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Syl: Chapter 333
🕑 Added 2025-11-03 06:15:02 +0000 UTCChapter 333: Azulean
As Vanessa led Sylvain around for a tour of the city, I spent my time examining the threats. I spent most of my time using [Identify] whenever possible and trying to gauge the strength of this mysterious monster race.
Through hours of collecting information, I had a rough but decent idea of their power. Initially, I had assumed the mermen started at tier two, since Sybil was tier four and had two mutations. However, judging by the more youthful-looking mermen swimming about, I found out that they started at tier three.
Yes, apparently, the mermen were spawned with a mutation right from the start! Although judging by the ones I saw, it appeared to be more a type of cast system for the monsters than an average mutation. The reason I called it that is that the names of these "mutations" sounded more like ranks or classes than what I'd encountered before: Prince, Princess, Knight, Peasant, Hag, and Siren.
I could probably infer that there was a King and Queen, too, but what surprised me was that Siren appeared to be the rarest of the group, and the few I saw exclusively took Infiltrator for their tier four mutation. Speaking of Sirens, now that she was out of her disguise, I naturally inspected Vanessa too.
<Vanessa; Mermen Siren Infiltrator [IV] LV 5; Drownblade LV 12. Elemental Affinity: Water.>
Well, at least her name is actually Vanessa…
Her levels were lower than Sybil's, but her class name was concerning, and I thought it might be an advanced class, given the low level. The name alone made me think it was some underwater assassin class.
Speaking of classes, I didn't see a single basic class, which was a slightly concerning surprise. If they spawned with a mutation and an intermediate class, well, that just seemed downright unfair!
What I did find interesting was that every mermen had a water affinity, and except for a single hag who had lightning, I never saw anything else. Of course, I could only see elemental affinities, so I had no idea what nefarious type of magic they might be hiding.
Well, at least I haven't seen any warlocks. The Hags all seemed to be hydromancers or oracles.
I was very wary of the unknown oracle class, but to my relief, I found out it was a healer class when one was healing a group of knights that had returned from defending the territory.
As for the tour itself, it was alright. To be honest, I found the elven and dwarven cities far more impressive, while this had a notably more primitive vibe. It was far better than the kobold, orc, and goblin settlements, but still lacked the luxuries of a well-established city.
If not for the wow factor of being an underwater city at the bottom of the ocean, I think I'd be highly disappointed.
Going back to the unusual caste system the mermen were born into, I noted that Vanessa appeared to be highly respected. Every mermen we came across, even some princes and princesses, seemed to give her some level of reverence while she was smugly parading Sylvain around.
The only exception was a prince mermen who happened to also have his second mutation. Vanessa seemed to cautiously treat him as an equal, when she had practically looked down upon almost everyone else.
<Lusca; Abyssal Mermen Prince [IV] LV 15; Tidebreaker LV 22. Elemental Affinity: Water.>
At first, I thought it might have been from the weird "Abyssal" mutation he had, but I saw almost all of the knights had this mutation too. If I had to hazard a guess, it was likely a mutation that allowed them to survive and thrive in the deep ocean entirely unhindered.
Unfortunately, when he made his appearance, it looked like the end of my tour and enemy scouting opportunity.
"Vanessa, why isn't this one collared yet?" Lusca asked in a demanding tone.
"Sylvain here is new, I'm easing him into the family," Vanessa explained. "You can't rush these things."
Lusca sneered with disgust. "I suggest taking him to the corral until he's properly tamed. Letting him wander about like this is a great risk. You know the rules."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine… Sorry, Sylvain, I'll have to show you more of Azulean later."
Sylvain gave a reassuring smile. "It's alright. I don't want to get you into any trouble…"
Vanessa smiled. "Thank you."
Lusca appeared not to be convinced, as he made sure to escort both of us to the center of the city, the dry zone. The barrier preventing the water from entering allowed me to step through with no issue, and I dismissed my [Bubble].
Vanessa and Lusca took a moment as their tails shifted and split into two scaled legs before following. Vanessa seemed annoyed by his insistence on accompanying us, but soon rushed over and clung to Sylvain.
From there, we were escorted toward the center, which appeared like a strange mixture of a slum and noble quarters. I was confused by the appearance until I gazed into some of the homes and got what I thought was the answer. This was where the humans were kept.
