Syl

Chapter 190: Trapping the Trapper

With [Shatterquake], I smashed through the wall the enemy geomancer had cast, clearing the path to the mine. I left the remaining roadblock intact for safety and deterrence, a silent warning to unwelcome visitors.

Alright, take on the spider monster, grab some orichalcum for the profile, and return to the guild triumphantly!

As I approached the mine, the scene was one of thorough abandonment. Tools and picks were scattered about, and minecarts were upturned, likely further acts of petty vandalism from the enemies of the Flinthearts. Carved into the bottom of one of the minecarts were the words "GO AWAY."

They really went all out with the spooky ambiance. I chuckled to myself.

And as if to prove that the mine had been captured by a spider monster, there was an endless sea of webbing scattered about. I cast [Wind Cutter] at the mine entrance to clear the way, and to my surprise, while it did break most of the minor webbing, a large portion remained intact.

That’s some tough web... Good thing I’m a slime, or I could end up stuck. Let’s turn on the acid and melt my way through.

But before I officially entered, I spent some time organizing my cores. I now had two new elements to level up, even though I had really wanted to work on [Metal Slime] and [Nitro Slime].

I aligned each pair of [Sub-Cores] to Earth, Air, Lightning, Ice, and Fire. Water was the odd one out, but I figured it wouldn’t be useful against a spider monster unless it evolved into some Lava spider. I kept myself aligned with Air, hoping to level up the trait.

<Proficiency gained. [Derived Element (Air) LV 2] improved to [Derived Element (Air) LV 3].>

I stayed in my mostly elven form in case I had any unsuspecting visitors and powered up my defenses by borrowing the [Draconic Scales (Lesser)] trait and ensuring my outer layer was reinforced with [Metal Slime].

Stepping forward into the webs, they all gave way effortlessly. While they may have been able to withstand my basic Air spell, they were no match for the might of [Acid Slime LV 7].

I started using all my senses to try to understand the mine’s layout, and at the same time, I grabbed [Mineral Sense] to find the nearest deposit of orichalcum.

After wandering the abandoned mine for quite some time, I questioned whether this spider existed. I had run into absolutely nothing living so far. I had found some orichalcum with relative ease and sampled it immediately; it wasn’t enough to grant me a level, but my gut told me I was close.

Is this spider even here? I couldn’t help but question. Or is it luring me into a trap? It is a trapweaver, after all. Maybe it’s avoiding me since I’m destroying its webs just by walking into them?

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As I was contemplating this, I suddenly fell face-first into the ground. My body impacted the ground with a metallic clang due to my metal layer.

I blinked in confusion and turned my gaze to what had tripped me. What had been my feet was now a puddle of slime and had been entirely separated from my body with an impossibly clean cut. I stared at my leg stumps in confusion, watching Alpha producing a fountain of fake blood.

What the hell just happened?

I cycled through all my available senses to examine the spot closely. Rather than find something, it was more like I found nothing. Or, rather, an absence of anything. A thin line of nothing was running low across the ground like a tripwire. I could only vaguely pick it up due to the utter lack of even essence in that minuscule spot.

I regrew my feet and crawled over to the spot. I carefully avoided any major contact with the abnormality, stretched my arm out, and ran a single finger over the place. My finger fell off. I watched as the appendage fell to the ground and splattered from its lost form.

What the hell?

Before I could question it further or experiment, the abnormal spot vanished. The absence of essence rushed to fill in the tiny gap.

This has to be the spiders doing, right? Did it realize I had discovered its trap? Then, was it removed before I could test its capabilities?

This was a disturbing revelation. I hadn’t expected such an intelligent monster, and its unknown evolution might have pushed it even further beyond what Kaldrour had described.

On the other hand... Imagine if I get my tendrils on that profile! I licked my lips.

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With newfound determination, I got up and continued my trek deeper into the mine. Now, I was being extra cautious, as I needed to not sense something specific but rather the absence of something, a highly frustrating conundrum.

As if proving my point about the task’s difficulty, the trapmaker caught me in a few more as if probing at my capabilities. I lost an arm and a leg and narrowly avoided losing my head entirely.

Also, why can’t I sense the damn spider? [Tremor Sense] or [Life Sight] surely should be enough? At least it’s still treating me as if I were a person and not a monster as if I have regeneration rather than a body of slime.

I was very tempted to fuse [Soul Sight] on the spot to have a better chance of discovering this hidden foe. The one silver lining to this bizarre duel was it seemed to be doing great for my experience gains.

<Proficiency gained. [Perception LV 4] improved to [Perception LV 5].>

<Proficiency gained. [Tremor Sense LV 3] improved to [Tremor Sense LV 4].>

I had the bright idea of delegating the task to my [Sub-Cores], but even they seemed perplexed by this encounter. Was the spider only laying the traps mere moments before I ran into them? It would be one way to explain the strange circumstances.

