《Three Lives as a Human, One as a Slime [Hiatus]》


 Prologue - The Fourth Reincarnation

    Prologue - The Fourth Reincarnation


    My name is Serena, a slime. Now, some probably wonder, how can a slime, one without an individual personality, identify themselves? The answer is simple. They don¡¯t. I was¡­. unique, a little bit unique from the rest of my kind. Cursed to remember every details of my past life, I carry on every memory I had from every life.


    I, in total had three past lives excluding this one. When I first came into existence, I was a blacksmith, a female blacksmith. Indeed, it was hard, but somehow I made through the hardships in that life and died peacefully. On my second life, I became a female alchemist where my specialty was making potions. The best of them that had existed in that era.


    And it was in my second life that I realized I retained my past life memories.


    Thinking it was only a single, rare occurrence; I pushed it aside and focused on living that second life.


    During my third life however, I ended up retaining both of the past two lives¡¯ memories. I concluded right then, that it was probably a curse. With that in mind, I made no effort to break free from it as it was useful in some ways. Instead, I wasted no time to make preparations in order to face the next reincarnation.


    Luckily, I was reincarnated in a modern world in my third life. I had focused on blacksmith and alchemy before, so I decided to train my brain in this life. Information was easily obtainable during this time, so I took my chance and fed myself with thousands and thousands of books.


    Before long, I ended up becoming the best student in the country, but it was nothing but a temporary distraction to me.


    I did try to appreciate the relationships that branched around me, but I had to prioritize myself. After all, no one else could possibly be experiencing the same thing as I am.


    After finishing my studies, I continued to collect knowledge from every nook and cranny of the world. My brain did take a great torturing during this time, of which I could not care enough of. Soon enough however, I began noticing that my body was unable to keep up with the efforts I intend to pour.


    Being a female was nice and everything, but it held one small hindrance to me. They wear out pretty easily. Or rather, that includes even men. Alas, that was simply how the humans¡¯ bodies worked, but I did not complain. No, I would not waste my time complaining. This is what I was granted with, and I¡¯ll make the best use out of it.


    I relentlessly read and studied, over and over again while also tending to my own body. Everything was going smoothly, until one day, I accidentally pushed the ¡®reset¡¯ button on my life.


    I was walking to the convenient store to buy some refreshments on a rainy day. The cold breeze combined with the freezing rain made my umbrella useless as they breached my ¡®defense¡¯ through the side. Add it up with my accumulated fatigue and stress, it slowly began draining my consciousness away.


    Unbeknownst to myself, I ended up walking into the middle of the street, half-conscious.


    And well, one knows what happens next. A truck with limited sight in the middle of the rainy day, won¡¯t possibly be able to avoid one single figure that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I invited myself to the world of death. The last thought from the living me in that world was, ¡°I wish I chose a less painful way to die.¡±


    And that marked my first unnatural death, branching from my own carelessness.


    Thus, here I am, reincarnated as a slime in a completely different, foreign world to me.


    To be frank, I was quite shocked when I first realize that I was a slime. Yes, I did not expect myself to reincarnate as a monster after three lives of being a human. Regardless, being a slime might just be useful because I won¡¯t be able to feel a few things that human could, thus exerting myself to work continuously. And I won¡¯t die from normal deaths like human does, either.


    Although, I do need to learn on being a slime. Actually, I find it quite funny. I am a slime, yet I do not know what I was supposed to do as one. Maybe, just maybe, I could try to enjoy this life to the fullest before it ends. Yeah, in these past three lives, I could think of myself doing nothing but working myself to the fullest.


    Indeed, maybe I¡¯ll try being a ¡®person¡¯ here. Or in my case, should I say ¡®monster¡¯? Well, either way works anyway but in spite of that fact, I do hope that I won¡¯t have to choose the latter.


    Now, then first things first, to explore the area surrounding me. I say that, but I am experiencing quite the problem here. I did not know of this fact before, but slimes actually could not see anything? I am quite dazzled by this fact because in games of the world I was in before, slimes were depicted to be able to see quite easily. Or is it just because I¡¯m a different type of slime?


    In any case, this is truly a problem.


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    Being able to hear and yet, unable to see is as if being blindfolded. You could hear, but you couldn¡¯t see, which can be quite terrifying for some of us. To be honest, I am included in that list. Panicking, I found myself losing my composure and began wobbling around in the area for no reason.


    Oh wait, is there not a magic that could make me see?


