《Reborn as a Dungeon Boss》


 Prologue

    I awoke in a void.


    I felt as if I should be feeling a sense of panic or fear, but there was nothing. No distress. No worries. My emotions were a blank. It was...a disconcerting experience.


    What...was I doing before this? I tried to remember, but nothing immediately came to mind. Vague impressions floated in my mind...family, I think. Siblings. Friends. My interactions with them were...not the best, but not the worst either. At least, that was the impression. Without emotions I could not discern more.


    It was not that I did not know what it meant to ¡°feel¡±. I knew anger. I knew sadness. I knew love and support. I knew fear. Yet, I lost any connection to those words. I could remember what it meant to feel them, but...that was it. I started to remember feeling unappreciated and alone, and taking steps to alleviate that. I remembered...leaving my home, my place of safety, and...getting struck down. I remembered the spike of terror and the flash of pain. Then nothing more. Until now.


    I lost track of time, as if I ever had an idea of its passage. Was it minutes that I spent, staring into emptiness? Hours? Days? Years?


    There was no way to tell. At some point, though, a spec of light appeared in my vision. With nothing else to pay attention to, I focused on that pinprick of luminescence. It gradually grew larger in my sight, until it almost engulfed me. With a sudden realization, the light became a figure, and the empty void was filled.


    Instead of darkness, my surroundings were replaced with dirt walls. A rock ceiling loomed distantly overhead, though I was able to perceive it clearly. In fact, I could perceive everything around me with perfect clarity...up to a point, I discovered later. I was a little overwhelmed at first as I should not have been able to receive so much visual stimulation all at once, but a few moments passed and I was still fine. It was...curious, to say the least.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    What was more curious, was the orb directly above me.


    It was the source of light in this cavern, for surely that is what this place appears to be. A faceted sphere, perhaps a precious stone. The radiance it gave off was enough to illuminate the entire area, though on some instinctive level I felt that I did not need it to see. I felt a bit of a connection to it for some unknown reason. It was uncomfortable.


    Yes, while my emotions seemed to have vanished, I still felt a distinct discomfort at the mysterious bond between myself and this entity. I wanted to rebel against it. I wanted to break that bond.


    I wanted to destroy that orb.


    (Uh oh, this doesn¡¯t look good.) A voice suddenly rang out in my mind. I had the impression that it was not directed at me.


    (It doesn¡¯t...what should I do? Destroy it?) A second voice responded. While the first sounded light and airy, almost ethereal, the second sounded neutral, generic even. And uncertain.


    (I mean, can you control it? I think it will attack you if you can¡¯t.) The first voice again. It seemed concerned...about me? Did my earlier thoughts mark me as a sort of threat to them?


    (I...don¡¯t think I can.) The second voice replied. (Yeah, let me call in a few mobs to destroy it and then we can reclaim some of the resources.) This time, I noticed a...pulsing, a very slight one, as the second voice continued to talk. The pulsing came from the orb.


    Wait, mobs?


    (Maybe you should bring in as many of them as you can, just to be safe. After all, it is a Boss tier monster. I don¡¯t know what we did wrong when creating it.) That was the first voice again, the source of which I still could not determine...but I felt it was nearby.


    Then it hit me.


    A glowing, faceted sphere in the middle of a potentially underground cavern. Two voices talking about mobs and bosses. And finally, my own unusual circumstances.


    It appears I have been reincarnated...as a Dungeon Boss.

 Chapter 1

    I did not have much time to think about my revelation. If I understood my situation correctly, I was about to die. Again. That sudden thought did make me pause for a moment, but only for that instant. I set it aside to deal with later.


    Instead, I considered how to protect myself. A part of me, maybe the part that connects me to what I now believe is the dungeon¡¯s core, the orb floating above me, sensed something...several somethings, moving this way. They must be the mobs that are meant to destroy me. What can I do? I have no idea. I wanted to panic, to lash out, but...I still felt nothing. Was this a part of my reincarnation? My ability and capacity to feel replaced with...instinct? Then, I will focus on that. What does my instinct demand that I do? The answer comes to me almost immediately.


    Consume the core.


    Moving on that same instinct, I reach above me with all my might. Whether it was locked into place by ancient dungeon mechanics, or it simply never anticipated my actions, the core stayed right where I could reach it. So I did. I grabbed at it, enfolded it, pulled it into myself. And as my body settled back into place, amidst the screams of what must be the dungeon¡¯s fairy, I finally understood what I had become.


    A slime.


    I was reincarnated into the viscous, undefined body of a slime monster. In this moment I was grateful for my inability to feel human emotions, because I surely would have lost my mind from such a drastic change. Somehow, I was able to remain functionally sane. More thoughts to shelve for contemplation later.


    Especially considering that the core started to put up resistance.


    A wave of energy surged through me, filling me up in a way. I was moving on autopilot, letting my new body handle the core as I had no idea what I was doing, but this new activity demanded my attention. In an instant, I ran through a series of chained thoughts. Assuming that I really was brought into a new world as a monster, especially a Boss tier kind, and that this world has dungeon cores and fairies, then I could only logically conclude that mana exists as well. And if a dungeon core has to call for other monsters to attack me, a creature that it created, then that means that it has no form of direct self defense aside from unleashing a payload of mana. This leads me to believe that what I was feeling flowing into my body...is mana.


    The core must be trying to overload me with mana until I exploded from the inside out. I must respectfully decline.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Wrestling control of the energy pumping into me by following more of my instincts, I began to apply pressure inwards, onto the core. I gave this task my full focus. Everything that the core tried to hit me with, I took for myself and used against it instead. While I could not feel any sort of adrenaline rush or even anger to fuel me, I did get an increasing sense of urgency as the feeling of monsters approaching grew stronger. This time, it was more than just a few of them. I began to slam the mana I had control over into the core, battering it with repeated assaults, ignoring both it and what must be the hysterical fairy that was its partner. I could not understand in the slightest what I was doing, but it seemed to be effective as I felt the resistance of the core grow weaker and weaker. Finally, with one last, determined strike, I felt the existence of the core deplete entirely.


    With a crack that I could feel throughout my very being, the core shattered into pieces. Each piece, in turn, shattered until it fully disintegrated inside of me. A rush of power flowed through me, not as an attack this time. It filled me up in a peaceful way, making me feel...stronger. It was the closest I have come to experiencing joy since the moment I became aware of myself. I was nearly lost in the sensation, basking in the wonder of the experience, hoping it would last forever...yet all too quickly, that sensation faded away.


    All that remained was the sobbing despair of the fairy.


    <System: Error%&^((PFK%^UJHY$%Y@#>


    <table>


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    <td>


    System Override


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    <table>


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    <td>


    Disaster Protocol: Engaged


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    <td>


    User Interface: Granted


    </td>


    </tr>


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    <table>


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    <td>


    Threat Assessment: Analyzed


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Ah. A series of screens appeared in my vision. In my state of what may best be described as apathy, I experienced no sense of confusion. Simply detached acknowledgment. I had not considered this world to have something like status or update screens, but it appears that it does. Before I could even think to add this to the shelf of thoughts waiting to be reflected upon later, after I secure my safety, the screens vanished on their own. Only to be replaced by one more ominous than the last.


    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td>


    Your existence has been determined to have the potential to cause a disaster.


    Your status has been elevated to reflect this analysis.


    Many will fear you. Many will attempt to use you. Many will worship you.


    But only you can choose your path.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Then, so quickly that I almost convinced myself I did not see it, another screen flashed in and out of my sight.


    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td>


    Good luck.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 2

    Once again, I was given no time to think about what just happened. While I was no longer connected to the dungeon¡¯s core, as I just destroyed it, I had no more need of it to detect my incoming visitors. For a moment I wondered why they had not been any closer, but that was another item on my increasingly long list of topics to contemplate later. What I needed to do at the moment was survive. Still, with that rush of energy from a few seconds ago, I felt much more certain of my chances.


    Then I saw my opponents.


    A multitude of blobs with various colors flooded into the cavern from a tunnel that I had not noticed until now. Red, blue, green, and brown were the predominant hues. They all bounced in an enraged sea towards me. I wondered for a split second if these slimes, for they were clearly slimes, were acting on a sort of final attack order. It must be the case since the core is no longer here to direct them. Or maybe-?


    The first wave hit me in that moment, with everything they got. A burst of elemental mana surged from each slime to attack me. Pebbles from the brown ones; tiny wind blades from the green ones; compacted balls of water from the blue ones; and small gouts of flame from the red ones. They were elemental slimes. Lovely.


    Yet, despite their ferocious onslaught, I felt...nothing. Both emotionally and physically. Their attacks landed on my viscous body, but all that they did was shift my...mass, around a bit. I could not tell if I was taking any damage, but I certainly did not feel any danger. No threat. Nothing. Perhaps¡­?


    Deciding that I should retaliate before the situation turns for the worse, I let my mind sink into my body¡¯s instincts once more and attacked. A tentacle made from my body lashed out at the closest elemental slime, a fire slime. It tried to burn me with its fiery mana, but my tentacle would not be denied. Quicker than I would have ever expected, I struck that slime with enough force to burst it like a water balloon. Energy flowed into me upon its death, a trickle compared to what I experienced after breaking the dungeon core, but energy all the same. I just killed a creature for the first time. It was...easy.


    I turned my attention to the rest of the slimes, which increased in number during those few seconds I just took for myself. It must be that the entirety of the dungeon occupants were out to finish me. I did not mind. If that first slime was anything to go by, I had nothing to fear even from their group assault. None of them could be my match.


    I was reborn as a dungeon boss. These minor mobs will all die here.


    ***


    A quiet snuffling caught my awareness. Right, I nearly forgot about the dungeon fairy, which I could actually see now. I turned away from the scarred battlefield to examine its horrified face. I did not blame it. The results of my first real fight in this world was...not pretty.


    Gelatinous masses of various colors decorated the earthen floor and rock walls. The scene looked like one from the nightmare of a clown. If I were still human at the time, witnessing the massacre that generated such a mess, I would have been traumatised for the remainder of my life. Alas, I was no longer human. I briefly wondered, in a sudden flash of insight, if my new body was responsible for the nullification of any emotion. When did I fully transition? Was the void just a part of the process of my creation? Or was that truly the abyss that separated life from death? I had no way to tell. Instead of pondering a potential existential crisis, I decided to make better use of my time by focusing on the distraught dungeon fairy.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Time...I suppose I no longer needed an attachment to it.


    (Y-y-you killed my bond¡­) the fairy uttered. I was not certain if she, and I can only assume it was a she, was expecting a response from me. I do not know how such creatures handle traumatic events. So far it appears that they react similarly to humans...though I cannot say if this holds true across their species. Either way, I saw an opportunity to learn here. Focusing my thoughts towards it, I tried to establish communication.


    <Yes, I killed your...bond. It was either that or my end.> The fairy looked directly at me. It would seem that it was able to hear my words. Good. I made sure to remember that sensation, to replicate it in the future.


    (You...are sentient?) It asked with an expression of horror. How intriguing.


    <Of course I am.> I responded. <Should I not be?> I had no desire to engage in dialogue with the creature that advocated for my death. An interrogation was more to my liking. Still, this particular inquiry ought to be addressed before anything else. It might be the key to understanding my current existence.


    (No! You¡¯re supposed to be a mindless mob! Maybe a little more intelligent than the average monster Malevin created, as a boss, but definitely not fully sentient!) The fairy was almost in hysterics at this point. (Oh no, no no no...you can¡¯t be...I know what you are¡­!) Going beyond hysterical, the fairy began to hyperventilate. It could not finish its sentence before an oppressive aura filled the area. If it was horrified before...it was absolutely terrified now. The aura appeared to lock her down and prevent her from speaking further. I watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed. Hm.


    I...wanted to be shocked. Alas, my absent emotions prevented even that. I also did not suffer any negative effects from the aura, I could only tell that it was around. As quickly as it arrived, it vanished, leaving me with an unconscious fairy to deal with. From that incident I learned quite a few things.


    One, my presence here is not normal. What was supposed to be an ordinary boss monster has instead become something...more. Something like me. Two, something like me is not supposed to exist. Or, at the very least, I am an entity that rarely ever occurs...and not in a good way. A frightening way. Three, the information about whatever I am is important enough that something prevented it from being spoken. Not only that, but the aura of that something felt...familiar.


