Chapter 148: Inadequate Evolution Material

After a brief greeting and getting Little Blue back on her feet, Miss Vilyric didn’t rush to discuss the main topic. Instead, she curiously eyed the pink-haired girl standing behind Little Blue and Leila Renée.

“I remember… your name is Lulu, right? After finally breaking free, why didn’t you go back to your clan’s territory but instead ran off with Little Blue to this place?”

Indeed, the cute girl before them, with butterfly-like translucent wings and two soft, fluffy antennae on her head, was Miss Lulu of the Spirit Butterfly Clan, whom Miss Vilyric had first encountered when she was captured by the Ghost Thieves alongside Little Blue.

Compared to the cold-resistant Little Blue, she was bundled up tightly and still trembled in the heavy snow. The funniest part was that even her butterfly wings and the two antennae on her head were covered with specially made fleece blankets, making her look like a big fluffball. If it weren’t for Miss Vilyric’s keen vision and memory, she probably wouldn’t have recognized her at all.

“Hello, Lady Vilyric! I didn’t expect you to remember this little magical beast! I’m so sorry for just showing up without notice, but I—I—had no choice! Please forgive me!”

“Uh, is it really that cold…?”

While this body had strong resistance to temperature changes, it didn’t mean Miss Vilyric couldn’t discern the temperature. Although it was snowing in Moonshadow Valley, honestly, it was only about minus five or six degrees at most. They weren’t ordinary people without magical power or training, so wasn’t it a bit excessive to be bundled up like that and still shivering…?

Even Tilysha was only wearing three or four layers and had just a coat on, and her physical condition wasn’t much better than an average person.

Even though she thought this way, the Priestess still casually cast a low-level Warm Light spell towards Lulu. The white ball of light, flickering like flames, immediately dispersed the surrounding chill, causing the snowflakes to dissolve several meters away in the air. The once-trembling butterfly girl gradually began to calm down.

“Wow! You’re like an angel bringing relief to the world! Thank you so much, Lady Vilyric!”

Seeing her good friend finally regain her spirits, Little Blue couldn’t help but smile in gratitude.

“Thank you, Lady Vilyric! The Spirit Butterfly Clan is very sensitive to temperature and energy changes. Recently, the climate has shifted too dramatically, and Lulu is still just a pup, so she has a hard time adapting. To be honest, I was worried about how to help her.”

“Well… no matter what, let’s find a place to escape the snow first. It’s not practical to stand outside and talk like this.”

Miss Vilyric pointed to the tall, sturdy walls of the temple. Although they couldn’t go inside freely, standing by the wall to avoid the snow should be safe from Moonshadow Magical Wolves interrupting their conversation.

“Okay.”

They moved closer, and following the topic that Miss Slime had previously mentioned, Miss Vilyric seized the opportunity to ask.

“Little Blue, as a Holy Light Slime, you should be able to control some of the light elements in your environment by now, right? The little magic I just used shouldn’t be too difficult for you. Did something go wrong?”

“Uh, well….”

For some reason, Miss Slime seemed hesitant about this question, but facing Miss Vilyric’s inquisitive gaze, she didn’t dare to conceal the truth and had to answer honestly.

“It’s a strange situation. According to my instincts as a slime, after getting a powerful racial fluid and completing the evolution, I should have naturally learned some diluted version of the other’s abilities. However, even though I successfully transformed with your help, I didn’t gain any new abilities. It seems… it just made my physical condition remarkably stronger…”

Little Blue cautiously looked up at the Priestess, seemingly afraid that this explanation might anger her. In fact, that was likely why Miss Slime had hesitated to tell Miss Vilyric the full story before.

After all, all slimes share the same issue. If there’s a problem, it must lie with the entity providing the fluid for mimicking.

“Hmm…”

Miss Vilyric wasn’t going to get mad over this. Rather, she had quickly thought of a possible reason for Little Blue’s situation.

Monsters and magical beasts, unlike humans, are blessed by the Gods, and they typically possess various innate abilities. For example, the Spirit Butterfly Clan has a power called [Spirit Sensing], which they can master from birth, and the stronger their bloodline, the more powerful abilities they possess.

The most typical example would certainly be the Giant Dragons. Half of Xiao Guang’s abilities were naturally comprehended as she leveled up, while Vilyric only guided and nurtured her to some extent.

Even though Little Dragon Daughter was from a game, since the two worlds were similar in many aspects, the difference shouldn’t be too significant.

If the [Adaptive Mimicry Slime] obtained its powers by copying from its bloodline, then it makes sense that it wouldn’t gain any innate abilities from Miss Vilyric.

Firstly, Little Blue absorbed a Light Element Crystal condensed by the Priestess, which still contained a bit of sp, but ultimately wasn’t the regular kind of bodily fluid. Furthermore, Miss Vilyric didn’t actually have any innate abilities; when players first created a character, they were blank slates, with all skills acquired later through skill trees or various quests.

Perhaps that was why Little Blue only changed her race and boosted her attributes but didn’t gain any new abilities.

This wasn’t exactly a fault of Miss Vilyric, given that this was her first time encountering such a peculiar creature; how could she know so much?

“It’s alright, I’ll take care of this issue. By the way, I was just planning to have you help me try some things out… later.”

“Yes, I’m sorry for causing you trouble, Lady Vilyric.”

“It’s nothing, don’t be so formal~”

Not immediately continuing with the topic, Miss Vilyric chuckled and turned to look at the Spirit Butterfly girl, who was no longer trembling excessively thanks to the warmth and protection of the barrier from the wind and snow.

“Miss Lulu, I remember you mentioned before coming to the Moonshadow Clan with Little Blue was out of necessity. What happened? Is there an issue in the Spirit Butterfly Clan’s territory?”

Miss Vilyric had never forgotten who the so-called Holy Ancestor of the Spirit Butterfly Clan was.

They had been in Moonshadow Valley for a week already, yet the Gatekeeper Min Chen had only crossed paths with the Priestess to exchange essential information, and the next day, he was back with Barta at what was said to be the core area of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, continuing to guard the Gate.

The one truly responsible for managing the holy land, Tiyelu, hadn’t shown her face at all nor cared to check on Noviya’s situation, which was clearly quite unreasonable.

Recalling how she had hurriedly withdrawn her avatar and the things Xifu Lin had specifically reminded her of, although Min Chen had clearly stated that the [Gateway to Fantasy] was currently stable, from his tone, Miss Vilyric could discern that he actually didn’t have a complete understanding of the situation inside the Gate.

The existence of the [Gatekeeper] was more like a safety measure, preventing beings from both sides from crossing over to the other side as the last line of defense.

Exactly, the last line of defense.

So, who would be the first line of defense inside the Gate?