"So let me see if I understand this right," I deadpan, {See Through} and the other scouts having finished going over our attack strategy. "We're going to split up into groups. Play a game of hide and find with the humungous killing machine. Then, and this is where you're losing me, we just try ideas until one works?"
"Correct," {See Through} bobs, another two or three scouts also confirming the accuracy of my summary.
"...Surely you see how easily that plan could end up in a disaster?" I wish I had eyes to massage. I just feel it would make my question really pop. "These thing track prey by smell, what if they catch our scent? We won't be able to hide from them!"
A few of the scouts, {See Through} included, stare at me, perplex-
Oh, come on!
"What is 'sme-?'" The clear slime doesn't even get to finish their question before I convey to the group a quick and dirty concept of what a sense of smell is. "Oh. Is taste-of-nothing," they bob, pleased with the information. "We know this! Slime taste the-nothing-around, which sometimes taste of things close by." They give me a comforting pulse. "Not worry. Slime have no taste, not even in the-nothing-around."
"Wait, we don't have a scent?" But I thought that big hyena that found me when I first got here was tracking me with its nose? What led it to me then?
Flashing in confirmation, {See Through} isn't finished. "Happy for suggestions. What slimes do to win?"
Rippling in surprise, I look around at a crowd of expectant membranes. "W-why me? You've all been doing this a lot longer..."
{Bubble} is the one to answer my question. "We not have suggestion. Think of... tactics... hard without Big." The rest ripple in agreement, displaying not a lick of shame at the admission. Do they just rely on Big too much? That can't be right, they're away from the fort all the time... Big said that a Slime Commander helps their kind work together... maybe they have some kind of effect on the mental capabilities of slimes in their vicinity? That's probably something worth verifying.
Or, I could just ask them. But that's for later. For now...
"I'm happy with the first half of the plan, making it look for us is good. But maybe we can figure out a way to restrain it," I suggest. "That way, we can get one of you guys down its throat without quite so much risk."
The group considers my words, but they don't seem confident. "Is good idea," {See Through} glows uncertainly, "but Predator too strong to fight. No slime strong enough."
"Oh, don't you worry, there won't be just one of us." The glow I give in response is somewhere between a knowing smile and a menacing leer. "And besides, we don't need to be strong enough to fight it... just smart enough to get someone inside."
----------------------------------------
"Everyone in position?" Glowing the words out into empty space, I trust that {See Through}, the invisible linchpin of our formation, has everything under control. My membrane twitches, feeling the instinct to smile despite my lack of a mouth, when a pulse of affirmation colours a small patch of air about fifteen feet away from my position. The clear slime doesn't drop their ghost mode, a precaution due to their proximity to our target.
Looming just as large as the first of its kind I encountered, the Adult Monster Hyena leaps carefully from rock to mossy rock across the uneven terrain within this patch of forest, the carcass of what looks like some kind of long legged, land based bird dangling from between its jaws to drag against the ground every few steps. It took us a good chunk of time spent advance scouting, but the location we've found gives us as good an advantage as we're going to get.
Waiting for the signal to be given, I ready myself, condensing into the smallest ball I can form. This is probably the second most integral step of our attack, so it needs to go well, or the group following us will be sitting ducks.
A sudden, brilliant flare of slimelight fills the vaguely open stretch of ground, achieved between two lines of trees separated from one another ever so slightly by a small stream burbling between the rocks. As one, the three Baby Slimes and I are catapulted from our Adult shot takers in high arcs, our view of the ground one of rounded, uneven stones, slabs and boulders littering the ground like so much gravel, if it were gravel for a giant's garden.
Us four projectiles, fired by those of the scouts with the highest levels in Slime Shot, begin our downwards arc toward our target; the top of the hyena's head, the monster it is attached getting ready to hop over the barely two foot wide trickle of water.
Aaand... impact!
"YARP!"
"Bloody 'ell! This one's feisty!" With a yelp of glee, I latch onto the snout of a hyena twice the size of an eighteen wheeler, currently trying its best to shake me off like a wet towel. But we have a job to do, and although we'll struggle, by Attenborough, do we intend to get. It. Done!
Two of the babies have already worked their way into the monster's twitching ears, doing their best to plug them tight. The other managed to land right on target, plastering themselves over its eyes to reduce the monsters visibility, like a hyper annoying facial mask.
