Syl

Chapter 134: Goodbye Glimmerock

"One of my traits is eleven now... But I definitely didn't buy the upgrade... Did Gramps buy it for me? That hardly seems fair; I want a refund." I moaned.

"I don't know whether to say congrats or sorry..." Trixie said with an odd frown. "Getting anything above ten is a huge accomplishment. Not many people have that many points, especially considering how hard it is to even reach level ten."

"Well, I feel robbed. What even is the point of going above ten?"

"Well, I can't confirm or deny since I haven't reached that point myself yet. But supposedly, the uncapped levels are worth more. I've heard rumors of anywhere between two and three regular levels."

"So a trait gives me a sense in a ten-meter radius per level; the extra levels might give me twenty?"

"Or maybe fifteen or thirty? I honestly don't know." Trixie replied with a shrug.

I looked over the trait in question...

This slime contains a rich and dense concentration of pure mana based on its trait level.

It can also be ingested raw for emergency mana recovery.>

"Of all the traits to pick... It had to be this one... If it was [Acid Slime], I could probably melt through anything and everything! I don't even really understand this one." I continued my tirade.

Trixie sat on my head and gave her answer after a brief moment of concentration. "Your mana is more pure, as unbelievable as that sounds. I... I don't think I've tasted something so delicious before."

"Great. I made myself even tastier and more valuable... The humans will be lining up to take me to the slime ranch for harvesting."

Trixie winced. I had told her after all about my brief experience as a farmed slime. Never again... I had even fantasized about destroying the farm and getting some form of revenge in my darker moments.

"Not to alarm you... But, you've shrunk a lot..." Trixie pointed out with a look of mild panic.

"Huh? Oh, right, I bought four cores..." I mumbled and started pulling from my reserves to reinvigorate my form.

"So. What did you do to fix yourself, and how do you cast so many spells? I want some answers after all this waiting." Trixie said with a slight pout.

I gave an abridged version of my new trait and my experience with the Gods, skipping over most of their conversations and not telling Trixie I could have become a spirit. I also explained my [Sub-Cores], how I used them to cast spells, and how they now had their own mana channels. While I trusted Trixie's oath and friendship at this stage, I held back telling her that the [Sub-Cores] were now my extra lives.

"Well... You completely destroyed my theory. I had thought you were using the cores like some strange magical catalyst to get access to the other elements, and that's why they were floating inside of you." Trixie replied, scratching her head while pondering. "Now you're telling me they are your functional personal spellcasters. And that they just got upgraded from apprentices to full-blown mages... That at least explains all the extra mana flow I'm sensing from you."

"And solves me overloading myself and using my slime as a mana source. I will probably set up some form of hierarchy for my cores and have a dedicated leader and their support."

"Hilariously, you've stumbled upon setting up your cores like the elven military," Trixie said with a smirk.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's why the humans fear them so much. Almost every elf has identical affinities, so they are perfect matches for [Ritual Casting]. You're a one-slime army."

"I know you said you're old as dirt, but how do you know this?"

"I think everyone knows this. After all, plenty of others have tried to copy it, and the dwarves were at least partially successful. Although, who knows nowadays, I really need to catch up on current events."

"Before I forget. What did you mean by tiering?" I asked.

"Oh. That's when you upgrade a trait from Lesser to Greater." Trixie replied, once again, like it was common knowledge. "It automatically happens when a trait or skill reaches its maximum level. You also have the option to manually upgrade it early once it reaches The Wall for one point per level difference."

"The Wall?"

"Level five. I'm sure you noticed how much harder it is to level up from five to six? Everyone calls it The Wall. It's also the primary reason why most individuals lack the ten points to uncap."

"That's like choosing to have one skill at eleven or have two at ten..."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Exactly!" Trixie said with a snap of her fingers.

"I have a Lesser skill and trait. What happens if I tier them up?"

"You'd pay the difference between their level and ten in points. Then they get upgraded to Greater and reset back to level one."

"Back to one? That sounds horrible..." I replied with shock.

"Yes. But two things: a level one Greater skill is the equivalent of a level ten Lesser skill." Trixie explained; I nodded along. "And Greater skills start at The Wall from the very start. To make matters worse, they cost double the points to upgrade manually."

"Yikes... Not really selling me on it, to be honest."

"Some skills or traits get an upgrade. Although that's few and far between. [Telepathy (Greater)], for example, lets me communicate without visual sight and is scaled by the group rather than individuals."

"I have [Magic Resistance (Lesser)] and [Attack Mastery (Lesser)]... Although I don't even have the points to upgrade the trait anymore." I grumbled bitterly.

"My teacher recommended upgrading a Lesser to Greater as soon as possible to start grinding away at the real wall. But it's up to you. If you've been saving your points until now, it's likely a drop in the bucket."

