It's been a week now and the bosses that I killed last week have respawned. I helped other groups kill them but this time I used my fairies instead of the charged spears, being very careful not to raise my class level cap.

Ting! Your Bond has obtained levels 327-362!

Ting! Acting has obtained levels 87-94!

Ting! Clear Mind has obtained levels 73-77!

Ting! Graceful Movements has obtained levels 73-75!

Ting! Persistent State has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 50!

5th Breakthrough: You've held focus even through combat, this will help you fight while focused.

Ting! Persistent State has obtained levels 22-32!

Ting! Twin Minds has obtained levels 81-84!

Ting! Tailoring has obtained levels 107-109!

Ting! Mana Manipulation has obtained levels 331-337!

Esofy, Chyzu, Jowaru and everyone else has reached somewhere around the level two hundred fifty mark; I probably would have too, but I want my Bond to be a much higher level – no, I need it to. The achievements I need to reach higher tiers are too demanding. Everyone except me in the deep dive group is Major-tier in their class now.

"The ruins have been cleared all the way to the Heroic-tier slime now, so we can just go straight to it," Chyzu informs me, her tail twitching.

"Our goal is not to get materials this time, so don't worry about breaking the slime cores," Esofy says, unfurling the map I made. "Unfortunately, the bosses don't remain the same so the detail on those is old."

We prepare for the next deep dive, hopefully getting past this next floor, but it will be much harder if the trend is anything to go by.

We walk into the Slime Ruins, easily getting through the first two floors and finding a few treasure chests on the way as we slaughter the lower-level monsters. As we near the Heroic-tier slime Esofy becomes visibly nervous, so Chyzu puts her arm on Esofy's shoulder and purrs soothingly. I wonder if they are still at the courting stage of their relationship?

"First Aly will go in, test the slime and see its abilities. Our first encounter will be only to gather information, then we'll prepare for the fight. It doesn't matter if it takes days, we must prepare correctly." We all nod in affirmation, even Irela taking this too seriously to express her usual antics. I put a mind into a clone standing next to Jowaru, in case the one I am using currently is destroyed.

I charge my spear, turn invisible, and stare at the slime. In its mana signature, I can see a skill similar to the one the Alpha Wolf had, the teleportation skill, but I don’t recognize any of its other abilities. It wiggles as I step closer, and then it shoots a beam of void essence which I hurriedly block, my humming spear held in front of me like a shield, while I try to dodge out of the way. My much more condensed mana spear splits the beam in half, the remains flowing past me and hitting the wall, eating through them.

I hear a high-pitched, disgruntled, 'grring' from the slime as it shoots out smaller beams, rapid-firing them like a machine gun and hitting my clone in several places. The illusion reforms as if nothing happened, but the wall behind me is riddled with deep holes digging halfway through to the room on the other side.

I assume my spear master role, enhancing my clone with speed essence, and dash forward, stabbing into the thick jelly-like substance and reaching ever further towards the core of the slime. There is so much slime I have to hold the spear by its very end and even then my illusory arm enters the slime body before the spear reaches the core. The mana in my clone’s arm fights with the dark attuned mana within the slime and is slowly being dispersed, so it's possible that anything that is enveloped is eaten away by some sort of void skill.

A well of space mana forms behind me and just as my spear is about to touch the core, it disappears; the core, slime and all, reappearing where the space mana is.

I try stabbing it again and again but each time it teleports and shoots void beams at me, further destroying the room. I can tell from the intensity of its spells that it is getting massive bonuses for its abilities.

If only there was a way to weaken its spells, or even outright prevent them. That's when I remember something: I've never used it before, never had a reason to, but my Kyhosa has a skill called [Calm Mana]. It's only level one, but maybe I can do it manually with my [Mana Manipulation]. I decide to give it a go, spending a few minutes to enter the state of focus for [Mana Manipulation] with another mind and tying it off with [Persistent State]. I dodge spell after spell, reforming my clone after each hit while focusing on all the mana in the room, shrinking my manipulation area, and using its whole volume to bleed the energy from the mana in the room to reduce the intensity of the Void Slime’s spells.

With the mana in the room returning to normal intensity, I focus on halting all mana so none can move without my permission. I set all my minds on calming the mana in the room, the task proving too much for one and slowly the mana stills as if I took the breath away from its currents. I dash forward with my spear and stab into the slime once again, and again space mana appears elsewhere in the room while I fight to keep the mana serene.

