Syl [A Slime Evolution LitRPG] Chapter 294 : Spider Tunnels

We continued walking through the silken forest following Aimon closely, while a perpetual feeling of being observed lood over us.

Occasionally, we would pass by another Carren elf, who seed to be harvesting resources from the forest and was either carrying an assortnt of vials or spooled rolls of silk.

Aimon was chatty as always, as he was already beginning to speculate on what he could use the [Basilisk Venom] for, and he eventually settled on trying to make an improved antidote for petrification. According to him, most current cures outside of magic were typically single-use, but he wanted to create one with broader application.

I can see why he passed the nomination through, furthering their trade, rather than combat or diplomacy.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination. I had expected a tree, but instead it was what appeared to be a massive sinkhole, with a lid made of webs, and a spiral staircase going down.

"How much do you want to bet this dungeon is spider-thed?" Vee asked.

"That's not a bet I'd take," I replied telepathically. "It also probably explains why the [Dungeon Master] has an interest in you, and why they might know of so steps you can take to get a shape-changing evolution."

"Oh yeah! If they are spider-thed, then they must know all sorts of spider secrets. I guess I might have hit the jackpot?"

"Well, this is the dungeon," Aimon said, pointing to the staircase down. "Would you like to join you, or do you two wish to handle it alone?"

"Alone… if you don't mind," I replied and pulled my last remaining vials of the [Basilisk Venom] and handed them over to the wide-eyed Aimon. "I hope these will keep you occupied while we are down there."

"Ah… but you won't be able to go further than the first floor, do you really intend to stay down there?" Aimon asked. He seed a little dead set on accompanying him while Vee was preoccupied.

"I'll wait. I don't want to be too far away from Vee," I explained.

Aimon nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. "I can see why you two are so close, and why you must have such a close bond. Very well, I won't press you any further."

"Thank you again, Aimon."

"Yeah, thanks!" Vee said, waving her legs frantically.

"No problem, I hope Vee can get the help she wants. Just rember to respect the [Dungeon Master] and don't go further than the first floor."

After that warning, he departed, leaving us alone and staring down at the sole entrance to the dungeon.

"Well, I'm certainly excited," Vee said.

"Let's grab these coordinates first, just in case we need to escape," I suggested.

We both saved them in one of our slots of [Triangulate] and then started walking down the staircase into the dungeon. We continued descending until we eventually reached the bottom of the pit, which had four separate tunnels to choose from.

"Which way?" Vee asked.

"I don't think it matters too much, I think we just need to keep exploring until we find the staircase down."

"Great, then that one!" Vee declared and [Warped] off my shoulder.

We headed down the dark cavern she had picked out; it really felt like we were walking into the belly of the beast, but neither of us was too afraid after our conquest of Ygdran's dungeon.

The sudden notification popped up for both of us; it was evident the [Dungeon Master] had noticed our arrival.

"That's quite a secret, I hope you won't reveal it to anyone," I replied telepathically to Vee, which I assud the [Dungeon Master] could hear.

"I guess Ygdran and Juniper haven't exactly cleared the bad rumors about you yet," Vee pointed out.

"That damn mutation dungeon really had it out for . I should go back and give it a piece of my mind," I grumbled.

"Please don't. I'd rather not make a bunch of sworn enemies."

"No issue. Just be warned that when I return and Vee isn't safe and sound, there will be a reckoning."

"Aww… you do care about ," Vee replied teasingly.

"Well, that [Dungeon Master] seed nice," Vee said.

"Seems so. Better reaction than Dran's screaming at us, or Juniper's death glare."

We walked deeper inside and entered the first official room, where we were almost imdiately beset upon by gigantic spider monsters. Unfortunately for them, they were significantly outclassed by both Vee and , and we managed to dispose of them without breaking a sweat.

In particular, [Scorchlance] was proving its weight in gold by burning them and their nests to cinders.

"Wow. I'm super glad I didn't take that weakness to fire trait," Vee said as she watched how easily the spiders burnt to death.

"You should work on your resistance at so point," I suggested.

"And what? Have you repeatedly attacked with spells until I level up the trait? No, thank you!"

"I said it before, but that's what Dewi, my pyromancer friend, did."

"Well, he must be utterly insane, who would willingly do that to themselves?"

I didn't answer. I had, after all, at one point tried to "kill" myself to level up [Defy Death].

We continued our exploration of the floors, killing any and all spiders we ca across. There was a large variety on display, including spitting, jumping, trapping, and, to my surprise, even so elental spiders. It had oddly reminiscent of the mineshaft I had cleared out.

Of course, none of them compared to Vee, who was just in a league of her own. If you compared her to any other spider, it really showed that a superior base species could have a significant advantage, and it made curious to see what evolutionary options I'd have available.

Vee's gone on and on about it… Although I'm still tempted to pick another Mutation.

We continued to explore the underground network of webs and tunnels, clearing out any arachnid monsters we encountered with brutal efficiency. I gained a few additions to my spider profile from their remains, but none of them were worth ntioning, except for finding a weaker version of Vee's [Thread Mastery] called [Thread Control].

The experience was definitely inferior compared to Ygdran's dungeon, although we were only on the first floor. The weak plantoids were nurous, so they made up in quantity, while the elite plant monster variants gave a lot of experience despite being few in number. The spiders were like the worst of both worlds, fewer in number and weaker.

"I should have killed that elf…" I muttered, feeling quite disappointed that I'd still not gained a level.

"But then we'd have nothing to give Paeris. I'm sure he will crack the case wide open in our absence and then you'll get your pink core as a reward!" Vee replied with hopeful enthusiasm.

I grumbled, knowing she was entirely right; I wanted to be unreasonable and vent, but her flawless verbal counter just left feeling dissatisfied.

After effortlessly killing another pack of spiders, Vee spoke up. "Maybe I need to start apologizing to the slis."

"For?"

"Well… rember I called them dumb and weak? Citing the one I saw fall into lava. Well, these spiders aren't giving much confidence in my own species."

"I did tell you that I'd killed a bunch of spider monsters before we t," I pointed out. "But I will clarify that these are dungeon ones, so they're even more mindless than the ones you'd find on the surface. Plus, I'm assuming you're probably going to et a Broodmother as the master of this dungeon, so you'll get firsthand experience of the tippy top of the spider evolutionary chain."

"Yeah, but there's no way I'm picking Broodmother. Likewise, I doubt you're interested in your Queen's evolution.

"And give you a reason to call Queen Syl? No, thank you. I feel like I've aged a decade from all your Princess teasing."

"Aww… and here I thought you'd miss it once all this is done."

I stared long and hard at Vee until she finally relented.

"Okay, okay, enough of the Princess jokes. I promise."

"Good."

We continued exploring and eventually found our goal, the staircase down.

"Should we turn around and keep grinding?" Vee suggested.