《Slimes live freely》 Prologue "Oh my god! It''s so pretty I can''t believe he got you that, you''ve only been dating for one month." Called out an obnoxiously high pitched voice from the back of the classroom. Rosie was fawning over Kelli''s bracelet that she just got last Friday. "I''m so jealous, there''s no way my boyfriend could get me one of those" she continued, just as loudly as before "Maybe you should dump him then, I mean your clearly to good for him." Chimed in another groupie in a poorly veiled attempt to change the conversations direction away from Kelli''s newest boyfriend. Their incessant prattling didn''t really bother most people there but was severely grating on the already strained nerves of Wilson Read who sat directly in front of them. This is because "Kelli with an ''I''" ,as the attention seeking bitch always liked to say, had used Wilson to get that bracelet. Last week she had feigned kindness for Wilson to antagonise her boyfriend and start a fight knowing he would get her an expensive gift to apologise. And now every jingle of that gold trinket reminds poor Wilson of how bad he is going to get pummelled at lunch. The lunch bell had rang only thirty seconds ago which was just enough time to overhear those basic bitches cackle as he threw his books into his bag and bolted for the door. He planned to get down stairs and leave thought the back door of the building but came to a sudden halt in the quiet corridors as he looked at the 190cm tall Alex Moore blocking his path. "Haha..ha A..a..Alex I-I was just looking for you"stuttered Wilson as he took a step back only to feel the back of his head lightly touching what he knew was one Alex''s friends. By the fact Wilson''s head only seemed to reach the mans broad pecks he could assume it was Kevin. The tallest and most violent of the bunch. "Wilson you piece of shit!" Barked Alex as he launched a powerful hit into Wilsons gut. "It''s your fucking fault I had to buy Kelli another bracelet so how are you gonna repay me huh?" Alex spoke in a softer voice here probably trying to imitate some two bit gangster he''d seen on TV. Wilson was groggy at this point, Alex only threw two punches but as the boxing clubs captain they were controlled enough to deal a lot of pain but not to seriously injured the scrawny Wilson and get himself in trouble. Wilsons teeth gnashed together, he''d left his home this morning dodging empty wine bottles his mother was throwing at him only to end up here. He was sick of this shitty routine. Angry at himself for being so powerless. "I''m speaking to you bitch!" Shouted Alex as he landed yet another blow on Wilson. Wilson was about to topple over but didn''t fear the ground as he knew he wouldn''t hit it. He''d been through this routine daily with these guys and knew how predictable they were. -CLASP- CLASP- He felt the big guys hands grab his shoulders from behind and steady him for another punch. Which made him release a smirk before he could repress it. Sadly Alex had noticed and was furious laying another, stronger, blow on Wilson before letting him fall down and lean against the wall. He had planned to send out another few for that laugh but his hand hurt more that usual after the last hit. As the blond haired boxer walked away and up the stairs to meet Kelli along with the silent Kevin. Neither had noticed the sound of a crack coming from Wilsons ribs on that last punch.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Damn...that fucker aimed to high I thing he broke my rib.....???.........!!!!!!" Wilson had been a little confused at why he was in so much more pain than usual until he coughed up a mouthful of blood. *he broke my rib and it pierced something huh?* Wilson felt pretty calm. He couldn''t move his legs and he was slowly starting to feel colder but even though he knew this was dangerous he couldn''t feel fear *nobody comes to this back exit corridor I''m probably gonna die here. Haha well fuck it I can''t say I haven''t been considering it for a while, but I just wasn''t able to overcome my survival instincts.* Wilson purposefully didn''t scream for help he had grown up in a broken home and suffered a very brutal school life. He was even beaten severely before tests and had his coursework destroyed so that his grades suffered. At this point he had no prospects of dreams, nobody he loved or really even liked. He had escaped to worlds of fiction and fantasy which he truly loved almost as much as discovering new music. But escapism can only go so far. *If only I had power I wouldn''t be in this mess. I could be ruling over them, they wouldn''t dare to touch me.No not won''t touch me but that they cant touch me. I want the power to live freely. Just like those novels. I want to be able crush enemies or help friends on a whim. To slay the gods and have beers with satan just to break up the cliques HAHAHAHAHA and outlive all those who judge me for it HAHAHA, a supreme unrestricted existence Hahaha What fun I would have hahahahaha.....Hmm? wonder what made me think about that at a time like this...did someone ask me what I wanted?... Nah after all no one cares.* -------------------------------------- The light goddess was conflicted she had just summoned the class room of heroes by having a summoning circle appear under their feet and transport them here. She simply hadn''t expected that halfway through a soul would float up through the floor right into the middle of her magic circle. Luckily the students weren''t attuned to magic or soul energy so hadn''t noticed so for now Juliana dealt with the confused youths in front of her. As she explained the situation to them all and told them about the responsibility they would soon receive there was a mix of reactions "Surely you can''t expect us to defeat demons or whatever. We don''t have that kind of power!" Shouted one blond youth who seemed to be the groups leader. The goddess actually found him to her liking as he was well built and vigorous. But alas this worlds Gods were not truly immortal and physically aged leaving her looking to be around forty, not bad for a twenty two thousand year old but not enough to entice this youngster. "No of course not I have been saving up this power for over twenty thousand years and all that was not used to transport you to this world will automatically form a skill or multiple skills that are tailored to your desires and needs." This was actually Juliana''s only way of interfering with the world and was why the summed had to come from another realm. *That should hook them. Twenty thousand years worth of energy seems like a lot but most of that energy is expended on trying to transport the physical body without tearing it apart their skills will still be strong enough for the job but it won''t be as magnanimous as I''ve made it out to be.* After some time to digest the last statement the class appeared to be in agreement that they should help with the blond teenager Alex shaking in excitement. "We can accept but... There really will be a way to get home if we defeat the demon king?" Timidly asked the twenty something teacher who''s ''assets'' threatened to escape her tight cardigan. Which caused the goddess to frown before answering. "Yes my sister, Velvet cannot creat a being as powerful as the demon king without such drawbacks. Killing him should definitely allow you to return to your world." The goddess smiled on the surface but was inwardly sneering at them. *what I said is true but it will actually take twenty five years for your bodies to transfer over from your world. I''ll simply contact my church and tell them to do the summoning then and this lot won''t know the difference, it will only feel like seconds to them after all. It should take about that long for the demons to build up their forces so it should be times about right.* "Alright if there is nothing else I''ll be sending you on now" not waiting for a reply the goddess swiped her hand and sent them away feeling smug about herself and completely forgetting about the soul that she just sent with them. Hi Im Adam MC POV. "Hello...hello...you can hear me right... Hey...Hello Hello HELLO HEEEELLLOOOO!!!"(Unknown voice) Damn my heads ringing, is there a voice in my head? "Oh good your not brain dead, that''s a relief"(Unknown voice) What''s with this guys voice and brain dead? Ahhh now that I think of it I can''t see or hear... Actually something seems to be wrong with my sense of touch it''s like I can taste everything I''m in contact with...Maybe grass? OHH! I get it I''m not brain dead but I am brain damaged. That would explain the voice as well, actually if- "Hey don''t get lost in thought your not brain damaged or whatever but look we need to get out of here before you get killed. I know it''s difficult to understand what''s happening but just humour me for a bit ok?"(Unknown voice) Did this guy just read my mind? Well makes sense given he''s in my head, plus I can''t talk for some reason. "Oooookkkkk???"(Unknown voice) Fine whatever if I''m gonna be in a hospital bed all my life might as well be entertained. Hit me. "No your not hospit... Agh Whatever. Look your a slime in a low level area just outside the capital so if I don''t teleport you to somewhere safe someone''s gonna kill you for skill proficiency... And I''ve lost you right."(Unknown voice) Yep "Ok I''m the administrator system for this world you can call me Adam-"(Adam) Hi Adam "Yes hello... Wait no time for this. You need to sacrifice a skill so I can convert the skill energy and teleport you-"(Adam) No way you want to take away my skill? "You didn''t even know... Ugh fuck it just say sacrifice ''all language comprehension'' got it"(Adam) That sounds like a good skill though, should I listen to this voice? "Adam" ...Should I listen to Adam? Well being being killed by casuals is the shame of any true gamer never mind total noobs...but still... "SAY THE LINE !!!!" Fine fine God, Adam is pretty pushy, I hope I don''t have deal with this guy for too long. I relinquish all language comprehension. [[ acknowledged removing skill ''all language comprehension'' from -anomaly- ]] Oh great another one that''s all I need. This ones female though that''s a good sign. If my subconscious only gave me a man to talk to forever I''d start to feel a little insecure about my sexuality. "Oh that was ''system'' she doesn''t have sentience like me though so don''t worry."(Adam) That so? Well you seem calmer now Adam "Sure I already teleported you so your safe now....ahhhhh man that was actually my first ever conversation, I knew it was supposed to be stressful buy you did not make it easy did you?" (Adam) Yo don''t go adding new stuff. now explain. I''m just getting more and more confused...and why does it feel like the taste of stone? Not something I ever thought I would say, but I guess that means we are in a cave now... "Yeah ok so from the start"(Adam) - deep inhale- ---------------------------------------------- Ok so I think I get it now. The system was doing calculations on the light goddesses hero summoning when it detected an anomaly, wich was me (duh), I died so my soul was brought here...as a soul... And I became a slime?.. Nope lost again " you were put into a slime you didn''t become one. Your soul was allocated a huge amount of energy for your body to pass through and get some generic hero skills but obviously some of that wasn''t used up as you have no body. So rather than having you go supernova in the middle of the capital-"(Adam) That would be bad. "Yeah it would. Anyways to prevent that I as the admin became responsible for you and threw you into the nearest body without a soul."(Adam) Very responsible of you. "Shut up. Anyway that energy still had to become skills so I asked you what you wanted and you mentioned about living freely and stuff so I gave you some badass skills. I''ll show you them in a sec." (Adam) Wow that does sound good. I guess I''ll be stronger than the average hero probably by quite a lot. But I''m still a weak slime and I even lost my language skill I didn''t even get to choose my skills... "Well that couldn''t be helped there are restrictions to my influence in the world so I had to use your skill for energy, but that won''t really be a huge loss as I gave you a skill that can cover for it to some extent. Plus I kinda scanned your memories so as to tailor the skills to your liking."(Adam)This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Wow I know I should be uncomfortable about you ''scanning my memories'' but I''m not... Why? "Oh one of the skills affects your mentality, that''s why regardless of your prior poor social skills and low confidence you''ve been able to talk so calmly to me this whole time. I mean you have been pretty chill for someone who lost most of their senses and started to hear voices." (Adam) He makes a decent point. But there is still something wrong with me... "Yeah well your skill hasn''t really regulated yet and you bonded with a very stupid level 1 slime so that''s why you''ve been acting a bit... Simple. I suppose is the nicest way of putting it." (Adam) So I can get smarter and stuff as I level. Neat. "Levelling helps but really just giving your soul,skills and body time to sink up will set you strait." (Adam) Well speaking of skills... "Right right. Hold on I''ll load them up." (Adam) Hey can''t I just say ''status'' or something "No, your an anomaly in the system so you can''t be recognised by it the same as others. That will change later though. Once you evolve you can become a unique variant species and you should be fine after that...Until then ''system'' will have to narrate the whole thing to you every time you want to check it." (Adam) Damn that will get annoying. "I know but there are good parts about it, as an-anomaly- you get to talk to me. I can even answer some questions as long as they pertain to you in some way. Oh! There we go, make sure you listen or she will have to say it all over again." (Adam) [[ Name -anomaly- Species - basic nature slime lv1/ human male lv1. - fusion in progress. Skill list- ''absorb'' ''mitosis'' ''mana sense'' ''free mind'' ''1 chance'' ''eyes of judgement'']] Huh. That didn''t take as long as you made it out to, Adam. "Well you are lv1 so it was more of an advanced warning it will become a real pain in the ass once your lv300 or so" (Adam) I suppose. So if I want more details.. "Think eyes of judgement then your skill name. Oh and do ''1 chance'' last" (Adam) Neat. Eyes of judgement slime skill details. [[absorption- a basic slime skill. You passively absorb mana as sustenance and can actively absorb prey. Absorbing prey may provides xp should the prey be at or above your level. Can increase mass of body if performed on other slimes.absorption cannot absorb skills resistances or other abilities. xp absorbed will not exceed 2% of targets total experience. Absorption does not include memories.]] [[mitosis- a basic slime skill. You can divide yourself to create two identical copies of the original minus 50% of mass. Cannot divide below original mass]] [[mana sense- a basic slime skill. You can navigate by reding the movements of mana around you. Sensory range is proportional to 1 meter per level, max 50 metres. Note: mana sense is not perfect and opponents with stealth skill may be undetectable within its range. Note: high level being that are sensitive to mana may detect mana sense being used should they enter its range]] I see. These are not bad but not great either. I''m never using ''mitosis'' given that I would essentially die and leave 2 small clones in my place. Mana sense is good at low levels but seem to lose its usefulness after lv 50 where it will stop growing. It''s also scary that enemies could sense it or not be sensed by it. Absorption is better, but it only offers a chance at receiving xp. Hey Adam does mass have other uses for a slime? "Well a slime is made entirely of mana so their mana pool and health grow proportionally to their mass. But anyway it''s really the other skills you need to look at. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry." (Adam) Not yet I''m still thinking. Shouldn''t slime have some environmental adaption skill or something? You know, so that slimes in mines become metal slimes and slimes in volcanic regions become magma slimes. That sort of thing. "Yeah they do. But only pure slimes. You are a nature slime born in a forest. You will get nature affinity as you level though" (Adam) Hmm? Well it could be worse I suppose. Anyway ''eyes of judgement'', ''eyes of judgement''. [[eyes of judgement- a standard Hero skill. Can provide opponents name and lv as long as they do not exceed 1.5 times your lv. Can appraise all items below legendary level. Allows for detailed examination of status and skills of user.]] Not bad. Pretty generic though but still useful, very useful even. Now, eyes of judgement ''free mind''. [[free mind- granted blessing. You were given this skill by ''administrator'' as such skill description was recorded by the administrator system. Playing now]] Damn he must have been really exited when he made this if he bothered doing his own description. Ugh. [[ *adams voice* "so this skill is so you won''t be some pussy MC. When I scanned your memories I read those manga a novels where the MC either feels guilty for their actions like vagabond or Vinland, or they get too scared to do anything useful *cough* shinji *cough*. As such this skill gives you the mindset to act as you please without too much guilt as long as it follows your morals. Eg. kill a baddy to save children, no guilt. Torture the children with the baddy for the lols, lots of guilt. It also improves your patience and temperament to levels that make you act like a suave badass. Oh yeah any mental de-buffs and mind controls stuff won''t affect you but some slavery collars harm your physical body as well so don''t get cocky.]] Well that is awesome. The old me would be next to useless in this world. Now I can be confident in a battle and act logically while also not getting dragged down by any existential BS. Thanks Adam. "No problem. It will be much more fun this way. Plus it really didn''t take that much energy so I could put everything else into the last skill." (Adam) Sounds exiting let''s see it. Eyes of judgement ''1 chance'' [[1 chance- granted blessing. You were given this skill by ''administrator''. Administrator did not leave message. Providing skill description. Once activated you may select a skill and either partially edit its contents or remove a single requirement/ limitation from it. Note: may only be used once.]] That could be good if I use it on eyes of judgement I could ignore the lv gap or maybe guarantee xp from absorption rather than just a ''chance''. I could make mana sense undetectable or increase the range.... Wait didn''t Adam say I had enough energy to go supernova why does this seem so measly then... Actually he didn''t even record a message on this one...wait could it be? Activate skill 1 chance. [[activating.......administrator insists ''lose yourself'' must be played whilst decision is being made.........select skill and restriction to be removed.]] {Look If you had One shot Or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted In one moment Would you capture it Or just let it slip?} God dammit Adam. Select skill ''1 chance'' remove number of uses restriction. [[acknowledged ''1 chance'' may be used indefinitely. Administrator secret criteria met. Name of skill will change to ''slimes live freely''.]] Yeah it did it wooooohhhooo!!!! "Hahahahaha I''m glad you noticed that, it was a loophole I exploited so I couldn''t tell you directly but come on man lets celebrate, hey it''s the chorus." (Adam) {You better lose yourself in the music, the moment You own it, you better never let it go You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better} Of course I joined in and we sang the whole song 6 times before it got old. Now let''s see how freely this slime can live. A slow landslide MC PoV It''s been 3 hours since we stopped singing and I started playing with ''slimes live freely''. I am in love with this skill but it''s not limitless. The skill was produced using a finite amount of energy so it isn''t all powerful. I can''t, for example, edit absorption to grant me flight and the ability to conjure Bruno Mars. It has to stay within the basic skill template, but in saying that the lee way it truly ridiculous. For example ''Eyes of truth'' is the skill I developed by editing ''eyes of judgement''. [[eyes of judgement- a standard Hero skill. Can provide opponents name and lv as long as they do not exceed 1.5 times your lv. Can appraise all items below legendary level. Allows for detailed examination of status and skills of user.]] [[Eyes of truth- a more powerful descendant of ''eyes of judgement''. Can provide opponents name, species, gender and lv as long as they do not exceed 3.5 times your lv. Can appraise all items below mythology level. Allows for detailed examination of status and skills of user. Appraisals can not be detected by opponents less than 5 times your level. Allows for the passive detection of lies when physically viewing the target.]] Obviously the skill isn''t all powerful but is a good few leagues above the former. Similarly mana sense has become more powerful but hasn''t been renamed because I won''t let Adam call it Byakugan and he refuses to change it if he can''t have his way. [[mana sense- an evolved form of the basic slime skill. You can navigate by accurately reading the movements of mana around you. Sensory range is proportional to 10 meters per level. Note: mana sense is not perfect and opponents with stealth skill may be harder to detect within its range. Note: high level being that are sensitive to mana may detect traces of mana sense should they enter its range. Both cases require the target to be at least 2.7 times your level]] It''s evidently stronger than it was, the range cap was removed and range per level extended and while the demerits couldn''t be fully removed they were greatly reduced. The others aren''t currently relevant as Adam said I will be stuck in here until I can properly control my new body and adapt to mana sense. "Well yeah. No mater how strong your skills are you wont be able to do anything when you meet an enemy besides taste them as they tear you apart."(Adam) And he''s still reading my mind apparently. Don''t you have anything better to do? "Actually no. I can''t make contact with anything within the system not recognised as an anomaly and you''re the first one to ever appear." (Adam) Oh yeah you did mention something about this being your first conversation didn''t you? "Yeah, well if you don''t count ''system'', but she doesn''t have sentience so it''s really more talking at her than with her. Anyway I''ll stop reading your mind when you can talk. That should give me enough time to fully extract everything I need." (Adam) I''m sorry what? "Well I told you I can''t interact with anything in the system that includes entertainment. So I''m copying over all the things in your memories that you''ve ever watched or read. I took some earlier but not all of them so I''m just finishing off." (Adam) Hey so when you say everything... "It''s cool I don''t have a body so I can''t really see the appeal in those videos but I understand the role hormones play in human development. Besides it''s really this anime, manga and novel collection I''m interested in. It should keep me occupied for the next few years given that I can''t talk to you then." (Adam) Huh? Why not? Are you going somewhere? "No but you need to get used to your body it''s going to take a while, 26 years was my estimate but now that you upgraded ''free mind'' it will probably only take 4 or 5." (Adam) Damn that long. I guess it makes sense given the new body, skills and mana but I just hate the idea that I''ll be stuck here while the rest of the transferred students can play around. "I wouldn''t worry about that too much." (Adam) Oh? "Sorry I can''t tell you information that doesn''t involve you." (Adam) Does it involve the transfer to this world? "I could not in good conscience confirm that to be the truth" (Adam) Subtle. Ok then as someone involved in the transfer can you give me any details about it. Not the other students just the process of transferring across. "Well...eh good enough for me. So here it is, should you still have had your physical body it would have taken you about 25 years to get here although you would have been in a kind of cryo sleep so you wouldn''t notice. However as a soul, you just popped in straight away, that''s also why i had no measures in place to deal with you besides finding the nearest vessel and plonking you in it." (Adam) Well a 25 year head start is appealing. Even if I loose the first 5 adjusting to this body I would still have plenty of time to grow in strength. Maybe even put a few plans in place. "Don''t get ahead of yourself. Start training and we''ll take it from there. I''ve got a little treat for you when your done." Really? What is it? "Hahahahaha anticipation is life''s greatest seasoning."(Adam) ...Well then I''ll start training. With ''free mind'' I can not only patiently endure these 5 years but my concentration shouldn''t so much as waver. "TIME SKIP GOOOOOOO" (Adam) ------------------------------------------------------ Whoo. It''s been a few years already since I started training. I thought it would be easy given the slime instincts that have remained in this body but as I expanded the range of mana sense it took a while to adjust to that. Never mind that I had to learn how to move a purely liquid body and learn how to draw in mana from the atmosphere. Ah yes. Slimes in this world don''t have cores like they do in games but upon death all of their liquid body will condense into a marble like object that can be used in medicine by sentient races or food for monsters. Though I guess I could do both. Regardless I''m fully cable of sensing my surroundings and moving accordingly so it''s time to get stronger. Adam where''s my treat!Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Hahaha your already in it. You see I teleported you into a secret room in the first floor of an old abandoned dungeon."(Adam) Really! That''s awesome... But I''m a bit concerned that I''ll just die as soon as I leave this room. I''m only a level one slime after all. "It''s true that you would die to any other dungeon but that''s why I said it''s a treat. This dungeon used to be a quarry for a mining town but was abandoned when they dug into a manna vein and the excess mana started to conceal into liquid form?"(Adam) Wait you mean slimes. "Yep and due to this being a quarry they are predominantly earth bases variants. Which means?"(Adam) They will be slow. In fact at low levels earth won''t be useful offensively it will only be at the level of throwing sand or mud. These are the perfect starting opponents for me. And it''s all thanks to ''Slime Fiend''. [[Slime Fiend- a powerful specialised variant of basic slime skill absorption. You passively absorb mana as sustenance and can actively absorb prey provided they are of the slime family. Absorbing prey provides xp proportional to the level disparity. Also absorbs a portion of other slimes mass. absorption will absorb all skills, resistances or other abilities. Absorption will include memories on usage of skills and battle experience.]] This was what became of absorption after editing. I specialised it towards hunting slimes as I only receive so much leeway with the skills edit. By actively restricting the skill to slimes I was able to not only guarantee skill absorption as well as resistances but also get the memories of skill usage. This became a priority after realising how long it would take me just to adjust to mana sense and my current body. Plus there is no restriction to stacking skills. The perfect skill for growing my strength at low levels. Though I do hope I can get some other skill similar to absorption so I can target other races. Thanks to ''free mind'' I don''t even have qualms at the thought of eating humans. Which will probably be necessary later as I doubt there are many slimes with production skills.regardless it all starts with a single step I still still need to kill my first slime and we should be evenly matched in combat strength as I have no skills that focus on battle. "Well you won''t know till you find one. just slip through the crack in the wall and you will find yourself in the dungeon corridors" (Adam) Wait...doesn''t that mean a slime could have slipped in here a killed me at any time? ".....................nope.................................." (Adam) Why not? "......uhm. You know, magic reasons. Hey stop wasting time here and go eat some slimes!" (Adam) ------------------------------------------------------ It appears that mana sense is the same for all slimes as none of them can locate me who has a range of 10 metres. Even the lv 5 slimes who are the strongest on this floor only have a range of 5 metres so it''s fairly easy to avoid them. I''ve just been dodging slimes who are higher lv than me or in groups and I''ve finally located my first target. A brown slime (yes mana sense also detects colour) the same size as me and all on its own, possibly just spawned. My plan is basic but should still be effective. I pounce on it from 1.1 metres away landing a surprise hit before retreating. I''m faster so it''s easy to escape it''s range (though only relatively speaking). Rinse and repeat. It takes 20 minutes to finally kill it due to its high defence but to the victor goes the spoils. The core is thick like caramel. But tastes more like mud. Probably because it''s an earth slime. I guess I would taste like grass then? I wonder what a fire slime tastes like, maybe its spicy. [[Slime Fiend activated- enemy lv disparity none. total mass increase 10%, defence boosted. Memories obtained.]] The earth slimes memories enter my mind. They are fairly basic, I was right in thinking that it had only just spawned. The memories depict it''s trouble moving and love for the soil. "That is due to its affinity. It''s very shallow as its only low level but monsters with strong affinities form a connection with their element that makes them feel comfortable when around it. That''s why most elemental monsters don''t leave their habitats."