Slime Evolution

Chapter 440 - Finally?

”Ow, stop,” she said, opening her eyes quickly. ”That one hurt stronger than the previous ones.”

Lohan cut off the flow instantly, quickly retracting the filaments back into himself.

”Seventy three biomass.” He said, surprised, almost not believing his own number. ”That’s almost double yesterday’s limit.”

Lisa stood still for a moment, still feeling the echo of that pang of pain, but then a glint of anticipation appeared in her golden eyes.

”Wait, let me see how much I gained this time.” she said, quickly getting up.

Lohan watched her closely as she tested her own body, doing a few jumps, letting off small bursts of spiritual fire against the office’s reinforced wall, and running in a small circle within the room’s limited space.

The silence stretched on for a few seconds as Lisa concentrated, feeling every muscle fiber and every pulse of her own spiritual core, comparing it to how she had felt minutes earlier.

Then, turning to him with a huge, genuinely excited smile, she nearly shouted through the mental link.

”Halon, it was almost 2% again!”

”SERIOUSLY?!” Lohan reacted, his own excitement bursting along with hers. ”Even with double the biomass invested?”

”Yes! I can feel it clearly!” Lisa confirmed, giving another excited jump, her two tails swishing nonstop behind her. ”It’s a little less noticeable than the first gains, but it’s still a real, pretty big jump, it’s not just my imagination!”

Lohan kept processing that, his mind working at high speed at that moment to piece it all together.

”This is great.” He said, still a bit in disbelief. ”Of course, we still need to confirm tomorrow whether this growth holds up this high for the next few days, or at least whether the drop off doesn’t fall too fast, but at least for today, the numbers point to the best possible scenario.”

”What do you mean, the best scenario?” Lisa asked, curious.

”If the limit keeps growing forever as you level up, that means this technique will never become obsolete,” Lohan explained, excited. ”Every time you evolve, I’ll be able to invest even more biomass into you, and you’ll keep getting permanent gains proportional to that new ceiling. That’s basically a growth system that scales with you forever, instead of plateauing at some point.”

Lisa was impressed by that conclusion, but then a doubt arose in her mind.

”But wait,” she said, ”if the cost keeps rising this much, won’t there come a point where it becomes impractical for you to sustain this? Seventy three biomass a day is quite a lot.”

”Honestly, no,” Lohan replied, without hesitating. ”With how many clones are spread across the guild right now, hunting all day with the new members, I’m getting hundreds of biomass a day just from the discarded parts of the monsters they kill. Most of that I’ve been saving for emergencies, like what I used to control the Broken Suns’ mana, and also for a big upgrade I want to do on myself in the future. But spending a few dozen, or even a hundred, on you every day? That’s a bargain considering the return.”

Hearing that, Lisa felt her chest warm in a way she still wasn’t fully used to admitting out loud.

”You really thought about all of this,” she remarked, quietly.

”Of course I did,” Lohan replied, as if that were obvious. ”You’re the President of our guild and my friend. Investing in you is practically investing in the foundation of everything we’ve built so far.”

Lisa looked away for a moment, feeling her face heat up under her white fur, but before she could respond with anything, Lohan changed the subject, his mind going back to that idea that had been growing inside him since the day before.

”Lisa, since the tests here are going so well,” he began, a little more cautious now, ”I wanted to propose something.”

”What?” she asked, still somewhat distracted by her own embarrassment.

”What if we tried the same process in the real world?” Lohan asked. ”Injecting biomass directly into your body out there, to see if we can replicate this permanent gain as well.”

Lisa stopped completely, hearing that, her eyes widening as the idea settled into her mind.

’Wait...’ She thought, slowly. ’That’s right... just like I’ve been gaining traits and powers from the Spirit Fox in my real body, like my ears and my enhanced sensory perception, he’s also gaining his Slime powers in the real world!’

Even though she had assumed he had these powers, she hadn’t connected in such a concrete way what those powers of his were actually capable of.

Unlike her, who developed in a very one dimensional way, focused almost entirely on combat, Halon was her complete opposite, covering almost every possible area, whether physical, magical, or support enhancements.

Lohan then continued. ”I’ve already tested a bit of this on my own, like forming extra fingers or making my webs work out there, but I’ve never actively tried using it on someone else.”

Lisa kept processing that for a longer moment, her mind still working through all the possible implications of it.

”Halon,” she said, slowly, ”you realize the absurd amount of different powers you’ve accumulated in Elysium, right? Digestion, mana control, holy light, natural energy, dozens of different evolutions... if any of these powers work in the real world and can be used on someone else, that’s not just interesting, that could be revolutionary.”

”Well, when you say it like that it sounds scarier than exciting.” Lohan joked, picturing himself on a table being studied by mad scientists like in every comic book and sci-fi story he read back in the other world, but inside he felt the same dizzying rush at that possibility.

”No, it’s exciting too,” Lisa corrected quickly, a determined glint appearing in her golden eyes. ”If this works, I could get stronger in the real world too, not just in Elysium. Let’s try it.”

”Really? You’re on board this fast?” Lohan asked, surprised by how quickly she decided.

”After seeing today’s result, how could I not be?” Lisa shot back, already getting up excitedly. ”What time is it in the real world right now?”

Lohan checked the small discreet clock in the corner of the game menu.

”Eight at night,” he replied.

”Perfect, there’s still time,” Lisa said, decided. ”I’ll get ready real quick and grab the car to head over to your place. Be ready.”

”Wait,” Lohan said, an idea coming to his mind at the same time. ”If you’re coming over, I’ll take the chance to buy some real meat. We’re finally going to be able to have that barbecue we keep promising and never manage to pull off.”

Lisa paused for a second, and even through her fox expression, Lohan could tell a genuine smile was forming.

”After how many times that barbecue has been canceled,” she remarked, ”I’m only going to believe it when I see the meat on the grill in person, or better yet, when I see the meat cut up and ready to eat, since the first time I saw the meat on the grill and had to leave because of my mom...”

”This time I promise it’s going to happen,” Lohan assured her, with a theatrical confidence. ”Even if I have to lock the apartment door so you can’t escape before eating.”

”Threatening kidnapping now, Halon?” Lisa teased, already moving toward the exit of the office.

”Just making sure we actually eat this time,” he corrected, laughing.

”Okay, okay,” Lisa replied, her voice carrying a lighthearted excitement that, at this point, when she was with Lohan, was becoming less and less rare and more and more the new normal. ”I’m logging off now. See you in a bit, in the real world.”

”It’s a deal, then.” Lohan confirmed. ”Drive safe.”

”I always drive safe.” Lisa shot back, offended by the suggestion. ”Just so you know, I’ve been driving since I was 15 and I’ve never even scratched the paint on any of my cars.”

”Since you were 15?! Doesn’t the law only allow it after 16?” Lohan replied, feigning shock. ”I can’t believe I’m getting this close to a criminal...”

”Haha, very funny.” She let out a laugh and rolled her eyes as she logged off. ”Bye, Halon.”

”Bye, Lisa.”

With that, her body turned into thousands of tiny blue particles of light, and her icon switched to offline.

Lohan stayed alone in the office for a moment, feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement run through his entire gelatin.

He knew that little experiment, if it worked, could completely change the course of everything they had been building, both inside and outside Elysium.

The possibility of strengthening whoever he wanted in the real world was even more shocking than strengthening people in Elysium, since safety in the real world was far more valuable and fragile.

Without wasting any more time, he also started the disconnection process, eager to meet up with his friend in the real world, and curious, more than ever, to find out just how far those borrowed powers from another world could really take them.