After going over the problem a couple of times, there didn’t appear to be a good option. “You can’t condense anymore?” I asked. The pool rippled inwards, so a no. I was hesitant to commit to moving out all my blood. Well the first thing was to get out of this dungeon and some place safe before I started any crazy experiments.

“I am will come up with something. I have a barrel you can travel in, if you want to come with me.” The pool swirled and then rippled outwards. That was great. I was sure I could come up with the perfect solution given time.

“Can you follow me up to the room with the statues?” The slime rippled outwards.

“Great, let’s go.” We set off. Things were going great. I had a kick ass pet that would merge with me and give me death slime powers. As I climbed I began talking to the slime. “We need to give you a name. Black Slime is descriptive, but a name means you are legend. I wanted to ask can you move inside of my body?” There was a small jerk near my stomach and I almost lost my balance. “Let’s not do that again.”

We reached the statue room and the black slime stopped before the statue of Tafe and began to swirl erratically. “Hmm? Don’t worry about her. I am her champion or whipping boy. Anyways, just chill here and I will be right back with the barrel.” The slime kept jiggling about, the excitement of leaving this shit hole was probably getting to it.

I climbed out of the hole, exiting the dark tower into the hot mid-day sun. I heard the clank of chains from behind me and spun around. The moment I saw the terrifying figure, the icy clutch of fear gripped my heart. It was The Encasement, more armor than man.

The spiked helmet, the dark gray armor, so dark it was almost black, and the ball and chain. I had known he was after me after that attempt to portal to me months ago, but figured I wouldn’t be seeing him again. No one had ever managed to so much as scratch him. I hadn’t worked to get a copy of the removed video of his only recorded fight so I had no clue what I was walking into.

He confirmed his name in his deep voice, “I am the Encasement. You are dead.” He began speeding up the speed he was spinning the ball and chain. It was going too fast to keep track of.

“Maybe we can talk things out.” I shifted my weight. I needed to avoid that ball and chain. A single hit would pulverize me. It most likely had extra abilities, so a near miss was just as dangerous.

“If you strip naked and lay down with your hands behind your head your questioning and death will not use extreme measures.” That was even more bull shit than what I told people. He didn’t even promise it wouldn’t be painful. I couldn’t see his expressions, but I bet he had a grin like I normally did when trapping someone. I was his prey and he was the predator. It was a very uncomfortable feeling being the one as a disadvantage.

I feinted to the right and then moved left. The ball impacted the ground where I had feinted towards, showering me with shattered pieces of black stone. The ball was yanked backwards and I ran. I darted around an outcropping of rock and kept moving. The armor should slow The Encasement down. I heard the shattering of stone and dived to the side. The ball whipped through where my body had been and impacted another rock formation, leaving a massive impact crater.

That was when The Encasement flew. I blinked and realized that the chain to the ball was pulling him and the ball wasn’t moving. I moved out of the way a second before The Encasement’s armored plated boot would have crushed my skull as he zoomed past me. His freaking ball and chain was a hook shot as well as instant death if it hit me. I promised myself I would be incredibly jealous after this battle. A sword that cut fate would have been a huge help right about now. “Observe. Identify.”

Clara TalonLvL: ???Strongest Stat: ?HP: ?????MP: ????SP: ?????Strongest Skill: ?

The EncasementLvL: 1000Requirements: 100 Strength, ???Stats: 1x Blunt Damage

Special: Repel, Attract, High Durability

I only had a moment to look over the screens as I got up and ran. The Encasement was a woman from her page and that was all the information I got. Apparently she named herself after her weapon. It was level freaking bull shit. That thing had to be made from the tears of a thousand players and the screams of unborn babies for a level that high. Also it had the special abilities attract and repel which meant that blocking was probably a bad idea. Finally there was no way to destroy it with what I had on me.

