Chapter 68: Chapter 66: Mind Break

 

The boss may have access to my skills by proxy of my primary mind, but it never learned the breakthroughs and doesn't understand all the nuances to them. Plus, it's still my skill. Even if it's being fueled by the boss, I can override the fairies' orders.

I see a mass of lightning-based essence around the heads of Kadona, Uloru, Irela, and Chyzu. I'd bet anything that is mind essence and that the boss is trying to take control of them as it did me. I could try to fight over the manipulation of that mana, but I know it won't work and it'll only reveal my presence to the boss, so instead, I put my efforts into overriding the orders of the fairies. The boss is providing mana, might as well use what I can against it.

The time-delayed exploding fairies do pose a problem but I dismiss them with a wave of my hand, instead sending my own timed explosive mana to the fairies for my counterattacks, and turn towards Esofy.

"The boss has five minds and is trying to take control of Kadona, Uloru, Irela, and Chyzu in addition to my Clone," I explain.

"What?! No way!" Irela says.

"This could be another trick to divide us." Kadona speculates.

"Master is right. We can't trust her." Uloru agrees with Kadona.

Only Chyzu remains quiet.

Looking at the soul of the boss, I see that it has five separate mind components and, unlike mine which are normally clumped together, the boss's are spread out. I don't know if that helps its spells or not, or if it's just a product of having multiple minds naturally.

I need to kill the boss fast!

Within the range of my [Sense Mana], I see about a hundred more fairies in the boss room and send bursts of mana to them to override their instructions. As with everything else I’ve done since I arrived, the boss doesn't seem to notice my attempts to block its attacks.

Once the fairies' numbers in the hall build up to almost two hundred, I order them all to attack. Then I order the fairies in the boss room to attack once the main force of fairies enters.

"What?! Don't attack my master. Attack the enemy!" My Clone yells, confused. I notice that it's still producing sound despite being illusory.

I cut off the link from the illusion, so it should have dissolved, but it seems like the Mind Slime has taken control of the link.

Bursts of mana come from my evil Clone to take back control of the fairies, but I interrupt them with [Manipulate Mana]. Knowing myself, I don't maintain much control after sending out a spell so I expect the same of my clone and capitalize on its oversight.

The fairies strike the Mind Slime as I overcharge as many as I can. The slime writhes and wriggles as it is struck over and over again. It has lower vitality than the Alpha Wolf, so it should be easier to take out. The explosions from my fairies shake the ruin’s halls, followed by a thunderous sound which forces the group to cover their ears to protect their hearing. Air rushes past us as the explosions force it out of the room.

"W-why isn't it working?!" My Clone isn't using [Sense Mana]... or perhaps it can't because the skill is attached to my race now? That means it's using the slime's ability to see, but what method is that? Perhaps the Mind Slime can only see light? I know it can detect mental presences, but the fairies don't have a mental presence.

To test my theory, I cast a globe of darkness around the Mind Slime with [Echoes of Reality] and nullify sounds within it as well for good measure.

There is a commotion around me as I watch the mental intrusion spell shift from Chyzu to Uloru and from Irela to Kadona. The master and student duo lash out at the nearby group as the slow attempt to mentally influence them turns into a desperate attempt to divide us. Esofy jumps to block an attack from Uloru while Jowaru blocks an attack from Kadona. The heavy hammer throws Esofy off balance and sends her skidding across the hall, over the slimy ground.

"Hold them off while we take down the boss!" I say, motioning for the rest of the group to go into the room and attack.

We all run into the room; Chyzu immediately starts blasting the boss with powerful jets of water while Tana’s sword thrust sends forth a jet of his vitality-draining flames, which cling onto the Mind Slime and begin to spread. Irela sends several balls of metal flying up at the floating Mind Slime and smashes them through the viscous liquid. Burning slime sprays everywhere, and several good hits easily strike the core with how much has been blasted off with my previous explosions.

Slime is everywhere, much of it drifting up to rejoin the floating main mass. Just then, Esofy is hurled into the boss room as Uloru emerges from the hall, growling like a feral beast. I hear Kadona trying to smash past Jowaru's defense and see that it has little effect on the juggernaut.

