Chapter 186: Slime Talent

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Slime Talent

The wheels rumbled over the dirt road, causing the carriage to jolt slightly.

Lance was huddled in the far corner, glancing from side to side.

The other people in the carriage all had their eyes closed, resting. No one paid him any mind.

So, with a thought, he summoned the panel that only he could see.

[Demon Slime Level 4 (Racial Talent Extractable)]

The progress bar was already full.

Without any hesitation, Lance issued the command to extract it in his mind.

[Extracting... Converting to a Human-Adaptive Talent...]

[Solidifying Racial Talent for you: Mucus Coagulation Factor (Green)]

[Description: The highly viscous Trait of a Slime’s body fluid has been perfectly replicated in your hematopoietic stem cells. The structure of your blood has mutated, becoming extremely adhesive and capable of high-strength sealing.]

[Effect: Your maximum Constitution +2. When you suffer a penetrating wound or bleeding-type injury, your blood will rapidly congeal at the wound site, forming a highly resilient "Gel Blood Scab." This forcibly reduces blood loss by 65% and provides a sterile physiological environment for subsequent deep-tissue self-healing, accelerating the healing speed by 50%.]

The very instant he confirmed his choice,

a peculiar sensation violently spread out from the depths of Lance’s bone marrow.

It wasn’t a sharp pain, but a sore, swelling, tingling itch, as if something inside his bones was being forcibly altered.

He could clearly feel the blood in his veins suddenly thicken and grow hot.

With every beat of his heart, this heavy, hot current was pumped to every corner of his body.

Lance clenched his jaw, pressing his back tightly against the carriage wall.

To avoid attracting attention, he forcefully suppressed the transformative urge sweeping through his body, not even daring to breathe too heavily.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long.

After about ten seconds, the scorching heat and soreness gradually subsided, melting completely into the depths of his muscles and bones.

After the physical transformation was complete, Lance let out a long, heavy breath.

Lance finally caught his breath and focused on the panel again, carefully poring over the Talent’s description.

After reading it, a helpless, bitter smile couldn’t help but tug at the corners of his mouth.

’Just as I’d thought.’

’Trying to reach the heavens in a single bound by killing low-level monsters and getting a freakish regeneration ability like a Slime’s "infinite reassembly after being shattered" was just a pipe dream.’

Under the panel’s "Human Adaptive Transformation" rule, the amorphous creature’s exaggerated regeneration ability had been rationally converted into a support Talent that enhanced blood coagulation and wound healing.

’Still, even if I didn’t get "limb regeneration," this is a genuine Green-tier Talent!’

’You have to understand, Slimes are universally acknowledged across the continent as total weaklings.’

’The last time I got a Green-tier Talent from a Goblin, it was a fluke mutation caused by my Dragon Blood forcibly interfering with the assimilation.’

’But this time, the Slime produced a Green-tier quality Talent purely on the strength of its hardcore Racial Trait.’

’You have to respect that self-healing potential.’

’It seems that if I want to obtain true "Super-speed Regeneration," I’ll have to wait until after I change my Profession, then go kill a few Professional Level, High Tier monsters,’

’like a Mutated Giant or a Multi-headed Snake.’

That said, Lance was actually quite content with this "Mucus Coagulation Factor."

Putting aside the +2 Constitution, the "reduce blood loss by 65%" part alone was an absolute life-saving Divine Skill.

Before, if he got a major artery sliced or his stomach pierced in a fight, he’d be done for from hypovolemic shock in just a few seconds.

But things were different now.

With this "Gel Blood Scab," even if he suffered a severe penetrating wound, the viscous blood would forcibly seal it shut.

As long as the bleeding stopped, he could still move. It was practically half an "Immune to Death" super armor Effect.

Combined with the final 50% healing acceleration, a gash deep enough to reveal bone, which would have previously put him in bed for over half a month, would now probably scab over and grow new flesh in a matter of days.

Although it couldn’t compare to a Giant’s visible-to-the-naked-eye recovery speed, the foundation was now solidly laid.

In the future, as long as he farmed more of this type of Demon, he could slowly stack up the strength of his recovery ability.

...

CLICK.

Lance used the spare key to unlock the oak door and enter the house.

Rein had said a couple of days ago that he was going to prepare some ritual items, and had specifically told Lance he could let himself in.

Hearing the noise, Xiaohai and Bean Bun, who were dozing by the fireplace, instantly perked up their ears.

The two balls of fur came over, wagging their tails, and circled around Lance’s leather boots, whining ingratiatingly.

Lance bent down for a flurry of pats, gave their heads a couple of rough scruffs, then immediately stood up straight.

At that moment, he felt a fire raging in his stomach.

The Talent enhancement he had just completed in the carriage hadn’t just changed his blood structure; it had also consumed a large amount of his body’s stored base Energy.

So, his first thought upon returning home was to make a beeline for the kitchen.

He had to find some high-calorie food immediately to quell his hunger.

The kitchen was quite empty.

