Chapter 12: 12: The Battle for its Heart

Danika tried breathing on the slime, just in case it had some effect that she hadn't expected. The slime didn't appear to notice, but a soft chime indicated that she'd finally leveled up her breath skill. She breathed on the slime again, with no difference beyond perhaps a slight increase in the size of her breath cloud.

Next she tried poking it with a sharp stick while standing on the ground, hoping that maybe if she pierced its skin, it would leak all its fluid out. She wasn't certain if she managed to pierce it before the slime retreated into the rock wall for longer than it had when the merchant scared it with the resounding thump.

Curiosity called Danika through the passage between the enormous stones. There was only a small clearing walled by the roots of the great tree. In the center of the clearing was a standing ring, that was definitely some sort of portal, judging by the way the well worn path ended. She tried flying up and over roots, but there was an impassable wall of fog beyond the roots. Everytime Danika tried to fly into it, she shortly found herself flying back out of it.

She returned to the stone walled passage to wait for the slime's return. She nibbled some bread, and cast her light here and there while she waited. It lasted a little longer, but didn't seem any brighter. Finally the slime returned.

When it was half in, and half out of the stone wall, she cast her plant growth spell on it. The slime visibly increased in size a bit, but otherwise showed no reaction, and simply continued sliding smoothly out of the stone. Then it just laid there, shimmering a little in the sun like a gelatin dessert. If she wasn't poking it, it didn't seem to be aware of her presence at all, and there was not even a mark from her attempt. 

Danika gave up and returned to town to ask the baker for some salt. Salt worked on earthly slugs, and killed plants as well. The baker agreed to give her some, but had her help make pretzels in exchange. She used her bind skill to tie the knots, figuring that she might as well get practice with it. By the time she finished and had acquired the small sack of salt, she'd finished off her bread and there was room in her storage ring for it.

On her way back to the bottom of the vale, Danika collected poisonous weed seeds wherever she could. She used her bind skill with her thread to tie the seeds into a long chain that dangled as she flew. Eventually she had collected so many that they were too heavy to fly with, and she had to wrap them around herself and run on foot.

Thankfully there was still enough sun left that the slime was still lounging in the gap. Danika hurriedly placed her seeds in every crack and crevice on either side of the slime. Then she started casting her plant growth spell again, on the seeds this time, instead of the slime.

She had managed to induce most of the seeds to grow a bit before she ran completely out of energy and the cheese to replenish it faster. She flew high above the slime and started sprinkling salt as the weight of the sack pulled her down. It didn't take long for the slime to react, and it slid toward the rock wall.

It sort of bounced off the layer of young weeds, and slid toward the wall on the other side of the passage, while Danika continued sprinkling it with salt as she fell toward it. The slime ran into the new plants on the other side, and began sliding along the wall, looking for bare stone.

Danika didn't stop when she reached the slime, instead she landed on it, and began trying to grind the remaining salt into its surface with her dragon strength. The slime reacted by suddenly absorbing her.

Danika was shocked, but she didn't panic. She held her breath and struggled toward the coin shaped heart at the center of the slime. She wished she'd chosen swimming instead of stealth, but she knew how to swim a little outside of the game, and like people who tied knots without knot skills while in VR, she was able to make progress toward the coin heart.  

When she reached it, she ground her last clawfull of salt into the veiny tissues around the coin heart. The whole slime shuddered and shook, and Danika was hard pressed not to gasp for breath. She almost drowned before the slime collapsed enough for her to tear her way out of its tough skin with her claws. She lay on the ground beside its collapsing form, coughing and gasping for air for awhile.

When she summoned enough energy to call up the menu, her health was a sliver, and her energy the tiniest speck. She wished she'd grown something edible instead of only poisonous weeds along the walls. She didn't want to use up her Karma on a restore prayer unless she had to, so she waited as motionlessly as possible beside the remains of the slime, which seemed to be quickly turning into a thin skin and a coin lying on a wet patch of ground.

Danika looked at the scrubby groundcover growing determinedly in patches across the path and silently thanked it for growing there. She'd forgotten to cover the ground with poisonous weeds, but the slime hadn't escaped downward.

By the time she'd recovered about ¼ of her health and energy, night had fallen. Danika gathered up the coin, and after a moment of thought put it and the remainder of her thread into the empty salt sack, which had mostly dried, before she placed it into her inventory. She barely hesitated before stuffing the translucent skin into her inventory as well. 

This experience of nearly drowning inside the slime seemed maybe a little too realistic for Danika, and she felt beyond tired. Instead of flying back to the village to collect her rewards, she logged out.

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