NunuNote: Enjoy this Bonus Chapter, you deserve it from your PS and GT goals!
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The black mud beneath Lisa’s paws muffled the sound of her footsteps as they infiltrated the crevice.
Lohan, who was firmly anchored to the fox’s back through [Selective Viscosity], activated [Chemosensory Aptitude].
Even though she didn’t really like carrying someone on her back, Lisa knew that in a situation like this, it was better to work on each other’s strengths and help each other with their weaknesses, which was to solve Halon’s low mobility and maximize his versatility.
The air there wasn’t just still... it reeked of a rotten smell that he hadn’t even smelled from the corpses of goblins or kobolds.
"I’m sensing four different smells ahead..." Lohan’s mental voice resonated, serious and focused. "One seems to be weaker, on the left, with three stronger ones clustered on the ceiling."
From Aeliana’s description, the Shadow Serpents were not just ordinary snakes, but something like filaments of living darkness, with scales that seemed to absorb what little light remained in the environment.
Before the beasts noticed their presence, Lohan began to prepare.
He detached a part of his mass, activating [Partial Division]
Simultaneously, Lohan focused on his new ability.
He felt the biomass being drained from his reservoir at an extremely high rate, merging with the bluish mana of his [Magic Core].
From his sides, fine, almost invisible threads began to shoot out, crossing the corridor just above the clone and attaching themselves to the damp rock walls.
As soon as the trap was set, Lohan felt very weak.
The process of creating the clone was already very tiring and exhausting, but it was nothing compared to the effort required to use [Magic Weaving].
"Now, Lisa!" He said, his voice noticeably weaker.
Lisa shot forward with a dash, like a white blur cutting through the gloom. She didn’t attack the three larger snakes on the ceiling directly, instead throwing a small ball of [Spirit Fire] at the weakest snake that was isolated!
The white glow of the fire momentarily blinded the creatures, creating a perfect opportunity.
The three stronger snakes reacted instantly, plunging from the ceiling like black whips toward the foolish "prey" on the ground, the dumb slime that was carelessly digesting mud biomass on the ground.
The moment the snakes reached the space between the walls, the trap was revealed.
The mana threads, learned from Level 11 Weaver Spider, did not break. The snakes writhed frantically, and the more they struggled, the more [Magic Weaving] drained their energy, transferring small pulses of mana back to Lohan’s core, replenishing some of the energy he had spent on it.
The Level 2 snake, escaping Lisa’s fire, slithered through a side crack and leaped in a desperate counterattack against the fox’s back.
Lohan felt the vibration through his [Instinctive Perception] and saw it clearly with his 360-degree vision.
"My turn," he thought excitedly, despite his weakness.
In a millisecond, Lohan consumed biomass, activating [Reinforced Exoskeleton] and [Membrane Reinforcement].
His bluish surface became as rigid as an insect’s shell and as dense as stone.
The snake tried to sink its fangs in, but instead of the sound of jelly being pierced, what came out was the sound of metal hitting rock, with the creature’s teeth only scratching the protected outer layer.
His protection was not very powerful against strong and destructive blows such as hammers, as his defense was now only one level above an eggshell, but against penetrating attacks with no footholds to fully use his strength, his resistance was more than enough.
Taking advantage of the proximity, Lohan fired an [Ice Spike] at point-blank range, piercing the level 2 snake’s head and pinning it to the cave wall.
Fortunately, the Mana used for spells was different from the Biomass used for his direct evolution skills.
Meanwhile, Lisa circled the three snakes trapped in the web with elegance.
She jumped across the walls, using the momentum to deliver fire-imbued kicks, while Lohan, acting as a mounted gunner, fired additional small corrosive clones to tighten the knot around the exhausted prey with [Selective Viscosity] and began digesting these monsters.
Without the need to actively control the movement of these clones, the process became much easier. He only needed to ’shoot’ them at the enemies, and as long as they weren’t destroyed, he could recover these bodies and not waste any biomass on it!
The mana drain was working, the snakes’ movements becoming increasingly slow and erratic.
"Let’s do this," Lohan said, sounding weaker but with a serious and confident voice.
Lisa let out a low roar and concentrated her Spirit Fire, incinerating what remained of the wills of the trapped creatures, while Lohan began to retract the threads, bringing the biomass of the defeated snakes close to him to initiate [Efficient Digestion] and recover the costs he had incurred in this battle.
Silence returned to the crevice, broken only by the hissing sound of flesh being decomposed by the acidity of the Slime.
With the battle over, Lohan’s jelly was contracting and expanding, like a lung desperately trying to breathe.
But despite his exhaustion, the excitement he felt from this battle was incredible.
In addition to the battle against humans, which relied heavily on the help of the elves, this was the first battle they fought together in this way throughout the entire combat.
Lisa was again resistant to this type of tactic, not feeling comfortable carrying the slime from one side to the other, but even she felt the satisfaction of a well-fought battle.
"Lisa, I think we make an incredible team." He said, genuinely excited about how good their synergy was in this battle.
Lisa was also not unscathed. Although she had not been attacked at any point, the amount of Spiritual Energy and Mana she had used in this battle was not low, leaving the little fox panting but with a subtle proud smile on her canine face, surprised to find herself agreeing with his statement more than she had imagined.