A contract. A deal made. A new Client. Contracted to be the newest monster for a dungeon, the new slime on the block differed from his predecessor. Unevolved and with a lot to prove.
She was a slime of starlight. A green slime that radiated her love for the world as she shimmered under the sun. Born to be in the spotlight, she could have made the world a better place. Yet, like a candle, the greed of another snuffed out that spark.
That is why his Client hired him, to seek revenge. If his sister was made for the spotlight, then he was born to plunge into the depths. Created from hatred for the filth that killed his sister, no action was off the table. He would become one with the seedy underbelly of their home, one with the darkness.
He would become the eclipse to his sister’s light. A slime contracted by a dungeon core, his Client, to slay the invaders.
A single cell of acidic internals, surrounded by a soft membrane. The reminder of his origins as bacteria, of his family before everything went the way it did. A past life of sorts, but none of that mattered now, as he only had a single purpose: vengeance.
The investigation began just as any other, at the scene of the crime. The Client’s informant had already discovered much about the killers before the slime even took the case. They were lowly insects, nothing more than faceless grunts. Bugs whose trail had gone cold from the sleet of winter that covered their tracks. Yet fresh prints filled the snow, as it would seem the killers returned to the scene of the crime to further desecrate it.
Predictable.
The slime’s bitter heart protected it from the frost-filled wind that stabbed like a spear through the mountains, and it would seem the insects were much the same. Two killers that hunted each other, ready to strike from the shadows. Nowhere was safe, not anymore, not for anyone.
As he stalked, he kept his senses sharper than a razor. Just beyond the crime scene, a brown form stood in stark contrast to the white landscape. It stood out like a beacon for the slime to follow. A lone ant dug through the snow as it tore into the moss that grew. Its back turned, never aware of the threat that loomed behind it.
Surprised and without backup, it could do nothing but struggle as the slime absorbed it. It lashed out from its suspension as it floated in the middle of his body. All attempts to bite and tear the thin membrane that kept it imprisoned failed. His body was only four inches across, but the ten centimeters was enough isolate the ant from the outside.
The ant’s struggle lost its determination as its movements stilled. Mana stolen from its victims returned to the Client once more. The ant’s exterior fizzled and dissolved, the pungent stench of death permeated its acidic grave and filled the air. Not the smell of rot, but the very scent that clung to his sister’s grave after all this time. A smell that marked him for death, as it was both a battle cry and a warning to the others.
They knew he was on his way, and they knew he was a threat.
The ant’s body still floated inside him as he marched on to face the others. It would take time to dissolve, time he didn’t have to wait around and let the perpetrators get away. He would face the scouts in the field before taking it to their home.
Pitiful insects swarmed through the tunnels of snow they had made to navigate undetected. An ambush to spring upon the detective, but he was one step ahead, being made of acid. Too small to devourer all of them, he had to make do with slower methods of exterior contact. A form the ants preferred, as their massive jaws clamped down upon his skin and tore. They would butcher him with barbaric ferocity.
The insects had learned a lesson from their fight with the green slime, but the wrong lesson. Acid flooded out of the wounds as it submerged the vanguard, hissing as it made contact. Some clung to each other and climbed to safety, but others weren’t so lucky. Submerged, they drowned in the guilt of their own actions.
> Invaders Slain: Mana gained
The Informant updated him about the death of another two of the insectoid gang members. Yet he was in no condition to pursue the others who fled. Not out of fear, but as they no longer saw him as a threat as he lay in a puddle on the ground. They would soon regret leaving him to die in a ditch.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
The slime tried to move, but that just tore his fragile skin even more. He may not have been dead yet, but he couldn’t do anything about his current predicament. That was just the way the detective crumbled, unable to act or pursue. He needed to take some time to heal, to plan his next attack, and to crack the case wide open.
Time to let the Client’s informant look over the corpses of the ants and help him prepare a new weapon.
----------------------------------------
New slime good slime. It [hunt] ants. [Kill] and [consume] ants.
Dungeon [grow, expand, conquer].
Ant full of mana. Invader good food. Slime then eat ant for mana. Double mana.
Slime currently flat. Hurt, it lay there and wait.
