Syl

Chapter 3: Slime-Eat-Slime

As the hostile slime core shattered, it relinquished its hold on the surrounding slime, which drew in and surrounded me, increasing my size and mass appropriately. It felt amazing, and neither the bread or meat I had previously absorbed could even compare to merging all that slime into my being.

I waved my new appendage around to give it a feel, retracted it, and then produced it again from my opposite side. I tried to form another one, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't have more than a single tendril arm.

'I think it was called pseudopod...'

Can create and control numerous tendrils equal to trait level from available slime mass.

The degree of manipulation increases per level.

Quantity and size distribution are limited to available slime mass.

Compatible with other slime traits.>

'Gramps, is that you? Are you answering my questions?' I ask mentally but get no response. 'So if I can raise the level of pseudopod, I can have more tendrils. Hopefully, I can figure out how to raise the level because this literally saved my life.'

At the edge of my focus, I noticed the larger slime that engulfed the other slime was approaching me. I wondered why but noticed I was still on top of the fuzzy meat, which was dissolving much too slowly for my liking.

'How hungry can you be? You stole a piece of meat and ate another slime, yet you still want more?'

I produced my pseudopod and waved it threateningly at the approaching slime, but it showed no sign of stopping. Anxiously, I waited until it got within range and thrust my pseudopod like a spear into the slime to reach for its core. However, as my tendril went deeper and deeper into the slime, I could feel my control over it gradually fading until I only had a thin sliver of a tendril left.

'Damnit, this bugger is a lot more acidic than the previous slime, and it just ate my arm!'

I refocus my effort, picturing a much thicker spear of slime, and I can feel my unused mass shrinking to accommodate my image. With a burst, the slime spear shoots forward and penetrates the hostile slime. Again, I can feel the control of the edges of my limb shaving away, but this time, it's thick enough to reach and grab the core.

Crunch.

'So it was level 2... Must have had a habit of eating other slimes.'

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Once again, as the core is gone, my body automatically claims the slime mass. It's a euphoric feeling, like I'm becoming something more. Looking around, I notice that there is still some leftover meat, and slimes continue fighting over it.

'Well, it looks like it's a slime-eat-slime world. I might as well help myself!'

While heading towards two slimes trying to engulf each other, I imagine my slime spear again, and as soon as they are within range, I fire it forward. Crunch. I ignore the popups in my head while I immediately retract and then fire it out again to the other slime. Crunch. My slime mass rapidly increases from claiming the goop from both the dead slimes in front of me, and the euphoric feeling rushes over me while I look at the prompts in my head.

x2

x2

'Mana Slime seems to increase every time I eat another slime core, whereas I didn't gain a level up despite eating two this time.'

I form a tendril to grab the piece of meat that the slimes were fighting over and bring it inside my form. Then, I create a much thinner tendril, which I extend as far as possible to grab an unoccupied bone and deposit it inside.

'Now that I have more slime mass to work with, my pseudopod seems better than ever. I wonder if Gramps will explain Mana Slime to me?'

This slime contains a rich and dense concentration of pure mana based on its trait level.

Mana Slime is a highly sought-after resource used mainly as an alchemical reagent, and its price can vary based on its purity level.

Can also be ingested raw for emergency mana recovery.>

'Thanks Gramps! I wonder why you answered this but not my other questions?' Despite my optimism, my question goes unanswered again, so I digest the info I got given about Mana Slime.

'So that explains what the humans were doing this morning... Wait, aren't I just making myself a big juicy target? Does this even help me at all?'

I'm by far the largest slime around now, but despite that, the other slimes show no sense of danger and are still openly attacking one another over food. I wondered if I shouldn't feel guilty about absorbing my brethren, but it looked like they were absolutely mindless, as one even rammed into me attempting to reach my food.

I form a large tendril and lift the slime. While I've grasped it, I attempt to push more slime mass into my limb, which swells and engulfs the smaller slime.

'Amazing, so by practicing or trying new things with my tendrils, I can improve it.'

I form a second tendril and wave it around with glee.

'If I had a face, I bet I'd be grinning like an idiot.'

The slime I had held and engulfed in my pseudopod seems to have perished, although I barely gained any mass due to its small size.

'I should probably hide in the forest, as I don't feel like being the prize pig at the harvest festival. Once I've found a nice hiding spot, I can do some thinking about how I should proceed. Do I keep eating and growing? I was the size of a tiny dog, and now I'm the size of a child. Would my slime not just become unwieldy? I'd certainly just be making myself a larger target.'

'Slime Density? I want to say yes, but could you please explain?'

Allows compression of slime mass, which reduces size and increases density.

Maximum Density, Efficiency, and Control scale with trait level.

Compatible with other slime traits.>

'Another amazing suggestion, Gramps, sign me up!'

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