(Adam) Oh then I would probably feel that way in a forest as well huh. Actually after consuming this slime I feel the same faint affection for soil that it did. Interesting, Adam why aren''t auras displayed by eyes of truth? "affinities are more spiritual so ''system'' can''t express them well but it''s easy to find out. You will feel comfortable with any element you have affinity for and those with strong affinities radiate an aura dependant on which element they have." (Adam) Doesn''t that give away too much of your fighting strength? and you still haven''t told me what they do. "You can always train in restraining your aura but it''s impossible to utilise an element you have affinity with and fully conceal it. For example a mage with fire affinity couldn''t cast a fire ball without radiating a flame aura but could train to conceal it out with battle so you don''t know his element until it''s used. Oh and using magic to your affinity boosts cost efficiency and power." (Adam) Interesting. That should be helpful information later on but for now let''s get back to the hunt. -------------------------------- It''s been a 2 weeks since I killed my first slime and I''ve finally reached lv 7. After massacring every slime on this floor. 265 lv1, 433 lv2, 346 lv3, 189 lv4, 43 lv5. With each level having greater defence, affinity and mass than the former. Currently my size is about that of a baby elephant and my defence is equivalent to rock. I''m going to go to the next floor now. Although to be honest with my current strength I can pretty much one shot lv 20 earth slimes. But whatever I''m not in a rush, I''ll take this dungeon for everything it''s got. -------------------------------- I''m on the 5th floor now. I''m lv36 while the highest level slimes here are lv25 but my affinity with earth is becoming much more profound although it all revolves more around feelings than science or explanation. This is probably due to how stupid slimes are by nature. Not that I''m complaining. Adam mentioned to me that slimes don''t cast spells in this world as they would be expending their physical body''s to do so. It makes sense given that they are made of mana. Instead they directly manipulate their element by ''becoming one with it''. Although only high level slimes can do this I don''t feel I''m too far off. More importantly is that my body resembles a greyhound. Not the dog but the bus. I''ve been moving in a more cylindrical shape in order to move through the corridors. That doesn''t make me strong though. If there were any here, I can say for sure that I couldn''t kill any adventurers at this point. I''m simply to slow and I clearly lack stealth. Unless they thought I was a wall and decided to lean against me I would be unable to harm them. I''ll need to rectify that later. Maybe wind or water slimes could help. Ok, 5 down 5 to go. -------------------------------- Due to slimes getting bigger as they level my size has been snowballing I cleared the 9th floor in 6 hours. Now I''m practically a slow landslide. I simply flood the corridors and once the slimes are surrounded I absorb them while they are still alive. Plus matter how hard they fight back they simply can''t penetrate by defence. Though I have no idea how hard I am as I have nothing to compare it too it should be more than enough for the last floor. Right Andy? "Sorry bro can''t tell you too much or there''s no fun." (Andy) Well even if it''s more of a challenge than I''m expecting I should be ok. To the final floor! Once I reached the tenth floor there was only one slime to be seen. My mana sense now reaches 630 metres so I was able to find it at the far end of the floor laying atop a crack in the ground. What peaked my interest is its size. Despite clearly being a higher level it''s even smaller than a lv10 earth slime. If it has a skill to decrease size that''s something I need quite badly, so for the first time since I started hunting I used eyes of truth on my prey. [[Metal slime jebeleta lv153]] Oh just a named rare species 90 levels above me...Shit. Battle of attrition MC POV Before I start formulating a plan, my opponent he needs a nickname, Jebeleta doesn''t exactly roll off the tongue. "How about shiny. You know because he''s metal." (Adam) I guess that''s fine. Also how come the name in my status is -anomaly- but some random slime gets their own name? "We''ve been over this, the body your in didn''t have a name but your soul did, so system got confused and called you -anomaly-. It will do till you get your own."(Adam) I know but it''s not fair. "Well you should be happy about it. It''s hard to be a badass when you have a crappy name like ''Wilson''."(Adam) True. Well let''s forget that for now and move on to shiny. Its small size must mean its condensed its mass somehow, probably means tougher defences. While its race and level will mean high attack power. My advantages lie in my ridiculous mass and my defence. But I don''t know how my defences will hold up against his attacks as I''ve never fought such a strong enemy. That crack must be the mana vein Adam mention so It must have gotten that strong from absorbing the mana somehow. Then for a stupid slimes perspective that vein holds tremendous value. Could that be its weakness? Yeah I think this will work. ------------------------------------------ I move towards shiny and spread my body through the surrounding corridors while making sure to remain outside his 50 metre mana sense range. Now it''s time for some magic. Slimes don''t normally use magic as they expend their mass to do so. It will regenerate but is still a bad move mid battle, imagine for example that a magic warriors mp was linked to his health and strength he obviously wouldn''t cast spells as freely. I haven''t used it yet myself, but the memories of the slimes I''ve absorbed have given me a pretty good idea of how it''s supposed to be done. I start to convert my mass to mana and I feel my body shrink slightly, I then send it into the ground beneath me. My affinity with rock and soil make this type of spell very ''cost effective'' to use and the results are immediate as the crevice evidently starts to close, just as I visualised and much to shiny''s surprise. As expected he takes the bait. With his mana sense shiny should feel the mana in the earth but as it feels as though it''s coming from all around him he has resorted to stabilising the crack before searching for me. Slimes aren''t innately intelligent creatures to begin with, so now that it''s decided to prevent the crevice from sealing he will likely do so until he''s exhausted. And he doesn''t disappoint. Shiny immediately resorts to expanding the crack by creating blade like whips, and spikes from its body to open it further. After a few minutes shiny realises it''s not working and tries to use magic of its own to counter me. Metal girder like objects start forming where shiny has injected its mana greatly slowing the cracks closure. While I expend mana and mass closing the crevice, the girders crumple and snap under the pressure only to be repaired my shiny''s magic. During this back and forth I don''t notice shiny to be shrinking, which corroborates my condensed mass theory. ------------------------------------------ After 4 days shiny finally can''t afford to repair the metal girders causing them to completely snap and crumple like paper and the vein to close. Now I move. From all sides I wriggle forward and enter shiny''s sensory range. While I only have 14%of my original mass it''s still enough to fully surround shiny. I encroach him from all sides at my fastest speed. Shiny condenses its body further down to the size of a level 1 slime and extends thin needle like metal to pierce my body "Reminds me of a certain homunculus" (Adam) Not the time Andy! "Fine fine continue your monologue"(Adam) Thank you. Anyway the attacks actually pierce me. Me! What ridiculous offensive power. I''m happy I wore him down first because if he still had enough mass to use those metal whip blades I''d be diced up. Luckily I did and as such I still have enough mass to endure these needles. Whilst attacking me Shiny doesn''t have enough mass to cover every side any more allowing me to get closer..and closer...aaannnnddd... BAM!!! Got I''m. One side was wrapped in my body and while he appeared distracted the other sides converged allowing me to enjoy a very hard earned meal. [[Slime Fiend activated- enemy lv disparity 90. total mass increase 25%. Defence boosted. metal form obtained. Compressed mass skill learned. Physical attack boosted. Blade transformation obtained. Memories obtained.]] [[level up, level up, level up, level up, level up]] Ahhh now that''s what daddy likes to see. Good time for a break if you ask me. in fact I think I''ll use what little mass remains to open that vein back up. The extra mana should help my regeneration....there we go. Now let''s examine my gains. ------------------------------------------ I decided to use this opportunity to fully assimilate Shiny''s memories. Metal should be my last step to becoming ''one with the earth'' Because thus far I''ve devoured slimes who love soil, sand, rock and quarts but non who love metal. While it is undoubtedly a part of the earth. I''m thinking that Adam chose this dungeon specifically to give me ''one with the earth'' from the get go. It''s a great one to start with as well, not only do I get survivability in my defence but from my insights those who are one with the earth can swim through stone like water making for a very good fleeing skill. It''s just difficult to think he planned this out when I can hear him sobbing the name ''Laboon'' in my head, now that he has just finished the Thriller Bark saga. Regardless I''m grateful to him. Enough to tolerate his nonsense at least. "Awe I knew you loved me, haha we are gonna be best friends for life. Unless...you have to leave me behind because I''m too small to survive the horrors of the grand line." (Adam) Oh god not again... "He would yell into the skies if his voice could.." Oh no don''t do the line you''ll make me cry too.. "because of our selfish promise.." please dont... " that Death isn''t an apology..."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. No.....don''t you dare "Because a man once said that they would defiantly be back!!" Waaahaaahaaaaa Laboon!!! "Laboon!!" Laboon!!! "Laboon!!!!" ------------------------------------------ Bordani''s PoV Me and my team were called into the guild master, Jonas''s, office by the beast kin receptionist Mono chan. She is really adorable with her fluffy white ears and tail. She''s a member of the snow hound tribe and rumour is that she is a powerful Ice Mage. I suppose that it was that deadly but cute combination that got the Orcish blood in me flowing. I have been pretty lucky in my bloodline, my grandfather was an Orc and I only seemed to inherit the more desirable traits such as their innate strength and *cough* stamina... Whilst still looking above average. The only downside seems to be my attraction to powerful women which has got me in trouble a few times and prevented my advancement from C rank. "Sorry Mono chan but The others will still be a few minutes, they kind of got held up." (Bordani) "Oh. That''s ok Bord-kun I don''t think it''s too urgent. But.. Uhm ... H-how are you." (Mono) Ahhh she''s so cute when her cheeks go red like that. Ah! I need to answer! Damn! I need to say something! Quick! "No. I mean, uh I''m fine, good even. How are you?"(Bordani) Stupid brain don''t ruin this for me. "I''m well, Though I do need to complete some f rank quests next month to keep my guild license... so uh umn.... When y-you come back do you uhm want to take a quest together maybe.."(Mono) "Of course. I''d love to!"(Bordani) Yes brain good reply. "R-really? Ah! You don''t have to if you don''t want to, I''m not trying to exploit you or anything I just thought ...that we..." (Mono) "Nonsense I''d love to spend ti-...help you" (Bordani) Noooo!! You were doing so well Brain. "Eh? What were you going to say just then?" (Mono) Crap. Damn it, I need a distraction. "Bord-kun we''re here! Sorry for the wait but Taron was in the toilet for ages." (Elaine) "Yeah I got trapped in after someone locked it. Now that I think of it It was just a few minutes after I told Bordani I was looking forward to visiting Mono-chan again." (Taron) (Sete) Good timing team! Ah introductions. "Mono chan these are my team mates. You of course know Taron." (Bordani) "Hello beautiful it''s been a while. Did you miss me." (Taron) A flirt as usual. At least Mono-chan doesn''t seem that interested, that''s a relief. "Yes Mr Taron your file said that you are almost ready to become a B class Fire Mage if I''m not mistaken." (Mono) "Oh? I didn''t expect you to read up on me." (Taron) "Yes the guild-master said it was your skills that led him to choosing your team for this job." (Mono) Taron besides his insesant womanising is a capable and devoted Mage with a high affinity for fire. He wears red robes and several ruby ingrained rings that increase the power of flame spells. He is quite attractive with a slight red tint in his eyes from his affinity. "Well we will get to that when he gets here. Anyway this is Sete. He is the rouge of our group. Excuse him if he doesn''t talk too much it''s just his nature." (Bordani) "Hello Mr Sete." (Mono) (Sete) Sete covers up in a cloak when in town but when he removes it for battle or infiltration his ears and slightly purple skin show his dark elf heritage, it''s probably what gives him his darkness affinity. "And this is Elaine our archer" (Bordani) "Hello..."