I heard the whirring as she spun up the ball and chain and I began moving erratically hoping to avoid another attack. I slid down a small portion of rock as the ball shattered the stone ridge I had just passed over. The ball landed on the ground in front of me with a shattering of stone and I saw it freeze in place and the chain go taunt. That weapon was totally over powered nonsense.

I kept running while I heard her body pulled to the ball. My single greatest advantage, my speed had been nullified. She probably dumped most of her stat points into strength. With that armor making her impossible to kill and the ball and chain for range as well as speed, she countered all her own weaknesses. The way the weapon was enchanted I was sure the sword and armor were as well. If she had mages make portals for her, she definitely had enchanters.

My only hope was outlasting her or delivering a critical strike of some sort, but she was barely moving with a low SP consumption. Swinging that ball and chain quickly did not require high movement, and it also propelled her across the ground. The ball and chain flew into the air above me and froze in the air. The Encasement flew up into the sky, and I cursed to myself about the unfairness of it all. I kept running but also kept an eye on what she was doing. The moment before she would hit the ball it dropped and she kept soaring in the air above me maintaining her momentum. I reversed directions, not wanting to be below her.

The ball hit the ground right in front of me. I scrambled off to the side as the Encasement hit the ground with a resounding crack of stone right behind me. “You can’t catch me!” I shouted, hoping to throw the warrior off her game. She didn’t hesitate to begin swinging her ball and chain again. Things weren’t looking good. I couldn’t put distance between us to make an escape and all it took was one hit.

“Burst speed.” I cried out and drew my flame blade. It was time to take a chance while I still could. I rushed in and The Encasement threw the ball and chain. The attack grazed my stomach slightly as I twisted to my right around the attack. My HP only took a small hit from the almost blow. I ducked under the chain so she would have to reach across her body to strike me with her right hand. The Encasement drew her blade and surged forward, the chain wrapped around her left yanking her towards me.

I watched her try and move her blade into position but her body was out of position. Her movements were slow but her body was being pulled quickly, which wasn’t helping her. Her movement wasn’t quick enough as my flame blade hit her helmet and the point skidded up towards the slit in her helmet. She twisted her head slightly and the blade became wedged into the slit.

She was still being pulled forwards but I refused to give up easily as I felt my blade being pulled from my hands as her armored figured kept pushing me across the ground with my sword acting as the stick. I had been resting on the front of my feet with my knees bent to absorb the initial blow which had worked out well. Now I jumped into the air and twisted myself over the chain. With my entire body weight behind my flame blade and her lack of solid footing, The Encasement’s entire head twisted to the side for a brief moment. If I could break her neck, which would be an instant win.

There was a breaking sound and the handle of my flame blade broke off from the blade itself. The blade was left wedged into her helmet. The attack had thrown her sword out of position and she hurtled past me. I looked once at my broken hilt and threw it away. The Encasement came to a stop and turned back around.

I pulled out the Slice of Life and readied myself for another charge into her. “Repel.” The flame blade shuddered for a moment and then shot away from where it had been wedged into her helmet. It slammed against a rock and left a small impact crater where it had hit. The entire blade shattered to pieces from the force of the blow. Her helmet had a silver gash etched into the dark metal of the armor running down the left side of the helmet right in front of where the eye would be. I rushed forward and The Encasement started swinging the ball and chain again.

This time she waited until the last possible opportunity to attack. It was at that moment I realized I couldn’t twist out of the way in time and was going to be smeared across the rock as red paste. Everything went dark.

Light hit me and I saw the black slime reforming in front of me as The Encasement advanced. “Thanks.” I grabbed the Slice of Life next to me. I got up to keep running before I was splatted.

“Opponents should stay defeated.” I heard The Encasement rumble out before slamming her ball into something. I couldn’t see anything as I kept running away as fast as I could.

It was time to gamble and hope I could escape. I ran behind a boulder. “Projection, run away from Encasement. Conceal Presence, five seconds.” I then stopped behind the boulder as an image of me kept running. I held my breath and thought out my next active skills so I didn’t interrupt my hiding. ‘Shield Mind, Burst Speed two times, Conceal Movement five seconds.’

