[Slimy Slime] Chapter 34: Evolutions are difficult but secret evolutions are super difficult!

I took a nap, I needed one. It might have turned into a sleep though… but I probably needed that too. I had done all sorts of practice, panicked over a babies cry only to meet some horribly creepy demonic looking and sounding wolf, and then met actual honest to god people for the first time in months.

Honestly, I was overwhelmed! Then they tried to pledge allegiance to me and… nope! None of that. It was disturbing even! All I had was a [Dungeon Core], a few walls, the ability to summon food and water with mana, and apparently a small horde of monsters following my house rules. Was that really enough for people to follow me?

…damn it.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk. I could feel creating an a kingdom, an empire, and ruling over others was how I’d reach godhood. I just didn’t want to do it right now. I was basically still in the tutorial level and already people are trying to get me to go to kingdom building? Insanity!

I shook my head. And mourned a little. Damn it, I actually made all of their houses in my courtyard. I liked my courtyard. I even used up all the mana I was saving for excavation purposes…

Wait! Why do I have to be the only one donating mana to it?! No wonder demon kings didn’t just attack with a mindless army, once they’re dead, they’re dead. But if I had a big enough group, all donating their mana…

I looked at my [Dungeon Core] in awe. No wonder you cause calamities. Before Krrrgg’s evolution, she was a [Hob-Goblin]. Looking through the panel, I noticed a new option in it.

[Summon Goblin Captain - 5000 Mana]

So that’s what she became… I was looking down on Dungeons too much. I still had no intention of staying in one after this year was up but… I could already see that it would be the lynchpin of my future kingdom. But that’s years, many years, down the line. I wasn’t strong enough, knowledgeable enough, or even smart enough right now to think about that. I needed to grow stronger in every way. That damn wolf is already my new goal to break. If there were two of them… even if I can fly it takes time to rise into the air. That would’ve been very, very dangerous.

So, let’s look back at my list.

1. Find a secret evolution.
2. Eat more wolves to get more stats
3. Get better at magic *
4. Get better at Astra *
5. Pick up some milk
6. Improve my eyesight *
7. Get better with my hands *
8. Get better at combat.

9.   Learn how to speak.

I’d so far made progress on four goals. They would never really be crossed out. Their would always be heights I hadn’t achieved. But now… there was no light source in this cave except for my [Dungeon Core] and spirit hands. But even without those… I’d done it. I knew I had done it. It was a rock solid conviction and that only made the rock solid conviction even stronger, in a loop. I could now see in the dark, even if it was pitch black.

[True Sight - See without restriction]

Well, it was true. I’d done it. But that was far from my only gains in just a short time. I’d gotten my Astra more under control, mapped out and learned about my Meridans and magical core, and now had ten hands floating around me. After the fight with that wolf, they felt easier to move now. They’d certainly gotten a workout. It still put pressure on my brain, but the drop was noticeable. Just not enough to put even more hands out there yet.

That left the next three things to work on. Combat, stats, and evolution. Combat would come naturally, after all, I doubt that wolf was the only dangerous thing I’d run into. If it had been leading the wolf horde instead of that Alpha… I’d be dead. Or running away for my life but I was literally boxed in. A thirty mile prison sounded plenty until you had something trying to hunt you down. So I’d take the initiative. I didn’t want to kill things but I couldn’t afford to be too picky. I needed to go out and fight and eat.

But before all that… evolutions. Evolutions evolutions evolutions. I needed a secret. The only problem with that is simple. I have no idea how. I didn’t even fully know how they worked, just that they existed. There was a worry in my brain though. Say you were a secret evolution of slime, A Gen 1 monster, trying to evolve into a Gen 2. I’m sure there’s a line you could follow, but could you evolve into a [Acid Metal Slime]? This question is immensely important.

If you can, there’s no issue. It meant two different ‘bases’ could achieve the same evolution. There was even a credence to this. I, if I became an [Acid Metal Slime] could evolve down. I can not evolve ‘sideways’. So… it should be possible to evolve ‘up’ to a different line right? But there was no guarantee. I couldn’t just evolve into a [Prince Slime] right now without first becoming a [Core Slime].

