Leo woke refreshed as the morning light brightened the land and comforted him with its warm embrace.

Now let's see. Hunt for food? No, my energy levels will last a long time. Work? No, I’m a slime. Do I even have a job? Bathe? No, I’m a slime; I don't stay dirty. Huh, slimes are actually pretty convenient. This place is as good as any. I’ll make this my camp and scout the area.

After an hour, Leo had most of the immediate area in his mental map when a horned rabbit entered his vision. The rabbit made small hops as it sniffed the ground, slowly approaching Leo’s location.

A rabbit, I might never get used to seeing like this.

Leo remained perfectly still, which was relatively easy, considering his body didn’t have muscles. The rabbit showed no concern over the still slime, and after the rabbit slowly moved close enough, Leo pounced. As soon as Leo left the ground, the rabbit bolted out of his range before he landed where the rabbit just was.

Wow, rabbits are fast as fuck.

The rabbit left Leo silently impressed, and he mentally shrugged as he continued his scouting. After Leo entered the last area, he encountered a large kobold. The kobold looked like a bipedal wolf covered in gray fur, several inches taller, and in better shape than the previous goblins. Instead of being completely naked, it wore ragged shorts that barely fit.

It looks strong. It’s still just a Kobold and will suffocate like the rest.

Greedy for another mana shard, he waited in ambush; however, the kobold turned in a different direction. He followed with small, quick jumps. Leo hid behind a tree as the kobold stopped at the stream and drank some water with its tongue.

I can’t reach it’s face like this. If it comes back this way, I’ll be at a good angle for an ambush.

After the kobold finished, it turned around and returned to the woods. As soon as the kobold approached, Leo jumped at its face and wrapped his body around its muzzle the best he could.

“Grrrr!”

Leo could feel the hot breath of the kobold as it growled. Leo could keep its mouth shut but couldn’t seal off the side of its mouth.

Oh shit.

Leo suddenly launched away as the kobold managed to hit him off its face and into a tree.

What the?!

“Grrr!”

The kobold growled in outrage as his slime body started to damage its fur and skin. It charged at the slime that dared attack it. Leo lept away as a clawed hand reached out and dug into his body, almost reaching his core. Leo was sent flying and ricocheted off the side of a tree before hitting the ground.

The kobold is too strong!

Leo's body fixed itself as the kobold charged at him again. The kobold was even faster than the archer that chased him yesterday and soon caught up to him.

Holy shit!

After Leo jumped, the kobold slapped him back to the ground. It towered over Leo and reached down to grab him.

I can’t jump away!

With the kobold's hands mere inches away and unable to jump, Leo did something he had never done before. Leo rolled, just out of reach of the kobold.

“Grrrr!”

The kobold stepped forward with an angry growl and swiped again with its other hand. However, Leo rolled again, even further this time.

This can work!

Leo kept rolling and accelerated straight into a tree before he could turn.

OOF

The kobold was already chasing after Leo, and he could swear it somehow smiled cruelly at him. The kobold dove with both claws extended to cut off his escape route. Leo jumped away as the kobold passed beneath him and right into the tree.

‘THUNK’

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Yip!”

Leo landed on its back and rolled away at a more maintainable speed.

This is incredible! I could become even faster with some experience!

Leo purposely let the kobold follow him and headed away from camp. The kobold was slightly faster than Leo, and several times, Leo had to speed up or move in spaces that would be more difficult for the kobold.

This should be far enough.

Leo suddenly put everything he had into losing the kobold. He wove past or jumped over every obstacle he could, intentionally making it more difficult for the chasing goblin.

“Grrrr!”

Leaving a frustrated kobold behind, Leo checked one last time that he wasn’t being followed and traveled back to the camp.

After returning to camp, Leo triumphantly settled on the highest rock in the area and enjoyed the sun. While he was no longer sensitive to the elements, the sun's warmth comforted him.

I understand why slimes tend to bask in the sun now. Hmm, how do I know that? Did I used to be an adventurer?

Half of a boar was visible on the very edge of his vision as it drank from the river when suddenly, something yanked into the air.