My MP was dropping fast from all the active skills being used and it would take a while to bring it back up. If I was going to survive I had to run and it was worth the expense. It galled me to run, but I had no idea how I could win. Even if I did start winning I was sure I hadn’t seen whatever trump card The Encasement had. She was only using her weapon’s abilities and not any skills herself.

I ran towards the land ship. A resounding boom exploded in the direction my projection had run. I got to the land ship and unfurled the sails. I began pushing the Wish out from behind the boulder as quickly as I could. I was glad I had stopped it on top of a small incline as it began rolling down the hill that lead up to the glassed over rock.

I hopped in and angled the sails to catch the full wind. I looked behind me and saw the scariest, brick shitting sight ever. The Encasement was behind me swinging her ball and chain. She then unleashed it into the air. The chain kept going until the ball stopped in the air a hundred feet in front of me. That chain was insanely long. It seemed to twist from her left hand and up her arm to her back.

I swerved the land ship to the side. The Encasement flew overhead and then stopped mid-way, dropping down to the sand. I was already pulling away. “I will see you again.” The words barely reached me but they sent a chill down my spine.

That was one woman I wanted no part of. I let out a long sigh as I saw her disappear through a portal. I pulled the land ship around to pick up the rest of the black slime. The black slime inside of me jerked backwards away from the rock.

I turned away and the black slime stilled. That was weird, but I wasn’t going to argue. I cruised away from the glassed rock across the desert. I was going to travel in style to Yaxel and find Tor. Ten minutes later as the sun was dipping below the horizon there was a bright light that emanated from behind with the power of a thousand suns.

The light quickly dimmed and I glanced backwards. I didn’t see anything. No mush room cloud or pillar of debris. A minute later the ground began to shake and a blast of air sent the land ship hurtling forwards at incredible speeds. It was all I could do to keep control. That had been some kind of super weapon. The only thing that came to mind was anti-matter or the magical equivalent.

The Encasement definitely didn’t take loosing well. She should try losing an arm and see how that feels. I then got a really evil idea. I couldn’t beat the Encasement in terms of direct combat, but there was one method of attack that would really piss her off. I traveled for another hour before pulling the land ship to stop to get some rest and plot my revenge.

In my atrium, I got to work. It was humiliating and cruel, but she needed to back off. Apparently my torture videos just didn’t excite her. Now she would witness the power of the Rain of Blood. I finished my editing and released the video of the fight with the title, Encasement a Woman, Engages in Courtship. I added commentary to the whole thing with innuendos and insults about the black armored woman.

It was completely over the top and a lampooning of the entire way she had set herself up in FEAR. It was petty, but it made me feel a lot better after having run away. I also sent her public account a copy of the video with lots of smiley faces.

After getting some sleep I woke up in the desert as the sun was just coming up. I set off again and let out a sigh. “I’m an idiot.”

That video was just going to piss her off more and piss off women everywhere. It had been my first real loss in a heads up fight while I wasn’t critically weak. I didn’t even have a chance and would have died if I had kept fighting. I was weak, very weak. I had even lost my flame blade. I had one for so long it was like a part of me had died on that battlefield.

I went to hold up both my hands and look at them, but realized I was missing one. “AHHHH! Stupid Encasement.” I meant the ball and chain not the player. It was so insanely over powered. I honestly thought no one would be able to take on a dragon. After seeing her abilities and the final farewell attack, I was totally outclassed.

“Black slime, you there?” I asked. I felt it move inside of me. I poked a hole in the top of the barrel holding the watered down beer. I made a small cut on my stump. “Can you come out?” The black slime came out and a quarter of my status bars disappeared. The black slime was about the size of my head and sat on my lap below the wind shear of the land ship.

“The barrel is back there. Sorry I wasn’t able to save the rest of you.” The slime quivered for a second and then plunged into the barrel at the back of the land cart. “Thanks for saving me. I would have been toast.”