(Mono) It''s unlike mono to be rude. Is it because Elaine is an elf? Surely not, beast men are often quite accepting of other races. For some reason Elaine seems to find it amusing and giggles when she looks between me and Mono. "Hehehe don''t worry Mono-chan " (Elaine) "Oh! I see, sorry for being rude." (Mono) Hmm? Well I''m a bit confused but as long as their getting along its fine besides the guild-master has also just arrived so we need to act a bit more professionally. "Good you''re all here. I''m sorry to call you on short notice but I really needed a fire Mage and you group were the only ones available." (Guild Master Jonas) "How can I be of service" (Taron) Jonas is an old Dwarf. He was assigned to this city by the guild headquarters after requesting a less stressful location to focus on his sculpting. That should give a pretty good idea as to his temperament. "You see the dungeon here in Matora has been giving off some odd mana readings. We believe that the flow of mana in the mana vein that passes under the dungeon core was destabilised."(Guild Master Jonas) "Destabilised?" (Bordani) "Yes. You see Mana veins function similar to rivers. And someone has been opening and closing a damn upstream leading to the dungeon spawning monsters more erratically. We believe it''s the old stone quarry north from here. They accidentally mined into the vein about 20 years ago and created a pseudo dungeon. Since then earth slimes have spawned there. It''s never affected us though, So we never bothered with it until now."(Guild Master Jonas) "Earth slimes. So that''s why you need Taron. Well it shouldn''t be too hard it''s only about a week away." (Elaine) "What do you want us to do there?" (Bordani) If he wants us to remove the cause I can''t accept without more information, I might loose reason a bit in battle but I have to be a responsible leader when it comes to taking quests at least. "Just to investigate the cause and solve it if possible. It shouldn''t be hard for you given that your almost B rank but if for some reason you can''t. Just report it back to me and I''ll send someone else." (guild-master Jonas) "Hahahahahaha. Trying to bait us old man? No need we can solve this mess can''t we team?" (Bordani) ""Yeah!"" But even if I said that no adventurer would throw their lives away so easily, if it really gets too dangerous. "I''ll see you soon Mono-chan and don''t worry nothing can happen. They''re only slimes after all." (Bordani) ------------------------------------------ "I really don''t like the feel of this place." (Elaine) "How many more times are you going to say that. Nobody likes this place, whatever messed with the mana vein here whipped the entire dungeon. Not even lv1 slimes are around." (Taron) "Yeah. What''s with that. There no experience to be gained from it. Were they in the way somehow?" (Bordani) "No clue, but it''s got to be a real chore to find every last one of them so there had to be a good reason. At least I can reserve my mana for whatever''s at the bottom of this place." (Taron) "Not long now this should be the entrance to the tenth floor. Let''s go" (Bordani) "I guess... But I still have a weird feeling you know?" (Elaine) (Sete) "You too? Hmm. Draw your weapons and get in formation." (Bordani) "Eh? Isn''t that being a little too cautious?" (Taron) (Sete) "Fine whatever let''s just go." (Taron) I knew it was ominous but for Sete to be like that...whatever''s down here is dangerous. Well the quest is to investigate anyway, we can always run if wee need to. We are going down the steps into the tenth and last floor. This should be the floor that opens to the mana vein. We follow the map Jonas gave us for a few hundred feet. Elaine and Taron appear to be bickering, probably their way of dealing with the stress. They did that on the last few missions as well. Maybe there getting closer?...Agh now I''m thinking about Mono-chan again. Focus we need to- "Ah!" (Elaine) "What is it?" (Bordani) "The mana in the air just changed. It''s the mana vein. But for me not to feel it till now means that whatever was stopping the mana from escaping isn''t anymore." (Elaine) Elves are known for their magic sensitivity but as a magic ranger hers is one of the highest in Matora City. "For it to happen now probably means that whatever or whoever caused this knows we''re here." (Taron) "Not necessarily we could just have good timing" (Bordani) I joked trying to relieve the tension in the air somewhat. But is seem Sete didn''t notice my intentions "Enemy" (Sete) "Where?" (Bordani) "700 metres ahead. Only hear one. Sound like slime" (Sete) Rogues have amazing senses to be able to differentiate species just by sound "How quickly?" (Bordani) "Slow. 0.5 metres a second."(Sete) "Sounds like a normal slime to me" (Taron) "Let''s go to it then. Maybe we can learn something about what''s going on here." (Elaine) She''s right. From the direction Sete has been looking it must be near the mana vein so there is no harm in checking. "!" (Sete) "What is it Sete?" (Bordani) I''ve never seen him surprised before. What could it be? "It''s coming directly here." (Sete) "Is that all? Don''t scare us like that dude." (Taron) "Yeah! That sounds good to me! Doesn''t it save us the hassle of going towards it?" (Elaine) "Sete. You have to elaborate for us." (Bordani) Something''s wrong. "It''s coming directly to this spot."(Sete) ""So?"" (Taron and Elaine) "So how does it know we''re here?" (Sete) I feel confused for a moment before his words sink in. Isn''t it common knowledge slimes sensory range increases with their strength? But there should be a limit. Aren''t we 700 metres away? Is it that strong? No it can''t be. Maybe it''s a pet of a Mage and they had some form of detection runes. Damn there''s that feeling of danger again. "Taron set up as many mana regeneration runes below you as you can in the next few minutes, Elaine set up some traps that work on slimes, fire traps bait traps anything you''ve got, use them. Sete keep monitoring that slime. If anything changes tell us immediately. I''ll smash a few of these corridors to restrict which direction it can come from. I''ll leave open this tunnel straight ahead of us understood?" ""Yes!"" I don''t know what you are. But I''m not going to fall here. I have someone to important waiting for me. Keep your eye on the birdie MC POV [[Name of dungeon changed. ''Holdire quarry'' has become ''Anomalies nursery''.]] Hehehe a few hours ago I finally figured out how Shiny got so strong. He became the dungeon master of this place by pure chance. It appears that this dungeon never had an owner so Shiny was assigned the role simply because he was nearest to the mana vein at the time. Sadly he wasn''t intelligent enough to understand his situation and just kept pumping the energy that the dungeon uses to grow monsters into himself by instinct. But now I''m the big boss. And while this isn''t a true dungeon, which limits my options greatly, I can still enjoy a few perks while I wait for my regeneration to finish (currently 67% of total mass). One of those perks is doing what Shiny did, simply taking the growth energy for myself but, it''s the ability to detect and monitor intruders that really interests me, especially since I have guests to entertain. There are four of them. They are strong enough to confidently stroll into a dungeon but don''t have the discipline or temperament of soldiers. This leads me to think they''re adventurers but based on the memories that I''ve absorbed nobody has bothered coming here for twenty years. So why bother now? Well it''s not like I can ask them so for now what''s most important is deciding what i''m going to do with them. My slime instincts tell me I''m stronger than them but I have no skills to absorb powers from non slimes and I would gain almost no xp from killing them. At the same time they are valuable sources of information that I ,annoyingly, can''t communicate with. No...wait... I can talk to them. Maybe not directly but as the dungeon master. That''s it! As the dungeon master I can offer quests to intruders, which system translates, allowing me to communicate with them. Now all I need to do is make sure they accept the quest. "How will you do that? offer a huge reward? I don''t think rocks are this worlds standard currency." (Adam) Oh that''s simple I just kill them if they refuse. At least one of them should get the message. "...huh...a bit ruthless isn''t it?" (Adam) Yeah it is, but I''m not yet strong enough to be kind. I won''t loose this precious chance at a new life, an unhindered, perfect life just because I wanted to play hero. No chance in hell! I will act in a way that ensures my survival and growth, and only when i''m strong enough will I play around a bit more. Now they''re about to enter the tenth floor. let''s go say hi. ------------------------------------------ Bordani''s POV "How far now?" (Bordani) "120 metres" (Sete) The corridor ahead is 80 metres long so it will be in sight soon. But preparations are in place, they consist of four layers. The first layer is situated ten feet in front of me this is the trap line. Elaine had flame traps, which should be some benefit (though are a little redundant with Taron here), as well as poison traps. Poison of this level can''t harm slimes but should slow them down while they detox it from their system. The second line of defence is me. Im not as adapt at defence as a knight or paladin, especially given that I weird a two handed great axe and no shield, but I should be able to Block a slimes simplistic attacks for a while at least. The third is Sete he is standing directly behind me. Should it not be a slime or have some sort of companion he will not be visible from their line of sight. But his main role is to intercept any attacks or opponents that slip past me. Finally there is Elaine and Taron. They are standing 5 metres behind Sete and have put a few feet between each other in order to get a clear line of sight past either side of me. Taron has placed runes at his feet which allow him to not only regenerate mana more quickly but also cast faster. While this allows for high damage output his range is limited to about 40 metres. This is characteristic of both fire and wind mages as their attacks disperse at they fly through the air. Although it''s probably different for grand mages. To cover this shortcoming is Elaine''s role. As an archer she has good long range capability, however her magic arrows are limited to a mere 70 metres, her job will be to inflict debuff effects onto the opponent so it''s weaker by the time it enters Taron''s range. "It''s here"(Sete) Finally it arrived. While a bit difficult to see in this dark cave the object crawling around the corner is defiantly a slime but it''s different from any I''ve ever seen before. The metallic surface of the slime has green tints, it indicating that it''s a nature attributed variant of the already dangerous metal slime. Furthermore It''s quite small, coming up to my waist at most. I was surprised by this at first but remembered that Pacey, a B+ rank friend of mine, had been injured by a high level slime and told me that strong slimes condensed their mass for easier movement and surprise attacks. After turning the corner the slime started to slowly crawl towards us almost reaching Elaine''s range. She started to draw back her bow and a blue aura wrapped around her arrow, indicating that she was using ice attributed enchantments. This would have been the smart move. Rapidly cooling then heating up a metal slime (Taron''s flame magic) would cause tremendous damage to metal attributed monsters, however, the slime stopped just as it was about to enter her range. It didn''t make any other actions. Elaine seemed troubled by this and was glancing at me for directions. After about 30 seconds the slime still hadn''t moved and so I nodded to Elaine. She slowly took a step forward with her bow still drawn and was about to release the arrow when... Thoooom!!! An absurdly thick earthen aura was released by the slime causing her to retreat back in surprise before she could release the shot. I too was surprised unconsciously tightening the grip on my weapon. "Elaine it''s casting magic, quick!!" I couldn''t controls my voice properly, resulting in me barking at Elaine for details on the magic that was being cast but she didn''t respond in the way I expected. "Uh.. Uhm... There isn''t any. I don''t feel the slime releasing any mana at all." "None?" What was it doing then? Was it releasing its aura as a warning? Is this some form of distraction? I glance at Sete but he shakes his head to me indicating that he can''t sense any other activity in the area. "Well we can''t just sit here. Elaine if it isn''t attacking step forward and shoot it, use a stun arrow to disturb it from whatever it''s-" SLAM!!!!!! "Guaaahh!" The deafening sound of something smashing behind us and the startled cry of Taron caused me to shoot a look in his direction. I was left stunned as I looked at a perfectly smooth almost marble like stone wall where our escape route once was. Taron was fine but It seems like the wall rose from just behind where his feet were and in doing so shattered the runes he was stood on. "Bord!"(Sete) I shot my gaze back to the slime at Sete''s shout. A thin tentacle had launched towards me when I took my eyes of the slime and had reached me in less than a second. The tentacle was perfectly straight and direct, appearing to resemble a long spear strike more than a slimes attack . Had I not let my eyes wander like a novice I could have reacted, but it was already to late now. Sete had moved from behind me and swung his twin daggers at the incoming strike.Stolen novel; please report. A could feel anger welling up inside me at my own foolishness, but suppressed it knowing a clear head would be needed for this opponent. Only my resolve to stay calm didn''t last very long. Sete''s daggers had met the spear like tentacle only to encounter no resistance. The strike that seems like it carried tremendous weight transformed into a liquid metal substance on contact with the daggers before enveloping Sete''s hands and wrists and solidifying again. I moved. Raised my axe aiming to bring it down on the now motionless metal pole connecting Sete to this monster. It was a panicked move but I had to act quickly, my blunder had caused this after all. My aura exploded as I started to lower my axe, the nature variant ''blood'' attribute aura surrounded my axe head. "Focus Bord!"