They reached the ore mine the following noon, with Slade leading the formation.

“I can see the gnolls. I think they spotted us,” Milia said.

She handed the spyglass to the troglodyte rook, who didn’t have eyes. After an awkward silence, the minotaur put it back with the supplies.

“Pawns, form a circle around us. Slime, you’ll lead the charge!” Shaki yelled.

The troglodytes moved in formation, leaving behind their hidden supplies. The closest ones to Shaki wore similar blindfolds as her and better equipment than the rest. One troglodyte wore a shackle around his neck and stood behind Milia as her underling.

Oh… Their fashion sense wasn’t random! Slade thought as he led the plain-looking troglodytes.

The stomping legs of the golem resounded on the rocky surface. It mingled with the howling of the countless gnolls preparing for battle in front of the mine, along with the screams of the green-skinned monsters following Slade. 

He could see the gnolls bracing themselves. The men with hyena head swung their flail in a circle.

The earth golem trampled over the few defenders and small wooden barricades surrounding the gnoll encampment. He smashed through their wooden yurts, sending gnolls flying. Their flimsy flails could not stop his momentum.

Slade plowed through the camp, leaving a wake of destruction behind him for the troglodytes to clean up the leftover gnolls. 

Once they reached the middle of the gnoll village, countless enemies jumped out from their hiding place, surrounding Milia’s group.

“Push through to the mine entrance, golem!” Shaki commanded.

Milia’s fur and snout grew as she exposed her minotaur form. She received the many flails with her two handed great axe and repelled them with a powerful swing. The troglodytes fell as they protected the rooks from the side assaults. 

Slade’s role was to open a way to reach the mine. Then, the troglodytes would use the choke point to escape the flanking enemies.

The golem ran forward, building momentum at each of his steps.

A wall of gnolls stood on his path, guarding the mine with planks of wood and spears. A floating scroll flashed in front of Slade when they braced themselves.

[Gnoll Toughness: Increase defense and block rate.]

Slade’s shoulder smashed against the plank, but the tight formation of gnolls held their ground.

Fuck! 

The gnolls poked at the golem with spears, scraping out the stone plating covering the soft earthen flesh of the golem.

Every second mattered, but the enemies would not budge. Instead, Slade felt like he was pushed back!

While the slime was stuck in a stalemate, seven out of Violet’s fifteen troglodytes died. Forty gnolls were still surrounding them.

Shaki’s personal guards acted more coordinated and protected each other, while Milia’s underling died protecting his mistress.

[Skill: Alchemical Synthesize produced grease.]

Fluids dripped between Slade’s feet. He stepped back, knocking down few allies. Then he yanked the wooden planks, forcing the gnolls to step on the slipping ground.

The gnoll fell down from the sudden pull, forming a pile of fur over the greased earth. They didn’t expect the golem to trample its own allies as gnolls formed tightly knit packs.

Slade jumped as high as he could.

Now, I can do it!

He belly flopped on the gnolls, flattening them into a meat pancake. He spread his limb and gestured at Shaki.

“Everyone, rush to the mine!” she pointed her spear to the cleared path.

Milia rushed to the mine, cleaving the gnolls that attempted to fill the gap. The pawns ran over the golem.

Slade stood up when there were none left behind him. Several gnolls jumped on his back, trying to stab him with their knives. He paid them no attention and ran to his allies.

Shaki stabbed the gnolls approaching the mine with her spear. 

“Don’t falter! This pack doesn’t have a commander!” she shouted.

A battle of attrition lasted until the gnoll’s number dwindled to one third of their original amount. 

“Their morale is hitting rock bottom!” Milia shouted.

The gnolls yelped as they rummaged in their hut and fled with the few belongings they needed.

“We won!”

There were about ten troglodytes left, including the Shaki’s personal guards. They let out shrill screams of cheers.

Slade sighed in relief. The golem earned them victory, all according to the plan.

“Hell yeah! We gott’em!” Milia was laughing in satisfaction.

“Good job everyone,” Shaki said, patting her troglodytes on the back.

“They must be deserters, seeing how they lacked morale and commander,” she said.

“I leveled up! I’ve unlocked the skill: Minotaur’s Avalanche!” Milia danced.

“Congrats! We can expect bonus sovereign points from this battle.”

Slade also checked his status, pleasantly surprised by his level shooting up to 10.

[Skill: Alchemical Synthesize leveled up. You can now synthesize compounds that have been absorbed. Slime’s innate database has been upgraded.]

[Skill: Shapeshifting leveled up. You can now change your optical properties.]

New numbers appeared in his status windows.

[Attack: 0, Defense: 1, Spell Power: 0, Attunement: -255]

What’s attunement? why is so low?! What?!

Slade crawled among the rubbles of the camp, checking the fallen troglodytes. Most of them were mortally injured.

“You, bring back the supplies. You, pick up anything that looks useful from their huts. Slime, go eat dead gnolls,” Shaki ordered.

Slade slipped out from the kneeling golem, and digested the gnolls. He felt more sluggish as he grew in size.

I knew it, I’m getting bigger, but it’s only deadweight. My active flesh isn’t growing when I’m feeding on corpses. 

He reached a wounded troglodyte.

Rest in peace, friend- oh?

[Skill: Alchemical Synthesize. Bone scaffold, flesh scaffold, dressing, analgesic synthesized.]

The slime felt his ‘inactive flesh’ dwindling.

So basically, I get more ammunition for Alchemical Synthesize when I eat corpse, huh? 

Slade treated the fallen troglodytes disregarding the severity of their wound, sparing no reserve.

After he finished dealing with both the troglodytes and a few gnolls, he got the skills: Gnoll Shapeshift form and First Aid.

“Why are the troglodytes so drooly?” Shaki poked at the corpse with her finger.

She checked their status window.

“Awesome, did you treat those pawns?” she asked.

Slade nodded.

“There are four survivors. They won’t be able to fight for a while. A few gnolls are also hanging onto their lives,” she said.

A troglodyte emerged from the ore mine in panic. His cryptic screeching shocked Shaki.

Milia stopped scavenging the battlefield, puzzled.

“What’s going on?” Milia asked. 

“No way, there are beholders inside the ore mine?! About five?” Shaki asked.

“Fuck, what are we going to do?”

“My troglodyte was sneaky enough to go unnoticed. We can try a sneak attack but I recommend turning back.”

Milia sighed at the wounded troglodytes.

“I really don’t feel like turning back. We lost too much resources to go back empty-handed,” she said.

Slade nodded.

We would have hurt the gnoll for nothing if we didn't seize the mine!

“Yes, that’s unfortunate. The surviving gnolls will probably come back and occupy the mine again. I can’t believe I’ll have to return and dig with less troglodytes now,” Shaki said.

“Wait, why are you acting so resigned? We should try our luck!”

Slade sluggishly crawled up to the golem, and lifted his thumb up.

“Are you telling us to leave it to you?” Shaki asked.

The golem nodded.

“Tch, look at that confident bastard,” Milia said.