I decide to treat myself, after dealing with Jeffery’s weirdness, and buy myself food.

Stopping by a street vendor, I purchase some skewered meat, something I’ve not yet gotten to eat since waking up. Finding a secluded spot to sit in peace, I dig in.

The taste is… heavenly. Against my instincts to inhale the salty meat, I take my time and savor the flavor. It might be some time before I can taste it again.

Ooooooh. So yummy! Lotus squeals

‘You can taste that?’ I ask, surprised.

Yes, it’s so gooood. I want more!

I shake my head. ‘We can’t afford more.’

Frustration floods my mind. No faaair. Why do we need the stupid coins, we just give them away anyways!

I sigh. ‘That’s why we need the coins. To get things.’

…Oh. Then… Why don’t we get more coins!

I frown. ‘How exactly do you propose we do that? No one will hire a homeless person.’

I know, I know! We can kill monsters!

My head shakes immediately. ‘No, absolutely not. Monsters are way too dangerous for me.’

What? But you train so much, and are strong. You even have a weapon. Lotus whines.

‘A knife!’ I mentally yell. ‘A small, half dull, knife! Monsters are insane, and can be huge!’

But the monsters around here are weak, we heard so. She says smugly.

I sigh. She’s right, I did hear that. The baker said that’s why there’s so many young warriors here. ‘But we aren’t warriors.’

We could be! Lotus says excitedly. Let’s just try. You can run away if it’s too scary.

Ugh… She has a point. It’s not like I have to fight, I could run away. Stay near the town, so I only see the weakest monsters…

‘Fine.’ I say weakly. ‘I’ll do it.’

Yes! More meat!

────────────

It doesn’t take long for us to reach the edge of the barrier, an invisible force-field that protects the town. The only reason I know where it is, is because all the farm plots that encircle the town all suddenly end at the same place. Guess farmers don’t want monsters eating their crops?

I stare nervously at the empty air where I know the thing is, trying to get my legs to take the last step.

JUST GO! Lotus yells, somehow way louder than normal.

Startled, I stumble forward, right through the barrier. Instantly I notice a difference, the air drops in temperature, just a bit, and my anxiety spikes slightly. After catching myself, I look back into town, and notice a slight shimmer in the air just in front of me.

Guess I’m out then.

I turn my attention towards the nearby trees, at the forest looming a small ways from where I’m standing. Slowly I start moving towards it, nerves getting worse with each step.

It’ll be fine. Lotus says confidently.

I eventually come to a stop, just outside the brush that makes up the outer edge of the woods. The plants are all dark green, small seed pods dotting their thin branches, and are covered in small thorns. Just as I begin to wonder how to make my way through the brambles, the bush moves.

I jump back, away from whatever’s coming.

Not fast enough.

Something large and green rushes past me, cutting off my escape. I whirl to face my attacker, knife drawn.

A slime.

The blob of snot colored goo pulsates angrily at me, its form stretched to block my way.

How stereotypical.

Thankfully, this monster is Old Blood, so I actually know a bit about it from eavesdropping on adventurers. My eyes scan the creature’s body searching for the nucleus. But the thing doesn’t give me time.

It leaps forward, aiming for my head. I lean down, and roll to the side, the creature’s attack passing over me harmlessly. I tumble, managing to get back to my feet before the monster attacks again.

The thing quickly recollects its body with a spin, preparing to lash out again.

There, I see it! Lotus yells.

Just as I’m about to ask where, I feel my eyes pulled to a certain spot.

There it is, the nucleus!

I prepare myself for the creature’s next swing, my stance wide. It shoots at me a second time, green ooze whipping at my skull. Again, I drop and roll, except this time towards the beast.

Only got one shot.

Landing just in front of the creature, I swing my knife with all I have. The blade whistles through the air, easily puncturing the monster’s tougher outer layer. I keep pushing, aiming for the slightly darker spot. I feel my arm start to burn, the pain rushing through my body.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

And then I feel it. The knife stops, makes contact with something hard.

