"Welcome to my Kingdom strange child"
Akiol was shocked when he could hear a voice in his head. He expressed his questioning to the huge slime.
"Ah, you must be a fresh born, let me explain. Every slime during its creation is born as a Lesser Slime. Through eating of mana can a slime evolve, only the higher tier slimes can speak like this." The huge slime voiced. "However you are different from my kind, for you have been born with mana."
This was interesting to Akiol, all the slimes of his world never lived past 2 years due to various dangers, so this was an unique experience. Akiol then expressed confusion of his surroundings, like he did to the pink slime.
"This is the Kingdom of Slimes, we hid here due to the violence the top of the world showed to my kind."
Akiol expressed his want to hear more.
"You're strangely curious for a fresh born. Every creature of every kind wishes to grow stronger. The only way to do this is by the killing of other creatures. By gaining part of their strength they can evolve and kill more creatures. Except for my kind, we consume mana to grow, this made us an easy target for killing, and my kind was driven to hide here."
'That sounds familiar to the story of my world. Even the humanoid races hunted to grow stronger, so there seems to be some similarities.'
"You, being born with mana, has piqued my interest. Thus, I allow the consumption of mana crystals."
When the huge slime finished their sentence a pile of the glowing crystals then moved towards him.
"Eat child, for I wish to see how you grow"
Akiol was worried, for he had no idea how to consume the crystals. The huge slime, sensing his worries, then comforted him.
"Fret not child, for the consumption comes naturally."
Akiol, hoping what the huge slime said was true, moved towards the pile of crystals. Putting his body over one small crystal he then waited for a second. Nothing happened however, and this caused some worry. Slightly panicking, Akiol desperately tried to absorb the glowing crystal. Alas, with a ding a notification appeared.
Akiol mentally pulled up the description.
[Absorb: Allows the user to absorb anything physical]
A blessing from the system, thus Akiol used [Absorb] on the small crystal.
This explained the experience bar from before, instead of experience being numbers it was percentages. Which makes it easier for players to keep track of how much exp they need to level up.
This was fantastic news, instead of trying to fight various creatures Akiol could just absorb Mana Crystals. With this alternative option, Akiol jumped into the pile of crystals, using [Form] to enlarge himself, and used [Absorb].
Oh? This was a change, the larger the the crystal the more experience Akiol could acquire.
Akiol soon finished the large pile of crystals, boosting his level to 20. A large increase, was it normal to level this quickly? Akiol was unsure, he hadn't seen any other players before. Perhaps the earlier stages allowed for quick leveling. In his research the developers mentioned that the cap was undetermined but they made it clear that the first 100 levels would be the easiest to obtain. They spoke about how they intended to use these levels to have players rapidly adjust to their strength growing above what anyone could actually physically do.
Akiol, now being level 20, decisively put his new stat points in. Every level gave the player 2 stat points, this left him with 40 stat points. This seems little compared to some games but stat points and stats could be gained via quests as well. Akiol first put 10 points into Intellect giving him 100 more mana. Since mana was an issue for him to start with, he then put 5 into every other stat, leaving 10 points left. He decided to hold on to them until he knew what he wanted. He brought up his status.
[ Name: Akiol ]
Level: 20
Exp: 25/100%
Race: Monster (Lesser Slime)
HP: 150/150 (Regen 10 HP per minute)
MP: 110/110 (Regen 1 MP every 5 seconds)
Stats:
15 Strength
15 Aglility
15 Dexterity
15 Defense
11 Intellect
Free points: 10
Equipment:
{None}
Skills:
Form
Roll
Leap
Absorb
Titles:
{None}
'A humble improvement' Akiol thought. After all he never fought once since he joined.
"Interesting, you haven't evolved but I can sense you have grown stronger." The huge slime stated, "And you grew larger as well, only the evolved slimes can adjust their size."
Akiol expressed his lack of understanding of the large slimes size. After all he claimed to be a higher tier slime.
"This size is for the lesser slimes, for lesser slimes aren't normally smart. They try to eat anything smaller than them, so I make myself impossible to eat. This also gains their respect, allowing me to remain king."
"You are indeed a strange one. As much as I would like to see your evolution, I am afraid I cannot allow you to eat anymore Mana Crystals."
Akiol expressed his want to evolve.
"I understand, however I have to keep the fairness in my kingdom. I shall think of a way, give me time."
Akiol didn't have much time however, he wanted to group up with his party as soon as possible. So Akiol quickly began to ponder.
There was a strange silence in the room, for there was no movement or sound. This remained for a few minutes until Akiol had an idea. He quickly expressed his want to show something.
"Oh? What is it child?"
Akiol expressed his want for them to remain calm.
Akiol then used [Form] and transformed into his avatar. As soon as he did he felt a large amount of hostility coming from the huge slime. The pressure was greater than anything he ever felt. Cold sweat began to form as Akiol quickly voiced, "Wait! Wait, I am not one of them!"
"I shall give you two minutes to explain before I end your life." The large slime commanded.
"I am still a slime! I have the ability to transform myself into anything I want. Let me demonstrate." Akiol then proceeded to use [Form] and transformed himself into a cat. One he saw earlier from his window at his apartment.
The hostility then faded rapidly, causing Akiol to sigh in relief. It would be a shame to die in a cave of other slimes, a part of his kind.
"Forgive me child, for that form reminded me of worse times. However this gives us a solution to your problem. I will send you to the top, and you shall grow stronger like the other creatures, I only ask you come back when you evolve. So I can see what you can do."
Akiol used [Form] and took shape of his avatar, he quickly realized he had nothing to use however, and questioned the huge slime about this issue.
"Hmm, I may have something to assist with this issue." And his body jiggled a bit with a sword shooting out of him. Landing in front of Akiol. "This was a weapon I had been hit with a long time ago, perhaps it would serve you for a bit.
Akiol then picked up the weapon, inspecting it.
[Steel Sword]
Strength Requirement: 10
Damage: 15
It was a basic weapon, not the sort you would expect from a slime that claims to be king but Akiol wouldn't dare complain.
"Off you go, do return when you have evolved."
A large amount of white lines circled Akiol gaining speed quickly. While these lines circled him Akiol found a notification.
Triggered Quest: The King's Curiosity. Accept?
"Yes"
After no sound Akiol vanished from the slime kingdom. The Slime King adjusted its body very slightly and spoke to himself, "Incredibly strange."