Syl

Chapter 216: Three Gluttons

We chatted longer and discussed what we should do in the coming days. My biggest concern was talking with Flintheart to see what slime cores he had wrangled up for me.

Vee only had food on her mind but was otherwise willing to go along for anything. I wondered if Trixie would have better luck teaching her the rock method than me.

Will I still get my discount if I tag in Trixie to help? I hope so...

Trixie wanted to see the chaotic essence we had mentioned but wanted to hang around me otherwise. I got the vague impression she was probably shirking some of her duties, but I didn’t mind having the extra company.

The topic of investigating the silver slime operation also came up, and to my surprise, Trixie seemed very excited about that idea.

"We can sneak in! I’ll have a perfect chance to show off my talents and shine!" Trixie said happily.

"What’s your specialty?" Vee asked.

"S-e-c-r-e-t!" Trixie teased.

"Illusions..." I answered.

"I just think if we’re going into potentially risky situations, we should know what to rely on," I answered.

"You’re probably just bitter that you couldn’t see through them when we first met!" Trixie said, sticking out her tongue.

"Maybe..." I admitted. "Although the Cat Sith we ran into had some utterly terrifying illusions. They basically could hurt you if they hit you. Imagine my surprise when a sword hit my slime hand, and it actually hurt me!"

"Oh yeah, anything like that is nasty... Real illusions are not fun," Trixie giggled mischievously.

"Real... Illusions?" Vee groaned, sounding extremely upset. "Talk about an oxymoron... That’s so stupid..."

"It’s magic," I replied with a shrug.

"Yup. Magic," Trixie agreed.

"Stupid magic..." Vee grumbled.

"Careful, or I might get another quest to slap you," I teased.

"You have got to tell me about that one!" Trixie begged.

Vee groaned, and I made a mental note to buy her something nice to eat as an apology.

We continued having a rather fun evening together, chatting about nonsense before having a good dinner and then trying to give Vee a bit of Trixie’s magic bootcamp. Unfortunately, Vee still refused to acknowledge the power of the rock method.

***

"I see you’ve brought a friend..." Kaldrour said, looking relatively surprised by Trixie sitting on my head.

I relegated my magical hat to a fashionable hair clip to accommodate Trixie retaining her favorite sitting spot. Now that Trixie had mentioned it would eventually grow, I wanted to keep it on me as much as possible.

Seriously, what new ability could it acquire? I hope it will protect me from mind control; that would be the best outcome. It’s funny that Vee was also worried about brain worms. I wonder if that’s a reoccurring fear among us [Experiments].

"Trixie, meet my friend and business partner, Kaldrour Flintheart. Kaldrour, meet my old friend and adventuring buddy, Trixie the pixie," I introduced the two.

"Pleasure to meet you," Trixie said courteously.

"Aye. Good to meet you. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that our mutual friend even has ties to the spiritfolk," Kaldrour said with a small bow.

"Indeed, Syl here seems to make a habit of making some powerful or influential friends," Trixie giggled.

Vee also gave a little wave, to which Kaldrour waved back.

Trixie offered to connect Vee to our conversation, but to my surprise, she opted not to.

"I’d rather they not discover I’m a fully thinking, talking spider..." Vee said nervously. "Like... I know they’ve been lenient with the whole elf-bonded companion thing, but I get the feeling they might react a bit differently otherwise."

I hated to admit it was possible. Who knew how they would react. It was one of the biggest reasons I hesitated to tell anyone else. Plus, I had to admit that a small part of me feared letting Vee talk to others. What if she told them my secret? It was probably just a dose of my usual neuroticism and paranoia, but still...

"So, have you managed to find my slime cores?" I asked eagerly.

"Indeed!" Kaldrour said excitedly. "I scoured the markets, buying anything and everything I could find."

I was bubbling with excitement as Kaldrour began placing various objects on the table. A scepter, a caged device, and another strange magical item. All of them had a juicy slime core housed within them. I wanted to drool. Another cracked silver core was also carefully added to the collection.

"This is amazing!" I replied joyously.

"Woah... Those are some strong emotions coming from you..." Vee commented. "Like I’m feeling almost secondhand giddiness, if that were even possible."

