Slimes. There was more inside them than met the eye. Well—most had nothing inside them except the occasional food, preferably berries. But there were a few—a select few—who were blessed by Mother Nature.

Or so Wobble thought. Just a few weeks old but already almost half the size of his parents, the little bright green blob found an adventurer's weapon in the forest around his home. A dagger.

What Slime could claim to have defeated a human—and a real adventurer at that? None, obviously. However, possessing a human weapon was close enough. Sort of.

And so Wobble bounced proudly between the protruding roots in the direction of home. The birds seemed to sing just for him, the shallow breeze massaging his wobbly surface and bringing the slight sweetness of the bees in the area.

Wobble couldn't help but check how his treasure was doing every few dozen jumps. Even though he knew it couldn't just fall out of him.

Near the clearing, Wobble met his two best friends. Bob and Shiny. Wobble kept an eye on Shiny for a few days, and now he had the perfect opportunity to wrap her around his little finger.

Wobble crumpled up like a spring, and with a long jump, he bridged the last few meters to the two blue-tinted Slimes. They wobbled up and down in greeting and then bounced against each other simultaneously, their soft, slippery surfaces bouncing gently against each other.

Wobble took some distance and spat out his treasure. He played with the dagger, nudging it left and right to show the back and finally balancing it carefully on his head. Meanwhile, Wobble's full attention was on Shiny's reaction.

He didn't notice how Bob was also more curious about Shiny than the dagger. Just as Wobble and Bob had been different for the few weeks they had known each other, they were optimistic and pessimistic, with Shiny as their harmony of dispute resolution. No matter who found the glittering stone first or brought the longer stick, Shiny eventually found a way to reconcile the two dollops.

Wobble often wished he could talk to his friends, apologize to Bob, and thank Shiny. But most of all, he longed to confess his feelings to her. His hope he might learn with age had yet to come true as he had yet to meet a Slime that talked, let alone make sounds other than squeaking.

This day was different, however. Wobble knew Mother Nature must have blessed him, and his good mood carried over.

Shiny wiggled back and forth, circled the treasure, and looked at it from all sides. She even rolled upside down! The first time Wobble saw her underside. Not that it looked any different than her topside, besides the paler blue from the lack of sunlight.

And while Wobble's feelings were bubbling over with pride and happiness, and he seemed even brighter, the exact opposite was happening inside Bob. To him, Wobble wasn't just a friend. To Bob, Wobble was a rival.

They fought regularly, and although Bob usually got the upper hand with his water gun, Shiny always turned to Wobble. Even though she was a Water Slime, just like Bob. Everyone knew Bob and Shiny belonged together—meant for each other! Everyone. Except Wobble.

Hundreds of moons ago, when the Water Slime and Forest Slime Tribes were still enemies, there would never have been such a thing as green and blue mating. Forest Slimes were primitive due to their lack of communication ability. Water Slimes could talk with the help of the river and send bubbles to each other. So, how did Shiny show more interest in this show-off than Bob?

Why did Shiny have so much more fun with a Forest Slime than with one of her own kind? Bob didn't dare ask her. If he revealed his feelings, he would force Shiny to decide, and as it stood, Wobble would win.

Bob turned away from the lovebirds. No doubt, there was only one thing he could do now. He also had to find a treasure from the humans, preferably an even bigger blade or jewelry. With that, he would win Shiny over for good! And finally, marry her!

—

Dusk fell above the treetops; time for Slimes to go home before the Nocturnal Monsters woke and reclaimed the territory. No Slimes dared to mess with the Wolves. At least none survived.

Wobble swallowed his treasure, careful not to cut himself too much. He was about to gesture goodbye to Shiny and Bob when he realized Bob was no longer there.

Had he already gone ahead? Never mind. This was Wobble’s chance to have some time alone with Shiny. With a purposeful jump, Wobble landed before Shiny and pressed himself as flat as possible. An invitation for a ride.

The clearing fell silent for a moment, and Wobble swore something pulsed inside him, quickening. He squinted his eyes and held on to his hopes—when suddenly something slippery landed on his head. Shiny had jumped on him, some of her stored water trickling down Wobble’s sides.

