As Augustus drew his Dawn Blade, the giant skeleton charged towards him, its black bones clattering as it ran.
"It's quite fast for its size but not as fast as Jahrakal," Augustus thought as he effortlessly dodged the first attack and countered with a quick slash.
But to his surprise, the skeleton's thick armor proved too sturdy, not even a scratch appeared on its black bones.
The giant skeleton then swung its arm with such force that it could crush a boulder. Augustus rolled away, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The skeleton followed up with a downward strike that sent shockwaves through the ground. Augustus blocked it with Aura, but the impact sent him flying several meters away, making his body ache from the impact.
"I can't afford to take this brute force head-on," Augustus thought to himself, slowly analyzing the skeleton's movement. He realized that the giant monster moved in a simple pattern, which gave him an idea.
Using his Aura, Augustus aimed for the joints, severing them one by one until he had a chance to strike a fatal blow.
"A chance!" Augustus thought, as he managed to reach the knee joint. But the cut was too shallow. He retreated and waited for another chance, trying to injure the same spot again.
As the death skeleton blindly rushed towards Augustus again, an opportunity arose, allowing him to finally sever one of its legs. The skeleton stumbled and wobbled as its body was extremely heavy and one leg wasn't enough to support it.
Despite losing one of its legs, the skeleton was still able to swing its sword and attack Augustus. "This mini-boss is tougher than I thought," Augustus muttered under his breath.
But he didn't give up, and instead, focused on the arm that was holding the sword. Waiting for the skeleton to blindly swing, Augustus found another gap and got the arm this time. The rest was easy as, after losing all its valuable limbs, the skeleton could only flail around aimlessly.
[Death Skeleton Slain]
[Choose your reward]
[1. One-Handed Bone Sword]
[2. Skull Shield]
[3. Death Essence]
Augustus breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the skeleton crumble to dust. He scanned the rewards and his eyes locked onto the most interesting item - the Death Essence.
[Death Essence]
The Death Essence was a rare consumable substance found in the bones of the death skeleton. It could be used to enhance weapons or armor, giving them a chance to drain the life force of enemies and heal the wielder.
Augustus wondered how to use it on his weapon and tried sprinkling it on his Dawn Blade.
"Death Essence applied on Dawn Blade for one hour," a notification message appeared.
Overwhelmed by the grueling dungeon, Augustus opened the skill tree system to investigate the summoning skills available for upgrading. He had slightly over 390k points, and he knew he had to use the points wisely.
"I should upgrade my slime summoning and see what it's capable of," Augustus pondered.
[Slime Summoning Leveled up]
[Slime Summoning Leveled up]
…
[Slime Summoning Leveled up]
[Slime Summoning Leveled up]
As he reached level 10, the slime summoning opened up into seven different branches - Acid Slime, Sticky Slime, Poison Slime, Electric Slime, Lava Slime, Shadow Slime, Light Slime, and Giant Slime.
To his surprise, the most expensive upgrade was the Giant Slime. Judging by the description, it had an incredibly high offensive ability that could help Augustus defeat any skeleton that came his way.
[Giant Slime]
This is the ultimate form of slime, massive in size and incredibly powerful. It can crush enemies with its sheer weight and strength, and its body is almost impossible to penetrate.
[Giant Slime Summoning Lvl 1]
[Giant Slime Lvl 1]
STR: 24 CONS: 11
AGI: 12 DEF: 1
INT: 0 MAG: 2
[Learned Skills: Slime Regeneration Lvl 1, Physical Immunity Lvl 10, Digestive Juice Lvl 10, Slime Slam Lvl 1]
[Cost: 10k Points]
"This path is definitely the better one. The more expensive, the better," Augustus thought as he chose the Giant Slime node.
Without hesitation, Augustus leveled it up to the maximum level, unlocking even more branches such as Corrosive Slime, Crystal Slime, Demonic Slime, Frost Slime, Radiant Slime, Galactic Slime, and King Slime.
"There are so many great and unique choices again this time," Augustus thought to himself.
But before he upgraded his slime, he decided to summon the Giant Slime and witness its power firsthand. As he called it forth, a massive portal appeared on the ground, its size befitting that of the enormous creature that was about to emerge.
The portal emitted a blinding light as Augustus watched in awe. The slime he had summoned was larger than he ever could have imagined - a sumo wrestler's size, if not even bigger. Previously, it was around the size of a soccer ball.
Augustus caressed the creature with satisfaction as the Giant Slime towered over him, Augustus couldn't help but be stunned by its immense size. "You're pretty huge," he exclaimed, running his hands over the slimy surface.
Despite its massive form, the slime was surprisingly soft and squishy, not at all hostile towards its owner.
Lost in thought, Augustus wondered what he should do next. Augustus pondered over the different slime upgrade options available to him, debating whether to turn the Giant Slime into a King Slime or a support-type slime like Radiant Slime or offensive-type slime like Demonic Slime or Galactic Slime.
