The Chronicles of Dwynveia - a Slimeling LitRPG

When the door was nought but ash and cinder, I noticed the reason it wouldn’t open was a shin-high stone block, now slightly melted and glowing from the heat on the other side. The doorframe wasn’t doing so “hot” either. Once again, I became slightly terrified of Aki. If her spells could melt stone I would have to really watch out not to get on her bad side. It wasn’t even my new-found vulnerability to fire talking. If I were still flesh and bone getting hit by this would reduce me to ash just as easily.

I slowly approached the opening and peered inside, careful not to touch the glowing rock of painful death. The heat near it was unbearable so I backed away quickly. Aki decided to try but with similar results.

‘Yeah… I don’t think this is a good way to open stuck doors,’ I laughed.

‘Sorry…’ Aki said slightly embarrassed.

‘Don’t worry. It was still a good idea. You couldn’t have known.’

I did my best to figure out whether there was even a point to wait for the stones to cool off. The chamber was fairly large. The only thing I could see inside was a dusty skeleton wearing mouldy scraps of clothing lying face down by the wall opposite the entrance.

‘They must have hid here and hoped that whatever horrors lurked here wouldn’t find them,’ I said.

Then I noticed that there were deep gouges in the bones looking like they were left by very sharp claws.

But how did they happen if the guy was locked here… OH!

Aki wanted to say something but I silenced her with a “shhh” and pointed to the damage on the skeleton. I could see she didn’t understand what I meant but obliged, slightly unhappy, nonetheless. It was quiet, but then I heard a distinct tapping sound coming from the room. It seemed like it originated from above and to the right of the doorway, but it could have been just the way sound travelled here. The acoustics were not exactly stellar.

More tapping came, this time definitely from above the doorway followed by a horrible screech of pain. Something landed on the floor in the other chamber, its head impacting the stone. I briefly caught sight of it being one of the Sanguine before its flesh caught on fire. It let out one last horrifying shriek and mercifully died.

As the smell of the creature's burnt flesh reached us, we averted our gazes with Aki.

'Okay… what just happened?’ I asked, feeling sick from the sight.

'Level 7 Sanguine Lurker has been slain,’ Aki read the notification she got with a flat voice.

'I see. How about we never talk about this again and just continue?’

Aki nodded, her face green.

We barely made it a few steps before Aki ran up to the wall and started vomiting. I ran over to her and held her hair

'I didn't mean… I didn't want to…’ Aki stammered out, tears streaming down her face before she started to heave again.

Once she was done I held her close to me and comforted her.

'It's okay. It's not your fault.’

'But… but…’

'We would’ve needed to kill this thing anyway. It wasn't pretty, but these things hardly ever are.’

I knew Aki would probably have nightmares about this for the rest of her life. The best I could do was assuage her guilt.

We sat there in silence for a few moments.

'People are right when they say that us demonborns are monsters…’’ she sobbed.

'No, they are not. Never think about yourself this way. None of us are guilty just by the fact of our birth. It's what we do about it that matters. If someone started to use that spell to set random people on fire for no reason, then yes. That would make them a monster. But it wouldn't reflect negatively on you.’

'You're not afraid of me then?’

'No. Why would I be?’

That only made more tears flow from Aki's eyes.

'Th-thank you,’ she blubbered.

'No problem.’

Once Aki recovered, she washed her mouth with the water from the canteen and we set off. She looked like a mess, then again I wasn't in a much better shape either. As we walked I remembered the Gust of Wind rune I still had in my backpack.

'I was thinking,’ I began. 'If you'd like to use… more humane magic I still have that rune we picked up from the shaman. I was planning on learning it eventually, but I can give it to you if you'd like.’

Aki mulled that over.

'No,’ she refused. 'I think I've lost my appetite for offensive magic for the time being. So if you think you can make a better use of it, go ahead.’

I nodded solemnly.

'Gotcha. Don't worry Aki. Take your time. I can't use it until I'm level four anyway. So if you change your mind, just let me know.’

Soon afterwards we found another door, this time on the right side of the corridor. As usual, I took point and stood by the door listening. I could make out footsteps on the other side.

