For once, I felt like I was able to breathe without having to worry about being butchered. We were traveling at a surprisingly relaxed pace, letting [Infirm Regeneration] patch me up. However, it was only a matter of time before I needed to eat again. It may have been that the evolution offset the appetite, but I’d put it off long enough.

“Where the hell do I find creatures that I can easily defeat?” I wondered out loud. I glanced askew at the Wisp a couple of feet ahead. It might know but at the same time, I doubted it. It didn’t appear like eating was a necessity for the Wisp, at least not in the same way it was for me. Besides, probably every creature on this level was weaker than it.

We reached a crossroad and without missing a beat, the Wisp selected the one in the middle and entered. I followed with a pinch of apprehension. I would have chosen the ones on either side because the middle seemed too obvious. It was chilling to think about how easily the System seemed to know my thoughts and counter me accordingly.

After a few minutes, we stumbled across a sharp incline in the ground—almost perfectly vertical, and stretching over five times my height. The Wisp casually floated over the top and disappeared from view. Taking a couple of seconds to hype myself up, I leapt onto the wall and altered the viscosity of my composition, becoming significantly stickier. Latching onto the wall, I molded another piece of my body to reach up and connect to the wall above me. Pulling myself up, I repeated the process until I reached the edge and rolled onto level ground.

Soreness pounded my body at all angles and I wouldn’t have minded taking time to recuperate. The moment I climbed the wall however, the Wisp set off once more. Groaning, I compartmentalized the ache into a tiny box and continued after the Wisp.

Luckily, there were no other obstacles of a similar challenge for the rest of the duration of our journey. Dodging the occasional hole in the ground was the most trouble I encountered, other than the strain on my Endurance Points. It felt like we were traveling for a couple of hours at most before the Wisp halted in its tracks.

By then, I was swaying wildly as exhaustion and my drive to escape clashed with each other in a furious struggle. Dazily, I glanced at my stats. My Endurance Points were at a measly 9, no doubt hastened by my increasing hunger. Feeling like I was going to topple over any second, I contemplated forgoing the risk of the Wisp leaving me behind to take a small break.

No, damn it! Don’t give up now because you’re tired! A voice mocked me with derision oozing off over every syllable. The tone was off, but I couldn’t deny the message it was saying. Groaning, I channeled more Strength Points throughout my body and temporarily calmed my ravaging hunger by conjuring up images of meat and fruits. I sunk deep into my fantasy of sinking my teeth into a refreshing, cool, juice apple and tearing off a chunk of fried meat cooked to perfection. Ah, it would be glorious, especially with a tankard of—

The Wisp picked up the pace, setting off at an accelerated speed. I snapped out of my appetite-inspired hallucination and went after the Wisp. After several more twists and turns that I futilely tried to keep track of, the Wisp stopped again. I eyed it warily. This was the second time in as many minutes that it had paused. Was it unsure of where to go?

“Hey, if you’re not sure, we can—“

I didn’t have time to finish the question before the Wisp was off again. Swallowing a curse, I forced my battered body to go after it. A couple of minutes passed and the Wisp stopped our journey in its tracks. At this point, I was inches away from yelling at the Wisp. Inhaling deeply, I made myself calm down and think rationally. Destroying whatever fragment of good relations we had wasn’t going to do anything but hurt me. All for what? A momentary burst of relief before despair sunk in?

“Why don’t we take a break and let you remember where to go? We’ve been walking for a while—“ I attempted to negotiate.

…Here.

“Huh?” Instantly becoming alert, I studied my surroundings. We were located in a miniature nook with the only way out being the way we’d entered. I examined the walls, wondering if there was a secret mechanism I’d missed. I brushed over a bushel-load of moss hanging from the ceiling and paused my ministrations. Hang on…. Rubbing a portion of my slime through the moss, I noticed how wet it was. Minute droplets of water, barely noticeable if you weren’t specifically looking for something, soaked the strands of moss.

The Wisp floated forward and phased through the moss. Without a moment’s hesitation, I plunged through as well. The sheer mass of moss shocked me at first; it was definitely more than the thin veneer that it’d presented itself as in the beginning. Moving through what felt like several feet of solid mass that stuck to my body and pulled me back, I finally stumbled out the other side.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

What laid before me was a sight for sore eyes.

