Huffing in annoyance at the system, he focuses on his two go-to training skills, attempting to chase away the mental boredom; he picks a random direction, heading out in search of more mana grass to consume. To his annoyance, locating the next mana grass takes longer than usual, causing him to consider if he could have left the mana grass area by accident. Considering the merits of backtracking or changing direction and the possibility of being lost, he contemplates trying to use one of his sensory skills to view the surroundings; however, he is still hesitant since the last time, despite his intentions, all three skills activated simultaneously. “I don’t know why I can’t just use one skill at a time, but it will be dangerous if I black out again. I need more training with the skills, but it’s risky.” He sighs in annoyance. “I usually hit a new mana grass in a minute or two, so I’ll give it another thirty-” The system’s voice interrupts his thoughts, a system message sounding in his mind.
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Counter Level Two].”
The nameless slime stops in surprise, his concentration broken by the system’s announcement, his attention drawn to the new skill level. “Well, that’s a nice surprise, but I should get back on track.” Focusing back on his skill training, he resumes his search. “I’ll give it another minute; if I don’t find anything by then, I’ll backtrack; here’s hoping I don’t get lost or more lost.” He chuckles wryly to himself as the seconds tick by, and after another minute of travel, he is about to give up when his body glances against something, causing him to stop. Approaching slowly, he investigates the unknown object, recognizing it as mana grass within seconds. “Well, that took longer than expected; I can’t keep wandering around like this forever. At some point, I’m going to hit something dangerous.” Engulfing the base of the plant, he begins the consumption process.
Falling back into his practiced routine, he uses his [Counter] skill to visualize a clock in his mind, the seconds ticking away while simultaneously focusing on his [Augmented Sense – Touch] skill to feel the smooth, waxy plant matter slowly dissolve, the particulates dispersing into his form; relaxing as the time ticks by. “I hope the [Mental Fatigue] condition goes away soon. I feel better than I did when I first woke up, but I need to use and train my new sensory skills; if I keep aimlessly wandering around like this, I will end up walking in circles, passing by mana grass by inches without even noticing, or worst case scenario I may run into something hostile and die.” He sighs at the thought, mindlessly poking at the dissolving plant matter, not sure what the right decision is.
Despite the annoying and potentially dangerous situation, he is reluctant to use any mentally taxing skill, considering his previous experience with over-taxing his mind. His condition continues to improve by the minute; his mind is no longer spinning, the nausea has subsided, and he has pushed the mental haze to the edges of his mind, but despite his best efforts, the mental fog still tugs at the corners of his consciousness. Despite his significant improvements, it will be a while before he is at one hundred percent again. Despite his reluctance, his current situation still makes him consider using his sensory skills, regardless of the potential side effects. “If I could only use one of the three sensory skills, I may be able to handle the sensory input, but it’s still risky.” Sighing in frustration, he pushes his concerns away, focusing on the skills he can improve, hoping they will become more practical as they improve. The time slowly ticks by, like watching paint dry, and after another boring five minutes, he finishes consuming his fifth mana grass, triggering the system’s voice to sound in his mind.
“Congratulations, you have consumed one unit of [Mana Grass].”
“Congratulations, your [Intellect] has been increased by [Point Zero Five] units.”
“Congratulations, your [Wisdom] has been increased by [Point Zero Five] units.”
“Congratulations, your [Maximum Mana] has been increased by [One] unit.”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Imagine Level One].”
To his amusement, he gains a new skill; however, its use is in question. “Imagine, what the heck is that? Okay, system, what is this now?” He considers the arbitrary skill, not quite sure how or why he could gain such a skill. “Hay, system, is this because I’m picturing a clock in my head, or is this because I have an imagination, or is it something else; a hint would be nice, you know.” He sighs at the system’s silence and the new skill, unsure how to feel about it. “I assume the new skill has something to do with picturing a clock in my mind, but there is a possibility the skill could be something else or even a combination of the two options; however, without a skill description or a way to test the theory, I will never know for sure.” He sighs in frustration.
Regardless of the skill’s source and function, he notices that the time frame for the new skill is also off from what he would expect, reinforcing his earlier belief that there are either different ranks or rarities of skills. “It seems like each skill requires a different amount of time to gain and train based on some unknown factor, likely rank or rarity, or each skill may have different conditions or requirements to acquire.” He mentally sighs to himself, frustrated at the lack of information. “Either way, I don’t know how to test this theory; both options are possible, and without more information, I don’t know how to figure this out; for all I know, it could be some combination thereof.” He sighs again, shaking off the swirling thoughts.
