Chapter 42: Chapter 35 – Just Breathe!

Resh was having a panic attack. No air to breathe, the feeling of death imminent, closing in, and no way out. Banging on the hard surface above did nothing, just a dull echo reverberating through its current space. Feeling a sense of inevitable and impending death, Resh was becoming numb even as its mind continued to freak out completely. That was when Resh felt the sense of separate minds. While there was still a definite sense of panic, claustrophobia, and doom, Resh was also able to distance itself a little from that feeling. Reminding itself that this was not happening to it but to the body that it was currently inhabiting and so gradually and painstakingly, Resh looked at the situation more and more dispassionately and observed as a bystander and not as a victim. Visually its perspective had not changed but psychologically the slow and arduous process yielded results. Resh was now able to understand its surroundings better and the circumstance of this being's panic. For the first time, Resh could identify that this being that it inhabited in this dream was not dissimilar from the Human (Male) that it had bitten in the river a few days ago. Its shape was more similar than to the Human (Female). These limbs and proportions of the body were the same. However, where the Human (Male) that Resh had seen by the river had been muscular this one was emaciated and appeared to be on the verge of death. Breath rattled in a sunken chest which took faster and faster shallow breaths, another side effect of its growing panic.

 

After a couple of minutes of this and frantically clawing at the sides of this box that he found itself in the Human (Male) had drawn blood from his fingertips and his nails were in bad shape. Only then in that final desperate understanding that the situation was hopeless did this Human (Male) finally calm down. In Resh’s mind, it understood that this Human had accepted his death. Resh had accepted his death as well. Then as the oxygen in the box began to run out Resh closed his eyes and his breathing slowed and eventually stopped completely. Feeling the Human’s body like his own Resh accepted death knowing it was its only way out of the situation.

 

Resh came to in the water, feeling a little at peace with his decision of acceptance. There was no other way out and while the human had not accepted it at the time Resh was a subtly different creature. Resh didn’t need air to survive. It was also not scared of darkness, Resh had spent some of its earliest days without eyes to see, relying solely on its perception to know what was around it. Rationally Resh understood where the panic and fear of the underground was coming from now. It felt confident that it would control those false instincts now telling it to get out from the soil. That Human was somehow intrinsically linked with Resh’s mind. That Human’s fears were permeating Resh’s mind, causing the Water Slime to panic in situations that were safe for a Slime because they weren’t for a Human.

 

I am a Slime! I am a Slime! I am a Slime! Resh kept repeating the mantra because its life depended on it. Resh was pushing that Human’s mind aside so that it could focus on its need. The desperate need to level the Underground Living Skill so that it could become an Earth Slime. That was the only goal right now and this Human (Male) was getting in the way. Time to take that next undeniable step. Resh would not allow anything to come between it and survival. Especially not some weak human!

 

Feeling particularly decisive at that moment Resh took full advantage and dove straight into the dirt. Digging for all it was worth, which was not very fast since it had the 90% movement penalty underground. Still, it was the resolve that mattered. Having dug into the river bank and created a space for itself, Resh then began covering itself in the soil around it. Once again the panic and irrational thoughts reared their ugly heads. Resh ruthlessly squashed them. I don’t have time for this! Resh screamed in its mind as it brutally destroyed each of those thoughts without mercy. They would take hold if given a chance. Resh would not allow it this time. It had come too far to allow anything to deter it.

 

As the soil finally settled in all around it, Resh Zen Meditated. Since Natural Plant Healing was unusable underground Resh would rely solely on Zen Meditation. Maybe it could get Natural Plant Healing to evolve so that it could work underground. It wouldn’t be the first time it had adapted to Resh’s environment.

 

And so began Resh’s short trips into and out of the soil. At first, Resh could only spend a couple of minutes in the soil and out of the water. As time went on Resh’s skill continued to improve. There was a lot of backwards and forwards where resh would spend as much time as possible underground and then just as the timer ran out dig its way out and into the water again so that the timer reset. Resh only needed to fully submerge itself in the water to reset the timer so Resh spent most of the next 24 hours underground with short respites in the river. Eventually….

 

Underground Living has increased to Level 2!

…

 

Underground Living has increased to Level 8!

 

Meanwhile, some of Resh’s other skills had also levelled up.

 

Watery Sight has increased to Level 19!

 

Strong Legs of the Squitter has increased to Level 15!

 

Double Wormtails has increased to Level 8!

 

Shell of the River Crab has increased to Level 2!

 

Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 17!

 

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Strong Camouflage has increased to Level 18!

 

Resh even overshot the target by a bit but it was acceptable. Resh would need all the help it could get. By the time Resh was done, it could stay underground for over twenty minutes without bits of its body dropping off and disappearing into the soil around it. Resh shuddered when it remembered about halfway through when it had been so tired it lost track of time and woke to find half its face, melting and dripping into the soil. The soil itself seemed to be closing in on it and grazing its body, taking away bits. Resh had lost nearly 100g in that bought. Not much in the grand scheme but still it set Resh back a few hours.

 

The other goal that Resh had while it was increasing Underground Living was to get larger, so Consume had been active non-stop during the past day. Resh was now up to 784.25g and 313.70cm³. Luckily digging the holes did not get significantly harder with the larger size but they did take longer, Resh had to keep expanding the hole that it had dug for itself.

 

Now that Resh was ready to evolve it was a little nervous, with a new vision now added to the mix Resh was wondering what in the world was happening to it. More specifically it's mind and how it was tied to this other person.

 

The Human (Male) that I become is the same in both visions. Resh observed. I need to understand and become acquainted with the situation thoroughly, inside and out. Should I wait to evolve until I know more about the effects of the evolutions on my body?

 

Shrugging its Slime shoulders Resh took the plunge, once more checking the evolution it was going for, it had now qualified for the Earth Slime variant. This time Resh had thought the option through and it was ready for the consequences!

 

Earth Slime!

 

You have chosen Tier 3 - Earth Slime! You are now Earth Slime Level 1!

 

Earth Slimes are more adapted to living underground. You will have no penalties for being underground but instead will have penalties for your activities on land and in water.

 

You have lost Water-Based Talent Water Born +9. Water Affinity returns to 0.

 

You have gained +10 Levels to Underground Living! You will not gain any experience from being in your natural habitat, Earth!

 

You may stay out of the soil and either above ground or in water according to your Skills before you need to fully bury yourself in the soil to reset your time. Failure to return to the soil will mean that your body loses cohesion at a rate of 1g per second and disintegrates or dissipates.

 

Talent Earth Born +10% Damage Resistance to Earth-based attacks. +50% Earth Affinity!

 

+4 Strength, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +3 Resistance, +3 Perception, +65HP, +17HP Regen +15SP, +2SP Regen, 2x Exp for Earth-Related spells and Skills

 

All HP, MP and SP have been restored on Evolution!

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