    With no way to use any of what I learned to my advantage in the moment, I did the only thing that seemed to make sense. I extended a tentacle to wrap around the comatose fairy, brought it towards my main body...and consumed her. If it could not tell me what I am and why my sentience was so significant, then it had no more use to me. I refused to offer leniency to anyone wishing to do me harm, whatever their reasons may be. Since she and her bond, Malevin if I understood from her remaining moments in this coil, had planned to eliminate me, then I would only return the sentiment. I would eradicate everything that they have created and be done with it.


    As I will do with any other that stands in my way.

 Chapter 3

    A lonely figure stood by a certain window, looking out upon a grandiose view. The figure was silent, their thoughts inscrutable. Light from several candles bathed this figure, giving it an almost regal glow from one perspective. The rest of the room, opulent in decor, was left in relative shadow.


    Part of that shadow rose up behind the figure. It, too, was silent. But only for a moment.


    ¡°Report.¡± The figure said in a low, but distinctly audible voice.


    ¡°Your maj-¡± The shadow began, but was quickly interrupted.


    ¡°You know better than that,¡± the figure said. ¡°Only in public. Just give me the details.¡± His words were as firm as his stance. He had yet to turn around or even move. The shadow seemed to hesitate briefly, but soon continued.


    ¡°Yes...sir. An anomaly has been detected. There are signs that another disaster is going to emerge.¡±


    The figure remained silent for a moment. ¡°...I see,¡± it eventually replied. ¡°Is there any indication of its strength?¡±


    ¡°According to the ripple response that the seers have experienced, it is...uncertain,¡± the shadow answered cautiously. It did not want to give that particular piece of news, because it would say far more than it did not. Even his word choice, awkward as it was, was an effort to mitigate the implications. It was an effort in futility. ¡°They may need to wait for more significant actions to take place, for the ripple response to become greater.¡±


    ¡°The seers...could not determine anything, huh?¡± The figure mused to itself. The shadow did not respond. It could not. Would not. ¡°That is most unfortunate. Prepare the necessary alert, but do not send it out yet. This is only a precaution. If one of those has shown up here, then...¡± The figure lapsed into silence.


    The shadow knew that it should not speak at this moment, but it could not help itself. It took a risk. ¡°Sir?¡± came the tentative probe.


    The figure did not respond immediately. The shadow dared not risk saying anything more. Once was already enough. It would wait until spoken to this time. Finally, just as the shadow was reaching the edges of its mental tension, the figure opened its mouth again. ¡°It is nothing. Ready the alert. I only pray that we will never need to use it.¡±


    The shadow nodded, but did not move. It waited for any further instructions as it was trained to do. The figure continued to stare out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Time stretched out, impossibly slow, as if the weight of the words just spoken forced the world to hold its breath. And then, it passed. ¡°Go,¡± the figure said at last. The shadow was gone before the sound finished echoing in the room.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The figure remained, alone.


    ***


    Consuming the fairy granted me energy nearly as great as that of the core. I supposed I should call it mana from now on, it seems more appropriate. I once again felt a sense of fulfillment, almost but not quite the emotion of joy. It, too, was short lived.


    I wondered if I could get addicted to this rush of mana, eventually falling into the path of constantly seeking greater amounts of it. Somehow I intuitively knew that this would not be the case. Whatever it is that cut me off from my emotions seemed to also work in preventing me from actually ¡°craving¡± anything. I could almost be called apathetic at this point if not for my previous life as a human. The knowledge of what I should be feeling and how those feelings work apparently acted as a sort of safety net, preventing me from fully sinking into this new existence of mine and completely losing my identity. Not that it made any sense to me whatsoever.


    In any case, although I somehow understood that absorbing mana would not become an addiction for me, I also knew that it was the only thing I could desire in any capacity. Thus I made it my primary goal, to continue to search out other sources of mana and consume it. Perhaps I will be able to learn about the world at large at the same time.


    Mind made up, I set about looking for a way out of this now dead dungeon. I felt no attachment for this place, and so I had no trouble casting it aside. As I moved, I realised that a trickle of mana was slowly entering my body. I wonder where...ah. It must be the remaining ambient mana from the dungeon core. Assuming that the core operated in a similar method as what I have read about, dungeon cores should be influencing their domains by spreading a layer of their personal mana through the environment. Even though I already destroyed the core, the ambient mana created by the core previously still hung around. Despite it being clearly a weaker source, it still...nourished me, for lack of a better word. I wondered if I would end up draining the place dry by the time I left.


    I followed the only path that was visible to me, the same path through which the horde of slimes came to attack me. Reflecting on what I remembered of my previous life, I tried to come up with a comparison to determine my current movement speed. It was strange to think through, but eventually I came to the conclusion that my default motions, without actively trying to go fast, matched the speed of a morning jogger. Of course, I had no way to completely verify this without measured units of distance, but it was the best I could do at the time.


    Shifting my thoughts to more relevant matters, I examined the tunnel I flowed along. There were a number of pitfall traps, stalactites, and hollow holes in the walls that would serve as perfect hiding spots for slimes. It would appear that my...maker...at least knew what it was doing when it set up this dungeon. It did make me wonder, was the dungeon crafted entirely by the dungeon core? Or was this cave system already here and it was simply modified to suit the preferences of the core better? The numerous novels that I have read all spoke of dungeon cores building their domains from scratch, carving out every inch of usable space, but I have no idea if that is how this world operates.


    Well, I thought to myself as I approached what looked like the entrance of the dungeon, there is an easy way to find out. If I were to hunt for mana sources to consume, it may be best to find other dungeon monsters. And perhaps, other dungeon cores. Their partner fairies too.


    I suppose this Dungeon Boss will become a dungeon hunter.

 Chapter 4

    The end, or should I say beginning, of the dungeon was marked by a set of stone stairs. They were simple, but clearly a distinct contrast to the rough hewn walls and floor that surrounded it. I can only assume that Malevin did not have the time as yet to work on aesthetics. The stairs reached upwards, out into a wider, open space. I needed to reach the top before I could see anything beyond that.


    Despite my misgivings, stairs provided no challenge to my slime body. I ended up simply flowing along them as if they were no different from the ground. Distractedly, I wondered if I could traverse the ceiling just as effectively, but I also shelved that thought for later. I will need to add more shelving soon, the list of items there is getting out of hand.


    All of my idle thoughts disappeared once I reached my goal. The sight that met me...did not meet my expectations.


    The tunnel and stairs opened out into a wide underground expanse. Fluorescent plant life grew abundantly, covering large patches of ground and creating enough light to see clearly. Overhead, what looked like glowing moss covered the earthen ceiling, providing even more light. I could see other cave openings and tunnels in the distance, some of them with distinct designs marking them as entrances, while others looked like normal sections of the environment. Wisps of light floated through the air, revealing themselves to be various insects. A sense of life and vitality permeated the air.


    I was expecting the surface. Yet, I am decidedly still underground. Does this mean that the world I now inhabit is a subterranean one? All of civilization and society lives below the surface of this world? I found it hard to imagine such a thing, but I could only draw my conclusions from my previous life and the novels I have read. According to them, dungeons in general are supposed to expand outwards enough to breach the surface in order to draw in adventurers or other creatures. At the same time, they need to carve out room below them, in ¡°layers¡± or ¡°floors¡± when they get strong enough to do so from killing enough people, or accumulating enough mana in other ways. Malevin only had one floor or layer in its dungeon, but at least there were a number of side tunnels and dead ends that I instinctively knew not to bother with, and everywhere was littered with ambush points. I doubted there would be anything of value to me. After all, it is common knowledge that the core is the most valuable part of any dungeon.


    And I killed mine.


    I carefully looked around some more, not bothering to move from the entrance. Examining the other openings in the distance, I slowly began to understand that the ones with distinct markings appeared to not just be entrances, but specifically entrances to other dungeons. One was shaped into the gaping mouth of a snake, with stalactites and stalagmites functioning as the fangs and bright gemstones as the eyes. Another had the shape of two fluorescent trees intertwined with each other, a gap in between them providing passage. They looked like massive versions of the plants growing throughout the rest of the expanse. A third had a pair of kneeling figures guarding the entryway, made entirely of stone. I could not pick out the finer details at this distance, but even so I could tell that they are well defined. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    It seemed like an odd mix for a group of dungeons, and I had to wonder if they cooperated with each other in any way. I could not reconcile the literature I read with me current situation; having so many dungeons just openly laying together went against all common sense. Then again, just because there are hundreds of dungeon novels in my home world does not mean that any of them are accurate. Those authors wrote fantasy. My new life is reality.


    A set of voices broke me out of my contemplation. I quickly looked around, my attention landing on a group of figures exiting one of the other dungeon openings, this one clad in the image of...a pig? Weird. I had a quick internal debate before I decided to hide behind a rather large stalagmite. While I was confident in my ability to survive another fight, that confidence was based on a bunch of weak monsters that were basically lesser versions of myself. I had no idea what my true capabilities were, nor did I have any idea what the natives of this world could do. I should not recklessly throw myself their way.


    The figures continued along their way, seemingly unaware of my presence. As they got closer, they revealed themselves to be a group of humans, three women and two men. One wore a full set of metal armor, one wore a set of robes, and the other three wore a mix of metal and leather. All of them were weary and covered in blood and other fluids, but the atmosphere was upbeat. Perhaps they had a good haul. They looked very similar to what I imagined adventurers to be. I assumed the one in metal armor was the tank, the one in robes being either a healer or damage dealing mage, and the others a mix of damage dealers and other useful roles. Still, I cautioned myself. I could make all the assumptions I want, that would not mean a thing if it comes down to a fight and they act in ways I do not predict. Yes, it is still wise to keep myself hidden.


    Briefly, I wondered if I could understand their language. Then, I wondered, do I care? Not particularly, the verdict came in. It would be useful later, for sure, but they are not my current goal. So instead, I waited for them to leave, not bothering trying to listen in on their conversation. I watched as they made their way into a rough tunnel, apparently not another dungeon, and vanish.


    Then I turned my attention to the passage that they just left behind.

 Chapter 5

    ¡°You know, Sharon, I didn¡¯t think you would look even hotter after a workout,¡± a man in fancy black and silver robes said with a smirk.


    ¡°You know, Joseph, I didn¡¯t think you were attracted to boar¡¯s blood and intestines. You sure are kinky, huh?¡± The woman under the bloodied metal armor responded with an indifferent attitude. Although her attire looked heavy and durable, giving others the impression that she had the role of ¡°tank¡± in the team, her actual job is that of a [Blade Dancer]. Sharon was not particularly good at it. While it looked cool to swing around two swords in a fight, she never had the right balance of natural agility and dexterity to prevent herself from getting hit. Too scared to get into serious fights with this impediment, she took a highly frowned upon route for a [Blade Dancer] and invested heavily in armor. She figured that if she couldn¡¯t avoid getting hit, then she might as well reduce the damage she takes as much as she could while dishing it out herself.


    Other [Blade Dancers] see her build as an absolute waste. Still, with the way that she teases and flirts with others for favors, not many bother to call out such a ridiculous set-up to her face. She might flirt a lot with people, but Joseph wasn¡¯t one of them. He never took the hint though, and he was too good of a mage to kick him out of the group. When he was sober, at least.


    Joseph was another odd one. As impressive as his robes may look at first glance, a second or third would easily reveal that it is all flash and no substance. With his job of [Barrier Mage] he should have been a top pick for any adventuring party, easily complementing or even replacing a traditional tank as needed. However, his addiction to Moonglow and his constant drunken - but sometimes sober - advances on women marked him as one of the least desirable members on any team. The best he could do is act as a tank for this group.