I, of course have the most dangerous job. As I'm the Baby Slime with the most advanced mutations, I have the enviable position of running interferen-
"Garrrr!"
"Oh no you don't!" Simmering with vaguely suppressed fury, I set my digestive molecules to attacking the hyena's sensitive snout the second I spy one of its paws twitch up towards its ear. "I'm the most annoying one, come for m-
AH SHIT!"
I barely manage to slip out of the way of a swiping paw, bunching my mass up the front and out of the way of the razor sharp claws. Experiencing a flash of inspiration- or maybe that's {See Through} signalling the others to begin phase two -I take all of my bunched up mass and shove, pushing as far as I can inside this thing's nostrils.
[Engulf has reached Level 3]
"YIP-! ARP!"
Oh, it does not like that! "HA! Take that, you mangy- GWAH!" I don't get the chance to finish my taunt, the hyena slamming its snout into one of the many flat slabs of stone scattered around this break in the trees. Damn! I may have some resistance to impacts, but this thing outmuscles me by a freaking ton. It doesn't matter that I'm slime, this thing is strong enough to splat me regardless! Weathering another impact that thunders through my mass like Vulcan going a little hard on the lightning bolt forge, I take a peek at the corner of my mind.
Holding on tight as our target throws its head wildly back and forth, trying its damnedest to dislodge the tightly secured slimes, I weigh my options. I've dropped from twelve hit points down to ten. I wish my rest could have topped up my hit points, but it seems I'll need to rely on food for that. Oh well, that's why we're here in the first place.
I decide it's in my best interests to cut my losses before the hyena splatters the mass I've left outside its nostrils. I pull myself free, leaving the monster's schnoz raw and slick with a film of blood. Good, that should keep it distracted from-
I never stood a chance in hell of seeing it coming.
The paw hits me like those videos of a train running through a car parked on the tracks. Despite the diffuse nature of my perception, I lose track of my surroundings, the strike hurling me off the monster's snout like I am a mere fly sideswiped by the Hand of God. I careen into the water below like a literal cannonball, feeling the hit even through my purported resilience to blunt trauma.
My velocity eaten by the surface tension of the small stream, I come to rest on the pebbles and stones below, worn smooth by long years of this small stream's constant erosion, fighting to kick my dazed mind back into gear.
How in the shit did I survive that? I caught a brief glimpse of claws before I was belted like a squash ball, I should have been torn to ribbons at the very least. Pushing off stones, I breach the surface and get my answer almost immediately.
The hyena dropped their catch almost the second we landed, reactively trying to snap at whatever was attacking it. The carcass beneath it, coupled with the uneven terrain, means the monster has been unable to manoeuvre for fear of losing its footing, a key part of why we chose this as the site of our ambush. Watching the hyena shaking its paw around, trying to stamp out the barely visible glob of slime wrapping and writhing around it, I come to the conclusion that {See Through} must have taken full advantage of our target's immobility.
They are putting on a masterclass in stubborn attachment. They slide around this thing's paw like oil on a hot pan, never in the way when it tries to dislodge them, but always covering the claws when the monster takes a swipe at the slimes dogpiling it.
And you better believe this canine is being. Dog. Piled. Phase two of the attack is well underway despite the short time since our assault began, two trios of slimes ramming into one leg each on the left side, one of the slimes attacking the rear leg copying {See Through}'s tactic to protect the others, while the last trio lie in wait at the waters edge near the hyena's head for their chance-
Coming to the abrupt realisation that I've just been staring at my compatriots' assault for the better part of three solid seconds, I leap back into action. What am I doing, I can't leave them to do this alone! Even one slime either way could tip the balance in-!
Oh, how terribly right I am.
"Hyeheehaha!"
"NO! {MASK}!" I howl, seeing the Baby Slime that was covering the hyena's eyes be splattered against a stone when the flea infested, carrion licking, dead mutt walking whips to the right, chancing the unstable footing, and successfully manages to slam a headbutt into a nearby rock, leaving the little one dazed and alone, separated from the rest of the group.