The "noble" houses had a mage living in them, while the slums appeared to have non-mages inside, who were in relatively poor condition and often lived multiple people per house. We were guided to an unoccupied house that seemed to be the bottom of the barrel of the noble houses.
"This is where you will be living for a while… I hope that's okay," she said apologetically.
"It's better than some of the inns I've stayed at," Sylvain replied jokingly.
"Right, hand over your items," Lusca demanded, pointing at my robe and gear.
What!?
I was in a bit of a panic, as nothing Sylvain was "wearing" was actually real. In fact, the only "real" items I actually had were my stuff from acting as Sylthaeryn or Syl's adventurer armor. Everything Sylvain had, except for some deepstone I had kept hidden and his adventurer tag, was all slime!
Yes, for all intents and purposes, it was "real" thanks to [Metal Slime] and [Chimeric Mimicry], and it was probably better than anything an average craftsman could put together. Plus, with enchanting, I had naturally thrown in plenty of reinforcements, so it truly appeared to be some terrific adventuring gear.
My mind raced with a solution, with the obvious being to use the priming feature of [Nitro Slime]. However, doing that would set a time limit on my actions, as when the priming expired, the equipment would revert to its original formless state. That would blow my cover, so I would rather detonate everything moments before the time limit expired and use that as my moment to attack!
But I want more time to plan!
Even [Roleplay] didn't seem to have a solution to this predicament, and Sylvain seemed to freeze up. I was growing extremely concerned when, to my surprise, Vanessa came to the rescue and practically threw herself at Sylvain.
"Lusca, how dare you? Sylvain here is our guest!" Vanessa replied dramatically.
Lusca glared and opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted.
"Guests don't need to surrender their items. You should know better!" she continued, adding emphasis to her words as if trying to hint at something, but it was lost on me.
Lusca was either just as lost as I was, or perhaps he got the hidden message, as he didn't say anything. Instead, he just stood there glaring.
"Sylvain… I don't suppose you have any gifts on you?" Vanessa asked.
I wasn't sure, but I could've sworn there was a bit of panic in her eyes and worry in her tone. Although weirdly, I couldn't tell if the source of her panic was due to Sylvain or Lusca.
"Gifts?" Sylvain asked, tilting his head.
Vanessa nodded. "It can be anything… Even something small. I just want everyone to see your worth. Trust me."
Sylvain seemed to pause again and then began to scratch the back of his head as if mulling over his decision.
Uhh… damn it, is this up to me? What can I give that won't ruin the cover?
The obvious solution would be to give more deepstone, but that would likely break Vanessa's trust, as she thought she got all of Sylvain's materials. I also refused to offer anything from the elves as it was either too valuable or couldn't be explained—like Sylthaeryn's countless dresses.
No, I need something that, even if it returns to slime, shouldn't matter... Ah! Potions!
Using my [Core Storage] workers, I quickly produced about a dozen potions, a mixture of healing and Mana. [Roleplay] must have understood my intent, as it started handing them over to Vanessa.
The bottles were slime as I didn't have any real glass on me, so I had given them the appearance of being frail and old. This way, I figured the mermen would either transfer them or use them, and if they "broke," well, that was their fault.
"Are these okay as gifts?" Sylvain asked.
Vanessa and Lusca were staring intently, with the latter's stern gaze having been broken. Instead, I caught what I assumed was greed in his eyes.
"Yes, these are wonderful, thank you, dear," Vanessa said, kissing Sylvain on the cheek.
Lusca frowned. "Vanessa, these—"
"Are wonderful gifts!" Vanessa interrupted. "Won't you help me carry them?"
Lusca seemed reluctant, but eventually nodded.
"Sylvain, are you okay with staying here for a bit?" Vanessa asked, fluttering her eyes at him. "I promise I'll be back soon. Perhaps you can introduce yourself to the others staying here?"
"Of course. Just… don't leave me for too long," Sylvain replied sorrowfully.
Vanessa promised to be back as soon as possible and then left after shoving some of the potions into Lusca's grasp. I noted she was being extremely rough with him and was practically pushing him away from me as quickly as possible.
That's interesting… but at least I've bought some time to investigate and prepare. I think my maximum [Nitro Slime] time is just over a day, which isn't enough for me to feel safe.
When the two mermen crossed the water divine, I turned off [Roleplay], once again being the master of my own body. I couldn't help but sigh, wishing I could just blob out and relax, but sadly, that looked far away.
Seriously, what have I gotten myself into…
***
"Vanessa, why are you blatantly breaking the rules!?" Lusca demanded.