Not happy to be the one being probed, I decided to hole up in a spot that looked like it used to be a rest point for the miners. I sat down on one of the stools and waited.

I stretched my senses to the max, assigning each [Sub-Core] a specific trait and immediately reporting anything. I had set up a few bombs in the room with [Nitro Slime] and even left a few mines in the tunnels, hoping to catch the spider off-guard if it poked one.

Meanwhile, I passed the time by working on my [Air Magic]. I had a new debuff to construct. At this point, it was almost a routine more than a task, and creating one took very little effort.

<Spell [Windswept] discovered.>

I actually really like that name! I couldn’t help but compliment it.

And, of course, discovering a new spell came with plentiful experience.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 1] improved to [Water Magic LV 2].>

<[Air Magic LV 2] spell [Gust] learned.>

The new spell was relatively simple but useful. Creating a one-directional burst of wind. Maintaining the spell was also an option that produced a continuous breeze as long as you kept feeding it Mana.

A one-time big burst of wind, or keep it going. This is what that harpy queen must have done. It would be great against any archers, although I think someone with Jet’s skill level and equipment could probably ignore any windy conditions.

I hummed as I waited patiently for the spider to make its appearance. Occasionally, I’d be forced to replace one of my traps with a refreshed one, as my [Nitro Slime] still had a relatively restricted time limit attached to it.

And so began my cold war against the spider.

Now that I was being much more passive, I didn’t haphazardly lose any more limbs to its suddenly appearing traps. It felt like a relative stalemate until, what must have been curious on its part, I heard a detonation of one of my [Nitro Slime] mines.

I giggled to myself as all of the planted bombs in that same vicinity were immediately triggered in response. To anyone else, it would have seemed like a chain reaction, but I had plotted to hopefully catch it in my own trap.

I didn’t get a notification, so either it’s still alive, or I missed it...

I went to examine the resulting explosions, but I couldn’t see any blood or limbs in the resulting rocky carnage. I slowly returned to my resting spot but encountered no opposition.

According to my clock, two hours passed. I spent some of that time gleefully examining the strange device and praised my foresight in purchasing it. In addition, I was swinging a sword made of [Metal Slime] around and changing its form partially midswing in a desperate attempt to level up the trait again so I could eat the core sitting in my storage.

Did I scare it off with that explosion? I couldn’t help but wonder.

Strangely, it had made no further attempts to investigate me or my various devices being planted. I sighed and sat up from my spot.

I guess it’s forcing my hand. Unfortunately, I’m in a position where I have to attack to break the stalemate.

I stepped through the room doorway, and suddenly, my vision twisted.

What!?

I found myself no longer stepping out from the rest point, and instead, I was hurtling down into what looked like a deep chasm. I blinked in confusion and sprouted wings, halting my descent safely.

I examined my surroundings cautiously. Other than this pit drop, there seemed to be no further hostilities.

How the heck did I get here? Where exactly am I?

Activating my [Mapping] skill confirmed that I had been teleported, as my map had a notable gap. I was still within the orichalcum mine but far deeper and below.

I flew to the point where I had appeared, and the only evidence left behind was a small bit of spiderweb rapidly fading away. I clicked my tongue in annoyance while trying to locate anything else out of the ordinary.

This just further proves that the spider evolved... But what kind of evolution lets it teleport me? Dimension magic? That’s a terrifying thought... An evolution or mutation just outright gives a monster something scary like that.

Though... Would it have even had the time to get used to a new skill like that if its evolution was recentish? Unless Flintheart was understating the timeframe. It’s not like most normal monsters have skill points to spend unless it also got the [Apex Hunter] emblem? I doubt it has a class, or Flintheart would have mentioned that.

I sighed. There was an obvious elephant in the room I had been avoiding.

I’m probably dealing with another [Experiment]. It explains the lack of killing, the cautious behavior, and even the strange evolution. Although... Dropping me down a pit would certainly have been lethal under normal circumstances.

I continued searching for any clues, but the trail was cold.

Now, do I try to reason with him or her? I’d certainly like to chitchat with another experiment. Having someone else in the same situation as me would be nice. Another person who gets to know the full slimy details, perhaps?

Although... After Odark, I have no idea if that’s a good idea anymore. But! He wasn’t the most emotionally stable, living the orc lifestyle and whatnot. Maybe this spider will be better mentally, having lived alone? Why did it decide to live inside this mine rather than escape elsewhere? If it can teleport, then surely it isn’t trapped here.

I nodded, my mind made up. I’d certainly give diplomacy a try. At worst, I’d get a nice new profile to eat or perhaps another bribe to let the [Experiment] escape and live?

Either way. I complete my quest and get my silver cores! Win-win-win for Syl!