Epic of Caterpillar Chapter 55: Mushroom Cave Raid
Chapter 55 - Mushroom Cave Raid
"Gyaaaaahh! Master! An Emperor Slime!"
Gaby came rushing towards me, escaping from the dangerous fluids of the Slime chasing her.
As I glanced at the peculiar slime, I noticed that it was way bigger than any of the slimes we have encountered. Having a massive watery body, at least on the size of a truck. Its colors were a combination of white, red, yellow and green. Looking as if it were made of a shining rainbow. It had a beautiful core that seemed like the most refined of pearls.
Instead of going after it, I decided to leave it to Gaby.
"Gaby, you will kill it!"
Gaby looked at me with fear on her face.
"Eeeh?! B-But Master! That slime is way stronger than me! It's impossible!"
"Then how exactly do you plan to get stronger if you don't fight stronger beings than you? You must break your limits! Here, I will give you a small help. Activate Skill: [Benevolent Healing Enhancement]!"
Flash!
Suddenly, a powerful flash of energy came rushing from my hands towards Gaby's body, reinforcing all her stats and healing her completely.
Gaby was amazed by her new strength.
"M-Master! If you trust me so much… I won't disappoint you!"
Flash!
Gaby flashed like a meteor towards the Slime Emperor, raising her sword, she channeled a powerful coating of Blade Energy, that enveloped her whole body.
From this Blade Energy coat, strange figures began to emerge, resembling different types of Shark species made of the Red Blade Energy.
The Slime Emperor noticed this threat as it stopped its rolling. Raising its watery body, it created a strong shield made of rainbow-colored magic.
BOOM!
As countless Sharks made of Blade Energy clashed on the Slime Emperor shield, Gaby didn't give in, as she slashed her sword with all her strength.
Slash! Slash!
As the shield began to crack, the Slime Emperor noticed that its life was in danger. Raising its pearl-like core, it flashed countless magic beams towards Gaby.
Gaby didn't have time to evade, as she had to take on the beams head-on.
Baam! Baam!
"Gggah!"
Noticing Gaby flinching, the Slime Emperor expanded its body as its entangled Gaby on its juices.
My wives tried to go for her rescue, but I stopped them. She wasn't going to give in so easily, right?
Using the powerful boost in Resistance that she obtained from my buff, Gaby did her best to resist the corrosive juices of the Slime Emperor, as it tried to digest her.
Suddenly, Gaby eyes flashed on a bright red as she was enveloped by an incredible bloodlust, raising her sword inside the Slime Emperor, she began to stab its pearl-like core multiple times, leaking a rainbow-colored juice from its insides.
Every time Gaby stabbed the core, her attacks became even more powerful.
Crack…! CRACK!
At the seventh stab, the Slime Emperor core finally cracked into tiny bits, as it slowly dissolved into a rainbow-colored water.
I quickly went towards Gaby and healed her burned skin in little time. As she regained consciousness. Even she couldn't believe what she did.
"It seems that you have some kind of [Berserk State] skill that kicked in when your life was endangered. Thanks to this, you were able to win"
Gaby looked at me with sparkling eyes.
"Ooohoho! R-Really, Master?! Let's eat the Slimes!"
We decided to take a small break of around 10 minutes as we ate our successful hunt.
[You gained 186700 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained tons of EXP]
[You gained two levels!] [LEVEL 19/70 EXP 79288/86000]
[Your servants gained tons of levels]
The Blue Slimes watery body was pretty cold and with almost no flavor. They core tasted like a very dry ice cube, it got stuck on my tongue several times. The Pink and Purple Slimes tasted like the sweetest of candies, with a floral scent. Their core had a delicious concentrated fruit flavor.
[You and your party learned the following Skills]
[Blue Ice Slime Core]
[Icy Slime Secretion]
[Freezing Immunity]
[Pink Sakura Slime Core]
[Sweet Slime Secretion]
[Delicious Sweet Scent Secretion]
[Enchanting Scent]
[Purple Berry Slime Core]
[Purple Berry Slime Secretion]
[Hypnotizing Scent]
[Charm Resistance]
The skills obtained from these Slimes were very rare, but those Resistance Skills came very handy.