Lance rummaged through cupboards and drawers and finally, from the very back of a pile of pots and pans under the stove, he pulled out a bulging brown paper bag.

He pulled out the bag, tore it open, and the meaty aroma of spices shot straight into his nostrils.

He leaned in for a sniff and confirmed it was excellent-quality dried meat.

But just as he took out a few pieces of jerky from the bag, ready to feast, his movements suddenly paused.

He took a closer look in the light filtering through the window.

He noticed several teeth marks on the rock-hard jerky.

They looked like they could have been made by human teeth, but also by canine teeth.

Lance looked down at the two small dogs circling his feet with pleading eyes, and it clicked.

’This was most likely a snack Uncle Rein bought for Xiaohai and Bean Bun to chew on.’

"Woof!" Xiaohai barked, his eyes glued to the jerky, his tail wagging like a propeller. He was clearly drooling for it.

Lance gave a dry cough and forced a slightly awkward smile.

"Sorry about this, little guys."

He squatted down to negotiate. "I’m commandeering this bag for now. I’ll definitely buy you two new bags first thing tomorrow morning to make it up to you."

’When you’re starving, who cares about dignity? It doesn’t matter if it’s for humans or dogs, as long as it fills your stomach.’

’Thinking back, some of the takeout I ate in my past life, even a dog probably wouldn’t touch.’

Lance stood up and shoved a handful of jerky directly into his mouth.

He bit through the tough meat and washed it down with big gulps of cool water from a jug.

’Not bad, it actually tastes pretty authentic.’

In just a few minutes, he had devoured the entire, hefty bag of jerky.

As a large amount of food entered his stomach to be digested,

Lance finally felt the sensation of hunger begin to slowly recede.

He let out a satisfied sigh, rubbing his stomach as he prepared to slip out of the kitchen.

But as he turned, he was startled to see a figure that had appeared at the turn of the stairs at some unknown point.

Ella was standing there.

Her large, amber eyes were currently glued to the empty brown paper bag in Lance’s hands.

At this moment, Ella was already flipping tables in her mind.

’That bag of jerky was the one she had gone to great lengths to hide!’

’Rein had bought that jerky at the market yesterday, specifically as a training reward for Xiaohai and Bean Bun.’

’But at the time, Ella had thought she was being very clever.’

’She had planned to hide the jerky when no one was around, then later tell Rein that she had already "kindly" fed the dogs.’

’That way, she could secretly claim the bag of snacks for herself.’

’With this bag of jerky, she’d have the leverage to say "no" whenever Rein threatened her.’

’She had just secretly taken a small bite when the front door sounded.’

’To avoid being discovered, she had hastily shoved the paper bag behind those kitchen utensils.’

’But who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, it would all end up in this detestable Dragon Descendant’s stomach!’

Ella was so angry her chest heaved, and her cheeks puffed up like buns.

But she didn’t dare to lash out, nor could she righteously demand compensation.

’If Rein found out that she, a proud Werewolf of the Cyan Moon Royal Family, was secretly fighting with two dogs over snacks...’

’How could she ever show her face in this house again?’

’Even though the Canine Sub-human Species has "Canine" in the name, that absolutely doesn’t make them actual dogs!’

’She couldn’t afford to lose that much face.’

’But was she just going to swallow this insult?’

’She could feel the anger churning wildly inside her.’

’So infuriating! It’s enough to kill a wolf!’

Lance stood at the kitchen entrance, watching Ella glare at him as if she wanted to swallow him whole. He was caught in a dilemma.

Although he didn’t know what sort of chaotic thoughts were running wild in this Wolf Girl’s head, his sharp eyes noticed that the big, fluffy tail behind her was now wagging back and forth so fast it was leaving afterimages.

The smell of gunpowder hung thick in the air.

’This is bad.’

Lance’s heart skipped a beat.

’Don’t tell me the dog food I just randomly dug up was exactly what this little princess had hidden?’

"Good afternoon."

Lance forced what he hoped was a friendly smile and tried to deflect. "Um, I just got back from running an errand... Where did Uncle Rein go today?"

Hearing this, Ella took a deep breath.

’The thought of letting it go felt like a loss, and the thought of backing down just made her angrier.’

’Adding in the humiliating incident last time when she was left hanging from the rafters... ’

Ella made up her mind: ’Beat the crap out of him.’

’I’ll let him witness the power of a genius from the Cyan Moon Royal Family.’

’Then I’ll threaten him into buying me some tasty food as compensation.’

’However,’

’as a noble royal, she would still display her magnanimity after beating him up.’

She sized up Lance.

’This guy is clearly following the path of a melee Adventurer. Plus, his clothes are very plain; he doesn’t look rich at all.’

’I wonder which fallen Dragon Descendant Race he ran away from.’

’He probably hasn’t mastered any High Tier Combat Skills either.’

’When the time comes, he’ll be treating me to good food and drinks.’

’And I wouldn’t mind casually teaching him a few Combat Skills unique to the Werewolf Species, as a form of compensation.’