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Chapter 34: Mana Exhaustion IV
Chapter 34: Mana Exhaustion IV
"Summon Luton." Damien commanded the moment his magic essence hit 100 units. He'd remained seated in one place for over forty minutes, too drained of his Life Force to rise up and walk.
«Summoning Luton, the Stellar Slime…»
«-100 units»
«Luton summoned!»
A sigh escaped his mouth as Damien watched the magic essence he'd painstakingly waited for to rise to one hundred hit rock bottom again. However, his mood didn't stay down for long as the blue portal opened up a few metres away from him and out came his favourite summon.
Plop!
Luton landed on the group covered in grass, leaves and dried twigs. Its red body was a contrast to every single thing in the forest and it stood out incredibly well even though it mostly remained unseen.
Plop! Plop!!
"Yes. Yes. Come to me." Damien nodded with a weak smile as he watched his slime bounce toward him. He couldn't be more excited about possessing this creature.
Plop!
It landed on his lap, his body slightly jolting from the weight of the slime. He managed to move his hand, placing it on the slime. "Good boy." He patted the jelly like creature.
"You're a male right?" Damien asked, his eyes squinted slightly as though he'd made a mistake.
The slime trembled slightly at the question, its shape slightly changing. However, since it possessed no eyes or nose or mouth, Damien couldn't picture its reaction well.
'I've always wondered how I managed to share sight with you when you clearly have no eyes.' Damien thought to himself. The memory of him seeing those armored individuals leaving the forest still replayed in Damien's head like it was just yesterday.
"Hey, system, Luton is a male, right?" Damien moved his head, slightly facing it upward so he could read whatever answer the system would reply with.
«Stellar Slimes do not possess a gender»
"How then do they make new ones?" Damien asked again.
«When they've overfed on magic essence, they split up, forming another stellar slime»
Damien's eyes widened slightly. "Oh… I see."
Damien dismissed the panel and brought his head down once again. "Good slime." He corrected himself with another weak smile.
"You know what? Just give me the Grade Five Essence Core that you've been storing in your (Universal Space). The demonic essence core I left." Damien explained, too exhausted to do much.
Luton immediately understood what Damien had said, easily spitting out what he'd requested.
'Again, without ears, you can actually hear. That's kind of scary.'
Damien grabbed the orb, its crystal surface revealing the darkness within it that continued to swirl dangerously with very slight movement his hand made. It looked like a black liquid encased in a glass case.
With a sigh, Damien began his normal routine. Absorbing Essence Cores. "Here goes everything."
~~~~~
"Luton, you'll go with Fenrir." Damien was once again seen standing valiantly atop a nearby rock that was just as tall as he was. "Once Fenrir kills a mana beast, swallow up the essence more and store it away for me before it devours the beast." This order was directed at his Stellar Slime rested on top of the furry back of the Monstrous Wolf.
"Also, you're quite strong yourself. Gather as many Grade Six essence cores as you can. I'll be needing them as well." Damien finished his order with Luton, the slime bouncing on Fenrir's furry back.
To Fenrir, Damien gave out his orders as well. "Do not use your (Devourer) skill on whatever mana beast you slay until Luton has successfully retrieved the core." His index finger pointed at the wolf moved in a warning manner.
"If you do so, I'll find out and you'll be fasting for a long while. No beast, no core, no nothing. But you'll work." Damien's punishment was laid before the wolf however, it was directed toward all three summons.
Wooof!
Fenrir barked at its summoner's order to show its readiness to comply.
Damien nodded with a satisfied smirk before turning to Cerbe.
"As for you, you've got three big heads. We're going to make use of that. Hunt all you want but do not devour the cores. Keep them stored in one of your mouths and when you fill it up, only then should you return."
Woof! Woof! Woof!
The hound's three heads barked in compliance as well.
Damien nodded. "Make sure not to swallow it or you'll be in trouble as well."
Woof!
The hound barked once again and Damien grinned. "That'll be all. Hunt to your fill then."
At his command, the three summons bolted out of his sight. Fenrir, accompanied by Luton, headed toward the west while Cerbe took the south, all three summons disappearing into the forest.
"Now that that's settled, I need to rest as I await their bountiful returns." Damien's eyes trailed up to a tree standing tall a metre away from the rock on which he stood. It was thick with leaves and full of thick and sturdy branches, its trunk so thick that two of Damien wouldn't be able to wrap around it.
"Hmm… Makes for a good resting place as well as a hideout." Damien hopped on the bark of the tree and began climbing toward the closest branch that was at least a dozen metres above the ground.
As he made his way up the tree successfully arriving at the tree branch closest to the ground, he heard a notification.
Ding!
«Grade Six Mana Beast devoured! 4,740 more for Cerbe to advance!»
"Already, huh? That was quite fast."
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
Another notification popped up that made Damien frown slightly. The essence consumption had begun and without a doubt, he knew what summon it was. 'Cerbe is overdoing it.'
Boom!
He heard a muffled explosion in the distance and a cloud of smoke rose through the sky.
It didn't take long for him to get another notification that suggested that the others had also gotten busy.
Ding!
«Grade Six mana beast devoured! 450 more for Luton to advance!»
"Oh, Luton?" Damien muttered and the next second he cursed.
"Hey! Hey! Slow down or you'll give me another Mana Exhaustion!"
The cause for his cursing?
Ding!
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
«-300 units»
It was Cerbe!