I finally went outside under the sun for the first time in a while.
I didn't seem to dissolve in the sunlight or get burned like a vampire would.
Apparently, my monster instincts now allowed me to understand actions that were dangerous to me.
But knowing something is dangerous and still doing it anyway — that's an all-too-common occurrence.
I couldn't laugh about it.
Since I was aware of the problem, I resolved to correct the behavior.
The cave turned out to be located in the forest.
It sat at the foot of a hill — barely even a hill, really — with its mouth gaping wide open.
Surrounded by towering trees, the hill stood out remarkably.
How should I put it... only that spot was bathed in sunlight. Take one step into the forest and it would immediately grow dim.
Atop the hill, some kind of strange pattern had been carved into the ground.
A Magic Circle? It had that kind of vibe.
"A wise man does not approach danger."
I promptly left the area.
Some time had passed since I left the cave.
The sun appeared to be setting.
I calculated that I'd left the cave right around noon.
I wished I could adjust my internal clock to tell the date with pinpoint accuracy, just like it could now tell me the time.
As I thought about it, the adjustment happened naturally.
Was this level of control really that easy?
It was currently just past four in the evening.
It was about time to prepare dinner, but unfortunately, I had no need to eat.
I could eat if I wanted, but since I couldn't taste anything, it only made me feel emptier.
Dinner reminded me of something.
The monsters I'd devoured in the cave.
I'd acquired new abilities from them, but I'd left the analysis sitting on the back burner.
Black Serpent — "Heat Source Detection," "Poison Mist Breath"
Centipede monstrosity — "Paralytic Breath"
Giant Spider — "Sticky Thread," "Steel Thread"
Vampire Bat — "Vampirism," "Ultrasonic Wave"
Armored Lizard — "Body Armor"
The Black Serpent's skill, "Poison Mist Breath," was honestly useless.
In truth, when the Armored Lizard showed up, I'd used Mimicry to take on the form of the Black Serpent and unleashed it.
And then...
The lizard's armor didn't stand a chance!
The creature melted into a puddle of goo right before my eyes.
It was a revolting sight — one I'd rather not remember.
I thought to myself: If an adventurer had encountered this Black Serpent, they'd have been wiped out without even getting the chance to cast a spell...
Huh? What about when it was used on me?
That wasn't even worth thinking about — and I didn't want to think about it.
I'll just say this much: making the first strike was the right call!
A breath attack that destructive had way too much power behind it.
And honestly, it was so grotesque that I never wanted to remember it again.
The bloody, gut-spewing remains of the lizard were too disgusting to even look at, so I completely disintegrated them with "Poison Mist Breath."
But what if I used it in slime form?
The range was cut to less than half.
When I was in the form of the giant serpent, it had reached seven to ten meters, but without Mimicry, it shrank to about one meter.
Do you really want to watch an enemy dissolve at point-blank range?
This technique was hereby sealed.
However, "Heat Source Detection" was truly remarkable.
Most living beings emitted heat.
Combined with "Magicule Perception," this skill would make it nearly impossible to catch me off guard.
That said, I'd still need to stay on guard — humans and intelligent upper-tier monsters could wield all sorts of magic and special skills, and I never knew what to expect.
Next up, the centipede.
Its appearance — something I wouldn't even want to Mimic.
Its breath range was about the same as the Black Serpent's, and its size was comparable too.
As I'd predicted, when used in slime form, the range dropped to about one meter.
Still, a surprise paralytic breath attack could come in handy.
That said, if an enemy got within one meter of me, I'd need to Mimic or flee — otherwise defeat was certain.
The lizard.
Armor that dissolved instantly to Poison Mist Breath.
No expectations there.
Honestly, since I already had physical attack resistance, it didn't seem very useful.
I tried using it without Mimicry, in my slime form.
Its surface hardened.
Like the Metal Slime from that beloved national RPG.
My pale blue body took on a blue-silver hue.
I didn't want to test it by taking damage, so I couldn't say for sure what the effect was.
But the color was certainly beautiful.
It might at least come in handy for intimidating opponents.
Those three monsters' abilities covered this much.
The problem was the remaining two.
The abilities of these two were fascinating.
What caught my interest was...
First, the spider.
Yes — you probably know of a certain hero with spider-like abilities.
*Thwip!* — shooting a web from his wrist to support his body, he leaps between high-rise buildings.
That famous guy.
The "Sticky Thread" skill was apparently meant to ensnare prey and restrict their movement.
But couldn't I use it to replicate that iconic traversal?
Time for an experiment.
Alright, targeting a branch on that large tree...
*Thwip!* ...*Braaaannnng*...
Wait. That was the description for "Steel Thread," wasn't it?
"Sticky Thread"? What was that? I didn't know any skill that just dangled you in place.
So, "Steel Thread" it was.
This one was meant to be used defensively, to block incoming attacks.
It could also be used when building a nest to create advantageous terrain — like a labyrinth — for yourself...
I extended a single thin thread and whipped it against a tree like a lash.
*Ping!* *Snap* It bounced right off.
But here was the thing.
My "Magicule Perception" let me see it crystal clear, but that thin thread would be nearly impossible to catch with the naked eye.
With practice, this could become a real weapon.
I decided this was a future project to work on.
