Lohan was deep in thought as he coordinated the battle against the Gremlin nest.
He watched Lisa’s efficiency, feeling genuine satisfaction at noting that even a Level 12 Gremlin, which would have been an unbeatable threat to them before their evolution, was now nothing more than a simple obstacle to their firepower.
Through the mental link, he shared the excitement over the profit the creatures’ eyes would yield, already imagining what they could do with that money.
However, Lohan’s state of euphoria was suddenly interrupted.
Thanks to his [Parallel Processing Core] and his [Instinctive Perception Lv 16], a part of his consciousness picked up a fluctuation of Mana coming from a blind spot, just above the rocky crevices.
"LISA, DODGE TO THE RIGHT! NOW!" Lohan shouted through the mental link, feeling the urgency vibrate through his membrane.
The fox reacted with Level 11 reflexes, but the attack, despite being made in desperation, was very well calculated at an angle that was practically impossible for them to dodge completely.
An unstable fireball and a hail of arrows struck Lisa’s flank; had it not been for the great gains of evolution, they would have done more than just graze her.
The impact generated a cloud of smoke and sparks that obscured their vision, but for Lohan, who was operating by observing thermal signatures and spatial resonance, the scene was perfectly clear.
At the top of the cliff, Lohan identified four human figures.
The group’s leader was shouting with euphoria, celebrating the hit as if they had taken down a Mythic Boss, though considering their target, they weren’t all that far off.
Although his appearance was slightly different, since only a day had passed, Lohan recognized that voice, heavy with arrogance and hatred: they were the Players they had killed yesterday!
However, he no longer exuded the majestic aura of the Rare High Elf Race that Lohan had absorbed days ago; now, he was just an ordinary human, with rounded ears and basic steel armor that looked too heavy for his new level.
"Hahaha! Take that! Let’s see if your regeneration can handle a direct surprise attack!" Gideon bellowed from above, urging Rick and Silas to advance.
Lohan felt a pang of confusion through his core.
He saw Gideon and his group leap from the rocks, charging toward them with swords drawn, acting as if the grazing attack had shattered their defenses, but observing only the faint burn marks on the obsidian plates, Lohan was perplexed.
"Lisa, I think these are the guys we ’helped’ get back to Thalendor near the bear’s den, right?" Lohan asked over the link, finding the audacity of that group almost comical.
"Looks like it... and it seems they’ve gotten even dumber after losing the Rare Race." Lisa hissed, brushing the dust off her white fur, which didn’t show a single real wound.
The attack Gideon had been so celebrating hadn’t even scratched Lohan’s Exoskeleton. Thanks to the [Spread Damage] trait, the impact of the arrows and Level 9 magic was distributed throughout Lohan’s dense crystalline biomass, and with the advancements in his overall body structure, plus the fact that the attacker was only Level 9, the residual damage became almost negligible.
Realizing that the fox and the Slime remained motionless and unscathed, Gideon’s group froze in the middle of the clearing. The shock on their faces was instantaneous. Rick, the mage, stammered something about the spell’s power, but Gideon’s blind fury wouldn’t let him back down."Don’t stop! They’re faking it!
This is just a fat Slime and an overrated fox! Kill them all!" Gideon roared, charging with his iron sword against Lohan’s membrane.
Lohan watched the charge with cold detachment and a touch of mockery.
He no longer needed complex strategies against opponents who now operated on a plane of existence so far below his own. Lohan expelled four clones and controlled the blue masses sliding across the ground like projectiles, acting in unison to pin Silas and Rick’s feet with Selective Viscosity at maximum level.
As Lisa became a white blur streaking through the enemy group, Lohan focused on Gideon’s main body.
He felt no hatred, only the need to remove a persistent problem.
The millisecond Gideon’s sword touched his membrane, Lohan activated Non-Newtonian Resilience, making his surface as hard as volcanic rock in his opponent’s perception. The sound of metal clashing against crystalline gelatin was dry, and Gideon’s blade merely bounced off, vibrating painfully in the human’s hands.
Lohan wrapped a hardened tentacle around Gideon’s torso, and with his hemolymphatic tissue active, he began to corrode the human leader’s armor and flesh before he could even cry out for mercy.
And for Gideon, the sensation of being enveloped and consumed by the Slime again was just as traumatic as the first time.
[You killed the Player: Gideon (Level 9)]
[Predator Title Activated: Extracting Common Base Evolution... 100% chance of success!]
Within seconds, the battlefield fell silent again, broken only by the hissing of biomass being assimilated by Lohan and his clones.
Lisa just sighed, refocusing on the remaining Gremlins in the nest.
"Well, with this mess, I think we’re going to have our work cut out for us dealing with the wave of Gremlins coming to help their comrades in battle." She said, pricking up her ears and listening to the sound of a large group approaching.
Lohan sensed it too, but considering that dealing with a small group of five Gremlins didn’t seem too difficult, he was excited by the prospect.
The reward for killing that group of Players and digesting them was pretty low, considering that almost everyone’s Base was common now.
But among all the rewards, at least the mage had given him an evolution that was worth it.
[Superior Magic Core Lv 1 → Lv 2]
[Total Mana: 200 → 220]
Even though he hadn’t received any good upgrades from the other players, this one alone made up for everything else, increasing his total mana by 20 points and making his magic even more powerful!