There is simply too much intensity in the spell for me to cancel it completely, but I stall the slime's spell long enough for my charged spear to connect! The slime purrs angrily as its vitality rapidly drops, and then it finally teleports away, my spear having used seventy percent of its mana. The Void Slime makes another ’grr’ sound, sounding just like its high-pitched purring, and releases a burst of intense void mana. My spear is overwhelmed and its form disperses from the wave of dark attuned essence, my clone being destroyed along with it.

Ting! Mana Manipulation has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 360!

36th Breakthrough: You've created an area of calm mana, this will help you create a field where no spells can be maintained.

Ting! Mana Manipulation has obtained levels 337-341!

"As expected, it’s extremely powerful and probably has even more tricks than what I’ve seen," I say as I pull my awareness back to the group and tell them of the abilities I encountered.

"Sounds very tricky, and that’s only three of its abilities, but it is safe to say it has a Bond class which means it's not as versatile as it could have been. Any plans on how to prepare for it? It sounds like it's got incredibly powerful attacks and can dissolve whatever we hit it with." Esofy summarises the problem.

Everyone falls into silent contemplation until I speak up.

"It will take a few days, but if I make everyone shields made of light mana metal you can protect yourself from its attacks, at least for a while, I won't have time to make a full suit of armor for everybody but light mana silk armor should help block one or two attacks if you're lucky."

"We'll also need light mana weapons, or at least have our weapons gilded in light mana to help our damage output and to prevent them from being eaten away by its body," Kadona suggests. Esofy nods in approval

"The armor and shields will already take me a lot of mana, millions of mana, so you will have to donate mana to get our preparations done in a reasonable time frame," I say

"We just have to put our mana into your Kyhosa, right?" Chyzu asks. I nod in affirmation.

"Then let's head back to the main camp," Esofy orders. Everyone holds hands and Esofy activates the waystone key. I dismiss my clone and get up with my real body to greet the group, then I begin working on the preparations.

It takes two days to make the shields and the rest of the second day to gild everyone's weapons in light elemental mana; of course I decorate it all with beauty mana, we are Runalymo after all. The biggest issue was Uloru's hammer, being so steeped in dark attuned essence I had to create a thick layer of earth mana and then cover that in light mana. It takes me four times as much mana as making one of the shields and is rather complicated since I have to make it fit both at full size and while shrunken for transport.

I make several gambeson and brigandine hybrid armors and enchant them to resist void essence. This takes another two days but having light mana plates to protect everyone's vitals is better than flimsy armor that won't hold more than three hits. The arms, legs, and tail aren't heavily protected, but those are more expendable – meaning that you won’t die if you lose them – anyway. After that, on the seventh day, I make everyone mana metal helmets with mana silk padding. The helmets cover the entire face, not even eye holes to create a weakness; however, the helmets are enchanted to be see-through. I don’t need such armor for myself, as I won't be there physically.

There is one detriment to all the light mana armor, and that is that the group won't be able to utilize teleportation via the waystone key and will have to travel on foot. We'll still bring the key though, to attune it to the waystone on the third floor.

"Alright, this time we still won't be fighting to kill,” Esofy says, looking everyone in the eyes as we stand just outside the boss chamber. “If we can then we will, but we are still going to be testing the boss. We will try to get more information on it, test our capabilities at fighting it and test our armor. No one is dying in this fight, is that clear?"

"Yes," Everyone answers, meeting Esofy's gaze. Of course, I can't do the same but I hold the same sentiment. After a moment of silence, we begin.

I first draw the Void Slime's attention using my usual opening strike, while calming the mana so it can't teleport away as quickly; then everybody rushes in. Lightning erupts from Gojune as Uloru makes her hammer return to its normal size for greater reach and swings it, with difficulty, deep into the side of the boss. She can’t use her weight manipulation due to the light mana gilding, so I am impressed by her strength. It must be her focused stat, like intelligence is for me; I wonder how much she has?

Lotuna shoots ice spears at the core and Chyzu blasts it with jets of water. Irela sends light-gilded blades spinning into the slime, the light mana easily parting the void-laden slime and slicing through to its core, chipping it in several places. The Void Slime teleports and I charge at the teleportation location with my spear, delivering its deadly burst of mana the moment it reappears.

The slime angrily explodes with void mana, the same omnidirectional attack that destroyed my previous clone With our armor and shields none of us take any damage, but I do notice some minor wear and tear on the silken defenses of the group. As before, my clone is destroyed by this attack, but I have backups in the hall outside. I charge back into the fray just as tentacles from the Void Slime whip around, clanging on shields and armor. Jowaru and Vakelu tank the hits; Jowaru, not using her metal for armor for this fight, has loaned it to Irela to attack with.