"Nononono, NO!" The frantic light of my moans spills out of me while I pull myself along the water's edge, the current pushing me downstream, getting me closer to coming alongside the baby and the visage of death looming above them. Frantic, I throw up my status, barely paying attention to what I see, navigating by Intent alone as I come level with the newly dubbed {Mask} and bound out of the water, using the rocks as springboards like I did oh so long ago back in the tunnels, running from danger.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Only this time, I'm running toward it.
Only this-... no.
I'm not running toward danger, I realise, watching the Predator's neck muscles bunch, its too many needle sharp teeth parting ever so slightly as those hate filled eyes train on the minuscule existence before it. I'm running to protect someone, my little sibling, from the danger threatening them. In all honesty, the prospect of throwing myself at those teeth couldn't be further from my mind.
What crystallises my focus, what has my instincts raging in harmony alongside each other, is the prospect, the calling- the need to make sure that I'm the one in their path, not {Mask}.
That focus, the crystal clarity of my intent, brings with it a cooling torrent of understanding. I have a goal, and now I know what I need to do to achieve it. Throwing myself forward, unable to so much as call out a distraction, I open myself like a parachute, enclosing myself around a pocket of air like a I'm filling a plastic bag. It slows me down, but I have to hope my crazy idea pays off. Right as I land, I open a flap in my membrane, making sure it's just a little bit loose.
Pffbbbttt!
The weight of my mass comes down on the pocket of air I have trapped within my membrane and I help it along, pushing it out of the vibrating flap. The sound of a whoopie cushion firing echoes off the stone and trees around us, surprisingly loud in the otherwise empty space. The hyena pauses, its head remaining fixed in {Mask}'s direction while its eye flicks in mine. I don't have time to consider my next move, so I simply act.
"Oi, you fuckin' pound reject! Your mother was a bottle of bath salts and your father smelled of cat piss!" My recrimination flares bright, accompanied by my waggling of a tongue-like appendage their way in the most infuriatingly fifth grade manner possible.
I'm aware the idiot can't understand me, but it's important to submerge myself in the role, regardless of my audience's reading skills.
My attempt at communication appears to have been effective. The hyena's eye narrows, obviously interpreting my opinion of it's parentage through my Academy Award winning acting. Preparing for the monster to turn it's attention to me, I feel my Mana Heart drop through the floor when it snaps its head down, teeth bared to rip the baby below to shreds.
"AARRG-!"
My tortured scream races across me like a vision of the fires of hell, mind stalling, disjointed thoughts tripping over themselves in their speed to think of something, anything that could get me there in t-
Flying at speed from behind and to my right, a trio of wooden needles, more akin to splinters than any real weapon, strike the side of the Predator's face. Two of the tiny projectiles bounce harmlessly off the thick, tufted hide, but one flies straight and true, embedding itself in the corner of a large, rage filled eye.
"YYARPP!"
Jolting back with its eyes squeezed shut, the hyena's rear left foot, still under attack by one of our trios, slips off the edge of the moss covered rock it lands on. Scrabbling to retain its footing, I see the moment it looses the battle for balance, {See Through} letting themselves be stepped on to ensure the monster can't get traction on the rocks. It slams into the ground onto its left side, the tiny splinter lodged in its eye shoved even deeper by a rounded rock that is ever so slightly taller than the ones beside it.
I barely register the monster's pained yips, my progression never having halted from the moment I left the water. Mana sense locked on the head almost twice my size thrashing around on the ground, the torrent of knowledge that has been flooding my mind, shoved into the background since I caught the hyena's attention, finishes settling. Drawing on this new knowledge immediately, I focus on the leading face of my mass, pouring all of my vigour into it as I race toward my target.
A couple moments later I arrive, on the precipice of losing my momentum, watching, watching, waiti- THERE!
By now the mass at the front of my body feels heavy and dense, glowing with a colourless radiance in my mana sense. Honing in on this moment between thrashes, I condense all that mass empowered by Slam into a blunt pike aimed directly for my target's undamaged left eye. Driving myself forward with a bounce, the fleshy orb offers little to no resistance, squished inside the monster's head like an overripe grape pressed into a bowl while its owner yowls.
My improvised pike isn't very long, barely an inch or so, and the surrounding eye socket arrests a good deal of my momentum, the sound of it cracking echoing through my mass. Regardless, in the place of what was once a functioning ocular organ, there is now nothing but a bloody divot, any pulpy eye stuff that didn't get pushed further inside leaking down the tear ducts.
