Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

“You should be safe here,” Alex said. He looked around their secluded chamber. He knew that from the direction they came, there were more adventurers, and he’d be heading in the direction of the concentrated mana. “The slimes only come from these smaller tunnels, and they move slowly enough that you’ll see them coming. Besides, you’ve already proven you can handle them.” He smiled as he thought of how efficiently their cooler traps had worked.

Edwin nodded, still processing his Status Screen. “How long before these quests appear, Master Moore?”

“Shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes. I’m going to head deeper into the cavern system and take care of my share of slimes. I’ll check back in about ten minutes to see if you’ve gotten your quests yet.”

He considered using his new [Parallel Mind] skill but quickly dismissed the idea.

Better to practice that somewhere less dangerous.

While he didn’t think that the slimes were all that dangerous, he still wasn’t quite sure how the skill worked or would affect him. Without Sam, he didn’t want to risk taking an injury from the acidic monsters.

He put his hand on his spatial pouch and knew that he had nineteen sets of ritual material remaining. “Remember, if you need anything, just shout. There are plenty of other adventures in the main tunnels.” He gestured toward the larger passage that they’d entered from. “Besides, Val will be here to protect you. He’s likely stronger than any of the adventurers anyway.”

“No, want bouncy food.”

If you stay here and make sure that they’re safe, I’ll make sure to bring you back some Mana Stones. Okay?

There was a brief pause in their mental communication.

“Val, protect!”

The wyrm looped around the two staff members’ heads, causing Alex to laugh at his quick change in attitude.

Alex drifted toward one of the smaller tunnels using [Feather Step]. “I won’t go too far,” he called over his shoulder. His movement skill allowed him to glide swiftly and silently across the crystalline floor. The mana streams were visible to his Heavenly Eye, and see could tell that the flow of mana through the environment was growing thicker the deeper he went. He knew it was only a matter of time before one of the connecting tunnels arrived at a cluster of slimes.

He wasn’t disappointed. Around the next bend, three blue slimes bobbed along. Their gelatinous bodies caught the light from the nearby crystals, and Alex felt a feral grin stretch the scar on his cheeks.

Quickly drawing a ritual circle with [Mana Thread], he placed one of his prepared material pouches in position with another thread. He took a moment to increase the size of the ritual by a small margin.

When everything was in place, he stepped forward and got the attention of the trio of monsters. As they began to wiggle and launch themselves toward Alex, he casually hopped backward. It only took a few seconds to pull the small group into his waiting Ritual.

Just as they landed, Alex used [Feather Step] to create a fair amount of distance between them before activating the ritual.

Rather than the concentrated beam of heat that he was expecting, the slimes rapidly expanded before violently deflating with a loud pop. It surprised Alex, but he just began laughing as he realized that the concentrated acid and gas reacted violently with the heat. While he’d seen something similar with the single slime before, the effect was magnified with three slimes together in a tight group.

Where the slimes had been only moments before, were scattered droplets of blue gunk remaining from their rapid expansion and deflation. There were now streams of vapor drifted up into the air from the few spots of blue.

A single Mana Stone lay in the blue carnage, and he jogged over to collect it.

He checked the System prompt for his own quest.