"I am already full on mana. No worries here." Gil just brushed it off looking away, he didn't want to let them know about his skill to quickly absorb mana from his surroundings. If they found out they might start to draw some conclusions about his actual system.
"But how-" Alma tried to pry but Wade noticed that the party was unwilling to share the details. He held up a hand to make her stop her prying. Walker gave Wade a thankful nod. They didn't have the time to talk much longer anyways since Calen had just come back in to sight.
Calen was breathing heavily. "They saw me. I don't know how it knew I was there, but it saw me. There is a regular looking slime that keeps easting and shattering medium and large slime cores ahead. Bit it's not growing." She was in shock at this, she had no knowledge of something like this happening.
"Minimize. It has the minimize skill." Wade had heard of this before. "Some special slimes raised by herbalists and alchemists get a skill called minimize. It condenses its slime body to become thicker and gain defensive prowess. It also keeps it small and able to go into smaller areas."
"What you're saying is that the massive slime is now minimized and most likely won't get penetrated by any arrow we fire." Gil summed up the fears of the two archers easily.
"I hate to have this thought, but if it condensed its slime body, then won't the decay effect be worse," Su said this painfully slow, it was like she didn't want to admit that the slime was more dangerous than the giant slime they had just needed to use a lot of effort to avoid.
Walker drew in a sharper breath, "I am limited to the magic I can use. The water elemental magic I have won't be able to do much if it has higher defenses. I would like to think that the freezing of its body will make it hurt more since it is condensed, but I feel like it will be the same issue as the arrows. It will om;y freeze a small looking fortune of the condensed slime."
"That means and blunt attacks are also out of the question." Remey and Midnight were instantly depressed. This enemy seemed to be completely covering all its weaknesses.
"What if we took responsibility for the damage to the forest? Alma might be able to pull back some of the plants and regrow them." Wade was ready to hear the things Walker could do, he was already preparing to use his three arrows he had received from his long passed master.
"I have a fire magic that can cause a large group of explosions. But it needs time to activate, it might not work within the slimes decaying body. It is a fire element and could be eaten away before it even activates. I doubt my fire bolt skill will work either. If I use my high earth sculpting I might be able to trap it, but if it has a smaller body then the chances are lower." He was getting ready to try fusing elements on the fly but worried that it would cause more trouble than good.
"The earth magic sounds like it could work well for us. If you can make it spiky enough to shave off parts of the minimized massive slime then it could start to make a difference. We should set up traps." Wade was making a decent plan, but it was not enough to change the outcome.
"Start with traps. Then make a stand before the illusion barrier the elf city has made. That's the best we have for now. I doubt we will have time to test the theory Su had so we will soak weapons and the spike traps with the antidote potions. It is better to try than not do anything."
"Calen, guide Walker to the path along with Alma. The rest of us will follow behind. Walker and Alma are the only two that can start off the plan. The rest of us can prepare ourselves while we move to the final stopping point. I will go ahead from there and warn the enforcers so they can get everyone to a safe place underground or in the trees."
Calen was already motioning for Walker and Alma to get moving. No one argued with Wade's plan. It was all they had and the only way for them to attempt to end this without running to their death.
Walker and Alma followed at a brisk pace after Calen who was not letting up at all. For her to hold up and keep her pace slower looked to be a chore. She was used to going full speed at all times to try and make it to a faster speed. "Hurry up. We are about to get to the first spot. We will only have a few minutes before the slime gets here. I don't know if it is alone, but whatever is telling it to go this way might be around."
"We are coming. Just tell me when." Walker said this through heavy breaths. Alma was equally ragged as she tried to keep up. When Calen stopped the two were glad to see the stationary elven girl.
"Alma, here." Calen pointed to the space in front of them. That appeared to be the least full of older vegetation. It was clear she would try and go for a more open space that could harm the forest less.
Walker pulled out a few lower tier mana potions knowing that Alma was about to burn a lot of mana. The same would be true of him as well. Alma grabbed one and started to use her whispering skills. The forest jolted to life around her as if it had just been shocked. Walker could feel roots underneath his feet pushing up the earth as they moved away from the area. When he felt the vibrations start to cease he started his own skills.
Walker imagined the ground becoming harder and stronger. The large and small earth spikes that rose around him in the area were pointed like blades. Any thing that moved through them would be cut and shaved apart. The best thing that he knew about the spikes he was making was the fact that they would not be decayed by the slime's body. They were not organic or able to rot away, they were made of the earth completely. They may not be tough enough to pierce through the minimized slime body, but they could do damage and that was the goal.
Alma made the trees nearly bend over away from the trap of spikes Walker was creating. She backed away from the trap as she whispered since she had not realized how large it would be. Walker also traveled away from the spikes as he made a larger trap to ensure the slime would encounter as many spikes as possible.
Walker finally stopped feeding the high earth sculpting skill mana right before he ran out. He pulled a light mana potion from his inventory and drank it down. The feeling of mana flowing in to his body refreshed his mind and pushed away the exhaustion. "No time to stop, catch." He tossed Calen and Alma the antidote potions and the three started to spread them on the spikes.
The three repeated this process five times until they were nearly at the illusion barrier hiding the elven city. Alma and Walker were feeling like they had been put through a massive trial. The mental stress from using their skills to breaking point then suddenly recovering their mana was a lot to put on themselves. "I know that Wade said he would go and tell the enforcers, but they are still not here. I will go." Calen ran off and no sooner had she done so, did the rest of the group show themselves.
"I saw Calen go. It is fine. I want to see what these wither spike arrows Gil has told me about work." Wade was ready to start preparing the arrows he had just been enlightened to. "He says they are made to store poisons. If we put the antidote potion in them, we can deliver a damaging dose to the slime."
"That is exactly my thinking. If I can use my bow's skill to add wind element maybe it can pierce deeper and the slime body will trap the antidote inside of itself causing more damage." Gil and Wade were having an indeed conversation. The two showed off their excitement as archers to have new arrows and strategies to try. Walker was a little afraid to give them the arrows that could still be filled with antidote potion. When he removed them from his inventory Wade's eyes lit up as if he had just been shown a lifetimes worth of gold.
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