“Sally. You are asking too many questions that my ‘Yes’ will have no meaning.”
She bared her sharp teeth at the skull. “I’m just pretty hungry actually; let’s take Bubbles and get some fresh Novice meat.”
“Shrug.”
The woods felt a lot calmer now that it was heading into the latter part of the afternoon. Shade had spread wider, and they had fewer periods spent avoiding the direct sun. Sally kept her eyes peeled for Parties of Novices, but unfortunately for her grumbling stomach, they hadn’t caught sight of a thing.
It was acceptable, if not a shame that any wildlife was easily scared off from their approach. They would be worth little experience, even if their internal meaty bits would satiate her hunger. But surely, any adventurer worth their salt wouldn’t be similarly scared off? Not that she wanted particularly salty ones, but by now, she wasn’t too fussy.
“We aren’t wandering into a high-level area or something, Humps?” She wondered to the skull.
“No, not for a while. I would warn you if that were the case.” The Observer had spent this leg of the journey a few feet above the woman, keeping an eye out for any potential danger.
“Aw, how protective,” she teased before looking back at her Party.
“Your existence is unique - my interest is only academic,” Humphrey murmured to himself, rising higher in the air.
She grinned and allowed him to go unheard to save his embarrassment. She hadn’t known many skulls in her life - none that weren’t hiding away in a face, at least - but despite his annoying tendencies, Humphrey was at least the closest thing to a friend she had in this world—ten points for the floating Observer.
Bubbles had received bonus points in her mind for being slightly faster than the zombies. They did make a boip sound every time they hopped, which was becoming more grating every ten minutes or so. She shuddered, remembering the weird noise it had made when Chuck tripped over it at some point when the Slime had been distracted eating some woodland garbage.
It was safe to say that Sally was tired of walking through the woods. At first, sure, it was enjoyable. A brief holiday through nature with warm sun, slight breeze, and all the shades of green you could shake a Lure at. But now, she missed walls. The structures and stability of something carved out via intent. She idly wondered if the Novice Players had a quaint little starter town nearby, a sense of community and a place to grow new friendships or forge strong Parties.
And she wondered if she could eat them all.
Doubt welled up in her stomach, pushing the hunger to the side for a brief moment. Could she even kill anyone? Without tricks up her sleeves, a group of Level Three Novices could easily roll the zombies - and she was no melee expert. These ill seeds of sinking confidence had a familiar but distant taste to them. She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths, in through the mouth, out through the nose.
“Everything okay, Sally?”
She opened her eyes to the skull floating in front of her, at arms reach. They had stopped in a narrow pathway between trees and bushes - almost a natural alleyway between groupings of plant life. The zombies stood idle and surprisingly quiet. Bubbles hopped beside her and gazed up with those tiny, innocent eyes.
A smile spread across her face as she turned from the blob creature to the skull, opening her mouth to confirm- but stopped.
Sally turned to the left as a rustling of leaves came from the side. Before she could draw her dagger, a figure jumped forth. A humanoid shadowed from the sun, a darkened shape of light-brown leather and dark iron. Their weapon - a shortsword - was already in mid-swing.
A flash of white light followed the blade as it swung down in a huge arc, catching the sun in a radiant blaze.
Bubbles popped. The impact of the attack sent globules of slimy jelly splashing against her legs and the grass around them.
[Party: Bubbles Has Died]
Red hot anger burned through her eyes - before they met those of the assailant.
Sally froze and gasped; her mouth hung open.
