Epic of Caterpillar Chapter 19: The Lonely Lamia

After finishing checking on the Slimes stats, I wanted to start the intensive training earlier this morning, so we did the same routine as always and used | MP SHARE | to summon 647 Lower Demonic Beings, thanks to this, I also got the skill level to max, which I immediately proceeded to evolve.

| SUMMON LOWER DEMONIC BEINGS LEVEL 10 |>| SUMMON HIGH DEMONIC BEINGS LEVEL 1 |

From this massive summoning, a little white colored variant came out.

"H-Hello Master! I hope to serve you well!"

This little Slime was far tinier than its normal Lower Demonic Beings, named "Lower Sacred Light Being", a very rare variant focused on Light and Holy Elemental Magic. I proceeded to name her Luminous.

I quickly added her to the Slime family party and left them to take care of her.

I noticed that the group working the hardest in the intensive training were the monkeys, who probably were told by Kizuato that they have the highest casualty rates. Incentivizing them to work very hard to increase their base power as quickly as possible.

"Casualties are impossible to avoid in big wars like the ones before, but if this intensive training can at least lower it by a little bit, it's worth it then…"

Afterwards, I called my two spirits summons, the battle slaves and the undead trolls; obviously, Nereid did not want to train again.

"Master! You are so mean! Uuughhh…! I really don't want to train! Leave me alone!"

"Nereid, the only thing that I don't tolerate in my community is the laziness, activate skill: | PUPPET MASTER |"

Fluosh!

Suddenly, a strange force took Nereid's entire body control!

"Gueeehhh…! W-What is this?! Master! You meanie! Leave me alone!"

"If you don't want to train, don't worry, I'll let you in "auto training" mode, see ya"

"Master…! Wait! Noooo!"

Against her own will, Nereid started to slay Lower Demonic Beings.

After finally leaving Nereid training, I went inside the cave to check on the other activities teams and found the three Trolls getting ready to go to the training grounds. Truhan and Celica greeted me politely but Zehe give me a sharp stare.

"Ugh… Can't you greet me like your brothers, Zehe?"

"…"

"Haahh… Don't bother then…"

Inside my head, my three minds expressed their discomfort.

"Main Mind, I don't understand why you want so much the attention of that Witch"

"That Witch… Is beautiful… Main Mind is interested on her…"

"It's normal for a man to like beautiful women! However, it is useless, she really hate you! Hahahaha!"

"S-Shut up!"

"Perhaps if you make a new arm substitute for her, your two support ranks might go up some levels…"

"That's a pretty gamer way to say relationship"

Just as my minds said, I already had planned making some kind of substitute for Zehe missing arm, so I immediately flew were Kusuri and Kajiya.

"Ah, Master, it is nice to meet you"

"Ah! M-Master is here…! Fueehh… I hope I don't look so bad in front of her"

"Calm down, Kajiya, you look fine; I came for a little request for you two…"

"What is it, Master?"

I explained what I needed in specific, being a prosthetic arm for Zehe, it could be better if it could conduct magic easily too.

"Hmm, I don't have anything like this on my Book Skill, you got something, Kajiya?"

"UUhh… Y-Yes, its here"

Kajiya quickly moved her Skill Window and showed me the special equipment.

| ANCIENT RUNIC PROSTHETIC ARM: A special prosthetic arm crafter with strong magical ores of different elements, it has a high magical affinity with its user. |

| Effect: Grants +15 Defense, +10 Resistance, +20 Magic and +10% affinity to every Element |

| Special Effect: Equip on Gloves equipment slot to replace a missing arm |

"I see! It's perfect for Zehe! Well done, Kajiya, you are very useful!"

"Fueeehhh… M-M-Master…!"

Kajiya could not handle her embarrassment and fell down unconscious.

"Ka-Kajiya…! Sigh… Sorry, Master… At the very least I still remember the materials needed…"

Kusuri explained to me that they have almost every material except three different magic stones that can't be found while mining on this mountain.

The first Magic Stone is "Poisonous Miasma Emerald": located on the Dark Miasma section of this Grand Forest, close to the former Swamp Alligator's home, which I destroyed beforehand.

