"And Fire!" *Fwooomp!!!* The voice of the leader ringing out in the enclosed passageway triggered and was overwhelmed by the joint onslaught of the helpless yet dangerously massed slimes.
Transparent shields sprang up around each pairing of soldier and convict. I also noticed that the hind pairings did not fire, but after waiting for the droplets of slime to finish, they then stepped forward to kneel in the same clean spot of their predecessors who now stepped back. They waited for the scene to clear, which revealed a complete massacre of the slimes with no survivors found.
Wow! To so perfectly overlap the many salt spreads to cover the wide angle and extra depth of slimes had to require a Lot of practice and training. Had I not tried it for myself already, then I wouldn't be nearly as impressed or aware of the talent and effort necessary to accomplish it.
Once the leader called for them to go search the debris for souvenirs, Tillamook and I stood by figuratively wringing our hands. As neither of us had participated in this groups' subjugation, we felt awkward at joining in on the search. However, wolf-man decided for us. "Well, what are you waiting for, a gilded invitation? Go join them if you are interested in getting a piece of the spoils."
Neither of us needed any further encouragement as we both set out to search the debris field. Once again, I went to the most-dense part where the slimes had originally congregated to try my luck there. Our initial hesitancy did allow the other more proactive convicts to get a decent haul before we stepped in. My interest was simply in seeing what was there and possibly getting another nuclei or two.
Squatting down along the inclined side of the groove, I visually grazed through the many shattered core remains. Pushing aside a large pile to get to the bottom, I revealed the hard stone beneath. Along with the stone being revealed, so too were there a few scattered pieces and scraps of pitted metal. Picking up one to hold it up close, I saw signs of what looked to be chemical wearing where the pits were formed.
'Huh! Were these things actually able to break down inorganic material?' With that thought, I gathered up a few more pieces that I found scattered about. In the process I was able to find and pocket a couple more unbroken nuclei nestled deep among the shattered ones which the convicts had likely missed out on.
Meeting up with Tillamook partway, he handed over the 3 cores that he was able to find in his own search. As we rejoined the formation procession, I approached the leader with the pieces of broken metal. "Sir, I found these down there as well among the slime remains. Are these creatures able to eat through metal?" I asked.
Looking down at the small metal fragments in my hand, he asked me in return. "Did you find anything much larger than that down there?"
"No, these were the biggest pieces that I could find." I replied.
With an appreciative nod of his head, he finally explained. "Yes, slimes can given enough time, begin to break down metal and other inorganic materials." Pointing at the groove in the stone he continued. "Every couple of years or so, the earth mages have to come down and remold the stone in certain parts due to the wearing down from the slimes. As far as the metal you found, it likely did not come from someone's home, but was rather sent down through the street gutters." Motioning to a part of the wall that I had not really paid attention too before; he showed me a faint series of glowing green runes. "These denote the integrity and functional level of the drain above us. If these runes were red, then that would mean trouble with the drain above." Picking up a piece of the metal from my hand, he held it in his palm showing it to be less than half a palm in size. "Objects much larger than this are magically prevented from being forced through that opening. This is to reduce the amount of abusing the drainage system for the use of large waste disposal and other more nefarious crimes."
Handing the metal back to me, he appeared to have said all he intended to and with that he restarted our journey further into the sewers.
Following behind, I briefly looked at the several pieces of metal in my hands, chose the largest of them to keep as a souvenir and tossed the rest back into the groove of now almost fully dissolved slime remains.
As we progressed, the wolf-man spoke up again, this time unprompted. "If either of you should encounter slimes in the wilds, you should be very careful. A singular slime, as you saw before, proves to be quite easy to deal with, mostly through use of edged weapons. However, larger groups of slimes like you've seen down here, are a rightful menace depending on what they've been feeding on. Something like a sewer trains these buggers to eat near anything. However, if you were to find them at a clear water spring, or waterfall then most likely they have a very low-level acid utilized for consumption of weak organic material." He let out an indelicate *snort* and continued with a bemused smile. "Some intrepid adventurers will use the slimes directly as a kind of easy hair removal instead of shaving before returning to the city after a long venture in the wilds. If you've already reinforced your skin integrity through the use of certain mage stones, then you can become far more resistant to various dangerous elements out there. For those able, there are actually a few businesses here in City of the Falls, that utilize slimes for cosmetic purposes. One such place is Miss Callestro's at the Red District."
Hah! My mind rocked at that latest bit of information. Maybe someday I'd have to try it out. . . purely for academic curiosity of course. I certainly wasn't trying to justify going back to see those oh so alluring fox tails and ears. Honestly!