Victory within reach, I push harder, my arm sinking deeper into the acidic goo. The burning gets more intense, my skin making a slight hissing sound.

CRACK

My knife moves with ease again, stabbing something soft.

SCREEEEEEEE The slime squeals.

I try to pull my arm out of the monster, but find myself stuck fast. I grit my teeth against the pain, my mind rushing to find a solution.

It’s shrinking! Lotus says cheerfully.

I watch, trying my best to ignore the agony in my limb. The slime is shrinking!

It’s slow at first, but quickly speeds up, and in just under a minute the last of the acid evaporates.

Laying on my back in the dirt, I smile up at the blue sky.

‘I did it!’ You did it! We cheer together, a weird feeling squirming in my chest.

My eyes drift towards my knife wielding hand, and assess the damage.

It’s pretty bad. My sleeve is completely gone, burned away all the way up to my shoulder on that side. The skin is bright red and raw, the slight breeze that’s blowing over it sending barbs of pain into my brain. I try to drop my weapon, and find the fingers holding it won’t listen, the skin burned into place.

Speaking of my weapon, the knife is ruined, the blade almost completely eaten away. For some reason the wooden handle fared better than the metal, being only damaged instead of almost totally eaten away.

Well… This was a bad idea.

I turn my head to my other arm, to look at the corpse of my enemy. Laying in the grass is the remains of the slime. Just the cracked open nucleus, and a small glowing stone inside.

C-chatty… That stone…

‘That’s a monster core.’ I explain, not really knowing what a monster core is. I heard adventurers mention what they looked like though.

Lotus goes silent for a minute.

Chatty… Eat it.

‘...What?’

Eat the stone.

I blink in confusion. ‘Why would I do that?’

You… you just have to! Lotus says desperately.

My eyes focus on the stone again. The small green crystal is probably small enough to safely swallow… but why would I? It’s worth at least a gold coin.

Please Chatty? I won’t ask for anything ever again. Lotus begs.

A sigh slips through my nostrils. I slowly push myself to my feet with my good arm, and move over to the cracked remains. Grabbing the glowing pebble, I hold it in front of me.

It’s smooth, and faintly warm. The green light coming from within seems… peaceful.

I take a deep breath. Am I really going to do this?

Not giving myself time to change my mind, I throw the rock down my throat.

I feel the warmth quickly move down my throat, safely, and drop into my stomach.

Yes! Lotus cheers. Yes yes yes!

My face twists into a frown. I… feel the warmth of the stone again? Sitting in my stomach, the pebble slowly gets hotter, and hotter, and hotter. Soon it feels like it’s going to burn me from within, and I begin to panic.

But then it suddenly stops heating up, and instead starts to move. Quickly. It shoots up out of my stomach, through my throat, and straight into my brain. And then it vanishes.

I stare in shock at my empty hand. What… was that?

AAAGAAGGGGHK! Lotus screams, sounding like glass shattering inside my head.

‘Wha— what’s happening?’

Lotus doesn’t respond, and goes silent.

My panic slowly rises the longer she’s quiet, worried something bad happened.

It… it worked. Lotus says, sounding exhausted. Hehehehe.

‘What worked?!’ I mentally scream, but the parasite ignores me.

After a few minutes, I realize I’m not going to get a response, and pick up the husk of the slime. Carefully holding it in one hand, I make my way back towards the town.

Thankfully nothing else attacks me, and I make it back through the barrier in peace.

I smile as the warmth of the barrier washes over me, and head for my ‘mansion’. Even though I want to sell this stupid corpse, I need to bandage my wounds first. So I start weaving through the back alleys and side streets towards my home. Just as I’m about to turn a corner, someone steps into my path.

A large, bald, man blocks my escape. He smiles down at me, with many chipped teeth.

“What ya got there, girl?” He says with a voice like chalk.

I glare at the man, slowly backing up, when I hear something behind me. I glance back, just to feel my stomach drop.

Another man blocks the other end of the alley.

