The Chronicles of Dwynveia – A Slimeling LitRPG

Caeileera

All my anger at Lilyth for doing harebrained things again was replaced with severe concern when I saw the state she was in. I had no idea how the fuck the love of my life was still alive. Lilyth had heavy burns all over her body, and her hands were reduced to charred stumps. What was left of her clothes seemed to have been partially fused to her body.

What have you done to yourself, my love?

The worst part, however, was that I couldn't even give her the healing potion as her lips were molten shut.

I know where to start then.

I gently put my fingers on the lips I loved kissing so much and applied a bit of healing energy there. Once they could open again, I parted them and began pouring the potion into Lilyth's mouth. Once again, I could only marvel at her regenerative capabilities. The charred slime began to mend, soon turning blue and then returning to Lilyth's usual pale skin colour. New hands grew from the stumps. Still… the potion wasn’t enough to fix all the damage, so I supplemented it with my spells. It was very draining, but I would do anything for my dumb jelly.

After a few minutes, it was finally done - Lilyth’s body was back to normal, though she was still unconscious. My wife would need a new set of clothes as the old ones were mostly goners and I didn’t think her armour would be salvageable, as there wasn’t anything popping up on the interface when I touched it.

There were some changes to her body. Her fur became brighter and once again had this cloudy quality to it, and some white crackling tattoos joined the oozy black ones. Those were new.

‘Why isn’t she waking up?’ Aki, who joined me, asked.

‘Don’t know,’ I sighed. ‘Could be shock, could be some deeper layer of damage that magic couldn't simply fix. Maybe she used too much mana at the same time?’

‘So all we can do is wait,’ my blue-haired lioness said sadly.

We sat on opposite sides of Lilyth, each of us holding one of our wife’s hands into one of ours. And then we intertwined the fingers of our free hands over Lilyth's body. That way, the three of us were joined together.

‘You know…’ Aki whispered after a few minutes of silence. ‘I want to be mad at her for what she did… but I can't. Not after seeing that thing survive that… attack.’

‘Yes,’ I agreed after a moment. ‘I think we could have killed that monster without it, but it certainly made it far easier.’

‘I just… I just…’ Aki began to sob. ‘It didn't always require her to… to… d-do that.’

‘We are getting there,’ I tried to comfort her. ‘We just… didn't have enough time to catch up, so, as much as I hate myself for saying it, I think that at the end of the day, it is better to get seriously hurt in situations like this than someone less… healable. Not that we should encourage it or use that as an excuse.’

Aki sadly nodded, and we returned to our vigil.

Lilyth woke up about half an hour later. She just looked at us and said nothing. No apology, no concern for us, just nothing.

‘How are you feeling?’ I asked, seriously worried by her indifference.

She didn't respond for a long time. I was about to ask her again when Lilyth simply muttered:

‘Been better, but I guess I am fine.’

‘You don’t sound fine,’ Ren pointed out.

Would you be, bitch? I thought, remembering how agonising my burns were, and they paled in comparison to what happened to Lilyth.

‘I just need a moment,’ Lilyth muttered, curled up into a fetal position and began to bawl her eyes out.

Let it all out, my love.

Aki

After Lilyth regained some degree of composure, she explained to us what exactly she did to the Kisamzo. We were all taken aback by her mention that she used up all of her mana while trying to electrocute that abomination.

‘Let’s just pray we don’t meet any more of those,’ Taros said in a shaky tone.

‘Yeah,’ Deirdee agreed. ‘We barely beat this one. I can’t imagine we’ll manage more.’

‘It’s my fault,’ Tee said. ‘I’ve never been in a dungeon… so I assumed this would be easier.’

We looked at each other.

‘Taros…’ Caei began. ‘This is not a dungeon.’

‘Other than the Kisamzo, this has been fairly easy so far,’ Rennie agreed. ‘I admit I do not have much experience, but…’

‘No, you are right, ‘I supported her. ‘Having been through this from the beginning… I think all the others were worse.’

‘You two realise you have now doomed us?’ Lilyth asked.

‘Oh…’ I realised. ‘The Murphy’s Law thing? Shieeeet.’

