Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Flame Breath Skill
Its bloated body began to contract as the Giant Slime gathered power once again. It suddenly leaped high into the air, plummeting straight toward Marcus!
Marcus dove forward, barely dodging the Giant Slime’s attack.
The repeated sprints had taken a toll on Marcus’s Physical Strength. His movements were no longer as nimble, and the aftershock from the crushing impact left him dizzy.
He staggered back several steps before regaining his footing. And at that very moment, the Giant Slime began preparing its acid once more!
"Get down!"
Zelir’s furious roar reached Marcus’s ears, and he obeyed without a second thought.
Zelir strode forward, and a blinding fiery light suddenly erupted from the White Wax Wood Tip!
Flame Breath Skill, fully charged!
"BOOM!!!"
A thick Fireball shot past Marcus’s head, slamming directly into the Giant Slime!
A direct hit!
The moment the Giant Slime’s Gel-like body touched the Flame, it began to boil violently. It started to melt and drip away like a candle, showing an incredibly effective result.
’But it’s not enough. The core is still protected. I have to incinerate its entire outer body!’
Zelir furrowed his brow, continuously outputting Magic Power to maintain the Flame Breath Skill.
The red light illuminated the entire cavern, even overpowering the glow of the Lighting Skill.
Zelir could feel the reserves of Magic Power in his body dropping rapidly.
’I have to hold on!’
"ROOOOAR!!!"
The Giant Slime actually let out a rough, sharp cry akin to a roar. The gray-green Gel began to twist, contort, and twitch frantically.
The searing heat of the Flame Breath Skill continued unabated.
The Giant Slime tried to escape the Flame by charging up a jump, but its body was melting much faster than it anticipated. The raging Flames were laced with impacts of Magic Power, creating an immensely destructive combination!
After several struggles, its thoughts of escape were finally crushed. As the Flame Breath Skill continued to sear it, more than half of the Giant Slime’s body dissolved, revealing its greatest weakness—the Demon Core.
The exposed Demon Core was completely unable to withstand such a ferocious roasting. Finally, with a loud POP, all life was extinguished from the Giant Slime.
A pure, round Demon Core fell to the ground. The Giant Slime’s remaining body also began to shrivel rapidly, eventually becoming a dried-out piece of Gel.
[The party worked together to kill the Giant Slime, gaining a large amount of Experience Points.]
Level 3 -> Level 4, Level Up!
Only after seeing the kill notification on his panel did Zelir dare to cut off the flow of Magic Power. The massive Fireball gradually died out.
He gasped for air, trying to recover.
"*Pant... pant...*"
That seven-second cast of the Flame Breath Skill had nearly drained his blue bar dry.
According to the panel, killing the Giant Slime had awarded a total of 90 Experience Points. Zelir was now Level 4 (27/175) and had gained four distributable attribute points.
After a moment of thought, he allocated them all to Intelligence.
His Intelligence Attribute increased from 70 to 74. Due to the strong correlation mechanic, his Charm Attribute also rose, becoming 47.
Zelir’s current attribute panel was:
Power: 65
Agility: 61
Constitution: 68
Spirit: 71
Intelligence: 70 -> 74
Perception: 30
Charm: 46 -> 47
Lucky: 41
Talent Skills:
Technique Celestial Calculation.
’Prioritizing Intelligence is a no-brainer. It improves my Magic Manipulation Level, increases the analysis speed of Technique Celestial Calculation, and even gives a bonus to Charm.’
’Besides, to unlock the next Talent Skill, I have to reach the rank of Junior Mage.’
The biggest gap between Zelir and a Junior Mage was his Casting Speed.
A Casting Speed of under three seconds was something even Zelir couldn’t achieve, not even while holding the White Wax Wood Base Material.
Increasing his Intelligence, improving his Magic Manipulation Level, and then slowly optimizing the redundant parts of his Spell Structures—this was Zelir’s primary goal.
’My Spirit Attribute is sufficient for now, and I’m not really lacking in damage output at the moment.’
’As for a Strength and Agility Body build... that’s not even within my consideration.’
’Then there’s Perception.’
’There’s no need to increase this attribute for now either. Besides, it costs two points for each increase, which is a bit of a luxury.’
It was worth noting, however, that Zelir could clearly tell Valles’s Perception was much higher than an ordinary person’s. He was almost always the first to grasp the combat situation.
’And finally... Lucky...’
’This attribute is too metaphysical; its effects are impossible to quantify.’
Zelir thought back, and it was true that he had encountered quite a few lucky things.
For example, the Fog Demon they encountered was a juvenile. If it had been an adult, the party would have been wiped out instantly, with no chance of survival.
Then there was the fact that he, with a Perception of only 30, had somehow managed to sense the Fog Demon’s magical connection in the dense fog and prepare a Fireball Skill in advance.
Otherwise, even if the other members had managed to buy him enough time to cast, their losses would have been catastrophic. It might have even led to Gray’s death and Marcus being severely injured.
There was also meeting the nice Bev, Marvin cutting him some slack, and finding magic in the Martial Arts Arena that suited him well.
All of these could be considered manifestations of luck.
’But how much of it happened because of his 41 points in the Lucky attribute, and how much was just how things were fated to unfold?’
Zelir didn’t know.
’Besides, the cost of increasing Lucky is just too high—four times that of a Basic Attribute.’
’I’ll think about it later...’
Only after the Flame Breath Skill was canceled did Marcus dare to climb up from the ground, his expression one of utter shock.
"That’s just insane..."
’Is this the destructive power of a Mage?’
After personally witnessing Zelir roast such a huge Giant Slime to death, Marcus felt a new level of awe for the Mage class.
Valles also shook his head, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"That’s too ridiculous..."
’That kind of destructive force... I’d have to at least advance to a Middle Level Ranger and combine my Fighting Qi with Archery to pull that off.’
’Zelir is just a rookie who’s only been on two missions, yet he’s already surpassed me?’
The two of them pushed aside their thoughts and began to collect the spoils of battle.
The Giant Slime Demon Core, when compared to a Fog Demon Core, contained considerably less energy, and its market price was correspondingly much lower.
Still, it was a respectable sum of income.
There was also the piece of Gel left over after the burning.
Zelir picked it up and weighed it in his hand. It was lighter than he expected. He tried punching it.
"SMACK."
It only left a faint fist print, which quickly returned to its original shape.
’It really is a good material for making cushioned Armor Lining.’
"Should we split this one 40-30-30 as well?" Marcus asked, seeking Zelir’s opinion.
"Sure," Zelir agreed readily.
After stowing away the two items, the party continued to explore deeper into the cavern for a while.
There was nothing else unusual inside, and they no longer saw any polluted streams on the ground.
The entire Slime colony in this abandoned cave had been completely cleared out. Mission accomplished.