The Slime Emperor water body was like nothing I've ever eaten, it tasted like the most delicious and sweet of jellies. It contained so many different fruit flavors, and its scent reminded of countless fruits that this forest possesses. Its core was also a delicacy, tasting like a delicious candy from Earth, with concentrated sweetness. And as if that wasn't enough, it had an even sweeter jelly filling. I would have already gotten diabetes if I were on Earth.
[You and your servants learned the following Skills]
[Rainbow Slime Emperor Brilliant Core]
[Multi-Elemental Magic Blast]
[Multi-Elemental Magic Shield]
[Rainbow Slime Secretion]
[Multi-Elemental Magic Affinity]
Gaby obtained the Title [Rainbow Slime Emperor] but gifted it to Rimuru. Now she will be able to evolve into an Emperor Class variant in the future.
I ended up assimilating a piece of jelly from the Rainbow Slime Emperor, I noticed that it didn't hurt as much if I previously shape shifted my arms into slime.
[You learned the following Assimilation Skill]
[Rainbow Slime Emperor Body Shapeshifting]
I also managed to eat the Slime Emperor powerful soul and my soul finally increased to Rank 2.
[Your Soul has ranked up!]
[You gained +40 to all your Soul stats]
[Soul Rank: 2]
[Soul Energy: 345/230]
[Soul Fatigue: 150/150]
[Soul Density: 220]
[Soul Strength: 236]
[Soul Size: Large]
[Soul Mutation Ratio: 26%]
I wondered what these new [Slime Core] skills were. Could they be like Soul Cores? The only way to find out is by experimenting.
I quickly activated the skill [Green Toxic Slime Core] as I felt a small gem pop out from my skin. It had formed on the pam of my right hand. I could feel a sour smell from it if I sniffed it close enough.
My wives were surprised by what I was doing as they watched me intensively. They also were curious about these skills.
I appraised the Slime Core and found out what exactly was.
[Green Toxic Slime Core: The Core of a Green Slime. It can store a limited amount of magic to use later. Enhancements and Buffing skills can also be stored. Infuse Stamina into it to easily create a green toxic slimy fluid]
It was just another Soul Core, but it had an extra effect on being able to secrete the respective slime fluid with some Stamina. After trying it out, it was almost the same as a [Secretion] Skill which disappointed me. However, I was also able to easily create Slime Minions with this. They would be way stronger than the ones made with my Shapeshifting and even more intelligent.
I quickly activated the rest of the Slime Core skills. The blue core appeared on my other hand palm. The pink and purple appeared below my breast, while the emperor core on my back.
Each Slime Minion made with each core was of that respective slime race. The strongest one was the ones made with the Emperor core. But cost around 300 Stamina. Even with my unlimited stamina, it gave me a headache every time I made one. The amazing thing about these minions is that I was able to call them back and store them inside the cores, with a max of 3 per core.
I created one of each Slime Minion and sent them all around the Forest, maybe they can come with news that I didn't know.
My wives and Gaby ended up activating their Slime Cores too, and stored magic and enhancement skills inside. I could feel that their magic auras had exploded in a new and concentrated power.
After walking for around 30 minutes, we came across a big cave that lead towards an underground section. These cave sections weren't planned, as this wasn't the dungeon we were heading into. I quickly sent some Slime Minions and Bat Minions to investigate its inside structure. It was a rather complex cave section. After going far enough, my minions found countless Walking Mushroom species living together. They were being led by a Walking Mushroom Empress which was massive. Although the soldiers didn't seem intelligent, the Empress showed some signs of intelligence.
I left the decision to my wives if they wanted to enter the cave or go straight towards the dungeon, I was fine with both honestly.
After some discussion, they decided to storm the cave and get some easy levels. And so, we did.
We didn't want to waste much time on this so we used our max speed to rush through the cave sections as we encountered our first battalion of Walking Mushrooms. These guys were way bigger than the ones before, and they even were wielding weapons. I could sense they were at least of High King Class.
I decided to leave half of them to Gaby, so she gets more training done. While we quickly got rid of the others. I snipped them from afar using my bow while my wives shot magic projectiles at them.
The entire group was formed of around 25 Walking Mushroom Warriors.