Tana runs to aid Esofy as I send one exploding fairy after another, tossing more normal [Fairy Strikes] into the mix when I can. Tulalo is blasting the boss with water jets and intercepting enemy fairies. I notice mind essence start to build up around Esofy.

We need mind essence repelling armor! I mentally smack myself for not realizing it sooner. I have a way to prevent mind spells or at least make it hard for them to take root. It's lightning-based, so it's repelled by earth mana! With the rush of everything going on, I didn't have time to fully think about how to defeat the Mind Slime or even how to defend against it, but now I finally have a proper tactic.

I weave a hood out of earth mana and enchant it to resist mind essence specifically. It takes a few dozen seconds and uses most of my focus, focus that would have been used to override the orders of enemy exploding fairies. Irela realizes almost too late, barely managing to intercept one fairy in time. An explosion rocks the room and sends everyone sprawling to the gooey floor, except me. My illusory Clone only shimmers from the shockwave.

With my hood fully enchanted, I tell Esofy to put it on. It isn't decorated, but it will do the job. I override more fairies sent by my evil Clone and run over to Esofy, ignoring the approaching Uloru.

"It will prevent the monster from mind-controlling you!" I shout. It looks like Esofy is a little dazed and might have her ears ringing from the recent explosions.

Esofy puts the hood on. I watch as the mind essence is dispersed and clarity shines on her face.

"I never knew mind spells felt like that. I was wondering what was going on."

Her moment of weakness, however, gives Uloru enough time to assault Irela. The metal mage forms a shield as Esofy runs to aid her. A clang echoes in the cylindrical room as Uloru's hammer is brought down on Irela's shield, the metal caving in from the force.

"Intercept the fairies. I'll make us armor to help prevent mind control!" I shout out. The last time I failed to communicate, which almost resulted in heavy injuries, I am not making the same mistake twice.

I make another two hoods, watching Kadona and Jowaru battle; however, Jowaru has a buildup of mind essence around her head, and she seems confused and sluggish.

"Chyzu! Give these to Jowaru and Kadona if you can!" I order. Chyzu nods and immediately runs to the hoods to pick them up, then runs out of the room and into the hall where the two warriors are fighting. I start making more mind resistance hoods.

Chyzu comes up from behind Jowaru and slaps the hood on her before grabbing Kadona's arm to restrain her. They continue struggling as I shift my focus to see how Esofy is managing. She keeps parrying Uloru's heavy blows, her relative combat experience giving her an edge despite the heavy hammer.

Shifting my visual focus back to Chyzu, I see that she has managed to get the hood on Kadona, but she is still mind-controlled and attacking Jowaru. The boss must have formed a link like how I have a link with my Clones and Familiars, so it doesn't matter if the essence is there or not anymore. But that does seem to take up one of the boss's minds.

The boss's slime wriggles around as half its vitality is depleted from our attacks. That's when I see mind essence forming around everyone and feel the familiar warmth invading my mind. The sweet scent soon follows, and the familiar siren song alerts me to the mind-influencing attempt.

Oh no, you don't!

Its spell must be independent of its ability to mind control. My resistances will help me, so I first start using [Manipulate Mana] to prevent my allies from being controlled. However, I feel my attempt at dispersing the mana to be difficult, a tug of war over the mana, and it's two versus one.

I let go of the mana and instead override more fairies. There is only one thing I can do, and that is to prevent the fairies from attacking us. But what if I can unleash a powerful attack? If I can channel a spell, as I did against the Hive Slime, I may be able to take out this Mind Slime in one final attack. But I run into the problem of needing to do many things at once. I need to make mental resistance hoods, stop the fairies and channel the spell. I need [Multitask]. I procrastinated because I was working on other things, but being able to do multiple things with one mind would be so helpful here.

"Fall back into the hall!" I order, and we all run back into the hall with Uloru aggressively chasing us.

"Intercept the fairies!" I command. Since the group was already running on fumes before I arrived, and now Jowaru is keeping Kadona busy and Esofy is handling Uloru, they still need my help. 

But we'll have to make do; we need mind resistance hoods now! I start weaving and enchanting. Several normal [Fairy Strikes] hit members of the group, Chyzu has somehow managed to pull Kadona's hood off and put it on herself, so that means Chyzu, Esofy, and Jowaru are protected. The next to be protected are Tana, Irela, and Tulalo.