‘“A job isn't easy until it is done,”’ Deirdee said. ‘It is something that our instructors just hammer into us during training. Nice to see you Terrans have a similar sentiment.’

‘I guess the one thing that's universal is things going horribly wrong when you least expect it.’

‘Let’s just go,’ I sighed.

Of course, before we left, Lilyth changed into a fresh set of clothes. Her satchel was badly damaged, but luckily survived the fight. As Caei suspected, the same thing couldn't be said about her armour. My wife was sad about losing it, but it was what it was. Lilyth decided to keep the pieces, as maybe Ereshkigal could fix them.

The biggest problem, however, was my wife herself. She definitely wasn’t okay. Her steps were less sure, and she kept flexing her fingers. So, I took her aside and asked her point blank:

‘Are you sure you are good to go? We won’t hold it against you if you decide to call it quits.’

‘But…’ she started to protest.

‘You’ve done your part,’ I stressed. ‘There is no need for you to… put yourself through any more of this.’

‘No… It is fine. I am just… readjusting to my body. A lot of it got… lost and not in a good way, too. I don’t remember much of the pain, I think I deleted that memory, but I am still vulnerable to fire, so I think it damaged me in a way other things… don’t. Normally, if I get healed, the restored body parts feel as if the damage wasn’t there to begin with. This time, it feels as if I got someone else's body grafted to mine. It is a part of me, but at the same time… it isn't. ‘

That sounded horrifying.

‘Do you think it will stay like this?’ I asked.

‘Nah. I can already feel those new parts getting assimilated into me.’

Before I could say something more, I heard Ren shouting:

‘We’ve got company!’

Ren

A horde of Lesser Bone Constructs poured out of the exit from the chamber. I activated [Deadeye] and began tracking them. After nocking an arrow, I exhaled air and began shooting.

One down, two, three.

Deirdee soon joined me.

Then I saw something large behind them - a very large and bulky humanoid skeleton with sharp-looking curved boneswords where its hands should be. There was another one following it.

Yep. There goes my big mouth. Still… Skeletons have obvious weak points.

I had only three arrows left, so I had to make them count.

I took aim.

My first arrow took down the first of them. I began to shift my aim, but one of the Lesser Constructs I forgot about tackled me to the ground. As I feel,l I heard a loud crack, but before I could do anything else, it headbutted me, sending a spike of pain through my skull as my nose crunched. Dazed, I noticed it raise its clawed arm to gore me, but then a bunch of [Rock Spikes] pierced the Construct’s skull, killing it.

Caei.

Then Lilyth and Aki landed between other approaching horrors and fought them back to back. There was a certain dance-like quality to that, but they would definitely need to rehearse more. Lilyth’s movements also seemed… less than graceful, like she didn't quite have full control of her body.

I guess the burns had some long-lasting effects.

Deirdee ran up to me and began to help me get up. As she did, the surviving big thing finally lumbered into the cavern. It didn't last long, though, as Taros took it down with an [Ice Scythe].

I need to learn some offensive magic.

We thought it was over, so Caei ran up to me and began healing my nose. It was such a relief. But… it was over quickly. I leaned down to pick up my bow, but what I saw felt like a sword through my chest. My bow. A family heirloom passed through generations. It was broken.

NO! NO! NO! NO!

I felt something very wrong rushing towards us, which was confirmed by Lilyth's shout.

‘Rot Hounds!’

No!

That couldn't be true. The stories that the girls told about meeting those in Akh'ret's mercy were utterly terrifying. But… the sight of three quadrupedal skeletal beings made of pure wrong down the exit corridor was unmistakable. I looked at my broken bow. I knew it wouldn’t be of much help against these monsters… but… but… I would have felt stronger with it in my hands. Now… I just had a dinky sword, and I barely knew how to use it.

My despair only grew when a wailing howl came from the hole the Kisamzo came through, and a larger version of the three creatures barrelled out of it. This one had a tail and eight limbs: two “arms”, four scythelegs and two three-segmented ones at the back. There was miasma coming out of its skeletal jaw.

So… this is it.

Despair was replaced by rage that began to rise in me.

I couldn’t let it happen.

I wouldn’t let it happen.

From my rage came power. The world turned black-and-white, and then the colours switched. I looked around, the time stopped.