"Come to think about it, this forest still has a lot of places I haven't explored yet because I have been so busy managing my servants, I should go explore these places…"

The second Magic Stone is "Verdant Rose Sapphire": located on the northeast section of this forest, in a place named "Dryad Sanctuary", which, according to Kusuri, is close to the Ancient Dragon Spikes.

"Would there be… real dryads?"

Just by the name Dryad, my imagination went wild thinking on beautiful and voluptuous tree spirits, caving for any type of sexual interactions.

"Ugh… I wish I wasn't a butterfly"

"Ahem… Master?"

"Ah! Yes yes, what's the last one?"

The third and last Magic Stone was the "Thunderous Ice Storm Ruby": located on the middle of the Great Snowy Mountain Wall, were the Icy Storm Birds make their nest.

"This will be a pretty long trip, it will probably take me more than one day at max speed, and I should call the main team for this and prepare sufficient food and supplies"

"Here, Master. I have made a simple map referring to each place, from where you should start to were you should move for the next Stone, with your strength, it should be fairly easy"

"Thanks Kusuri, and Kajiya…"

"I bid you good travels, Master"

Afterwards, I went to look up for Wagyu and Rimuru, and prepared the needed supplies and food on our Item Box, after evolving, Wagyu and Rimuru got their own.

"Hmmm, I am really tempted to add a fourth member to the main team, all of the Leaders are so strong now…"

"I agree, Master. But all of them are busy training or taking care of essential things"

"Perhaps I could come with Nereid and Kjata when they get strong enough… (And Zehe…)"

"Master, do not worry, guu! My Slime team is getting stronger and stronger! They will soon catch up to me, guu! Then, everyone will join the main team!"

"Ahhh, that's good… (I don't really want 6 Slimes stick to me through the entire adventure)"

"Sigh, Kekensha was my next fourth member for sure, but now that he's so busy taking care of the Crimson Wolves and the Slaves, he has no time"

When we finally left, all my servants waved they hands and bid us good travels… Except Zehe.

"(Where is she even going, when the next Wave is so close, such irresponsibility…)"

.

.

.

I decided to cast | LEVITATE | on Wagyu and Rimuru to make the travel easier while we flew over the Grand Forest, until we found the Foggy Swamp section, and close by, big and terrific Purple and Dark colored trees could be seen erected.

"Such a drastic change in the coloring of the forest, from verdant green to purple and dark, I am glad I never visited this place until now… I can sense a strong and evil aura from the deeps of this forest… Should I go take a look?"

"Master, do you feel it too?"

"Guuuu… Strong aura…"

"Yeah, this aura rivals the Emperor's strength, let's go take a look"

Flash! Flash! Flash!

We quickly landed on the middle of the Dark Forest. A thick mist filled the entire forest, making navigation very hard.

I could feel several strange and dark beings wondering around, but none came close to us, probably acknowledging our strength. However, that really did not stop me. I quickly used Magic Threads to expand through the thick mist and in mere seconds, I was able to drag countless little monsters to me.

"Oh? Master, aren't those Dark Squirrels? Ah! And some variants of Hairy Spiders…"

"Guuu, there are also weird looking foxes…"

The monster inhabiting this part of the forest were mostly "Dark" variants of the normal monsters on the main forest, from Dark Squirrels to Hairy Spiders. However, there were some new specimens, like these dark and cute looking Foxes, they were "Shadow Tailed Foxes" and had high affinity towards Dark and Shadow Element. It seems that most of these variants possess a lower intelligence compared to their normal forms, but I think that further evolution could grant them with higher intelligence and common sense.

With just my threads, I captured around 32 monsters, I decided to keep two of each variant as slaves and eat the rest.

"This slave thing really make me think that I am in some kind of monster catching game…"

| A BLOOD PACT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CREATED WITH: 2 Shadow Horned Squirrels, 2 Shadow Eyes Spiders and 2 Shadow Tailed Foxes |

| AMOUNT OF SLAVES 49/50(+10) |

| CERTAIN CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED |

，

| YOU OBTAINED A NEW TITLE: "GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!" |

| THE TITLE EFFECT OF: "GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!" HAS BEEN ACTIVATED, +10 MORE SLAVE SLOTS |

"…Are you serious right now? Was this a joke from Mysterious Voice… He really doesn't want me to forget his existence, huh? Sigh…"

Before completely killing my prey, I made sure to drink all their blood first, increasing my | BLOOD VITALITY | level from 3 > 4.