A random thought crosses his mind as he is about to renew his mana grass search, causing him to freeze, calling out Winter in his mind, annoyance evident in his voice. “Winter, did you change how the system works? I was getting skill messages while eating mana grass before, but ever since I came out of the abyss, all the system messages have accursed after I finish doing something or while I’m not doing anything. Hay, say something; are you just messing with me!?” He fumes; the thought that Winter might be messing with him eats at the back of his mind. “Whatever.” He exclaims into the void. “I have better things to do.”
He takes a deep breath, calming and centering his mind, considering his options for a moment, and in the end, decides against using one of his new sensory skills, believing that even if he can figure out how to use only one of the three skills, there is no guarantee the skill will not tax his mind beyond what he can handle, rendering him unconscious again. The nameless slime returns his attention to the skills he considers safe, concentrating on them and picking a direction that will take him back in the general direction he came from, not wanting to stray too far from the area known to have mana grass until he can better perceive the world around him. “Hay, Winter, if you’re messing with me, I hope it’s a boring show.” He quips in annoyance.
Training his regular go-to skills in silence, he travels for a short distance, counting the seconds as they pass by, feeling the dirt shift under the weight of his gelatinous form in monotonous boredom when pain rips through his body. And thanks to his skill [Augmented Sense – Touch], he can experience, with vivid and agonizing detail, the moment the mandibles slice through his body, ripping part of his form away. Recoiling from the pain and unknown attacker in surprise, he tries to flee from the unknown source of danger, the system sounding warning messages in his mind.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [9.5 of 10].”
Fleeing from the unknown danger, his mind races, pondering what kind of creature could be attacking him. He remembers Winter telling him that he needed to get stronger to avoid dying, but he finds this situation ridiculous. “What am I even supposed to do now when I can’t even see what’s attacking me; how can I fight something that I can’t see, much less defend against? I don’t even have an attack skill.” The nameless slime takes deep rhythmic breaths, attempting to calm his mind; his mind racing as he contemplates what actions he can take in this precarious situation, but his thoughts are interrupted when he feels another attack slice through his body from behind, ripping away part of his form once again, triggering the system to repeat the same messages, mocking his inability to deal with the situation.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [9 of 10].”
He continues to flee while considering his options in a desperate attempt to figure out how to survive this precarious situation. “Aargh, what the heck; it’s faster than me! What can I do now; how am I supposed to deal with this thing? I can’t keep fleeing like this, but how can I fight something I can’t see?” He curses at the situation. “I can’t flee, I can’t see it, I don’t have any defensive skills, I don’t have any attack skills, and the only thing I can do is eat things- Aargh.” The creature’s mandibles slice through his body from behind again, sending a wave of pain through his body, tearing away part of his form, the system sounding its warning messages in his mind once again, seeming to mock his inability to flee.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [8.5 of 10].”
The nameless slime stops fleeing and cursing to himself; steeling his resolve, he resigns himself to the inevitable fight. “I have to counter-attack, or I’m just going to die at this rate.” Honing all his attention into his [Augmented Sense – Touch] skill, he pours every last drop of his concentration into performing his next action, waiting for the creature’s next attack. To his luck or misfortune, he does not have time for anxiety or regret to enter his mind as the monster immediately continues its assault, not giving the nameless slime even a second to regret his choice; the blade-like mandibles slicing into his form once again, causing him to spring into action. As the mandibles touch his form, he lunges forward using his [Immersion] skill to pull the attacker into his body, pain ripping through his body as he does, causing the system to sound a warning in his mind once again.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [8 of 10].”
With great effort, he utilizes his [Immersion] skill to pull the head of the insect and a small portion of its thorax into his body, causing the creature to thrash and pull in a violent attempt to free its now submerged and trapped head. With his sense of touch pushed to the limit of his capability, he can feel the hard, chitinous carapace, large compound eyes, flailing antenna, and razor-sharp mandibles with crystal clarity. The insect gnashes its mandibles and claws its legs into the slime’s body, slicing through and tearing away part of his form, triggering the system’s voice to sound its persistent warnings in his mind once again.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [7.5 of 10].”