Two? Maybe three people. One heavier than the others. Much heavier. Why didn't they respond to the… commotion though?

I signalled to Aki to take out her swords. I moved to unsheathe my sword, but stopped and decided to take out the Blade of the Black Rose from my backpack. Since I could prepare, I figured I might as well give my new toy a spin. After a moment of consideration, I’ve decided to leave my backpack outside. It was badly damaged as it was.

Once we were prepared I tried to kick the door open. Apparently, the movies lied to me because the only thing it got me was a sore foot.

So much for a dramatic entrance.

I opened the door normally and saw three Sanguine abominations on the other side. The answer to the question “Why didn’t they come at us earlier” became readily apparent when I saw a metal door on the other side of the door, which the three stooges were apparently guarding. Two of them were short and hunched, and like the drowner, looked as if they hadn’t eaten in a year. Each had four arms ending with six sharp claws and there was a row of spikes running along their backs. The third of them could have been best described as the skeleton of a three-metre-tall gorilla wearing a suit of pale white skin. Oh, and it had five extra arms extending from its back: four of them from its upper back, all of them long enough to reach towards the ground; while the last one from its lumbar region. This one split at the elbow into two sub-arms. Like with the smaller toothy stooges, the big one's eight hands all ended with six claws. All three creatures were looking towards the door, their eyeless faces “glaring” directly at me, sticky saliva dripping from the giant's lipless mouth.

And so much for the element of surprise.

And speaking of elements, while I perfectly understood Aki's misgivings about using her newly acquired ability, hell I always found incendiary weapons distasteful myself, if anything ever called for “kill it with fire”, it was the big stooge.

No, I chided myself. If I fancy myself the girl's friend I can't force her to do this.

'Just a friend?’ the Huntress asked.

JUST A STRESS RESPONSE.

‘I'll take care of the big monster,’ I told Aki. ‘You deal with the small fry.’

Without waiting for her response I charged in.

First, I’ve decided to test the ranged attack of my new sword on the big stooge, I was starting to call Larry, making the other two Curly and Moe. At any rate, I pointed my blade at him and channelled mana through it like I would when casting my other spell. This proved to be very draining as I felt mentally spent afterwards. I could maybe get a single volley of Rock Spikes out before I was completely out of mana.

Sub-optimal.

Colourless transparent energy started gathering at the tip and after a second a ball flew out of it. I could immediately feel myself getting dragged to it, but the further it got from me the pull got weaker.

Da hell? Is this a gravity ball?

Larry tried to dodge the projectile, but it was too fast and impacted it on his right side. The back arms there were immediately pulled towards it along with the lumber one. The latter one was outright ripped off resulting in a small spray of blood. Larry roared in pain and anger. I could see the right front arm was also being pulled, but the creature managed to keep it in place by bracing it against the floor. The torn-off appendage was pulled into the centre of the orb, where it was instantly crushed beyond recognition. Shortly afterwards the ball dissipated. The back arms must have been pulled out of their joints as they were hanging limply off the monster’s side. I had no idea if Larry sustained any internal damage from this, but the point was probably academic at the moment, as I now had its undivided attention. Despite its blank face being incapable of expression, I could feel the thing was completely hacked off.

This is going to be fun.

With the corner of my eye I noticed something exploding against… let’s say Curly’s… chest.

Happy that the girl managed to get over the previous situation, probably due to the one we were in, I could now fully focus on Larry, and there was a lot to focus on. It attempted to swipe at me with its left arm, the movement was fairly slow so I tried to dodge, but then my decision to use the Blade of the Black Rose bit me. Previously, when fighting I had no extra weight on my left hip and was wearing my backpack. This threw my movement off, which resulted in Larry being able to rake his claws across my side.

‘FUCK!’ I screamed in pain.

The situation had to be dealt with, and I had a crazy plan that maybe would work. I let go of the Blade of the Black Rose and started to back away from Larry. I pulled out my other sword and threw it towards the monster. It moved to deflect it, and meanwhile, I tried to summon the Blade back to my hand. The sword disappeared on the ground with a flash, and it appeared where I wanted it to be.