    In my past lives, magic were mainly used as an attacking force or a defending force. Rarely was it used to enchant ourselves, even more when it included your hearing, vision or sense.


    With that in mind, I began thinking of ways to utilize magic to make me able to see. Slimes have no eyes, so there is no point in venturing there. I needed to improve something else. I needed to make use of what I have and make it better, just so I can see.


    Let see, as a slime, I can hear, feel, sense and probably taste? I don¡¯t know, I never tried digesting anything so far.


    Wait a minute, I recall myself reading an occult book in the past. Inside, it mentioned how everything within the world contained mana, the ground, the humans, the nature, everything. Then, what if, I try to enchant my senses to see them? Not just so I could sense them, but to the point I could make out what they truly are, in fine details?


    Hmm.. I should give it a shot. It is better than nothing anyway.


    I tried to isolate my mind from external disturbance and focus on my surrounding through my senses. Yes, I could barely feel them. There are a few rocks, walls and unknown animals that are around my area. I could feel their presence, but I still could not see them.


    I need to focus even more.


    In sensing, hearing is an unnecessary information. With that, I proceeded to block it out through mentally focusing. At first, I still could hear the sound of dripping waters and the crackling of stones rolling around as animals kicked them, but as time passed by, the sounds began dying down, slower and slower, until I eventually heard nothing.


    Well, that was fairly easy, but I cannot afford to be distracted.


    Without the two information from my vision and hearing, I felt myself as if being in an unknown black dimension. It was a little scary, but I found myself discovering something interesting. Before, I could feel the presence of animals and nature entities within the area through their mana, but now, I could see them directly.


    The mana that flowed within them, I could sense them. I could see them. For now, they appeared only as a white shadow, taking the form of whatever they are. Some looked like small animal with wings, probably bats and¡­. what is that¡­. a lizard?


    I really do need time to get used to this. Looking through your senses and looking through your eyes are two entirely different matters. But now, even just by looking at white shadows is not enough. I mean, if that was all I could see, then I can¡¯t even differentiate between a snake laying down on the ground and the ground itself!


    I need to execute one final step. To enchant my senses with my own magic.


    I tried to locate where my mana was within my body and soon enough, to redirect them toward my senses. It was hard, as I could feel the mana that was supposed to be used to maintain my body slowly decreasing as my senses began using them.  It was like when one focused their magic around their body, and slowly dispersing them into their surroundings, so that one could detect others¡¯ presence better.


    And surprise, surprise! The result was unbelievable.


    As if a monochrome world invaded with various colors, my surrounding began looking as they were supposed to be. Everything had color, textures could be seen, details could be made out. I could see, no... I could sense!


    The dripping transparent water from the stalagmites, the black bat that hung upside down upon the caves¡¯ ceilings and the green moulds that grew everywhere on the cave¡¯s floor. Ew, ok that was kind of disgusting.


    Never did I know I could feel such a blissful feeling by only being able to see. It seems that I had taken everything for granted for far too long. We just end up forgetting what we had, and simply ask for more, when the things nearest to us are what we should treasure the most.


    That¡¯s it. I have made the decision. I will be living my life to the fullest on this unique life of mine, in the body of a slime!


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    Author''s Side :


    *Cough Cough*


    *Performs a deep bow*


    Hope you enjoyed the story, and any comments, critique, or even some random stuff is welcomed!


    Also, check my WordPress from time to time in case I actually have any news on the changing of the releasing schedule or such. I mean, who knows right? Well, you can find the access to my site by clicking the picture in my signature! :D.

 Chapter 1 - Learning to be a Slime

    Author''s Note :


    I will be flying overseas for a personal reason and won''t be back for one week.That also means I won''t be working on this fiction for one whole week, thus resulting in a delayed update.


    Not to worry though, I''ll be continuing to brainstorm my stories there and hopefully be back home packed with a lot of ideas to play with and to entertain all of you with! (Or hopefully just make it quick enough so I can update it.)


    Well, let the story begin!


    <hr />


    Chapter 1 ¨C Learning to be a Slime


    A day passed as I tried to get used to the body of a slime.


    During that time, I learnt how to move as one, which was basically as if dragging your own body like a caterpillar. At first, I was crawling as slow as a turtle but as I continued to wander around in the cave, I find myself moving as fast as a walking cat which was pretty impressive.


    In any case, I possessed a satisfying moving speed, so I proceeded to check my offensive abilities. They are critical to my survival after all, since I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll be facing on my journey. Luckily, there were a few dead tree barks lying down on the ground, located just outside the cave. They were suitable as a ¡®training doll¡¯ but I needed to ensure that no dangerous monsters or animals were present.


