There wasn't much inside that room, but it was possible to see a chest that seemed to be asking to be opened. The only problem was the large red translucent mass in the way to the chest.
Alexander quickly appraised the new slime to get information, as it was more than twice the size of the others in the dungeon, having a 1m diameter. But even without appraising it, he could tell two things: that was the dungeon's BOSS; and its danger level was extreme, because just its gaze was enough to make his skin tingle.
[{Poisonous Slime} – Monster – 1st Evolution]
As soon as he learned that thing was poisonous, he decided to keep his distance from it, which proved to be quite difficult. Because despite being larger, this slime was considerably faster than the others at closing the distance.
Seeing that nauseating red mass approaching, Alexander didn't think twice before using the skill |Magical Body Strengthening| and starting to run inside the room to maintain distance.
The measure worked and he managed to keep himself relatively far from the {Poisonous Slime}. But when he thought everything was going to be okay, and that he could defeat it using kiting, the slime began to emitting a red mist.
You didn't need to be a genius to understand the slime's "reasoning," and how terrifying it was. Fortunately for Alexander, this mist would take a long time to fill the room, as it diluted in the air more than 2m away from the slime.
Seeing his situation becoming worsening, he retaliated with his spell |Water Jet| with maximum pressure, which pierced the slime's gelatinous body, making it writhe and squeal in pain.
The spell didn't land a lethal blow, but still had an effect. The proof was the slime becoming very, very angry.
Keeping his distance, he continued launching more |Water Jet| spells at the slime, which grew angrier and angrier. But as life is never that simple, the {Poisonous Slime}, completely maddened with fury, began to retaliate by shooting a jet of red liquid.
Completely caught off guard by this, Alexander threw himself to the ground to dodge. But the slime, which seemed slightly smaller, continued to attack him while he was on the ground, showing no sportsmanship.
With no time to complain about life, he rolled on the ground, got up, and started running even more, because he still remembered what had happened to the boar and didn't want to know what would happen in the poisonous version. And so began the most dangerous "water war" "game" he had ever played.
His desperation was so great that he didn't notice the effect of his skill |Magical Body Strengthening| ending until it was over.
Unable to continue without that skill, Alexander immediately reactivated it, but as soon as he did, he felt weaker… tired. When looking for the cause of this, he discovered his mana had dropped to less than 10 points.
Helpless with his lack of mana, he decided to risk everything on his last spells, because after that he would flee from the BOSS room.
Changing his direction to lure the {Poisonous Slime} to a corner of the room, Alexander began to channel the spell |Minor Lightning| in the staff in his right hand, and launched |Water Jet| with maximum volume with his left hand to deflect the slime's liquid, as well as hit it with a powerful impact.
The last |Water Jet| left the slime's membrane unstable, but even so it continued to pursue him into a corner.
Seeing that his target was almost in the corner, the {Poisonous Slime} shot even more of its liquid, which left its body even more unstable.
Alexander didn't even care about its attacks, because, as soon as he heard the sound of them being fired, he kicked the ground and the two sides of the room's corner he was in, to dodge the attacks; turned his body in the air, to face the slime; and fired his spell while roaring: "Explode."
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Without waiting to see the result, he rolled on the ground until he could get up, to get as far away from the slime as possible, and began to flee.
As he approached the door, Alexander heard a strange squeal of pain, a bubble popping sound, and several notification sounds, but still didn't stop.
[1 x {Poisonous Slime} Slain – You received 600 XP points]
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
He ignored all notifications and kept running. Not out of fear of the {Poisonous Slime}, but out of fear of the strong concentration of poison it certainly released when it exploded.
Leaving the BOSS room, Alexander sat down to catch his breath while looking at his staff. "This staff is truly a very good item. Without it, I probably wouldn't have won."
"Thinking about it, without it I might already be dead," Alexander pondered as he remembered. "After all, it was what helped me survive in the Orc Dungeon."
After recovering a bit, he pondered and realized that the amount of XP he got from the {Poisonous Slime} was more than 4x the amount he got from the {Slime} Lv. 9, and less than 3x the amount he got from the {Orc (Young)} Lv. 9. Meaning, if the boss of the Orc Dungeon was also at the 1st evolution, it would have gigantic strength.
Not wanting to suffer in advance, Alexander decided to occupy his mind by going to see what was inside the chest. But while walking there, he noticed a red sphere next to what remained of the {Poisonous Slime}.
After picking it up, he continued his way to the chest and opened it carefully. But inside there were only some bottles with liquids of different colors and a bit of metal.
Upon appraising the items from inside the chest and the sphere he found on the floor, Alexander couldn't help but relate them to the information he had from games and fantastical stories from Earth. "If it's like the stories I remember, this is the reward for completing the dungeon."
[Health Potion (Beginner):] red liquid that helps heal light wounds.
? Can be consumed or administered directly to the wound.
? Recovers 10 to 15 HP.
? The effect is reduced if more than one is consumed in a short time.
[Mana Potion (Beginner):] blue liquid that provides a bit of mana.
? Recovers 10 to 15 mana.
? The effect is reduced if more than one is consumed in a short time.
[Energy Potion (Beginner):] yellow liquid that provides a bit of energy.
? Recovers 10 to 15 stamina.
? The effect is reduced if more than one is consumed in a short time.
[Antidote (Beginner):] green liquid with detoxifying properties.
? Fights poisons as long as they are not above 1st evolution.
? Fights toxin burns as long as they are not above basic.
[Silver:] Metal of certain rarity that is highly traded due to its various uses ranging from the creation of utensils and jewelry, to the forging of equipment.
[Poisonous Slime Core:] A core that contains properties that can poison a 2nd evolution creature or something comparable to it. Consumable.
As soon as he finished appraising the items, he checked the system notifications he had ignored when killing the {Poisonous Slime}, and they were incredible.
Ding!
[Mission completed]
Ding!
[Mission partially completed]
Ding!
[You leveled up. But due to the interference of the special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]
*[+7 free attribute points]*
*[+1 growth point]*
Ding!
[You have reached the maximum level of your current evolution stage. Choose one of the selectable evolutions within three days or you will evolve compulsorily and randomly.]
"Evolution??"
"How?!"
"As far as I remember, humans don't have that ability..." Alexander pondered, until a conjecture occurred to him. "Unless..."
At first, he thought the name Evolutionary Metamorphosis referred only to his ability to transform into an evolutionary creature, because that's what |Appraise| showed. But the more he thought about this new possibility, the happier he became.
"Is that the reason for the name 'Evolutionary Metamorphosis'?"
"Is that its true function? To give me the ability to evolve?"
"If that's true, whoever did this to me took my answers on that survey very seriously," thought Alexander, discouraged remembering the answers he gave. "Damn it. If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have asked to be a dragon or something, or at least have the power of one."
"But if that's true, how do I evolve?"
"What are the selectable evolutions mentioned by the system?"
As if waiting for his call, the system came to life and began firing a bunch of notifications.
