CHAPTER 108: PRAISE THE BLESSING, BEAT THE BLOB

The whirlpool swallowed them whole.

The force was so violent that Finn’s stomach twisted, threatening to eject whatever scraps of his last meal were still inside.

He clung to Seraphina, but the current ripped her away in an instant. The darkness around him made it worse—he couldn’t see her, couldn’t see anything.

Then the pull dragged him deeper, into something far below the river. His thoughts scattered, his mind dimming into blackness.

***

Finn woke sprawled on a cold, wet floor.

A groan escaped his lips as his aching body protested every movement. Pushing himself onto his hands and knees, he stared at the shallow pool of dark, murky water beneath him.

He coughed hard, spitting up what little liquid had made it into his lungs. Seraphina’s blessing had kept most of it out—if not for her, he might not be breathing at all.

But there was no time to be grateful.

A sharp scream echoed nearby. Finn’s head shot up.

Seraphina was on the ground, scrambling away from three slime monsters—the same ones from before. They’d survived the whirlpool, but only barely. Their bodies sagged and leaked, limbs hanging loosely by melting strands. One creature’s arm tore off completely as it staggered forward.

"Damn it..." Finn muttered.

The dim light from the hole above barely lit the cavern, but he could see enough to know they were in trouble. He wasn’t sure what a nineteen-year-old "slime man" like himself was supposed to do here—Chestelle had gotten flattened when she tried kicking them—but these ones looked weak. Weak enough to take a chance.

Seraphina backed away, wide-eyed, as the slimes closed in.

Then, with a sickening snap, one creature’s leg gave out, splattering on the ground. Finn charged in, leapt, and drop-kicked it square in the back, slamming it to the floor.

The other two turned on him immediately, furious. Seraphina’s face lit up—not with fear this time, but with relief. For the moment, at least, she wasn’t doomed.

"Seraphina!" Finn shouted as he scrambled back from the slimes. "Give me a blessing to boost my strength!"

"I can’t bless you from here—I need my staff!"

Finn blinked. "You told me you only carry that thing for aesthetics."

"I do! But that’s also because I’ve never really needed to use it. Ardin was always close enough when he needed one, and our group was strong enough to—"

"Are you calling me weak?!"

Seraphina bit her lip and looked away. "...Maybe."

"Oh, come on!!"

Finn retreated faster, but the slimes weren’t exactly chasing—they were limping along, wobbling and leaking, barely keeping themselves together. He stopped mid-step, giving them the most deadpan, I’m-too-tired-for-this stare imaginable before walking—not running—over to Seraphina.

Water splashed softly under his wet damped shoes as he positioned himself in front of her, back turned. "Cast the blessing. Now."

"R-right."

She pressed her hands against his back and began to chant:

"O’ Goddess of the lands and heaven, I bless thee with strength beyond thy possession, and let thy fists be the fury and judgment of the heavens."

Light surged into him—not flooding his lungs this time, but soaking deep into his muscles and bones. Finn flexed his fingers, feeling the power humming inside them.

"...Oh my gosh... this is amazing," he whispered, almost giddy. For the first time, he felt like the actual protagonist of this story.

He stepped forward, chest puffed out, ready to give the slimes the kind of beating normally reserved for RPG tutorial bosses.

The two creatures shuffled toward him like rotting zombies. One reached out, and Finn casually grabbed its arm—only to rip the entire thing off by accident.

"Uh... whoops."

He swung the severed limb like a club, smashing it into the slime’s head and sending gelatinous chunks flying. It staggered sideways, oozing.

Pivoting, Finn cracked the other slime across the jaw with the same arm, knocking its head half loose. He didn’t even look at the splash as he drove a hard kick into its chest, toppling it.

The first slime tried to recover, but Finn whipped the limb down across the back of its knee, snapping it in half before stomping its head into the floor with a wet splorch.

Adrenaline roared through him. His grin widened.

’Now this is what a real adventure feels like.’

He turned toward the slime he’d kicked earlier—still twitching—and stomped down hard. It burst like an overripe fruit... and then kept moving.

Finn stared at it in frustration. "Great. Guess I’m gonna have to beat you weird things twice now of more." He sighed.

After a while, Finn had finally beaten—or at least stopped—the creatures. They weren’t exactly alive according to his powers, so he wasn’t even sure if "killed" was the right word.

Most of their bodies were shredded beyond recognition, but he’d left one intact—the one he’d dropkicked earlier. All its limbs were gone, not out of cruelty, but curiosity. He wanted to see what it would do.

His guess had been right.

The thing didn’t care about missing limbs; it just kept crawling toward him, locked on like a predator. Completely mindless. They attacked anything they saw—nothing more, nothing less.

But that raised the bigger question—were they truly wild, or was something, maybe that cocoon, controlling them?

His thoughts drifted until the adrenaline finally bled away, leaving the sting of pain sharp and unfiltered.

Finn groaned softly, kneeling to catch his breath. The wound wasn’t deep, but infection was a real threat. His shirt was sliced open, showing the shallow cuts from when he’d blocked the slime’s attack to protect Seraphina.

He wasn’t sure how a slime even managed to hit that hard, but right now, he didn’t care.

"I feel so cool..." he chuckled weakly, his inner child beaming.

A cold palm pressed against his back, making him flinch.

"Don’t move," Seraphina’s voice was soft, almost motherly. "Just stay still and let me tend to you."

Finn stopped squirming, letting her hands rest on him. The gentleness made him a little too comfortable... in ways he wasn’t going to admit out loud.

"Heal," she murmured.

Warmth spread through his back, the fibers knitting together, the pain fading to nothing.

"Wow..." Finn muttered, impressed.

"There." She drew her hands away. "All good. You can move now."

Finn immediately spun around, grinning wide, and hugged her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! If you weren’t here, I’d be dead!"

Seraphina blinked, startled by the sudden praise. "You’re... welcome. It’s nothing, really."

"It’s not nothing! You’re already better than my goddess!"

She tilted her head. "Goddess?"

"Oh, uh—my party member. Majestria. She, uh... has Alzheimer’s and thinks she’s a goddess. I just play along so she doesn’t get mad. My bad."

Seraphina stared at him for a beat, then decided not to question it. "That’s... unfortunate. I’m sure I could cure her somehow."

Finn waved it off. "Nah, no need. We’re fine."

He glanced around.

They were in a cave—if it could even be called that. Shallow, dark water lapped around their shoes, and the walls weren’t stone at all, but coated in black slime that oozed downward like the place itself was alive.

Creepy.

"Let’s focus on the important thing—figuring out where we are."

Seraphina nodded.

"Because... it looks like we’re even deeper now."