I was sliding across the ground when the System alerted me.

Ding!

You have undergone Evolution! You have evolved from a Gelatinous Cube (Insectroid Slime) to Gelatinous Cube (Trans-Phase Cubic Beast)!

Species: Gelatinous Cube (Level 1)

Subspecies: Trans-Phase Cubic Beast

Stats:

Magic Point (MP) : 40/40

Health Point (HP) : 30/30

Strength Point (SP) : 25/25

Endurance Point (EP) : 25/25

Agility Point (AP) : 15/15

Species Skills:

* [Subsumption] Level 1

* [Infirm Regeneration] Level 4

* [Adaption] Level 1

* [High-Tier Intelligence] Level 1

* [Innate Connection] Level 1

Skills:

* [Body Manipulation] Level 5

* [Weapon Generation] Level 3

* [All-Tongue] Level 1

* [Venom Resistance] Level 1

* [20 Skill Points]

* [Available Skill Slots:5]

I got reset to Level 1. I noted. And I gained more Species Skills. My stats have increased more than any level-up so far, but agility and endurance definitely got the short end of the stick. I have more Skill Points but the same amount of Skill Slots, so I need to be careful and conserve what Skills I buy.

I analyzed the data in a split second; suddenly, it was the easiest thing in the world. Cold, hard text translated into numbers and what they meant in the greater world. It was simply rudimentary. Every question I had was instantly answered by myself, and what would have taken me significantly more time to sort through earlier was nothing now.

Why—ah, [High-Tier Intelligence]. I thought it wouldn’t result in a large difference, but I guess I was wrong. It probably doesn’t enhance my overall intelligence–I don’t feel any smarter now–but it helps with consuming data. This Skill might actually be better than that [Analysis] I was eying earlier.

Receiving the message from the System brought a whole symphony of conflicting emotions to the surface. Disgust at continuing to interact with the System, a tinge of fear that I was still connected to the System, and worst of all, a pinch of gratitude.

Needs to work on its lag, though. I thought vindictively before focusing on the surrounding land.

When I’d asked the Wisp to lead me to the monsters that made a mess of my home, I expected it to discard my choice as meaningless emotional attachment. To my surprise, nary a second passed before the Wisp flew down a narrow tunnel. With a final, mournful glance cast at my disheveled home, I plunged into the tunnel after it.

That was how I found myself where I was now, hurtling down a tunnel at break-neck speeds. The Wisp was startlingly agile, its phase ability contributing to that. Meanwhile, I was forced to swerve and dodge constantly to avoid running into the stray stalagmite.

“Slow down!” I exclaimed at the rapidly fading orb. It gave no sign it’d heard me and continued to accelerate. Cursing its existence, I picked up the pace, but my agility was already at its limits. Exhaustion began settling in and I considered slowing to a more manageable speed; entering a battle against multiple monsters tired on top of the number disadvantage was the formula for defeat.

However, the Will-O’-Wisp had no such qualms and pressed on. It wouldn’t give a shit if it flew off and left me behind, and I couldn’t have that. As sad as it was, the Wisp was the only company I had that was reasonably amicable. I didn’t want to lose that.

The Wisp made another sharp turn, and I made haste, nearly rolling into a nearby wall before correcting my course. If I’d been on my own, I would have been lost after the first five turns. The dungeon was filled to the brim with unique twists, loop-de-loops, crevasses, layers, holes, crossroads, and alternating elevations. Whatever force of nature created this dungeon must have decided to create the single most unnavigable location on the planet.

Faint noises registered to my ‘ears’ and I grinned despite how tired I was. Finally! Time to test out my Skills!

The Wisp dove into a crevasse and I sidled in after it. As I squirmed my way against the jagged plates of stone, the sound of slobbering and munching grew louder and more disgusting. I relished in the noises, envisioning how I was going to tear them apart. A tiny voice whispered its concerns about how bloodthirsty I was becoming. What happened to not wanting to needlessly kill?

“They destroyed my home and would have killed me if they had the chance. This is revenge.” I insisted, well aware of how weird this pseudo-conversation would sound.