    ¡°Honestly, that does sound a little hot,¡± remarked Yazmine, decked out in her leathers and metal bracers for additional protection. An unorthodox choice of protection for a [Healer]. It was unknown why she refused to take one of the stronger support jobs, like [Cleric] or [Priestess], and instead rely on the barely magical [Healer]. One eyebrow raised, she continued, ¡°All sweaty and messy and begging to be cleaned...yum.¡±


    The last woman of the group, wearing metal plated leather armor in a proper balance, shook her head. ¡°Sometimes I can¡¯t tell when you¡¯re joking and when you¡¯re serious,¡± Rachel said, her long rather long hair joining the motion, ¡°but either way, you sound nasty.¡± She then giggled suddenly, despite no one saying anything funny. It was a side effect of her rather unusual job, [Dragon Breather]. Many unfamiliar with the job would think it far more impressive than it actually is. While some would imagine her breathing flames powerful enough to melt stone, in reality, it simply fits her smoking habits. Rachel keeps a stash of various herbs on her person and lights them up in her pipe during battle, breathing out long plumes of different types of smoke. Often enough she is only good for two or three such actions before the effects of the herbs hit her, and then she is lost in happy day dreams until the end of the fight. It is a job that, for those who are aware of the details, makes people really wonder why it exists.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Louis, discreetly leering at all of the women, or at least he thought he was being discreet, opted not to comment. His mind was more focused on selling off his share of the loot and getting his next fix. It wouldn¡¯t be too long before the shakes began again and he didn¡¯t want to let his dexterity drop too low. As a [Knife Fighter], he needed to be able to accurately stab his enemies¡¯ vital spots and cause as much damage as possible. If his attacks missed too often or got too sloppy, he would likely be kicked off the team. And that¡¯s saying a lot, considering how screwed up each person here already was.


    The leather clad man actually did not need to worry so much. All five adventurers, if they can barely be called that, were the lowest dregs of society in one way or another. Some of them hid their flaws well enough to avoid scrutiny, but their skills, or lack thereof, were much more difficult to conceal. Thus, they slowly migrated together and formed their own group, more out of desperation than any real desire to work together. So far they did not tear each other apart, and even survived a handful of dungeon dives together. That was enough to solidify their bond.


    Their party had just finished a run in the F ranked boar dungeon, the lowest ranking dungeon on the planet. Despite it being F rank, it provided a fairly stable, if low, income. They could easily hunt for boar skins to sell to leather workers, meat to save or sell, and experience points to raise their levels. It was a slow, uneventful grind, but slow progress is better than none. At the end of each run, they would gather up the loot, sell what they could, trade or discard what they couldn¡¯t, and split the profits among each member. They typically just manage to make enough to settle in the cheapest room and board they could find, and a little extra for their own...side activities.


    As they made their way to the tunnel leading back up to the surface, completely ignoring the other dungeon entrances around them, they passed a rather large stalagmite. If Joseph was a more competent mage. If Louis, the group¡¯s scout, was not distracted by his fixation on his next Speedwort dose. If the party as a whole were not exhausted and actually paying attention to their surroundings. Maybe, if one of those details were different, the future would have been far different from what it became. Maybe, just maybe, so many lives could have been saved. Maybe not theirs, but untold others.


    But this is not a world of ¡°maybe¡±s. Instead, they walked past, oblivious to the harbinger of doom lurking just behind it.


    And thus, the best chance to prevent the greatest disaster this world has ever faced was lost forever.

 Chapter 6

    I kept a watchful eye to ensure there were no other adventurers around. Confident in my solitude, I finally traversed the distance and found myself gazing up-close at the entrance to what I assume is the pig dungeon. The image looked like a pig to me, at any rate. Pushing my mild musings to the side, I mustered my determination and carefully entered.


    The moment that my slime body slipped into the entryway, I felt a distinct change. It was almost like I breached a barrier of sorts. Although there was not much resistance, I did feel as if something was at least trying to deny my entry. Even the miniscule flow of mana that I had been steadily absorbing on the outside was immediately cut off. The mana surrounding me in this dungeon felt...alien, foreign. Hostile. I suppose it made a bit of sense. I was intruding, after all.


    Implications of what I just experienced caused numerous hypotheses and conclusions to form in my mind, but as usual, I shrugged them off to deal with later. I was officially in enemy territory. This was no place to spend time lost in my thoughts. Instead, I pushed forward, putting myself on high alert.


    My first opponents soon revealed themselves. A pack of pigs with very small tusks growing out of their faces were running at me with full speed, five of them altogether. I chose not to call them boars since they were pink and hairless, and truly resembled pigs more than anything else, but those tusks indicated to me that this dungeon might be exploring an evolutionary line. They were about the same size as pigs I had seen on Earth, maybe a bit larger on average. The only thing I could not tell, was if their aggression was natural or dungeon-ordered. Either way, it did not matter to me.


    Just as I prepared to whip some tentacles at them, aiming for their legs to trip them up and use their momentum against them, I noticed each of them suddenly giving off a very slight glow. Their speed jumped up a stage, and the distance between us and them shrank in an instant. It must have been a sort of charging skill, a stampede rush maybe? Whatever it was, the change threw me off momentarily, and that was all they needed to finally slam themselves into my body.


    Five loud splats sounded out in quick succession as they impacted me as a group. I was briefly stunned, not as a result of a skill effect as far as I could tell, but by my own unpreparedness. Was there any damage? I...could not say, actually. Their attacks felt a bit stronger than what the elemental slimes threw at me, but I still felt no sense of pain, only mild tremors. I suppose I did not know what constituted as damage for a slime. I would need to figure that out, and soon.


    The tusked pigs struggled around, their front halves buried inside of me. Only two of them had all four limbs planted on the ground, giving them enough purchase to pull their heads out. The others tried their best, but with just two feet free and the gripping resistance my body provided, they did not stand much of a chance. The two pigs that freed themselves shook a little, then ran around me in a circle, building up momentum to ram me again. This time they did not give off the same glow from before as they slammed into me. I chose not to react to their second round of attacks just to test something, and I learned two things. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    One, these creatures are not exactly smart or adaptable, using a tactic that clearly did not work the first go around. Two, the charging skill, presumably activated with mana, could not be used repeatedly. It appears there might be an element of cool downs in this world.


    With all five pigs firmly stuck in my body, a few helping tentacles ensuring that they were all pushed completely in, I wondered what to do next. Obviously, they would die from suffocation - or is it drowning? - even if I took no further action. Yet, a sudden urge rose up within me. Consciously giving myself over to my new base instincts, I felt as if a switch was flipped. The pigs began to dissolve at a rapid pace. I watched, morbidly fascinated, as they transitioned from bodies of flesh and blood into skeletons, and then nothing at all. Five bursts of mana filling me up finished the process. It was...interesting.


    Squeals in the distance broke me out of my thoughts. I had another sudden urge, to lie in wait and let the incoming prey collide into me as they did before. However, I strongly resisted that idea this time. While my new body¡¯s instincts might be great for teaching me how to use its natural gifts, I had no desire to act like a common slime, or even a common boss monster. Who knew when I would need to fight opponents that could attack me from a safe distance? Or when I would have to act more like a human than a monster in other situations? No, I refuse to allow myself to simply act on instinct for the rest of my new life. I would take control!


    Determined to test myself and learn new ways of combat, I surged forward to greet the next squad of tusked pigs. They tried the same tactic that the last squad did, simply running up to me and using their charge skill at the last moment for a surprise boost. Wise to their movements now, I easily adjusted my timing and created tentacle whips, lashing out horizontally and low to the ground. I tried to focus on my appendages being firm instead of absorbent, and it seemed to somewhat work as all five of the new pigs were sent careening into the ground in front of me, their legs swept out from beneath them. Not giving them the chance to recover, I tried to strike each of them in the head with as much force as I could muster, hoping to kill them all in one blow.


    I had not considered that the slimes I slaughtered before were a bit of a special case. I must have had a much easier time dealing with them due to the fact that our bodies were similar, I was just a higher tier. Actual animals, however, were much sturdier, and so my attacks were not as effective. That is not to say that I did no damage, but it took me several, concentrated slaps before the first head was turned into mush. Thankfully, the pigs were stunned long enough that I could finish them all off before the last one could get to its feet and start running. It helped that partway through, I changed my approach from using one tentacle per head to using all five tentacles on one head at a time. That was my limit at the moment. I will need to work on increasing that later.

 Chapter 7

    Grabbing the recently deceased pigs and stuffing them inside of myself to dissolve them, I realized that I should take stock of my surroundings. As another few bursts of mana registered within me, I noticed that the dungeon seemed to be an open meadow. Short, yellow grass covered the floor, and I could see a couple of ponds not too far away, probably the drinking source for the pigs. I assumed the yellow grass served as their feed. Adventurers probably balanced out the remainder of their diet. I looked up and saw that the ceiling, while not low, was not too high either. Maybe two stories, by my best guess. The wide, open space felt more like the area outside of the dungeon than the setting of my birth place, which was essentially a series of tunnels. Of course, the rock features were completely absent.


    It made sense to keep the place free of obstructions for a mob type that depends on being mobile.


    Paying more attention to the surroundings allowed me to see that there were quite a number of these ¡®pig squads¡¯ roaming around. Well, they were roaming around, as far as I could tell. Now, they are all running towards me.


    Every single one of them.


    I did not hesitate to confront them as they came. I met them head on, swinging my tentacle whips, tripping entire groups, sometimes even managing to lift one pig to throw at the others. I could not do it consistently, but the problem was not about weight, I simply lacked the control to pick them up instead of letting them sink into my appendages. Either way, it did not matter. One squad, two squads, three¡­ No matter how many charged at me, I flailed around in a mess of slimey fury and struck down as many as I could. Sometimes I would lose track of a few of them and ended up taking a couple of direct hits. But it seemed that physical trauma, even empowered by skill boosted speed, did not have much effect on me. So, I let them throw themselves into me for easy kills.


    Still, I minimized those occurrences as much as possible, for my own sake.


    After countless minutes of fighting, the last pig fell. Many bodies could be seen floating inside of me as I had not taken the time to absorb them. I simply let them suffocate to death on their own. The rest were strewn about me in various stages of pulpy mess. I switched into dissolution mode and devoured all of them. As I worked, I realized that the violence and bloodshed did not bother me much. Yes, I objectively discovered that I was capable of a lot more destruction than I could have ever caused or even think about in my previous life, but that realisation had no actual impact on my actions. I was slowly coming to understand that as a slime, my previous ideals, thoughts, and disposition as a human just did not matter anymore. Perhaps that was part of why I could not feel emotions anymore, or even the whole reason why.


    A sudden thump drew my attention away from the finally dissolved corpses. Off in the distance, close to what must be the very edge of the meadow, a large figure rose up. A squeal so deep that it was practically a roar tore out of its mouth. Almost a story tall, nearly half the height of the dungeon¡¯s ceiling, rippling muscles, needle-like fur, and tusks that were practically a third of its body length, the massive boar steadily made its way towards me. A glint of madness shone in its blood red eyes.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Looks like I just met the boss of this dungeon. And it was not happy.


    Suddenly, the enormous creature lowered its head and burst into an all out run. Due to its size and maturity, it was far, far faster than the weaklings I recently killed. I should have panicked, wanted to, but I still felt nothing. It was starting to bother me, mentally of course, but I had no time for that. I recklessly threw myself to the side at the last moment. The boar did not exactly stop. Instead, seeing that it missed, it bunched up its legs, made a short hop, and drifted in a sharp turn until it was facing me again. Without losing too much momentum it charged at me again. I had to admit...that was kinda cool.


    Figuring that repeating my prior actions would only cause it to learn from my habits, I quickly changed strategy. Watching the impossibly fast thing coming at me, I once again rolled over to the side, but this time I whipped out a tentacle that I hardened as much as I currently could handle in an attempt to trip it. It almost worked.


    The boar, caught off guard by the sudden obstacle, failed to react quickly enough and stumbled when its feet struck me. My tentacle burst in a shocking splatter, but I ignored it while I watched the boar lose its balance. Just as I thought the creature would face-plant directly into the ground, with the added benefit of its long tusks securing it in place for an easy win, the blasted thing gave me yet another surprise. It tucked in its shoulders, bunched up its core muscles, and rolled. Yes. The boar tripped and rolled and came out of it as if it was nothing.


    Dungeon Bosses are no joke, it seems.


    Still, its little maneuver gave me an opportunity, however small it was. I quickly wrapped a couple of tentacles around its back legs as soon as it was right side up, attempting to hold them in place. I was under no illusion that I could lift the beast when I could barely do so for its smaller brethren. No, instead I was aiming to hinder its ability to charge at me. If I could hold it up well enough, I would have a far better chance at handling the rest of the fight.