I wasn't willing to make the decision now. I'd probably ask Lisa or someone at the guild about it to get a second opinion, although Lisa had previously told me to spend my points on upgrades and did not mention Tiering or Uncapping. Did the humans not know, or was this restricted knowledge like Whitney had bemoaned?

We chatted a bit longer, and Trixie told me how she spent her time knitting and occasionally removing the monster spawns. She also visited the dryad for tea, who was apparently delightful company and extremely grateful that I wouldn't be invading her rainbow forest. When it came time for bed, Trixie looked at me seriously.

"So... I think I'm going to head home tomorrow. I want to see if my friends and family are still around."

I nodded. "Honestly, thank you so much for all your help. I can't even think of the value of the magic training and class recommendation."

"The magic training was the basics, at least for spirits. The class was probably the most valuable; I'd appreciate it if you kept its requirements to yourself."

"Of course." I easily agreed.

"You're... Still welcome to come with me, you know?" Trixie offered.

"Part of me really wants to... But I want to finish my plans in motion, and I'm eager to beat another dungeon and visit the dwarves."

Trixie chuckled. "No problem. Just thought I'd try to tempt you. Just please be safe around all those humans."

"Of course. Same to you, don't end up trapped in another cage for years."

Trixie shivered. "Never again..."

Before bed, I shifted Alpha to a Water alignment, as I didn't have a dedicated [Sub-Core] donning the blue slime guise yet. One of the new recruits would have to take up that mantle once they caught up in levels. I then assigned each new core an element and paired them with their leader. I wanted to keep myself mostly unaligned and then shift where appropriate, joining one of the dedicated elemental teams or acting as a versatile elite. I also set up the new cores with some minor repetitive tasks to continuously work on, mostly internally withdrawing and depositing slime mass.

I also tested if my new trait allowed my [Sub-Cores] to act outside my slime or in separate slime, but that was still impossible. Another evolution, perhaps? Or maybe it was a rare slime trait? Perhaps controlling disconnected slime was treading too close to elemental territory? Hopefully, I'd find a solution at some point, although keeping thin tendril connections between us allowed me to entertain the idea of multiple bodies.

The next morning was a surprise. I had thought of potentially leaving in the early morning. Perhaps Trixie knew I didn't like saying goodbye and was prepared. She had a grin of smug victory plastered on her face.

"Thanks again, Syl. For the rescue and the fun time." The pixie said, giving me a small hug against my head.

"You're welcome. Thanks again for everything. Regardless of the ups and downs, it ended up being a huge positive in the end."

"Do you have any gold?" Trixie asked. "Perhaps a coin?"

I pulled out one of my gold coins and presented it to her. She briefly glowed with magic and touched the coin; it glimmered with a persistent rainbow-colored hue.

"There. That's my mark; I'll try to find you with the dwarves." Trixie explained.

I nodded.

Trixie gave a bright smile and started to frantically wave. "Farewell for now! See you around Syl! Stay out of trouble!"

"See you."

Then, without warning, she just vanished. Part of me hoped she was still there, just invisible like always, but with my new [Illusion Resistance] trait, I could vaguely feel that this time it was different. I still had many questions about the strange pixie, but I couldn't deny her help and the fun I eventually started having with her.

"Well. I have to get the dwarves now." I said, looking at my new rainbow gold coin.

I consulted [Mapping] and saw that Glimmerock was now quite far away from Kaerlin; however, with my new flight, it would be relatively simple to get within walking distance. I had lost track of time, but I knew I still had at least another two months to meet Thern's deadline. I doubted the dungeon would take a month, which meant I still had some time for myself.

I briefly considered staying on the island a bit longer, but I felt like I'd be beating a dead horse at this point. I still had a lot of [Lightning Magic] to work on, but I could do that anywhere.

However, there was one thing I still needed to do, so I went back to the room to grab my bathtub. I was filled with relief when I saw that it had been stored successfully.

"I should consider getting it enchanted. Self-repair, at least, maybe a mild heating?"

I took one last look at the island, flying around at top speed in my now iconic "Blueblin" form. With a smile and a wave, I started flying towards Kaerlin. Flying was so convenient that I knew I would miss it being grounded once I was back in the city, so I took the scenic route, spending plenty of time flying around amongst the birds and clouds.

When I got close enough to the city, I stealthily landed in an area I was sure was clear by using [Eagle Vision] from up above. Then, I shifted forms, taking on my new appearance and persona, which I'd worked on with Trixie. Sylvester. I started aligning all but two of my cores to Ice to fit in well with my fake Cryomancer class. I left Alpha and Zeta aligned to Water.

My goals were threefold. First, to see the success and likelihood of creating a new identity. Second, to investigate another guild and see what crafting classes had to offer. Third, I wanted to experience not being the elf in the room.

"Now... Am I more interested in learning Alchemy or Enchanting?" I wondered while walking towards the road, stroking my now goateed chin.