Alex spent fourteen days with the Mole People. Fourteen days of doing practically nothing.
On the first day after the Supreme Elder announced that he was going to stay with them Alex expected some voices of concern, but it seemed the Supreme Elder had more influence than he thought because instead, they all thumped their right fist on their chests and went back to their business.
He was given a space to sleep in, he was shown how to turn their plants into somewhat edible food, but other than that there wasn't really anything he did. He didn't try to mingle with any Mole Person – mostly because of the language barrier –, nor did he try to carry out tasks. He mostly kept to himself and his space.
The only person who occasionally came to see him was the Supreme Elder. She would come with a few Mole People acting as her guards and ask him different questions about the surface world, and he would always answer the one he knows with a monotone voice. But, instead of getting angry the Supreme Elder would just smile at him.
Over the few days of living in the Blind Tunnels, Alex occasionally had short anger flares. The thought of them knowing the way out but not telling him until could prove he wasn't a threat irked him to no end. He would suddenly glare at the wall and grit his teeth anytime he remembers, luckily there wasn't anyone around to notice his slow decent to madness. He normally used Globby to escape reality, he would bring him out and look at the shadows his glowing body made and get lost in his imagination.
On the fourteenth day, he was summoned by the Supreme Elder. When he got to her space, he saw a Mole Person standing by the side, by the shade of its fur, it was probably a male.
''How do you do, Supreme Elder of the Mole People?" Alex made this greeting since he couldn't tell when it was day or night in the Blind Tunnels, and because she insisted on calling him Alex of the surface.
''I am quite alright,'' she smiled. She gestured for him to sit on a mud stood, ''I have noticed that for the past few days you have been down and despondent.''
''You can't blame me, can you? I have been trapped underground for so long after all…'' Alex said.
''But your current situation is different from before, you were moving aimlessly through the darkness but now you are in the midst of a civilization. You are not alone like before.''
''I'm not a Mole Person,'' Alex said pointedly, ''I feel more alone now than when it was just me.''
The Supreme Elder hummed and nodded, she waved her hand and the Mole Person standing at the side walked forward, ''This is – ah well, I guess you wouldn't understand his name even if I told you. I assigned him to take you to the surface.''
Alex sat motionlessly for a good minute, his wide eyes never leaving the Supreme Elder's as he tried to find a glimpse of a lie. The familiar feeling of excitement blossomed in his chest, he breathed in deeply to calm himself down.
''Why now,'' he asked, ''I thought I would need to stay here for a long time to earn your trust?"
The Supreme Elder raised an eyebrow, ''As if you have been trying to earn our trust, you mostly stay in your space and don't even interact with anyone or try to explore the Blind Tunnels. I wouldn't have suggested taking you to the surface now if I wasn't scared that you would commit suicide due to depression.''
Alex wasn't really listening to what she said, he stood up and hopped on his feet, ''Alright, let's be on our way.''
The Supreme Elder sighed, ''Children…'' Alex heard her mutter. She looked towards the Mole Person standing beside her and gave him an order in their language, he nodded and walked to Alex's side. ''He will take you through the safest route to the surface, he only knows basic common tongue so don't expect a conversation during your journey.''
Alex nodded rapidly, ''Thank you.''
''Helping you so soon isn't really ideal, but unfortunately, we Mole People are best known for our kindness.'' She smiled at Alex and waved, ''Goodbye, Alex of the surface, maybe we will meet each other again someday if the gods will it.''
''Bye, thanks for everything.'' Alex waved back at her before urging the Mole Person out of her space. After they left the smile dropped from the Supreme Elder's face and was replaced by a worried look.
''I hope this decision won't result in an army coming down here to take our home, after all, humans are as greedy as they are cunning…''
…
Alex and the Mole Person spent two days underground, walking and climbing. There hadn't been one word spoken between two of them, but Alex wasn't bothered by that, instead he spent his time daydreaming about finally reaching the surface. It was all he thought about even in his sleep.
They did encounter some magical beasts along the way but most of them weren't hostile, the ones that were, they killed. Alex and the Mole Person were actually followed by one of the magical beasts that Mole People rear, it was a mole, but it was almost the same height as the Mole People. Alex had seen where they were kept during his time with the Mole People, he thought it was quite funny to see them rear moles.
The moles didn't have any combat capabilities but were able to dig even better than the Mole People and were able to sense vibrations in the ground. The mole they brought with them had sharp senses and could detect movements ahead and signal the Mole Person who would move accordingly while Alex tailed them. The mole was also able to climb, it would dig its sharp claws in walls of earth and slowly move upwards, it was interesting to watch.
Alex could feel that they were close to the surface, literally. He could hear the whistle of a breeze, the magical energy was also denser than before. Their path was less smooth and filled with huge rocks, so they were climbing more than usual.
Suddenly, the mole began trembling and scratching the ground with its claws, Alex and the mole person immediately went on alert. Alex waited for the mole to converse with the mole person, but it didn't make a squeak, it was genuinely afraid of what it felt. Alex gripped his pickaxe tighter and tried to focus his perception on his surroundings.