Ok, dungeon done waiting. Slime get up now.
Slime? Up, hunt ants now! Good, eat ant. Dungeon hungry.
> Understanding Increased: Simple body structure - head, body, limbs.
Useless words. Dungeon not need legs. Slime not need legs. Legs useless. Words useless.
Slime follow ants. Hunt food. Follow tunnel. Not care if too big, big makes strong. Slime hunt!
Yes, slime eat dirt. Tunnel bigger. Slime fit in tunnel now. Slime keeps hunting ants.
Monster found ant. Kill it. Dungeon wants food!!
Yes, mana good food. Ant good food.
> Understanding Increased: Exoskeleton
Hard shell… but ants weak. Slime has soft shell. Easy to hurt. Ants difficult to hurt. Slime needs hard shell!
Words useless, but dungeon have idea.
Slime evolves. Evolve make stronger. Hard shell makes stronger. Evolve slime!
> WARNING: No evolution path of ‘Shelled Slime’ is available at this time.
Words not evolve. Words need evolve slime. Slime need strong.
> INFORMATION: Able to apply knowledge to existing creature templates.
----------------------------------------
For a slime to sleuth the underbelly of the world he was born into. To most, it would be a shame to lower oneself to such a level, but for him, it was the only way. He was ready to face the dirt as he crawled through the earth.
Tunnels far too small, designed for his quarry. As a slime, he was quite double jointed and could fit in the tunnels regardless, but such confines made the hunt difficult. As he passed through each tunnel, his body ate away at the structure, widening it. He just had to be careful not to take too much, not to disturb the dirt as he pass. Lest the others learn his location.
Of course, for a slime, the abilities to have such thoughts and actually use them were two separate things. In reality, he just passed down each tunnel hunting.
Unfortunately, the ants had a welcoming party prepared for the slime’s arrival. They felt his presence and swarmed. In the tight tunnels, only two could reach him at a time, but that worked more in their favor than his.
The vanguard rushed to meet the intruder, only to be absorbed in an instant. They would drown, but there was always more to follow. The second pair was on the heels of the first. They were prepared as they clung to the cavern’s walls to anchor themselves as they bit at his body.
The ants were unprepared for the slime that invaded their home to be ready for their attack. Their mandibles latched onto its form, but it did not tear, not immediately. The slime had gotten the help of their Client to prepare a little something. The mana that filled their body had found purpose with the knowledge the investigation uncovered.
Every discovery changed who he was. Not enough to be a true evolution, yet there had been a small upgrade between the conflicts while he stitched himself back together. His defenses rose as the thin membrane of his body had hardened to form a pseudo-shell. It wouldn’t protect him from all the horrors he would face on the job, but it was enough to keep up the pressure.
No detective worth their salt would enter the enemy’s territory without a plan.
He persisted. The ant’s attacks did some damage, but not enough to slow him down. His touch was as corrosive as whisky, for another three ants to fall at his touch. The smell of their death filled the air once more. A scent he grew fond of, the sign of minor victories as they added up. The entire nest was on high alert, but there was no turning back now.
Especially as the insects streamed down a side tunnel to flank him. Cut off and surrounded, he was alone. Yet the slime had always been alone. It’s how he operated. The insects swarmed from all sides. He tried to take them all on, but it slowed him down. His focus divided, while they only had to focus on their footing. The tunnel’s structural integrity worsened with each moment he was there. He had to move, yet there was nowhere to retreat to. The passage collapsed. Rubble of the earth fell upon detective and gang members alike.
The ants had backup. Friends able to free them from the clutches of the earth. Alive and well, they would circle back around to finish off the detective. Only he wasn’t truly alone. The memory of his sister and the knowledge she passed on to his Client helped him. He knew what dirt was because of her; he could disassemble the earth to free himself, turning it into mana at the same time. It gave him room to maneuver and think. It wouldn’t be long until the next confrontation, but it was enough to eat the corpses he had collected so far. Their mana became one with the dungeon, and the voice of the Informant let him know as much.
> Monster Adaptation Available: Slime
> Selected, evolving slime…
> Evolution successful: Cavern Slime
It would seem the detective really was born to become one with the filth of the underworld. Oh, the irony.