"And this isn’t even the best part!" Kaldrour said happily.

I gulped in anticipation.

Something better? What could it be?

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With a confident grin, he reached into a bag and pulled out something resembling a fishbowl. Inside was a tiny, glowing violet slime.

<Slime (Violet) [I] LV 1. Elemental Affinity: None.>

I immediately stood up and slapped my hands against the table. Trixie almost fell off my head.

Kaldrour chuckled happily. "Good to see it had the intended effect!"

"I can’t believe you managed to find one!" I replied happily.

"Aye, they are rare buggers ’cause they die so often," Kaldrour admitted. "I managed to buy it off a buddy who wanted to give it to his nephew. They make good but very expensive pets. Hopefully, this one lives longer with you than it would with that boy."

I hid my embarrassment behind a chuckle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see this violet slime living very long. I wanted its core!

I was so grateful for all the supplies that I immediately pulled out another small chunk of obsidianite and placed it on the table. Trixie stared at it with confusion, while Kaldrour seemed to be almost a mirror of my previous excitement.

"I see you’ve been holding back a little extra for a rainy-day fund," Kaldrour asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Or, in this case, a reward for an exceptionally well-done job!" I answered honestly.

"Bloody beards, I should quit my job and become a slime core trader in that case!" Kaldrour laughed uproariously.

"I had no idea you were so flush with cash..." Trixie whispered.

"I’ve had some very successful hunts," I answered. "Adventuring pays absurdly well."

"Not to discourage you, but I don’t think the average adventurers earn anywhere close to what you’ve been doing," Kaldrour pointed out. "Although, keep up the good job! You could buy yourself a dwarven nobility if you wanted!"

"Ew, don’t become a noble!" Trixie teased. "Way too stuffy... No offense."

"Ha!" Kaldrour slapped the table. "None taken. It’s definitely got its ups and downs. I could certainly do without the long meetings, but the food and drinks are always good! Not to mention some of the perks and privileges."

"I guess..." Trixie shrugged. "I prefer being a free agent."

Kaldrour shrugged back, clearly not really wanting to argue with a pixie.

"So what’s this about an assassin coming after you?" Kaldrour asked. "I hope it’s not over the help you did with regaining my orichalcum mine."

I reluctantly took my eyes off the violet slime tempting me and shook my head. "No. It’s elf politics, I believe. The assassin wanted to take something off me as well."

Kaldrour looked somewhat relieved. "No offense, but I’m glad it’s not a mess I dragged you into. Although I believe Lukhek and Tamnaeth are looking into it?"

"So I’ve heard... Although I’m thinking of leaving sometime soon, so I might miss the next assassin..." I attempted some dark humor.

"Oh? Back to the human lands? Or back to the Grove?" Kaldrour questioned before quickly adding. "If you don’t mind me asking, that is..."

"I got an invitation to Keld, and Vee wants to see the ocean," I replied.

"Oh, Keld! I’ve heard good things about Keld; the golems coming out of that place are masterpieces," Kaldrour said excitedly. "If you do go, please drop the Flintheart name. I’d love to do business with them!"

"Sure, I don’t mind," I answered.

Kaldrour looked over the moon. My stint as Sylvester had taught me there were some big profits in the golem industry, especially the enchanting variety, as Greg and Thern had bemoaned. It looked like Kaldrour was very eager to break into the golem industry and expand his profits.

We chatted a bit longer before he eventually left for his next meeting. I stared hungrily at all the objects on the table.

"Wow. Talk about clever: using merchants and adventuring to get yourself more cores!" Trixie said mentally, establishing a link between the three of us immediately.

"It’s very unfair if you ask me!" Vee whined a little jokingly. "Syl is basically paying to win!"

"It’s not like I use money for anything else..." I said. "Beyond your snacks and ring collection."

"Well, if you’re throwing money around, I’d love a new dress or something..." Trixie said without a hint of shame.

"Sure... After I do some eating myself..." I answered.

"I think we could ask Syl anything right now and get an agreement," Vee teased.

"Definitely got slime cores on the brain," Trixie giggled.

