Resh had gained about a kilogram and a half from those enemies as well. However, while using the water it had discovered a way to control its Weight by allowing the water to gently wash away some of it. Since Resh always stayed close to the shore it could control this and never lose too much. It also had not needed to Consolidate for that reason as it did not want to have to sit still for an extended time. So it maintained its weight at the 295g mark so that it could continue to fly unobstructed. It only took a little while to acclimatise to the new sensation of losing Volume since it wasn't painful at all. It was more of a tingly feeling that was very enjoyable.
Over the last few days, Resh had also improved on its Luck and was now sitting with a respectable 6.3!
It was late on the 6th day of exploring the river and surrounding area that the thing Resh had been pining for finally happened!
You have gained the Exploration skill Mental Map Level 1! This skill will grow as you explore more of this world. New Areas that you explore will be added automatically to your Mental Map. Currently explored area is 10km2 of this world or 0.00000001%! You have reached the minimum explored area for this skill, keep exploring to see what else you can discover.
Resh finally got it! A way to keep track of where it had been! Resh had been hoping there would be a way and now it had been given it, and all it had needed to do was explore. It would need to keep going and this was all the encouragement it needed.
Now that it had the skill Resh checked the areas displayed. On it, there were markers for important locations, where Resh had first started its life, that location was marked as Resh's birthplace and it had a small picture of a house though Resh didn't completely know what that was. It knew it was a place to stay. The moving East Resh saw the part of the forest it had spent much of the last few weeks of its life, then there was the Ant Hill where it had eating its fill, Resh's mouth and tongue started to salivate at the thought.
Further East still and Resh could see where it had stopped exploring in roundabout circles. Instead, there was a thin line of the part of the forest that Resh had explored until it got to the river. A slightly lighter grey line surrounded by large swaths of the darker grey of the forest. This marked its flight from the Panther, Resh shuddered at the thought. It had barely made it out of that situation but there was no point in getting overly concerned it had made it out and now it was stronger for it. Time to check what evolutionary options it had!
Wow! Too Many!
Evolutionary Options
Tier 3 - Dense Slime
Requirements: Be at Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have a Density greater than 10.00g/cm3
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 3 – Burrower Worm
Requirements: Be at Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated the Mouth, Skin and Tail of the Burrower Worm @ Level 10+, Underground Living 10+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 4 – Boss Copycat Slime
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have Assimilated at least 30 different traits in total.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 4 - Aerial King Slime
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have Insectoid Wings, Level 10+
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Met
Tier 4 - Treaber
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated Paws, Nose, Mouth and Ears of the Treaber @ Level 10+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 4 - Squitter
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated Paws, Eyes, Tail and Ears of the Squitter @ Level 10+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 4 – Grounded Squirret
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated 4 of 5 of the Paws, Eyes, Nose, Mouth and Tail of the Squitter @ Level 13+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 3 – Fresh Water Mallusces
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated the Shell and Body of the Fresh Water Mallusces @ Level 10+. Have Water Adjacent Level 10+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 3 – Youth Field Grole
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated 3 of out of 5 of the Ears, Paws, Nose, Mouth or Tail of the Field Grole @ Level 7+. Have Underground Living Level 7+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 4 – Adult Field Grole
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 - Level 10, have Assimilated the Ears, Paws, Nose, Mouth and Tail of the Field Grole @ Level 10+. Have Water Adjacent Level 10+.
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 3 - Earth Slime
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have Underground Living Level 7+! Have assimilated 1 Earth Adaptation Trait!
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Not Met
Tier 3 - Water Slime
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have Water Adjacent Level 7+! Have assimilated 1 Water Adaptation Trait!
Description: Expand for more detail
Requirements Met
The number of options available was starting to get a bit ridiculous. Resh would need to find a way to sort that confusion out. The Copycat Slime knew there were some that it was not going to choose, like Ant, Termite and Fly so it removed those completely and didn't want to see them again. That way if there was an accident it would not be changed to those by accident. The stars knew that with its luck that was likely to happen sooner rather than later. It seemed the safe way to handle things. Resh still thought it was incredibly complex and so summarised the options so that it could see all of them quickly and easily. It could expand anything that seemed interesting. The options seemed to come up as they became available so it was difficult to sort through them all in their haphazard organisation. Resh thought that it was especially true considering it didn't qualify for most of the options anyway. With a sigh Resh got down to evaluating its options, it did need to know what was available it reflected but would need to figure out a system. For now, Resh just looked at the names and requirements. It would then drill down a little more for any options that it thought worth exploring.
Out of the 12 options that it could change into, 15 if it counted the Ant, Termite and Fly options. Resh only qualified for 2 of them that it might want, one was the Water Slime and the other was the Aerial King Slime. It expanded on those options so it could see if they made sense or not.
Tier 4 - Aerial King Slime
Requirements: Be an Aerial Slime Level 10, have Insectoid Wings, Level 10+
Description: Aerial Slime is a greater form of Aerial Mini Slime, retain the abilities of Aerial Mini Slime and more!
Evolutionary Bonus: +5 Intellect, +4 Accuracy, +5 Reaction, +7 Speed, +5 Perception, +45HP, +10HP Regen +30SP, +5SP Regen, +10% chance to Assimilate Wings and Wing related objects.
Requirements Met
Tier 3 - Water Slime
Requirements: Be a Tier 3 Slime - Level 10, have Water Adjacent Level 7+! Have assimilated 1 Water Adaptation Trait!
Description: Water Slimes are specifically adapted to Water. You will have no penalties for being in the water but instead will have penalties for your activities on land.
Evolutionary Bonus: +1 Intellect, +2 Accuracy, +4 Reaction, +3 Speed, +3 Perception, +35HP, +8HP Regen +25SP, +8SP Regen, +25MP, +3MP Regen, 2x Exp for Water-Related spells and Skills, +10 Levels to Water Adjacent but it will not Level further with this evolution, gain Skill Land Dwelling Level 15, all Water related abilities will have a 50% damage penalty against you!
Requirements Met
While it loved the idea of soaring through the skies again as an Aerial King Slime. Resh was enjoying being a Copycat Slime and liked the fact that it didn't need to beat as many enemies before it managed to successfully assimilate new traits. It would be great not to have to worry about limiting the amount of time in the water. But then it wouldn't be able to be on the ground much at all. Would it be able to evolve while in the water? Could it test it out and then evolve back into something else? It was true that there would be more opportunity for it to change and perhaps time in the water would be a good thing.
So annoying! Resh thought, this was giving it a headache and it didn't even have a brain. Ultimately it got a lot of stats from evolving so shouldn't it evolve as many times as it could? Also if it went to Tier 4 then it would not be able to get any of the Tier 3 options, those options might chance and still be available in a different form but they also might disappear. It needed to consider things carefully. It had at least that much mental capacity didn't it?