Slime Evolution

Chapter 438 - Level UP

Knowing his clones were already generating an absurd amount of experience through the guild members, and considering he himself had been leveling up at a dizzying speed, Lohan decided to try something different during that day’s hunt with Lisa.

"Lisa, today I want to test something," He remarked as they approached a pack of monsters in the forest.

"What?" she asked, curious.

He had been planning this idea and running tests during their last few hunts and with his clones quietly, trying to find a way to further boost the experience Lisa earned.

So as not to disappoint her, he had kept quiet about it these past few days and finally, before falling asleep last night, he had finally thought up a solution he believed might be viable.

"I want to see if I can get around Elysium’s combat system." Lohan explained. "Instead of me actively helping with kills like I always do, binding the monsters, poisoning them, or dealing damage directly, this time I’m going to try limiting myself to giving you only indirect support, like healing your wounds only after combat, boosting your vitality, or distracting the monsters without dealing direct damage to them. If I can pull that off properly, maybe the system won’t recognize me as a combat participant, and all the experience from the kill will go entirely to you."

Lisa stopped walking for a second, turning her head toward him.

"You want to give up your own experience on purpose?" She asked, surprised.

Despite everything, experience was still the most direct way for a Player to grow more powerful in Elysium. Even though she felt wronged by his fast development, she had never once asked him to slow down his own growth so she could catch up to him.

She wasn’t frustrated that he was progressing fast, but rather frustrated that she wasn’t progressing as fast as him, which were completely different concepts.

"I already earn enough experience from the clones spread across the guild." Lohan replied, simply. "You’re the one who needs to catch up. If I can make this work, you’ll level up at a speed much closer to mine."

Lisa fell silent for a moment, a mix of gratitude and stubbornness fighting inside her.

At the same time that she felt this was a bit unfair to him, since with him getting stronger, they were already managing to kill more powerful monsters faster, she still felt a warm little pang in her chest at him being willing to do this for her.

Even though overall this wasn’t a big loss for him, it was still a very sweet sign of good will to her.

"Fine," she agreed, finally. "Let’s try it."

Throughout that day’s hunt, Lohan did his utmost to keep that promise. Instead of binding the monsters with webs, he simply watched and guided Lisa verbally through the mental link, pointing out weak points without physically intervening, making use of several clones around them and the privileged view he had of everything. Instead of poisoning the beasts before the final blow, he just kept a steady, subtle flow of vitality flowing into her before or after each fight, making sure to stop it minutes before the fight actually began, something the system seemed to interpret as a simple passive buff, not as direct participation in the battle.

The result was slow at first, with Lisa having to fight alone against monsters she and Lohan would normally take down as a team in less than half the time, but gradually she got used to the new rhythm, and her speed at eliminating each target increased considerably.

The next day, exactly as they had predicted, a familiar notification appeared in Lisa’s vision.

[Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 16!]

"HALON! I FINALLY LEVELED UP!" Lisa shouted through the mental link, her excitement overflowing.

"Congratulations, Lisa!!" Lohan replied, genuinely happy for her. "How are you feeling?"

Lisa stood still for a moment, feeling her own body adjust to the new wave of power the level up brought, and then her eyes widened.

"Wait," she said, confused. "This is... stronger than I expected. Much stronger."

"What do you mean?" Lohan asked, curious.

"The power gain I feel when leveling up," Lisa explained, testing her own reflexes with a quick punch in the air, feeling the power of the virtual impact, "that growth was always proportional, a noticeable jump, but predictable. This time it feels... bigger, way bigger than the previous jumps used to be."

Lohan spent a second processing that, and then a theory began forming in his mind.

"Wait," he said, slowly. "Could it be because of the Biomass injections from the past few days? If they raised your base power by a few percentage points, maybe the system’s calculation for determining the gain per level uses that new base power as the reference, instead of calculating from the original value you had before, adding yet another cumulative layer onto your growth."

Lisa stopped, taking in that possibility.

"That would make sense," she murmured. "If my base power went up a little, and the system calculates the level increase as a percentage of that new total, then even a small base gain could translate into a proportionally bigger level jump."

"That’s incredible," Lohan said, his excitement spiking along with hers. "That means the biomass injections not only give you a direct, immediate gain, but also increase the value of every future level up! It’s an investment that pays off twice!"

Lisa’s tails quivered with satisfaction, feeling that new strength coursing through her own body with a vigor she hadn’t experienced in quite a while.

"So I won’t be left behind anymore!" She remarked in a teasing tone, a genuine smile forming on her face.

"I never wanted to leave you behind, Lisa." Lohan replied, serious. "You’re half of this guild. If I grow on my own while you’re stuck behind, that doesn’t benefit anyone."

Lisa felt her chest warm at those words, but quickly changed the subject before the emotion became too obvious in her voice.

"So, what’s the next genius plan from that gelatin brain of yours?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

Lohan, however, stayed quiet for a moment longer than usual, his mind processing something that had only now fully taken shape.

’If the biomass injection can permanently improve her body in Elysium,’ he thought, feeling a spark of curiosity grow inside him, ’could I do the same thing in the real world too?’