I went outside into the forest with Slime in tow. Sword in hand, I swung my sword at imaginary enemies, honing my skills. They had gotten rusty from inuse; my strikes were sloppy and my stance weak. Getting into another fight without polishing up would be risky, and who knew when the next one could be.

  "Want to practice fighting?" I asked the slime. It rolled quietly to itself, side to side.

  No need, it replied, shining its metal surface, Can kill anyone.

  I laughed, "I like the confidence, but be careful not to be arrogant."

  The slime rolled around, What do you mean?

  I stopped my swinging and dug the tip of my sword into the ground, leaning on it, "Well, there are a lot of people in the world. Many of them are powerful, entire levels stronger than us. We woule have no chance in a fight against them right now - unless we get stronger."

  The slime left it shades in the tree and hopped over to me. Then let's fight!

  "You want to practice too?" With a grin I said, "That's a good attitude to have." I took my stance in the open field and waited for the slime to make its move. I was trained to fight monsters - I had even killed slimes before as practice. They were weak things, considered easy practice targets, but I knew this one ws different.

  It launched itself at me, the headbutt tactic my shins have become so used to. I dodged it and it flew past me. The surface of the slime rippled and out shot a tendril.

  "Woah!" I cried out, the darting appendage catching me off-guard. I dropped to the floor and it zoomed past me and retracted back.

  I missed. The slime said as if it was dissapointed. Three more tendrils rippled out from its metallic body and spiraled towards me. Two I dodged, one stabbing the dirt and the other smashing into a tree. The third I had to parry with my sword, sliding it off and away. It flowed like water, but it was still metal. It grinded and sparked off my sword.

  I took my chance and charged the slime. I danced through the metal appendages using my sword to block my way through. "You are going to have to do better than that, Slime!" In a few strides, I had broken through its defense of metal limbs. I swung down with my sword at the stationary slime, intending to hold off at the last second as to not actually hurt it.

  From its body emerged another limb, but it morphed and shapted into a hand. The slime caught the sword in its makeshift handand tossed me back. You are going to have to do better than that, Master. 

  Air blew through my nose as I caught myself. Cheeky little slime was mocking me. With the way the slime was fighting, I didn't think either of us were going to come out on top; If I pressed in, the slime could check me with his metal, and I could dodge its attacks from afar.

   The slime swung an appendage but not at me. It was sideways lash, and from it came out metal darts flying at me. I dove to the side and the projectiles wizzed by, driving into the trees with a satisfying thunk. "You're getting better at this, aren't you?" My body tremebled slightly. This slime was a monster and now it was a smart one. Deep down, I had a feeling it wasn't even fighting seriously yet. I was glad it was on my side.

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  Another volley of metal projectiles flung themselves at me. I scrambled out of the way and the slime began its rain of terror. "Are you trying to kill me?!" I yelled at the murderous little shit. The metal darts were no joke - a sustained barrage of them cut through a tree I was hiding behind.

  No, it replied, I'm trying to win.

  Then I would have to try harder, I decided. Buying time by running between cover, I tried to formulate a plan in my head. Approaching Slime right now seemed impossible. Between the metal tentacles and the metal balls flying everywhere, I wasn't getting anywhere close without being skewered. I would have to change something.

  The slime had been evolving. It was painfully clear now. Between the metal, icnreased intelligence, and now tactical fighting ability, the slime had been improving and developing in ways I never saw. Why, I thought, couldn't I be the same? If nutrients like mana were a catalyst for the growth and evolution of the slime, why could it not be used for other monsters - or even myself.

  A loud crack popped out and another tree toppled over. I had as much time as I had stamina, which given by increasingly heavy body and shortness of breath wasn't much. I needed to transform the mana I have been storing in my body into something useful. Though it was an idea I have been meaning to try, I didn't expect to attempt it under such duress.

  Somehow, someway, I needed to get to Slime, to end the fight in my victory. I opened up the reserve of mana within myself and started to churn and turn it. I diffused it throughout my body. I felt my energy return, but no signs of evolution. I kept running. I kept pumping mana. Something had to happen eventually.

  And the miasma came. It was thick, dense. A byproduct of my mana expenditure. With the miasma came a strange sensation within the depths of my being. I had churned through most of my mana and in the void it left was the feeling of power. What that power was, I had no idea, but it pulled at me, telling me to charge, telling me that I can make it to the slime.

  I trused my gut and charged the slime. A volley of metal tendrils and projectiles flung at me. I called forth the power that now festered in me. My body felt light, my existence hazy. I wasn't going faster, but the attacks were going through me. 

  How?! The slime seem expressed in utter confusion.

  "Victory is mine!" I exclaimed. My mana was draining fast, a consequence of phazing through all the attacks. I ran at the slime at full speed. My sword wouldn't dent the little shit, so I tossed it to the side. "You're mine now!" The slime was frozen, paralyzed by the sudden turn of events. I tackled the metal ball and rolled through the dirt with it. It was surprisingly soft and spongy. Out of breath and out of mana, I wheezed out, "Got you."

  The slime was relaxed under my weight. I could tell as its surface was not tensed or purely metal. It was quiet, so I worried if it was okay, then it said in a hush voice, You win, I lose. It admited defeat, but it wasn't in despair from loss nor simmering in anger from being bested. Slime seemed happy.

  "Sorry about that," I said as I got off the slime, "I was crushing you there for a little to long."

  It's fine. You won. Slime said as if implying whatever I did would be okay just because I won.

  "How about we call it a day here?" The heat from the sun coupled with the work out had generated quite the sweat. The slime bounced in agreement with the idea. "Does a bath sound good?" In the depths of the dungeon in the original slime room, the crater I made was now filled with water. While I haven't made a proper bath, this would do splendidly. The dungeon was able to absorb and dissolve all the excess dirt so it could be kept nice and clean.

  Great! The slime exclaimed, bouncing up and down rapidly. It hopped around like an excited child, Clean water, nice bath! Relaxing. The idea pleased it greatly

  "What are we waiting for then," I said, "Lets go!" After a hard day's work, the bath was a perfect way to round it out.