    Sitting right at the mouth of the cave¡¯s entrance, I extended the range and efficiency of my senses by intensifying the amount of mana used in enhancing them. Little by little, I was able to detect the presence of multiple living beings and see them as if having an eye in the sky staring down at them.


    Some of them appeared to be wild rabbits hidden in the bushes under the trees, a few bats flying in the caves, and snakes slithering through the trees¡¯ branches. A few of them are triangle-shaped, but I recalled myself reading a book about not to judge if a snake is poisonous or not through their head shape so I decided to let them pass by first.


    Doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s any threat to me out here.


    Slowly, I exited the cave while still focusing on my surrounding, as if rolling my eye everywhere to check for any sign of animals or monsters whose presence I couldn¡¯t detect


    And before long, I finally reached the dead tree barks.


    Since I had never read about slimes before, I had no idea how to attack as a slime. Well, to break down what I had was a fluid, slimy body, and that¡¯s it. Maybe I could try expelling some of my own fluids like a snake spitting their poisons?


    Well, if I wanted to, I could arrange my liquid molecules¡¯ to form the arrangement similar to that of a solid¡¯s molecules. In other word, I could harden my body should I feel like it.


    With that said, can I even alter the form of my own part of body that had been expelled? Oh wait; I can just expel them after being altered, can I not?


    I proceeded to test out my theories. Before that, I moved back from the tree bark since I wanted some range and achieving a satisfying distance best suited to improve ranged damage. After that, I started altering a certain amount of the fluids I had. One by one, I stacked the molecules upon each other, trying to form a sphere that resembled a musket¡¯s bullet.


    At first attempt, the molecules¡¯ arrangement was too loose that the sphere ended up disintegrating as I released it from my control. On the second attempt, I tried to change that by making it closer to each other so that no space could be seen in between, but it ended up solidifying it thus becoming too heavy for me to pick it up and expel it.


    Honestly, I felt as if I just pooped on the second attempt.


    Just what had gone wrong?


    When I made it loose enough to be expelled, it ends up falling to pieces. When I made it tight enough to not disintegrate, it ends up being too solid and heavy for me to expel it. The opposite thing happens when I change the molecules¡¯ details, so just what do I need to adjust?


    This made me recall the day when I was an alchemist, where I had to tackle the problem of producing candies out of my potions¡¯ so that they would not turn out to be too hard to chew or too soft that it turns into water.


    What did I do to solve that problem? It had been probably tens of decades, so I¡¯m failing to recall the exact details.


    Oh, I remember! I needed to retain the liquid form of the potion while still being able to carry it around as if it was a candy. And all I had done was covering it in mana so that it would retain its sphere form! Hold on¡­ isn¡¯t that how slime retain their body form from turning into a puddle of lifeless slime?


    Without realizing it, the solution was with me from the beginning already.


    During that time, the sun had already gone down and the moon was up high in the sky. I might want to hurry up then; since its night times like these that truly dangerous monsters would pop up.


    Retracing the previous steps, I reconstructed a sphere with loose arrangement of the molecules¡¯ that was made during my first attempt. After that, I redirected some of the mana flowing within my body into the sphere, slowly submerging it in the process.


    And there you go! A small sphere brimming with dim light floats within my body, showing no sign of falling apart as it was encased by the mana shell.


    I did not want to waste any more time standing outside in plain sight, so I immediately began testing out on how to shoot it. By expelling it, with a considerable amount of force.


    Compressing my bodily fluid at the sphere¡¯s back, I produced the effect resembling a rubber band being pulled back. It may seem illogical, but the force produced from a sudden uncompressing could send off the sphere, thus expelling it outside my body. Anyway, time to test it out.


    3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ uncompress!


    Within a split second, the force from the uncompressing transferred into the sphere and forced the sphere to break out of its stationary state, moving forward as a result. At the speed of a bullet, the sphere immediately rushed out of my body, breaking apart some of my body in the process.


    Reaching one of the tree barks within seconds, it collided with it and exploded like a balloon landing on a nail with the sound of branches snapped apart creeping up my ears.


    As the sphere had collided with the tree bark, its small and round shape allowed it to deal piercing damage as the two touches each other. Assisted by the high momentum, the sphere resulted in quite the result, causing that part of the tree bark to shatter in pieces.