"Take tha- woah!" I yelp, my crow of victory cut short when the hyena throws me off, sailing through the air for a solid second before plapping down atop a rock a short distance away. "Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Crawling back to continue my assault, I can see the other slimes have the same idea. The ones who helped bring it down at the legs are pounding into its underbelly, while the trio of ninja enthusiasts that saved the day have begun their attempted incursion into the monster's maw. It even looks like the two babies still holding fast within the monster's ears are going to town, the vivid light of their battle cries signalling that they're digesting for all they're worth.
Assessing for where I'll be the most helpful, I see {Mask}, the tough little guy, hopping up onto the monster's head near where I de-eyed it. Yeah, you get 'em little fella! Show this mutt the tenacity of a slime I cheer in support while hustling my way over to the trio waiting at the front of the head; they're likely watching for a gap in its teeth that persists long enough to let one of them inside.
I've just arrived, ready to start laying into this thing's jaw with my newly purchased Slam Skill, when the hyena goes stiff as a board. Then it starts convulsing, flopping and flailing about like a fish on land, before slumping like a puppet with its strings cut, saliva hanging in ropes from its slack jaw.
...huh?
"What happened?" Just as I'm turning to ask the trio beside me, I see a couple slimes creep up the monster's side to survey it from the top. "We didn't get anyone down to choke it yet, did we?"
One of them pulsing in the negative, I wrack my metaphorical brain, wondering what the heck could have happened to cause thi-?
"We. Predator defeat! Yay!" {Mask} suddenly appears atop the hyena's cheeckbone, their excitement a beacon of victory that sends the expedition into raucous celebration, visible through the gore caking their membrane, sloughing off in sheets, as they climb out of the monster's eye socket. Gobsmacked, I bounce up next to the Baby Slime, taking in their rather grisly visage.
"So uhh... {Mask}," I inquire, eyeing the cavity leading into the deceased monster's cranium. "What'd you do?"
Still trembling with excitement, the little slime, equal to me in size, beams forth their gratitude and awe. "Monster. Weak inside. You. Make hole. Go inside. Eat. Voice say defeated!" Pulsing excitedly, they're obviously very proud of themselves. "Voice say lots. Have 'evolution options'. Grow bigger?"
"Oh wow. So you, uh... ate its brain. G-good on you," I strobe, trying to reconcile the horrifically gory mental and visual image with the cute little blob of cuteness before me. "Yes, it sounds like you got a bunch of levels all at once, which means you can evolve into an Adult Slime like the other scouts. Congratulations!" Good for you, little fella, I'm certainly not going to complain about losing out on the XP if it means one of the littlies less advanced than me is safe.
"Woooow," they ripple, their awe like a soothing rain, loosening my membrane after the intensity of the ambush. I see them loosen up also, showing that same languid quality the other do when their mind is far away.
"Ah ah!" Flashing hastily, I roll into them to bring them back. "No evolving out here! Better to wait until we're safely back inside the fort, that way nothing bad can happen. I'll even go through it with you, I might be able to help." And learn some things about evolution on the way. "Besides, its pretty much never a good idea to rush into decisions that impact your future like this, and it'll be fun, trust me!"
Wobbling their thanks, the little slime flashes their agreement. "Okay. Will wait."
"Good to hear. Now," I tack on absently, trying to spy our translucent leader, "let's figure out how we're going to haul all this stuff back."
It isn't until I'm halfway through talking logistics with {See Through}, who's sent a runner back to the fort to request Big's help in transporting the carcasses, that we realise we never got to practice actually suffocating the hyena.
----------------------------------------
A mere hour and change later finds our group, with the addition of Big, reaching the submerged bones of the small island within which the fort resides, crawling slowly around the rocky circumference until we come to a horizontal rent in the stone almost as tall as big themselves. Slipping inside, we follow the break in the rock as the edges narrow, sloping down before abruptly angling up, where we have to wait for Big to break in smaller pieces the half of hyena they're carrying in order to fit it through the narrow corner.
After that it's a straight shot up into the bottom of a secluded cave, three-quarters filled with water, which is currently occupied by four slimes; one Adult and three Babies, having a swell 'ol time in what {Bubble} informs me is one of the playrooms where slimes play swimming games. It also doubles as the fort's largest entrance, only really used when the hunters are particularly successful and bring down a big monster.