    I never considered one thing though. In all of its running and tossing about, it never gave off the glow of the charging skill that all of the pigs seemed to possess. That should have been my first warning. The second would be the clearly longer and well developed tusks.


    Once the boar got its bearings again, it tried to move forward, only to discover my attempts at binding it. The boar struggled against me for a bit, then, failing to break free of my grasp, turned its head to squint at me. Before I could think of my next move, it made its own. The boar used its free front legs to quickly shift around until it was facing me. In this way I was given a lovely view of it activating a skill...its tusks lit up with the light of mana, and the boar swept its head from side to side, brandishing those weapons against me. My tentacles were destroyed easily, though I still felt no pain. I did, however, feel the loss of connection from those parts of my body. What was wrapped around the hind legs collapsed into a puddle as I could no longer control them. Good to know.


    Free from its constraints, the boar snorted before leaping backwards a good distance. It let out a low roar as it began to charge towards me again, the added room giving it the chance to build up more speed. I struggled to come up with ideas, throwing myself to the side once again like a desperate matador. This time, the boar was quick-witted, and nearly gouged me with its tusks in a sudden shift of its head. Thankfully I had thrown myself harder than before.


    Before, I simply thought it was a bad idea to take a hit from something that big, moving that fast, head on. The little guys, sure. The boar the size of a house, not so much. But now, I was wary of not just the laws of physics, but also the tusks that displayed the laws of mana.


    There had to be some way to take this beast down. And I fully intended to find it.

 Chapter 8

    In a massive meadow void of any living creature besides two powerful entities, the clash between Dungeon Bosses continued.


    The boar continued to charge towards me, seeming to have unlimited stamina, or at least a larger capacity of it than I could imagine. I, in turn, continued to dodge at the best of my ability, not willing to get hit with the force of a wrecking ball. While physical force should affect me to a much lesser degree than, say, a human, there are limits to everything. It is one thing to get punched in the stomach. It is another story to get rammed by a truck. Even getting clipped, especially by those tusks that could fill up with mana, posed a risk to me.


    Like the boar, I did not appear to get physically tired by our game of cat and mouse, but I was beginning to feel some mental strain. After all, this is only the first day of my new life. So far, immediately after waking up in this new body, I had destroyed the core that made me, killed all of the slimes in the dungeon, ate the fairy partner, and without much of a break I proceeded to attack a neighboring dungeon and slaughter my way through hordes of enraged tusked pigs until the big bad boss showed up. If I was still human I would have collapsed and died a long time ago.


    Huh. I should really take a break.


    After one more pass from the boar, during which it managed to kick up a cloud of dirt at me, maybe in an attempt to blind me, I finally had enough. There was one idea that I wanted to try. If it failed...well, I might as well do my best to retreat. Still, I had no doubt it would work.


    I waited for the blasted boar to face me once more. Every time it charged at me it got closer and closer to actually landing a solid hit, as if it was slowly learning my timing. The look in its eyes as it built up speed again told me that it was confident in catching me in this strike. Well, it was not the only one who could pay attention to its opponent.


    Standing my ground, I chose not to dodge this attack. The boar was used to me jerking away at the last moment, so it could not notice my intention. That is why, as I struck the ground with a pair of tentacles and launched myself up and over its head, I caught it completely by surprise. I did not jump very far, I only used enough force to land on a particular spot.


    On its back.


    Quickly throwing a few tentacles around, I secured myself to the body of the boar. I may have been wary of getting slammed by a charging behemoth, but I had no fear once I took away its best method of attack. I mean, I felt no fear in general, but that was not the point. Before the boar could understand what was happening, I manipulated my body so that I would stretch out over its head. I avoided the tusks, unsure it even touching them was safe, but I proceeded to enact the plan I came up with a while ago.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I filled its nose, ears, eyes, and mouth with my slime.


    The boar immediately worked itself into a frenzy. It could not run around as I effectively blinded it, robbing it of its sense of balance. It could not breathe as I blocked its airways. All it could do was struggle frantically, rolling around on the ground in a vain attempt to dislodge me. It did not even think to bite me, although that would have been just as ineffective.


    I was suffocating it. Or drowning. Really not quite sure which, but I suppose I would need to enter its lungs to fit the definition of drowning. Suffocation it is, then.


    A few minutes later, the Dungeon Boss ended its weak struggles. With a last twitch of its legs, I felt it give up its final breath. A large amount of mana erupted in me, filling me far, far more than the slimes and pigs I had killed so far, about half as much as my maker provided, actually. I tried to lose myself in the sensation of it, reveling in the increase in mana, but as usual, the feeling was short lived. At least it provided me with confirmation that I won.


    It was then that I realized just how big the boar was. As it was finally still, no longer rushing about me like a lunatic, I was able to judge its size in relation to myself. I had not considered my own size up until this point, but it seemed that I was about a quarter of the size of the boar, when I¡¯m not extending any part of myself. That put me at a height taller than a full grown man, significantly taller, but my horizontal dimensions were still a bit unclear to me. Perhaps just as wide as I am tall? I truly could not tell. However...was I always this big? Somehow, I did not think so.


    Instead of dwelling on my body image issues, I chose to act. For all I knew, the dungeon could try to send something else after me and I wanted to be ready. I decided to consume the corpse of the boar, because it seemed like a waste to just leave it there. It only took a little longer than I expected to dissolve the entire thing, starting from the head. In the end I had no real trouble dealing with it. At the same time, I kept watch of the surrounding area and notice any additional threats. I wondered if that meant the dungeon had nothing left to throw at me. If that was indeed the case, then my path forward would be clear.


    Once the boar corpse was completely removed, I traveled in the direction from which it came. Although our battle took us all over the meadow, it was fairly easy to see where it began, as there was only one area that had a single set of tracks as opposed to the turned up, ruined soil all around me. Following that path, I eventually reached the edge of the dungeon, where I first saw the figure of the boar appear. A pleasant surprise awaited me.


    Right there, in a delicately carved alcove, sat the dungeon core.

 Chapter 9

    I slowly crept towards the alcove, wary of any nasty surprises. I assumed that the massive boar was the last of its defenses, but I knew nothing about how the dungeons of this world opperrated, so I was not taking any chances. As I cautiously made my way forward, I realized I could hear a frantic voice. The words it spoke gave me a fairly strong indication of who it belonged to.


    (You have to do something! It¡¯s coming closer!)


    I heard nothing more for a moment before the same voice continued. (There¡¯s really nothing left?! Oh no, oh no, oh no, you shouldn¡¯t have emptied your whole resource pool into that Boss!)


    Another gap, and then the voice went on. (I mean, I guess, I don¡¯t know! The intruder was stronger than either of us thought! What do we do, what do we do¡­) In the meantime, I kept my slow advance, not stopping for a second. Objectively I realized that I might look terrifying. A huge mass of slime ominously creeping up to its target, unblockable, unstoppable. I appreciated the aesthetic, honestly.


    Optics aside, I realized that I was hearing the voice of the dungeon fairy. The gaps in speech must be a result of me not being able to hear the dungeon core responding. I wondered why I could not hear this core when I had no trouble hearing the voice of the one that made me. Perhaps I could hear Malevin because it had made me, and therefore I was connected to its thoughts that way? It would make sense, I supposed. If I were a normal dungeon mob, the core would have needed to be able to direct me properly. The core in front of me, however, had no part in my creation, and so I reasoned that I would have no way of communicating with it...except through its partner fairy. Does this mean that fairies in this world act as a sort of diplomat? A bridge between the stone and the living creatures they seek to consume?


    Once I had that thought, I happened to further realize that I had no idea what dungeon cores are made of. My creator...when I consumed it, I did not pay too much attention to exactly what it was. Crushing it with mana inside of my body made it shatter like glass, but I highly doubted that it was actually a floating ball of glass. That would just be ridiculous.


    Then again, the whole idea of me becoming a sentient slime monster in a whole other universe after dying is ridiculous in and of itself.


    As I got closer to the core, I took the chance to observe it in detail. It floated a few inches above a pedestal that grew out of the floor of the alcove. For a dungeon that hosted an entire meadow of tusked pigs, the aesthetics of the alcove looked fairly out of place. It was clean, well shaped, smooth, and faintly detailed with artistic markings. They did not appear to hold any meaning beyond looking appealing. It was not what I would have expected at all. Malevin, for example, had floated on its own in the center of its room, not surrounded by any sort of artsy craft.


    Either Malevin was simply a boring fellow, or this core was more vain than average. Maybe a bit of both.


    The core came into proper view. It had the basic shape of a sphere, but there were clearly several facets on it. It did not look completely even though. An imperfect polygonal sphere? I am fairly certain that made no sense at all, but that was the best way I could describe it. A stray thread of thought pierced my mind, a slight memory of a dungeon core novel I read long ago. It mentioned something about a core becoming ¡®more perfect¡¯ as it grew in strength. Maybe that is what happens here; as a dungeon gets stronger, the core clears up its surface and becomes a perfectly faceted shape. I may need to find more powerful cores to verify this.


    (Please, please just go away¡­) The fairy continued to whisper, not knowing that I could hear it just fine. I did not pause my approach, but I did start to wonder. Did I need to consume them? Yes, they would give me a boost, but is that truly important? When I destroyed that first core and fairy, it was mostly out of self defense. Either I died or they did. Here, though, I am the intruder. I entered their domain, their home, and slaughtered all of their defenses. Assuming the core does not have any other tricks up its figurative sleeve, these two are simply helpless. Was I the sort of person to hurt defenseless people?Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    That is the thing though. I am no longer a person. And the core and fairy before me are not people either. At the very least, they are not ¡°my¡± people. Even then, I did effectively cause a genocide when I massacered my fellow slimes...but truly, they were yet another part of the dungeon that wanted my destruction, so I felt no regret there.


    All in all, I had no reason to break this core and swallow the fairy. Yet, I had no reason not to do so either. And to be completely honest with myself, I had no strong emotion towards either action.


    In the end, one thing tipped the scales. Power. I had no idea what brought me into this world, or how I ended up in this body. I knew nothing about why my emotions were sealed, or removed, or whatever the case may be. I lacked knowledge of what my status as a disaster meant or how the world at large would react to it, beyond the terrified response that the other fairy gave me. I did not know what kind of life I would be able to live here, in this unfamiliar world. But no matter what mystery I try to focus on, the path to getting those answers all begin with one simple step.


    Grow stronger. Amass power. Bring myself to a point where I can do what I want and determine my own fate.


    And if I want to gain that freedom to choose then it would be foolish of me to pass up the meal in front of me.


    I suddenly lunged forward in a burst of speed, my body resembling an ocean wave crashing upon the shore. I engulfed both core and fairy at once and wrapped my body into itself, trapping them both. My mana circulated wildly, assaulting them together in an attempt to end it quickly. I did not want to give them any opportunity to defend themselves.


    My attack immediately met resistance from the core. A series of pulses ripped through me, the core unleashing wave after wave of its own internal mana. I briefly wondered where it pulled this much mana from, considering that it was supposed to be running on empty after creating the boar boss, but then I quickly suspected that it was a combined effort with the fairy granting assistance. It was their last stand, a valiant effort to prevent their destruction. It mattered not. My own mana was significantly higher than what they could put out. Their method was a bit clever, though. Releasing their mana in pulses did make my body weaken its hold on them briefly, but I ignored the instability. Wielding my mana like a primitive hammer, I struck vicious blows onto the core.


    It did not take long before the pulses weakened and slowed, until they stopped altogether. Even with the help of the fairy, the amount of mana they held combined could not last long. They quickly ran out before any real damage could be done to me. My attacks, on the other hand, continued unabated. Soon after their final struggle passed, I succeeded in shattering the core. With the fairy in such close proximity, her death was triggered at the same time. The resulting burst of mana surged within me. This time I felt myself expanding as the mana integrated with my body. Once again I got that sensation of near satisfaction, maybe that is the way my body processes growth. The sensation did not last long, as usual, but the feeling of my body expanding lasted a little while longer.


    Finally, I finished with my growth. Beyond my size, I could not determine any other changes. In fact, I wondered about those blue screens I saw much earlier. Should there not be some measure of my strength? I took a few moments to think of different trigger words. Status. Attributes. Character Sheet. Boss Page. Slime Force. I stopped before I allowed myself to get too crazy with the attempts, but nothing I tried so far worked. Strange. I was under the impression that I would be able to track my progress, as the blue screens mentioned an elevated status and all. Was I missing something?


