...You're the mother of those monsters I killed, aren't you? Why are you even attached to them, you damned bug? MASS EXPANSION!!!
Lime grew in size manyfold.
[Mass Expansion has leveled up.]
He ignored the prompt, but he felt himself getting slightly bigger. Still, he was smaller than the giant red-and-black centipede. The centipede paid no mind to his extra size and dashed forward.
"Come and try me!"
He dodged and used air magic to push himself to the side. Asil fired a few fireballs at the centipede, but they barely did anything to its carapace.
"Save your mana! I'll create an opening—I want you to stab it harder than you've stabbed anything before!"
"YES!"
"Come at me!"
Lime dashed toward the centipede, using his extra mass and size to push it away. The centipede quickly regained its footing and wrapped itself around him.
"Agh! Fire Storm! Air Blast!"
He sent both spells surging from his body. It would surely damage him, but it would hurt the monster too. The centipede wailed, its grip loosening before it unwrapped itself and pushed away. It clicked its mandibles before shooting a jet of water.
The water struck Lime on the side, drilling a hole through his body.
"AGH! It almost got my eye... fight barely!"
Lime dashed to the side, creating more distance between him and the monster. He used his earth magic to grow spikes from the roof, aiming to pierce the centipede. It seemed to work—somewhat. But the spikes didn't pierce deep enough.
"What are you made of, diamonds?"
The centipede regained its senses just before it could be impaled by the spikes. Instead, it dug itself deeper underground.
"Damn it! ...I need to be smarter about this."
His gaze fell on the mana lake.
"This is gonna sting."
He leaped into the lake and immediately felt his mana slowly replenish. At the same time, his body stung, the liquid seeping into him. He started channeling a magic spell—to end all spells—but his body ached more and more.
"Asil... distract the monster when it comes out. And don't get hurt!"
His earth mana was being channeled to the ceiling. His body swelled, his core expanding and glowing. Minutes passed, and soon, even his body radiated the same glow.
"AGH!"
Through the pain, he spotted the centipede attacking Asil. She was slammed into the ceiling before crashing back down. But she quickly floated back up.
"TAKE THIIIIIS!"
From the roof, a giant spike—sleek, smooth, and deadly—fell. Its tip gleamed, looking sharp enough to pierce even steel.
The spike struck true, driving through the centipede and pinning it to the ground. But the monster still writhed and wailed.
"Now... Asil!"
Lime dragged himself out of the lake. The last thing he saw was Asil stabbing through the cracked carapace of the monster, her stinger piercing deep into its brain, finishing it off.
---
| A Few Hours Later |
Lime woke up to find Asil sleeping beside him.
"Poor thing, the centipede did a number on her..."
Slowly, he got up and walked toward the defeated monster.
"Now... let's see what we have here."
He rummaged through its body and finally found his prize—a core, a huge one.
[Hell Centipede Mother]
It brimmed with energy. Should he make this his second pet? It would be a great boon...
"...Augh, heck no. I hate centipedes."
He shivered as he stored the core inside his body and turned to wake Asil.
"Asil, come on. Let's eat and finally evolve you. You've suffered enough being Tier 1."
She stirred, slowly waking up.
"Master! You're alive! I'm so happy!"
"Of course, I'm alive! It's not easy to take down a slime!"
But then, he looked at himself—his body had shrunk. He was almost as small as when he had been reborn.
"NOOOOO! ALL MY HARD WORK! I'LL EAT YOU FOR PAYBACK, YOU DISGUSTING LEGGED CREATURE! ASIL, DEVOUR THIS DAMNED THING!"
After a while of eating, Asil was already full. But unlike Lime, with his endless stomach, she had a limit.
"Now, Asil, to get you a good evolution, first consume these cores."
He laid four cores in front of her. She quickly consumed the three small centipede cores.
"Master, I think my core is full... I feel it overflowing with energy."
"Hmmm. Hold on, then."
He grabbed the bear core and started working on it. His Core Engineer class gave him some knowledge about cores, so he carefully connected the bear core to Asil's. Slowly—painstakingly—he transferred the energy from the bear core into his pet bee.
Hours passed. His mind burned from the effort, but he finally did it.
[You have leveled up.]
"Oh, nice! More stats and skill points."
Nothing he did before, aside from killing monsters, had earned him XP. But now, his class allowed him to gain XP just by training with cores.
He checked on Asil. She was groaning in pain.
"Alright, Asil, we're almost done."
He carried her to the mana pond.
"Drink as much as you can and start evolving."
He helped her drink, and after a few seconds, she fell into a deep sleep as her evolution began. Lime carefully weaved a cocoon around her and stayed by her side.
Every now and then, he drank from the pond, recovering his strength. He also trained his neglected skills, focusing on evolving Cocoon Weaving just to see what it would become.
Twelve hours passed.
Finally, he felt Asil stir.
The cocoon cracked, then shattered, and she emerged.
"Holy moly! Asil, you look amazing!"
"Thank you, Master! I did my best to become stronger... so I can help you."
"Alright, come over. Let me check your core."
He examined her closely.
".....Seriously, what the hell is this..."