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Syl: Chapter 216
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 06:15:00 +0000 UTCChapter 216: Three Gluttons
We chatted longer and discussed what we should do in the coming days. My biggest concern was talking with Flintheart to see what slime cores he had wrangled up for me.
Vee only had food on her mind but was otherwise willing to go along for anything. I wondered if Trixie would have better luck teaching her the rock method than me.
Will I still get my discount if I tag in Trixie to help? I hope so...
Trixie wanted to see the chaotic essence we had mentioned but wanted to hang around me otherwise. I got the vague impression she was probably shirking some of her duties, but I didn't mind having the extra company.
The topic of investigating the silver slime operation also came up, and to my surprise, Trixie seemed very excited about that idea.
"We can sneak in! I'll have a perfect chance to show off my talents and shine!" Trixie said happily.
"What's your specialty?" Vee asked.
"S-e-c-r-e-t!" Trixie teased.
"Illusions..." I answered.
"Noooo!" Trixie groaned in an overdramatic fashion. "Why ruin the surprise, Syl?"
"I just think if we're going into potentially risky situations, we should know what to rely on," I answered.
"You're probably just bitter that you couldn't see through them when we first met!" Trixie said, sticking out her tongue.
"Maybe..." I admitted. "Although the Cat Sith we ran into had some utterly terrifying illusions. They basically could hurt you if they hit you. Imagine my surprise when a sword hit my slime hand, and it actually hurt me!"
"Oh yeah, anything like that is nasty... Real illusions are not fun," Trixie giggled mischievously.
"Real... Illusions?" Vee groaned, sounding extremely upset. "Talk about an oxymoron... That's so stupid..."
"It's magic," I replied with a shrug.
"Yup. Magic," Trixie agreed.
"Stupid magic..." Vee grumbled.
"Careful, or I might get another quest to slap you," I teased.
"You have got to tell me about that one!" Trixie begged.
Vee groaned, and I made a mental note to buy her something nice to eat as an apology.
We continued having a rather fun evening together, chatting about nonsense before having a good dinner and then trying to give Vee a bit of Trixie's magic bootcamp. Unfortunately, Vee still refused to acknowledge the power of the rock method.
***
"I see you've brought a friend..." Kaldrour said, looking relatively surprised by Trixie sitting on my head.
I relegated my magical hat to a fashionable hair clip to accommodate Trixie retaining her favorite sitting spot. Now that Trixie had mentioned it would eventually grow, I wanted to keep it on me as much as possible.
Seriously, what new ability could it acquire? I hope it will protect me from mind control; that would be the best outcome. It's funny that Vee was also worried about brain worms. I wonder if that's a reoccurring fear among us [Experiments].
"Trixie, meet my friend and business partner, Kaldrour Flintheart. Kaldrour, meet my old friend and adventuring buddy, Trixie the pixie," I introduced the two.
"Pleasure to meet you," Trixie said courteously.
"Aye. Good to meet you. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that our mutual friend even has ties to the spiritfolk," Kaldrour said with a small bow.
"Indeed, Syl here seems to make a habit of making some powerful or influential friends," Trixie giggled.
Vee also gave a little wave, to which Kaldrour waved back.
Trixie offered to connect Vee to our conversation, but to my surprise, she opted not to.
"I'd rather they not discover I'm a fully thinking, talking spider..." Vee said nervously. "Like... I know they've been lenient with the whole elf-bonded companion thing, but I get the feeling they might react a bit differently otherwise."
I hated to admit it was possible. Who knew how they would react. It was one of the biggest reasons I hesitated to tell anyone else. Plus, I had to admit that a small part of me feared letting Vee talk to others. What if she told them my secret? It was probably just a dose of my usual neuroticism and paranoia, but still...
"So, have you managed to find my slime cores?" I asked eagerly.
"Indeed!" Kaldrour said excitedly. "I scoured the markets, buying anything and everything I could find."
I was bubbling with excitement as Kaldrour began placing various objects on the table. A scepter, a caged device, and another strange magical item. All of them had a juicy slime core housed within them. I wanted to drool. Another cracked silver core was also carefully added to the collection.
"This is amazing!" I replied joyously.
"Woah... Those are some strong emotions coming from you..." Vee commented. "Like I'm feeling almost secondhand giddiness, if that were even possible."
"And this isn't even the best part!" Kaldrour said happily.
I gulped in anticipation.
Something better? What could it be?
With a confident grin, he reached into a bag and pulled out something resembling a fishbowl. Inside was a tiny, glowing violet slime.
<Slime (Violet) [I] LV 1. Elemental Affinity: None.>
I immediately stood up and slapped my hands against the table. Trixie almost fell off my head.
Kaldrour chuckled happily. "Good to see it had the intended effect!"