    As if that was not enough, another attack came up with it. Upon collision, the mana shell encasing the liquids disappeared thus making it spread like a shotgun¡¯s buckshot, at point blank range. However, since the tree bark was solid and aren¡¯t really flesh, the liquids appeared pointless as they only absorbed them in the end.


    A sphere at first made to resemble a Musket¡¯s bullet, ends up bringing forth the effect close to that of a cannon and sniper rifle at once.


    Nonetheless, that calls for a success!


    That night, I stood at the mouth of the cave¡¯s entrance, constantly generating spheres of which I gave the name ¡®Muslet¡¯ in honor of the bullet resembling the light gun, Musket¡¯s bullet. My purpose of doing it was to ensure that I get used to it, therefore effectively decreasing the Muslet¡¯s generating time that could be life-saving in combat situation.


    Accuracy could also be a problem, so I fired Muslets to the dead tree bark as soon as I constructed them. For the first few shots, I missed it by a miles away, but after repeatedly performing the same action, I somehow managed to improve my accuracy, even if it was by a tiny bit.


    After a few hours, the result was that I became capable of producing one Muslet from one each ten seconds into one each two seconds. My accuracy also somewhat improved where I could hit targets perfectly fine within twenty five meters range.


    Furthermore, it took me some to find out, but it seem to be that slimes could not actually accumulate fatigue which was a serious advantage to me as I no longer have the obligation to rest and sleep like before.


    After being satisfied on that night, I decided to stay in the cave and mentally plan out how I was going to live my life as a slime.


    And¡­. that was how I spent the rest of the day yesterday after reincarnating as a slime.


    Today, I am planning to venture out in the forest and seek for natural resources. And when I say natural resources, I¡¯m referring to fruits, herbs, grass and practically anything organic. Why am I doing this? Well, think about it. Every Muslets I create will consume a tiny bit of my mana, so what will happen if I run out of them?


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Easy. It¡¯s practically game over to me as I lose control over my own body, and turn into a normal puddle of slime.


    Slimes don¡¯t feel hunger or thirst, but they are still capable of dying from the lack of mana to maintain their own body form. At least, that is what I am speculating. Still, better be safe than sorry, right? Also, for one¡¯s information, for three lives I was a vegetarian so I might as well called be a herbivore slime here.


    I don¡¯t know the exact reason, but I just find myself to be digesting something that once used to live, walk and breath as simply¡­ unpleasant.


    Anyway, time to move.


    Moving out of the safety zone of the cave, I looked around as I slowly advance into the forest. The sky is blue, and the forest is filled with many type of trees. Some are short, and some are tall. I can also see a beehive hanging from one of nearby¡¯s tree branch. Pretty sure it¡¯s new, since I did not see that one last night.


    Making my way through the thick forest, I can see a few fruits dangling on top of the trees. Nonetheless, I decided to pick something easier to digest as it is my first time doing so. Right on time, there are some grasses growing everywhere just beneath the tree, so I guess I can try eating them.


    Heading toward the grasses, I find myself engulfing it the moment it touched my body. The grass slowly begin getting covered in my liquid as I keep moving toward it and after a few seconds, the grass ended up being in the middle of my semi-transparent body.


    Now¡­ how do I eat?


    Since I can¡¯t possibly tear it apart using sheer force, I¡¯m betting I need to make use of another slime¡¯s natural ability. Humans needed the assistance of acid to digest their food in their stomach, so acid is probably what slimes generate in order to dissolve the thing they are eating.


    And I was right on the spot.


    After waiting for a several seconds, the grass started melting. Seems like my body acts on its own, producing acid after detecting the grass¡¯s presence and my intention of eating it, just like how a human¡¯s stomach produce hydrochloric acid whenever food is present in them.


    It¡¯ll be nice if I can somehow create an acidic version of Muslet in the future.


    Right after I am done eating the grass, I can feel a new small amount of mana flowing through my body. It is refreshing as if I just finished taking a bath after a few days of not doing so, which is true in a way since I did not take any bath in the past few days after reincarnating as a slime.


    Just as I am about to head to another grass, a sudden multiple hissing accompanied by the sound of fire crackling filled the air. Turning my attention toward the source, it is in fact three monsters that resembled overgrown lizards, except that they are red in color and burning on fire. I have decided to call them Fizards, well, because Fire plus Lizard equals Fizard, no?


    Anyhow, the one in the center inhaled some air and its body started to glow.


    Oh no, that Fizard is not doing what I think it¡¯s about to do, right?