The mind essence sings its song to me, growing ever more enticing as I work, and I feel a mental presence gently try to brush up against mine. I mentally jab at it and order my [Summoner’s Core] to produce earth mana to slow the advancement of the mind spell. Finishing up the last of the hoods, I give one to Klora and put my own hood on back in the main camp. The siren song fades as the spell is blocked by my new armor.

Klora takes several hits from fairies to protect Tulalo and slumps against a wall, breathing heavily. Tana runs over and starts healing her with his flames just as Tulalo shoots a water jet to intercept another fairy.

Next, I start charging a spell with my racial beauty magic. A spear of beauty essence begins forming in front of me. I can't actually charge a fairy spell, so this is the next best thing. The beauty mana spear starts to vibrate with power and hums with intensity. I keep pouring mana into it, two thousand mana, then three thousand, Esofy's leg is hit by a fairy, and she stumbles to one knee, trying to resist Uloru's onslaught of attacks. Tana rushes over to help defend and heal her.

Four thousand mana in my spear, and Irela let an exploding fairy get too close before intercepting it. She and Chyzu are blasted to the ground again. Five thousand mana, the spear is pulsating with power, Esofy slips on some slime while dodging Uloru's attack, and Jowaru is hit in the back by a fairy. Six thousand mana, the spear is visibly shaking, and the hum grows into a high-pitched whine. Tana is struck by one fairy as Chyzu is struck by two; Irela intercepts another exploding fairy with the last of her energy, her mana completely spent. Seven thousand mana, the spear is violently shaking. I grab the spear and pump [Beauty Enhancement] into it. The spear grows larger and longer, pulsing with the sheer amount of mana put into it. Tulalo is blasted by a fairy and hits the wall, slumping to the ground in a daze.

I activate [Acting] and take the role of a dragoon warrior; I use [Shape Beauty] on the Clone I am controlling, morphing armor around it and forming a pair of stylized dragonish wings. I dash into the room and crouch low, aiming my spear at the boss, then I jump up and forward, use [Manipulate Mana] to move the evil Clone out of the way with a wave of my hand and thrust my spear into the Mind Slime’s core. The mana of the spear rushes into the slime core in a single burst, burning its vitality directly for three seconds before my spear disappears, leaving the boss with only a few percent of its vitality.

I take control of its fairies and summon more of my own as I fall to the ground, landing on my feet. I send the fairies at the boss as I watch Esofy take a hit from Uloru that breaks her arm. Tulalo and Tana rush to her aid, with the fairies now diverted away from them.

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Explosions ring out, signifying more vitality losses for the slime. Tulalo screams as Uloru lands a hit on her leg, shattering bone. Irela pants, exhausted, as she tries to lift her metal, but the blades merely quiver and raise a few inches above the ground, then fall back down.

I supercharge three fairies with multiple doses of [Fairy Explosion] and blast the slime. The last of its slime drips off the core, which hovers in the air for a second before it too falls, a bell ringing in my mind to signify the Mind Slime's demise.

Ting! Your party has killed a Mind Core Slime (Grand), Mind Slaver (Grand) Level 300, extra experience has been rewarded for being under-leveled.

I drop to the ground, feeling my second mind return to me. Welcome back.

Ting! Your Bond has obtained levels 270-292!

Ting! Your Class, Fairy Summoner, has obtained levels 126-154! 420 status points awarded.

Ting! Your Bond skill, Summon Clone, has evolved into Create Twin!

Create Twin: Create a semi-autonomous twin of you by constantly feeding it 1 mana per second.

Ting! New active skill available, Summon Arms! Would you like to accept this skill?

Summon Arms: Creates weapons for your summons to use to inject their mana into your opponents, costs 5 mana.

Interesting. If what my spear did is an example, it'll lead to a more efficient attack method than even my normal [Fairy Strike]. I wonder how this will pair with [Fairy Explosion]? Will it inject the mana inside and cause an explosion inside the body? That would be so useful; explosions are actually horrendous at efficiently using their force; that's why it has to be so strong; you are guaranteed to at least lose half the energy.