I calm the mana in the room again, taking care not to interfere with my allys’ spells, and stab the boss when it teleports again. With around a third of its vitality burned up by our attacks, I am beginning to think we might be able to kill it now. The battle continues as the warriors continue to chip away at the slime and defend against the tentacles, utilizing the shields I made for them; while the mages, especially Irela, continue to hit the core. The slime chunks sprayed around the room try to flow back to the boss, dissolving the stone beneath them as they move, but I burn them out with [Fairy Strikes] in an attempt to reduce the Void Slime's mass more permanently.

Slowly but surely we work at the boss, until as its vitality continues to drop from our attacks the Void Slime teleports to a corner and, with a high-pitched angry ‘grr’, sends forth a tidal wave of its slime toward us, to envelope us in its all-consuming slime. Everyone is swept up and I can see the slime trying to seep into the armor, trying to squeeze through the gaps between the helmet and brigandine. Small amounts of the slime manage to get into the armor and begin to eat away at the flesh of my friends. My clone is destroyed in moments, but I charge back in with another.

The slime recedes, pulling everyone next to its core, but that’s a bad move on its part as the warriors take this chance to attack the core directly. Uloru, Kadona, Vakelu, Esofy, and Jowaru all attack, cracking and chipping the core; the slime then teleports away, having been punished for its instinctual mistake.

The group is left sputtering and pulling at their armor to try and get the slime out as it continues to eat away at their skin. The slime growls and begins to charge up a spell, pumping tens of thousands of mana into it at a surprising rate. I try to fight over the spell with my manipulation, slowing it down to a crawl; even with all my minds, it's surprisingly difficult to prevent the spell from gathering. As the group runs out of the room to remove the armor, I stay behind to keep the slime busy so it doesn't give chase.

I keep fighting the slime, sending in more clones each time one is lost, until everyone is at a safe distance and I let the slime continue its spell. The spell fully charges up at sixty thousand mana before the Void Slime unleashes it upon my clone, immediately destroying it and blasting through the wall... and the next wall… and the next, until it has blasted a perfectly circular hole halfway through the Ruins. I have no doubt that spell will break through the armor I made for everyone, but the shields should hold up for one or two attacks. Still, that’s not a certainty, so the only way for us to deal with it is for me to slow it down and for everybody to run away once it gets close to completion.

Once my allies have regrouped, healed, and donned their armor again they charge back into the fray, faltering for only a few moments when they see the scale of destruction the spell unleashed. The walls are slowly reforming, by what process I don't know but I sense a lot of mana being used to heal the damage. It will take hours, probably a day, but the Ruins will return to its normal state.

Even as the group gets back to the boss chamber and starts attacking again, Esofy seems conflicted. She knows we have been doing well so far, but those attacks and the wave of slime prove that it has more up its sleeve.

"Fall back!" Esofy calls out to the rest of the group, who are battling the boss. "It's too dangerous, we should fall back and make better preparations!"

"We can do this Esofy! We can't just stop now!" Irela complains as she launches more blades at the Void Slime's core.

I kind of want to agree with her, but I acted out before and got people into danger, if Esofy thinks that it's too dangerous then we should listen to her.

"It will be here when we come back; if it is really that easy then what's the harm in leaving?" Kadona sides with Esofy.

"Uug! Fine!" Irela falls back with everyone else and I cover their retreat, keeping the boss's attention.

Once everyone is far enough away I let my clone be destroyed and shift a spare mind to a new clone, summoned by my Familiar that is following the group.

"The armor needs improving, what do you guys suggest?" I ask. If the Void Slime can get in then that's a problem that should be covered.

"Fill the gaps with cloth at least, anything that will effectively prevent the slime from getting in,” Jowaru says.

"Enchantments, I can use some extra speed or strength," Uloru requests.

"A full breastplate," Vakelu suggests. "Anything to better block those charged attacks.”

I take mental notes and wait for the group to come back to the main camp, where I make improvements to their armor. I thicken the cloth and form the brigandine plates into one solid breastplate, then add a thick metal skirt that ends just above the knees. I also make enchantments to help everyone. Speed for most of the group to help dodge, strength for Uloru and Kadona. It takes two days for the adjustments, so we use the time to strategize and rest.

For our second attempt, I will keep a large number of clones further away from the room just in case the adjacent halls are destroyed, and I will keep them spread out so not all are destroyed at once. I will keep the Void Slime's attention when it charges its spells while everyone falls back to a safe location, and we keep this up until it's dead. If the Void Slime pulls any surprises we'll try to deal with it on a case-by-case basis.

