Chapter 790 – Scenery and Loot
Aiko blinked a few times as the scenery changed.
Well, everything was still black and white, but instead of plains, there were, what was supposed to be grass with some small hills.
This time her opponents were small ugly creatures with small clubs. Nothing too special, but Aiko really didn't like their ugliness, so she would deal with them with extreme prejudice.
She also had to collect the small round things that dropped from the corpses of the sludges. She was curious if she could use it for something.
The small uglies were working in small groups, usually around 3 to 5. It was hard to say how many there were, since the grass pretty much covered them.
Well, she could still see something moving in the grass, so she wouldn't be caught off guard, but it was better to burn this place down!
Unfortunately, she didn't have to do that because that toxic green liquid rained from the sky and into the grass field, making quick work of most of the cover.
What was unfortunate, was that it didn't kill any of them, so Aiko would have to do something about them soon.
But first, she would go over that loot.
Aiko walked out. The grass field was some way away and most of those creatures were inside, so she would be safe as long as she didn't approach it.
She collected those round beads that were dropped by the sludges, and it seemed like she would have to loot them in person next time.
Aiko was not too thrilled about that, considering how ugly these creatures were. If she could devise a way to get rid of them at once, she would do it.
[You have collected the Slime Bead.][You can use it inside the Safe Area to purchase Slime-related equipment, tools and many other things.]
"Ooooo~" Aiko was curious what that actually meant, so she would take her time exploring this.
She returned to the safe area, since she didn't need to hunt those uglies. There was no time limit or anything, so she was not pressured, and it also didn't seem like they wanted to leave the grass field, so that was to her advantage too.
Walking around the 'city' she encountered a few more shops. Some of them were questionable in design, but how bad could it be.
She currently stood in front of a shop covered by the nasty slime, but unlike the sludge outside, this was bright in colour and it was also see-through.
Aiko found this very peculiar, so she entered the shop to look around.
"Slime Mimic?" Aiko tilted her head. "Allows you to create a person who you think about and have sex-"
Aiko almost immediately placed it back, since she was not really interested in that.
"Pleasing Slime..." Aiko read another sign and this one was more interesting.
"Recreates the abilities of common Pleasure Slime. They are not hostile and know how to massage the bodies well, so if you are exhausted, give it a try." Aiko found it slightly fascinating, so she bought one for the slime bead and if she liked it, she just might recreate it in the real world~!
Looking around more shops. The theme was more or less obvious.
See-through sticky, pleasant clothes. They were also pretty cool, so she might actually use them if the climate worsens outside, which might happen one day.
For now, she would just keep it in mind and return when necessary.
...
Aiko arrived at the library where she wanted to read a few more books, but there was something interesting that caught her eyes.
[Bead Exchange Centre]
As the name implied, she could exchange her beads for various things, but the most important one was Level.
She would be able to raise her Level in here, allowing her to obtain more Mana and thus allow her to cast more things.
The Mana Regen was quite slow, so she would have to make do with what she had, but with this, she could use her magic much more often than before!
"However..." Aiko narrowed her eyes. How many was she supposed to exchange? There were things that she wanted, but she didn't know if they were useful. There was also no telling that she would be able to get them later on, so just exchanging them was a bit...
[Customisable House - 1 Bead]
"Gosh, I suppose I could~" Aiko hummed as she bought that house, being completely unaware that she could just live at the main castle.
But still, all was good since this would provide her buffs she could use later on, so it was not a complete waste.
[You are now allowed to breed monsters and employ them in battles.]
"Hm?" Aiko blinked her eyes. This was very interesting, but how would it work? Would she be able to use it outside too, or was this... a place exclusive thing?
Aiko didn't know so it was better to first try to learn more about this.
...
Aiko went to her home. She oddly knew where to go, which was a strange feeling, but not unpleasant one, since she didn't need to spend so much time trying to locate this place.
It was a small cosy home, with attachment for livestock, but that was probably the place where the monsters would be located.
