It Started with Slime - Part 1

Chapter 98 - Arms

"Haemish, do you have another skeleton!?" he yelled out after having just kicked them all out of his Consumption room. "I need to know if you can at least get another."

"Why?" the thick slab of wood between them muffled Haemish's reply. "You have everything you need there. Two arms, well, one left now, and two legs and everything else, right?"

"Ye-yeah, of course, yeah, you're right! It's fine!" then belatedly, "thanks! Wait! I need a Mana Potion!"

"Another one! How many are you going to drink? If you don't become addicted, you will make yourself sick. This potion is the last one for a while!" Haemish strode in flourishing a Mana potion, and once again, Aarav found it drew him in. It might be becoming a little harder to resist the allure of it, or maybe that was just in his head. The older man was about to pour the liquid down Aarav's throat when the Boss Copycat Slime stopped him.

"Allow me!" Then Aarav raised his bone hand to take the vial from Haemish. The gripping motion was a struggle to get right, and it took a few frustrating attempts to get the appendage to close on the vial. Then once the vial was firmly in hand, Haemish let go, and Aarav let out a squawk as the hand plummeted to the ground. He managed to slow the descent just enough that when it hit the ground, it did not smash the glass, but the weakness in his arm surprised him.

He was unable to lift the vial from the ground once it landed. Instead, he tipped it over into his waiting mouth, which he rested on the floor where he could swallow the mixture smacking his lips with relish. The minty Mana flavour would never get old. The Health one tasted like iron and blood, which wasn't as good, but the Stamina one was reminiscent of berries. It was good.

A little disappointed at the effectiveness of his newest limb, he looked at it for a few seconds, then realised that Haemish was doing the same. "Haemish, I should finish up with the rest. Thanks for this." He followed that with a level look he would not typically have directed at a superior. He did not need sympathy right now, and he required results that would help his frame of mind.

Aarav couldn't decide, he could go for another arm, but that would take ages, or he could try for a leg, which would take even longer. Two appendages were better than one but would a leg and an arm be better? He knew that wasn't precisely how probability worked, just as he knew he would Consume everything eventually.

I'll cross that barrier when I come to it. The chance of success is high, so it's okay. Aarav got to work on the second arm, deciding to risk it and get two working ones first before worrying about skeleton legs.

The next arm took a lot less time than the first, thanks to Greater Consume breaking through the Level 25 barrier; I need to ask Haemish about that. Then, he attempted to Assimilate:

Your Skill Greater Consume has increased to Level 27!

Your Skill Greater Consume has increased to Level 28!

You have Assimilated 1 Human Arm (Skeleton Only, Right) and improved the ability to Arms of Bone Level 1 +1000 Bonus Exp! Congratulations! Your front Right Earth and Sky Leg have morphed into an Arm of Bone! Dexterity and strength of hand and arm will improve with Level. Melee Skill Bone Claw Level 1 +1000 Exp as well! Without muscle, you can control your arms with Mana @ 0.1MP per arm per minute!

Your Skill Arm of Bone has increased to Level 2!