"I can't believe you managed to find one!" I replied happily.
"Aye, they are rare buggers 'cause they die so often," Kaldrour admitted. "I managed to buy it off a buddy who wanted to give it to his nephew. They make good but very expensive pets. Hopefully, this one lives longer with you than it would with that boy."
I hid my embarrassment behind a chuckle. Unfortunately, I couldn't see this violet slime living very long. I wanted its core!
I was so grateful for all the supplies that I immediately pulled out another small chunk of obsidianite and placed it on the table. Trixie stared at it with confusion, while Kaldrour seemed to be almost a mirror of my previous excitement.
"I see you've been holding back a little extra for a rainy-day fund," Kaldrour asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Or, in this case, a reward for an exceptionally well-done job!" I answered honestly.
"Bloody beards, I should quit my job and become a slime core trader in that case!" Kaldrour laughed uproariously.
"I had no idea you were so flush with cash..." Trixie whispered.
"I've had some very successful hunts," I answered. "Adventuring pays absurdly well."
"Not to discourage you, but I don't think the average adventurers earn anywhere close to what you've been doing," Kaldrour pointed out. "Although, keep up the good job! You could buy yourself a dwarven nobility if you wanted!"
"Ew, don't become a noble!" Trixie teased. "Way too stuffy... No offense."
"Ha!" Kaldrour slapped the table. "None taken. It's definitely got its ups and downs. I could certainly do without the long meetings, but the food and drinks are always good! Not to mention some of the perks and privileges."
"I guess..." Trixie shrugged. "I prefer being a free agent."
Kaldrour shrugged back, clearly not really wanting to argue with a pixie.
"So what's this about an assassin coming after you?" Kaldrour asked. "I hope it's not over the help you did with regaining my orichalcum mine."
I reluctantly took my eyes off the violet slime tempting me and shook my head. "No. It's elf politics, I believe. The assassin wanted to take something off me as well."
Kaldrour looked somewhat relieved. "No offense, but I'm glad it's not a mess I dragged you into. Although I believe Lukhek and Tamnaeth are looking into it?"
"So I've heard... Although I'm thinking of leaving sometime soon, so I might miss the next assassin..." I attempted some dark humor.
"Oh? Back to the human lands? Or back to the Grove?" Kaldrour questioned before quickly adding. "If you don't mind me asking, that is..."
"I got an invitation to Keld, and Vee wants to see the ocean," I replied.
"Oh, Keld! I've heard good things about Keld; the golems coming out of that place are masterpieces," Kaldrour said excitedly. "If you do go, please drop the Flintheart name. I'd love to do business with them!"
"Sure, I don't mind," I answered.
Kaldrour looked over the moon. My stint as Sylvester had taught me there were some big profits in the golem industry, especially the enchanting variety, as Greg and Thern had bemoaned. It looked like Kaldrour was very eager to break into the golem industry and expand his profits.
We chatted a bit longer before he eventually left for his next meeting. I stared hungrily at all the objects on the table.
"Wow. Talk about clever: using merchants and adventuring to get yourself more cores!" Trixie said mentally, establishing a link between the three of us immediately.
"It's very unfair if you ask me!" Vee whined a little jokingly. "Syl is basically paying to win!"
"It's not like I use money for anything else..." I said. "Beyond your snacks and ring collection."
"Well, if you're throwing money around, I'd love a new dress or something..." Trixie said without a hint of shame.
"Sure... After I do some eating myself..." I answered.
"I think we could ask Syl anything right now and get an agreement," Vee teased.
"Definitely got slime cores on the brain," Trixie giggled.
"If you were a slime, you'd understand. Nothing else even comes close!" I defended myself.
Trixie pointed to the tiny violet slime in the fishbowl. "Are you really going to eat that cutey?"
"Yes," I replied with zero hesitation. "I think it might give me Light affinity. Or, at the very least, give me the ability to glow."
"Poor little guy... Doomed to be eaten by the big mean elf slime," Vee teased.
Trixie looked like she wanted to tease, but to my surprise, she held back. "Gaining the Light affinity would be good... Your collection of delicious Mana would be even better!"
"Wow... We really are all gluttons, aren't we?" Vee commented.
"At least you're admitting to the glutton club..." I teased.
"I'm kind of forced to... I earned a trait called [Overeating] last night..." Vee admitted with some horror in her tone.
"I'm genuinely surprised Syl hasn't earned that trait!" Trixie replied.
"Is it because I don't technically eat?" I pondered. "I don't even have a stomach."
"The trait mentions increasing stamina regeneration based on how full your belly is... So, probably?" Vee somewhat agreed.
Vee did show me the trait, and I was met with an error incompatible with my race. It was slightly annoying, but it's not like I needed to regenerate stamina.
