Unfortunately, I was unable to find much more prey. But that’s alright! I spent my time blowing air until I could manage some pretty impressive gusts.
Also, compacting and absorbing bits of slime so I can move faster ‘n stuff.
As long as I was absorbing myself, I didn’t really feel hungry. I just kind of ached instead. It wasn’t particularly pleasant, but still, it was better than the gnawing hunger.
Hm. Perhaps First Meal went places that I can track him back to?
[Insightful decision making has given you 1 wisdom!]
Hmm. Whenever I see that line and the squiggles next to it I’ve eaten a small meal…so I guess maybe it means a good thing?
[Through beginning to gain the most basic of comprehension of what’s going on, you’ve gained the Incredibly Basic English skill!
Incredibly Basic English, level 1, 10%(Hey! That bit’s changing as I look at it! What gives?) experience
Gives a .1% chance of comprehending a written or spoken word(!) per level..
Skill progression speed from reading dependent on Intelligence and Wisdom.
Gives a .1% chance of being able to convey meaning with your own words
Skill progression speed from speaking dependent on Intelligence and Charisma.
Numbers are modified by relevant stats.]
Oh. These squiggles are something called ‘words’. Meant to convey information.
Wait! Where did that information itself come from?!
[Least Brain Slime has obtained the (Selfache) status]
Ow! My everything! What the heck!
(I would later learn that I had experienced a ‘splitting headache’, but since my entire self was a brain what that really did was make all of me hurt!)
Anyway. Right. Back to business.
I move back to the room and taste the ground for traces of the odd flesh.
….Ah! There! Now, trace them backwards….
I smack directly into a barrier, this one with gaps around the edges.
...I could dissolve this. I could, really. But what if I just sort of...squeeeeeeze in there…
[Through a special action, you have unlocked the Gap Squeeze special slime skill!
Gap Squeeze level 1 0% experience
Allows you to move through sealed areas at a rate of 1 ounce per minute per inch with gap.
+1% Dexterity
Incredibly Basic English has reached level 2!
Gap Squeeze has reached level 2! (1.1 ounce, 2% dexterity)
Push air has reached level 6! (1.5 seconds at 6 m/s, 22.5 stamina per use)]
After around another 20 minutes of puffing air, absorbing myself, and squeezing in, I resume tracking the First Meal’s last steps.
I have to squeeze into another doorway to trace them exactly, which unknowingly nets me another level of Gap Squeeze(Yay, 3% dexterity!)
I explore this room thoroughly on some instinct. I bump something and something falls on me.
FOODFOODFOO--Ahem. That was embarrassing.
Still, it appears that my initial analysis was accurate, even if this is a less than preferred meal.
[You have consumed(!) Wheat!
Incredibly Basic English has reached level 3!(.3% comprehension)]
Consumed. What a useless word. It’s pretty much the only thing I’ve done since I came to be….
Still, anything that makes sense of those stupid appearing things is welcome.
Anyway, if food fell onto me, and then First Meal was above me, that means….
Fourth Meal?
I begin to dissolve the thing I bumped into while trying to climb it..
That...doesn’t really work out, as it collapses both from the dissolving and the climbing.
[You have obtained the special slime skill Ooze Vertically!
-10 Health! -5 Health! -20 health!]
I hurt in SO MANY ways right now.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Nonetheless, I have more stuff to read. Maybe I’ll comprehend a better word!
[Ooze Vertically level 1 5% experience
Allows perfectly safe ascension of vertical surfaces, assuming you don’t dissolve your grip points.
Currently allows designating 1 grip point.
Currently able to be dislodged by a stiff breeze]
Hm. Nothing.
Well, anyway, I begin nomming on EVERYTHING.
[You have consumed Iron!
You have consumed Alcohol!
You have consumed Time Itself! Wait, no, it’s just Thyme.
You have consumed Salt!
You have consumed Water!
You have consumed Blueberries!
You have consumed Cabbage!
You have consumed Coffee!
You have consumed Chocolate!]
The list goes on and on, and I don’t comprehend a word except ‘consumed’ each time.
(Nonetheless, I do gain level 4 in Incredibly Basic English.)
I puff some air in celebration, then feel the vibrations of it striking the wall and rebounding.
Oh, DAMMIT! The air! I’ve been puffing without thinking about it! Obviously all my meals to be have been being warned off by accident by all the air I’ve been throwing around!
[Through making a obvious observation, you have increased your Wisdom by one!]
I quickly stop that before making for the gap again to continue tracking the steps.
I find myself confused in one area, where the traces become strong and then just kind of disappear. I poke around a bit and find something very soft.
….
NOM!
[You have consumed Cotton!
You have consumed Feathers!
You have consumed Silk!]
Eh. You’ve eaten better. By far.
[Through exercise, your Food Criticism skill has reached level 2!]
You retrace your steps and find a fainter trail, following it.
[Your Tracking skill has reached level 5]
You find one more door, with wind blowing in through it. You squeeze through it and…..What...what is this feeling?
Feels….Warm. Kinda….nice.
You keep squeezing through and reach the outside world.
[Through escaping protective confinement and reaching the great outdoors on the day of your birth, you have obtained the title Precocious Explorer! Please go inside. Your parents(!) would be sad if you died.]
(I would later look back on this message and realize something:
The world itself was, quite simply, not paying attention.)
….Parent…..Something that loves you….something involved in your creation….
….
I’m pretty sure I don’t have one of those? Unless First Meal counts.
