The monster in front of me is unlike anything I've seen before. It's a slime, probably, but it's absolutely gigantic. Countless pseudopods extend from what appears to be its core, attaching themselves to the ceiling, floor and walls around it. The translucent grey liquid making up the creature's body seems to have seeped into various cracks in the building, and I can feel the being's magical power flowing all around me. I'll have to be careful to not get attacked from behind.
Most of my target's magical power, however, is focused on one point that appears to be moving randomly within the gelatinous mass. That's probably the organ that allows the slime to maintain its shape, a brain of sorts, making it my target.
With how spread around the monster is, as soon as I initiate this fight, the whole room is going to become my enemy. Ending this with one decisive strike would be safest, if I can pull it off.
I focus on the slime's core, which is erratically moving around. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to its movement, but it doesn't seem fast enough to avoid a supersonic magic crystal.
I point my hand towards it, waiting for it to be in one of the slower phases of its movement. It does a few quick bursts and eventually slows down as it traverses a longer stretch of slime, moving towards me.
I launch a projectile aimed at the core. It speeds in the direction of the target, strikes the slime... and stops?
Somehow, despite the power behind it, the projectile got stuck almost immediately after having penetrated the slime. And the thing is aware of my presence now.
As I expected, slimy tentacles start bursting from the floor, walls and ceiling, trying to grab me. I manage to push them back using my sword, but any damage I inflict instantly closes. Hacking away at the slime until there's only the core left isn't an option.
I'm at a loss as to what to do. At this rate, I'm going to reach my limit long before I can manage any serious damage on this thing. I need to find a way to get to the core. Despite us fighting, it appears to still be moving around, sometimes getting closer to me. It's possible that the slime can't fully control it to keep it away from danger, which could be a weakness I can exploit.
I start moving towards the monster's weak point while carefully slashing at any pseudopod sent to catch me. I feel it move away, but it always ends up coming back, so I'm slowly but surely closing the distance between us.
As I keep striking and moving forward, I eventually spot it: a brownish red crystal, floating in the gelatinous mass of slime. I can feel the large amount of power circulating through it and spreading through the monster, like a nervous system.
I strike down a few more tentacles, waiting for the crystal to be in a position where I can hit it. Finally, I see it, near the surface of the slime. Now's the time to strike. I empower my arm as much as I can and attack the core.
However, a large amount of slime shoots in my direction much faster than expected, stopping my movement. With my arm fully encased in gelatin, I can't avoid the rest of the mass engulfing me. Was it planning this all along?
Inside the monster, I can't breathe. I start feeling my skin burning, especially around the small wounds and cuts on my body. I think it's digesting me.
I can't move at all. There's no air for me to breathe, so I'll suffocate long before the acid becomes really dangerous. I try creating a small crystal projectile, but the energy flowing within the slime disrupts my own power and prevents me from doing so. Looks like casting spells is not an option while in here.
But I still need to figure a way out. Evelyn is watching in a corner, seemingly at a loss as to what she should do. I can't expect her, who's lower-level than me, to be able to smash through the slime and free me.
Should I try expelling a large amount of energy from every part of my body at the same time? I accidentally did it when I unlocked my power, but I can do it intentionally now. I don't know if it'll make me look like a woman again, and I don't really want anyone to see that I'm Aurora, but if the alternative is dying, it's probably better to just explain everything and ask Evelyn to not reveal this secret once we get out.
And so, I focus on the energy flowing through my body, amplifying it and violently ejecting it. It's expensive, but there's no point in saving up energy if that kills me.
Fortunately, I see colorful flames form around my body, pushing the slime just enough for me to move my arm and punch it. Despite the flames not being hot, the strike still seems to significantly injure the slime, as the area I hit turns opaque and detaches itself from the rest of the gelatinous mass. Looks like my own energy is disrupting the monster's, preventing it from maintaining its shape.
I believe I found the ideal weapon to fight it.
I don't want to break my new sword already, so I let go of it and proceed to punch the slime, causing bits to fly off with every hit. The boss doesn't seem to enjoy me pummeling it, as it tries to grab me with its pseudopods to drag me away from its core, but they burn themselves on the flames covering my body.
Finally, after almost a minute of senseless violence, I manage to plunge my hand in the slime, grab the core, and crush it. With a final wave through its body, the monster loses its shape, freeing the way up to the next floor.
I grab my sword and stop my energy from flowing out. Evelyn approaches with what appears to be a very uncomfortable expression on her face, and asks:
"Wait, so... You're Aurora?"
"Looks like it."
"Aurora... Is a man?"
She looks extremely disappointed by this realization.
"Honestly, I don't know why I look like that when I let my magic leak out of my body. It's a bit annoying, I'd rather make myself look like a buff superhero or something like that, but it threw people off my trail after the invasion so I guess it turned out to be a good thing overall."
"Mmmmh... Maybe you look like that because you're actually..."
"... Actually what?"
"Not saying. If you are, you'll figure it out sooner or later. For now, let's focus on getting Amber back."
I nod. Whatever she was thinking can wait. The tiny magical power is still just above us. One more floor, and we'll be there. There's no reason to wait.