However, the allure of the King Slime's impressive description and abilities proved too great to resist.
[King Slime]
The King Slime is a creature way superior to other slime brethren. It has a bright green coloration and wears a golden crown on its head. Its body is covered in a thick, gelatinous skin that is almost impenetrable. The King Slime is also incredibly agile, able to adjust its size freely , able to leap great distances and move at lightning-fast speed.
[King Slime Summoning Lvl 1]
[King Slime Lvl 1]
STR: 108 CONS: 62
AGI: 84 DEF: 1
INT: 0 MAG: 44
[Learned Skills: Slime Regeneration Lvl 10, Physical Immunity Lvl 10, Digestive Juice Lvl 10, Slime's King Slam Lvl 1, Slime's King Dash Lvl 1, Summon Slime Lvl 1, Slime Absorption Lvl 1, Slime Shell Lvl 1]
[Cost: 200k Points]
Augustus gritted his teeth as he made the decision. "F*ck it, let's do it," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the button in front of him. The cost was steep, but he was willing to go all out.
With a determined nod, Augustus pressed the button, spending 200k points in one go and upgrading his slime into a King Slime.
The cost of upgrading to a King Slime was exorbitant, and Augustus knew he would have to grind through countless dungeons to accumulate enough points to afford the next level upgrade.
With only 180k points left, Augustus realized that he wouldn't be able to upgrade the King Slime to level 2 anytime soon, as it required a whopping 400k points per upgrade.
Never mind all that, Augustus watched the slime transformed before his eyes.
The transformation was astounding. The giant slime that Augustus had summoned began to evolve, its body shifting and changing until it emerged as a golden-crowned slime, smaller in size but more powerful than ever before.
"It seems that it can adjust its own size. Maybe it realized that being small in this chamber would be better for moving around," Augustus thought to himself.
"Can you turn into the size of a soccer ball?" Augustus asked the newly upgraded King Slime.
The King Slime followed Augustus's command and shrank down to huggable size, allowing Augustus to hold the cute and squishy slime in his hands.
Augustus knew he needed to give it a name. "Squishy," he declared, grinning from ear to ear.
As Augustus tried to progress to the next chamber holding Squishy in his hand, he was stopped by an invisible wall.
The system then provided him with an arrow screen, showing him the way to the 12th room.
Following the arrow, Augustus arrived at a different chamber, where he encountered new types of skeletons holding rusty swords.
[Kill 100 Skeletons]
As the skeletons heard his faint footsteps, they instantly rushed at him, swords raised high.
But Augustus was ready. With a swift motion, he threw Squishy at them, and the slime immediately changed its size to become bigger, consuming all the skeletons that had rushed towards Augustus.
"Whoa!" Augustus exclaimed in amazement at the sight before him. "They're helpless against Squishy," he added, watching as his trusty companion consumed the skeletons with ease.
The skeletons tried their best to escape from Squishy's grasp, but they couldn't break free. Squishy consumed them all with ease, turning their bones and swords into nothingness.
"This dungeon should be easy with Squishy," Augustus thought to himself. The skeletons were no match for Squishy, and physical attacks posed no threat to him. Unless faced with a magical attack, Squishy was virtually invincible.
The chamber was completely empty. All of the skeletons had been devoured by Squishy, leaving not even a speck of bone behind.
[Objective completed!]
[Warning: Boss is being summoned.]
[Death Skeleton]
As there were no bones left in the chamber, the death skeleton which spawned on the field is not armor or have weapon in his hand, as they were formed using leftover bones from the other skeletons, meaning the current Death Skeleton is totally naked, it's just a giant black skeleton at the moment.
Without hesitation, Augustus commanded Squishy to attack. The slime grew in size and devoured the Death Skeleton, leaving nothing but dust in its wake.
"Great job!" Augustus praised Squishy as it swiftly returned to its cute size. The system then presented Augustus with a choice of rewards:
[Choose your reward]
[1. One-Handed Bone Sword]
[2. Skull Shield]
[3. Death Essence]
As he looked through his reward options, he realized that he had yet to use his enhanced dawn blade. He opted for another Death Essence and stored it away in his inventory, just in case he needed it later.
The next chamber presented a new type of undead - ghouls.
"They're disgusting." Augustus shuddered at the sight of the grotesque creatures, resembling zombies but with a more feral appearance. They stood on all fours with thin, bony limbs and sunken eyes.
[Kill 100 Skeletons]
[Kill 100 Ghouls]
Augustus wasted no time in commanding Squishy to attack. The slime consumed the ghouls with ease, and Augustus cheered as he watched the enemies disappear into its depths. "Let's go, Squishy!"
"You know what, I'll join the fight to speed up the process," Augustus decided to join the fight.
['Broken Claw' Obtained]
['Broken Claw' Obtained]
With his enhanced dawn blade in hand, Augustus charged into battle alongside Squishy. Together, they easily dispatched the ghouls.