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Veronica decided to use 'Absorption Healing' in the large Armored Crab's carapace. She thought that just like with the material that made up the Living Armor Commander, she would be able to assimilate it with 'Armory'. ​​

Ding!

[Armored Crab Silver Carapace] Material Successfully Absorbed; Health Points Restored]

[Armory Slots full. Choose equipment to discard.]

> [Cursed Living Armor Commander]

> [Medium-Sized Copper Shield]

[User can also choose to 'Synthesize' acquired material into preexisting material inside an Armory Slot by spending a variable amount of Mana]

"Wait, that's better… My shield is rather weak, I should upgrade it by adding it the Crab's Carapace" thought Veronica, doing so by waving her claw-like fingers around the holographic screen of the system.

Ding!

[Armored Crab Silver Carapace] has been synthesized into [Medium-Sized Copper Shield]!]

[Medium-Sized Copper Shield] has evolved into [Medium-Sized Silver Carapace Shield]!]

[Only one type of material can be assimilated inside of Armory once]

[Repeatedly assimilating the same material will only recover Health Points]

"So I can only assimilate a material once… I won't be able to cheat my way and constantly upgrade my shield by synthesizing it with the same carapace… Hm?"

As Veronica admired the changes into her shield, which had become sturdier and gained silvery coverture, she glanced at the Armored Crab's corpse, which had its entire carapace stripped off. It was now just the flesh and internal organs, and its smell would quickly attract monsters.

"I think I should be able to taste that with my soul by using the 'Special Five Senses' skill… but I do not think that I can digest it… neither it seems appetizing. I better leave before any monsters appear" thought Veronica, quickly shrouding herself in slight shadows as she moved upstairs.

As she ascended the stairs, she heard the screeches of monsters who had found the corpse, it seems that they were fighting for it. This only made her walk faster by using 'Charge' once.

When Veronica reached the next floor, her senses quickly alerted her of danger. As she raised her sight to the front, she found a large mass of bouncing blob. It was shrouded in the mist, but due to her 'Special Five Senses' combined with her mana waves, she was able to easily detect what this monster was.

"A Blood Slime…? If it's living here it most probably means that it eats metallic monsters, so its digestive juices must be lethal… I need to be careful and- another one? And to my right… an Armored Crab?"

From within Veronica's vision, the three corridors that presented to her from her right-left, and the front had a monster waiting for her.

She needed to quickly choose one of them to fight or she would be overwhelmed by the three!

Blood Slimes were evolved forms of Slimes, and were of Rank 2 to 3, while the Armored Crab was a Rank 2 monster… she was also a rank 2, and although she defeated a rank 3 before, this was because she was fighting it alone and her foe didn't have any backup or much space to move around. Slimes were also extremely quick, unlike the Armored Crabs or the Living Armor Commander.

"Of course, I will choose an Armored Crab, I won't risk it with a Slime that could entangle me and quickly dissolve me!" thought Veronica, rushing towards the still-unaware Armored Crab while making sure to not be heard by the other two Slimes.

She used her momentum given to her by 'Charge' to clash against the Armored Crab with a strong punch on its back, afterwards, she followed by two Shadow Spheres created from each of her hands, ending it with a strong Hammer Kick on its head, in the middle of its two poking eyes.

The Armored Crab was looking in the opposite direction of Veronica, so it was easily taken by surprise and killed on the spot!

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 5 to level 8!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 5 to level 8!]

"Phew…"

Veronica glanced at her back to make sure that the Slimes were to a decent distance from her. As she had expected, they had noticed her presence the moment she fought the Crab, as her blows that made the Crab's Silver Carapace break apart created thunderous sounds.

"Blob… Blob?"

"Blob!"

The two slimes moved at great speed towards the origin of the sound, one being a Blood Slime and the other a simple Blue Slime.

Veronica deiced to hold in the hope of escaping, as she rushed towards her front, only to find a dead-end!

However, this was within her plans. She had to bet it in the Armored Crab, which ended on its quick defeat. While hoping for stairs to be at the end of that selected corridor.

But that was not the case, and she had already accepted that if she were to fail, she would have to fight both slimes. At the very least, the Armored Crab was already taking care of, and the fight would not be as unpredictable without it to consider it.

"Blob!"

With greater speed, the blue-colored Slime charged towards Veronica, who had moved behind the corpse of the Armored Crab, using it as a shield… the blue slime, however, instead of trying to find her, began to eat the Armored Crab.

The Blood Slime did the same, seemingly unable to detect her because she was completely shrouded in shadows and completely still.

By using the delicious corpse of the Crab as a diversion, Veronica pounced towards the Blood Slime by using 'Charge' and 'Hammer Blow', targeting the Slime's Core, which was a red-colored gem.

The Blood Slime had bad senses and it was immersed in its feasting, perhaps due to not having eaten in days, due to this, Veronica managed to get a clean hit on its core, shattering it into pieces.

Clash!

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 8 to level 12!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's Job' has increased from level 8 to level 12!]

"It worked!" she shouted on her mind.

The blue slime noticed the sudden death of its 'companion' and felt the intimidating presence of Veronica, instead of confronting her, it escaped.

"Blob!"

Not wanting to find trouble by going towards some kind of Slime Nest, she decided to let the little slime run away.

"It's not worth to follow it, it's too fast and the Experience Points wouldn't be enough to compensate for the effort"

Veronica decided to grab on the shattered Blood Slime Core and assimilate it with 'Absorption Healing'.

[Blood Slime Core] Material Successfully Absorbed; Health Points Restored]

[Please choose equipment to discard or synthesize into]

Veronica remembered that Slime Cores were used as materials to create magic accessories to help mages increase the strength of their spells slightly. She decided to synthesize it into her armor.

Ding!

[The material [Blood Slime Core] and the [Cursed Living Armor Commander] equipment have been synthesized into the [Cursed Blood Living Armor] equipment!]

Veronica's appearance changed slightly as she gained small, scarlet-colored tones in her helmet and shoulders, alongside a tiny red jewel in her 'forehead'.

She felt that her armor was capable of storing a small amount of Mana now.

"Let's quickly store some Mana inside my armor for emergencies… and let's get going," she said, as she assimilated the carapace of the Armored Crab to regain some health and to gain experience into her Absorption Healing Skill.

Veronica found that stairs leading above were at the left, where the Slime had run away.

"In the end, I still went towards the route it escaped… Hopefully, I don't encounter him again with his mother or big siblings…" muttered Veronica.

"That was not bad, piece of junk… You're quite good at utilizing whatever tools there are for your advantage…" said Shade, unexpectedly praising Veronica.

"Thanks, you're also quite helpful, Shade. Without you, my Mana Bullets would be too weak to do much damage" said Veronica, 'patting' Shade with her soul claw.

"…"

Shade seemed flustered, and stayed silent, shrouding himself in the shadows within Veronica's hollow body.

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