The mole person jerked his head to a direction, it seemed it have heard something. After a few seconds, the sound reached Alex's ears. As if a group of people were hitting sicks together, numerous clacks sounded in the dark. Alex turned his head to where the sounds were coming from, with his enhanced vision he could see a faint green light that was getting brighter by the second.
The mole person also noticed it as it was sensitive to light, it tugged Alex's clothes and pointed to a direction. Alex understood what it meant, he quickly grabbed the mole – which was thankfully not too heavy – and ran behind a huge rock. He slowly peered his head out from the side and waited.
After an unnerving while, the source of the green light appeared. There were two robed persons, one was carrying a torch which flame burned bright green, it bathed a huge portion of the darkness with its eerie light. But that wasn't the creepy part, Alex looked in horror at the dozens of skeletons that followed them.
The way they moved was almost rhythmic, some of them were completely skeletons, the others had a few rotten flesh covering some parts of their bodies. There were different types of skeletal compositions, some were humanoid while others were definitely from animals. There were green hues in the eyes of the ones that still had them, and they all had small green flames burning in their chests.
Alex trembled uncontrollably and slowly hid himself fully behind the rock, he had thought himself brave until that moment, now he was just praying that they didn't notice him.
The green glow of the light didn't reach their side, after a few minutes Alex noticed that the light was actually fading. He steeled his resolve and peeked again to see what was happening. The walking dead and the robed people weren't passing through, and they weren't going to the surface, they were actually moving downwards.
Alex immediately thought of the Mole People.
After they disappeared Alex finally stood up, the mole person that was following him also appeared from behind a rock. He urgently walked up to Alex and grabbed his hands.
''Alex… of… surface,'' he pointed in the direction they were walking to before, ''keep on… this… path. Go… up. Surface.''
Alex vaguely understood what was happening, if those skeletons keep moving downwards, they might reach the Blind Tunnels, so the mole person didn't have time to waste, he needed to reach his home before them and warn them.
Without waiting for a reply, the mole person left. Alex wanted to ask him to stop, he felt like he should follow him and at least try and help them to protect the tunnels, after all, they didn't show him much prejudice even though he wasn't a mole person. But the words were stuck in his throat, and soon he couldn't see the mole person anymore.
Alex sighed and sent a small prayer towards him, then turned around and continued walking, this time faster than before. He practically ran. As he ran, the path kept getting narrower and steeper, so he had to crawl upwards. His merged eyes picked up a bright light ahead, he knew without a doubt that it was sunlight. He rushed up the small hole where the light was shining through.
'This must be the way out' he thought. He thrust his arm forward and it shot out of the hole, he wriggled his fingers and felt the breeze. Although the soil was soft, Alex didn't want to spend a single minute more underground, he activated [Slime Physiology] and used his corrosive form to slip out of the hole.
He had to narrow his eyes when came out of the hole, it had been a while since he had seen a sun lit area, but he could still tell he was surrounded by trees. Before he could completely register where he was, he heard a piercing scream.
''Elaine, I told you not to make too much noise!"
''Sister, look!"
Alex darted backwards and with his pickaxe in front of him, ready to attack at any given moment. When he came out of the hole, he didn't notice the worn-down carriage that was dragged by a donkey beside him, a woman and a girl were sitting in the coachman seat. They were both looking at him cautiously.
Alex calmed down after a bit, he understood why the young girl screamed, after all he had climbed out of a hole. He raised his arms up to show that they weren't in any danger.
''I'm human.''
They were both shocked when he spoke. But before they could do anything shrill snarls sounded all around them.
''Shit,'' the woman swore, ''this is why I asked you to be quiet.''
''Sorry, I was just startled.'' The girl said.
''It's okay,'' the woman patted her head, ''go in the carriage, I'll handle it.''
Alex went ran towards the girl, ''What's going on? Where even is this place?"
The woman looked at him curiously, ''This is the Gangu Forest,'' two fans appeared in her hands, ''and my sister's scream just attracted some magical beasts.''
Alex eyes widened as he tried to pinpoint where the snarls were coming from, but they were coming from everywhere.
''They're surrounding us!" he said.
The woman nodded nervously and gripped her fans tighter, they could now hear the sounds more clearly and could see small black figures bounding towards them. Unconsciously, Alex and the woman stood back-to-back.
''Hey kid, I'll try my best to protect you, go in the carriage.'' The woman said.
''No,'' Alex looked back and smiled, ''I can protect myself.'' He raised his pickaxe high above his head.
The woman chuckled, ''Okay kid, you watch my back and I'll watch yours.''
The creatures were close enough now that they could clearly see them, they were only about two feet tall, the fur on their back looked spiky and they had jaws were filled with sharp teeth. They looked like a cross between a dog and a hedgehog.
When they got close enough the woman waved her fans towards the ones in front of her, then sharp air currents shot out of their tips and cut deep gashes on their bodies. Alex eyes widened in shock; the woman was a sorceress.