    Just as I was about to lose myself in the bookcase of thoughts that I have been shelving for hours now, one thing stopped me cold. A voice. I somehow failed to keep track of my surroundings and something snuck close enough for me to hear it.


    All of a sudden, I had company.

 Chapter 10

    ¡°What in the nine hells are going on here?¡± Sharon whispered, more to herself than to the rest of her party. The others silently shared her sentiment though.


    The five of them had reentered the boar dungeon after a night of rest, ready to earn their next round of income. After walking for several minutes, however, they noticed an oppressive silence. That¡¯s when they realized that there were no mobs in sight. The meadow, as far as their eyes could see, was empty.


    Unsettled by the lack of monsters to kill, and slightly panicking as their only source of income might have disappeared, they rushed about, trying to figure out what happened to their precious dungeon. Not that the dungeon belonged to them, of course, but considering that no team with any amount of genuine worth came here, and taking the dungeon solo was just suicide for anyone at the appropriate level, their group found themselves being the only ones that farmed the resources here. At least, that was the case up until now. With no sign of any boars, they could only assume that someone else came here before them and cleared the place out.


    If that was the case, they had to find out who that is and stop them. This is their livelihood, after all.


    A long, frantic search brought them to the site of a great battle. As long time veterans of the boar dungeon, the group knew quite a bit about how fights would play out here. The boars would always leave trails of kicked up dirt from their charging attacks, and the dungeon would restore the ground overnight. In the middle of a dive, it was not uncommon to see big patches of upturned soil as the aftermath of a fight. Sharon and the others were quite used to seeing that.


    What they saw in front of them now, however, was on a completely different scale.


    ¡°Did they lure every freaking boar over here to farm all at once or something?¡± Louis asked in mild disbelief. As the group¡¯s scout, he should have been able to read the battle traces and give an accurate report of what happened, but he was more interested in stabbing and looting things than staring at dirt. He never felt the need to improve on either skill.


    Rachel, lighting up her long pipe to calm her nervous energy, responded with a cough. ¡°Who knows what they did, who cares? I just want them to stop cutting into our cash.¡± She took a deep hit and let out a long tendril of fumes, curling it around her body with her class skills. The action served no real purpose. Louis looked at her with disdain. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not gonna lose it before we even find them, don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll need to show them who¡¯s boss around here.¡±


    The smoke slowly dissipated as she scrunched up her face at him. ¡°Oh shut it already,¡± she huffed. ¡°It¡¯s the good stuff, not the good stuff. Not yet, at least.¡± Yazmine, off to the side, looked between the two of them, shaking her head but not interrupting.


    ¡°Can we get a move on? We won¡¯t find anyone just standing around looking at a pile of dirt, no matter how messed up it looks,¡± drawled Joseph. The barrier mage would sound more authoritative if he wasn¡¯t holding a bottle of Moonglow in his hand. The day barely started and he was already down half the bottle. Thankfully his speech had yet to start slurring. If it came to a sudden fight, he would be ready. Sort of.


    Sharon was the only one to feel a sense of discomfort. Although she too believed that they needed to find the group that threw a wrench in their daily routine, something kept nagging at her thoughts. Something here was just wrong, but she couldn¡¯t pinpoint it no matter how hard she tried. Deciding that further talk was useless, she gathered the rest of the team and pushed deeper into the dungeon. With how large the expanse was, they would need significant time to search out any culprits.


    They did not have to search too far, however. Following the path made by the boar boss earlier, they stumbled upon something that went far beyond their expectations. Instead of finding another adventuring party, they found a monster.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Only, this monster clearly did not belong here.


    ***


    I made no attempt to hide myself. For one, the appearance of these people was too sudden. For another, hiding places were lacking in supply. As I had noticed earlier, this dungeon was designed as an open meadow with practically no obstacles, giving the tusked pigs all the room they needed to maneuver. The dungeon played up to their strengths and took away the chance for any enemy to use convenient cover.


    That fact meant that I had no cover either. Not that my increased size would have let me utilize it in any case.


    I focused my attention on the one whose voice I heard. It was a scrawny looking man, dressed in dark leather armor that would blend in nicely in dark places. He was staring at me with his jaw hanging slightly open, confusion and a bit of fear evident on his face. Four others gathered around him with similar expressions. I surmised that they did not expect to find me here.


    ¡°What...is that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Uh...I think it¡¯s a slime¡­¡±


    ¡°This IS the boar dungeon, right? We didn¡¯t enter the slime dungeon by mistake, did we?¡±


    ¡°Who knows, who cares¡­¡±


    ¡°WE CARE! That thing looks the size of a dungeon boss! The boss here is supposed to be a mega boar, not this thing! We can¡¯t fight that!¡±


    ¡°*gulp gulp* Ugh, you guys are noisy¡­¡±


    ¡°No way, you are not getting drunk right now, we need to figure this out!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not even alcohol, who cares¡­¡±


    I watched as the group of adventurers, whom I recognized from earlier, converse with each other. I realized that I could not understand their language, but as I used to be human, I understood their body language and facial expressions. They seemed to be devolving into arguing amongst themselves, perhaps about what to do with me. At least I confirmed that there is a language barrier. I wondered how to overcome that. If I should bother doing so at all.


    Hearing the argument increase in volume with nothing getting done, I decided to make a move first. I slowly moved forward, recreating the menacing approach that I unintentionally used earlier. I was cautious, but not exactly concerned. For some reason I felt no sense of danger. I could not tell if this was related to my lack of emotions, but whether it is or not made no difference at that moment. When I crossed half the distance between us, the adventuring team finally noticed my movements.


    ¡°It¡¯s coming this way! We should leave, NOW!¡±


    ¡°*burp* oh come on, it¡¯s just an oversized slime. Here, watch, we can take it easy.¡±


    One of them, the guy in flashy robes, seemed to make some sort of declaration as he raised his hand towards me. Not the one with a bottle in it, his free hand. I raised my awareness, watchful for anything he might do. His hand glowed with a silvery light, and a silver colored transparent circle appeared right in front of me. I did not stop in time and bumped into it. My mind quickly jumped to conclusions, expecting pain or something to happen, but...nothing. Carefully, I extended a tentacle to prod the circle. It just hovered in the air, slightly above the ground but fixed in place. Was it...meant to stop me in place?


    I watched as the mage smirked to the others. He spoke again, probably bragging to them. I ignored him, which was easy considering I had no idea what he was saying, and continued to test out the obstacle. Using the same tentacle, I struck the silver circle with a bit of force. It held up without a tremor. I lashed at it again, with significantly more force. My tentacle just bounced right off. This was my first true exposure to magic, and it left me fascinated. However, I did not want to give the party more time to organize themselves. They seemed like the lacked cohesive teamwork and discipline, and they were probably going to turn hostile if they felt I could be handled with a simple barrier. It would be stupid to not take advantage of their carelessness.


    So, instead of playing around with the magic hanging in front of me, I chose to simply flow around it. Under, to the sides, above, my slime body essentially covered the whole circle only to leave it behind me. It was not difficult at all.


    One of the adventurers noticed my actions with a bit of panic. She pointed me out to the mage. He turned to look at me, his smug expression slowly vanishing. Although I still could not understand his words, the sentiment of what he said next transcended all languages.


    ¡°Ah, crap.¡±

 Chapter 11

    I was not sure what reaction I expected. I was not even certain of what I wanted from these adventurers. Should I attempt to make them understand me? Should I try to befriend them? Did I want to hurt them? I had no clue. For the most part, I simply continued to move forward, because staying still felt too passive. I...did not know what more to do.


    Fortunately, or unfortunately, the group made the decision for me.


    One of the women, the one with really long straight hair and a pipe in her mouth, took a deep breath from said pipe and blew. A stream of smoke curled my way, faster than I would have expected. In fact, the sight of such a controlled act was beyond anything I could expect, but then again, in this game like world I suppose almost anything is possible.


    Exhibit A, sentient slime dungeon boss here.


    The smoke wrapped around my form, dark purple in color and giving off a malicious feeling. I did not want to touch it, but I did not have much choice as it constricted around me. A strange sensation arose...prickling, annoying. Whatever it was doing to me, it could not be good. I tried to throw myself out of entrapment, but the smoke clung to me like a parasite. It was as I rolled over a particularly dense patch of grass that I noticed something. The smoke rapidly dissolved it. Acidic herbs? Or¡­?


    Focusing so hard on the smoke and its effects prevented me from noticing the barrier mage acting up again. Before I realized it, four more silvery lights surrounded me in a box like manner. This time they were all square shaped instead of circles. My motion became limited, I could not go forwards or backwards, nor to either side. Just as I was about to try going up, another silver square slammed into place.


    This left me trapped in a cube with a kind of dissolving smoke eating away at me. Clever strategy. Still, I wondered why the mage did not add another barrier below me. While I was not too sure I could dig my way out quickly enough, there was no way that these adventurers could know that. A sneaky glance at them gave me an answer.


    The robed mage was sweating buckets, his face twisted in concentration. A couple of empty bottles were scattered around his feet, a fresh one in his hand glowing blue. His other hand gave off a powerful silver light, perhaps the same hand that held all of these barriers in place. I supposed this tactic was going well beyond his limits. What of the others, then?


    The pipe woman...huh. Well, I guess she is out. I found her sitting on the ground, looking up towards the luminescent ceiling, her expression showing her lost in whatever pleasant fantasy or emotion she was experiencing. It must be an effect of her unusual class skill. Seems like an incredibly stupid way to risk yourself in any kind of fight, period.


    Deciding that the best way to escape my predicament would be to overtax the mage even further, I started smashing the barriers with several tentacles as I observed the last three members. The one in full metal armor stood in front of everyone else, twin swords at the ready. When I first saw her, I thought she was the tank of the group, the one who soaks up all the damage. But I could not think of any tank who would use two swords...just as I could not think of any dual sword wielder to hamper their speed. It occurred to me, just then, that this was not the best example of an adventuring party. At least three members so far have shown a level of...I do not know, incompetence? Incompetence that I would never tolerate if I were running my own team. A useful, but weak mage, a ranged attacker that gets high off of her own attacks, and whatever that armored woman is.


    The last two did not add much to my evaluation. The other woman, blonde, with leather armor and metal arm guards, looked torn between helping the mage and staring at me with a rather...disturbing look. Almost as if she were...aroused.


    Yeah, no, not going to think about that.


    Increasing my strikes on the barriers, noting that the ¡°debilitating¡± smoke was lessening, and still not feeling any real damaging effects from it, I found the last party member. Holding two knives in his hands, he was sweating nearly as much as the mage, who looked to be on the verge of passing out. The knife wielder looked between the party, myself, and the path that they left behind. I guessed he wanted to run and save his own skin, but something was holding him back.


    He should make up his mind soon, however. It was about time I made my move.


    I determined that one last good push should send the mage over the edge. I pulled myself together, literally, squeezing my body in on itself. It felt strange, to compress myself that way, but I did it as best I could and let the pressure build up. I did not give them much time to figure out my plan and adapt to it. Suddenly forcing myself to expand, I used the release in tension to power an omnidirectional body slam, hitting all five barriers and the ground below at once. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    It worked beautifully. The added stress of my empowered strike must have created a powerful feedback, as the mage stiffened before dropping like a dead fly. The barriers vanished at the same time, the smoke dissipating completely as well. At least the prickling sensation finally ended. I wondered why it did not do more to me, before I rationalized that melting attacks probably have limited effects on slimes, who melt and dissolve matter for a living. As a boss tiered monster, my resistance must have been especially stronger.


    Either way, the actions of this group was a clear message to me. Trap and kill. Well, I suppose my way was clear in that case. Slaughter anything that denies me the chance to live.


    I surged forward, significantly faster than my earlier approach. The twin sword woman opened her eyes in horror, both at my escape and at my new speed. She panicked, her stance shaky as she could not decide between attacking and defending. At the last moment, both she and the knife guy threw half hearted swings at me, the guy coming up to my side with clear unwillingness on his face.


    Even if I was a regular monster, I think I would have been insulted by their pitiful display. As it was, I was not normal.


