The pain was overwhelming for the slime at this point.
The slime's newly awakened mind reeled as the sensation of agonizing pain tore through it. It had never imagined such a thing existed.
Yet now it understood that feeling.
Its awareness sharpened by the agony tearing through its core.
But even as it trembled, a deeper instinct surged beneath the pain. It needed to survive.
The Kodaz Thunder Lizard snarled, electricity crackling more violently now that it was enraged. Its claws gouged glowing trenches in the floor as it prepared to strike again.
Aria watched from within the narrow hole, frozen in horror.
"Slime—!" she choked out.
She reached a hand toward it, but immediately jerked back. If she went out there, she would die instantly.
The lizard's head snapped toward her at the sound.
Her blood froze.
It sniffed the air, and its lips peeled back in a wicked grin and muttered in its guttural tongue. ("A human? Interesting. A fresh meal.")
Aria's breath hitched. She stumbled backward inside the cramped tunnel, her heartbeat thundering painfully in her ears.
The slime's consciousness blazed. Not her.
The thought struck with startling clarity. The slime knew one thing, the lizard could not be allowed near Aria. It needs to know the meaning behind the word 'friend'.
With every shred of strength it had left, the slime forced itself upright. Its scattered pieces trembled and rolled back toward its main body, pulling themselves together through sheer will.
The lizard turned its attention back to the slime when the slime reformed its body. It may be blind but its senses were pretty sharp as a monster with Tier 3 Core.
("Persistent little thing,") it snarled.
Lightning surged along its spine.
The slime analyzed again in a split-second flash of instinct.
[Lightning Discharge: Need 4 seconds before it can fire.]
[Weak point: Eyes, soft tissue under the throat.]
The slime knows it didn't have enough time or power.
But it didn't need to win.
The Kodaz was blind now which was an enormous advantage even if only a little.
The slime forced its trembling body to ignore the pain and pushed itself into motion, sliding rapidly across the floor.
The lizard lunged toward the sound, but without its sight it misjudged the angle and crashed full-force into another wall of mana ores.
Crystals shattered. Blue sparks scattered across the chamber.
The slime didn't waste the moment.
Drawing on instinct alone, it pulled in every trace of mana it could reach and activated its new skill.
[Mana Manipulation]
Mana flowed through its jelly-like green body in unstable trembling waves. The slime remembered the crackle of energy along the Kodaz's spine and the texture of lightning, the taste of it in the air.
And then… It tried to recreate it.
A spear of white-blue mana condensed at the tip of the slime's body, flickering violently. Imitating a tier 3 elemental attack was reckless, but it had no choice.
Across the room, the Kodaz also completed its own charge. Lightning surged from its head down its back.
For a heartbeat, the air seemed to hold its breath.
The beast unleashed a roaring lightning strike.
At the same instant, the slime fired its own unstable bolt.
The two attacks collided midair.
BOOM!
The chamber vibrated. A faint ringing built in Aria's ears.
Their brightness swelled, pressing against each other and creating a violent shockwave that exploded outward, flooding the chamber in wild arcs of lightning.
"Ah—!" Aria gasped as stray lightning ripped across her arm and shoulder. She reeled deeper into the tunnel, biting back a cry of pain.
Sparks danced across the mana ores, igniting the air with snapping cracks.
The lizard staggered. It groaned with confusion and alarm.
("You… copied my attack?")
Even with no eyes, its instinctive wisdom as a Tier 3 monster made it wary. This slime was wrong. Unnatural and dangerous.
The lizard wondered what kind of creature was it facing right now?
The slime's green body shuddered violently. This was its first time using [Mana Manipulation], and it had immediately forced the skill to imitate a tier 3 elemental attack. The burden was heavy in its core, shaking its entire form.
It could barely hold its shape.
But this was their best chance to escape.
The Kodaz was unable to predict the slime's next move. And its lightning was on cooldown.
The slime marshaled the last scraps of mana inside itself. There was no need to wait for a "recharge" because this wasn't its natural lightning skill. It was simply mana forced into the shape of lightning by the will of the slime.
And mana was all the slime needed.
It fired again.
A second lightning strike shot out. This was one thinner and weaker but fast enough that the lizard couldn't brace.
The bolt slammed into its throat.
The lizard shrieked, scales crackling as the shock rippled through its body. It reeled backward, claws scraping wildly against the crystal floor with terrifying ferocity.
The slime didn't wait.
Ignoring the agony tearing through its damaged body and low mana, it turned and fled toward the narrow tunnel where Aria waited.
Behind them, the Kodaz roared in fury and stormed after the sound, smashing through crystal pillars as it charged.
Aria, who was still trembling from the wild lightning that had struck her earlier, lifted her head when she saw the slime emerge from the tunnel mouth.
It looked faint. Its green body was dim and wobbling.
"Are you alright?" Aria asked, her voice hoarse.
"Alright," the slime responded softly, though its weakened slide told her that the slime was not alright.
Seeing how unsteady it was, Aria reached out with her burned hand, wincing as the pain flared. Even so, she scooped the slime against her chest and began crawling deeper into the tunnel.
Behind them, the Kodaz Thunder Lizard thrashed wildly, crashing into the shattered mana ores with furious blind rage. The impacts shook the chamber and the mana ore pillars broke under its weight. Combined with the ongoing quake, the weakened room finally gave way.
The chamber collapsed.
Aria didn't look back. Clutching the slime tightly to her chest, she crawled with all her strength. Her legs dragging behind her and her injured arm trembling. But she kept crawling toward a small light ahead.
Minutes felt like hours. They stopped twice when Aria's painful hand nearly failed her, but she forced herself on, driven by desire to survive.
At last, she pulled herself out of the tunnel and onto open ground.
She lifted her head.
In front of her was the swirling white mist of the Dungeon's entrance.
"We made it," Aria whispered with relief.
—