novelraw Chapter 60 : A True Mage…
Chapter 60 : A True Mage…
Mana Cannon was one of Russell’s favorite skills.
No fancy mechanics. No flashy special effects. Just pure, overwhelming numbers.
Plain, simple, and devastating.
In essence, it condensed magic power and blasted it out.
The higher the skill level, the more magic could be compressed at once. At 【Mana Cannon lv8】, he could concentrate about 2,000 MP into a single shot. If distance, resistances, and defense weren’t factored in, that meant up to 2,000 points of raw damage in one strike.
Of course, reality was more complicated. Factoring everything in, it usually landed closer to half that—about 1,000 damage. Sometimes even less.
But even then, it was enough to one-shot a floor boss like this.
The cold corpse of the monster became warm numbers in his panel.
Russell couldn’t help but sigh. The rock-scaled serpent was strong… but luckily, he was stronger.
“EZ clap, folks. Too clean.”
Rozelite trudged forward, a sulky look on her face as she harvested materials.
“What’s wrong?”
Russell asked.
“…Nothing.”
She grit her teeth, gave the anaconda’s body a kick—then gasped. It was as hard as stone.
“So Mr. Slime is really that strong, huh…” Rozelite sighed.
She had been working so hard not to slow him down. Yet, when she looked up, she realized the gap between them was still immense. The distance seemed to shrink… but it remained out of reach.
“I believe you’ll catch up to me someday,” Russell said.
“…Mr. Slime, you really do have faith in me.”
“Of course I do.”
“With me handing out cheats, how could you not catch up?”
Russell swallowed the massive serpent whole, his numbers climbing again. He gained some mostly useless skills.
The raw stats weren’t important to him anymore—he had plenty. So he shared some with Rozelite.
【Name: Rozelite Othinus】
【Race: Human】
【Level: 27】
【HP: 8995 / 9335】
【Status: Symbiosis】
【Skills: Court Etiquette lv6, One-Handed Sword Mastery lv5, Social Dance lv6, Poetry Recitation lv4, Instrument Mastery (Lute) lv5, Dagger Mastery lv4, Eagle Eye lv5, Death Mark lv7, Mana Reinforcement lv4, Knife Mastery lv2, Weak Point Targeting lv1, Tracking lv1, Stealth lv5, Swift Sword lv1, Quick Movement lv1, Venom Resistance lv3, Underwater Breathing lv1】
The only skills Russell passed on were 【Venom Resistance】 and 【Underwater Breathing】—skills useless to him. The slime’s body made those inherently redundant, no matter the level.
The moment Rozelite gained them, her 【Poisoned】 status disappeared. With 【Venom Resistance lv3】, the swamp miasma no longer affected her.
Russell’s own panel saw even greater change.
【Name: Russell】
【Race: Slime】
【Level: 55】
【HP: 1700 / 1700】
【MP: 973,500 / 975,570】
【Skills: Insatiable ∞, Mana Absorption lv8, Flight lv8, Shapeshift lv7, Cold Resistance lv6, Heat Resistance lv7, Corrosion Resistance lv5, Fire Magic lv6, Earth Magic lv7, Water Magic lv7, Wind Magic lv5, Light Magic lv4, Mana Reinforcement lv4, Mana Cannon lv8, Parasitism lv5, Mimicry lv5, Regeneration lv7, Mental Integration lv3, Symbiosis lv6, Demon Seed lv8, Repelling Lightning lv5, Hero (False) lv1, Venom lv4, Charge lv3, Swallow Whole lv4, Thermal Vision lv2, Bind lv4, Hardening lv2】
The skill list was getting absurdly long.
If this were a web novel, the author would be grinning ear to ear. After a few hundred more chapters, they could spend half an update just listing stats and still rake in coins from readers. Only a saint could resist laughing.
That aside, Russell was beginning to feel something was off.
Why was it that when he used 【Insatiable】, he only gained MP… but Rozelite gained HP?
At this rate, her HP bar would dwarf his completely. He’d be nothing but a glass cannon! Absolutely unacceptable!
Was the problem with him? Or with Rozelite?
“Mr. Slime? What’s wrong?”
Rozelite asked, noticing his blank stare.
“…Nothing. Just checking skills.”
“Did 【Symbiosis】 level up?”
“No. But…”
Russell extended a tentacle.
“Here. Try touching this.”
“Hm?”
Rozelite took it in her hand. It was the same as always—soft and springy like jelly. She tilted her head.
“Feels normal. Nothing strange.”
“And now?”
【Hardening lv2】
The tentacle stiffened instantly.
Rozelite’s eyes flew wide.
“M-Mr. Slime… it got hard…”
“I had a thought,” Russell explained.
“My tentacles are flexible, but not very useful in real combat—because I never developed them that way. But if I could keep their mobility while reinforcing the tips… couldn’t I use them as weapons? Like kagune.”
“Kagune…?” (T/N: Ghoul’s organ weapon in Tokyo Ghoul)
“…Just something really cool.”
He pictured his tentacles deflecting swords and arrows, then counter-thrusting through enemies.
“Who says a slime can’t hold the front line?”
Rozelite tilted her head.
“But Mr. Slime, isn’t your specialty long-range magic? Do you really need to focus on close combat too?”
“Ah, you just don’t get it.”
Russell shook his head.
“A true mage always carries the heart of a melee fighter!”
Rozelite blinked in confusion. She didn’t really understand.
But…
“As long as Mr. Slime is happy, that’s enough.”
“With that, we’ve cleared this floor’s boss. Time to descend.”
Russell pointed ahead.
Labyrinths were divided into layers. Monsters of the lower floors and upper floors didn’t mix—each kept to their territory. The only way forward was to defeat the current floor’s boss.
Rozelite pressed on, soon finding the swamp’s end, and there, a narrow cavern mouth leading downward into deeper darkness.