    Trusting my intuitive reaction, born from recently gained combat experience, I allowed their strikes to land. At the same time, I lashed out with three five tentacles, still the limit of my control, but probably enough for the situation. Two wrapped around the bodies of the knocked out mage and the pipe woman. They were slowly dragged into me. One wrapped around the blonde woman, who for some reason was quite red in her face and...yeah, I am not going to decipher her expression. The last two wrapped around the sword woman and the knife guy, who were already shaking. The woman was clearly off balance from her crappy stance and her wild swings, the guy...wait, he is just shaking shaking. He reminded me of a junky from Earth.


    This entire team is just...weird. Maybe I am doing this world a service.


    Normally I would have had more trouble handling all of their combined weight at once, but I found myself having a much easier time pulling them all into my body. Part of that was the lack of major resistance, but I think I also grew much stronger after eating the core and fairy of this dungeon. As the five humans suffocated inside of me, eventually dying together, I wondered exactly how much stronger I could become. Then I noticed the ecstatic, almost erotic expression on the blonde inseide of me, and it unsettled me enough that I twisted a part of myself to grind her body into a pulp. Although she was already close to death, her expression lost that satisfied look instantly.


    I knew her type. I did not want to entertain her perversion at all.


    With all five dead, I proceeded to consume them all at once. A powerful surge of mana rose within me, chaotic in motion and almost threatening to make me burst. Once more, I felt no pain, but I instinctively knew that if I did not take control then I might actually die. Each body contained less mana than the dungeon core, but together they added up to be more than what I had consumed from the rest of the dungeon so far. And being five distinct sources, they collided with each other violently inside of me.


    It took a great deal of determination and willpower to wrest control over the chaotic energy. If anyone was left alive to watch me, they would see my body twisting and spiking out in random directions as I fought with the mana. Soon, however, I forced it into submission.  I let out a mental sigh of relief. I would need to be more careful the next time I try something like that.


    Before I could make another move, something happened that froze me in place. Something I could never have expected.


    A window appeared in front of me...


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Disaster Rank Upgrading...Ranking Established.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Arc - Doombringer


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Designation: Dungeon Boss


    </td>


    <td>


    Category: Slime


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Disaster Rank: Unnatural


    </td>


    <td>


    Feats: 5/5


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Feat Description


    </td>


    <td>


    Associated Ability


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Eliminated: creator


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Manipulation


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Eliminated: place of birth


    </td>


    <td>


    Ambient Mana Siphon


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: Tier 1 Dungeon Boss


    </td>


    <td>


    Expansion Manipulation


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: member of native species (2/2)


    </td>


    <td>


    Native Language Acquisition


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: members of invading species (5/5)


    </td>


    <td>


    Enhanced Consumption


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ...and left me with a whole lot more to think about.

 Chapter 12

    I collapsed into a gelatinous puddle. I simply could not do anything else. Up to this point, I had been running off of the faint, near impossible hope that none of this was real and that everything so far had been an elaborate nightmare. Yes, I treated the recent events as real, and I made goals for myself in case it turned out that this is my new reality, but...I still had hope. Unconsciously so.


    This new screen obliterated any chance of that.


    I kept it in my vision, not moving, not thinking, not feeling. Just...laying there. To be honest it was a bit nice, to just settle in and simply exist. Until the memories began to surface. Memories that I tried to summon while I was in the void, but that had refused to come to my call. Memories that, in the midst of everything I had done, restructured themselves, hidden under the layer of possible insanity.


    ...But I was not crazy, huh. It was not a dream. This was real.


    I remembered my family. Siblings, both parents, a home that finally belonged to us through years of paying off the mortgage. I remembered the overwhelming feeling of general uselessness as I contributed so little to...everything, considering the health complications I developed. My physical capability reduced just enough to make regular work all but impossible, but not enough of an issue that the government would provide assistance. I remembered sinking deeper and deeper into depression, joining millions of others in the country in the desperate struggle to find meaning in such an ambivalent life, knowing that there were others worse off making more of themselves than we were, yet unable to somehow do the same.


    I remembered the various video games and books that I threw myself into as a distraction, hoping to find something there that would give me a purpose, only to see the same story playing out over and over just with various twists.


    I remembered walking out of the house one day in emotional turmoil, a multitude of feelings clashing and boiling up inside of me, threatening to explode if I did not move, do something, anything.


    I remembered the passing truck. A cable securing its massive payload suddenly snapping, the force whipping it out at violent speeds. Straight for my neck. Then there was nothing.


    Until I woke up in the void.


    Until I chose to fight for my life, my new, second life.


    Until I was told that I am a disaster in waiting.


    I did not know for how long I lay there, in a puddle wide enough to blanket a house, but...I had the thought, once again, that time no longer mattered. Not to me. Not in the way it used to, at least. But at some point, the slime that encompassed the entirety of my new being shook. I suppose it was the equivalent of a human shaking itself out of a mental fog...but I pulled myself back together. Literally. I appreciated the internal humor despite not being able to laugh.


    Letting out a mental sigh, I refocused on understanding this new world. Now knowing that I was stuck with the hand I have been dealt, I was determined to think things through before leaving. I looked at the screen once again.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Arc - Doombringer


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Designation: Dungeon Boss


    </td>


    <td>


    Category: Slime


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Disaster Rank: Unnatural


    </td>


    <td>


    Feats: 5/5


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Feat Description


    </td>


    <td>


    Associated Ability


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Eliminated: creator


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Manipulation


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Eliminated: place of birth


    </td>


    <td>


    Ambient Mana Siphon


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: Tier 1 Dungeon BossThis content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    </td>


    <td>


    Expansion Manipulation


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: member of native species (2/2)


    </td>


    <td>


    Native Language Acquisition


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Defeated: members of invading species (5/5)


    </td>


    <td>


    Enhanced Consumption


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Okay...First. I have a name. Arc...with the postfix of Doombringer. I did not know if this name was assigned to me at the point of the upgrade or if Malevin had named me so at creation, but a name is a name. I resigned myself to using it. Who else would, though? Can others see it through some identification magic? Only time will tell, I guessed.


    Second. Disaster rank. Remembering the warning I was given at birth, I assumed this is a result of my status being elevated to reflect that I am somehow a disaster. A Disaster, actually, the distinction seems important. This might mean that there are other Disaster monsters besides myself, even if not at this current time. The fact that there is a whole ¡°Protocol¡± for it suggests so, because there would need to be others to base it around. Also, the fact that there is a ranking at all means that there is a difference in strength between Disasters...or perhaps just a difference in progression. After all, a ranking can go up or down.


    That made me wonder what the next level is...As the ranking clearly replaced the level system I came to expect from my many years of gaming.


    Third. The feats and abilities. Oh boy, that is a lot to unpack.


    It looked like it took five feats to acquire my Disaster Rank, Unnatural Disaster. Will it take five more to reach the next rank? I wondered if those feats were static or if they came from a pool of possibilities...for instance, instead of defeating a Tier 1 Boss, maybe I could have collapsed a cave system? I do not know, I could not think of any solid requirements beyond what the screen told me that would have generated the same result, but it may not matter. I will keep the thought in mind, however, in case my rank changes once again.


    Focusing on the feats that I do see, however, brought about several revelations. Especially the part about killing ¡°members of the invading species¡±, of which there were five. I just...killed a party of five.


    The thought stopped me short for a moment. I just killed five people. How did I not react to that sooner? Why did it escape my attention earlier? I spent so long dwelling on my resurfaced memories but neglected to show any concern about the first time I took human life? Suffocated them, broke their bodies, then dissolved them into nothing but lumps of mana...as if it was nothing? But then...did they matter? I mean, yes, life is...precious...and I was once human...like them...but¡­


    I reached out with a tentacle to slap the ground. Not out of frustration, but...unconcern. It did not make sense. I...was detached from the whole matter. Perhaps this was the only time so far that I was thankful for not being able to connect to any emotion. While I recognized what I should be feeling, or at least the range of what should be there, I could not bring myself to actually experience it. And that was the only reason why I could push on with what I was learning, setting aside the callousness with which I treated my former fellow species.


    Speaking of which, humans...appeared to be the invaders here? Humans are...aliens to this world? Then...why did they look so...primitive? And...who are the natives?


    One answer came more quickly than the other. If human adventurers were invasive, and if one of my feats involved killing two members of the native species, and the only entities I have killed so far included humans, dungeon mobs, dungeon cores, and fairies...then I could only conclude that either the cores or the fairies were the true natives of this world. So...fascinating. I was not certain what to do with this information, but I knew it was important to know.


    Lastly...the abilities. Did I gain them when my ranking updated, or at the time that I accomplished the feats? Were the gains independent of the rank up or entirely dependent on it? I would need to test that later, for there was no way for me to figure that out now. At the moment, all I could do was test out what those abilities did.


    Native Language Acquisition...if I inferred correctly, would have to deal with either the dungeon cores or their partner fairies. I would need to meet another core to test out my suspicion, but¡­ Thankfully there are still two other dungeons rather close by. I will pay them a visit.


    Ambient Mana Siphon...I thought I was already doing that back in my birth dungeon, but seeing this made me wonder if I was simply absorbing the same mana that made me or specifically unclaimed mana. I suddenly noticed that the ambient mana that surrounded me in this boar dungeon no longer felt hostile to me, and that I was able to consume it as well. Was that a result of the skill or of me destroying the source of the mana? Once again, I would need to enter another dungeon to figure it out.


    Mana Manipulation and Expansion Manipulation...seemed to encompass things that I was already doing, at least to some extent. I mean, while attacking the cores, I did use my internal mana to crush and shatter them, but...I suppose that might not have been true manipulation. More like wailing away with new limbs as opposed to throwing a practiced punch. Still, the skill could be talking about external manipulation instead...likewise, with Expansion, I did pull off that trick with compressing and then explosively releasing myself inside that barrier cage, but again, I could liken that to pulling in my legs to kick them outwards. Maybe this skill is about adding or reducing mass? I will need to experiment with that too.


    Finally, Enhanced Consumption...which I would love to try if there was anything around to consume. I had already eaten everything alive. Great. Here I thought I would make solid progress before leaving, yet I clearly have to find other creatures or people to test myself on in order to learn anything. The irony.


    There was one last thing I needed to do though...I mentally closed the screen after doing my best to memorize all that was there, just in case this did not work. Crossing mental tentacles, I called out in my mind. Dungeon Rank.


    It opened! Finally, I knew how to view my status- wait. It is the same page. The same...completed...page. Nothing about...what to do...for the next rank¡­


    ...I hate this world.

 Chapter 13

    Simon let out a contented sigh as he leaned back in his leather chair, his feet kicked up and crossed on his desk, book in hand. He truly appreciated the benefits of his position in this small time town, practically a village if there were a hundred or so less people. When the higher ups first appointed him to the town of Tirac, Simon rebelled against the idea of being in charge of such a pitiful amount of people. Surely this was no place to begin his rise through the ranks. Someone of his drive and ambition deserved larger projects to handle!


    The journey to Tirac slowly dimmed his anger, however, as he realized that he had the opportunity to use this ¡°humble beginning¡± to elevate himself into a position of higher power. After all, few people in the upper echelons of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild didn¡¯t like a ¡°rise to prominence¡± story. And so, he set his ambition and determination on a new track, planning to turn this backwater town into his base of operations.


    Unfortunately...time grinded his passion into dust. That, and the absolutely horrendous quality of the people and resources he had to work with. While Tirac was initially a popular hub of activity due to it being built on top of four diverse and easy dungeons, the appeal of it had eroded away long before Simon made his debut there. The dungeons never grew strong enough to keep higher quality adventurers returning. Their resources, while useful on a basic scale, could not supply more than what the town needed, so there was limited opportunity for any export of goods. Eventually, the hype surrounding this once promising town faded away, along with the better merchants and entrepreneurs. All that remained were people who could not afford to leave and those who were fine with the meager existence that the town provided.


    This left Simon as the Guild Manager for what he considered the lowest quality guild branch ever. The only adventurers that still worked in Tirac were basically trash in his eyes. That opinion was not far from the truth. By the time he realized the situation the Guild had put him in, Simon had already unconsciously settled into a life of lazy pleasure, spending most of his time reading in his office and indulging in other leisure activity.


