Epilogue – Cleanup
Zermyl the Sea Dragon laughed as she dove through the air. While she was a creature of the sea, that did not mean she disliked flying. Indeed, after being cooped up in her Master’s dungeon for so long, simply being free to fly about the place was liberating, in and of itself.
Of course, she had not been let loose for no reason. The Master had unleashed tens of thousands of slimes to deal with millions of zombies created by a broken dungeon. Now that the strange field spell the mortals had used to block the System was no longer working, the Master had let her loose, to kill all the slimes. Even better, he gave her no restrictions on what she did to get rid of the things, other than saying that the effects could not extend past the great wall that the mortals had erected to contain the broken dungeon.
Slimes died by the scores as she breathed her steam breath upon them, and those who lived met her claws, or her spells, and died all the same. She was still not a full-grown Sea Dragon, she knew that much. Before being let out to play, she’d just reached Level 50 in Tier 2, and was clawing her way towards Tier 3. A full-grown dragon was Tier 4, at the minimum. However, for these things? She was more than enough.
Of course, not all the slimes had the decency to be in the open, where she could easily destroy them. Some had gathered inside buildings, like the skyscrapers and high-rise buildings throughout the city. Possibly because the zombies had gathered there, when there were people in the city, and they had been hunting down any that hadn’t turned.
Not that she cared about such things. Actually, she could say that it was an opportunity. Everything inside the wall was too tainted by miasma for the buildings to be reclaimed, so there was no point in wasting time sparing them. Her spells cut buildings down at their base. The slimes that survived being crushed did not survive the heat as as her steaming dragonbreath pulverized stone and slid through cracks, boiling the slimes to death.
However, even though she was a young dragon, she knew that she would not have the good fortune to simply toy with her prey the entire time. Not when there was so small a gap between her and her prey. Some of the slimes had grown in strength, to the point where they were Tier 2, now. Which was slightly more threatening, as the acid in the slimes could actually etch into her claws and scales, if she let it linger. But that would have been easily manageable, if they were dungeon slimes.
However, these were no longer dungeon slimes. Being sent into the field where the System had been suppressed removed the binding. Now, they were wild slimes, and she had learned from her Master, the Lord Kuronoth, that wild slimes were incredibly adaptable. If you gave them enough time, they would change to fit their environment, and the threats facing them.
So, it wasn’t terribly surprising when she saw several slimes melding together. This was not like when one slime ate another, devouring its core. The cores of the slimes still existed, as their bodies merged, creating a larger, stronger creature, in an attempt to fight back against the presence threatening them.
Chimeric Slime Dragon
Level 35
The new form was large, and stocky. Not like her nimble, serpentine form. No, this was more in the style of a ‘Western Dragon’, as the human media termed things. Thick hind legs capable of supporting the structure on four legs or two, a stocky core, forelegs that were built for striking, long neck and tail, and wings, allowing the slime to fly. And, moving around inside its body, were twenty slime cores.
It was those twenty cores that gave the Chimeric Slime Dragon its great power. Ten were green cores, giving it a potent acid body. Three metal cores gave its outer membrane solid structure, making it hard to damage physically. Two cyan cores gave it mana, to cast spells. A red core and a blue core gave it resistance to fire and water. And a pink core gave it the Passionslime’s abilities. And it was level 35 in Tier 2, meaning that it could actually hurt her, if it could hit her.
If. To others, the Chimeric Slime Dragon was a fearsome foe, since its wide array of abilities and defenses against both physical attacks and magic were far more than a group of mortals could easily handle. But Zermyl was no mere mortal. She was a Sea Dragon, and she knew better than any mere slime collective how to fight as a Dragon. The Chimeric Slime Dragon was merely imitating a dragon’s strength. She was the original, the real thing, and she would prove it, before her Master and the world.
They took to the sky, but the Chimeric Slime Dragon was clumsy in the air. Slimes were not natural fliers, after all, and so it was no surprise that they did not take to the sky as easily as a dragon would, even a sea dragon. The Chimeric Slime Dragon was also only marginally more intelligent than the slimes that comprised it. The feral, animal-level mind and the cyan cores allowed it to use magic, but its spells were basic, and far too weak. She could use a basic shield spell to handle them, and she did not let the thing get close enough to use its claws on her. With the green cores added together, that acid would be far from pleasant, after all.
Zermyl conjured lightning, and bolt after bolt struck the slime dragon. Metal slime cores added to the creature’s physical defense and attacks, but they also meant that the slime conducted electricity particularly well. The cyan and pink cores burnt themselves out under the onslaught.
Turning about, her steam breath engulfed the slime dragon as she literally flew circles around the creature, which was neither fast enough, agile enough, nor smart enough to break free. The red and blue cores resisted the high-pressure steam, resistance was not the same as full protection. The slime dragon’s body began to boil, especially as more lightning struck the creature. One by one, the cores succumbed, either to the spells, or to the steam, or to simply being boiled in their own gel. And then, it was done.
You have defeated a Chimeric Slime Dragon!
You gain 300,000 XP!
You have leveled up!
You have 5050400/5050000 XP to reach Tier 3.
+10 to All Attributes
+20 INT, +20 CHA
4 Attribute Points to spend.
4 Skill points to spend.
Tier 2 Level 50 complete.
Initiating Tier 3 ascension.
Calculating options…
Tier 3 Race options locked. Reason: Tier 4 Race.
New options available for Class and Profession. Advancing to new options will offer new abilities and skills, but may close off other courses of advancement due to specialization. Tier 3 Classes and Professions are generally more powerful than those of Tiers 1 or 2, but are typically more focused on individual aspects of a lower-Tier class or profession. Skills or abilities already gained are not lost, however.
Do you wish to advance to a Tier 3 Class?
Yes / No
Do you wish to advance to a Tier 3 Profession?
Yes / No
As the silver mist rose around her, Zermyl smiled a fanged smile. Finally, Tier 3! Her Master was going to be so happy with her!