YUS!

Larry batted away the sword I threw at it, I could see it left a small on its palm, and the blade landed on the floor where it clattered away.

This gave me an opening I needed and, wincing from pain, I charged in between Larry’s arms and slashed at its exposed stomach. The sword slashed across it, leaving a bloody streak, but oddly enough, the attack wasn’t enough to penetrate Larry’s skin. It couldn’t have been that tough, could it? Larry was no fucking rhino. In my state of confusion, I didn’t see the monster reach towards me with one of his arms. Only when I felt Larry’s fingers wrapping around my body I realised that… I may have fucked up.

While Lilyth was busy doing whatever that was to the big monster, Aki found herself trying to get the attention of the two smaller ones. This proved to be very difficult, as everyone in the room, including herself, was at the moment distracted by the weird orb. Only when the thing finally disappeared could the fight begin. “Luckily” for her, the two smaller monsters had no interest in being anywhere near the big one at the moment, so they charged towards her instead. Aki knew she would have issues fighting both of them at the same time, so she did one thing she was not looking forward to doing. There was some internal block inside her, but she had to force herself through it, she couldn’t let Lilyth down. So, feeling sick again she extended her arm towards one of the monsters and launched an Abyssal Bolt at it. The flaming projectile impacted the creature in the middle of its chest, despite how badly Aki’s arm was shaking, where it exploded and threw the abomination back. Its ribcage was annihilated, exposing the now-badly mangled organs inside. Mercifully for Aki, the monster did not catch on fire this time.

Level 4 Sanguine Hunter has been slain.

You have earned 400 experience points (1150/2000 total experience points progress to level 4)

She was now able to focus on the other monster, which was very close now. It proved to be a formidable enemy for Aki. It was just as agile as she was, so they led a deadly dance, each leaving scratches on the other, but nothing serious enough to hinder the opponent. So without any other obvious options left, she activated her Ring of Protection once again, using up its last charge. She would need to recharge it at some point. The hunter’s attack started bouncing harmlessly off the energy field allowing her to focus exclusively on the offence. She quickly dove under the monster's arms weaving a pattern of slashes with her blades. One of them cut off the creature's outstretched upper left arm at the elbow, the next cut its stomach open spilling the monster’s intestines out and the final one sliced open its jugular. The Hunter still wasn’t down so, as the finale, Aki kicked its legs from under it. It tried to raise itself from the ground, but it quickly weakened from shock and blood loss.

Level 5 Sanguine Hunter has been slain.

You have earned 500 experience points (1650/2000 total experience points progress to level 4)

This problem taken care of, she turned her attention towards the big monster and to her horror saw that the creature was currently holding Lilyth in one of its arms, crushing her, and slowly lifting her towards its now open maw. She started running over there and launched an Abyssal Bolt at the monster. It impacted it on its side, resulting in a massive burn and causing the creature to drop Lilyth to the ground.

Aki’s triumph was short lived as she found herself within the monster’s reach. It backhanded her, which launched her into the air despite the protective field. Aki hit the wall with her back, where the barrier promptly shattered, but still protected the girl from damage. She could hear Lilyth shout something, but couldn’t make out what it was, as her head was ringing. Aki was about to rise when she noticed tapping sounds coming from the ceiling. She looked up and saw a Sanguine Lurker hanging above her. She was finally able to get a look at one. The creature had the body shape that all the Sanguine shared. Its one defining characteristic were once again the arms. The left one was normal, while the right one split at the elbow into two. The Lurker was staring back at her, and she felt droplets of spittle hit her face.

I landed on my back. I would need to thank Aki for saving my life again. As I was scrambling to my feet I saw Larry launch her towards the wall.

‘Oh, you motherfucker!’ I shouted.

I was about to attack him again when I noticed a shape hanging above Aki. We must have been so focused on the threats on the ground that we failed to notice one on the ceiling. Aki looked dazed from the impact. I started running towards her and launched a volley of Rock Spikes at the Lurker. I felt a jolt of mental pain, which confirmed my earlier suspicions that that was it for me as far as spellcasting went for now. The obsidian bolts pierced its back and neck. The creature crashed to the ground and died on impact.