Despite the damage he suffers, he continues to move forward, using his skill to engulf the thrashing insect in his body despite its violent protest. It is not easy for him to fight against the insect’s violent attempts at escape, but his persistence works, slowly allowing him to pull more of the creature into his form, but the problem he fears makes itself apparent. Through his sense of tough, he can feel his acid pitting the surface of the insect’s carapace, but it is far too slow; the softer eyes of the creature are breaking down faster than the creature’s body, but even that is far to slow to save his life in such a dangerous situation. As he contemplates his situation, unbearable pain rips through his core and body, breaking his concentration and triggering a new warming message from the system to sound in his mind.
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“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Core] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current core health is [2.7 of 5].”
The pain courses through his very being, breaking his concentration and stunning him, allowing the insect to make ground on freeing itself. Despite the pain, on pure instinct, he pulls his core away from the gnashing mandibles of the insect; the unprompted action even surprised him. Fighting through the pain, he strengthens his hold on the insect, preventing the creature from freeing itself. Once the pain passes, he repositions his core, maneuvering it away from the insect’s head, out of the reach of its gnashing mandibles, maneuvering the core over and behind the monstrous creature’s head out to the way of any future attacks. With the pain gone, he continues to use his [Immersion] skill to pull the insect into his form, attempting to regain the lost ground from his momentary lapse in concentration. The insect continues its violent protest, its thrashing attacks tearing into the slime’s body, triggering the system to sound another round of warning in his mind.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [7 of 10].”
Pulling most of the insect’s thorax into his body allows him to be sure that this mysterious creature is an ant, and estimating its size on what he can feel, it is easily as large or larger than himself. However, feeling the devastating blade-like mandibles and the large spikes running along the creature’s back and legs make it look more like a monster in his mind than an ant. Pushing the insect’s appearance aside, he focuses on putting his hastily created plan into action; concentrating on the neck joint of the monstrous ant, he tries to pool all of his acid at that one point in an attempt to eat through the hard carapace. “Hay, system, I could use some help; any suggestion on creating a large quantity of acid would be quite nice.” In a seeming attempt to mock him, the system responds, the now familiar warning messages sounding in his mind as pain cuts through his body.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [6.5 of 10].”
Knowing there is no hope of digesting the monster whole before it can kill him, the only hope is for him to generate a large amount of acid at one point, melting through the tough carapace, disabling and destroying the monstrous ant by liquefying its soft insides. Focusing on the neck joint of the ant, he concentrates on generating acid, focusing on the skills he uses to dissolve and digest plant matter in an attempt to control it. From his earlier observations of consuming mana grass, he could tell his body generates acid that disperses throughout his body, using it to slowly dissolve and digest things that he pulls into his form. However, these processes are involuntary and slow, implying that his acid is either weak or gets diluted as it mixes with his gelatinous form. Pain surges through his body as the ant thrashes and rips into his form, triggering the system’s voice to sound a warning in his mind.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [6 of 10].”
Focusing on his skills, he can feel his body generating small amounts of acid that mix with his gelatinous form, but the amount is too small, and the rate is too slow for his current situation. Remembering back to when he was in the abyss dumping energy into his core to gain a regeneration skill, he reaches out for that same feeling. Latching onto the feeling, he directs his physical energy towards his [Lesser Slime Acid] skill, focusing the skill on the neck joint of the monster in hopes of stimulating his acid production. However, unlike last time, he does not mindlessly dump energy into the skill. Focusing, he slowly ramps up the energy transfer until he gets a sense of fullness in the skill, like filling up a cup with water, and as he tries to push more energy into the skill, it spills over like an overflowing cup. Pulling the energy back, he focuses the skill on the neck joint of the monster, ignoring the system messages sounding in his mind, continuing to concentrate on his task despite the pain ripping through his body.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [5.5 of 10].”
Ignoring the persistent system messages and pain, he continues to focus on his skill, and to his delight, he can feel acid pooling around the neck joint of the monstrous ant, causing it to thrash wildly in pain. However, the generation is slower than he thought it would be, and the other problem is that the acid is dispersing into his body, slowly diluting its potency. Undaunted, he continues to pour energy into his skill, attempting to maintain and grow the pooling acid, maintaining a constant energy flow, having learned from his previous experience. He also tries to stop the acid from dispersing into his body, but his effort shows little success. As a result of the thrashing insect, the system sounds in his mind, pain coursing through his body.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [5 of 10].”
However, this is not the end of his problems; the damage he is taking is not just a number on a screen, and he can tell that each point of damage to his form is reducing his overall size with each attack, shrinking his current size by half, making it harder to restrain the monstrous ant. With his original size, he was as large as the creature, allowing him to restrict all of the ant’s six legs using his body’s gelatinous consistency, immobilizing it. However, at this point, half of his slime body has been sliced, torn, and ripped away by the monster, reducing the nameless slime’s size to half of what it originally was. This reduction in size limits him to restraining two or four legs at any given time, allowing the monster some degree of mobility.
