The gelatinous mass constricted around them, its pressure increasing with each passing second.

  Through the translucent blue substance, Magi watched his teammates struggle.

  Marc and Eli managed to keep small air pockets around their faces using wind manipulation, but Jax and Layla had no way to do the same.

  Layla struggled violently, her movements growing weaker as the cube compressed her chest. Her eyes widened in panic as the last of her air escaped in a stream of bubbles.

  She tried to reach for her sword, but her arms moved in slow motion against the dense material.

  Magi pushed toward her, fighting against the pressure. The cube's interior felt like swimming through tar, each movement required three times the normal effort. His lungs burned, but he focused on Layla's increasingly pale face.

  Marc tried generating lightning again, but the energy simply dispersed throughout the creature's body without doing damage. The electricity lit up the chamber in brief flashes that illuminated their desperate situation.

  Jax pulled his daggers free and stabbed repeatedly at the substance around him.

  The blades penetrated but created no lasting damage, the gelatinous material simply closed around the wounds, regenerating.

  When he tried to withdraw the weapons, they stuck fast, trapped in the suddenly thickened mass. The cube's body hardened around the blades, wrenching them from his grip.

  Now basically weaponless, Jax pushed toward the surface, his movements growing more frantic as his air supply dwindled.

  Eli's wind barrier collapsed under the pressure. Her last pocket of air disappeared as the creature fully engulfed her.

  Magi reached Layla and grabbed her arm. Her eyes were rolling back, consciousness fading. He needed to act now.

  He did a quick mental calculation of his mana reserves. Almost full, he'd barely used any today.

  The cube was massive, but it had a fundamental weakness. Like all liquids and semi-solids, it maintained its form through molecular cohesion.

  'I hate getting wet,' he thought as he pushed both hands against the creature's inner surface.

  The slime jiggled around his fingers, semi-solid and resistant. Magi closed his eyes, ignoring his burning lungs.

  He needed to feel the substance's natural frequency, the speed at which its molecules wanted to vibrate.

  He channeled Basic Earth, but not for strength or solidity. Instead, he focused on the attribute's most fundamental aspect: vibration itself.

  Every element had a resonance point. Find it, match it, then amplify it.

  At first, nothing happened. The gelatinous mass remained firm around them. Layla went completely limp in his grip.

  Magi adjusted the frequency slightly, searching.

  'There…' he thought, sensing a subtle shift in the substance’s density

  A subtle shift in the substance's density. He matched it perfectly, then gradually increased the amplitude.

  The cube began to tremble. Small at first, then more violently.

  The vibrations spread from his hands throughout the creature's massive body. Its cohesion wavered as the molecules began to shake apart from one another.

  Marc noticed what was happening and added his own energy, generating small electrical currents that further disrupted the creature's structure.

  The gelatinous mass shuddered more intensely. Its carefully maintained form began to dissolve as the vibrations reached critical frequency. The substance around them thinned, losing density.

  Suddenly, the cube's entire structure collapsed.

  What had been a semi solid entity reverted to liquid in an instant, splashing down into the drainage pool and surrounding tunnels.

  Magi fell to the walkway, Layla still clutched in his grip. The others dropped nearby, gasping and coughing as they sucked in precious air.

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  Layla remained motionless. Magi rolled her onto her side and placed a hand on her back, channeling Basic Healing.

  Water sputtered from her mouth as her lungs cleared. She dragged in a ragged breath, then broke into violent coughing.

  “Easy. Deep breaths,” Magi said, shifting his hand to the center of her chest as the basic heal continued.

  Layla’s face went scarlet. “U-um… Magi? I really don’t think this is the right time for—”

  “Don’t be weird,” Magi said, flicking her forehead. “Your lungs were full of water. I’m fixing that, not flirting.”

  “Oh.” She coughed again. “Right. Sorry.”

  “Focus on breathing. Embarrassment can wait.”

  Jax crawled over, water streaming from his hair and clothes. "Wait… what did you do to it?"

  "Vibration," Magi said simply. "Everything has a resonance frequency. Find it, amplify it, and molecular bonds break down."

  "So… you turned it into water?" Marc asked, wringing out his soaked shirt.

  "Not exactly. It's still slime, just in its least cohesive state." Magi looked around at the puddles covering the chamber floor. "Technically, it's not dead. Just temporarily dispersed."

  “I don’t understand what he said,” Jax whispered to Marc.

  “Me neither. Just pretend we do,” Marc whispered back.

  “What did you two say?” Eli asked.

  “Ah. Nothing.”

  Eli dragged herself to a sitting position, her silver hair plastered to her face. "So it could reform?"

  "Not for a while. The vibrations disrupted its ability to maintain a collective consciousness. Big colonies rely on that to stay together."