(Sete) His cry brought me back from my panic, I once again realised I had looked away from the slime to focused on Sete''s situation. As another spear like tentacle was sent out by the slime directly towards my head. Forcing me to drastically change my swings trajectory to meet the strike head on. The strike once again liquidised but my bloody aura stifles all living things it comes in contact with which seemed to slow the liquids advance just long enough for me to let go of my weapon. "Shit" Disarmed against a bizarrely intelligent long range slime. Before I could pity myself further the tentacle holding my axe rapidly retracted itself towards the main body, bringing a horrid premonition to my mind. The tentacle binding Sete too began retracting. I clasped Sete''s collar only to be rapidly dragged along with him. Instead of immediately retracting to the main body, the tentacle stopped 10 metres away from our original position and swiped us both along the floor, triggering every trap as it did so. Damn this thing is messing with us! By the time it was done our support had finally joined the fray. Elaine''s arrow was fired at Sete''s bindings along with Taron''s fire ball causing a violent explosion. While this would damage his hands a few healing potions were cheaper than his life. I was still holding Sete''s collar and I stood up fighting the numbing effects of the poison as I did so. I looked down towards the Sete wondering if the pain had knocked him out but his eyes were open and the lack of pain in them brought more concern than his screams would have. The steam and smoke cleared to reveal the green tinted metal bindings to be without a scratch. Despair grasped hold of us all. Nobody could take their eyes away from the scene. That is until the tentacle contracted again so fast I didn''t have time to let go, we were lifted completely off the ground. Collapsing in front of the slime I raised my head too a much slower strike coming towards my face, this time in the form of a metallic fist. I guarded my head with my arms only to feel the liquid metal binding them as they did Sete. I gawped at my own inexperience. Even after seeing this technique twice I still fell for it a third time? And this one was purposely slow as if to mock me. I felt completely helpless and glanced with hope at my remaining party members. Taron was standing behind Elaine funnelling his magic into her drawn bow. Their ice and fire auras circled the arrow yet never touched each other. "Don''t worry boys, this is our most powerful technique there''s no way this thing will survive it" Elaine looked a lot more firm and dependable than her normal lax self. The swirling auras painted her in a divine light. If I''m not mistaken this should be a resonance art magic. They are supposed to amplify magic power several fold their combined might. Maybe, just maybe, this will work. Don''t worry Mono I''ll be coming back to see you again! ""Icefire blast!!!"" They shouted together. And at the same time the arrow was released into flight ------------------------------------------------------- MC POV When I eventually reached them (stupid slow slime body) they had finished their preparations. I had watched them set up in order to get an idea of their roles and teamwork but if felt pretty formulaic and kinda generic. I dunno, I guess I just expected it to be a bit more elaborate. It''s my first fight against humans after all. Regardless I approached them until I was a bit over 70 metres away and stopped because the elf seemed like she would release her arrow. I mean obviously, right? Why was she so clearly broadcasting her attack. Because I''m a slime? Well it doesn''t matter. Time to test ''one with the earth''. I have to release my aura and sense the earth first...good that''s fine, now to move it to my will...tunnel closed. Huh pretty easy Hey is that guy not even looking at me during a fight? Well let''s find out. Stab. Oh the rogue looking guy wants to block. I think not. Hah noobs. Come on I''m a slime guys why are you all using bladed weapons? I''m obviously just going to become liquid when it suits me. Next is the big guy Oh he isn''t so bad at least he was smart enough to let go of his weapon. But that was on odd feeling of sluggishness when I came in contact with the axe head is it a special weapon? Let''s bring it away from you for now... In fact while we''re at it lets bring the rogue over here too. Oh my god how stupid is this guy? I''m metal I can just anchor myself to the ground why would you be able to pull him back? Just for that you can clear up the toys you left on my floor. Oh some were fire and others liquid? No poison, not bad but a little weak. Speaking of weak, is that supposed to be magic? a basket ball sized fire ball and a chilly arrow. What could that do? Morons. Well let''s drag them back. "Get over here!!" (Adam) You''re doing games now? "Just switching it up. Why don''t like it?" (Adam) Nah it''s actually quite refreshing, a little Nostalgic even. Hey look how stupid this guy is, bet you twenty he blocks. "No way he''s seen it twice now he''s got to..damn ...what a dumbass" (Adam) Right? I can''t believe my first encounter is this disappointing. Oh what''s this combining magic? Looks a bit stronger. Should I dodge? "Do a barrel roll!!!" (Adam) Shut up. Hmmm....my mana sense shows the mana circling the arrow but doesn''t seem to be enhancing the arrow itself. How come? "It''s the kind of spell where the mana follows the arrow and is injected into the target on impact....AH FUCK!!!..........if system asks you figured that out yourself got it." (Adam) Sure. And thanks that''s pretty helpful. But wait surely it''s not just that... No they aren''t that stupid are they? A normal arrow that internally detonates the opponent is strong but- ""osbehry bfoet!!!"" (Attractive elf woman and other) -wall If it''s just a normal arrow I''ll just erect a wall in front of you. I mean the wall blew up but the debris won''t hurt me. Oh right, they shouted something in their language just now was it the attack name? No that would be silly this is real life after all...hope they''re not dead...I guess that should have been my first concern...oh the two I dragged here were knocked out by the shockwave I guess we can always chat when they wake up. "Finish him!!" (Adam) No. I actually need them for something. But I finally found a use for this skill. [[drones: a variant of the basic slime skill mitosis. Detach mass from the main body (max 5%) detached mass acts as a drone that can be remotely controlled by you. Note: separated mass will not regenerate until reattached to body. Note: concentration required correlates with volume of mass removed.]] I had to make such drastic edits to the original skill there are a lot of restrictions now but at least it has its uses. ------------------------------------------------------- Bordani''s POV "Ugh ugh..." (Bordani) I wake up with my head ringing, my ears are still fuzzy from that explosion...ah! That''s right the arrow! Did we win!? I sat up from the hard ground I was laying on and looked around me. Next to me I saw Sete dressing bandages over Elaine''s torso. She appeared unconscious but from Setes expression it wasn''t dire. Taron was on my other side but unlike Elaine was completely uninjured Yet he too was unconscious. "Sete what happened" (Bordani) He''s nodding again which calmed my nerves a little, as he only becomes talkative when we''re in danger but he nodded towards me which was a bit odd. Seeing the confusion on my face he elaborated. I look behind me to where he was pointing. I see the slime we were fighting earlier lazily seated over a crack in the ground. I feel the blood running from my face as I look towards Sete. "W-what is this? What''s going on? Why are we still alive?" .....haaaah I have no energy left to bicker. Even though I was terrified being near that thing Sete''s light attitude and the slimes lazy actions relaxed the tension in the air to some extent. Suddenly I felt something around my neck vibrate. I try to reach for it by my hand was grasped by Sete who showed me his neck. Around it was a green metallic collar. I glanced down and noticed the same on the other two. I felt it vibrate again then looked at the slime who was now moving towards us. I automatically moved into a defensive stance but feeling the collar slightly tighten I realise the hopelessness of my situation and relax a bit. Should I be happy just to be alive? Aren''t I practically a slave now? What does it want? [[quest request from -anomaly- see details]] Huh? A quest? I guess I can always look. [[Quest: a slimes errand The slime and dungeon master -anomaly- needs a good cover to hunt prey outside the dungeon. Details: -anomaly- wishes to leave the dungeon too hunt a mimic slime but fears exposure and lacks information. That''s where you come in. You must accompany -anomaly- and provide an excuse for his existence if questioned. You must also lead him to a mimic slime or provide him with the core of a mimic slime. Rewards: removal of collars Conditions: Failure will result in you being eaten alive. -anomalies- capture will (somehow) result in you being eaten alive. Being annoying will result in you being eaten alive. Refusal of quest will result in you being eaten alive.]] Huh....well Fuck High stakes Charades MC PoV After issuing the adventurers my ¡®request¡¯ they very kindly agreed to help me. So once the mage woke up and the elf was placed on the leaders back, we headed for the dungeon exit. Sadly there wasn¡¯t any teleport runes or pedestals like there are in games because this is a foe dungeon. So we had to ascend the floors to return to the entrance the adventurers came through. Though I¡¯m happy we did, because on the way I discovered some newly spawned earth slimes. They were only lv1 so absorbing them would be pointless to my current self, but I learned something interesting. They react to me not as a threat, but as a father figure. I soon realised that it was due to becoming ¡®One with the earth¡¯. It seemed there was more to this insight than I initially thought. I already knew that the span of my control over earth would increase with my mass but there was nothing in my memories to explain such a reaction. I guess that¡¯s just another reason to infiltrate a sentient society. The mimic slime will allow me to seek out knowledge on slimes and where to find the perfect prey for my growth without too much risk. I at least need to know where the danger zones are located so I don¡¯t accidently walk into a dragon¡¯s nest or something. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have reached the first floor. The adventurers seemed annoyed by my slow pace but 30 seconds without breathing shut them up pretty quick. Not knowing what was beyond the entrance I decided to take precautions. I used ¡®Quest updates¡¯ to inform the group of my plans details. I would be disguising as the newly tamed pet of the elven archer. This would work for two reasons. One; ranger classes often have taming skills of some degree, and two; taming a creature stronger than oneself would lead to injury and exhaustion providing a perfect cover for her condition. Sadly I would have to limit my sensory range to 50 metres. This is to prevent any powerful experts nearby from noticing me as anything more than a regular slime. This will likely make hunting for the Mimic slime more difficult but the rogue seems to have good senses so we should be ok. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I felt quite disappointed upon reaching the dungeons exit as there were only fields and rocks within my sensory range. I¡¯m sure I would see be a beautiful sight of floating mountains and twelve suns should I have had eyes, I¡¯m looking forward to the mimic skill even more. ¡°Yeah the world is pretty. Only two suns though and there aren¡¯t any floating mountains in this particular area.¡± (Adam) But they do exist though right? ¡°Maybe. Or I could just be fucking with you. There isn¡¯t a lot to do in here now that I¡¯ve read all your memories.¡± (Adam) Well I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find a way to steal human memories before my classmates come so you might get something out of them. ¡°Oh yeah. I do recall there being another guy in your class that liked anime but he was pretty tall so nobody bothered him for it.¡± (Adam) So there was. I don¡¯t remember his name though. I think I¡¯ll be tall when I get a human body maybe 192cm (6.3 feet). ¡°Sounds good. What about hair or looks? You want to be incognito right? Handsome people get a lot of attention and every protagonist needs a crazy haircut.¡± (Adam) Not sure yet. I¡¯ll play around with it once I get the skill. Anyway these adventurers seem to be a bit tired so I¡¯ll let them rest a bit. Besides if they are too tired and let my mimic slime escape, I would be more than a little upset. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We carried on the journey for a few days. We left the road after a few hours so I guess they decided to look for the slime themselves than go to the city and buy a core. I didn¡¯t bother with the details too much but noticed that the elf was recovering quite quickly with the help of, what I assume are potions. Besides that there is nothing unusual. The greenery has been getting a bit thicker so we are probably approaching a forest and the lv80 nature slime in me (gained a few lvls from the mana vein) feels the connection to nature I used to feel for the earth, the same comfortable feeling is enveloping me the further we go. Sadly we didn¡¯t enter the forest and stopped just outside of it. The rogue is eyeing the area like a hawk while the rest set up camp. From the fact they station more complex traps and runes around it I can tell they plan to wait here for a few days. So after an hour I send a ¡®quest update¡¯ stating¡­ [[Quest update: -anomaly- is unclear on your purpose for setting up a camp here. Should you fail to communicate your intentions you will fail the quest. Note: should your intentions be conveyed yet still annoy -anomaly- you will not automatically fail the quest but may suffer repercussions. Note: -anomaly- has listed some of the possible repercussions as the following: you will have several limbs/appendages eaten by ¨Canomaly-, -anomaly- will eat half of your face, -anomaly will infuse your bones with metal and puppet you like ¡®Magneto¡¯. Note: full list of 125 items is locked and may vary greatly based on gender.]]Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. What ensued was the most panic stricken game of charades to grace this planet. Eventually thanks to their diverse mimes and using ¡®eyes of truth¡¯ to detect for any lies, I understood that they had to enter under the guidance of a forest resident or they would be considered an enemy. I couldn¡¯t understand who the ¡®forest residents¡¯ were but it¡¯s probably pixies or Elves or something like that. However I can understand the permission request, it¡¯s likely that slavers of some kind target the forest residents so they would like to ban entry, but adventurers who want to kill the dangerous creatures in the forest are abundant and useful to the residents. I sent another quest update saying I understood and that they wouldn¡¯t be punished. Of course they became a bit more wary of me. They will probably try to explain their actions to me before acting next time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bordani¡¯s PoV ¡°huff¡­.huff¡­huff¡­.that¡­huff¡­was¡­huff¡­.the most¡­huff¡­terrifying thing¡­huff¡± (Taron) ¡°I know¡­huff¡­limbs/appendages¡­fuck this guy!¡± (Bordani) (Sete) Forty minutes were spent trying to communicate with the slime. It obviously had no expression so we had no idea if it understood or not which made it very stressful but the quest notification came through stating all was understood. Though I don¡¯t know how much of that a slime could have understood as long as it¡¯s not preventing me from having a beautiful half snow wolf child in the future I¡¯m happy. Regardless, the danger has passed and the preparations have been made to accept the dryad ambassadors. Dryad are a purely female race that absorb the life force of others to grow in power but their bodies are developed to tempt the hearts of men. While this was beneficial to them in humanities early years it has now made them a target of nobles. While forcing adventurers to get permission does stop the majority of slavers there are cases of dryad children being abducted. ¡°Remember that we cannot accept their hospitality. We don¡¯t know how the slime will react to their presence and should its identity be exposed¡­¡± (Elaine) ¡°True, but it appears to have a good connection to nature by its colouring I don¡¯t imagine it will be hostile on sight. Monsters of the same affinity tend to work together.¡± (Taron) (Sete) ¡°Sete¡¯s right. It also has a connection to earth and it ate every other slime in that dungeon. Plus mimic slimes are a nature variant similar to my blood affinity so I don¡¯t think it has a sense of comradery between affinities at all.¡± (Bordani) ¡°Well it¡¯s not hopeless. The Dryad may have a few mimic cores they can trade. Mimic slimes defiantly exist in the ¡®illusion woods¡¯ so they probably picked a few up over time.¡± (Elaine) She¡¯s right. The reason we stopped here first was purely to trade with the Dryad not to explore the forest. If they don¡¯t have it we will try the city or ask the guild to look for any dungeons that have them. We have no intention of entering the forest as all the monsters are mimic or illusion based. And while this isn¡¯t a major issue for us should the slime get fooled into thinking one of us attacked it¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s rest for now. It normally takes a few days for the dryad to respond.¡± ¡°Dammit, there¡¯s no way I can sleep wondering what ¡®may vary greatly based on gender¡¯ means.¡± (Elaine) ¡°Yeah it¡¯s probably going to take me an extra twenty minutes to fall asleep, now that you¡¯ve said that¡­you know because I¡¯m so concerned for you and stuff.¡± ¡°Fuck you Taron and from what I hear you¡¯ll nod off in five hahaha.¡±(Elaine) ¡°Hahahaha¡± (Bordani) ¡°Who did you hear that from¡­ no way¡­it¡¯s not true dammit!¡± (Taron) While I¡¯m laughing at Taron, Sete hands him a potion. ¡°Eh what¡¯s this¡­ burn ointment? ...but I¡¯m a fire-¡­.OH FUCK YOU SETE¡± ¡°¡°Hahahahahahahaha¡±¡± (Bordani + Elaine) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next evening, a few hours before sunset a group of 3 stunning naked women exited from the forest. They had perfect hour glass figures but unlike succubus they held more elegance and purity, their dark skin as though it had been slightly tanned. They each had a few silver tattoos resembling flowers and other plants each placed in strategically sexual places such as their thighs or lower back. Both their hair and eyes were silver with green tints in them but this silver had a closer resemblance to starlight than the metallic silver of the slime. (Sete) Sete was snapping his fingers in front of my face before I realised what was happening. ¡°Huh? What? Huh?¡± (Bordani) ¡°You were staring¡± (Elaine) I was going to argue back but realised how pointless it would be so I coughed and looked towards Taron who I hoped would be in an even worse state than me. He wasn¡¯t but was instead elegantly adjusting his robes before stepping in front of us and performing a delicate bow. Damn, so smooth. If he wasn¡¯t so crude around Elaine I might even fall for him. No! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! ¡°Greetings adventurers, thank you for waiting here for us. What brings you too our forest?¡± (Leading Dryad) Straight to the point huh. I guess they aren¡¯t as fond of people as their kind smiles would suggest. Taron will negotiate with them. No lies and straight to the point. I don¡¯t want to spend too much time here or the slime may do something. ¡°Greetings to you all. This one¡¯s name is Taron Bentrathen and these are my companions. I won¡¯t waist your valuable time with such phatic talk so I¡¯ll get to it. We require the core of a mimic slime and were hoping you had some that you could spare for us. We can trade for it of course.¡± (Taron) The Dryad seemed to ponder on the issue. Before replying ¡°We should have one. But it was retrieved from a slime that dared attack one of our scouts so it couldn¡¯t be less than lvl 100. Its value is considerable for alchemists.¡± (Lead Dryad) I don¡¯t know anything on alchemy but by the look on Taron¡¯s face it must be quite pricy. I hope we can afford it. ¡°Of course you could trade it for your tamed slime. It appears to be a rare variant and a metal slime would be beneficial for us Dryad as we specialise in magic and lack physical power¡± (Lead Dryad) No that couldn¡¯t work. That would defeat the purpose¡­.unless ¡°I apologise but-¡° (Taron) ¡°Wait¡­I¡¯m thinking¡­we can give you the slime but we ask that you give us the core first. Then we will release the slime from our beast tamer contract and leave. Of course the slime is a bit stronger than its master so it may go berserk on release, could you handle that for us?¡± (Bordani) ¡° what are you doing ?¡± (Elaine) I ignored Elaine¡¯s whispering and spoke to the Dryad. ¡°Would this be acceptable to you?¡± What am I doing? The quest will be cleared when it gets the core and once we are free we will run. The Dryad can deal with the aftermath. I feel a bit sorry for them but they are still monsters after all. Either they buy time for us to run from the slow moving slime or they capture it. Either way we will survive this mess. (Sete) Sete seems to understand my thinking but doesn¡¯t like the idea. He always was a bit more cautious, but don¡¯t worry it won¡¯t be like it was in the dungeon this time I won¡¯t drag us down. We will escape this monster! Don¡¯t worry Mono I will return to you soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MC Pov [[Dryad Shaman Polerta lvl147]] The first thing I did upon seeing the women exit the forest was exam them with eyes of truth. You thought I would be stunned by their beauty? Free mind took care of that. I was able to appreciate and enjoy the sight without being mesmerised by it. The other two were a little weaker than Polerta but not by much. They talked to the adventurers not once lying. But the adventurers didn¡¯t respond in kind it seems they were talking about me given the dryads gaze and the slightly startled look on the female elf¡¯s face. I didn¡¯t think about it too much only assuming they were explaining that I was their tamed monster. That was until that evening. The four had gathered in their tent after the dryad had left (assumedly to get my slime). The bickering and raised heartrates made me feel uneasy. They were plotting something. A pity I was really going to let them go too. But I won¡¯t be a pushover in this life. I will kill those that oppose me without question. I¡¯m a monster now. Its time I embrace it. ¡°Release control art restriction zero.¡± (Adam) Shut up Adam! The route not taken MC POV ¡°Fade in, it¡¯s a dark winter morning. The forests shadow looms over our great hero like a terrifying demon preparing to swallow its prey.¡± (Adam) Its noon and the flowers are all in bloom so it¡¯s probably spring¡­ ¡°The slime tried to correct me only to realise what an ass hole he was being for trying to ruin my fun.¡± (Adam) I¡¯m not an ass hole. All I¡¯m saying- ¡°You really don¡¯t get to decide that.¡± (Adam) Ugh I don¡¯t care enough. You said you had some surprise for our upcoming fight- ¡°Oh! That right, where did I put it¡­.it¡¯s here somewhere¡­¡± (Adam) Put it? Here? I thought you didn¡¯t have a body ¡°Yeah I made one. It¡¯s not real I created a room and a body I can occupy inside a dreamscape, its similar to a lucid dream.¡± (Adam) Pretty cool. What does it look like? ¡°It¡¯s your old human body. It¡¯s the only one you have memories of piloting so I¡¯m stuck with it for now. No offence. Here it is, get ready to have all the epicenes glands in your body explode once this fight starts.¡± (Adam) Looking forward to it. Oh, the dryad are back and there are eight now. Didn¡¯t take them too long, I guess there village is nearby. Maybe I¡¯ll go have a look when I¡¯m done here. Oh the adventurer¡¯s leader is heading towards them. He talking to them while four dryad are moving to encircle me just outside a fifty metre sensory range. That settles it I¡¯m the target, I can¡¯t blame them given the situation but I¡¯ll show no mercy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bordani POV The Dryad returned in the afternoon. They had a few extra members but that only makes sense given that we asked them to take care of the slime. Sete was still against this idea but majority vote ruled in my favour so the plan is in motion. The Dryad leader handed over a small cloth bag which I hastily tipped out onto my palm. A slime core of disgusting snot green was in my hand. This is the colour of Mimic slimes so seeing the displeasing colour eases my tension a little. I turn around and walk in the direction of my comrades. The slime is just sitting there as I approach when a thin tentacle slowly forms and stops in the air in front of it like an open palm waiting for me to place the core into it. I raise the core in my hand holding it between my fingers and look at the slime whilst slowly increasing the pressure I¡¯m putting on the core as though I¡¯m about to shatter it. The slime seems to tremble in fear of me destroying the core and with draws the extended tentacle. ¡°Come on your clearly not as stupid as the other slimes negotiate damn it.¡± (Bordani) [[Quest update: -anomaly- has provided alternative quest routes for you to pursue.
  1. ¡®Safe exchange¡¯ route: Upon exchange of the slime core restraining collars will be removed. ¨CAnomaly- cannot initiate a confrontation with you for 15 minutes.
  2. ¡®Riches and rewards¡¯ route: accompany ¨Canomaly- on his journeys as a ¡®retainer¡¯. Receive a 5% portion of all future financial gains or sufficient compensation to the same value.
  3. ¡®Don¡¯t push me fucker¡¯ route: name changed on ¨Canomaly¡¯s- request. You will be treated as a hostile threat. ¨Canomaly will target you at any given opportunity. Note: this route can only be achieved by destroying or refusing to hand over the quest objective.]]
I nod to my companions to indicate that I received the update window but they are looking on front of them. I guess they received one as well. Why wasn¡¯t this delivered to the party leader but to the individuals? I guess it made a mistake in its fear. This is it. Route 1. I¡¯m coming Mono-chan. I select option 1 and hand over the core. When the slime receives it I feel a sense of relief wash over me and the metal collar around my neck loosens and returns to the slimes body. [Quest complete] I turn my head to my comrades and flash a smile of relief which they return to me. I notice that the dryad where looking at our exchange in confusion and suspicion but I don¡¯t plan to stick around and answer their questions. Just then.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. a huge earthen aura explodes from the slime I¡¯m startled and draw my sword on reflex but am smart enough not to initiate a conflict by striking it. Was that its plan? We aren¡¯t that foolish so you can¡¯t attack us¡­.wait it can¡¯t attack us but- ¡°SHIT. Move quickly!!¡± (Bordani) earthen spikes fire out from below the dryad¡¯s feet. Some jumped to avoid them while two of the dryads that surrounded us has their feet pierced. Eight metallic spear tentacles launched towards each of the dryad. We can¡¯t interfere with it but the Dryad will assume we are on the same side. Fuck! If you can¡¯t kill us get someone else too. We need to run quick. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MC POV I hate being threatened. I had enough of that in my past life. I could hardly contain my rage when the adventurer threatened to crush my core. Luckily I had already prepared a quest update in advance or I may have acted rashly. ¡°Free mind¡± (Adam) Oh yeah. I guess I would have been fine then. Oh well I¡¯m still pissed. And this fucker looks so smug, like he¡¯s outsmarted me. Just give me the core already [[Quest update: routes selected.