The reason this was important was… if I can’t evolve up into a different line, it meant I needed a secret evolution for [Acid Slime] and not [Slime]. Poison, fire, lava, these were all things I could imagine a [Slime] could secretly evolve into, meaning an [Acid Slime] can not.

That would make things much much harder. The nature of acid is to melt things. An [Acid Metal Slime] melted metals and then took those properties. So what other category of things can I melt to incorporate their properties? Wood? Could there be a [Acid Wood Slime]? A [Four Elements Acid Slime]? A [Super Slime]?

Wait. That last one might work. [Acid Metal Slime] is amazing but… there should be a ‘version’ that’s purely focused on just melting things. Is there any way I could get ahold of more Acids to eat? There’s no way a forest would have anything like that…

My eyes turned towards my [Dungeon Core].

Ho oh, this just might work out after all.

****

Michael was feeling much better and much more moored to the ground. He’d laid in bed after having woken up and just stared at the ceiling, thinking. He wasn’t the only one though, as he could feel Sandra squeezing his hand. He hadn’t been thinking properly and had, well, tried, to pledge his allegiance to a monster. He wouldn’t be the first or last, he’d heard stories, but still. Despite the [Dungeon Master]’s personality, their’d still been a lot of fear. Slimes do not fly on top of ghost like hands, they do not have over ten ghost like hands, they do not talk, they do not… do a lot of things. The [Dungeon Master]... Slimy Slime, had clearly evolved through the [Dungeon Core]. He’d never heard of such a thing. There were a few [Dungeon Master]’s he’d heard about before and other mighty monsters, but never a slime. Well, no, there was one type of slime that was pretty well known and feared…

Suddenly, there was a rumbling and Michael jolted from his bed. Quickly, he and Sandra made their way outside, seeing what was happening, where an… altar had arisen?

It looked like it was made of dull marble, like a fountain. It was wide, with a lip, and in the middle were a set of circles going up. He’d seen something like this before, but smaller, when he’d once gone to the Capital. At the top, was a cute little slime. Not just a slime, but a slime clearly made to out to look cuter than they ever did normally.

Suddenly, water began to spray out, falling from the pillar down the circles, into the circle below. Not long after, small amounts of water were sprayed up, back towards the top, arching over. It really was a fountain.

He heard a commotion to his left, and his heart skipped a beat. The [Goblin Captain] and her… horde? Were all standing around with expression of awe, staring at the fountain. Soon though, he heard a kind of ‘squelching’ sound, noticing Slimy Slime coming from underneath the door to the cave. He quickly floated in front of them and Michael could swear it looked like he(?) was… smiling? He had no facial expression and yet somehow he could just tell.

“Alright! It’s good to see that everyone is here.” Slimy Slime said in Common and then in Goblin tongue. “So, it’s time we all had a little talk.”

“About Rent.” And now, Michael was absolutely positive that the [Dungeon Master] was smiling. Smirking, more like. He was even rubbing a pair of hands together. Fear took hold in Michael. They had no money and he doubted a monster had much use for it. What would he take as tribute from them?

“So, it works like this. This is a ‘Mana Altar’ according to my Dungeon tab. Proving that theirs no such thing as original ideas… anyway. Basically, I want half your daily mana every day. Feel free to give more if you don’t need it. Just hold out your hand, focus, and it’ll flow in like casting a spell.” The [Dungeon Master] said, this time somehow saying it in both languages at once.

Michael let out a sigh of relief. He was a [Commoner]. He hadn’t changed his class into something else yet, sticking with tradition. It gave him decent stats and more importantly, let him have skills like [Iron Stomach] and [Survival] which were incredibly useful. When he’d made it to Silver he’d gotten [Sturdy Health] which made him more resistant to disease and sickness. He had always planned to become a [Lumberjack] while Sandra was going to become a [Seamstress]. Whether it was now, before, or in the future, neither of them had much use for their Mana.

“Also, Krrrgg, learn Common and then teach it to the rest of the goblins.” Slimy Slime said, still speaking two languages at the same time.

The [Goblin Captain], Krrrgg, frowned and then let out a few guttural sounds and growls.

“I don’t care if it’s ‘hard’. You’re smart and it would be annoying if I had to translate between everyone all the time. Just have Michael and Sandra teach you.”