‘Swoosh’

‘Squeaaaa!’

Wow! What the hell?! What was that?! A wyvern?! Gryphon?!

Leo immediately jumped and hid among the rocks, scared for his life. A chill seeped into his non-existent bones, and he shivered in fear.

After Leo had spent the rest of the day hidden, he reflected on his latest fight and realized that his body may have more potential than he had expected.

After the sun had set, Leo focused, and a small bump appeared on his body. At sunset, that bump became a protrusion around one inch long. With a thought, the protrusion was absorbed back into his body, and he repeated this repeatedly. Late into the night, Leo created a roughly two-inch protrusion before breaking for the night.

“Leo! Leo, wake up! We need to go before first light!”

Huh?

Leo woke up in the middle of the night and scanned his surroundings

I could have sworn someone was calling my name. Was I dreaming? I need to train even harder tomorrow.

After several days dedicated to training and surviving on plants, bugs, and small animals to combat the extra energy expenditure, Leo viewed his training results with pride. Two whip-like appendages extended from his body, each around two feet long. One of the whips retracted back into his body while the other grew thicker and reached around five feet. The single whip contained more power but less versatility; however, its strength was also its greatest weakness. The whip contained too much weight and mass, throwing him off balance. Using the power whip, Leo has to leverage himself against the ground to remain stable and unable to move.

The Dual whip and power whip prototypes are making good progress.

Satisfied with his results, Leo moved on to his practical tests.

Using his dual whips against a tree, he failed to damage the tree; however, his whips could maintain their form without falling apart. Switching to his power whip, he broke small chunks of bark.

It needs some work, but this could be a finisher move.

Moving on to his next test, Leo picked up a thick stick with his power whip and snapped it in half. Satisfied, Leo moved on to a rock roughly half his size. The rock was, as expected, too heavy; however, he could drag it towards him. Switching to his dual whips, Leo directed his whips in opposite directions, picked up small objects, and threw them repeatedly to test his mastery.

Constricting and strangling seem like it will be more effective than a standard whip.

Satisfied with his results and excited about his future progress, Leo finally moved on to the next step.

Time for a field test.

Leo gracefully rolled through the forest and came across something new.

A slime!

Leo came to a stop in shock. It’s been roughly a week, and this is the first time he has met another slime, regardless of whether it is one of the most common monsters capable of surviving almost any environment as long as it has a food source. The slime remained still as Leo approached and stopped a couple of feet out. Leo shivered in surprise as the slime made a little hop and almost touched him. The slime rubbed against Leo, and Leo felt a connection to it.

What?!

He could feel its contentment and joy over finding another of its kind.

This is… Are we sharing emotions?

Leo felt a wave of emotion that felt like reassurance and safety.

Slimes are actually incredible.

Leo embraced the shared connection momentarily before moving back and breaking the connection. After he rolled away, Leo noticed the slime started following him. After a moment, Leo stopped accelerating and slowed down so it could follow him. Leo traveled further into the forest than ever, avoiding many animals and monsters too powerful for him, and finally found a potential target. A roughly five-foot-long python sat on a low-hanging branch almost directly above him, waiting for prey. Leo moved directly below the branch, out of its line of sight, and reached up with his power whip. The whip was barely long enough, and Leo grabbed the python behind its head.

“Hiss!”

The python struggled furiously as Leo pulled it down and squeezed its neck with all his strength. The python thrashing threw Leo around like a ragdoll. However, he held on until it grew weaker and weaker, and then it stopped altogether. Leo held it until he was sure it was dead and pulled it into his body. Unfortunately, it was an ordinary but giant python with no mana shard, but it added an excellent volume to his energy reserves. After eating half of the python, the new slime jumped closer, and Leo viewed it thoughtfully.

Leo moved the remaining python corpse towards the new slime, which happily dissolved the snake. His new slime companion reminded him of a warmth he didn’t realize he lacked.

I should give you a name. Alexander sounds good.

Turning around, Leo eagerly returned to the forest after Alexander finished their meal.

Now, let’s go fuck some things up.