chapter 207: combat trials

"it feels good to be out of the city!" i exclaimed excitedly.

"i guess... i hope you packed me a lunch in your storage?" vee questioned, her tone more playful than demanding, as she sat on my shoulder in her extremely shrunken form.

"you better be careful, or you’ll become a bloated spider..." i teased.

"ha! even if that were true, my stomach is in a pocket dimension, so i can eat as much as i want without changing physical size!" vee smugly snapped back.

"i have to say that’s a weird ability for a spider..."

"a dimensional spider," vee quickly corrected. "it’s not as useful as your storage, though; i can’t use it to store and retrieve stuff unless i feel like vomiting. where you can just pluck things out willy-nilly."

"agreed. honestly, without it, i’d have to either be a lot more frugal with my usage by having almost no reserves or take up a much larger form," i said as i gestured to my elven body. "i don’t think i could have this form unless i reach some level of super compression or something... actually, maybe uncapping [morph slime] would do that?"

"you going to show off some of your shapeshifting for me since we will be deep in the kobold caves?" vee questioned.

"might as well... it’s been some time since i got to stretch out the slime, and as long as i manipulate my profile, it should be good."

we continued to mentally chat as we walked to the fungal cavern, waving to the occasional patrol through the tunnels but minding our own business otherwise. once we reached the cave, i immediately started poking around with [tremor sense] to see if i could spot any tunnels.

"not sure if your [spatial sense] can detect any kobold tunnels..." i suggested.

"i’ll give it a shot, but i don’t think its range is as good as your [tremor sense]," vee replied.

we spent some time scouting out the rocky outskirts of the cavern, and eventually, i found a hidden entrance buried under rock and rubble.

"jackpot!" i said excitedly.

using my recently acquired [earth magic lv 4], i finally got to put [sand pit] to use and started transmuting the rock and rubble to clear a path for us. once the hole was big enough, we both jumped in.

my magical digging must have notified the kobolds, as shortly after our arrival, a small detachment attacked us. vee began throwing out [acid dart] spells, artificially boosted by the [sub-cores] i had assigned her.

since we were entering an enclosed space, our poisonous and acidic fumes would undoubtedly become prevalent; i cast the [zephyr shroud] buff on her to keep her air supply fresh and clean.

as for my own magic, i had [force bolt], which i had not really tried that much since acquiring it. i cast it at one of the kobold geomancers at the back, fully empowered and with an upward direction set to the max.

when the arcane projectile struck the kobold, his body was dramatically flung upward, and when he crashed against the ceiling, his relatively frail body became pasted.

"holy shit, you gibbed that guy!" vee shouted while she continued to melt the kobolds with acidic magic.

some of the kobolds began trying to retreat when i withdrew one of my spell orbs and used [slime shot] to fire it like a cannon. once the small orichalcum orb struck the kobold, it exploded, followed by a surge of sparking lightning.

i knew lightning was the way to go! those rock golems were just the exception!

the retreating kobolds didn’t survive the blast, and vee easily finished off the remaining ones to fight.

"this feels almost like bullying..." vee commented.

"yeah, these low-level kobolds aren’t much," i agreed. "but once we go deeper into their domain, we will start seeing real resistance. the only reason i sort of went all out was in case they start trying to collapse the tunnel on us when they retreat."

"oh, i fully agree with that decision. i’d rather not have the entire mountain dropped on my head!" vee replied.

"well, since thern didn’t come with us, it won’t be as bad. i’m a good burrower, so we can dig ourselves out or toward them," i explained.

"you can turn into a mole or something?" vee asked.

i grinned, and since the coast was clear, shifted into the badger i had defeated long ago. while my slimy form shaped itself, i could hear vee’s exclamations of surprise and shock as i changed right before her eyes.

"or something..." i responded as i lifted up one of my sharp front claws.

"we could... although we would need to set it up beforehand?" vee began thinking.

"or... maybe i could set portals up and then teleport the exit portal? would that work?" vee questioned.

"go for it, i’ll make sure no kobolds ambush us while you work," i offered.

vee nodded and began spinning some of that impossible thread. she created two circular frames from her web before reinforcing them with additional threading. to my surprise, she lifted them up as if they were solid rings, and after examining them closely, she began casting her two spells.

i tried my best to examine the spells, but they were utterly alien to me, even if i could vaguely recognize them as dimension mana now. i couldn’t help but think mother was callous, expecting vee to suddenly comprehend all this without guidance. the fact that she had figured out how to make portals with the spells alone was already miraculous.

when she was done, the two discs shimmered vibrantly. she immediately tested her work by placing a leg through the one portal, and it poked out of the other side.

"okay, the portal is set up!" vee said excitedly. "although i worry about the portal’s integrity if i teleport it, these usually stay at fixed points, and i’m not sure what effect such drastic movement would have on them."

"well, we will throw through a spell orb, so it should be fine?"

"yeah, i definitely wouldn’t recommend one of us going through a potentially unstable portal..." vee shuddered. "who knows where you could end up?"

"probably wherever the original kappa went..." i replied with a chuckle.

"kappa?" vee asked.

"a brave coworker who sacrificed itself for the greater good," i answered while failing to hide my cheeky smile.

"sacrificed how?" vee asked with a hint of worry.

"i was trying to see if i could further expand space..." i began trying to explain. "i put expanded space on top of another expanded space, and kappa went poof into a pinprick of a tiny void hole."

vee remained silent, and i could sense her dumbfoundedness at my previous statement. "did you accidentally create a black hole?"

"yes? no..? maybe?" i replied confusedly. "i’m not sure what that is. it was certainly a black void hole... if that counts?"

"you know... forget i asked. i think the world would be safer if we avoid going down that rabbit hole," vee replied, hesitantly chuckling. "how about we try out these portals instead?"

i nodded and pulled out a bunch of spell orbs i had prepared. vee stared at my small stockpile, and i could sense a hint of exhaustion from her. vee positioned the one portal on her back with a makeshift harness she had created with more thread wrapped around herself.

"okay... so, i’ll teleport the exit portal and give you the go-ahead, and then you can throw your balls through the entrance portal on my back."

"sounds good to me!" i replied excitedly.

"... just checking... but they won’t detonate unexpectedly, will they?" vee asked nervously. she kept glancing at the metallic balls clinking together as i walked.

"i fully control when and where they explode," i answered, hoping to relieve her. "i can set up triggers, but i figured that manual detonation would be better for an experiment."

"perfect!" vee replied, relief flooding through.

we continued our journey deeper into the tunnel when the perfect test opportunity presented itself. the kobolds had set up a small barricade and were hiding behind it. they hurled hisses, insults, and threats at us when they spotted us.

vee wasted no time, manipulating the exit portal between her front legs. i had expected some magical poof or flashy display of otherworldly energy, but instead, it simply vanished as if it were never there in the first place.

"bombs away!" vee informed me, a nervous hope in her emotions.

i grinned and began tossing the balls through the portal. thanks to my connection to them and being able to pinpoint their location, i felt each orb vanish and appear behind their fortification.

vee and i shared a glance. she raised one of her legs, and i gave her a thumbs-up in return.

"boom!" i giggled and flipped the metaphorical detonator on every spell orb simultaneously.