"Roderick!" One of the staff members burst into his office. "We might have a situation."

Roderick groaned as he stared at the mountain of paperwork on his desk. Harris had certainly kept this aspect of the job in the dark from him, and he was undoubtedly having some second thoughts lately.

"What's the issue?" Roderick asked, trying to hide his displeasure.

"Old Tom says something happened to the slimes. He's requesting an urgent meeting with you and Harris at his house."

"Don't tell me the goblins are back..." Roderick muttered angrily.

The staff member could only gesture in confusion. He hadn't received any more detail about the situation. Roderick grabbed his coat and briskly left the guild.

'I swear if it's goblins again, I'll personally shove my shield down their throat...'

Roderick arrived at Tom's house, knocking and hastily entering to escape the cold. Harris had already arrived and was casually chatting with Tom; judging by their relaxed disposition, it appeared the news hadn't been brought up yet.

"Glad you could make it," Harris said. "Paperwork keeping you busy?"

Roderick grunted a response while Tom gestured for him to take a chair.

"So, what's happening, Tom? Is it the bloody goblins again?" Roderick asked.

"I'm not actually sure what it is..." Tom said, frowning deeply and exposing his tanned wrinkles. "Many slimes have gone missing, presumably killed, but it's not like the last time."

Old Tom reached under the table and pulled out a bag, which he opened on the table to reveal various flasks, canteens, and potion vials.

"What's all this?" Roderick asked.

"These were left in the slime field," Tom answered. "Each one seems to contain slime."

"So some bastard harvested our slimes and left behind a consolation prize?" Roderick spat, feeling frustrated.

"I don't think that's the case," Tom responded. "I had my alchemist friend look at it, and he nearly lost his mind."

"What do you mean?" Harris asked curiously.

"He said it's the purest slime he's ever seen. Far beyond anything ever recorded." Tom replied. "He asked me if I knew who refined it."

Roderick sighed as he massaged his temples in frustration, a headache brewing. "So some mad alchemist experimented on our slimes?"

"Sounds plausible..." Harris muttered, then he picked up one of the vials. "Maybe you're too young to recognize this, Roderick, but this potion vial is ancient."

Old Tom actually nodded. "That's what bugged me too. Vials in that style haven't been around for decades."

"So what does this mean?" Roderick sighed. "Do we have to worry about some powerful ancient alchemist wizard?"

"Well, considering he left behind payment. Perhaps not?" Harris responded. "Any idea how much this is worth?"

"My buddy says it's worth a fortune. Easily more than we'd make a year if not more." Tom shrugged.

Roderick had mixed feelings, but Harris actually started laughing.

"Sounds like we lucked out. A mysterious alchemist drops by and advances our income by a year?" Harris chuckled cheerily.

"Perhaps..." Roderick admitted. "We need to keep this hushed. We can't let the Stantons hear about it."

"No complaints from me. Those bastards would steal all the money." Tom spat.

"I'm more worried about them using the money to flee before Whitney finishes her investigation," Roderick said in a hushed tone.

Harris whistled. "Exciting times."

"At least it's not goblins." Tom gave a gap-toothed grin.

***

The next morning, we had another hearty breakfast and chatted about our plans for the day. Darmod would take one of the chests to his client and arrange for the silver core, and then we would meet up for lunch at one of the nicer establishments.

Meanwhile, Thern and I were going to do some shopping. Thessa would have loved to join us, but she, unfortunately, had to deliver the furnace heart to the forges.

"Bah! Don't let those crocodile tears fool ya." Thern barked out. "Ma prefers a forge to any living person. I bet she wants to be the first to test out the new heart."

Following Thern, we headed toward the merchant's district. The hustle and bustle of the crowd were intense, and there were so many people it was a little claustrophobic. Despite literally standing out amongst the dwarves, it was great that they seemed to pay me no extra attention and were much more interested in getting their own business done.

We explored various stores, but none of them really caught my interest until we found a blacksmith. I ended up purchasing the smallest weapon of each different metal or alloy I could find. While I could have saved money by just getting a raw ingot, I decided against that route because it might indicate that I was planning to do something with silver slime.

The mithril rapier I ended up purchasing was the most expensive, and I deeply regretted that I'd be eating it later since it looked magnificent. Thern bought himself a few different hammers, and while he lamented their cost, he said it was worth it to get the dwarven quality assurance.

After our shopping was done, we made our way to the food court, where Thern explored a few breweries while we waited for our appointment.

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Lunch finally arrived, and we met up with Darmod, but Thessa was nowhere to be seen.

"I bet Ma won't be showing up," Thern said. "She's probably got herself lost in the forge."

"Looks like it..." Darmod said with a knowing sigh as we entered the establishment.

While the decor wasn't on par with the best I'd seen, the food on display far exceeded my expectations. The portions were absolutely massive, and it seemed this restaurant specialized in the strangest steaks available. The meat variety ranged from drakes to basilisks to worms, and I was utterly intrigued and deeply regretful that food on its own wasn't enough to qualify for a profile.

"Worm meat is soft and juicy. But if you want my recommendation, go for basilisk." Darmod suggested. "It's tough, and you'll need to fight with your teeth, but the taste is worth it!"

It seemed relatively the same to me, so I followed his advice. When Thern and Darmod dug into their meals, you could audibly hear the crunching in their teeth, as if they were chewing on rocks, but the look of bliss on their faces showed how much they enjoyed it.