Michael’s eyes widened, looking over at Krrrgg. He felt a shiver as she smirked at him.

“Oh And, don’t, you know… be a jerk to them. Anyway, I’ll be going out now. Keep your goblins in line. I better not have to clean up their mess or I’ll kick you out. They better go to the bathroom outside my courtyard.”

The [Goblin Captain]’s eyes suddenly went wide, looking back at the Goblins, suddenly looking like she had a headache, before groaning.

“Anyway, I’m going out, do whatever you guys.”

And with that, Slimy slime flew towards the gate of the wooden walls, opened it, and then flew out into the woods. Seeing his vanishing figure… it was finally settling in for Michael.

“We’re… free.” He said. The [Dungeon Master] hadn’t cared at all about them. No, he acted less like a monster or a [Dungeon Master] and more like a carefree landlord. As long as they paid in mana, they could stay. If they didn’t or made a mess, they would be kicked out. But otherwise… he just… didn’t care what they did. Stay, leave, whatever. The closest thing he’d said as an ‘order’ was telling the [Goblin Captain] to learn Common from them.

“What do we do now? Sandra said with a frown.

Their plan had been simple before. Their village hadn’t been far from the Capital but making it there on foot took a very long time, or cutting through the Wolf Forest. After their village had been destroyed, they’d decided they’d head to the Capital. They didn’t have enough food or water and the [Black-eye Wolf] was prowling around. They were going to change classes, work hard, and live in the slums till they could finally get enough money to rent a place. But now…

Sandra spoke first, decisively.

“Let’s live here.” She said.

Michael looked at her like she was crazy. He said as much as well.

“Are you insane?”

She shook her head. “You saw the kitchen.”

He did. Dried food and water, enough for at least a week for the three of them. For them, who had been lowing on supplies, it felt like a gods boon.

“That’s not all. We have our own place here.”

“With monsters.”

“Monsters that are protecting us.”

Michael still frowned.

“You want to raise our child in the Wolf Forest?”

“No. I want to raise our child in a village.”

For a moment, grief struck Michael, thinking she was talking about their old home. But the hard look in her eye…

“You…” Michael said, and she nodded.

“I don’t know if anyone else survived… but if they did, they would have done the same as us. Head to the Capital, work as much as possible, sleep in the slums. If we can find them…”

Now Michael knew she was crazy. She didn’t just want to live here, she wanted to recreate their village here, under a monsters rule.

“Sandra… this, that’s insane. We should leave, we can grab enough food, maybe even pay extra mana in exchange for more, and go to another village with our daughter. The Capital slums aren’t our only option anymore.”

“And what about next time?”

“What?”

“What about the next time a monster or group of bandits or more come and attack us? Michael, I know it sounds, no, I know it is crazy but every night, every night I keep imagining Tilia…”

Sandra grit her teeth, hard. But she looked at him with even harder eyes.

“Even if she has to be raised around monsters… I’ll never let her die. Never.”

Michael was torn. He didn’t think staying here was safe like Sandra did. For, many, many reasons. But there was no denying that a [Dungeon Master] and their army was always powerful. But what if they changed their mind? What if that slime killed and ate them? They might talk and act like a [Human] but they would never be one. They had barely known each other less than a day and Sandra was willing to trust them not to kill them? If it wasn’t for the Mana Altar, he’d have argued till he was blue in the fact that they had to leave. But now that the [Dungeon Master] was getting something from them in exchange… they would be worth more alive than dead.

“I…” Michael started, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he heard a voice nearby.

“I…”

Michael and Sandra turned, seeing a [Goblin Captain] almost as tall as them, staring at them. They flinched, when she spoke again.

“I…”

Right, before anything else… they had to teach her Common. The [Dungeon Master] might get angry if they disappeared before doing at least this much. Though… it would be a challenge. Michael did his absolute best not to bring his gaze down.

The [Goblin Captain]... was still naked except for a loincloth! And the rest of the goblins wore nothing at all! Michael glared at Sandra. This was where she wanted to raise their child? Sandra had the good nature to look at least be a little embarrassed.

Michael sighed and got to work.

“So first there’s A…”