  1. Bordani, Elaine, Taron
  2. Sete ]]
Huh? That unexpected. I only did it on the longshot but hey, no complaints here. Wonder which ones Sete. Guess I can figure that out later. We¡¯re starting. ¡°Good. lets rock!¡± (Adam) { if you wanna see some action Gotta be the centre of attraction} Ichigos theme. Nice, I like it. Now for some earth spikes. I launch thirty two earth spears at the dryad. Four each. The two with the lowest levels among them were struck directly whilst the rest dodged in varying ways. Although three of those who dodged still received injuries to their lower legs. Whilst they were caught off guard I launched some piercing attacks at them. One each to test the waters. As I attacked they immediately took defensive measures. One who had jumped to avoid my earth spikes was in no position to react and tried to shift her body mid-air and avoid it. Clearly not understanding that tentacles are flexible she was pierced through the head. Similarly, the two that were impaled originally must have felt Deja vu. Because rather than weapons they started chanting with raised hands only to find my attacks were faster than their chanting and were each pierced though their raised palms and then foreheads. The others were better off. Three of the four that had spread out originally died but the last one showed a great deal of battle experience by using a weak spell to boost speed, as they are quicker to cast, and retreated quickly. Whilst Polerta the shaman made a hand seal and a wooden totem rose from the ground to block my strikes path. The three others that stood with her all started to chant as I launched my attack but being a higher level were able to do so faster than the first two. Petals danced in front of them like a certain pink shikai, making me even happier at Adams music choice. {Now you feel like number one Shining bright for everyone} Of course, they weren¡¯t sharp enough to cut me but they did slow down my attack. They had enough time to dodge back but it seems that piercing through their petal shields harmed them somehow. Some type of backlash? Doesn¡¯t matter right now. The adventurers had started to flee away from the forest. But this caught the dryad¡¯s attention. An expression of rage was clearly displayed by all of the Dryad. They must have thought this was all a trap by the humans. So most of their attack were targeted towards them. This was only natural. Harming my body would be much more difficult than killing my Tamer. They figured it out quickly after their petal blades didn¡¯t make so much as a scratch. The dryad who fled initially seemed to be a close combat mage. As she charged in front of the adventurers as a long thin leaf like sword grew from her right arm and a poppy like shield formed on her left. The other three mobs used a combination of tangling grass to slow the adventurers down and storms of flower petals to attack. The adventurers defended as best they could but their party composition wasn¡¯t suited for these opponents, not having a decent tank or healer. At this time Polerta was simply staring at me with her hand placed flatly against the back of the totem ready to intercept me if I acted. Not that I had any more plans too. The rogue went into a stealth state and dashed away on his own towards my direction. I initially assumed he was targeting me until he stopped 40 metres from me and kneeled. I guess he was the one who chose route 2 then. ¡°He clearly didn¡¯t tell his party.¡± (Adam) Adam was right. The adventures seemed to think he was still nearby awaiting an opportunity to strike. The leader even relinquished his sword arm to create an opening for him. He shouted something but I couldn¡¯t understand it. Probably a signal to the rogue by the way his faced looked pained after receiving no response. Without a sword or rogue the frontline was gone. And it took seconds for the close combat mage and the petal storms to turn them into puddles of blood. Polerta was surprised and clearly confused by my inaction. She didn¡¯t let her guard down though. With the rogue not dead and my very suspicious movements, I would be disappointed if she had. The dryad regrouped behind Polerta but my first attack clearly left an impression as they weren¡¯t willing to make a move. So whilst I had the time I had the earth underneath each corpse swallow them up and transported them to the spot underneath where I was standing/sitting/whatever slimes do. ¡°The music loses its impact when the fight slows down.¡± (Adam) Hey don¡¯t be down there will be plenty more fights. Let¡¯s try the one from Halo next. ¡°ooowww that would be awesome, first we need to get you some type of gun and-.¡± (Adam) Now that Adams happy and lost in his own little world it¡¯s time to mimic. [[Slime Fiend activated- enemy lv disparity 23 levels. total mass increase 2%, slime mimic skill obtained. Memories obtained.]] [[Slime Mimic- an exclusive skill of the mimic slime rare variant. Allow you to mimic the external appearance of creatures you consume. Note. Cannot mimic creature¡¯s texture, voice/call or scent. Cannot obtain memories from the absorbed target.]] And a little free living aaaannnddd¡­ boom! [[Mimic Master- a variant of the species exclusive skill ¡®Slime Mimic¡¯. Allows you to mimic all physical aspects of creatures you consume. Allows you to mimic targets temperament and personal eccentricities at will. You may also absorb the targets memories upon consumption. Note you can mimic proficiencies of target but not their skills.]] Good. I¡¯ll send a tentacle into the earth and start absorbing them out of sight of the dryad. I don¡¯t want to anger them any more than I already have, by eating their friends in front of them. And I defiantly don¡¯t want to traumatise my new retainer either. He already seems upset about abandoning his comrades. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the rogue but isn¡¯t your edit a bit weird?¡± (Adam) Oh your back. Well, sadly there isn¡¯t enough lee way to get skills or affinities from non-slime targets. Mimicking their appearance and memories will allow me to get a humanoid body and knowledge of this world. Temperament and eccentricities are of course toggle-able that would make infiltration very easy. Plus proficiency theft means I can essentially steal someone¡¯s talent. I could devour a sword prodigy and learn the sword at a ridiculous pace. Of course I couldn¡¯t use sword skills unless I meat some kind of swordsman slime but it¡¯s still a total cheat. ¡°Wow that is OP. you are really using my gift to the fullest, I¡¯m impressed.¡± (Adam) Thank you¡­.oh right the dryad. They are still there but they seem to have grown trees around me and themselves whilst I¡¯ve been distracted. I don¡¯t know what they are doing but I¡¯m almost finished with these corpses so I should have some idea soon. Oh yeah, no more reading my mind once I have vocal cords Adam. You hear me. ¡°Fine, fine, I hear you. Just share the absorbed memories with me and I¡¯ll leave your personal memories alone. Deal?¡± (Adam) Deal. Now let¡¯s make me a body ¡°Oh, and I¡¯ll need memories of you in your new body as well.¡± (Adam) Fine. ¡°You know, because your old one sucks.¡± (Adam) Yes I know. ¡°because its short¡± (Adam) Ok ¡°and average looking¡± (Adam) Can you just- ¡°and you have a small-¡° (Adam) Yes, fine, fine, I said fine!! Matoras sexiest man/slime MC POV Jesus mother of FFFUUUUUCCCKKK!!!....... ¡°Did absorbing all those memories at once hurt? You know I only ask because you won¡¯t let me see.¡± (Adam) Yes they fucking hurt. Note to self, sentient creatures think about a lot more than slimes. Ok, ok let¡¯s just take a second to organise them¡­bla bla bla names, bla bla family, bla bla hopes and dreams. Oh here we are, language, races and¡­OH! There¡¯s a city not far from here. Good. Now we have a game plan. ¡°Hurry up and make a body already.¡± (Adam) Ok but what type? ¡°Just think human and see what happens you can do specific details after. Like a template.¡± (Adam) I take Adams advice and will myself into a human form, with the mimic slimes memories and my own memories as a human it was easy to do. My gelatinous body morphs into a silhouette of a human but due to the metal properties and lack of details it looks more like a 5¡¯5 foot mannequin. ¡°Guess using your own memories left a few flaws.¡± (Adam) I ignore Adam- ¡°Hey!¡± (Adam) -and I decided to go with a tall, muscular build for my first transformation, to compensate for my last life. I increase in height until I reach about 6¡¯6.and the physique became more defined and muscular, but not excessively so as to hinder my movements. There was another part of my anatomy I paid special attention to. The adventurer, Bordani, seemed to have a few special traits I copied over and ¡®emphasised¡¯ to make sure that when others paid special attention to it in the future they wouldn¡¯t be disappointed. I then moved on to the facial features, and of course chose to be handsome. While I know blending in is important, I can change appearance at will if I want to be discrete, so why not indulge in my fantasies when in a fantasy world. I choose the bedhead hairstyle. (It¡¯s pretty easy to style hair when you controlee each strand at will) and spent a lot of time designing the eyes. One, because I wanted to ¡®see¡¯ things again and two, a person¡¯s eyes say a lot about them so making them perfect would be key to building relationships with people in the future. As for colouring I left it to my affinities and they didn¡¯t disappoint me. My eyes reflected my nature affinity, holding a peaceful and nurturing green with just a tint of the predatory variant I got from the mimic slime. This gave them the perfect ¡®kind to friends, brutal to enemies¡¯ appearance which was a trait I always admired in xianxia characters My hair went into a metallic silver whilst my skin took on a light brown due to the different aspects of my earth affinity. With my current appearance I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if people thought I was related to dryad in some way. I opened my newly created eyes and examined my work. My skin had a metallic shine like it had been buffered. ¡°Reminds me of Mr 1.¡± (Adam) Oh yeah. I guess it does. Maybe I¡¯ll ad blades or something later. ¡°Don¡¯t add weapons. This is already too much like spore. Anyway haven¡¯t you got other more immediate issues? You¡¯ve been forming your body for about five minutes now.¡± (Adam) Right the dryad. I keep doing that for some reason. Anyway, I look towards them to find them in the same positions as before but with dropped jaws and looks of fear on their faces. Even the rogue is so stunned that he released his stealth by accident. I turn to him and signal him over with a look. I tapped into the memories I collected. The rogue¡¯s name is Sete, not much of a talker, but a competent spy with a large sensory range. I guess he could be useful so I¡¯ll keep him around for now. Noticing my signal he warily approached me. He performed a shallow bow and lowered his eyes, likely out of fear. ¡°Your name¡± (Me) Damn my voice is awesome. I forgot to check earlier but it seems my voice was affected by my earth affinity and comes across as being quite powerful. The rogue seems more distracted that I can speak at all but he quickly recovers. ¡°Sete, lord¡± (Sete) A short reply as expected. I nod to him and place my hand in front of him. ¡°Your cloak.¡±(Me) He becomes acutely aware of my lack of clothes after I mentioned it and quickly removes his robe to present to me. I take it from him and wrap it around my waist. It will do until we reach a town at least. I then turn my head back to the Dryad. They seem to have escaped from their shock after I spoke to Sete but have become quite tense, so I try to ease their nerves a bit by smiling softly to them. And adjust my domineering voice towards the nurturing aspects of nature. ¡°Hello, I apologise for our earlier confrontation but I¡¯m afraid it was unavoidable.¡±(Me) I spoke in their native language as to ensure there wouldn¡¯t be any translation issues. They were obviously surprised and didn¡¯t lower their guard but they didn¡¯t seem quite as tense after sensing my lack of aggression. The shaman Polerta furrowed her brows and appeared angry at my statement but didn¡¯t make any provocative movements. ¡°Unavoidable? You attacked us and killed three of our kin! Now you apologise and expect us to simply let you leave once we have you surrounded? This is just another trick that you humans always try to pull on us.¡±(Polerta) Now it was my turn to crease my brows. I don¡¯t know why she thinks I¡¯m human but I don¡¯t really care. What¡¯s important is that we don¡¯t start our talk with me pegged as the villain. ¡°Get of your high horse dryad. Was it not you who attempted to capture me? You of all people must understand that when others are trying to enslave you, violence is more than justified. Besides you don¡¯t want to drag this conflict out. Even if you have me surrounded you can¡¯t really think you¡¯ll be able to stop me without taking casualties.