Despite the difficulties in restraining the monster ant, he continues to generate acid around the creature’s neck, creating a growing pocket of acid around the joint, knowing that if he can not kill the monster soon, it will kill him. Thanks to his diligent effort, he can feel his caustic acid burning, pitting, and eroding the hard chitin carapace, making rapid progress in dissolving the creature’s armor-like defense, causing the monster to thrash in pain, tearing at the nameless slime’s form with its sharp mandibles and legs, triggering the system to sound in his mind once more, but with an additional message.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [4.5 of 10].”
“Warning, physical health is below [Fifty Percent].”
He ignores the system’s warning messages, knowing that regardless of the acid’s rapid progress, this fight will be close, and any detraction could be the difference between life and death for him. Continuing with his efforts, he manages the constant generation of acid, maintaining and growing the acidic pocket around the ant’s neck, continuously trying to prevent the acid from dispersing into his form. Despite his efforts, the acid slowly escapes his control, raising the overall acidity of his gelatinous body. He smiles to himself, feeling the acid eat through the hard carapace, opening small gaps that allow acid to seep inside the ant’s hard shell, causing the ant to seize, thrash, and screech in pain. The nameless slime continues to ignore the system and pain of the thrashing creature, focusing all of his attention on dissolving the ant’s carapace.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [4 of 10].”
“Warning, physical health is below [Fifty Percent].”
The acid pool widens the gaps in the creature’s carapace, eating through the hard shell around the ant’s neck and exposing the soft internals to the acid. With the defensive shell of the ant’s neck dissolved, the acid pocket quickly liquefies the ant’s soft internal flesh, dissolving through the monster’s neck and decapitating the creature. However, to the nameless slime’s horror and disgust, both the head and body continue to move and function; the sharp mandibles slice into him as the legs pull and claw at his body, ripping into his form despite the grievous life-ending injury. Excruciating pain surges through his core and body, giving him no time to question the situation; the devastating attacks trigger a slew of system messages that sound in his mind.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Core] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current core health is [2.2 of 5].”
“Warning, core health is below [Fifty Percent].”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [3.5 of 10].”
“Warning, physical health is below [Forty Percent].”
The nameless slime fights through the pain with great effort, expelling the creature’s severed head from his body, a feat made easier by the ant’s destruction of more than sixty percent of his body, reducing his size by a corresponding amount. This loss in mass exposes his core to danger, allowing the monster to claw through his body, striking his core while ripping part of his form away, putting him in a precarious situation. At the start of the battle, the slime was as wide as the ant was long, but now he is a fraction of his initial size and only a third of the size of the monster ant. This results in his inability to restrain the creature’s movement any longer, allowing the headless ant to move and attack freely, clawing at the slime in a vain attempt to stop the nameless slime’s assault, triggering the system to sound in his mind, accompanied by excruciating pain that courses through his body and core.
“Warning, you have been attacked.”
“Warning, the health of your [Core] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current core health is [1.7 of 5].”
“Warning, core health is below [Forty Percent].”
“Warning, the health of your [Slime Body] has been reduced by [Point Five] units.”
“Warning, current physical health is [3 of 10].”
“Warning, physical health is below [Forty Percent].”
Fighting through the pain, he ignores the system, maneuvering the ball of acid to the open neck wound of the ant and forcing it and part of his body into the ant’s carapace, generating more acid as he does. With the ball of acid and part of his body now inside the creature’s thorax, he expels the acid from his body, melting the monster’s soft internal flesh and organs. This action turns the creature’s insides into a liquid mess, causing the monster ant to seize and spasm violently before collapsing to the ground with a thud, but the slime does not stop at this; he continues, generating another ball of acid and expels it into the corpse out of an abundance of paranoia to ensure the monster ant’s demise. Once he finally stops, the system’s voice sounds in his mind with an extensive list of announcements.
“Congratulations, you have slain a [Black Worker Ant].”
“Congratulations, your [Constitution] has been increased by [Point Zero One Eight] units.”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Lesser Pain Resistance Level One].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Simple Form Control Level One].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Minor Acid Creation Level One].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Mana Cycling Level Three].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Immersion Level Two].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Lesser Fear Resistance Level Two].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Digest Level Three].”
“Congratulations, you have gained the skill [Lesser Slime Acid Level Four].”