I asked Big on the way over why we don't use this in place of the surface entrance, and I was informed that simply being in this part of the lake is a risk. The immense monster that resides here apparently makes its nest on this side of the lake, somewhere between the shore and the island. Thankfully it doesn't show itself, allowing us inside unaccosted, but I am in no hurry to live out my thalassophobia-inducing Subnautica nightmares by frequenting this route, thank you very much.
It doesn't take long for word to spread of our return, everyone gathering in the Big Room beneath the light of the Dungeon Crystal, the only place large enough to accommodate all sixty-odd of us alongside the two massive hauls. There's no fanfare, no grand speech congratulating us for our efforts. Slimes just set to eating as they come, asking our group what happened, thanking and hyping us up as they do.
I watch from off to the side with {Mask}, having eaten my portion early on. This is the most food many of the slimes here have seen in a long time according to Big, but feeding everyone is no mean feat, so once Mr Attenborough told me I had gained an Impurity I stepped back and let the others go at it. Apparently, a single Impurity can sustain us for a pretty solid period of time, though Big and {See Through} need to eat a little more to get the notification than most of us do, so once a slime hears those sonorous tones they wait until everyone has eaten before going back for seconds.
I've been keeping an eye out, but I'm surprised to see no one sneaking more than they need. I would have expected it to at least be worth a mention, but there was no sign of any warning or reminders when we brought the food in; the slimes that come in just go at it, stopping abruptly once they receive their notification, then crawl off to socialise, more coming in behind them. Some even dissolve off a small piece and just carry it straight over to the steadily swelling gathering, digesting while they chat and play.
"I didn't exactly expect a melee," I glow softly to my nearby companion, currently sitting atop the reason for my separation from the festivities, "but this seems almost too orderly. I thought there was a food shortage, or at least the whispers of one; why is everyone so chill?"
Wobbling a little, they stabilise themselves atop the object before answering. "Hunters. Work hard. Win hunt game. Give slime food. From game. Respect. Thanks. Eat too much. Spoil game. Mean to hunters."
"Oh, that makes sense." So no one overeats because they'd be spoiling the hunter's game... yeah, no, I don't get it at all, but there's no roughhousing or cutting in line over food, and that's the main thing. "Anyway! I think it's about time we decide what to do with this little beauty here!" Crawling up next to the rock-like Mana Heart we found while dissecting the hyena for easy transport, I consider the possibilities, the prompt I receive upon making contact memorised to the point of recitation.
[Mana Heart detected. Assimilate and convert into evolutionary mass? This process also transfers evolutionary mass stored within to your own Mana Heart.]
Decisions, decisions.
Initially I suggested giving it to Big, seeing as they're kind of the linchpin of this whole operation here, but they were adamant that because my information was the only reason we were even out and managed to take down the monster in the first place, that I should have it. {See Through} was of the same mind, so the Heart is mine to do with as I wish.
With {Mask}'s evolution coming up, however, I've been presented with the opportunity to guide the development of a pure, non-reincarnated-human slime. I have no idea how much XP they got from finishing off what turned out to be a level seven Adult Monster Hyena, and {Mask} said they were already level three before all this, so going by how quickly I advanced by beating things a few evolutions and levels ahead of me, I'd say there's a slim possibility they could catch up or even surpass my progress once they use this evolution to catalyse a Mana Heart. I've been talking about it with them, explaining my reasoning, and they are more than happy to trust in my belief that an early Mana Heart leads to greater potential.
If that's the case, I should save this Mana Heart for them, to give them as much evolutionary mass as possible in case they immediately jump straight to level five again. On the other hand of course, I'm nearing that benchmark myself, so I should at least look at stocking my Mana Heart full up in readiness for that. Now that I know I can assimilate Mana Hearts rather than relying solely on converting XP into evolutionary mass, I have an avenue for stockpiling both at the same time; provided I can locate more Mana Hearts.
And I just so happen to know exactly where one such commodity has been tucked away.
"Well {Mask}, how about we leave this lot to get up to their own thing? We have an evolution to help you through, and then, I'm thinking of planning a little road trip for the two of us."