"Well, time to eat!" I said excitedly as I lifted the scepter with the red slime core.
"Seems like a real waste of a magic item, don't you think-" Trixie tried to say as I stuffed the scepter inside of me.
<Slime (Red) Core absorbed. Trait [Blaze Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Burst] gained.>
<Existing Trait [Blaze Slime LV 6] improved to [Blaze Slime LV 7].>
<Trait [Slime Burst] integrated into [Nitro Slime LV 7].>
Oh! Any slimes that had [Slime Burst] will help me towards my next level of [Nitro Slime]! Very nice!
"And she ate it... Very nice..." Trixie sighed.
"I got a new level in [Blaze Slime] for that!" I said excitedly as I reached for the white core.
"Wait, that one is actually useful!" Trixie whined. "Do you know how expensive refrigerator enchantments are?"
"A little. I can make them after all," I replied before gulping down the device.
Trixie's protest fell on deaf ears.
<Slime (White) Core absorbed. Trait [Cryo Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Shot] gained.>
<Existing Trait [Cryo Slime LV 7] improved to [Cryo Slime LV 8].>
<Existing Trait [Slime Shot LV 7] improved to [Slime Shot LV 8].>
"What did that one get you?" Vee asked curiously.
"A level in [Cryo Slime] and [Slime Shot]!" I said happily.
"I was joking, but this really is pay to win!" Vee protested.
I nodded as I reached for the odd device; it looked like someone's science experiment had gone wrong. The yellow core was wrapped in copper wires, and a strange black substance coated what looked like handles.
I looked towards Trixie, almost expecting her to protest again
"I don't know what that is, so go ahead and eat it," Trixie shrugged.
"It sorta looks like a battery..." Vee muttered right as I plopped it down the slimy gullet.
<Slime (Yellow) Core absorbed. Trait [Voltaic Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Density] gained.>
<Existing Trait [Voltaic Slime LV 6] improved to [Voltaic Slime LV 7].>
<Trait [Slime Density] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>
"And it's gone..." Vee grumbled.
"Yeah, but well worth it!" Trixie added. "You should have seen what the first yellow slime gave, Syl! So many sparks! Crackle pew!"
"You ate a yellow core and got lightning powers?" Vee asked.
"Yeah, it was a trait called [Voltaic Slime] and Lightning affinity, which let me buy [Lightning Magic]," I explained.
"I think I see why they made an entire economy out of them," Vee replied.
"Only a few are harvested for their actual slime..." I pointed out. "The cores being magic catalysts is sort of a happy coincidence. It's a pity I can't get my hands on a purple or green slime core."
"You just had a slime core buffet and want more?" Trixie teased.
I stuck out my tongue before popping the silver core in my mouth.
<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime] gained. Trait [Shape Slime] gained.>
<Existing Trait [Metal Slime LV 7] improved to [Metal Slime LV 8].>
<Trait [Shape Slime] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>
I thought for sure I would have finally gained a level in [Morph Slime]... But I guess since it's a fused trait, it's much harder to level up? A real pity...
And then my gaze fell upon the violet slime jiggling in its glass container.
Comments
Zorgdub
RIP to the violet slime. At least we know that other slimes aren't sapient being, so it's even less cruel than eating regular monsters.
mbncd
Thank you for the chapter!
BrotherJohn
None of these things could have happen if she ate the core this chapter. The author has doomed us to infinite possibilities now… It’s possible there won’t even be a next chapter.. the story stuck unfinished like a half woven tapestry fluttering out a multitude of threads for us to interpret what could have been a master piece!
jonathan
well... Technically speaking... you have no idea if she's actually going to manage to eat it. Someone might barge in and shatter the core. The slime might suddenly turn into a slime girl and start speaking telepathically... Also a dragon might attack and kill all the characters. You never know what might happen.
Roombot
That’d be sweet
Roombot
Yessssssssss slime core feast
Omnax
It's level one, tier one, and can't be tamed as far as we've seen. How would Syl possibly make it a queen?
Daniel Mountain
Just 300 billion to collect, raise, evolve, and optimize. With more coming out every day. It's not an objective, it's a mockery.
Boyo
Damn, I wish my lunch gave me immunity to fire, ice, and lightning
Hodge Wasson
Well, from chapter 168: "Slime (Violet) A harmless and often times friendly slime that can emit a glow even in the darkest depths. Surviving on roots, fungus, and tiny bugs, this slime is considered almost an endangered species, as any environment in which it could theoretically spawn is far too hostile for such a low-tier monster to survive. Some adventurers have even claimed to have taken them as a cute pet and household cleaners. The uses for their core are unknown due to scarcity." With light and cleaning mentioned, I wonder if ultraviolet light is somehow involved.