We eventually came upon another swelling of slimes similar to the one previous. Things pretty much were dealt with as they had been before. I felt kind of redundant standing there with my primed and ready salt shooting canister. However, I was happy to share in digging out the few spoils to be found after each round. This happened for the next several groupings that we found.
It wasn't until we had eradicated, I believe the 7th large grouping of slimes that we came upon that something changed.
From a distance, there appeared to be a large blockage ahead of us, that blocked the further lights along the sewer from being seen. Preceding the blockage, was a deep red glow emitting from the walls in front of them.
Holding up his hand in a closed fist with arm bent at a 90-degree angle outward from his body, which I had come to learn was their military sign of stop, the leader made us halt in place. Pulling out what looked like a telescope of sorts, he gazed at the massing group of slimes. *Sigh* I could hear the hesitation in his sigh as he put away the scope. "Reacher!" He called out.
The soldier who was taking his turn at carrying the rock salt stood at attention. "Sir!"
"I want you to back track to the latest surface access point to make sure that it is clear for an emergency exit."
With a "Yes Sir." Reacher set out to find and evaluate the latest exit. We all watched as he departed. About 50 meters away from us, he started ascending a flight of wall bars to climb up to an exit. Once he reached the top, after a moment of him working with something, we all saw a beam of light shine down from the top of the rails he was on.
The group leader had us wait for him to return before he spoke again. "It is good that we have a nearby point for extraction. This latest grouping of slimes is very concerning, and I'm not sure that we should risk it. If we do take on this group, it will be the last one of the day, as we won't have the salt reserve to proceed with cleaning after this. I want a show of hands as to who would like to proceed with the assault verses who wants to return to the surface now.
All of the convicts raised their hands. Despite the misery that could be seen by their faces at the smells that they must be suffering from. The greed in their eyes, at the imagined loot that such a gathering of slimes could produce was very obvious. All but one of the soldiers also raised their hands. The one that didn't appeared to have some mouse like features. It brought to my mind the timid nature of some mice due to his appearance.
"Regan." The leader nodded to the less excited soldier and his disgruntled partnered convict. "I want you two to stand ready at the exit access point to lead us through in the event of a necessary rapid evacuation."
Then turning towards Tillamook and I who both had our hands up, the leader addressed us. "*Sigh* It is because of your ability to return to life after dying that I am allowing you both to participate in this. I do however want to emphasize that if anyone asks, that you inform them of your voluntary participation in this endeavor. Although the likelihood of death is low due to these being simple slimes and us here with their bane, however, unexpected surprised can occur resulting in undesirable consequences."
My eyes firmed at his declaration as I was determined to see this through to the end. Tillamook, appeared somewhat more reticent, but he too did not back down. Pausing a moment to take in our resolve, the wolf-man gave a nod. "Very well. We shall begin."
He had us stop further back than we had halted with other gatherings of slimes before. Then he sent a set of six convicts and six soldiers to the opposite side of the depressed central groove. With them he handed the three extra primed salt shooting canisters along with a sack filled with rock salt. They again organized in the staggered formation with three in the front and three at the rear.
On our side, with the salt filled wheel barrow he retained four soldiers and four convicts along with Tillamook and me. Remaining stationed with us we made ready.
"Before we begin, I want to make absolutely clear that once we begin this, that any deviation of orders, will result in court martial." Turning to Tillamook and me he added in. "I cannot officially directly command you, but be aware that if you fail to follow orders to the best of your ability, that you will be barred from any further military ventures in the city. *Gulp* Wow, this is serious. However, I wasn't going to back out now. With a firm nod and a "Yes Sir!" I showed my willingness. Tillamook gave the same if somewhat belated agreement.
Giving us a fierce look that lingered a bit longer on Tillamook, he gave a begrudging nod. "Very well. Let's get organized then."
Joining us up front, he had one of the soldiers and convicts come up with us and left three of the other pairs by the salt bin. Looking directly at us, he commanded. "You two will focus your aim strictly at the center mass. Upon discharge and immediately at my order, you will swap with the waiting soldiers behind you. Once in position and as they discharge, together you will reload your tubes in a careful yet rapid manner. You don't need to worry about loading too much in this situation, but for sure don't be finicky. One clear and deep dredge of the rock salt should do the trick. Once you are primed again, then be ready to swap with the group in front." Then calling out to the entire group he asked. "How is everyone's stone charge? Anyone less than half inform me now!"
"We are in the green!" the scattered reply came out from all the various soldiers. With an accepting nod at their response, we each went to our predesignated positions. Each of the soldiers and convicts had a grim expression that denoted a varying combination of fear and excitement. I could see rivulets of sweat trailing down the leader's face as he tightly gripped his metal stave.
"On my command, we will commence!"