Out of the sky

[Ivar]

122 Searing 90th

The Midden was a place of lurking dangers which was something Ivar knew all too well. His time down here had hammered into him the importance of caution. He walked through the dank, dimly lit tunnels, his senses primed for the slightest disturbance. Slimes, small and bulbous, emerged from crevices in the rock. Amorphous bodies sliding across the floor weren’t hard to miss.

He wasn’t an expert on the ecology of the sewers but he noticed that it wasn’t that hard to find the slimes. He figured they must find enough food down here to survive and thrive so he didn’t think it was a big deal for him to come along and use them for combat practice.

His katana, a tool of death in the hands of an experienced warrior, was little more than a sharp club in his hands. It was always a gamble whether he’d even hit a slime with the sharp edge or the side of the blade. Thankfully it didn’t really matter when it came to cutting through such weak creatures. The blade gleamed under the faint light, reflecting off the wet stones around him.

Ivar engaged the smaller slimes he encountered. His katana cleaved through each creature as he worked on pulling off efficient slices. These ones hardly presented any resistance at all. He was more likely to meet resistance from hitting something inside their bodies.

Every now and then, he would pause to wipe his blade clean on the moss that clung to the cave walls, the blade glinting eerily in the dim light. The next slime was never too far away. With each pause, he took a moment to center himself, to brace for the next encounter.

Despite the repetitive nature of the task, it never grew monotonous. He tried to learn something from each encounter since each one tended to present a new challenge. He took a certain satisfaction in seeing the slimes dwindle in number.

There was a therapeutic quality to it. It was an exercise that honed not only his martial skill but also his mind. When he swung he let out sharp exhalations that allowed him to expel the pent-up tension. Every once in a while he’d notice the slime cores that he’d heard about but they were so small he didn’t bother collecting them.

His progress was steady, the area echoing with the sounds of his work. When he sliced through his fourth slime his body ached and he needed to take a break. His lack of physical strength coupled with his lack of skill with a blade made it so he needed to take many of those. He chose a spot he thought was safe and sat down. He instantly regretted his choice as there was something gross on the floor that seeped through his pants.

“This is going to take forever to clean,” he thought to himself.

As he relaxed he still kept an eye out for danger. He kept his head on a swivel because slimes could be unexpectedly sneaky. He was glad he did because he spotted something he had never seen before. A slime, a large one at that, was sluggishly oozing along the filth-laden pathway.

The size was impressive, easily twice the size of a typical human being. But it wasn't the size of the creature that caught his attention, it was what was inside it. Suspended within the gelatinous entity was an entire human form, an adventurer by the looks of it. The sight of the deteriorating body was so grotesque and shocking that he froze in place.

The person's attire and equipment, a sword and a shield among other things, were also clearly visible, encased in the semitransparent body of the slime. Cold dread snaked down Ivar's spine as he took in the sight. The very thought that this adventurer, armed and possibly more experienced than him, had met such an end sent a chilling wave of apprehension through him.

He dared not move, not wanting to attract the attention of the large slime. He slowly got to his feet but despite his best efforts to remain quiet, his foot slipped on the grimy ground, causing a sound to echo in the silent expanse.

Ivar felt his blood run cold as the creature ceased its movement and quivered, as if sensing the disruption. Slowly, it began to move towards him, its form undulating as it slid across the slimy surface of the sewer.

He wanted to blink but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of the approaching slime. He could almost imagine the creature's cold, gelatinous body engulfing him, his essence becoming another suspended spectacle for any unfortunate passerby. He couldn't let that happen.

Without a second thought, Ivar focused on a spot farther down the sewer tunnel and blinked, using folding space between the two points in space to move himself away from the approaching slime. His vision was very limited so he couldn’t blink all that far away. He quickly turned to see the slime had split off several large chunks of its body and one of them was already heading towards him.

Ivar blinked again, and again, and again. It was easy to get lost down in the Midden especially when one was focused more on covering distance than navigation. No matter where he blinked he felt like a slime was hot on his heels. He took this as a sign that it was time to leave.

The further he went, the denser the grime around him seemed to become. The walls, the ceiling, even the floor was covered in it. It squelched under his boots, the sound oddly unsettling. The sensation of fear became gnawing at the edges of his resolve.

Ivar sprinted while thinking of a familiar location. His home? A tavern? The market? These were his go-to locations but he didn’t want to accidentally bring a slime home with him. He roared in frustration and a portal opened up right in front of him. He fell through it and next thing he knew his boots were touching dirt.

He slowed out of exhaustion then turned around. He forced the portal close but not fast enough to stop a waist-high sized slime from sliding through. The slime seemed to be confused than he was and paused as if it were taking in its new environment.

Seeing the slime’s behavior, Ivar looked around. He wasn’t in any of the places he’d thought of. In fact, he didn’t know if he’d ever been here before. He turned and squinted his eyes and spotted the unmistakable shape of Kalzasi on the horizon.

“Good gods, I’ve gone this far off-course?” he thought, “I suppose I should just be happy I didn’t end up in mid-air again. Teleportation under duress is risky…”

The thought of simply going home was a tempting one. He was drained, both physically and mentally. The journey into the Midden had been more taxing than he'd anticipated. His muscles ached, his mind was in a whirl, and his nerves were frayed. How easy would it be to just ignore this slime, pretend it hadn’t followed him, and get some rest?

But as tempting as the idea was, he felt it would be a bad idea. The slime was out of its element, now in an environment that it could potentially harm. His mind raced with the danger that the creature could pose if it was able to grow. He was less concerned with the damage it could cause compared to how much trouble he’d be in if his actions could ever be traced back to him.

With a sigh, Ivar pushed his exhaustion aside and squared his shoulders. Killing the slime was not going to be easy, especially in his current state. He could feel the familiar pull of fatigue tugging at the edges of his consciousness but he forced himself to ignore it.

The slime had gotten over its initial curiosity and remembered that it wanted to devour Ivar. It slide towards him purposefully but Ivar was ready for it. He waited until it got close then quickly opened a portal. The slime couldn’t stop fast enough and it passed through it.

Ivar turned his head to the sky and sure enough there the slime was. It fell quite a considerable distance before splatting on the ground. He quite enjoyed the sight of gelatinous glob spreading out across the ground even if it had cost him a ton of energy to send it so high up into the air. “Here’s to hoping it can’t regenerate from that kind of damage,” he thought as he slumped against a boulder. “If only they were this easy to kill in the Midden. There’s no sky to drop them out of…”

Ivar unexpectedly fell asleep mid-thought as his exhaustion finally overcame him. He considered himself lucky that nothing had devoured him by the time he woke up a couple hours later. He opted to spend a couple more hours sitting there, relaxing, and eating his packed lunch before mustering up the strength to teleport back home.

[Mirage]

Ivar

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Points 8xp (cannot be used for magic)

Comments: Here we are again! Once more no traversion XP is being awarded because the details of the magic use, and its application, do not match up with Ivar's current skill level. I would likely award some points if Ivar was apprentice or master for this (depending on when Blink becomes available) but as an expert this sort of action should be relatively simple for Ivar.

Still good thread. Slimes in the sewers are never fun lol. Happy writing!