What?

Something began glowing at my feet.

The light was calling me.

It was my bow. It was broken. But I saw I could make it whole again. I extended my hand, and the pieces gently flew up and began to hover in front of me. Instinctively, I understood that what I was doing would turn my bow from just an heirloom into a manifestation of my divinity. The problem was… this would be irreversible, meaning that if I ever had children or my mom remarried and gave me siblings… they would not be able to inherit the bow. The weapon could have been fixed mundanely after all, and even if it was never usable for combat again… it would still be a part of my family legacy.

I looked at the sentient embodiments of Rot. In this weird, negative world I was in, they were the purest of white, which didn't really make them look any better.

If we die here, the bow will be lost regardless.

There was a chance of beating those, of course, but I couldn't help but believe that the cost of that would be much higher than a mere physical object.

My gaze stopped on Aki’s artificial right hand.

With that, I made my decision. I turned my attention back to the bow.

First, I had to rejoin the pieces. It was an easy enough thing to do. Part of my soul energy, as if on command, flew out of my body and joined the pieces together, almost as if they were never broken to begin with. The only sign of the damage was a silvery line of metal filling out the crack.

Before moving on, I recalled what Lilyth told us about her breaking apart the powers she got from Ereshkigal.

Perhaps I should look at the bow in the same way?

I could sense I was on the right path, but… I was too weak to enhance everything. The bow would grow with me in time, but right then, I only had enough power to enhance one aspect of the bow. Maybe two if the changes were minor enough.

I immediately discarded the latter option. This was not the time for half-measures. So… what did I need at that time?

The answer was simple - the ability to hurt… no kill… the Rot monsters.

A number of options appeared to me in my head. Splitting arrows, power shots, mana arrows…

Mana arrows…

I examined the upgrade, and it was straightforward on paper - just create magical projectiles, but it would be very mana-consuming.

Unless… YES!

I finalised the changes, and the bowstring began to glow. Once the effect subsided, I picked up the bow to examine it.

Item: Ren’s Fury

Class: Weapon - Bow - Recurve Bow - Divine

Rarity: Unique

Traits:

Abilities:

That will do.

The abilities using “pure” neutral mana rather than any specific kind was a trade-off I had to make in order to “split” the ability into two. I imagined later, when I was stronger, I would be able to upgrade. Now, I had to test the bow in action.

As the flow of time slowly resumed, I took aim at the Greater Rot Hound and created a [Mana Arrow], pouring half of my remaining mana into it. I loosed it and a massive bolt of magical energy shot out of my bow, hit the monster dead-centre on the skull, entered its body and exited the other side. The creature crumbled into dust.

Ignoring my shocked companions, I dispatched the other three beasts with quick shots.

Lilyth was the first to speak after my friends gathered their jaws off the floor:

‘Umm… Ren… WHAT THE FUCK?’

Hehe.

The Painter

That couldn't have been real… the all-out attack… her strongest minions… the Kisamzo that took three centuries to grow… the Rot Hounds her Mistress left her… they were all dead. She had hoped that at least the Kitsune would die after her electricity stunt, but no. The wretched fae was no worse for wear. And the half-harpy… the painter pegged her as one of the weaker intruders… how wrong she was.

I told you to run, Lendaria resurfaced. It is not too late.

The Painter couldn't do that. Her mistress would kill her for dereliction of duty.

You will be killed regardless. Even if you somehow manage to stop the intruders… your lady will finish the job. You have failed her. You let the “Returning Ones” find the lair and kill your strongest minions. That's not a good result. And let's face it. Our chances of surviving the coming battle are non-existent. All we have left are a bunch of undead. Even if a few of them were made by the Lady of Bones, I doubt they will prove much of a challenge for the intruders. Then it is us against the six of them.

There was truth to Lendaria’s words. But her duty…

Your duty and your Mistress will only lead us to our grave. I offer us life.

Lendaria felt the control the Painter of Misery had over her retract. Could it be?

Don’t make us regret this, the Painter sighed. Remember, I can grab the reins again.

Lendaria nodded. She quickly checked the feed from the cavern. The intruders finished rallying after the fight and began heading down the tunnel. That meant she had some time to still act, but would it be enough?

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