We once again head into the fully-restored Slime Ruins and make our way to the Void Slime.

"Alright!" Esofy says. "This time we kill it! Stick to the plan, prioritize safety, and don't take risks!"

Just like last time we turn its teleportation to our advantage. I slow it down and tell everyone where it will appear while Uloru and Kadona hit it whenever it appears. The others don't have weapons long enough to reach the core without fully enveloping themselves, unfortunately.

The Void Slime tries its slime wave again but this time the armor holds. The slime pulls everybody back to it in some instinctive feeding method, and everyone uses the chance to strike its core again. The fight proceeds much more smoothly this time, the team finding a rhythmic synergy.

We continue fighting for dozens more minutes, slowly whittling away the boss's vitality. My initial bursts of damage helped, but now I am saving my last attack, either for the finishing blow to try and save the monster materials, or perhaps to quickly kill it if it has another card up its sleeve. Again and again, the slime attacks with charged spells, not just a beam but a burst attack that eats through all of the walls, expanding the room's size a lot. I warn the others of the danger every time so they can run a safe distance away, just like we planned, and also keep several Familiars nearby in case we need emergency healing.

It isn't until the Void Slime’s vitality becomes very thin all through its body, and several deep cracks have been made in its core, that it becomes desperate. It starts to rapidly burn through the rest of its mana reserves, void mana saturating it and then some. It pours more and more void essence into its body, so much so that the blades Irela is shooting at it lose their protective mana and instantly disappear on impact. Still, more and more mana is spent for this attack, the slime's body swelling to twice its normal size.

"Fall back!" I shout. Just as we had planned before for if it shows any new trick, the team retreats. The slime wriggles as the group runs, then lunges. As fast as a speeding bullet it engulfs Vakelu, as well as Gojune behind her. I watch for a moment in shocked surprise as their silken armor dissolves just as their weapons do, their limbs slowly being eaten away. We can't even hear their screams.

"Attack! We have to get them out!" Esofy shouts.

Lotuna and Chyzu attack with ice spells, trying to freeze the slime, and Uloru swings her giant hammer trying to free the two. The hammer has its light mana protection eaten away quickly, but the earth mana below prevents any damage, providing an additional buffer. Kadona throws her sword at the core, the blade spinning in the air and cutting through the slime. it loses its protective light but hits the core, the massive weapon being too large to completely devour in time. A large piece of the core breaks off, but it isn’t enough.

I assume a spear-throwing role, inspired by a Kheshamo fight I saw and with a short running start throw my spear at the core, somehow throwing a little faster and harder than I can normally, likely due to the effects granted by [Acting]. The spear barely manages to hit, slightly curving in the air as the slime tries to dodge by moving its core. I watch the slime's vitality rapidly drop... but as the spear runs out of mana the Void Slime is still alive!

"Just one more attack!" I shout, but the slime suddenly blitzes across the room, catching Esofy and Jowaru and beginning to dissolve their armor too.

"ESOFY!!" Chyzu screams in rage and fear and shoots ice spear after ice spear as quickly as she can, utilizing her circlet.

"Irela, combine all your metal for one final attack!" With Esofy out, I take command. Irela forms all of her metal into one large ball and shoots it at the slime core, the ball zooming across the room and slamming into the slime, shrinking as it's eaten away. Even though it loses half of its size, the metal ball smashes through the core, shattering it. The slime starts to lose cohesion, puddling as the boss struggles to keep its form, its remaining vitality rapidly dropping in an attempt to keep itself alive. The shattered core and slime pool on the ground like a rapidly melting blob of ice.

Ting! Your party has killed a Void Slime (Heroic) Level 400 Space Manipulator (Grand) extra experience has been rewarded for being under-leveled.

We rush over to the captured members of the group. Little remains of Vakelu and Gojune, mostly small plates of light metal and a few bones. Jowaru and Esofy are still alive, although heavily injured, their forearms and shins are gone and large parts of their skin are eaten away. Their helmets are heavily damaged but did their job, keeping their heads from any harm. I immediately bring over Familiars to heal them with the limited effects of [Grace of Wholeness] as they are dragged out of the void slime that continues to eat away at everything it touches. Lotuna is doing most of the work slowly regenerating their limbs.

The storage ring Esofy had is gone and most of its contents are destroyed, but the waystone key proves its durability as it is completely unharmed. Kadona picks it up.

"We should go back to the main camp," Kadona says. Uloru grabs the chest that appeared in the room and I disperse the mana of the light armor so the group can teleport back to safety.