¡±(Me) The other dryad seemed to hesitate at my words. It seems my words struck a chord. It¡¯s much easier to mobilise troops for a just cause, but my words that imply they are no different from humans seems to have impacted their fighting spirit. ¡°Madam Polerta, his words make sense. If he were a slaver I doubt he would have killed any of us.¡± (reasonable dryad)If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Would polerta let me go? I doubt it. She seems to think I¡¯m a human with mimic magic of some kind. Leaving me alone would be a huge threat to them. I imagine she will think up some pretext to kill me. But whilst she and the dryad were talking, I was using a combination of both my magic sense and the dryads¡¯ memories to assess my situation. I was at the centre of a forest formation. All the trees surrounding me are positioned to leave no gaps and can be fully controlled by the dryad. It¡¯s essentially a regenerating, fighting prison cell that defends the dryad whilst they rain down attacks on me. If I really were human I would be in trouble. ¡°How about this then. We will take you to the high shaman of our village and he will conduct a fair trial to determine your fate in this matter.¡± (Polerta) Even if eyes of truth didn¡¯t recognise ¡°fair trial¡± as a lie I still wouldn¡¯t agree to go with them. Without a strong enough nature affinity, I cannot guarantee my safety against this ¡®high shaman¡¯. If Polerta is a ¡®shaman¡¯, then a higher tier job like ¡®high shaman¡¯ must have been attained at lv200. Not somebody I would want to mess with right now. ¡°I see. What a pity.¡± (Me) Before she could respond my body becomes gelatinous and completely surrounds Sete like a cocoon. I then dive into the earth and it forms around me as though it were water. This is the first time I¡¯ve tried using ¡®one with the earth¡¯ in this way but it was fairly easy, I¡¯m so fast I even surprised myself. I travelled at least 80mph through solid rock and appeared above the ground like a mole outside the range of their forest formation. After releasing Sete so that he can breathe again, I return to my human form and tie the robe back around my waist. It¡¯s really a shame isn¡¯t it a trope for the hero to save oppressed beautiful women? Well I can¡¯t blame really them. After viewing the dryad¡¯s memories I can see they¡¯re just scarred. Constantly being on guard for people and monsters trying to steal your children would make anyone a bit trigger happy. Even if I don¡¯t owe them anything, If I find any enslaved dryad on my travels I¡¯ll see what I can do to help them. Enough of that for now. I look towards Sete who is still shaking slightly on the ground. I guess he thought I was going to eat him back there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I couldn¡¯t think of another way to guarantee your safety in that situation.¡± (Me) I lower my hand to him. He looks at my hand as though contemplating something. After a full 5 minutes of silence he accepts my hand and I pull him up. ¡°I don¡¯t yet have a name so address me as anomaly for now. Our first stop will be Matora.¡± (Me) I like this guy. His quiet disposition has a stark contrast to my other companion, speaking of which, this will be the first time I¡¯ve spoken to Adam by actually talking. I¡¯ll speak English so Sete doesn¡¯t understand, but I may getting odd looks from him if I start talking to myself. Well I don¡¯t really care. ¡°Adam, what¡¯s up man? I haven¡¯t heard your voice for a while.¡± (Me) ¡°Huh? Oh yeah I¡¯m fine. How did everything with the dryads go?¡± (Adam) ¡°Uhm fine I guess. We couldn¡¯t make friends but they weren¡¯t strong enough to catch me¡­wait aren¡¯t you normally watching this stuff?¡± (Me) ¡°Sorry I was getting used to my own new body. I had to change the sizes of a lot of the things in my dreamscape like my cloths and even my furniture, damn you were short. No wonder you were bullied¡± (Adam) Yep. Really starting to like Sete. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°¡±{I''m so happy because today I''ve found my friends They''re in my head I''m so ugly, but that''s okay, ''cause so are you}¡±¡± (Me, Adam, Kurt) Adam and I were singing as we approached the gates of Matora. Sete seems to have gotten used to my constant singing over the course of the journey but refuses to join in. Maybe he has trouble pronouncing the lyrics. Oh well Adam always sings with me so I don¡¯t mind. Using a few threats I pieced together part of Sete¡¯s reason for selecting the second route. It seemed he wasn¡¯t keen on his companions plan as he had a ¡®bad feeling¡¯ about it. It seems rogues have a honed instinct for detecting traps, so when my option screen appeared he could sense how dangerous the first and third options were but wasn¡¯t able to tell his teammates before they selected. But that can¡¯t be the full picture. But from my gathered memories he was very loyal to his party, so he may even have chosen to fight by their side if he didn¡¯t have something more to live for. I¡¯ll keep an eye on him for now. It¡¯s not like he is strong enough to be a long term companion anyway. Speaking of the adventurers memories, I learned about the general situation in Matora. It¡¯s marketed as a neutral city due to its geographical location at the centre of the continent, but it¡¯s closer to a city of outcasts. It lies in a barren region between the borders of the elven empire (north east), beastkin empire (northwest) and human empire (south). In reality it has become a haven for mixed bloods. Most races that hold impure bloodlines are looked down upon in all three empires, so families congregate here to raise their children in peace. Naturally such a pitiful place doesn¡¯t hold much military might, making it my ideal first stop. It¡¯s obvious that Adam put a lot of effort into selecting my starting point even if he won¡¯t admit it. As this is a weak city I plan to fully release my mana sense here. From the knowledge I¡¯ve collected there shouldn¡¯t be anyone in the city who can notice it now that I¡¯ve turned lv88. They would have to be lv237 and the lord, who is supposedly the city¡¯s strongest, shouldn¡¯t be much more than lv210. Plus even if they notice my sense I doubt they can pinpoint me in a city as busy as this one. We notice a line of carriages waiting to enter the city. I select the one that looks the most dilapidated and approach them with Sete. After an awkward discussion with the driver I used Sete¡¯s money to buy a ragged shirt and trousers for far more than their value and used the back of carriage to change cloths. Getting into the city was uneventful. Isn¡¯t someone supposed to start a fight or something? Oh well. We both headed straight for the guild. This is your first test Sete. Friend or foe. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guild Master Jonas POV No this isn¡¯t right. Delicacy is required to attempt soft stone yet I keep putting so much force into it. Damn I¡¯ve been so uncomfortable these past few days, what¡¯s with all these rookie mistakes I¡¯m making. ¡°Sir. Sete has returned sir. He is here to report on the quest sir.¡± (Mono) ¡°Good they¡¯re finally back! Thank you Mono, but why aren¡¯t they all here to report? Ah typical Bordani he¡¯s¡­Mono¡­Mono whats wrong?¡± (Jonas) Tears are cascading down her face. What¡¯s going on? Could it be¡­? ¡°Mono! What are you doing we can report this please just sit down. Sir I¡¯m sorry but¡­please talk to them directly sir.¡± (Lucile) I can only nod at Lucile, she and Mono are best friends and run the reception desk together. If she¡¯s acting this way I can already guess what¡¯s happened. I won¡¯t force her to repeat it here in front of Mono. ¡°I¡¯ll speak to them, please take care of Mono. Ill Close the guild reception today. We can¡¯t run without you both.¡± (Jonas) Poor girl. The adventurers can just use the quest board for a few days. No one will complain given the circumstances. As I¡¯m thinking this an uncloaked Sete enters my office with a man I¡¯ve never seen before following him and holding his cloak. He usually wears it to hide his features but isn¡¯t for some reason, perhaps it¡¯s out of respect for the dead. Very honourable. He tall man closes the door behind him so that its only us three. ¡°I didn¡¯t think the ladies needed to here this again so I hope you don¡¯t mind me closing the door.¡± (Sete¡¯s companion) The young man appears quite considerate. I can¡¯t help but evaluate him. As a sculptor I instinctively look for the flaws in people, yet despite his tattered clothing he appears perfect. He is likely a very powerful warrior. But his courteous personality removes mercenary, and cloths removes noble¡­ regardless I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be enlightened soon. ¡°Sete. If you could please explain.¡± (Jonas) (Sete) ¡°Excuse me. I¡¯m sorry to interrupt. It¡¯s just that Sete isn¡¯t very talkative. It already took half an hour to explain it to the ladies out there. Do you mind if I speak. Sete can confirm my words as we go.¡± (Sete¡¯s companion) (Sete) ¡°ahh that¡¯s probably for the best. Go on uhm¡­ I didn¡¯t catch your name son.¡± (Jonas) ¡°I can¡¯t give you my real name sir. Like a lot of people that come here, I have a delicate history. But please, call me Thane.¡± (Thane) ¡°Jonas, and please continue¡± (Jonas) The young man explained how he met Bordani¡¯s group on his journey here. After talking to them he agreed to accompany them to the quarry in exchange for a recommendation to the guild. This much made sense to me. Bordani would always help people he came across on his travels. But it¡¯s what he said next that shocked me. The entire dungeon was cleared of slimes when they got there, and a group of mages were casting some powerful runes on the dragon vein. They couldn¡¯t get any information on who they are or what they were doing before they were attacked. These two could only escape due to Sete¡¯s speed, and this young man¡¯s defensive ability. ¡°You claimed to be attacked but I don¡¯t see any injury on you¡± (Jonas) ¡°The attacks destroyed all of my armour first. By body had a few wounds but nothing a health potion couldn¡¯t fix.¡± (Thane) (Sete) Hmm that should be the case if Sete says so. He is certainly built to take a few hits¡­ ¡°Thank you gentlemen. Ill report this to my superiors and they will investigate he dungeon. I hope we can find these mages¡­Sete I¡¯ll give you the full reward for your work. And Thane, by Bordani¡¯s will I officially grant you a place in the guild. Ill have a guild card made up for you, and don¡¯t worry you don¡¯t have to give your details. However whilst I know you may be strong enough for B-rank I can¡¯t give you such a rank without you having taken a single quest so I¡¯ll grant you a C-rank pass for now.¡± (Jonas) The two thanked me and left my office. Haah this is too much. I only came to this place for some peace and quiet¡­ Something isn¡¯t quite right about that Thane. The sculptor in me cannot acknowledge such perfection¡­well I can¡¯t be considered an expert, let¡¯s leave it for now. If he doesn¡¯t cause any trouble its fine. I hope Mono will be ok. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MC POV ¡°Dude! That name is awesome. What made you choose that?¡± (Adam) ¡°Named after my favourite RPG assassin.¡± (Me-Thane) ¡°A ¡®M*ss Ef*ect reference? nice. I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡­¡± (Adam) Everything went smoothly and I became an adventurer. The perfect cover all over the world. With Setes help I could create a cover story for his team and avoid the annoying f-rank missions. Of course skipping the generic status check clique was key for someone as bizarre as me. I can¡¯t think of any more uses for Sete due to the strength difference between us, so just having him go on with his normal life would be fine, I mean he can¡¯t disappear or I garner suspicion at the guild. Maybe I¡¯ll think of something later. We arrange to split up. I command him to continue with his normal life and make sure he agrees whilst using ¡®eyes of truth¡¯. He doesn¡¯t lie so were good. ¡°Really you¡¯re just going to assume he won¡¯t tell anyone. He could be telling the truth now but change his mind later.¡± (Adam) ¡°It¡¯s fine. When I carried him through the earth a few days ago. I used ¡®drones¡¯ to create very thin needle. It¡¯s currently buried in his back and he doesn¡¯t even notice.¡± (Thane) ¡°That was pretty smart. You can use it to keep an eye on him. But that still doesn¡¯t solve the problem. What if he starts to tell someone, you¡¯d still have to run over and stop him right?¡± (Adam) ¡°That would be true, but you forget that I¡¯m always compressing my mass. That needle will become a spear at my whim. So I¡¯m not too worried.¡± (Thane) ¡°Wow. You really made something out of that trash skill didn¡¯t you?¡±(Adam) ¡°Enough about that. Now that I have a cover for being in this city. Let¡¯s get to the real objective.¡± (Thane)