  Jax and Marc nodded in silence, pretending to know what had happened.

  Magi watched as Layla regained her color. "You okay?"

  She nodded weakly, still unable to speak.

  "We should report this and get out of here," Marc said, helping Eli to her feet. "The Guild needs to know there's a colony-class slime in the drainage system."

  Magi nodded in agreement, but his eyes tracked the puddles of bluish liquid spreading across the floor. He pulled an empty collection jar from his pack.

  "What are you doing?" Jax asked as Magi knelt beside a particularly dense puddle.

  "Collecting samples." Magi carefully scooped the liquefied slime into the jar and sealed it.

  "Samples? For what?"

  Magi retrieved more jars from his pack. "Dead slime sells for fifty credits a pint to alchemists and enchanters."

  The team stared at him.

  "You're kidding right?" Marc said.

  "Nope. Colony-class slime is even more valuable. It has higher concentration of mana absorbing properties." Magi filled another jar. "Good for stabilizing volatile potions."

  Layla, finally catching her breath, watched him with a mixture of disbelief and awe. "We nearly died, and you're thinking about selling it?"

  "We completed the job," Magi replied with a shrug. "Might as well make some extra money." He looked at the jar, assessing the slightly luminescent blue liquid. "This batch might go for seventy-five a pint."

  Jax looked from Magi to the jars, then back again. "How many of those can you fill?"

  "Depends how many containers we have."

  A slow smile spread across Jax’s face. He pulled several empty water flasks from his pack. “Will these work?”

  “Perfect.”

  Eli shook her head but handed over two empty potion bottles. “You’re unbelievable. We almost died.”

  “So that’s a no on the bonus loot?” Jax said. “Shame. I was ready to be generous.”

  “…Ugh. Fine. Move over.” She knelt beside him. “Money is money.”

  Jax smirked. “Amazing. Look how fast money changes people.”

  Soon, all of them were collecting the liquefied remains, filling every available container. The substance had a faint, sweet smell unlike the rest of the sewer.

  "How do you even know about this market?" Marc asked as he secured the lid on a jar.

  "I read contract boards," Magi answered. "Alchemists post bounties for rare ingredients all the time."

  "And you just remember the prices?"

  "It's just data." Magi inspected a jar against the light. The blue liquid swirled with tiny motes of energy. "Knowing the value of things that useful."

  Layla watched him with newfound respect. "Is that how you knew how to kill it? From reading?"

  "I didn't kill it. I just changed its state temporarily." Magi sealed another container. "And yes, I read a monograph on slime resonance frequencies last month. Seemed potentially useful."

  "Who reads something like that?" Jax asked incredulously.

  "Someone who likes being prepared." Magi stood, surveying their collection. They'd filled twenty-three containers of various sizes. "That's about twelve hundred credits' worth, split five ways."

  "After what we just went through," Eli said, wringing water from her silver hair, "I'd say we earned it."

  Marc nodded in agreement.

  "Let's report the situation and get back to headquarters. I need a shower." Marc tapped his communication crystal, but the signal couldn't penetrate the thick sewer walls. "We'll have to go topside first."

  As they gathered their gear and prepared to leave, Magi noticed something glinting in a corner puddle.

  He waded over and found Jax's daggers lying in the liquefied remains of the cube. He picked them up, noting the slight erosion on the blades.

  "Here," he said, offering them back to their owner. "They'll need sharpening."

  Jax took them with a nod of thanks. "Nice catch. These weren't cheap."

  "Neither is colony class slime," Magi replied. "We just earned more from this job than the Guild paid us for the contract."

  Layla laughed, her voice still rough from nearly drowning. "Only you would think that way."

  "Being practical isn't a bad trait," Magi said, helping her to her feet. "Especially in our line of work."

  They made their way back through the tunnels, each carrying several containers of the valuable substance.

  Despite their soaked clothes and the lingering smell of sewer, spirits were high.

  "Next time," Marc said as they approached the exit ladder, "I'm voting for a nice, safe Rift run instead of maintenance work."

  "Agreed," Eli said. "At least in a Rift, things try to kill you honestly."

  Jax grinned. "But do Rifts pay in bonus slime?"

  "Speaking of which," Layla said, glancing at Magi, "where exactly do we sell this stuff?"

  "The Alchemists' Collective," Magi replied. "They don't ask questions, and they pay in cash."

  As they climbed toward sunlight and fresh air, Magi reflected on the day's events.

  His new team was adapting well to his unexpected solutions.

  They hadn't questioned his methods or demanded explanations. They simply accepted the results.

  It was refreshing. Comfortable. Almost like having friends who accepted him as he was.