And she was right. She could pick the Beads and place them inside this place.
They would hatch over time, allowing her to not only harvest their resources, but also employ them in battle.
However, for that she would have to buy a taming magic with taming instruction magic.
Both were apparently needed if she wanted to use them in battles.
Things like dogs didn't need the taming instruction magic, since dogs were quite intelligent. This was a good thing, but she would still get the taming instruction magic for later.
Aiko didn't even look into her home before trying the growing part.
First you needed to place the bead inside the pen. Some monsters would be able to escape, so she would have to upgrade this over time.
For now, the sludges would be restrained. She didn't like the idea that she would get those nasty things, but if she could make them battle, then that would make everything easier for her.
She could use them as mea- sludge shields and just snipe everything from a safe distance.
They could also clear that unpleasant grass field, which would be perfect.
However, once she placed those beads inside, something unexpected happened.
Growing %:90% Sludge9% Slime<1% Spirit Slime
Aiko was very curious how the Spirit Slime would look. She expected the slime to look see-through, thanks to the shop she visited and while she might be wrong, that was fine too, as long as they didn't look the same.
Aiko ruffled her hair and went back into the library, to make sure there was nothing she forgot. It could also be a good idea to find books about taming before getting any more magic.
...
Aiko browsed the library. It was quite extensive and when she thought she already searched everywhere, something new would pop up, startling her.
"It seems like the books change based on how many I have picked up?" Aiko tilted her head.
A lot of books would change place, orientation and even the fact that they were not here. However, they would later return if she didn't touch any book for a while.
It was kind of bothersome trying to imagine doing this all the time just to get to more niche books.
Well, she had nothing but time, so she would read up~!
Her first book was about how taming became a thing and Aiko immediately regretted it.
"I can't believe that first tamers were monster fuckers..." Aiko groaned. It was obvious she was not inclined to do that, especially with a sludge.
Aiko didn't want to read more, but what if there was something important inside-
"Nope, nope, nope." Aiko read about the different reproductive organs and immediately regretted that decision.
She would have to either wing it or just pay close enough attention to them so that she could figure them out.
...
Aiko returned to her farm and small sludges were already crawling around.
"Ugh..." Aiko really didn't like their colour or shape-
"Hm? Colour?" Aiko blinked. They had a nasty purple colour, which was previously mostly not shown.
She believed she saw this colour in the beginning, but her eyes might be playing with her.
What was important was that she was now able to see their colour, and they were as nasty as they were in the monochrome.
Aiko placed her hand on the pen to get the system prompt.
[Growing: ...]
The log included several things, but a few were important.
[Growing: Slime]
"Yes~" Aiko hummed happily, but when she looked around, she couldn't see anything.
[Slime was devoured by sludge.]
"Fuck!" Aiko slammed her fists against the pen, quite angry about this.
It seemed like she would have to wait until everything hatched, otherwise she might miss something important.
It was one thing to lose one slime, but what if she lost Spirit Slime?! That would be seriously bad as she had a limited amount of Beads!
Aiko waited around with wide-open eyes. She was trying not to blink in order to ensure that everything would go smoothly.
She would have to find the newly grown slimes and separate them with the nasty sludge. Or maybe she should kill the sludge and try 'growing' slimes again?
Aiko was not sure how long the growing process would take, so any rash decisions would decide everything.
Also, since the sludge was not fully grown, she could only kill them for return of her investment, but she wouldn't be able to profit until they grow up to mature stage.
Looking around, she was checking the log every once in a while to make sure she didn't miss anything.
To think she lost a slime because she left to learn more about monsters had quite the impact on her.
"But why are they not growing?" Aiko tilted her head. While those Beasts 'woke up' the monsters, that didn't mean they would necessarily grow.
Every individual needed something else to grow and sludges were no different.
Until Aiko figured out what it was, she wouldn't be able to even get a return on her investment!
That was quite bad, so Aiko had to pay more attention to these rascals!