"Look, you idiot, do not ruin this opportunity for me!" Vanessa snapped, poking him directly in the chest.
"But—"
"No buts, listen!" she interrupted. "Sylvain is one of the most powerful mages I've come across. Do you know what an opportunity this is for me, for all of us?"
Lusca snorted. "Is he that big of a deal? He had a high level for a human, but…"
"Yes! He's my one!" Vanessa declared.
Lusca sighed. Now he knew that no matter what he or anyone said, there would be nothing changing her opinion. Vanessa, like all sirens, had one overwhelming desire that only grew stronger the more they progressed—to find the one.
Once a siren found the one for them, they would try to bind them to them permanently, no matter what. Regardless of outcome, they would refuse to use [Beguile] on anyone else, effectively swearing themselves to be loyal only to their one.
If they succeeded, the siren and her target would be a powerful force, practically joined at the hip and sharing in might and goals. If they failed, however, the siren would become effectively useless. Not only would they not have the power of [Beguile], but they would go through various stages of melancholy and madness.
Sirens were very rare spawns, and their innate ability was powerful, arguably the strongest of all mermen. If the King or Queen had any control over it, they would prevent sirens from ever choosing their one, as it always had risks. Unfortunately for them, even a siren with the strongest of wills would ultimately succumb.
"Can you even control him?" Lusca asked.
"I just need some time. He's been a tough nut to crack, but I'm so close. It'll be worth it, trust me!" Vanessa said, a hint of almost madness in her eyes.
Lusca looked at the potions that were "gifted" and couldn't help but feel a greed bubbling up inside of him. Not only were potions extremely rare, as they had no alchemists, but from what he could tell, there was a powerful aura to these potions!
"What about his items?" Lusca asked, licking his lips.
"I'll keep asking for gifts," Vanessa answered. "Eventually, he will throw everything at me."
Lusca nodded, realizing it was better to be patient and get the treasures than risk this human breaking free.
"However, once he's mine, I will want it back!" Vanessa declared. "I'll let you keep some trinkets, but I won't have you defanging my one with your greed!"
Lusca nodded while secretly sneering to himself. While the situation was volatile, she might get her way, but once things were settled, he knew that she wouldn't be able to get her way. After all, he felt like this human had lots of treasures, and princes never liked to share.
Comments
Zorgdub
When they asked Sylvain to surrender his items I thought: "Finally, the established greed of his character is coming in clutch!" Making Sylvain surrender his wealth would definitely be the surest way to break a charm on him.
Jamie Mann
Thank you for the chapter!
Kenneth Welever
They start at tier three though and evolution madness is created and enhanced by every evolution. Meaning that a teir 3 monster must reach level 30 without madness to get their first taste of it and then have 40 levels to settle again. The higher starting tier the less mad the monsters are likely to be by the time they become high tier.
Kenneth Welever
That could be awkward. Very awkward. Especially since Syl has designated this whole place as foo- .... I mean... Enemy territory
jonathan
... oh no... I'm wondering if she's gonna be a permanent companion in the future...
Magnus
That depends on how strong the deepstone is right? If it is still strong enough to maintain structural stability then wouldn't you have an insanely high pressure leak instead of a catastrophic implosion? You still wouldn't want to be there, but you might have enough time to shield yourself with magic or seal off the compromised section.
enderman
Ok so Sirens develop Yandere syndrome that was plainly explained, but are Princes greedy/ don’t want to share or is it some other symptom?
mbncd
Thank you for the chapter!
Hayden Leech
Whatever else you do, do NOT be in that air bubble when the dome breaks. At those depths the water crashing down on the little village would be a cataclysmic hammer blow that would instantly kill anything in it. Kind of like the titan sub. One instant, everything dead.
Cathsaigh
Save everyone as a slime-submarine.
Garnet of Flame
So it seems like merfolk have pretty unique symptoms of evolution madness, and of course Vanessa being a tier 4 monster means she is suffering pretty strongly from it. Sapient monsters with evolution madness haven’t really been relevant for a while, so I am excited to see how this plays out… beyond Syl wrecking everything which is obviously going to happen.
JW Saxby
Tftc 🍻
Vorthod Wiler
I mean, if she's desperate enough to have Sylvain, she might accept some concessions like being able to hang out with them as long as she stops mind controlling. Though I imagine "your hot hydromancer boyfriend is actually a pile of rainbow goo" might be a bit of a dealbreaker.
