Chapter 18: Ichor
Once Master finally left my room, I dropped my guard while heaving a sigh of relief as I approached my bed and examined the new set of clothes, using [Heroes Gaze].
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Name: Slime suit
Rank: Uncommon
Description: Clothes made from the body of slime, which has high mana resistance.
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'Hmm, well, hopefully, this suit won't get destroyed during my spars with Master.' Thought Alexander as he examined the purple and black outfit before wearing it.
When I put the slime suit on, although it was definitely too big for me to wear, I was surprised when it shrunk, tightly hugging against my body, though it was very comfortable and didn't hamper my movements at all.
"This is wonderful; I wish I had this a few years ago." Muttered Alexander while viewing his body in the crystal mirror embedded into his wall.
Since the description said it was created from the body of a mana resistance slime, I assumed the clothes would also be fairly resistant to mana, and to test my assumption, I decided to attack myself with my mana, though I started off lightly in case it didn't have good mana resistance.
'It is of an Uncommon rank, so it should at least be able to defend against a normal fireball.' Pondered Alexander as he held his hand out just before his chest.
Ever since I've come to learn more and more about how this world operates and how much it resembles a video game, I expected one would have to learn a significant amount of things through skill notes or something similar, like in video games; however, thankfully, I was wrong. While Master did say things such as skill notes exist, they are called skill crystals, and in order to learn the skills that those crystals contain, you must consume them; which I find to be very weird, but if it works, it works.
Speaking of skill crystals, Master has warned me that while using a skill crystal will allow you to learn the skill instantly, you will not be able to evolve or upgrade that skill, unlike if you were to acquire a skill through hard work and time. That is also the reason why even after three years, I have so few skills, as Master wouldn't allow me to use skill crystals, which I had found a few after snooping around Master's office nearly a year ago.
Anyways, I'm getting off track; focusing back on my little experiment, I concentrated on my hand while imagining a spark that would grow into a small flickering flame before finally expanding into a large red fire the same size as my head.
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Name: Fire Ball
Rank: Common
Description: A ball of concentrated fire mana that'll explode on impact
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Although it looked large and intimidating, I had only used the smallest amount of mana required to use the skill [Fire Ball], so it was pretty weak; it would probably, at most, cause first-degree burns on my body, which is something that'll heal in a matter of a few minutes, though it would still be painful.
'Well, here goes nothing; hopefully, the slime suit works; otherwise, it will be an awkward conversation with Master.' Thought Alexander as he took a big breath and slowly brought his hand, which was holding the large red fire, toward his chest until a small explosion occurred, enveloping his chest and abdomen.
"Should've covered my face." Commented Alexander while coughing as he waved his hands to disperse the smoke, only to reveal his unharmed body.
Once the smoke had been dispersed, I inspected my body; however, seeing how my slime suit was fine and my body unharmed, I concluded it was resistant to mana, at least until a certain degree, as I had used a very weak [Fire Ball]. While I was curious to test its limit, what I did was already somewhat dumb, and I had no desire to collide with a powerful [Fire Ball] which could intensely burn my body, though I could always infuse neutral mana into my physique, in turn, offsetting most, if not all of the damage; then again, this is all considering if the slime outfit doesn't protect me.
Anyways, with the experiment finished, I exited the room and headed toward the kitchen, only to find it empty, prompting me to head to the next spot where I would find her office in the back of the house. Leaving the kitchen, I walked through the hallway before knocking on the door and slowly opening it; this time, finding Master sitting down at her desk, which was covered in several glass bottles, while inspecting a particular bottle filled with a golden liquid.
"Oh, Alexander, what are you doing? Do you like the clothes?" Asked Lavender with a light smile as she set the bottle down and looked at Alexander, wearing the black and purple slime outfit, which happened to compliment his purple crystal-like eyes and snowy white hair.
"Nothing, I was just looking for you, Master. And the clothes, I very much love them; they are tight fitting, yet super comfortable, and they don't interfere with any of my movements." Replied Alexander as he neared Lavender while stretching.
"I'm glad you like them; they're a minor project I made in the past, and I remembered them recently." Remarked Lavender softly while looking at Alexander before focusing on the bottle containing a golden substance.
Noticing Master seemed very invested with the golden liquid, I used [Heroes Gaze], curious to see if there were changes since the last time I checked.
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Name: Heroes Ichor
Rank: Mythical
Description: Blood that flows through the body of the True Hero, granting him an immense healing factor and other various benefits. Consuming this will alleviate any and all effects of Legendary rank and below.