    It¡¯s not like there was much work to do otherwise. And what little was there, he learned to lazily delegate.


    At this time, Simon was reading about the history of the word ¡°klek¡±, one of much contention and debate. Personally, it was his favorite profane word. Actually, it was the only profane word in the whole universal lexicon.


    While the System provided a single, universal language for ease of communication, it had not bothered to translate the profanity of any native tongues. Scholars debated about the reason of this until their faces turned blue, but no one had an answer for why it is so. And no matter how people tried to circumvent this, or tried to forcefully curse in Universal, the System blocked it with ease. So, it became a very strange twist indeed that one word escaped the ¡°Great Filter¡±, as some called it. That word is ¡°klek¡±.


    Simon turned the pages of his book, a book that would get him attacked by any Systemic that caught him reading it. Of course, they would be attacked in turn as self defense, then summarily arrested and tried for offenses against the Guild Manager, but that would do nothing to stop them. Honestly, Simon didn¡¯t blame them. He understood their position...but he could not care less. ¡°Klek¡± is his only outlet, and he will say it as much as he kleking pleased.


    A smile crept onto his slightly better than average face as he considered the folklore origin of the word. See, the story goes that long, long ago, when the world was still new and the system still young, there were...discrepancies. Errors. Glitches, if one really wanted to be mobbed to death by Systemics. And those who were fortunate, or unfortunate, to witness those...discrepancies, spoke of the sound that the System made while trying to correct itself. Klek...klek...klek.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Now, considering that the System essentially made up the fabric of the world and reality itself, one might be led to believe that it was mildly concerning to hear it trying to fix itself. You know, since errors could lead to the collapse of all life on Novec. Yeah.


    Of course, there are no official reports of this phenomenon, despite people searching for generations, in almost every corner of the world. At least, every corner that one could safely travel. Never knew when a kleking dungeon would open up and spit out some monsters to snack on you. And so, the lack of authentic witness reports and evidence pushed the word into the realm of folklore, the common folk began to use it as a universal curse, and the fanatics that worshipped the System took it as a personal offense that there could ever be anything wrong with its operation. Naturally, all of this was settled well before Simon¡¯s time, but to this day, people with no confidence in their strength would hesitate to utter it to Systemic faces.


    Simon used it for fun, to watch the reactions of those he said it to.


    Simon¡¯s happy musings were interrupted as the door to his office opened, and the Guild Clerk entered unannounced. ¡°Ugh,¡± he moaned, ¡°Will you ever knock on the kleking door? Klek, it¡¯s like I get no respect around here!¡±


    The clerk, Nash, answered with a straight face, ¡°With the way you curse, it¡¯s hard to see how you get any respect at all.¡± Simon made a face at him, which Nash promptly ignored. He was too used to the Guild Manager¡¯s behavior, having worked with him for years now. ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    Simon sighed, taking his feet off of the desk and giving Nash more of his attention. Of course there was a problem. Why else would he barge in like that. Simon blinked. Actually, he does that any time. Huh. ¡°Alright, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Team Boar is wiped out.¡± Nash spoke with the same emotionless voice.


    ¡°Huh...well, I knew they were kleking garbage, but they¡¯ve been farming the kleking easiest dungeon here. Probably the easiest on the kleking continent,¡± Simon responded. ¡°How was the situation with their Life Tokens?¡±


    Nash glanced at the document in his hand, though Simon knew it was more for accuracy than for any real need. The man had the mind of a steel trap. It made him an excellent choice for his position, for his class, really. Simon could never tell how much of his capability came from his class skills and how much from his inherent talent. ¡°According to the report, all of their Life Tokens broke within a minute or two of each other. So it does not seem to be an act of betrayal on any team member¡¯s part. The only other explanations would be if they stumbled into some sort of new dungeon trap or if a new monster appeared, one powerful enough to kill them all directly.¡±


    Simon thought about it for a moment. Before he could speak out, Nash continued. ¡°There is another matter that may or may not be related. This one...more concerning.¡± Then why didn¡¯t you mention it first, you kleking idiot, Simon thought to himself. ¡°The mana signature for the slime dungeon...vanished.¡±


    That made Simon sit up straight and give Nash a serious look. ¡°When did this happen? Why was it not reported sooner?¡±


    Nash gave Simon a withering look of his own. ¡°I did not learn of this until the Token Keeper informed me about Team Boar and I lightly investigated the dungeon signatures for anomalies. You know that no one wastes the resources to constantly monitor F-Ranked dungeons. There¡¯s no benefit in it It¡¯s much more cost effective to let the adventuring teams report any changes they see in the field.¡±


    Simon deflated slightly, knowing his clerk to speak the truth. He rubbed his temples in frustration. ¡°Fine, kleking fine, I get it. Conduct a deeper investigation and see what you can dig up, on my authority. Contact Team Viper and tell them to get their eyes on the boar dungeon, I want to know if anything changed in there. Team Boar might have decided to switch things up a bit and entered the slime dungeon, or maybe they were messing around with it on the side already. I want full reports as soon as possible. I¡¯ll stay here and prepare to mobilize if necessary.¡±


    Nash, nodding at each of Simon¡¯s instructions, halted at the last sentence. He glanced at the book on Simon¡¯s desk, noting the title, then looked back at his Guild Manager with a blank expression. ¡°Sure you will,¡± he said, before walking out the door to complete his tasks.


    Cheeky klekker, Simon thought. Then, laziness taking over once more, he went back to his book.

 Chapter 14

    Jackson checked over his gear one more time. It did nothing to change the fact that his gear was terrible, but he checked it regardless. No matter how awful it was in comparison to those from the bigger cities, it was still a layer of protection between him and the shadow of death.


    And when you put it in that perspective, the least he could do was maintain it to the best of his ability.


    ¡°Hey Boss, we got a message from the Clerk, supposed to be urgent,¡± a voice reached Jackson¡¯s ears. His hands never stopped moving, continuing their meticulous care of the various pieces of armor strewn about in front of him. ¡°What is it, Jager?¡±


    The owner of the voice, Jager, stood at the doorway observing the team¡¯s boss. He always felt that Jackson, of everyone he had ever worked with, deserved better than this klekhole of a town. While the others had no chance of becoming anything more than bottom rate adventurers, Jackson had the mindset and ability to make it in one of the smaller cities at least. Why he stayed here, Jager would never know. Shaking himself from those thoughts, he said, ¡°The Manager wants us to take a look at the boar dungeon, apparently the kle- ahem, the uh, Team Boar, is gone. Like, dead, gone, not missing gone. Although their bodies might be missing too. Won¡¯t know ¡®til we get down there.¡±


    Jackson visibly winced at the curse word, but shrugged it off as best he could. He was no Systemic, that¡¯s for sure, but...it¡¯s not a nice thought to think about. The thought of the world ending because of a...glitch...in the System, it terrifies him more than he lets on. But worrying about something that will never happen won¡¯t keep him and his team alive, so he does his best to not show the others how much the word bothers him.


    Not that anyone other than Jager cared.


    ¡°Where are the others?¡± Jackson asked, his maintenance complete. He efficiently put on his equipment piece by piece. Hardened leather greaves, chest armor, bracers, helmet, boots, gloves. All well treated and dyed the deepest black available. His light brown skin was still visible on his face, but in low light settings he could practically vanish into the shadows. His last bit of gear, his weapon, was a slingshot, also dyed black. He slipped it into a holster on his belt, next to the several pouches of various, specifically made ammunition. He was ready.


    Jager, seeing his boss fully prepped, stopped leaning on the door. ¡°They¡¯re all downstairs. I was lucky that none of them ran off to, uh, mess around or anything yet. I guess they¡¯re still too hungover from last night. But by the time we reach the dungeons they should be fine.¡± Jager was already geared up as well, his two headed axe resting on his back, ready to dish out punishment any time. ¡°We should head out now though, the sooner we get this done the better.¡±


    Jackson nodded in acceptance then paused to check his status screen as Jager walked out the door.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name: Jackson


    </td>


    <td>


    Class: Stone Slinger


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 23Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    </td>


    <td>


    Affiliation: Team Viper, Adventurer¡¯s Guild


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Base Stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Strength: 8


    </td>


    <td>


    Constitution: 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Agility: 10


    </td>


    <td>


    Dexterity: 11


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Intelligence: 9


    </td>


    <td>


    Wisdom: 9


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Charisma: 10


    </td>


    <td>


    Luck: 4


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Advanced Stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Accuracy: 15


    </td>


    <td> </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    He confirmed that there were no changes since the last time he checked, a hint of pride on his face when he looked at his Accuracy stat. It took a lot of hard work to unlock Advanced Stats, and this one was especially tricky, requiring hours upon hours of dedicated effort. It was worth it in the end, of course. Not that many people could claim to have them, at least not in Tirac. Maybe the cities and the capital were overflowing with people with a bunch of Advanced Stats, or even higher, but he had no way to know. After all, Tirac was his whole life, and always will be.


    Briefly, Jackson wondered how other Advanced stats would work. He knew how the basic ones operated, in fact, everyone was taught from young using a handy anecdote involving tomatoes. Strength determines how hard you can squish tomatoes. Constitution helps with eating bad tomatoes. Agility shows how fast you can catch a falling tomato. Dexterity is being able to slice a tomato without cutting off a finger. Intelligence tells you that tomato is a fruit. Wisdom means you know not to place tomatoes in a fruit salad. Charisma gives you the possibility of selling a tomato-based fruit salad, while Luck is the actual chance of dodging the tomato-based fruit salad that will be tossed back in your face.


    And in Jackson¡¯s case, Accuracy lets him be quite on target when tossing salad.


    Before he could get lost in trying to apply the analogy to other stats he has heard of, but have not unlocked, a voice from below grabbed his attention. ¡°Boss, are you coming or what! Let¡¯s go!¡± Disrespectful subordinate, he thought to himself with a smirk. But he did not mind at all. Jager did more than enough to earn his way of addressing the team leader.


    Jackson made his way downstairs, not neglecting to lock his room of the inn. Even though he had little worth stealing, it was always smarter to take precautions than not. He found the rest of his team sitting at a table in the common room, Jager the only one looking alert and with a slightly sadistic cheer. The other three members, two men and one woman, were slumped over in various angles over the table, muffled groans emitted from their general vicinity. Jackson had to resist the urge to smile as well. They did bring it upon themselves.


    Walking up to the table, he unremorsefully gave it two sharp raps, forcing the whole team to look up at him. Mostly with wrath in their eyes. The urge got ever so stronger. He coughed to distract himself.


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s what we¡¯re doing for today,¡± he began once he felt they could absorb his words. ¡°We¡¯re going to the dungeons, but not the snake den this time. We¡¯re going to look at the boars and try to figure out if anything suspicious is going on there. I need you all to be awake and alert by the time we get there, we might have to face a new boss. I don¡¯t want to waste my ammo saving you fools...again.¡±


    One of the guys had the decency to cringe. ¡°Man, that was just one time-¡±


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Jackson grinned, ¡°It¡¯s time we get moving. Up up, come on now, let¡¯s go people.¡± A chorus of groans was his only reply, but eventually Team Viper got moving. It took them a short while to get to the outpost covering the entrance to the tunnel that leads to the four dungeons, which gave them enough time to get back into fighting condition.


    It was just a shame...that they were woefully unprepared for what they would find within.

 Chapter 15

    I never realized how hard it would be to know how to feel a certain way but be utterly incapable of expressing it. I wanted to be annoyed at how this system worked for me, but even though I knew it intellectually, I could not actually feel the annoyance. I was getting rather tired of only getting half the experience. At least, my mind was. Or something.


    I should probably stop thinking about it. The more I did, the more confused I become, and ultimately it is just a waste of time.


    Having decided to ignore my lack of feels from then on, I proceeded to my first solid goal. Enter another dungeon and test out these new abilities. As I made my way back to the entrance of the boar dungeon, I actively sucked up the surrounding mana, probably increasing my size marginally in the process. At the moment, I figured I was at least the size of the now deceased boar Dungeon Boss, if not a little bigger. As the mana in the atmosphere was much lower than any living creature, or dungeon core, I did not expect to gain much from absorbing it, but why waste a free resource? I doubt anyone else would come here to use it. Would it even last long without the core supplying and maintaining it? Somehow I figured it would dissipate or scatter through the rest of the world, like water evaporating and joining the air. I had no intention of eating a core and watching how the ambient mana reacts afterwards. I would rather just consume it all.