….Does First Meal count? What does it say about me if I accidentally ate my ‘parent’?
….I’d rather not think about that.
[Precocious Explorer
+5 Dexterity
+10 to Dexterity while exploring
+10% to all stats while exploring
+10% range to all senses]
Aaaah, why is it that I can barely understand anything at all, and the things I do understand don’t make me feel good!
I casually consume whatever’s near me and on a whim decide to poke at the message when it appears.
[You have consumed Grass
You have evolved Grass!
Constitution +5
You have learned the special plant skill Photosynthesis!
You have learned the special plant skill Photoregeneration!
3/12 evolution slots used
Photosynthesis level 1 0%
Draw nutrition from the sun!
Increases in level as you are exposed to sun
Photosynthetic efficiency:.1%
Photoregeneration level 1 0%
If you’re hurt, you heal faster in the sun!
10% increase to health regeneration while in direct sunlight.
Through sheer dumb luck, you have increased your Luck by 1!]
….
The warmth is tasty, hee.
I casually spread out my mass, allowing myself to absorb small amounts of dirt and plants as the sun beats down on me, steadily feeding me as I puff cheerily.
[Density has reached level 2! (Bonuses doubled)
Slime Reprocessing has reached level 2!(Slime absorbed increased to 1.5 ounces per minute, time per restoration is now 40 seconds, time per stat shift from size is now 20 minutes, time per Density increase now 3 hours and 20 minutes)
Photosynthesis has reached level 3(.3% efficiency)
The sun feeds me slower than I can absorb myself, though, and I’m getting a little small, so I shut that off for now and move on. This time, with no puffing.
I feel tremors in the ground….
----------------------------------------
“Aha! Look! It’s another slime!” Cried Leeroy.
“Wait! No!” Yelled their mage, Maerin, who had used Observe. “That’s….”
“LEEEEEEEROOOOOOY!”
“....A Brain Slime.” She finishes uselessly as the warrior charges in.
----------------------------------------
Ack! They’re headed right for me! And they’re big! Could be dangerous!
I quickly slide to the side, leaving behind a very thin layer of myself.
[Through a action, you have unlocked the special Slime skill, Slippery Slime!
Slippery Slime level 1, 5%, cost .5 ounce of matter
Generate a small area of slick surface
Currently capable of covering half a square foot]
The charging being doesn’t adjust in time, it’s foot landing on the spot and causing it to fall to the ground. I immediately pounce on him.
----------------------------------------
“God DAMN it!” Maerin yells as Leeroy gets coated in slime. “[Fireball]!”
----------------------------------------
[-200 HP]
Ow! Ow! Hot!
Digest faster, damn you!
----------------------------------------
“Dammit! Damn IT!” She yells. “[Fireball]! Off, you damned thing!”
----------------------------------------
The second time I feel the heat approaching, I’m ready. I immediately remove all of myself from that side of my prey, letting it absorb the hit.
----------------------------------------
Maerin screams as she sees her fireball fade. “Oh my god! I killed him!” Her face hardens. “I-I might not have much mana left, but I’m DAMN well not letting you go after what you made me do!” She pulls out a mana potion, quaffing it, and begins throwing fireball after fireball at that damned Brain Slime.
----------------------------------------
[By consuming a moron’s complete complex nervous system, you have obtained
+3 Intelligence
+3 Wisdom
+1 Charisma]
That’s my cue to get the fuck out of here
I discard the bones and flee for cover.
----------------------------------------
“Oh, thank god, it left your bones.” Maerin sighs. “Fine. I’ll get you to a temple.” She groans before collecting what’s left of Leeroy.
----------------------------------------
...Am I safe?
I’m safe!
Happy jiggles all around!
I spread out and relax, resting to recover some of my lost health and activating my Reprocess skill to speed that up.
Let’s just...baaaask in the sun.
----------------------------------------
AHHHH!
[-20 hp]
Something just stepped in me!
Oh, wait, hold on.
I quickly surge up around whatever just stepped in me, reading the bevy of familiar patterns casually. Ooh, a new one!
[You have consumed[…] Antlers[…]]
Heh, neat.
[-50 hp
-40 hp
-30 hp
Through consuming a complete, moderately complex nervous system, you have obtained:
+2 Intelligence
+2 Wisdom]
It’s thrashes quickly stop, leaving me a little worse for wear and a LOT bigger. Seriously, this guy must have rivaled First Meal for mass! I quickly activate Reprocess Slime. Organic material is the best for increasing my mass, especially from moving things, but now I feel sluggish.
If I get any bigger, I might become unable to move, and that’d actually be a problem.
Hmmmm…… Maybe if I….
I focus on splitting part of me off. Just a small part.
[You have created a special Slime skill, Divide Minion!
Divide Minion level 1 0% experience, cost 5000 mana and 10 pounds of mass
You have insufficient mana to use this skill, fueling from Stamina
You have insufficient Stamina to fuel this skill, fueling from Health
Slime Body substitutes Mass for Health for skill expenditures!
Spent 5 pounds of Mass to fuel Stamina to fuel Mana]
A bunch of me just evaporates as another part splits off.
I can sense what it senses, the mild tremors I make when moving that I instinctively ignore, and the mild tremors it makes from my own body.
Oh, yes. This….
This is going to be useful.
----------------------------------------
Known Stats(By The Slime)
Mass:120 Kilos.(Unit Of Measurement Not Understood/Known)