I had to admit, it did not disappoint, and finally, I could say I had eaten something that surpassed Trevor's inn. Best of all, I didn't need to struggle with my meal since I could easily dissolve my way through it. Clearly, the dwarves had been expecting a reaction, and their disappointment was evident on their faces.

"What the bloody hell are elf teeth made out of," I overheard Thern muttering to himself in a whisper.

When it came for after-meal drinks, Darmod finally opened a pouch and placed an iron-gray core on the table for me. "Well, Syl. Here's your silver core."

I gingerly picked it up and examined it in my hand. A tiny crack and hole in the sphere indicated how they had killed the slime—almost like they had driven a thin nail through it.

"Thank you very much!" I said eagerly.

I pocketed the core but then withdrew it inside myself.

'Yes!'

'Wow, that was a low-level slime. Still, I could work on leveling up the trait myself, and then if I can get some more cores, I can perhaps bypass the slower levels.'

I wanted to read the trait and profile but held back while I was still in active conversation.

"Any mention about me doing some hunting work for them?" I asked.

"They were interested but hesitant that you could do the job," Darmod admitted with a sigh. "Someone said you came from the human lands where the monsters are still relatively weak."

"That's a load of hogwash!" Thern disagreed angrily. "She bloody killed an Inferno Salamander! By herself! I'd like to see one of those shitheads even survive in its presence."

"I know, son. I agree, and I argued as such," Darmod quickly responded. "They just want her to do a quest or two with the guild, and then we can slap that in their face as proof."

"Sure. Sounds good to me," I replied calmly. "I was going to go hunting anyway, regardless of their opinions. I want to see what's out there!"

"I can't wait to see the regret on their faces when they didn't jump on your offer sooner," Darmod said with a smirk. "And when they run out of that alcohol, we can fleece them good!"

Once we left the restaurant, I finally looked at my new trait.

<[Metal Slime LV 2]

This slime contains the properties of various ores and metals and can harden and transmute itself at will to mimic them; the strength and advantages gained heavily depend on the type of metal chosen.

While the slime's usual outside factors, such as density, affect this trait's usage positively, its primary scaling comes from its level, and the strength of its metals will be significantly hindered if they surpass the trait level.

Different metals can be mixed at a reduced strength for each combination except for compatible and proven alloys, which provide a small bonus.

Additional metal types must be acquired through sampling ores, metals, or alloys.

Available metals: Tin.

Compatible with other slime traits.>

'Interesting... Unlike my other traits, it's heavily dependent on both the trait level and the metals I have available. I'm glad I didn't pick this as my evolution option. Also, I wonder what hindering metals above the level means?'

I secretly started depositing small pieces of various metals inside my stomach to dissolve.

<[Copper] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

'Also, I just realized the trait only showed tin as available, meaning it wasn't retroactive. I'm glad I decided to save my metals.'

<[Gold] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Bronze] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Steel] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Mana-Enriched Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

'Interesting. That silver ore is classified as different.'

<[Electrum] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Iron] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Lead] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Lead Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

'I'm so going to catch Trixie and prank her when I see her! Assuming my [Metal Slime] level is high enough to mimic this correctly.'

Unfortunately, I'd have to wait till I got home to eat my adamantine hammer and mithril rapier. I couldn't think of a way to sneakily deposit them inside my thin, elven frame.

I was curious about what else I might count as an ore, so I started withdrawing other things and taking a small nibble out of them. Most of my tests were unfruitful, but I did get one shocking revelation.

<[Floatstone] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

'Seriously, floatstone is an ore?'

While I desperately wanted to start experimenting, I couldn't leave as Darmod was playing tour guide for me. Although I could swear his tour was just an excuse to go on a city-wide drinking binge.

I looked over the silver slime profile and noticed it had [Shape Slime] and [Pseudopod]. This go-to combo was a blast from my past, and I wondered how different my life would have been if I had started as something other than blue.

When we finally started heading back, we picked up some food from a stall on the way home. I was curious why, but it became quite apparent when we arrived at an empty home.

"Ma's gonna be stuck in the forge all night." Thern chuckled.

"I wish you never told her about that new forge heart," Darmod joked.

Finally, alone in my room, I pulled out my mithril rapier and adamantine hammer. Surprisingly, both took quite a while to dissolve despite the full might of my [Acid Slime]. The adamantine especially seemed to refuse to dissolve until I cast [Erode] on it to assist in my digestion.

<[Mithril] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Adamantine] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

'I gained a level just from sampling metals! Ha!'

Eagerly, I formed a [Pseudopod] and then activated [Metal Slime]; I started with iron as I assumed it would work flawlessly despite the low level. A metallic sheen glimmered, and I watched my slime take on the new trait.

I started shifting the tendril into various weapons and couldn't help but be amazed at the perfection. Previously, my weapon mimicry was as close to real as possible; anyone observing likely could not tell the difference, but now, not even I could tell this wasn't an iron sword, and I knew it was literally my slime.

'Okay! Let's try out mithril!'

I mentally changed the metal selection and watched in real time as it transmuted from gray into silvery blue. It was beautiful; it was magnificent. Then, the sword flopped like a wet noodle, and if I wasn't keeping tight control over its density and form, I knew it would be falling apart before my very eyes.

'So... I'm guessing this is the significant hindering mentioned in the description.'

It was a little disheartening to see such a loss of control over my slime; I knew I could have made a stronger sword without the trait at all compared to this result. But I knew it held significant potential, and leveling it up would be one of my highest priorities.