"If you were a slime, you’d understand. Nothing else even comes close!" I defended myself.

Trixie pointed to the tiny violet slime in the fishbowl. "Are you really going to eat that cutey?"

"Yes," I replied with zero hesitation. "I think it might give me Light affinity. Or, at the very least, give me the ability to glow."

"Poor little guy... Doomed to be eaten by the big mean elf slime," Vee teased.

Trixie looked like she wanted to tease, but to my surprise, she held back. "Gaining the Light affinity would be good... Your collection of delicious Mana would be even better!"

"Wow... We really are all gluttons, aren’t we?" Vee commented.

"At least you’re admitting to the glutton club..." I teased.

"I’m kind of forced to... I earned a trait called [Overeating] last night..." Vee admitted with some horror in her tone.

"I’m genuinely surprised Syl hasn’t earned that trait!" Trixie replied.

"Is it because I don’t technically eat?" I pondered. "I don’t even have a stomach."

"The trait mentions increasing stamina regeneration based on how full your belly is... So, probably?" Vee somewhat agreed.

Vee did show me the trait, and I was met with an error incompatible with my race. It was slightly annoying, but it’s not like I needed to regenerate stamina.

"Well, time to eat!" I said excitedly as I lifted the scepter with the red slime core.

"Seems like a real waste of a magic item, don’t you think-" Trixie tried to say as I stuffed the scepter inside of me.

<Slime (Red) Core absorbed. Trait [Blaze Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Burst] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Blaze Slime LV 6] improved to [Blaze Slime LV 7].>

<Trait [Slime Burst] integrated into [Nitro Slime LV 7].>

Oh! Any slimes that had [Slime Burst] will help me towards my next level of [Nitro Slime]! Very nice!

"And she ate it... Very nice..." Trixie sighed.

"I got a new level in [Blaze Slime] for that!" I said excitedly as I reached for the white core.

"Wait, that one is actually useful!" Trixie whined. "Do you know how expensive refrigerator enchantments are?"

"A little. I can make them after all," I replied before gulping down the device.

Trixie’s protest fell on deaf ears.

<Slime (White) Core absorbed. Trait [Cryo Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Shot] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Cryo Slime LV 7] improved to [Cryo Slime LV 8].>

<Existing Trait [Slime Shot LV 7] improved to [Slime Shot LV 8].>

"What did that one get you?" Vee asked curiously.

"A level in [Cryo Slime] and [Slime Shot]!" I said happily.

"I was joking, but this really is pay to win!" Vee protested.

I nodded as I reached for the odd device; it looked like someone’s science experiment had gone wrong. The yellow core was wrapped in copper wires, and a strange black substance coated what looked like handles.

I looked towards Trixie, almost expecting her to protest again

"I don’t know what that is, so go ahead and eat it," Trixie shrugged.

"It sorta looks like a battery..." Vee muttered right as I plopped it down the slimy gullet.

<Slime (Yellow) Core absorbed. Trait [Voltaic Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Density] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Voltaic Slime LV 6] improved to [Voltaic Slime LV 7].>

<Trait [Slime Density] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

"And it’s gone..." Vee grumbled.

"Yeah, but well worth it!" Trixie added. "You should have seen what the first yellow slime gave, Syl! So many sparks! Crackle pew!"

"You ate a yellow core and got lightning powers?" Vee asked.

"Yeah, it was a trait called [Voltaic Slime] and Lightning affinity, which let me buy [Lightning Magic]," I explained.

"I think I see why they made an entire economy out of them," Vee replied.

"Only a few are harvested for their actual slime..." I pointed out. "The cores being magic catalysts is sort of a happy coincidence. It’s a pity I can’t get my hands on a purple or green slime core."

"You just had a slime core buffet and want more?" Trixie teased.

I stuck out my tongue before popping the silver core in my mouth.

<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime] gained. Trait [Shape Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Metal Slime LV 7] improved to [Metal Slime LV 8].>

<Trait [Shape Slime] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

I thought for sure I would have finally gained a level in [Morph Slime]... But I guess since it’s a fused trait, it’s much harder to level up? A real pity...

And then my gaze fell upon the violet slime jiggling in its glass container.