I made the quivering Enslaved Monster enter into an induced coma using | PUPPET MASTER | and wrapped them around a magic thread, saving them inside my Item Box until I get back home.

The time inside Item Box is frozen, this is why food does not get rotten and even living beings can be stored inside if induced on a coma. Like I did before when I had to store three Lower Dark Beings to successfully use | BRAIN SHARE |.

| YOU GAINED 4672 EXP | | THE REST OF YOUR PARTY GAINED 2336 EXP |

| YOU GAINED ONE LEVEL! | | LEVEL 8/40 EXP 4163/5200 |

| WAGYU LEVEL 4/35 EXP 2736/4800 |

| RIMURU LEVEL 6/30 EXP 02941/3900 |

Due to draining all their blood beforehand, the monster's meat became dry and easy to store. After eating one of each monster, we continued our journey.

| YOU OBTAINED A NEW TITLE: MERCILESS FOX KILLER |

| YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR PARTY LEARNED THE FOLLOWING SKILLS |

| SHADOW HORN CREATION |

| MYSTIC SHADOW EYES |

| SHADOW TAILED FOX FLEXIBLE BODY |

| HIGH SHADOW ELEMENT AFFINITY |

| YOU LEARNED A NEW SKILL: ADAMANTINE BELLY |

According to Kusuri, the Poisonous Miasma Emerald form down below the only swamp on this Dark Forest, located on its center, the exact place where we are sensing the strong aura.

As we came closer to the Swamp, the mist became thicker and our vision become blurry, but thanks to the Party System, we can easily locate were each party member is, so it was impossible for us to get lost.

"Master, this aura, its different, it has changed its evil nature…"

"What? How can an aura even change its nature?"

"Guuu, it's true! I feel like its happily inviting us to whenever it is"

"That's…"

The road suddenly became clear and the mist slowly dissipated, creating a straight road to the Swamp.

"Hmm? The Mist is dissipating. How? Is that monster controlling the mist here?"

"Master, the aura is calling for us"

"Guuuuu…"

When we finally came close to the Swamp, under the shadow and foggy water, a big figure slowly came from underwater.

Blub Blub

"Ah! It's here! Get ready!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Splash!

From underwater, came a big and menacing figure, being covered in mist, it was hard to tell what it really was, until the mist around its body quickly dissipated.

"Eh?"

"Is that…"

"Guuu…?"

I never thought that what was calling for us was going to be such a beautiful babe!

With half her upper body being of a woman and the lower one being of a snake, it was no more than a Lamia!

Her upper woman body was completely naked; it had a smooth pale white skin with countless purple and dark markings around her chest, a very long purple hair that came from down below the Swamp, and three dark horns on her forehead, accompanied with beautiful and sharp red eyes. Beautiful dark colored scales covered her lower snake body, making a magnificent contrast between a beautiful woman and a fierce monster!

"I-It's… No way… Lamias really exist here!"

"M-Master… Do you know about the existence of Lamias?"

"Guuu…?"

Suddenly, the massive Lamia laughed.

"Fufufu… I can't believe that the famous Kireina herself would come to my lair… You are such an adorable little butterfly… I can't resist the urge to hug you… and perhaps, eat you… fufufu…"

Such a beautiful and charming voice made me go into a dumb state!

"Ahhhh… Lamia… Lamia…"

"M-Master…! Please come back!"

"Guuuuu!"

SLAP!

Rimuru quickly expanded its body into a big hand and slapped me out of my infatuation!

"Ah…! W-What? Eh? A Lamia! Her charming power almost got me!"

The Lamia noticed that I was able to snap out of her charming powers.

"Oh? You are indeed very strong… Kireina… So, why did you come to my lair? Do you want to kill me?"

"I… Why would I want to kill such a beautiful woman like you, I just merely came here looking for a special kind of… magic stone… Anyways… What's your name? You are quite strong…"

"Oh? My my… Being praised by my beauty by such a strong being like you, it is indeed an honor… And yes, most of my strength comes because I was given a name by my mother, I am Nesiphae… Nice to meet you…"

"Ne… Nesiphae… (I will remember this name forever!)"

Seeing how I stared at her body without even blinking my eyes, Nesiphae mover her massive body closer to me.

"Hmm? Do you see something you like…?"