    Exhaling, the Fizard in the center¡¯s body glow gradually disappeared from its tail to its head and fiery breath rushed out of the Fizard¡¯s mouth. Not giving me a chance to evade, the scorching fire immediately engulfed my whole body.


    What are they, mini dragons? Luckily, fire attack does not appear to affect me heavily since I¡¯m basically made up of semi-liquid components. I would had been burned to crisp though if I was a human. Slimes also lacked the capability of feeling sensations, so I could actually stay calm without the presence of the dreadful heat.


    In any case, the fire breath is still engulfing me, so I seized the chance to generate Muslets. I needed a live target to test out how good exactly Muslets are in a real combat situation and by chance, there are those three Fizard just in front of me.


    Thinking I am dead, the Fizard that exhaled fire breath stopped producing fire while still opening its mouth. I cannot waste any second, therefore I instantly shot a Muslet into its mouth and it went directly into the Fizard¡¯s mouth.


    The Muslet then pierced through its esophagus and exploded inside him, eventually inflicting mortal injury as his insides become obliterated. On the other hand, the other two Fizards only stood still and stared at their companion as blood oozes out of its body.


    Wasting no time at all, I send another two Muslets flying into the eyes of the Fizard on the left of the dead body. Due to the fearful speed, the Muslets easily passes through the defenseless eyeballs hence turning it into white mashes. The Muslets did not stop there however, further venturing deep inside its skull and then it exploded. After that, well, one knows what will happen to the brain.


    And that¡¯s the second Fizard down.


    The third one, knowing it stand no chance against me, turns around and run away into the forest while leaving behind the two bodies of its former companion in a gruesome state.


    Honestly speaking, I never expected the Muslet to be this effective in a real combat situation, or is it just that those Fizards are weak?


    Looking back at the two bodies, I can no longer sense the mana flowing within them because they are already dead. Even so, something peculiar are hovering on top of the two¡¯s bodies. Two white shadows without body, color nor texture which mean that they are in fact an embodiment of mana, but from where?


    Suddenly, the two shadows flew toward me and entered my body. W-what¡¯s going on?


    After the two enter my body forcefully, I start to feel a sudden surge of mana flowing through my body. Did all these mana come from those two? Its absolute amount is incomparable with the mana I obtained from the grass. It took me some time, but I somehow stabilized the raging mana within my own body and successfully converting the shadows¡¯ mana into my own.


    I am guessing they originated from the two dead Fizards, as their body could no longer hold the mana, thus releasing them into thin air and I just happen to absorb them. I see, so I could gain even more mana if I killed monsters, huh? Well, at the least I don¡¯t have to eat them.


    After discovering that fact, I ended up spending the whole day hunting Fizards. Naturally, I also devoured any organic resources along the way such as fruits and herbs before returning to the cave at night. At times, I even tried to find a pathway that could lead me to a city, or even detect the presence of human so that I could stalk them back to one but so far, to no avail.


    Bored and everything, I repeated the same action of killing, devouring and scouting at the next day, and then after that, and the next for four continuous days. The Fizards appeared to possess excellent reproduction capability, so I had suffered no problem such as running out of them.


    Everything was going smoothly, until the night of the fifth day, marking it as a week passed by since I first reincarnated into a slime.


    Like every other night, I was roaming around in the cave I first came into, discovering every of its detail so that I may be able to make it my temporary home until I find a better one. During this time, I had killed over a numerous amount of Fizards that I had even lost count of it already.


    Things seemed normal, until all of a sudden, pain emerged from every corner of my body as if convulsing. Shocked, I frantically moved around everywhere, tumbling upon small rocks and crashing into walls. The pain was so unbearable, I lost control of my body and began generating Muslets, shooting them everywhere within the cave.


    Just what is this pain?


    Seconds by seconds passed by, minutes and eventually, hours. The pain was yet to disappear. For the first time in this life, I actually felt the sensation of pain, which should had not been possible for slimes were supposed to be incapable of experiencing any kind of sensation that a human could. And yet here I was, suffering from the unfathomable agony.


    In the end, I was unable to withstand the pain and bursted into a puddle of slime.


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    Author''s Side :


    And that''s the first chapter out! And honestly said, I don''t have much to talk about here just yet, so.. yeah!


    Under the request of Angelelic, I created and posted this chapter a little bit early than my usual schedule, but I can''t promise I will continue to do so in the future chapters, so I hope my readers can understand...


    As usual, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, and any comments, critique or anything is greatly appreciated!


    And truthfully said, sorry if this cliffhanger annoys all of you! *Performs a deep bow*