Alex quickly turned around when he felt a few beasts enter his perception range, with a hard swing he slammed his pickaxe on the head of the one closer to him, he spun and hit another one, hitting it to the side. Alex could see that the beasts only had faint magical energies around them, and if he was right, they couldn't channel it, which meant they would only rely on brute force.
Alex quickly jumped to the side to dodge one of the beasts, then he kicked it on the neck, he was careful not to touch the spikes on its back. His kick didn't move it back an inch, but the beast whimpered and retreated as his skin boiled and peeled off. Alex smirked, he wasn't wearing shoes and he had activated [Slime Physiology] as soon as they attacked them.
He looked behind him to see how the woman was faring, and saw her spin before waving her fans upwards, the sharp air currents carried the beats up in the air, they stayed afloat a few seconds while the air currents ravaged their bodies, then they fell to the ground.
Oh, she was doing fine.
Alex focused back on his side, one of the beasts was making its way towards him, instead of retreating he ran forward, jumped, and slammed his pickaxe into its skull. The beast didn't die quickly as Alex expected, instead it began thrashing violently, Alex tried to remove his pick, but it was stuck.
With his main weapon down Alex had to retreat, a beast tried to bite him, but he clamped its jaw close with his hands then he made them corrosive. The beast whimpered and thrashed as it's nuzzle burned off, he began attacking Alex in a frenzy. Alex quickly dropped it and ran backwards; the beast was stronger than him anyway so he wouldn't have been able to hold it for long.
Alex felt panicked, he didn't have any weapon to fight back, and he couldn't keep using his hands, despite how corrosive they could get the beasts were stronger and faster than he was, so he would only end up in a disadvantageous position.
[You have leveled up]
Like a sweet fairy's mercy, the monotone voice sounded in his head, the beast with his pickaxe in its skull must have died. He quickly checked to see if the next shared skill could be unlocked with his available skill points and found, to his disappointment, that he could not unlock it.
But Globby unlocked a skill, it was called [Mimicry]. He received a basic understanding of the skill, it was extremely useful but for him to use it he would have to stop [Merge] and give up the perception it gives him.
He looked at the beasts snarling in front of him.
'Now is not the time to overthink' he said as he stopped [Merge], his vision and perception went back to normal, 'I'll just have to be extra, extra careful.'
He brought out Globby, ''Globby, use [Mimicry], on that.'' he pointed at his pickaxe. Globby wriggled, expanded and thinned, and transformed its body into a pickaxe shape. Alex grabbed the pickaxe and readied himself, ''Globby, make the head extra corrosive.''
Since he was sure Globby understood him, he jumped back into the fray. He swung his arms and dug the pickaxe into the side of a beast, the corrosiveness made it seem extra sharp as the pick dug itself into its ribs, and this time it came out easier. The beast howled as it rolled in pain, it instinctively wanted to attack what hurt it, but Alex had already left its side.
Alex moved backwards slowly has he fought, his arms were feeling extremely tired, and he tried to create some space between him and the beasts, but it was hard. He felt his back hit something and turned back to find the woman close him, it seemed they had both backed away.
''There's to many of them,'' she spoke as she attacked, knocking a bunch of the beasts backwards, but the just stood up and rushed towards them, ''and they are so hard to kill. So far, I've only killed one!"
Alex grunted as he pressed Globby on one of the beasts, the beast howled and shook itself harshly, and pushed Alex down in the process. As Alex fell Globby slipped out of his hand, the beast looked at him with hatred before lunging at him with its jaw open.
If it was before, Alex would have definitely frozen in fear, but not now. He had run different scenarios in his head, and he was ready for instances like this, he immediately ordered Globby to use [Rush]. Like it had been catapulted, Globby moved with unimaginable speed and struck the beast mid-jump. The beast was blasted backwards a few meters.
Alex then ordered Globby to attack the beasts that were closer to them even though it took a lot of mp, the next second Globby zoomed around them, blasting the beasts backwards. When they landed, they all had sizzling wounds on their skin.
''What the heck is that?!'' the woman asked after Globby came back to his side.
''My friend.'' He said.
''That's a slime, right?''
''Yes, and it's my friend.''
The woman didn't say anything else, in fact she didn't have the leisure of speaking to much because the beasts were getting back up. Although there wasn't an abundant amount of them – they were only about fifteen – they were still too many for them to fight. From the corner of his eyes Alex saw that the dead beast which skull held his pickaxe was close, he went to it and pulled with all his might before the pickaxe was finally pulled out.
Then he loaded a large amount of mp into Globby, ''Globby, mimic them.'' he pointed at the beast that were prowling towards them. Although Globby had its own magical power he decided to use his own as a substitute when it transformed so it would use its own mp to sustain the transformation.
''What?'' Alex heard the woman exclaim as Globby morphed its body into an identical shape of the beasts, albeit slimy. Globby's mimicry didn't have eyes and its teeth and claws didn't look sharp, but Alex knew its entire body was extremely corrosive.
''That's not a normal slime,'' the woman to his side, ''but that's not any of my business. My name is Vivian by the way, what's yours?''
''Alex.''
The beasts lunged.