I set course to the south west. I was going to Yaxel and seeing Tor. I had learned that she had set herself up as a local healer in the city. It would be great to have her on hand when I replaced my blood out with slime juice. She also might know about how organs actually worked. I made another sandwich while I thought on the problem.

The only thing replaceable was my blood and I didn’t want to replace all of it. I probably wouldn’t have a choice. I adjusted the sails a bit as I contemplated what I could do. I really needed an arm, but the slime wouldn’t be strong enough to support the weight of one or survive the heat of the sun apparently. It left me dependent on something that was controlled by Tafe. Anything that had the phrase ‘controlled by Tafe’ as part of it was all around bad news.

Despite that I was tempted, even more so after the last fight. I needed a power up if I was going to survive. Every single fight so far had been one of desperation. I had managed to pull through but each time, my end came closer and closer. This last fight I had to be saved by something else.

My thoughts troubled me as I cruised past the end of the mountains where they sunk into plains and the desert ended. South and a bit west and I should arrive in Yaxel. “Tafe, will you answer some questions?” I asked out loud. Nothing, but maybe she was just being coy. I sipped some water.

The hardest part of riding a landship was taking a piss. The first rule is to never piss into the wind. Thankfully I remembered that. Traveling was already uncomfortable enough without adding piss pants to the equation. Then it hit me like a The Encasement’s ball.

The black slime could live in my digestive tract. There was enough space to house a large portion. I might be able to filter things from the black slime into my body. I began thinking through all the possibilities. The key thing would be if it could survive my stomach acid and release nutrients to me or however the food system worked.

I knew I needed to eat, but I also knew that the molecules and the processes from consuming food did not exist. I did have to poop and people did have shit in their intestines. Maybe a portion of the food matter was converted to waste and the remainder processed. That would make sense and was the only conclusion that made sense. This meant that the black slime could exist in everything below my stomach.

The black slime I swallowed had most likely dissolved in my stomach and then the nutrients or poison went into my body while the rest became waste. The idea was definitely one of my more brilliant ones. I couldn’t wait to meet up with Tor and try it out. I noted a number of farm houses in the distance and pulled the Wish to a stop into a crescent of trees. I hated leaving the land ship, but it was incredibly conspicuous.

Once it was parked, I was too excited to press on to Yaxel. I looked in the barrel and the black slime was everywhere inside of it. It appeared it enjoyed beer. “Can you come out?” I asked. The black slime flowed out and landed on the ground next to the land ship.

“Alright I have an idea. You can travel in my gut.” The slime spread out and rippled inwards. It didn’t like that idea.

“If I let you replace my blood, you could kill me. Tafe may make you kill me.” The slime swirled. “If I let you replace my blood you could never leave me.”

“You sure you won’t try my bowel tract?” The slime rippled inwards. I stripped and pointed to the rear entrance to my body. “Up there.” The slime rippled inwards even harder. I pulled up my pants. “Alright then, can I consume a portion of you to turn my blood into slime joo joo?” The slime swirled and then stilled.

Suddenly it engulfed my face and I felt it forcing itself down my throat. I could only let out a gurgle. It kept pouring in until my stomach felt like it would burst if another bit entered me. The slime pulled back and I let out gasping breaths and collapsed on the ground.

The sun slowly began to set and I couldn’t move. The black slime collective, since it was composed of hundreds of drops of black slime, just stayed next to me while I rested. Then the notice finally came and I let out a long sigh at finally getting a result.

Black Slime Purrification-5 MAXThe power of the black slime has been purrifed in your body+25% Physical Resistance

+25% Magical Resistance

That was completely awesome since it brought up my physical resistance to fifty percent and magical resistance to thirty percent. I poked my body and it felt softer. I grabbed a finger and was able to bend it back so it was only forty five degrees from the back of my hand. My entire body felt looser and freer. It did nothing for the already present wounds. Regeneration would have been a nice touch to get as well. I looked at the black slime.