    My musings lasted until I reached the entrance. By that time, all of the remaining ambient mana was absorbed by me, leaving the dungeon air to feel the same as the expansive space connecting all of the dungeons. Not stale, exactly, just...normal, I suppose. Generic. Flavorless.


    Huh. Now that I think about it...the dungeon mana did have a sort of...flavor to it, did it not? I guessed I did not feel the difference with the first dungeon because that was all I was exposed to at first, but after consuming so much more from other sources, I began to realize that different sources provided different...tastes. I would have to explore this much more, later.


    In the meantime, I had to make a choice. There were two active dungeons remaining, the one with the entrance shaped like the mouth of a snake, and the one with two golem looking statues flanking it. Judging by how the boar dungeon had a boar shaped entrance, I figured that the images gave a fairly good indication of what type of monsters lay inside. With that being the case¡­


    I slithered on over to the snake dungeon. Well, I say slither, but I honestly had no idea how to describe the way I move. I did not give it much thought so far, but the sudden attention to my mode of transportation immediately made me less coordinated. I slumped to a stop, uncertain of how to move forward. However, I was not new to this phenomenon.


    Back when I was human- really, I should say ¡°in my previous life¡± instead, I read an article or something somewhere about how the mind and body works together to function. I remember understanding something along the lines of how walking is a subconscious effort. Walking, breathing, a lot of actions that humans do everyday require a lot of moving parts to cooperate with each other. The brain handles most of that on a subconscious level, or else humans would get overwhelmed trying to actively control that much information. People do not think ¡°move the left foot forward by this much distance, bend the knee at this angle, shift the hip this much, flex the toes properly¡± and so on every time they want to take a step. Instead, the mind releases that control over to the body and the lower layers of the brain. At least, that is as best as I could understand the article.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    I figured that the same principles applied here. Although I did not grow up with this body, I was already able to mostly get it to do what I needed so far. I have been in combat multiple times, with at least two creatures that had the chance to kill me, and I turned out just fine. Instead of actively worrying about how to move myself on a basic level, I should learn to trust that my body knows how to work itself and simply give it the direction.


    Of course, I do need to learn the equivalent of throwing punches and kicks, but I have already made progress on that so far. Some day, though, I will need to revisit the basics so that I can have full control over myself.


    Humans cannot handle the information overload. I...was no longer human. Their limitations do not apply to me. I need to learn the limits of a slime.


    And so far, those limits seem to be so high that I cannot even see them.


    I relaxed my thoughts and focused once again on getting to the snake dungeon. My body cooperated with me and...slithered forward. I will figure out a word for it eventually. Just...not now.


    Soon enough, I found myself at the new entrance. I did not hesitate to push my way inside, once again experiencing the sensation of pushing into a place of higher pressure. The ambient mana was also hostile towards me, but it felt more insidious than straightforward aggression. I supposed it matched the personality of the monsters inside. Before making my way further in, I started my first experiment. In the boar dungeon, I had not bothered trying to absorb the ambient mana until after the dungeon core died. For the most part, I spent the entire time there fighting, so it never occurred to me to make the attempt. Unfortunately, that does not help me in figuring out if I had the skill before my rank upgraded, but I could at least see if I could absorb this mana before cutting off the source. With that in mind, I opened myself up to the surrounding mana, pulling it into my body.


    UGH...what...what is this...nauseating feeling¡­


    I quickly closed myself off from the Mana Siphon, trying to contain the small amount that I already absorbed. I could feel my body weakening bit by bit, but slowly. This...was completely unexpected...wait...could it be mana poisoning?!


    An insidious flavored ambient mana in a snake dungeon, of course...I should have seen that coming. Idiot!


    Berating myself for doing something so risky, I frantically tried to rid myself of the foreign mana. An idea quickly popped into my head. Rousing my own mana, I swished it around inside of me, creating a rotation that surrounded the snake mana, for lack of a better term. I pushed it all together into a ball, not caring for how much of myself was mixed into it, as long as the foreign mana was gathered into one spot. I planned to push the whole thing out of my body even if it reduced my size somewhat. Just as I was about to do it though, I noticed something¡­


    The poisonous mana...had weakened?


    Yes...I could feel the effects slowly weakening and abating, as if I were getting used to it...maybe¡­


    Before I could delve deeper into this train of thought, a sound distracted me. A low hiss rang out, calling for my attention. The another hiss joined it. And another. Soon, the entryway of the dungeon was filled with a dozen hissing voices.


    Moving carefully, I let the ball of mixed mana slide deeper back inside of myself, while still rotating my own mana around it. I did not know if it would do anything, I could not be sure that it was my efforts that caused the poison to weaken, but it could not hurt to try. Not more than it already did, at least. I did learn, though, that I could absorb ambient mana now, just...with possible consequences. That needs to be explored.


    But at the moment, I had a party to attend. With the hosts being so generous, it would be rude not to attend the feast.

 Chapter 16

    As I raised my awareness and prepared to fight, something occurred to me. Just how exactly...am I able to hear anything? I have a slime body. Slimes do not have ears. How was I perceiving sound? For that matter, how was I seeing anything? I have no eyes. Where...do I get my sensual input?


    ...I...did not have time for this! But a tingle in the back of my mind told me that this needed to be explored, that I need to understand this in order to grow later on. For now, there were snakes to kill and poison to deal with.


    A hint of movement caught my attention, forcing me to look that way. It struck me before I could register the figure, but I had no need to identify it. The fangs sinking into my body told me all that I needed. A meter long and as thick as a human thigh, the brown and gray scaled snake looked like the sort of terror people would not want to bump into in the dark. Its fangs were as long as a human hand, from wrist to fingertip, and wickedly sharp.


    If I were made of flesh, that one bite would have incapacitated me. Possibly even if I was wearing proper armor. Unfortunately for the snake, I was the contrary. That did not stop it from trying, though, squeezing the bit of my body it grabbed in its jaws, while whipping its body around either to strike me with its tail or wrap around me, I could not tell.


    Ignoring the bite, I stretched out a tentacle to counter wrap the snake. It was hard to handle the winding motions, but in a flash of inspiration I slid the tentacle along the ground, following the path that started from its head. At the right moment, I flicked upwards, wrapping myself around the main body of the snake, and hardening my mana to keep it in place.


    At least, that was the plan. What I did not account for was the ball of poison mana at the center of my being. I forgot how much focus I was placing into keeping a mana cyclone around it, and my control over the poison slipped, letting the construct almost completely collapse. As I fought to bring it back under control, I was also trying to attack the snake, which had begun to try to retract its fangs from inside of me. The consistency of my body was giving it a tough time, though, as it must have been like trying to pull a finger out of thick jello. With the snake making extra struggles, both trying to free its head and its body, and me trying to keep it in place along with the mana rotation going, I found myself stretching my multitasking ability pretty thin.


    The second snake did not help the situation.


    A loud hiss, right next to me, was my only warning as another snake with similar colors, just in a different pattern, lunged into me, jaw wide open. It seemed that it did not learn from its buddy...either that or they simply had no other way to attack. Whichever was the case, I had no attention to spare for it as I was already dealing with too much. My mind jumped from one thing to the next, unable to focus. Keeping the poison ball contained became much harder than I would have ever thought, but then again, I had no experience with magic before today. Or the last few days. How long has it been so far?


    Before I could get a grip, a third snake appeared. I was definitely beyond my limit at this point. How was I supposed to fight like this? I should have retreated to deal with the mana first, instead of-


    But the snakes struck too quickly, I could not-


    I was so stupid for trying to absorb the ambient mana before getting to a safe place, or killing everything around, or-


    Just as I was about to reach a full blown mental break down, I realized...I was not. Yes, I was freaking out...but not as much as I should have? No, that was not it. I...did not have the physical reaction of panic. It was only my head¡­


    When humans feel extreme emotions, it is both a mental and physical experience. When someone panics, it is not just a frantic state of mind. The body has its own reactions - heart beating faster, sweat glands overproducing, breathing gets heavier - which feed into the panic, which creates a greater emotional experience. I had the mental component down. My body...could not produce the physical. My body remained calm. Aside from the constant circulation of mana that I was applying to cage the poison.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    And that that alone, the realization that I was more in control than I thought, gave me clarity. I understood one thing then. I was fighting stupidly.


    I ignored the snakes, entirely. Even as I noticed the liquid that they started to squeeze out of their fangs and into me, the second and third snakes not recognizing that I was not their usual threat, I ignored it still. I pushed all of my attention onto that core of poison. I needed to get that out of the way before anything else, and I doubted that the snakes would have any true capability to harm me before I finished that task.


    Once I blocked out all outside influences, I began to pay attention to exactly what I was doing in my own body. When I first thought of pulling the poison out of me, I just gathered my mana as a wave and wrapped it all around the infected area, isolating it from the rest of my body. It was a crude, brute force sort of method that might wreck the body of anything that had a solid structure. I reasoned that the only reason I was not suffering any backlash at my amateur attempts at mana manipulation was that I was basically a dense liquid. My malleability was far greater than any flesh and blood creature could be. Still, that was no reason to continue being so...inelegant.


    Of course, I could worry about fine control of mana later. I just needed a good enough grasp of it to disperse the poison and deal with the snakes next. And so, I brought my full mind to bear on the rotation. When I did, I unintentionally created a second ring of rotating mana instead of changing the aspects of the first. Where before, I had what looked like a blanket being wrapped around a ball, the mana shifted until two blurry rings of mana rotating on perpendicular axis to each other formed. I paused in surprise for a moment, examining the effects. Even though the poison should have escaped through the new gaps, no such thing occurred. Yes, the dark substance reached the boundaries made by the new rings, but they did not go past them. Interesting...I wondered¡­


    While a fourth snake joined the others in launching multiple biting attacks at me while encircling me, I pushed to make a third ring of mana. I wanted to see if the extra ring would...perhaps push the poison further in? Make it disperse at a faster rate? I was not sure. But I did manage to create it...only for the whole construction to start to destabilize again. Hurriedly, I wrapped a fourth ring of mana and watched as they worked together seamlessly. At that point, someone could look at the rings from an angle and see a circle sliced into eight parts. The gaps were certainly much smaller than before, and the poison trapped inside was definitely forced into highly agitated movement, but¡­


    I felt as if I was...missing something¡­


    Moving on a hint of instinct, I created more rings, careful to not let the entire thing collapse. I did not make them in the same orientation, however. Instead, I treated the ball as an actual sphere, starting from any point and putting a new rotation in place. Six...eight...twelve...twenty...forty¡­


    I kept going, making more and more rings until I suddenly felt as if all of the mana in my body was being activated at once. Something clicked into place, and I¡­


    Everything felt as if it were being pulled into my center, as if there was a core of gravity deep within me, greedily consuming all. I looked in awe at what I had created. I had no idea what it was, but...it felt...good. Real good. The liquid from the snake fangs, which I reasoned was venom, got pulled into the middle of the high speed mana rotations. As it entered that region, I watched as it rapidly dispersed, same as the-


    The poison mana...was gone. I realized with a flash of relief that I no longer had to focus on breaking it down. Once the rings clicked into place, they seemed to continue operating on their own just fine. This left my focus completely freed up for me. I allowed myself to be aware of my surroundings once more, noting with some mental humor that I somehow got entangled in a snake ball while I was focusing inwards. These snakes...were not all that smart. I do not know what sort of instincts they may have had, but wrapping yourself and your siblings around a giant ball of slime that they cannot escape clearly is not conducive to their survival. This lesson...they would not not live to learn.


    I shifted my body around, carefully engulfing my newfound outer shell of biting snake bodies. I adjusted my consistency to make it harder for them to struggle their way out, but it seemed like an almost unnecessary precaution judging by the signs of exhaustion I saw in some of their movements. Once I was certain each body in contact with me was fully inside of me, I acted on a hunch and focussed on the Enhanced Consumption ability. For a few moments, nothing happened, but then something changed in my slime. All of the snakes began to...melt away. Dissolving in my internal acid. While they were still alive.


    ...So that is what the ability meant. I no longer needed to kill my victims before consuming them.


    Well, then. I supposed it was time to put it to good use.