Wobble swallowed his excitement and crawled towards the river, his chest proudly stuck out. He would make it. All the way. After all, his rock-carrying training had been for this moment! The time had finally come, and he wouldn't fail!

—

Bob knew what he had to do to find a treasure. Well, finding was a rather far-fetched term for what he had in mind. But there was no other way. People didn't just scatter their possessions around in the forest. And as bad as he felt about breaking the rules, he felt even worse inside seeing Shiny and Wobble together like this.

And so Bob left the forest for the first time. A vast grassland opened before him, the wind stronger and much less sweet. Without the trees in the way, the mountains didn't seem so far away and a lot bigger. Would there be Slimes, too? Rock Slimes?

Maybe there was a Slime that saw him the way he saw Shiny . . . No. Bob had already made up his mind, and his inner self proved him right.

It wasn't long before Bob found something beyond his imagination. In front of the entrance to a half-collapsed cave was a sphere of pure light, like a second little sun. It shone so brightly it was blinding, and only when he stood right before it did Bob realize what it was.

A glittering stone. But one of a size that would fit dozens of the ones he had always found before. And at the core of this stone, something green sparkled. Something that seemed to stare back at Bob as much as he stared at it.

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Human weapons? Human jewelry? Bob didn't need that when he came home with it.

It tickled him not to try a little bit of the stone, but he remained firm. But it must be delicious! The drool ran down his throat.

No! Bob remained strong. This had to be the final test to prove his love. With absolute certainty, he would be able to make Shiny his wife.

With skillful deformation, Bob loaded the mini sun onto his head as voices whispered from the cave. One of them, he quickly recognized from the words, belonged to a human. Bob couldn't understand it, but he had heard them before while traveling through the forest.

However, the other voice, if you could call it that, sounded completely different. As if it were not of this world. It was the closest thing to a ferocious Wolf, but even that didn't come close to the eeriness it exuded.

The whole cave suddenly seemed so dangerous. Almost as if the cave itself was a monster. Careful not to make any noises, Bob slipped back where he had come from.

A green light shot out of the cave, piercing his eyes. Bob almost dropped his much better treasure than Wobble's. Then he heard footsteps.

Bob turned and ran for it, not bothering to be quiet. He just wanted to get away. Away and to Shiny.

—

Arriving at the river, Wobble noticed a particular green Slime among the others, which, upon noticing him back, set into an accelerating roll. Pebbles slipped beneath, shooting back.

Knowing what was coming, Shiny quickly jumped off Wobble and hid behind a rock.

The approaching green Slime skimmed to leap ahead and greeted Wobble with a headbutt against his bouncy nose, sending him flying. However, before he touched the ground, green tentacles shot out to catch Wobble and pull him back.

Wobble squeaked from the sudden pressure, air escaping him. If only he could tell his Mother to let go or free himself with his own tentacles. Unfortunately, Wobble was a late bloomer, even for a Forest Slime. But luckily for him, Slimes could breathe with their whole surface.

And to be fair, Shiny and he hadn’t arrived that late. The last bits of light were still orange on the horizon. Boiing was just a little more protective than other mothers. Still, Wobble loved her. He knew she was only like this because of his sick Father. Soon, he would—

Something crashed into Wobble’s back, bouncing him and his Mother apart. Light flashed, pebbles jumped, and Bob lay flat beside him.

Wobble would have started an argument, wondering where Bob was coming from and why he was bumping into him. He could have squealed out loud if it wasn't for the spell he was under. Such a big glittering stone. So scary.

Shiny stepped up to them, eyes fixed on the light. All the Slimes stared at the light. Only Bob tried in vain to get Shiny's attention and was about to break another rule by sending bubbles to her in the presence of green Slimes.

But he couldn't. While everyone was looking at the enchanting light, Bob looked past them behind a tree. Someone was standing there. Not many could stand. Not many wore clothes.