“Thanks, you want to come with me now that we are out of the desert?” It swirled and then rippled outwards. I had a pet. “Alright, I had better think of a name. Maybe Slimey or Blacky.” The black slime swirled. I would definitely have to put some thought into it.

“Alright, I can travel a lot faster than you. So how do you want to travel?” I asked the monster. It swirled and then leapt up onto me. I felt it move under my shirt and begin to harden. A couple of seconds later I had what felt like a wet, tight jacket clinging to me. Despite the wet feeling my clothes remained dry. Maybe excreting liquid was its version of going to the bathroom.

I packed up what supplies I could carry in satchels and made sure the Wish was secure. Once that was done I set off. Yaxel had no walls. Since it was so isolated it probably never bothered to put up any. I snuck into the sprawling city and made my way towards Tor’s house and shop.

The streets weren’t empty but a figure in a cloak that had a sword on their side was not the most appetizing of targets. The key was in how one walked. Showing that you were confident and didn’t care what other people thought meant they got out of my way.

I reached the shop and knocked. “What is it now?” Her voice was just the same as I remembered. “I swear you better be dying or you will need me to heal you.” She swung open the door and I looked up at her. There was a baby in her arms.

***

Clara was pissed. She entered her bath as the water swirled around her. “Repel.” The water was blasted away like her usual ritual with one difference. A slight reddish tint colored the water. The pain in her right eye was intense. Her armor’s strength had managed to block the worst of the heat, but some still managed to penetrate.

She kept up with the water to wash it out and cool the burning sensation down. She would have to wait before she was able to tell how much of her sight she had left. The bonus quest was still active, which meant that Blood Rain escaped the bomb that she had ordered deployed. A waste of thousands of man hours and a lot of materials.

She exited the bath and went to sleep. The following morning she was woke up and proceeded to head out of her room. Standing there was a single mage assistant who looked ready to run away at any moment.

“I am reporting that Blood Rain posted a video of your fight with him.”

“Why are you nervous?”

“I think you should watch the video…it is not flattering.” I moved to my secure chamber and returned to my atrium. I noted a large number of junk messages but one was highlighted as being from Blood Rain and it contained a video. There were a large number of smiley faces as the heading of the message. I opened up the video.

“Hello my viewers. Today is a special video. I get into a fight with the legendary Encasement. This woman clearly has the hots for me and my smoking bod.” Then was a still shot of his groin, thankfully it was covered. “Yes that is right, the Encasement is a woman. Despite the rumor that woman are angry once a month, this terminator of terror proves she is out for blood and outing blood at the same time, all the time.”

The video kept getting more and more offensive after that. My fists tightened as I watched my carefully crafted reputation be torn to shreds. It was a mockery of all my hard work. Everything I had done to reach this point was casually dismissed as the over compensation for giant balls. I never took pleasure in extracting information or killing people, but I was going to make an exception just this once. I watched the video to the very end.

“Now we see when she blows her top. I guess I forgot to turn off the stove and burnt the pig roast, which is a metaphor for her face. I just wanted you to know. Love and kisses Miss Encasement, your man crush Blood Rain sends his regards.”

***

UltimataSecret: The Encasement got trolled, since she is a troll

6996: Ummm, that was a really mean video

TheWinzKid: She really pissed him off, I hereby declare them rivals

TrollMaster911: I give it a 7/10 for trolling

GODHAXLOL: ENCASEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

OtherSide: What woman would love him?

SmokingHot: Have my babies!

UltimataSecret: Will he throw them like his gold, to throw or not to throw babies, that is the question

SRUP: Women unite against Blood Rain

TheDarkness: Your sparkles blind me to the horror of others

***

Author’s Note: So there we have it. The Encasement is wounded, but Blood Rain is forced to run/sail away after losing his flame blade. This chapter was troublesome in many ways from a writing perspective but I think I managed it.