“We’ll let you go, if you hand over that there.” He says, pointing at the husk in my arm.

Anger rises in my chest. This thing’s worth at least a gold! I could eat for a month with that. I… I…

Reluctantly, I raise the cracked sphere to the man. He grabs it in one hand, his smile becoming wider.

“Thanks fer ya business, ma’am.” He says with a laugh. True to his word, he steps to the side.

As soon as he moves, I rush forward, running for everything I’m worth. I fly past him, swerving down the adjacent alley. Each step I take running is joined by the man’s growingly distant laughter.

Tears stream down my face. How could I be so stupid. I wasn’t being observant enough, I’d never get caught like that usually. Why’d I even do all this?

Doubts flit through my mind as I rush home, anger in my heart. At the men, at myself, and at the alien voice in my head.

When I finally push the crate into place behind me, I drop to the ground.

And silently sob.

────────────

I stare at the ceiling of my room, the pain in my arm throbbing along to my heartbeat.

This sucks.

All that, to get that dumb husk, and I go and lose it to some blockhead thief. Now I’m going to die of infection.

‘Was it all worth it, Lotus?’ I ask nobody, as the voice has been silent since the woods.

Yes! She says joyfully, startling me.

‘You!’ I scream internally. ‘Why’d I listen to you! Now I’m going to die, for nothing!’

You aren’t going to die, Chatty!

My face twists in rage. ‘Exactly how do yo—’

My train of thought is cut short by something moving. I sit up, trying to see what touched my back, and find nothing.

I scowl at the bed.

And then feel the thing touching my back again.

Panic rising, I rush to the full body mirror, and try to look at my back.

My eyes go wide.

Slowly leeching from the skin of my shoulder is a light purple… slime. I watch in horror as more and more of the goo oozes through my skin, and starts to travel down my injured arm. It slowly glides all the way to the tips of my nonfunctional fingers. And then it starts to spread. The slime grows, quickly covering my entire arm in its moist embrace.

I… I’m dead.

The sound of wind chimes flows through my mind as Lotus laughs. You aren’t going to die, silly. That’s me!

I stare blankly as a small tendril rises out of the slime, and waves at me.

‘That… that’s you?’ I ask in disbelief.

Yep, yep! And do you notice anything else?

I shake my head, my mind occupied by the slime that apparently came from the girl in my brain.

Well… I’ll give you a hint! How do you feel, physically? She asks, her tone crafty.

‘I feel fine…’ Wait… ‘I feel fine?’ I stare at the arm under the mostly see through slime, and see the still present acid burns. ‘How do I feel fine?’

Lotus laughs again. I made my slime medicinal and a pain reliever! Now there’s no chance you’ll get an infection!

My legs give out under me, and I hit the floor.

‘I’m… not gonna die?’

Nope! I wouldn’t let us die so easy! Especially after you gave me the stone. She says happily.

I sigh in relief. I’m not going to die. Lotus saved me. With… brain slime?

‘Lotus… how’d you make this slime?’

Somehow, I feel Lotus thinking. Well… after you ate that stone, and then I ate that stone, these little windows appeared.

The system? I’ve never gotten to see it!

They said I got the monster’s slime, and that I could make it better. But we only had a few points, so I used them all to make it make you feel better. I’m sorry.

‘I… Why are you sorry?’

I spent all the points without talking to you. She says sheepishly.

For the first time since waking up, I let out a strangled sound that’s supposed to be a giggle.

‘You did it to save me, stupid.’

Oh… Right… So that means it's fine? She asks nervously.

My face stretches into a smile. ‘Yes, it’s fine. I’m actually really appreciative you did it, Lotus.’ I think, my heart filling with a newfound fondness.

Yay! I did good! The girl cheers.

I pick myself up, and move over to my bed. Flopping down onto the soft mattress, I let out a small sigh of relief.

‘Thanks Lotus. And… goodnight.’

Of course, silly! Goodnight to you too!

My heart filled with relief, and my head with a slime, I fall asleep.