Vorthod Wiler
Well Bubble does seem to work well enough, even at this depth, so the environment probably won't be the problem as much as the sheer distance would be. Probably depends on whether or not pressure change becomes an issue under Bubble.
Cathsaigh
"Although judging by the ones I saw, it appeared to be more a type of cast system for the monsters than an average mutation." Caste, not cast.
M. Lampi
So the big question is whether or how Syl will rescue all the human prisoners. Being at such a depth will present problems for the humans if they are freed, and how Syl/Sylvain can cover up her talents in protecting them will be interesting.
denver boyer
I kinda feel bad for her. Girl trying to find her other half. Sucks that her instincts involve taking her one over. Otherwise she could have been the fun obsessive steward of the treehouse.
Jason Hardman
TYFTC! Typo spotted: more a type of cast system -> caste I note the second time you referred to it you got the correct spelling, so figured this was just a slip of the finger.
Engineer4God
Tank oo fur da chap!
CataFlan
TFTC!
Summer Coff
So... where are the crabs...
Hayden Leech
I think that would be hilarious, some weird quirk of siren psychology. Sure the man I have fallen for turned out to be a horrific slime monster but he is MY slime monster… I wonder if her affection will survive Syl burning her civilization to the ground.
Hayden Leech
Is this their only city? If so the merman experiment is probably here somewhere.
Hayden Leech
So they are definitely a monster race. A group of soulless not-people put there by the gods to give the real people something to fight against. Trixie was very dismissive of non experiment monsters. They seem very organized though…
Hayden Leech
I wonder if Syl is going to try to get out on the Crab Hunting Hitsquad. Betray and eat em then save Leon!
enderman
If Syl blobs out right infrount of Vanessa will she A). Keep on trying to charm Syl B). Realise that “Sylvain” is gone and give same reaction as failing to charm the target C). Get so weirded out that she goes searching for a new “the one”
Kennyevilmonkey
Just noticed the cool chapter number. Congratulations on reaching 🎉333🎉
Marquess
It was one hour per level, iirc. Lv. 17 should give 10+70=80 hours of uptime.
BeepBoop
Yeah, it sickening to see so many people want to have her around long term in the story...
enderman
So I guess that instead of going evolution crazy Sirens develop Yandere syndrome. I would assume that the other Mermen have some unique substitute as well or else any high level Mermen will have to constantly suppress the urge to massacre the human slaves.
Michael Zinkstein
Thanks for the chapter. And to honor this number I take a shot.
Joe Scrotejack
assuming you meant the border from the air bubble to the water around them then i think "divine" was a typo edit suggestion: When the two mermen crossed the water divide,
Plateworm
Tftc
Not Real
Wasn’t the nitro slime timer way longer after the prismatic evolution. I remember something ridiculous like years. Was it retconned?
Blanc
TFTC! Which way will Syl take? Human mage that saved all the enslaved humans or mass of tentacles that leaves no witnesses?
CherMi
I'm very impatient for the farce to end and for Syl to wipe out the whole city. And it's also astonishing that some people apparently expect Vanessa's redemption, because she very clearly tried to violate Syl's mind and free will (at the very least). There's no coming back from that, especially since it's apparently an accepted part of their culture and she wouldn't see anything wrong with that, only with her failure to do it.
BeepBoop
Ugh, the perfect opportunity to worm out, wasted
Wensber
She'll need one heck of a redemption arc if she wants to be a party member. Just because she failed doesn't mean she hasn't tried to mind rape Syl. Not to mention the unknown number of other people she successfully mind raped.
CringeWorthyStudios
Right, so, I guess this is either the start of a Shakespearean tragedy or we’re going to get a new party member… I wonder how far these instincts go for Sirens? Like, if Syl reveals that they’re not under her control at all and that they’re basically a shapeshifting spy will Vanessa just roll with it in order to stay with Syl or will that break the whole thing? Curious… Thanks for the chapter!
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter!
CaptainRex
Man it sucks having to wait 2 days for another chapter 😭😭😭😭
Enif
Oh boy. New party member? Or sad puppy dog that's going to keep chasing Syl around after trying and failing to bind them.
chaz mars
Poor Vanessa. Her One was never really one person. Just a mass of slime in a single "hive" mind. At least Syl will get her mermen form soon.
Kasamuri
Thanks for the chapter!
Shai182
TFTC!