Level 4 Sanguine Lurker has been slain.

You have earned 400 experience points (1450/2000 total experience points progress to level 4)

That was when my inattentiveness got me again. I felt burning pain flash across my back when Larry gouged a deep wound across it. The paper doll in my vision was flashing with deep crimson. The force of the attack threw me to the ground.

Well… fuck.

Aki saw the Lurker crash to the ground in front of her. That completely broke the out of her daze and she got up to her feet just as she saw Lilyth fall on the ground with nasty-looking cuts across her back. They were oozing black liquid. She noticed the big monster’s claws were covered in it along with something blue that she realised must have been her friend’s slimy skin. Aki dropped one of her swords and dashed towards Lilyth while reaching into her satchel. She got out a healing potion and rolled it on the ground towards her friend, hoping she would still be well enough to drink it. The creature made a lunge at her, but she was able to dodge it narrowly. She fired an Abyssal Bolt at it, the intense mental strain telling her it was her last use of the ability for a while, and it hit the monster in the side of its head, exploding and dazing the creature which gave Aki a moment to go back retrieve her second Falchion. Just as she was picking it up she saw Lilyth roll away from the abomination while struggling to uncork the healing potion. She managed to do it and poured it down her throat.

The healing potion tasted like the nectar of the gods. I could feel my strength immediately return to me. I summoned back my sword as I left it where I fell and moved to face the creature again. I was amazed at Larry’s ability to tank damage. It ate two hellfire balls, a gravity orb-thing, that slash from me, and still looked no worse for wear. Hopefully, between the two of us, we would be able to put it down. Larry was coming out of its daze so I knew we had just moments of free license to act left. So I leapt towards it and slashed it across its right arm. My sword managed to bite into it but deflected off the bone. I quickly backed away, as I could see its other arm getting ready for another swipe at me. In the meantime, Aki was circling it to get to the side where its back appendages were non-functional. We still had no idea what these did, so it was probably for the best. She lunged at its leg, but her blades bounced off its skin. It tried to kick at her, but I used this opportunity to make another slash at its arm, this time from the other side. It didn’t do nearly as much damage as the previous one, but it allowed Aki to dodge the monster’s kick.

Larry realised it was in a difficult position so it tried to reposition itself. I suddenly found myself within the range of its back arms which started to make swipes at me, forcing me to back away. As I did that, I began to feel another problem starting to creep in. Fatigue. Realising we really needed to end this quickly, I made a swipe at one of the arms, managing to cut it off at the wrist. The creature howled in pain, making my ears hurt, but still was focused enough to swipe at me with its last remaining back arm. I felt intense pain as its claws dug into my left shoulder. But then something miraculous happened. With another howl of pain, the monster collapsed. I could see Aki standing next to its almost severed right palm, which was now hanging by threads from Larry’s wrist.

You go, girl! I thought and turned my attention back to the monster. Its back hand was still making, now ineffectual, swipes at me. I quickly got out of its reach and dashed towards the creature's neck. The fucking thing still had fight in it as it was trying to drag itself to its feet with just its left arm.

‘What the fuck…’ I muttered.

With the rest of my strength, I leapt on its back and stabbed at its neck. My sword bounced off its skin, so I slashed at it. And then again. And again. Finally, I managed to get through and my sword severed its neck aorta. A gout of blood sprayed from the hole. The monster bucked which threw me off it, convulsed and went still.

Level 18 Lesser Sanguine Behemoth has been slain.

You have earned 900 experience points (2350/2000 total experience points progress to level 4)

You are now Level 4 (350/2500 total experience points progress to level 5)

Your total health has increased

Your total stamina has increased

Your total mana has increased

You have received 2 perk points (Current Number of Perk Points: 2)

Notice: Against all odds, you have somehow managed to slay a monster 15 levels higher than you. You have received 1 perk point for this achievement (Current Number of Perk Points: 3)