Your ‘home?’ Your home is our village, not that pile of rocks you slapped together! Get it together, you’re thinking like a Slime!

“The hell you say!?” I roared, all pretense of remaining quiet to retain the element of surprise gone. Forget the monsters. I was pissed off at myself. “I am not thinking like a Slime! Obviously our village is our home, I’m just saying that—oh, shit!”

The moment I popped out the other side of the crevasse, I was greeted with a hairy fist that cut off my rebuttal. A split second before I got pummeled, I hurried back into the crack and readied for the impact as best I could.

Despite my attempts at shelter, the force behind the blow was strong enough to shatter multiple feet of rock and shake my world. I clung to the cramped walls to prevent myself from being flung away even as I felt the stone behind me get scraped away.

I must have dove five feet into the crevasse, but when all was said and done, my back was completely exposed to further enemy attacks. Damn it. All that from a single punch?! If I get hit, it might be over for me.

The battle had already commenced and continuing to hide away in the crevasse would do me no good. I heard grunting behind me as the monsters reared back for another devastating hit and before I was killed, I slid out of the crack and landed on the ground.

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Racing forward, I darted through the legs of the monsters. Over 35 feet tall, they resembled apes sized up to fit the rest of the monsters living here. Thick, brown fur covered every corner of the body, exempting their stomach and faces, the latter of which was distinctly more human-like than I would’ve enjoyed. Other than the glowing yellow pupils and pointed ears protruding from the side of their head, they could’ve easily passed for a human face with heavy sagging.

Their stomach was a similar palish flesh with a strange bleach texture to it. There was no mistaking the muscles that bulged with every step they took, and the power resting inside of them. Taking the arms out of account, their body was mostly proportional; the arms were of a significantly longer length, nearly scraping the ground while the monsters hunched over.

And, of course, there were five of them.

I darted in between the legs which stretched high into the sky, reminding me of oak trees rather than the appendage of a monster. Approaching the nearest monster, I activated [Weapon Generation] and formed a pair of swords.

Utilizing every ounce of agility I had, I slashed the tendons of one leg and as the monster roared and began to topple, I finished the job by stabbing the other tendons. I rolled out of the way of the collapsing monster as it landed on its knees, blood spurting onto the ground. The monster seemed more mildly inconvenienced by the crippling injuries it sustained than panicked, its electric yellow eyes finding me. Its elongated arms came up and gradually reached for me.

I dodged to the side and arced my blades upward, cutting through all five fingers like they were butter. More blood coated the matted fur while the flailing digits crashed into the ground.

I moved to press the offensive when a heavy shadow loomed over me. Spotting another monster behind me, I leapt to the side moments before its foot crashed where I’d been seconds earlier.

I landed roughly and found my balance, only to discover another shadow passing over me. The third monster had reached me by now and was bending down, reaching out with its hand. I delivered the same reception I’d given to its brethren, completely severing three fingers. Unfortunately, my swords caught on the fourth and shattered into a thousand slime pieces.

“Damn it!” Disengaging, I was forced to roll away before getting stepped on. The monsters finally seemed to get the memo that reaching for me with the speed of a sloth wasn’t going to work out for it. Instead, one of them drew their right leg back.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! I swerved and bobbed around the many monkeys, trying my best to avoid being crushed by any of them while simultaneously getting as far away from the kicking monkey as possible.

The monkey’s leg reached the peak of its back trajectory and, with deadly speed, it brought the limb forward. Even though I was next to the monkey, I still experienced the tremendous gust of air propulsion generated from the kick. It dislodged me from my perch on the ground and sent me hurtling through the air.

Glancing askew, I realized my current arc was going to place me right into the gaping mouth of another monkey. Forming a scythe, I jabbed it into a nearby boulder and struggled against the swathes of air pushing me into the monkey’s maw.

Eventually, the gusts of wind produced by the kick died down and I tumbled several meters down. On the way, a gargantuan hand stretched out to break my fall. I stuck the tip of my scythe in the center of the palm and tried to propel me away, but its hand was simply too big for that. I landed near the edge of its palm and laid there for a second, dazed from the fall.