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'Hmm, nothing changed, though I suppose if I want to notice something different, I'd need to level up my skill [Heroes Gaze].' Thought Alexander while eyeing his viscous ichor.
"Have you discovered anything new about my blood or Ichor, Master?" Asked Alexander while standing beside Lavender.
"Unfortunately, no; in fact, if you didn't tell me about its capabilities, I'd most likely be completely clueless about the property of your so-called Ichor." Replied Lavender with a sigh while shaking the battle, causing the viscous ichor to shake slightly.
"Well, have you tried consuming it? You've said that for it to be a Mythical rank, it should be much more powerful than what the description says. There is a possibility that I can't completely analyze it, and some knowledge is still hidden." Stated Alexander; while he found the concept of Lavender consuming his blood to be very weird, the act would cause no harm, not to mention that she might get some ability.
"About that, I had actually just consumed before you entered the room." Said Lavender while cutely smiling at Alexander, who just blankly stared at her.
"And it did nothing?" Asked Alexander with a sigh while shaking his head at Lavender's antics.
"No, it did do something, just not as much as I expected, if I'm being honest, though that is probably because I'm completely healthy." Remarked Lavender lightly as she lied to Alexander while flexing her arm, and though Alexander would generally be able to discern if she was lying instantly, surprisingly, he didn't notice anything wrong with her answer.
"So what did it do, Master?" Asked Alexander, utterly clueless that Lavender had just lied.
"It granted me a rare trait called [Natural Regeneration]." Replied Lavender with minor difficulties while casually eyeing the golden Ichor.
"A rare trait; Isn't that pretty good? Didn't you say traits are very difficult to obtain?" Remarked Alexander with a curious frown while eyeing Lavender.
"Of course, it's good, but what I had just consumed was a Mythical item, so I expected more; however, it seems most of its capabilities lie with healing." Said Lavender with a slight cough as she stood up and approached a cabinet beside a large shelf.
Once Master placed the bottle full of my Ichor into the cabinet, she rearranged some stuff on the shelf before returning to her desk.
"Speaking of capabilities, I wanted to ask if you could increase the difficulty in my training. I've gotten pretty good at controlling my mana, so the training I'm doing isn't that effective anymore." Stated Alexander while raising both hands, one hand creating a large reddish flame, while his other hand creating a small gust of wind which formed into a mini-tornado.
"Hmm, I'm greatly impressed, but didn't I just increase the difficulty two months ago? Yet here you are, requesting me to raise the difficulty once again; at this rate, you'll finish the beginning part of your training by the time you're ten." Questioned Lavender while raising her eyebrow in slight surprise.
"Hehe, well, it's not that surprising; I've been taking my training quite seriously over the past three years." Replied Alexander while chuckling in happiness from Lavender's praise.
"Alright; if you believe you're ready, I'll gladly raise the difficulty in your training regimen. However, before I do that, I have a little something I must take care of, so could you give me a couple of minutes?" Said Lavender with a nod as she quickly shut her mouth while gently pushing Alexander out of her office.
"Ok, I'll be waiting at the training area then, Master." Remarked Alexander as he exited the office while giving Lavender one last look before she closed the door.
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Closing the door on Alexander, I waited a few moments for him to leave the area; before I erupted into a fit of coughing while trying my best to keep it as quiet as possible in case, Alexander was still able to hear me. Leaning against the door, the intensity of my coughing increased to the point where I was forced to cover my mouth; otherwise, I'm sure Alexander would've heard me; it wasn't until an entire minute had passed before I finally stopped coughing.
'Ugh, it's worse than before; I should've been able to live another fifty or so years, yet my foolish action of examining Alexander's status panel greatly accelerated the poison's effect, not to mention having just lied to him. Now, I don't even know if I'll live half that long.' Thought Lavender weakly as she let go of her mouth and eyed her hand, which was covered in green blood.
Once I arrived near my desk, I plopped on my chair while breathing unsteadily as I eyed the ceiling through my hazy eyes, wondering about my inevitable death.
"That bastard; he not only poisoned me, but he used a Mythical poison? Hehe, I guess he was really deadset on killing me." Remarked Lavender lazily while slightly coughing as she eyed the bottle filled with golden ichor on the shelf.
'I have always had an inkling he used a Mythical ranked poison, considering how helpless I am against its effects; however, I've hoped I was wrong since as long as it wasn't Mythical, there was always a chance at surviving, no matter how minuscule it was. Now, my death is nothing but guaranteed; finding an antidote for a Legendary-ranked poison is already difficult enough, let alone a Mythical-ranked poison.' Thought Lavender in anguish and sadness while quietly chuckling to herself.