[You gained 132500 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained tons of EXP]
[You gained two levels!] [LEVEL 21/70 EXP 40.538/90000]
[Your servants gained tons of levels]
We decided to eat these Mushrooms later on, as we kept our raid at a fast speed.
The second group that intercepted us were evolved Walking Mushroom Warriors; they were even mounting some brown-colored slimes. Raising their Lances at us, for a moment, they thought that there was a chance against Gaby.
The entire group was quite massive, around 40 Mushroom Warriors.
[You gained 163779 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained tons of EXP]
[You gained two levels!] [LEVEL 23/70 EXP 20317/98000]
[Your servants gained tons of levels]
As we explored the multiple cave sections, we found several rooms filled with chests. These chests were filled with rare magic stones and even some magic weapons of [Rare] class. So, we picked them all for my family. Even in my Kingdom, magic weapons are very rare and expensive to make, my warriors struggle to save money to even buy a well-made Silver weapon. Most of the magic weapons of [Rare] and above are reserved for the Royal Knights of high class. There is nothing I can do about that; the strong will always get a better treatment. If they want to get a strong weapon, they also must get strong themselves.
Before finding the third battalion, we picked up around 30 [Rare] Magic Stones. Alongside 6 [Rare] magic weapons. I had to resist the urge of devouring them. I wonder where did these Mushrooms got these weapons.
The third group was made of only 30 Mushroom Warriors. But they seemed to be the elite. Three Mushroom Warriors were leading the group, who were holding Magic Weapons of [Rare] class too. One of them began to spam powerful fireballs around the battlefield but it was easily shut down with one of my arrows. Another was using a wind lance throwing a powerful burst of wind, this one was slashed in half by the rampaging Gaby. The last one was wielding a water axe that seemed to create powerful water currents around, but it barely showed its true potential due to the Mushroom lack of weapon proficiency. It easily died into a pile of mush by a shock attack from Brontes.
[You gained 158221 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained tons of EXP]
[You gained one level!] [LEVEL 24/70 EXP 80538/102000]
[Your servants gained some levels]
We picked up the corpses alongside the weapons as we kept our raid.
On the next floors, we found even more rooms filled with chests. This time we got 40 Magic Stones alongside 4 [Rare] magic weapons. There were also some [Rare] class armor plates and pendants.
When we reached the last floor. We found the fourth and last group of mushrooms. They were all protecting the cowering Empress, as she seemed to lack any type of offensive power. I felt a little bit of pity over her bad luck. Because she was intelligent enough, I decided to enslave her alongside some of her warriors.
But… Before I could even approach her, Gaby slashed her in half with a powerful Blade Energy Blast.
[You gained 90540 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained some EXP]
[You gained one level!] [LEVEL 25/70 EXP 69078/106000]
[Your servants gained some levels]
Gaby kept on her rampage as we watched her destroy every single Mushroom Warrior. She seemed to have entered on her [Berserk] state again. When she finally slashed everything, she was completely covered in Mushroom pulp all over her body.
[You gained 86332 EXP] [The rest of your servants gained some EXP]
[You gained one level!] [LEVEL 26/70 EXP 49410/110000]
[Your servants gained some levels]
Gaby raised her sword as she looked over me, with a blushed and excited face.
"Phew…! Master! I did it! Hehehe! I even maxed my level!"
"Sigh… Well done, Gaby!"
I tried catching some of the Mushroom souls alongside the Mushroom Empress, and after some hardships, I managed to grab her soul and devoured it with my own.
[You gained +10 on all your Soul Stats]
The Empress Soul was the only one that gave me a substantial increase, the other mushroom souls were too weak, and some even lacked one.
We decided to make a big Mushroom feast celebrating Gaby reaching max level, this meant that she will manage to evolve tonight. And because the night had already fallen on the surface, we decided to sleep here.
While I left three big pots filled with chopped mushrooms, veggies and spices. I investigated the Throne Room. I quickly found out that there was a big secret room on its back. It was filled with chests and different kinds of armors.
After some investigation, I found out that most weapons and armors belonged to unlucky humans that ventured inside these caves and got lost. There was a big pile of human bones around. I tried to eat some but I didn't get any skill.