The monkey’s fingers, like the rods of a prison cell, closed in on me. Terror filled me at the prospect of being trapped inside the monkey’s grip and getting squished into a pile of mindless slime. I threw myself off even as a portion of my body entangled with the smallest finger. Growling, I continued pressing forward, stretching my body out.

The monkey moved its hand closer to its jagged teeth, and I increased my attempts to escape tenfold, wiggling my body in all sorts of manners. Tendrils of slime connected my primary body with the small amount of mass held inside the titan’s hand, and I grimaced when the pain racked up in intensity.

Even so, I continued pushing forward as my body split itself in two. Finally, with a pop!, the last tendril connecting me broke, and I fell. I just barely avoided tumbling straight into the mouth of the monkey, catching myself on one of the monkey’s many fangs instead. Heat radiated off in droves from the mouth and its slimy tongue reached out, slobbering over its teeth to try to push me in.

I slid a scythe into its lower lips and used that to pull me away from the death trap that was its mouth, falling down the front of the monkey. Jabbing the scythe into the flesh, I used it to slow my descent while dealing some damage at the same time.

I marked my fall with a long slash mark that stretched from the jaw of the monkey to its crotch before I ran out of monkey and free-fell the rest of the way.

Landing hard, I scooted out of the way before a sea of blood poured out from the wound; the small, almost indistinguishable line I’d carved out of its flesh burst, and torrents of blood made its way from the inside of the monster to the outside.

I panted, reeling from the near-death experience. It wasn’t my first one, but there was something about the sheer viscerality of being swallowed that made it hit differently.

I didn’t get a moment’s respite before an arm struck the earth mere inches away. I scrambled as far away as possible before glancing up and noticing a barrage of boulders falling from the sky.

I broke into a full-on dash, sliding to the side of the cave where there was more shelter. Huge chunks of rocks broke around me and up-heaved the ground, making the terrain all the more difficult to navigate. I slammed into the wall in my haste and remained there, shivering as the world in front of my eyes was destroyed.

It’s like a meteorite shower… I thought in a daze. No amount of [Weapon Generation] was going to let me challenge an attack like that. How to even begin fighting rocks thrown at you with godlike precision?

When the sound of rocks smashing against the ground began to drizzle away and I didn’t see any boulders hurtling from the sky, I tentatively poked the front half of my body from the cranny I’d found.

Somehow, I’d ended up racing all around the cave and returning to the first monkey I had disabled. Its fiery-golden eyes sought mine out and as we locked gazes, it retracted its arm halfway around its body, held it there for a couple of seconds, before whirling it around with blinding speed.

The physiology of the monster made it impossible to avoid its forearm digging into the walls as it flung its arm, but that made it even more difficult for me. Now I needed to deal with an appendage coming for me with enough force to end me in one go and even more rocks.

The arm’s length made dodging to the side an impossibility, and the amount of stone and dust it was dragging discounted running the opposite way. The only route to go was up. Fighting my nerves and hoping my calculations were correct, I waited until the arm was mere moments from striking me before soaring into the sky.

I’d correctly deduced the time, but neglected to account for my fading endurance and agility. The upper half of my cube was in the position I should have been, but the lower half was just a few feet too low.

The arm skimmed me, but that was enough to shred my body to pieces. I hit the wall as the arm continued through its course behind me, slumping down. The force of the strike rattled my body to its core, my particles wobbling in disarray as [Infirm Regeneration] kicked in. Without the added factor of venom, my body was slowly patching itself together; too slow.

Ding!

Health Points at 15!

After a quick check, I confirmed that my agility was shot and my endurance wasn’t doing so well. Even my strength points were nearing the half mark and my magic points weren’t as high as I’d hoped. Using [Infirm Regeneration] along with [Weapon Generation] was going to be strenuous on my magic points. The only way to ensure I didn’t run out of magic points was to deactivate [Weapon Generation] but that was as well as admitting death right now.

I’d gotten in over my head. Again. And being a Trans-Phase Cubic Beast hadn’t given me the boost in power I’d hoped for.

So be it.