Aeon
Its got the same level of intelligence as a rock, getting it to qualify for Cluster Slime, getting it the xp to level its race that far, and then getting it to pick cluster slime mean its functionally impossible to do. Its much simpler to just eat it and find more if she wants to power level it.
CringeWorthyStudios
Ha! You assume I’m not completely serious. Gotta catch ‘em all and all that.
Daniel Mountain
Ugh. Don't even *joke* about that sort of thing.
Daniel Mountain
If that violet slime could think, it would likely have just expired from dread.
rwn
I mean I guess I assumed slimes don't *need* a queen to reproduce - I figured they'd normally make more slimes via some mitosis-y process.
CataFlan
TFTC! Wow, how much growth for only 4 slime cores, next is the violet slime and it's traits! Let's see if it has some vision traits or something in the sense camp, like some kind of wavelength vision?
CataFlan
How she can harvest more cores from a live slime? Sub-cores?
matt
That's... unlikely.
Jeanean
I think the vast majority of slimes are natural or dungeon spawns. Only if Syl somehow managed to make the supposedly weakest slime of them all evolve into a queen variant would it start breeding other slimes. On that note, I AM waiting on the day that Syl finds out about a Queen slime somewhere. Doesn't even matter which type it is, she could farm them to get some truly insane Trait Levels.
Jason Hardman
It's a bad habit that a lot of serialised authors get into. The whole process of taking the last paragraph or two of one chapter and gluing it to the start of the following, and potentially unrelated, chapter. Just to build some artificial tension and suspense. Although to be fair in this case, the next chapter is likely to be a full deep dive into whatever traits and abilities come from the Violet slime, assuming it's not some bait and switch, where she gets an error or some failure in absorption. Cliffhangers are such an obvious and overused audience manipulation tactic, that I'd doubt most readers are gullible enough to fall for it. And any excitement or suspense is long faded by the time the next chapter comes about. When it's constructed back to back in a book, it's particularly pointless, because the resolution is generally just there already. I sometimes wonder how many edits before publication are just to correct for janky cliffhangers written into the Web serial chapters.
rwn
Since this is an actual living slime, wouldn't it make more sense to try and keep it alive to harvest more slime cores?
Jason Hardman
Little Parma didn't get to live long.
Jason Hardman
Chromatic Chimeric Mimic Slime has a nice ring to it.
Engineer4God
Tank oo fur da chap!
CataFlan
3!
Freya
Tyftc
JAndy
gluttens -> gluttons
BrotherJohn
How dare you end the chapter without her eating the violet slime. Post the next chapter now
SapientX
that would be a funny plot twist if it's another Experiment. but with Trixie already lending her moral support to the impending cannibalism, I wouldn't bet on it
Simon Hoerder
I will be very disappointed if that cliffhanger only delivers light affinity. That violet slime has been set up to go side-ways and give Syl a few troubles first, then an unexpected yet powerful surprise (pet? symbiont?) instead of the promised light affinity reward.
SapientX
Violet slime? Must... resist... the cuteness!
John Doe
Thanks for the chapter!
Lionheart Copperhead
AHHHH not a cliff hanger! Thanks for the chapter though!
Abishek Kumar
noooooooooo!!!! we have to wait 2 days now
Touch
I hate that as well, this happened so many times, though maybe she want to grow it before eating? Because it IS a live slime of previously unknown colour.
Kevin McGuire
Gramps better hurry on that Bronze Slime being a dimensional magic slime before Syl and Trixie team up to teach Vee.
Rizeres
Wonder if once she collects all the slime types she will be able to fuse them like traits. Become a chromatic slime or something.
TheLord999
RIP private violet (thank gosh it only sound worst to pronounce than to read)
Wensber
Thanks for the chapter! Something tells me the at minimum two elven factions following then as they travel is going to cause issues. There is the elf sent to escort her that'll want to keep her alive and then there is likely another assassin sent to finish the job. If Trixie is gonna be a longer term partner, she'll need her own Elven Emblem after all.
Not Real
I wonder if it’s mind affinity for purple slimes
Zaim İpek
What's the point of saving the last slime for the next chapter? It just makes this chapter feel unfinished and rushed. . . Cliff hangers should be a set-up for something, not an interruption of an event. Eating all these cores is done within about 1 minute of time in-universe. Splitting this singular and relatively minor event just feels awkward.
crazybot
Sorry for this little buddy...
CringeWorthyStudios
Nom nom nom. Not gonna lie, I kinda want Gramps to be like “well, you collected all the gen 1 slime cores. Time to add gen 2.” Thanks for the chapter!
Shai182
TFTC! Ahh, Finally, the Snack time!