I grabbed every weapon and equipment and saved it on my Item Box. The loot today was 5 [Rare] armors, 3 [Rare] rings and 6 [Rare] magic weapons alongside a [Rare+] sword, it was named [Black Cat] and it was a short sword with some black markings resembling a cat, Celica would like this weapon.
When the hot pot was ready, a delicious mushroom scent began to fill the entire room. As we had a delicious dinner.
[Walking Mushroom Empress and Warriors Hot Pot: A delicious and comforting hot pot made out of countless Walking Mushrooms. The Warriors salty flavor goes well with the veggies and a nice beer]
[Effect: Grants +4 to all stats for the next 24 hours]
[Heals 90 MP and 140 Stamina]
The Mushroom Warriors meat tasted very salty with hints of spiciness. The Elite Warriors, however, were sweeter. The Mushroom Empress was the most delicious and tender of them all, after boiling for 40 minutes, her meat was tender and melted in your mouth as if it were a delicious cream.
Nesiphae seemed to love the hot pot as she gulped an entire pot in minutes.
"Phew! That was so good, Master! To think that you got a [Cooking] skill… Now you will be able to prepare delicious food everywhere!"
Zehe also loved the good and nodded.
"Hmm. Honey, your cooking skills have been increasing lately. The more you cook, the more proficiency you obtain"
While eating a big chunk of mushrooms, Rimuru enjoyed the flavors on her mouth.
"Hmmm! That's right! That's right, guuu!"
Brontes nodded while stuffing her mouth.
"Yesh… Big sishter ish the besht… Nom nom"
Receiving so many praises made me blush for a second. But this proficiency wasn't obtained just from the [Cooking] skill. I always liked to cook on Earth. Even though I wasn't any professional, my parents enjoyed my meals from time to time.
[You and your servants learned the following Skills]
[Walking Mushroom Warrior Muscular Flesh]
[Shock Wave Resistance]
[Group Enhancement: Strength and Speed]
[Walking Mushroom Warrior Elite Adamantine Flesh]
[Shockwave Immunity]
[Group Enhancement: Defense and Resistance]
[Walking Mushroom Empress Absolute Command]
[You learned the following Skills]
[Mental Order]
[Geokinesis]
[Summon Magic: Fungi Warriors]
I quickly noticed some skills that my wives and Gaby didn't get.
"Hmm? Only I can get it? [Geokinesis]?"
I found out that [Geokinesis] let me freely manipulate earth around me without the cost of MP or Stamina, and mold it however I wanted. However, its power was limited to my mental fatigue, so It couldn't just go berserk and destroy an entire country manipulating the earth bellow them. But it could be combined with different spells to create devastating results.
[Mental Order] let me freely give commands to my servants using my mental energy. It was a very useful skill and it seems that it doesn't have a distance limit.
[Summon Magic: Fungi Warriors] let me summon the same warriors we were fighting just now, a normal Walking Mushroom costs 100 MP, a Warrior cost 200 MP and an Elite Warrior 280 MP. It could be a nice way to generate food out of nowhere. But I found out that these Mushrooms didn't possess any nutritious flesh, and it tasted like bland rubber without any flavor. They still could have their uses. They seem to be very adept at working bellow the ground and easily molding it.
I tried to take out the House I bought with me on my Item Box but it didn't seem to fit inside this cave, so I just took out some beds instead and we rested for the rest of the night. I and my wives kept our lust saved as Gaby was with us. We didn't want her to see our sexual activities.
Tonight, I tried fusing the different cores on my body but the system didn't let me. It told me that fusing cores that are already on my body would make it explode. The other alternative was taking them out, I could take them out while shapeshifting as a Slime, but it would make me lose a lot of mass and all the magic and MP that I attached to them, I feel it would be a waste. For now, I will just keep them without fusing the skills.
Due to the sheer amount of skills that I've been accumulating, even 9 daily synthesis wasn't enough. I ended exchanging 18 Subclass Points for the [Extra Daily Synthesis +10] bonus. Now I can do 19 Synthesis per day, let's see how far this gets me.
Skill Fusions of the day:
1) [Shadow Magic: Gravity Hole] + [Shadow Magic: Gravity Control] + [Shadow Magic: Reverse Gravity] = [F