It was a piece of nature’s finest works: a natural underwater lake filled to the brim with a repertoire of precious ores and minerals. The lake incorporated a sense of grandiose, spreading as far as the eye could see and just as wide. It was a gorgeous shade of light blue, untainted by creatures and resplendent in all its glory. The water was also clear, allowing me to see the diverse marine life contained within its endless depth: extravagant fishes of different types and colors that would make the most skilled fishers go green with envy, sprawling coral structures that was as detailed as any building I’d seen, thick strands of seaweed that caressed the water and glowed brilliantly green. The lake was a diamond in the rough, shining its brilliance unabashedly.

Scattered across the lake were a series of islands, each one around the size of a small hut. They were bountiful and packed to the brim of their tiny land with grass, flowers, and light vegetation. On some, even oak trees grew and cast a shade. Though, I had a feeling more would be interested in what was above. Lining the ceiling of the cavern were countless jewels and gems, jutting out in jagged formations. From a large hole carved in the center of the ceiling, light spilled out and bounced off the numerous jewels, reflecting multicolored fractured rays down on the lake. The combination of the two wonders of nature made for an idealistic utopia, similar to the garden.

It occurred to me how strange it was that we arrived so quickly. It seemed too much of a coincidence that in a dungeon that was reputedly stated to be the size of a small city, it would just so happen there was an exit only a couple of hours away. Had the Wisp taken advantage of the unique space-time distortion of the dungeon to navigate faster?

“Is that the exit?” I asked, forming a nub and pointing it at the hole in the ceiling. I was already analyzing how to reach it. Maybe by swinging across the jewels?

…No. Other side.

I peered across the river, sending one of my orbs as far as my range would allow it. Sure enough, I was just about to make out the silhouette of a curved opening on the banks of the river. I pushed the orbs to their limit, hoping I could see what was inside but as I thought, it was impossible. The lake must be over a mile long; it was a miracle I was able to spot something at all.

“You sure that’s the way?” I looked yearningly at the hole in the ceiling. It wouldn’t be easy to reach by any measure, but it would shorten the distance required by over half. Besides, it was much more appealing than submerging myself into darkness again.

…Yes.

Sighing in exasperation, I slumped over to the edge of the river. Preparing to jump in, I checked my body to ensure I was at peak performance (or the closest I could get) and jumped.

I was struck with the feeling of having ice cold water dumped over me. My body reacted and before I knew what happened, I’d skittered to the far end of the lakebed, pressing up against the wall. It took another second to realize that I was shaking, and I didn’t even know why. This instinctual fear of water wasn’t something I could correlate to a direct factor in my human mind and was solely a result of my slime body. This was even worse for me; at least if it was a problem derived from mental issues, I knew that it wasn’t something physical. However, if I entered the water, there was a high chance I would actually decompose.

“Fuck, how do I get across?” My gaze drifted up to the ceiling, traveling through an imaginary route. I could replicate what I’d pulled off when climbing the wall, but that was a chance in a million. I might be able to reach the hole, but there was no way my Magical Points would last long enough to make it to the other side.

I approached the edge of the lake and like my body knew what I was planning, I found each wobble forward requiring more and more effort. Eventually, it escalated to the point where I had to strain against my own body just to reach the end of the lakebed.

Glowering at the water, I was hit with a wave of loathing. On a subconscious level, I was aware that these weren’t my true feelings. Regardless, it was difficult to resist the urge to incinerate the water with [Fire Glyph]. Smacking the water was, of course, out of the question.

Glaring through the sheen of the lake, I spotted a particularly plump fish swimming near the edge. I decided my first trial would be to try to snatch a fish from the lake’s grasp. This way, I would kill three birds with one stone: retrieve some food, get used to touching water, and improve my reaction speed.

I carefully observed the fish’s movements, but couldn’t discern a pattern. The fish went this way and that way without a care in the world, never once slowing down. Its endurance was actually admirable. Focusing on the fish allowed me to take my mind off the impending sense of doom that was rising, and when it was clear the fish wasn’t going to slow down, I took the plunge.

Stabbing a tendril of slime into the water as fast as I could muster, I completely missed the fish. There was a split second where I felt disappointment at the fact, before it was completely obscured by a blinding pain that consumed everything else.

In a fraction of an instant, I felt my soul seeping out of my slime and vanishing into the lake, becoming part of something much vaster than I. It was impossible to maintain my identity against such an overwhelming presence and I couldn’t even try. The tendril broke apart within seconds, dissolving into nothingness in less time than it took to form the shape. A frigid iciness took place where the tendril had been, quickly making its way up to the rest of my body.

This was death.