Chapter 3: Rewards
The second sludge hissed as it oozed from the underbrush, a gelatinous blob of shimmering violet-black muck dragging itself forward with an acidic squelch. Each movement left behind a trail of sizzling rot, melting the mossy stone beneath it.
I didn't flinch.
[ Vile Sludges Defeated: 1/100 ]
Ninety-nine more. Piece of cake.
I darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the spray of corrosive bile it spat in a wide arc. It hissed as it missed, the puddle sizzling where it struck the bark of a tree, the wood curling and blackening instantly.
I grabbed a fallen branch, swung it low, and swept the thing from its base. It screeched — a horrible, wet gurgling noise — and I followed up by slamming my foot down on its core. A satisfying crunch echoed through the quiet forest as the sludge ruptured into a burst of steaming ichor.
[ Vile Sludges Defeated: 2/100 ]
I kept moving.
A group of three waited near a pool of glowing green water. I approached from the high ground, climbed a low ridge of rotting tree roots, and dropped in behind them. Before they noticed, I crushed the first with a heel drop.
The second turned too slow.
I grabbed a jagged branch, plunged it through its core, then used the same branch to swat the third into the acid pool.