Zoe spent the Month of Midsummer (July) in his genius form, only to be dragged back to reality in the Month of Harvest (August).
But as long as he paid with his lifespan, he could be a genius every single month.
Lifespan -1 year.
At the same time, his level increased to Lv. 19.
One of those levels came from upgrading the [Canon of Withered Life] to Lv. 2.
For this, he lost another 20 years of his lifespan.
[Canon of Withered Life Lv. 2], the talent boost provided by the Withered State became even stronger.
At the same time, the Fruition State was also enhanced. Instead of consuming 10 years of lifespan to double his total mana, it now tripled it.
As for the Withered Fruition State, the all-stats bonus increased from +5 to +7, and the multiplier for his total mana rose to 12 times.
The talent boost from Withered State made Zoe's training far more efficient. Coupled with the selfless contributions of his warmhearted neighbors, his proficiency in various skills had improved significantly.
Upgrading [Canon of Withered Life] from Lv. 2 to Lv. 3 would require 50 years of lifespan. Zoe planned to wait until he reached Lv. 20, then use the level-up effect of [Canon of Withered Life] to skip directly to Lv. 21, breaking through to become a Mid-tier Monster.
At this moment, his total mana had risen to 1,601.
“Without realizing it, I've reached the point where I can cast two Dragon Flame Bullets.”
He had also mastered his very first Lv. 4 skill.
[Spray Lv. 4 (F-grade)] Proficiency: 1121/5000 (Expert)
Lv. 4 Spray made Zoe's spraying capabilities much stronger and more versatile.
This also enhanced his ability to spray acid and execute Corrosive Gas Slashes.
“F-grade proficiency is indeed very easy to raise. Under the talent boost of the Withered State, the proficiency points melt away like butter.”
“If only my other skills were this easy to level up.”
[Devour Lv. 3 (D-grade)] Proficiency: 1009/2000 (Proficient)
[Digest Lv. 3 (D-grade)] Proficiency: 1831/2000 (Proficient)
[High-speed Regeneration Lv. 3 (C-grade)] Proficiency: 1397/2000 (Proficient)
[Acid Lv. 3 (E-grade)] Proficiency: 1321/2000 (Proficient)
[Corrosive Gas Slash Lv. 3 (D-grade)] Proficiency: 52/2000 (Proficient)
[Precision Lv. 3 (E-grade)] Proficiency: 12/2000 (Proficient)
[Refining Lv. 3 (F-grade)] Proficiency: 112/2000
[Dragon Flame Lv. 1 (B-grade)] Proficiency: 14/100 (Beginner)
Zoe closed his panel and hopped around his territory.
Because of rumors circulating among the monsters about a “powerful, evil slime,” many of the nice neighbors in this area had vanished, making hunting far less easy than before.
“Who on earth is spreading such rumors? They're going to force me to move again.”
Zoe hopped along, plucking a fruit from a nearby tree and absorbing it into his body.
Slimes didn't have a sense of taste, but eating fruit gave Zoe a refreshing sensation.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Zoe began to vibrate. Ripe fruits plummeted from the branches, bouncing off his body with soft, squishy thuds.
“An earthquake?”
Zoe pressed his body flat against the ground, sensing the direction of the seismic source.
It was coming from the northeast, not very far from his location.
If there was anything of interest in the northeast, it would be that large nest of goblins.
Zoe had always kept a mental tab on those goblins, but since relocating here, he hadn't gone back to check on them.
After all, it was a considerable distance away, and with his daily intensive training, he simply hadn't found the time.
“I'd better go have a look.”
It was crucial to check on potential threats beforehand. After all, this region was now unofficially deemed the territory of the “evil slime.”
He hadn't traveled far toward the vibrations before he caught the sound of angry roars and high-pitched goblin screeches.
There were also bizarre, screeching noises that sounded like magical chanting.
Zoe poked his head out stealthily from the bushes, looking forward with curiosity. Just what foolish thing were these goblins up to—
The slime was utterly shocked.
Before him stood several dozen goblins surrounding a white dragon roughly six meters long.
The white dragon's body was entangled in iron netting, its wing membranes pierced through by long spears.
A goblin priest stood at a safe distance, relentlessly lobbing frost and poison spells at the white dragon.
Five goblin warriors clad in crude iron armor and wielding poison-coated longswords engaged the white dragon in close quarters.
About a dozen goblin archers loosed arrows from a distance, while another dozen goblins hurled spears from mid-range.
Furthermore, a goblin artisan and a goblin crossbowman were operating a siege ballista, reloading and aiming it at the white dragon.
White dragons were the weakest of all dragons. Before reaching maturity, they couldn't even unleash a dragon breath.
This white dragon was clearly immature, having likely just transitioned out of its hatchling stage.
Its combat strength was roughly equivalent to that of a Low-tier Monster.
While dragons were formidable, they weren't born all-powerful. The vast majority of dragons perished during their hatchling and juvenile stages.
This goblin dragon-hunting squad was even equipped with a goblin priest. They had clearly come well-prepared.
Their goal wasn't to slay the dragon, but to tame it.