Last up, the bat.
This was the one I'd been most excited about.
The "Vampirism" skill? It allowed me to temporarily use ten percent of the abilities of a target whose blood I'd drawn.
A useless skill.
Predator was far more effective — calling this a knockoff would be an insult to knockoffs.
I didn't even want to drink anyone's blood.
I'd extract the data and leave the "Vampirism" ability aside.
What I was truly interested in was "Ultrasonic Wave."
This skill could confuse targets or even knock them unconscious, but its core function was locating positions.
Just like bats in the original world, it used sound to pinpoint locations.
The key here was the vocal organ.
The skill itself was secondary.
Reproducing the organ that produced these "Ultrasonic Waves" in my slime body — that was where to start.
It had been a stroke of luck that I could absorb monsters with relevant functions, rather than having to imagine and fabricate everything from scratch.
This might actually let me develop the ability to produce sound.
I threw myself into research without sparing a moment for sleep.
Well, I didn't need to sleep anyway...
After three days and three nights of tireless research while walking nonstop, I succeeded!!!
"We are the invaders of outer space!"
Success!
It was a distorted, raspy sound — like slapping your throat in front of a fan — but I had definitely produced a vocal sound!
With this achieved, all that remained was fine-tuning!
I calmed my racing heart and began adjusting my vocal cords.
Still, Ultrasonic Waves were useful.
I had a vague memory of some kind of sonic cannon weapon.
Sonic Buster? Or was it Sonic Blaster?
Could I make something like that?
《Analysis: There is a possibility of deriving "Super Vibration" from the skill "Ultrasonic Wave." However, it cannot be acquired at this time.》 It would require a derivative or some kind of evolution of the ability.
Right now, there wasn't enough data to make it work.
It would've been great if I could do something like "emitting vibration waves tuned to the target's resonant frequency to destroy it" — like some kind of mega-organism from another series...
But honestly, if I didn't even understand what that meant myself, there was no way I could pull it off.
I'd gotten too greedy.
Having more options in your arsenal is better. But there was no need to rush.
Just obtaining the vocal organ was already a result more than worth being satisfied with.
And so, experimenting with various things as I went, I continued along the path.
I had no particular destination in mind.
My goal was vague at best.
I was thinking that if I stumbled upon a village or town, I'd try talking to someone who seemed kind.
But these past few days had been remarkably peaceful.
Inside the cave, I'd been attacked by monsters constantly, but once I stepped outside, I'd barely been attacked at all.
There was one instance where I was set upon by wolves while practicing my vocalization, but— "Huh?"
I let out a single word and glared— "KIEEEEE!!!"
They let out pathetic screams and fled.
There had been several of them — beasts over two meters long, bigger than any normal large dog...
Monsters that got scared just from seeing a slime... how pathetic.
For my part, not being attacked was perfectly fine.
Devouring a wolf might have given me something like a Super Sense of Smell...
But as I kept observing out of curiosity, it wasn't just the wolves.
Not a single monster came within a hundred meters of me.
Huh? It was almost like they were afraid of me...
Why was that?
I was certain — the monsters in this forest were afraid of me.
And the moment I felt that certainty, my "Magicule Perception" detected a group of monsters approaching.
Trouble always arrived unannounced.
Before my eyes, roughly thirty humanoid monsters appeared, shambling forward.
Small bodies.
Crude equipment.
Dirty faces lacking any spark of intelligence.
Still, that didn't mean they were completely mindless — some carried swords and shields, stone axes, even bows.
My gray matter instantly identified what they were.
The infamous monsters that prey on adventurers! That's right — Goblins!!!
A textbook encounter.
And who was about to be attacked by these mobs? That's right — me?
Seriously, thirty of them against a slime? Talk about overkill.
But for some reason, I felt no fear.
My instincts simply didn't perceive them as threatening.
Their swords were rusted, their armor was pathetic. Some of them were nothing more than rotting cloth draped over their bodies.
After defeating monsters like the armored lizard with its tough scales and the spider with its razor-sharp limbs, I couldn't picture these guys doing any damage to me.
And worst case, I could always Mimic the Black Serpent and take them all out with a single breath...
As I watched them with this in mind, what appeared to be the pack leader stepped forward and spoke: "G-g-greetings, strong one... Do you have some business in these parts?"
So goblins could talk.
I could probably understand them to some extent through my "Magicule Perception."
Wait — "strong one"? He was talking about me?
They had me surrounded with weapons drawn, and they were politely asking questions?
What exactly were these goblins thinking?
My curiosity was piqued.
It didn't seem like they were about to attack anytime soon.
Maybe it was worth testing whether they could understand my speech.
I decided to try having a conversation with the goblins.
Status Name:
Unique Skill "Predator"
Slime-Unique Skills: Dissolve, Absorb, Self-Regeneration Extra Skill: Water Manipulation Extra Skill: Magicule Perception Acquired Skills... Black Serpent: "Heat Source Detection," "Poison Mist Breath" / Centipede: "Paralytic Breath" / Spider: "Sticky Thread," "Steel Thread" / Bat: "Ultrasonic Wave" / Lizard: "Body Armor"
Resistances: Thermal Fluctuation Resistance EX, Physical Attack Resistance,