As I think this with my returned mind, I rush to the aid of my companions, checking to see who needs healing.

So the question is, which active skill do I want to get rid of? There is really only one choice, [Beauty Mark]. Yes, it has the potential to be really great, but my range is already so high, and my moveable perception kind of fills its place anyway. If the intent of the skill is to allow me to track the Mark’s position for bombardment, then it's only useful for someone without my ridiculously high [Sense Mana].

Ting! You have lost the Beauty Mark class skill!

Ting! You have gained the Summon Arms class skill!

Summon Arms: You've managed to summon weapons for your summons; this will help their attacks be more efficient and deadly.

Ting! Acting has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 90!

9th Breakthrough: You've assumed a class role; this will help you imitate skills you normally wouldn't have.

Ting! Acting has obtained levels 77-86!

Excuse me? I can now ‘act out’ other skills?! This seems "game-breaking"... but thinking about it more, the limiting factor is the breakthroughs. Yes, I can act out skills, but I won't ever have their breakthroughs... meaning that it is a very welcome boost to my abilities, but it's relatively minor. A [Doppleganger] type skill might be able to imitate breakthroughs, but then I'd have to know which breakthrough and still have to figure out all its nuances.

Ting! Sense Soul has obtained level 77-80!

I've capped my [Sense Soul], that's nice to get.

Ting! Clear Mind has obtained levels 64-68!

Ting! Graceful Movements has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 70!

7th Breakthrough: You've learned to attack precisely and gracefully; this will help your aim.

Ting! Graceful Movements has obtained levels 63-72!

Ting! Mana Manipulation has obtained levels 200-203!

Ting! Sense Mana has obtained levels 250-253!

Ting! Fairy Commander has obtained levels 33-40!

Ting! Fairy Empowerment has obtained levels 34-39!

Ting! Fairy Explosion has obtained levels 33-39!

Ting! Summoner's Expertise has obtained levels 18-24!

Ting! Summoner's Affinity has obtained level 5!

That fight was deadly despite technically having a relatively easy counter to it. The stakes of being permanently controlled and made to fight my own people probably also contributed to the insane amount of exp gain.

This fight shouldn't have gone like this. We should have been prepared and cautious. I didn't know the abilities of this boss but gathering information was my role in this group, and I let my inexperience fail us. This almost turned out to be a disaster, thanks to me.

After making sure that the rest of my party is stable, I stand up, taking one last look over the exhausted group. I'll do better. I promise. I walk back into the boss room and examine the slime's core. The mind core is large enough that it takes both my hands to wrap my fingers around it, about twice the size of my fist.

Mind Core: The empty mind core of many-minded slime mage. Temporarily acts as another mind to anyone who impresses their mind into it.

Am I reading this right?! I can get a third mind?! It's temporary, so my guess is that it fades after some time and would have to be renewed. Maybe if I can make this into an item, it can be permanent as long as it's worn or something like that.

This dungeon delve has been lucrative, the wolf fangs that will hopefully let my clones have real, or at least quasi-physical, weapons, and now this mind core, both from bosses too. Now I almost want to hunt down more bosses. I look at the slime ooze itself; it too usually has some lingering mana that can make it a magical material.

Mind Slime: Slime from a mind mage slime. Increases mind spell effectiveness by 100%

Esofy walks into the room and collects the materials into a storage ring. The rest of the group enters behind her.

"Mind if I call dibs on the Mind Core?" I ask.

"We'll split the materials once we're done with the delve into these ruins, but for now, we should rest before moving on," Esofy says, looking just as thoroughly exhausted as the others.

"Yeah, I also need to refill my Kyhosa and mana reserves," I say as the party rests on the few places where the ground isn't covered in slime.

A treasure chest appears in the center of the room, a golden ornate chest with inlays of gems.

Loot! The one downside to my clone is that I am not actually there to get the treasure.

Esofy opens the treasure chest and reveals a sword of true steel. It's not decorated other than the pommel being a sapphire. It has a durability and sharpening enchantment on it, and the steel is of excellent quality. The other piece of treasure is a ring that boosts wind resistance.

Honestly, I am more hyped for the monster materials that we got. Esofy puts them into a storage orb that I made, and then we just… rest

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