"Ah…! Eeeh… Ugh… Perhaps… N-no! I came for the magic stone… that's it"

Nesiphae sank her massive hand underwater dragging a big piece of purple colored stones shining brightly.

"Is this what you are looking for? "Poisonous Miasma Emerald", right?"

"Gaah! Yes that's it! Can you give it to me?"

"Oh? Everything has a price, my dear Kireina…"

Wagyu noticed such insolence and yelled, protecting my pride.

"Lamia! Don't dare to insult my Master anymore! We can easily finish you in any instant, don't play with fire! Grrr"

"Guuu! That's it, you tell him Wagyu, guuuu!"

"My my… such energetic little puppy, relax… I am pretty sure that your Master does not mind my teasing… Fufufu…"

"Ah! I don't! I don't! W-What do you want in exchange?"

Wagyu and Rimuru couldn't believe seeing me acting like this!

"Ma-Master…"

"Geehh…"

Nesiphae laughed happily and smiled at me with her beautiful purple colored lips.

"Hmmm, it is something very simple… Please, if you don't mind, can I become your servant?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Such an amazing proposal coming from such a beautiful woman! I couldn't believe what was going on in front of me!

"You see… Since my mother died long ago, I have stayed in this Swamp for so long… In addition, the power of a Lamia grows so slow… I have heard from the spirits… That you have the power to make your servants grow incredibly fast… And also the power to obtain Skills from the beings they hunt and eat…"

"Gaah! It's true! Really! You really want to become my servant? This is…"

Nesiphae smiled beautifully and opened her Stat Window.

Ding!

| HIGH SHADOW MIST LAMIA: NESIPHAE HAVE OFFERED TO BECOME YOUR MINION |

| DO YOU ACCEPT? |

| >YES NO |

"Ah! Y-YES! OFCOURSE!"

| YOU HAVE WON A NEW MINION! 17/40 |

"Aaaahhh~! I can't believe that I have become your servant, Master Kireina!"

"Hahaha! You are welcome to the family, right, Wagyu, Rimuru?"

Wagyu and Rimuru couldn't believe what just happened in front of them.

"…Ye…Yes…!"

"Geeehhhh…"

Afterwards, we had a big conversation for a while with Nesiphae; it seems that she had been living on this Swamp for hundreds of years, eating whatever little being came closer to drink some water. Due to her structure and big size, it's hard for her to move around the forest and her skin quickly dry outs if she's outside her Swamp for too long.

She has a special skill named | SPIRIT LANGUAGE | which let her talk with wandering spirits, and they told her about my feats and the powers I hold. She had been dreaming since then for me to come here and make her my servant, so she could learn some skill that cancels her | DRY SKIN | skill, and finally be able to travel around the world.

"I see… So you have been locked in here for so long, you must have felt very lonely…"

"Yes, Master… I am always so lonely… Do you know of any skill that can help me cancel out my Dry Skin?"

"Nothing really comes to my mind… but you told me that your mother could freely travel around, right?"

"Yes… My mother was an evolved form, so she finally obtained a special skill that made her cancel out | DRY SKIN |, but I am only at 13/60 in my levels, there's still a long road for me until I evolve…"

"Hmm, I see. I have an idea, stay right in place!"

"Uuh? S-Sure…"

"Activate Skill: | DARK MOON ELEMENTAL ILLUSION SHIELD | on servant: Nesiphae!"

Fluosh!

Suddenly, a massive magic concentration came out of my body, resembling a river and slowly covered every inch of Nesiphae beautiful body, from her chest to her hips and her lower snake tail.

| YOU HAVE SUCCESFULLY CASTED A STRONG MAGIC SHIELD OVER SERVANT: NESIPHAE |

"Oh?"

Over Nesiphae side, a Sytem Window popped out of thin air.

Ding!

| DUE TO THE MAGIC SHIELD PROTECTING YOUR BODY, THE SKILL | DRY SKIN | HAS BEEN NEGATED UNTIL THE SHIELD IS DISPELLED |

"Master…! Incredible! You were able to completely cancel out | DRY SKIN | with this magic shield! You are such an amazing Master! The Spirits were right about your feats!"

Splash!

Nesiphae quickly jumped off the Swamp and landed on the ground, creating a big earthquake!

BOOOM!

"Guuuahh…! She really is big! If we real