Syl

Chapter 203: Acid Magic 101

Chapter 203: Acid Magic 101

Entering the dungeon was bizarre. The entire thing felt far more clinical than I had ever expected. At first, the guards checked that I didn’t have any controversial Emblem equipped and then had me reassure them I didn’t have any looting skills or traits.

I offhandedly mentioned [Dissection] just in case, which caused the guards to actually look very pleased.

"We will be expecting some good harvests then!" The one guard had cheered.

Once inside the dungeon, the entire thing was labeled with floor markings and signs to indicate the area. Heck, some of them were even color-coordinated!

"Are all dungeons like this?" Vee questioned.

"Not at all," I immediately answered. "The first dungeon I ever did was undead-themed, and the entire place felt like a rotted-out crypt. The first floor had wandering zombies and skeletons."

"Wow, sounds almost like a haunted house at an amusement park!" Vee replied excitedly.

"The second dungeon I did was more like an underground cavern, although as we got deeper, the flooring got better. The final room with the boss felt like an almost underground temple."

"Neat!" Vee responded. "I’m presuming we won’t be able to do anything like that here?"

"I doubt it; they even gave me this!" I replied, gesturing towards a little pamphlet the one guard had handed me. On it was a list of rules and regulations.

"Apparently, killing a boss monster causes unnecessary strain on the dungeon and should be avoided without express permission!"

"Bummer... Well, if getting class levels is as quick as you said, hopefully, we will be out of here, and we can either go find another dungeon or explore the caves!"

"Yeah, there’s some kobolds I wouldn’t mind getting some revenge on... They dropped an entire tunnel on top of me the last time."

Vee winced. "Yeah... I ran into those little lizard buggers too. However, rather than collapsing a tunnel on top of me, they kept trying to throw chains and nets at me. I think they wanted me as a pet, or perhaps they prefer their food live."

"Or even try to domesticate you for your spider silk; no doubt it’s super good quality."

"Gee, thanks! Trying to butter me up?" Vee teased.

"Well, if it gets you to show me some of your traits, then sure!" I teased back.

By now, we had reached the Earthen section of the dungeon, as indicated by the floor tiles, which were now taking on a browner tinge. I pulled out the map and started following it toward the area that spawned the lower-quality elementals.

The room was sealed with a door that didn’t match the dungeon’s decor and a corresponding lever; I pulled it, which raised the door, revealing a room entirely made of loose gravel, rock, and mud.

At the center of the room, attached to the ceiling, was a giant brown crystal that positively radiated Earth essence. Rather than being singular, it looked like it was created by grafting multiple crystals together.

"Wow! Pretty crystal!" Vee exclaimed.

"Looks like that is how they’ve ensured the room is aligned to earth," I explained.

When we entered the room, the piles of rocks began moving, and a freshly spawned elemental rose from the rubble.

"Right, so I’d suggest trying to kill it by only using [Acid Dart] to familiarize yourself with it. Once you’ve gained some Mage levels, you’ll have more skills I can use to help you purchase and make better progress."

"Sounds good to me!" Vee said and hopped off my shoulder.

She began somewhat clumsily casting the spell, and I watched the familiar luminous dart of acidic energy form and fire at the rock elemental. Immediately after the spell struck, the elemental became enraged and started lumbering towards the source of its ire.

"Unlike with your coordinate spells, you should be able to pour more Mana into the spell construct to empower the spell," I advised.

"More Mana, got it!" Vee replied with excitement.

More and more [Acid Dart] spells began forming and firing at the elemental. I’d sort of forgotten how the unmodified spell was, and even though Vee was melting through its rocks, it would reinforce its form by collecting from the plentitude of available material scattered about the room.

"Uhh... Not to disparage your teaching, but I don’t think this spell is going to cut it!" Vee replied as she dodged out of the way of a slow, lumbering fist.

"That’s cool... Is my butt really that big?" Vee asked.

"It’s pretty accurate, I’d say," I replied. I primed the tiny sculpture and placed it on the ground before her.

Vee curiously poked at it before picking it up and examining it closer. She seemed somewhat impressed by the silver replica of herself.

"Couldn’t you make a fortune doing stuff like this?" Vee said as she poked the lifelike sculpture.

"Well... It will only stay like that for 36 minutes. After that, it will revert to a bunch of slime," I answered honestly.

"If you were running a scam operation, that could be pretty good!" Vee nodded. "Although it’s a pity it’s got such a short time limit."

"Well, I don’t think turning it into tiny replicas was the original intention of the trait. I sort of figured this might be a useful idea to trick enemies."

"Wait, what is the original purpose?" Vee asked curiously. "And how would you trick your foes? I don’t think throwing a tiny silver spider at someone is the best distraction, although I give it points for absurdity."

I chuckled as I picked up the silver spider sculpture and tossed it at one of the somewhat inert earth elementals. When the metal clinked against the rock, I triggered the explosion, which detonated and caused the top half of the elemental to crumble apart.

"The hell!?" Vee exclaimed in shock. "It exploded! I know you could create landmines, but that seems somewhat absurd!"

I somewhat ignored her outburst and continued my explanation. I formed a bronze sword between my hands and gave it a tiny flourish. "I thought if I created a sword or something if an enemy took it, I could then detonate it in their hands."

I threw the sword at the remains of the elemental before detonating it again, causing the last remnants of its life to plummet.

"That’s brilliant and nasty!" Vee blurted. "Did I mention that I’m glad I’m on your side?"

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

"I think your threads were much scarier. I was stacking so many defensive traits, yet they cut through my arms like butter. Sure, it’s not the most mobile of attacks, but the results if it lands are terrifying."

"I mean, sure... But mine is like a hidden threat; yours is like... Manipulative trickery? If that makes sense?"

I tilted my head questioningly, and Vee continued talking.

"They don’t see my attack coming. It’s humane, sort of? Meanwhile, you’ve tricked them into thinking it was something beneficial, and then the table is turned!"

"How’s that a bad thing?" I questioned.

"I’m not saying it’s bad... Just... Crafty, cunning, deceitful, underhanded..." Vee continued.

"I suppose..." I relented. "But if it works, it works!"

I created a little replica jackelope in my hand and winked at Vee.

"Oh, what the hell!?" Vee shouted. "That’s even nastier than I thought! That looks like an actual rabbit!"

"Yeah, I tricked a wolf once with this. Boom!" I giggled.

"Wait..." Vee paused. "The duplicate you left behind! Were you planning on tricking me and blowing it up?"

"Maybe?" I responded. "I definitely had it guarding the exit, so to speak. It really depended on whether you were in a talkative mood."

"You sure you haven’t gone evolution crazy?" Vee pressed.

"Just a regular amount of crazy," I teased. "I mean, I was turned into a slime; nobody comes out of that normal, I think?"

Vee looked at herself and sighed. "Yeah... I guess, as a spider, I can’t judge. Anyway, I leveled up! So I can grab that new skill."

"Great!" I cheered. "Hopefully, when you take that, I can help train you more directly."