And while Bob collapsed in on himself, surface quivering, and the sun disappeared behind the mountains, there was only the light of the glittering stone. And that of the glowing red monster behind the tree. The way it stared at him, the light directed at all the Slimes like a target.

Even if Bob could have spoken. Even if he could have screamed. He knew at that moment that nothing would have come out of him. So he lay there while the human came running over to them. The human was smaller than Bob had always imagined. Lanky and scrawny, like a starving bear baby with no fur.

Only when the human stood directly behind the other Slimes, they noticed him from the shadow that loomed over them. But it was already too late.

Blue mass splattered, smearing over the ground with bits of water. Then again. And then Shiny and Bob lay all scattered around like broken jelly.

A frozen Wobble, jaw dropped, watched in horror at the splashed pieces of his friends and their relatives.

Then, the little human turned to his shocked mother. He lifted another leg, and—green burst in all directions. Mass gushed against Wobble's face, his mother's insides bruised against his throat. Wobble gagged and vomited, but although the pieces came out, it felt like he would never manage to spit it all out.

Paralyzed and wide-eyed, Wobble stared at the little human, a liquid Wobble didn't even know he had, leaking from both eyes.

The human bent down and pulled something glowing out from under his boot, a sort of shard of crystal no bigger than the stem of a cherry. It was like one of the glittering stones Wobble and Bob had fought over so often. But why did his mother have such a glittering stone in her? Why did she have to die?

The little human scoffed. “Huh. This one gave less than those from the blue critters.”

Even without knowledge of the human language, Wobble could tell he was somehow mocking his mother.

How dared this human? How dare he kill his mother? How . . . dared he mock about her after her death?!

Slimes may have been one of the weakest living beings, but they had feelings. Dying through time—inevitable. Dying by Mother Nature’s hand to provide food—purposeful. But being murdered for the sake of mockery? Insanity.

Wobble rose, stretching himself to the human’s waist and forcing his tentacles alive. Two green spikes shot out of him and whipped at the human’s head, grazing it as he backed away.

The tentacles retracted at Wobble’s will to launch another attack when an idea struck him. He sucked one of the tentacles back inside his body and empowered the remaining one. Then he shoved it down his throat, slinging it around the grip of the dagger.

Wobble pulled the weapon out and pointed the tip at the human.

“A dagger?” The human flinched, taken aback.

However, Wobble wouldn’t let him have time to focus. He bounced once, gaining momentum, then leaped forth and at the human’s face. Dagger blazing in the light of the glittering stone, it blinded the human, and Wobble struck.

This was for his mother and all other dead Slimes. This was the moment Wobble would protect his future wife—the first jump to his new self. To become more than a simple Forest Slime. He would become a hero, and massacre all humans who dared stand in his way.

Wobble crashed into the human, dagger piercing flesh, hot liquid splattering Wobble’s surface. A high scream tore out of the human’s mouth as he blocked the attack with a hand, blade inches away from his nose.

With a spin, Wobble let go of the dagger and whipped his tentacle around, landing a satisfying slap. The human tumbled, falling to the pebbled ground.

Wobbled jumped after him and wrapped his tentacle around the human’s other arm while reforming his second tentacle to attack again. He aimed and shot, green entering the human's mouth deeper than expected.

The human choked, panic drawn on his face. That was what he deserved. Because Wobble knew humans, unlike Slimes, could only breathe like most other creatures and would suffocate quickly.

Oh, how Wobble wished he could curse at the human, but all he could do was imagine worse and worse things he would do with his dead body when he finally dropped dead.

The human bit down, teeth clenched. Pain exploded in Wobble’s tentacle, forcing him to squint. He barely saw the human lifting his dagger-pierced hand before—

Wobble's vision distorted and broke. He saw from a hundred perspectives at once. He was a hundred perspectives at once. One view after another fizzled out against the darkness like a puzzle whose pieces disappeared. His parts, and those of the others, subsided between the pebbles, all dying together.

With his last blink, Wobble saw the little human swallow a handful of glittering stones he had picked up from the ground between slime. Then, words hovered before the little human.

Progression Towards Immortality: 0,0000000001%