By beating the white dragon to the brink of death, the goblin priest could then cast mental spells or perform lobotomization to enslave it.
“Gagu, gagu!”
At the roar of the goblin crossbowman, the goblin warriors locked in close combat quickly backed away from the white dragon.
But before the white dragon could catch its breath or rejoice, the siege ballista discharged a thick bolt, piercing right through the dragon's chest.
Having only recently left its hatchling stage, the white dragon's scales stood no chance against a siege ballista strike from such close range.
However, dragons possessed incredibly resilient life force. This bolt had deliberately avoided its heart; though not fatal, it was a devastating wound.
“Roar!!”
Amidst its agonized wails, the white dragon felt an overwhelming sense of humiliation.
It, a magnificent dragon, was being forced to kneel humiliatingly before lowly goblins.
It had only come here out of curiosity, wanting to catch a glimpse of the rumored “evil slime.”
It didn't even have a cool moniker like “evil white dragon,” yet a mere slime did.
Who could have known it would be shot down mid-flight by prepared goblins?
Uuugh... This white dragon was going to become a breeding nest for goblins!
And its stomach would be filled with little goblins!
Birthing little goblins was out of the question!
As they stood on the verge of capturing and enslaving the white dragon, the goblin priest couldn't help but chuckle sinisterly.
Meanwhile, Zoe had already slithered through the shadows, drawing near to the goblin priest.
“Corrosive Gas Slash!”
The fully charged Corrosive Gas Slash tore through the air. Before the goblin priest could even react, it was sliced clean in half at the waist.
Zoe seized the opportunity and lunged forward.
Having suffered from a lack of agility before, he had been allocating all of his Free Stat Points to Agility lately.
The speed he displayed now was entirely unlike a slime.
He swiftly caught the mid-air upper torso of the goblin priest, swallowing it whole to corrode and digest it while simultaneously replenishing his mana.
“Gagu!!”
Seeing their esteemed goblin priest devoured by Zoe, the surrounding goblins shrieked in fury, charging desperately to rescue their leader.
Zoe did not dodge.
They were mere meager physical attacks.
His corrosive gas had just been exhausted and needed time to gather again.
Right now was the perfect time for his acid to shine.
“Acid Severing Wave!”
The pressurized thin stream of acid was sprayed out. Behaving like a sharp waterjet cutter, it sliced directly through a row of goblins.
Just then, a goblin warrior leaped into the air, its blade glowing with a crimson light.
'It's a sword skill.'
The goblin warrior possessed a Swordsman class and was capable of executing sword skills.
While Zoe could ignore basic physical attacks, he didn't dare underestimate a proper sword skill.
He rapidly dodged to the side.
Sharp arrows rained down upon Zoe continuously, but they were like shooting into water, either passing harmlessly through his gelatinous form...
...or sinking into his body, only to be corroded and digested. The damage they caused was negligible, healed almost instantly by [High-speed Regeneration].
Zoe built up a reserve of acid and aimed it at the dense crowd of goblins.
“Acid Bullet Rain!”
A barrage of acid bullets sprayed forth, pelting down upon the ordinary goblins like a storm of raindrops.
Instantly, sizzling sounds echoed everywhere. Squealing in agony, the goblins lost their grip on their bows and arrows.
“Gagu!”
The goblin warrior caught up and thrust its sharp blade forward from point-blank range.
Zoe contorted his body, twisting almost into a C-shape to evade the thrust, and swallowed the goblin warrior whole.
The other four goblin warriors abandoned the heavily wounded white dragon and rushed at Zoe.
The goblin crossbowmen also rushed to reload the siege ballista, trying to lock onto Zoe.
Zoe focused all his efforts on corroding the goblin warrior inside his body while gathering another burst of acid to target the approaching goblin warriors.
“Acid Severing Wave!”
The sharp, high-pressure jet of acid sliced out once more.
But the four goblin warriors swiftly raised their iron-reinforced wooden shields to block the attack.
Acid Severing Wave dealt impressive damage at close range, but once the distance widened slightly, its piercing power fell short, leaving only the corrosive damage to do any real work.
But all Zoe wanted was to buy time.
By now, the corrosive gas inside his body had mostly finished gathering.
Zoe leaped off the half-dead goblin warrior he had run over, charging straight toward the other four goblin warriors instead of retreating.
Seeing this, the well-trained goblin warriors split into pairs and launched simultaneous attacks.
Faced with this, Zoe lunged toward one of the pairs. Ignoring their sword skills, he turned into a gooey mass of slime and tightly wrapped himself around them.
Meanwhile, he targeted the other pair.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
The sharp slash of condensed corrosive gas flew outward. The other two goblin warriors hurriedly raised their shields.
Yet before the Corrosive Gas Slash, their iron-reinforced wooden shields were utterly useless, instantly corroding and splitting open along with half of their bodies.
Amidst the spraying blood, countless goblins let out roars of fury.
Right at that moment, the fully reloaded siege ballista locked onto Zoe.
'Are they planning to shoot through me and the goblin warrior at the same time?'
“Gagu!”
Along with the roar of the goblin crossbowman, the siege ballista discharged its massive bolt.
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