The slime found itself back inside the cave once it regained consciousness. The damp and dark cavern was only filled with squelching noises of the other slimes moving about the rocky floor and a somewhat familiar crackle of firewood. It stood up and blinked a few times.
'Huh?'
As if led by instinct alone, it reached for its own face with both human hands. It kept staring at them for a while trying to figure out how it managed to maintain its human form despite melting away after fighting the boar.
"You're finally awake." Luke's voice startled it as it jumped a few meters away from his voice. "Woah, calm down. It's me Luke."
It turned around to see him. He seemed healthier than before and his arm that was ripped off was right back where it belonged. It smiled and tried to speak but…
"Aa… y…"
No comprehensible words came out of its mouth which wasn't surprising, but it disappointed it greatly. Seeing how it was struggling, Luke cleared his throat.
"You don't need to talk in order to convey what you're thinking." He tapped on his left arm. "Remember you can just talk to me this way."
The slime's eyes seemed to sparkle if only for a moment as it realized what he meant. It closed its eyes and started to think.
Its thoughts were like a river of electricity coursing through every single fiber of its being, pouring out like a flood that eventually would reach Luke's mind.
'How are you alive? Did you manage to eat? Why did you come to this place? Was the young woman with you Leona? How old are you? From what family do you come from?'
It was a veritable bombardment of endless questions that even made Luke flinch from the overwhelming speed at which the slime was capable of wording each and every little thing it was curious about. That being said, the excessive amount of information in his mind made him have the worst headache he ever had in years.
"Ugh! S-slow down…! One question at a time please, you're splitting my head open with all the sudden questions…"
Its human eyes twitched a bit as they dropped a bit in disappointment.
'Ah… I-I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it.' It thought. 'Is it fine if I ask one question now?'
Luke chuckled nervously.
"Yes, you may."
'How are you alive?'
"Didn't you make this entire arm?" He tapped twice on his left forearm. "I thought I'd die from blood loss but you helped me live through it."
'Ah… it wasn't all me.' It glanced at its slime brethren squelching about around them. 'Some of them helped.'
He reached for one on his right side only for the slime to avoid his touch and quickly slithering away. Despite that, he tilted his head before turning to his left and placing his hand on top of one slime which didn't seem to run away.
"Say, has it been long that you've been living down here?" He instinctively picked up the slime from beneath his left hand and brought it on his lap. "I often would visit Leona but she never spoke anything about this place until recently."
It shook its head.
'No, not really. At least, not that I remember.' It looked at its own hands for a while before turning to him again. 'I only know the things I know thanks to the maids that have been… left here.'
He tried to caress the slime on his lap with his right hand but the gelatinous creature made the most effort to avoid the touch of his right hand.
"The mansion's maids…" The slime was lost in thought before noticing Luke struggle with the slime on his lap. "Ah, they don't particularly like being touched by others other than their own."
"Huh?"
The slime reached for this left hand and placed it on top of the slime and it stopped slithering away from him.
'It's our instinct so don't think ill of them.'
Some of the slimes started to group up around it.
"Instinct?"
'Yes, we tend to avoid the touch of other creatures in fear of being consumed as prey since that is how we hunt for food, or at least, it was.' It looked at its brethren finishing off the boar bones that sat far away from them. 'I feel like we are changing.'
"Interesting…" He looked at it with a certain spark in his eyes. "Changing how? I always pictured slimes being rather… docile when faced against bigger animals."
'Hmmm…' It lowered its head while closing both eyes, it was oddly human with its mannerisms. 'I can't quite put my finger on it. I feel like I've been using my 'mind' more as of late.'
"Mind… do you refer to intellect or memories from the maids?"
'Is it even possible to make a distinction at this point?' It intriguingly asked. 'Most of the things I know are thanks to them and what I tried to do on my own resulted in Leona hating me for it.'
Luke was surprised by looking at its face. The facial expressions clearly conveyed its feelings of regret. He couldn't help but wonder—was he conversing with a monster or a human? He brushed off said thought as he continued talking to it.
"I think… the reason why she was shocked was because of your choice of 'face' so to speak. She had just lost Adele and you recreated her image down to the miniscule details, it would either creep her out or upset her."
'Which I could tell I did both…'
Seeing it lower its head made Luke realize just how much 'human' it was. In the same sense that it felt like he wasn't talking to a complete stranger. In the back of his mind he knew it could be because of his new arm which could be influencing him in some way but logically speaking, there was nothing else he could point out to be disadvantageous from partnering up with it.
"Say, do you have a name?"
'Name?' It slowly lift its face up to look at his eyes. 'No, I thought it was pointless to have one until I could speak to someone else.'
"No, no, quite the contrary, having a name will without a doubt help you know who you are."
Its droopy and sad eyes gave place to contemplation and a glimpse of hope.
'A name huh…?'
"Anything you can call your own. It'll help you start out fresh."
'To call it my own…'
It closed its eyes. Turbulent memories came overflowing all senses as she went through the memories hidden within herself.
The most recent ones were shrouded with pain and suffering at the hands of soldiers unknown to the owners of her memories, but the deeper it went, the more dangerous those became. It was like finding itself standing at the precipice of something it couldn't come back from.
'You…' A voice from the yawning chasm echoed in its mind. 'You are not my owner…'
From the depths of the chasm, two glints of crimson illuminated the darkness as they moved upwards in unison. Soon it noticed it wasn't a chasm, but a cliff overlooking a snowfield tainted red. The gripping cold sent sharp pangs of pain across its body like a jolt of electricity as each part of its being was frozen solid until it shattered by the violent gale.
"Aaaah…!"
The slime let out a loud gasp as it snapped back into reality.
"What's wrong?!"
"Aa… a…"
It muttered with its eyes wide open, even the slime that was on top of his lap started to tremble as if something was happening to all of them. Luke felt a sharp jolt of pain from his left arm before he reached for the slime's shoulders and shook it.
"Snap out of it!"
"Aaa! Ah… ha…"
It was panting and gasping for air. Luke could even feel its trembling spreading throughout his fingertips.
"What happened to you?"
"Aa.. I… a…"
Seeing how it wasn't able to convey anything to him, he said.
"Alright, first calm down. Take a few deep breaths."
After a few minutes of silence the slime recomposed itself with deep, slow breaths just how it was instructed. Luke leaned against the wall of the cave as he started to speak.
"Talk to me like you used to. No need to use your voice."
'I'm sorry… I was thinking about my memories and I saw… something within…'
"Something?"
'It didn't belong to the maids, that much I am certain. It felt… older, much, much older than them.'
"Older?"
'I don't know how to explain it. It's a feeling of foreboding… as if it was a forbidden memory of sorts…'
He crossed his arms while tilting his head downwards with frowning brows. His thoughts were racing.
'Older… most of the maids in the Crossford mansion were demi-humans so it's fair to assume they'd be centuries old but it said it wasn't from the maids…' He glanced at the slime which was still clearly distressed. 'I hardly believe any of their memories would be traumatizing to this extent anyway… but then…'
He looked up and asked.
"Did you consume any other animal before coming into contact with them?"
It shook its head.
'No, I've always lived here in this cave. We have both moisture and frostburnt silver to sustain us. There was no reason to leave.'
He felt a sudden urge to cough but he repressed it by taking a deep breath.
"Frostburnt silver…?"
He looked around the cave and there were indeed low blue shining spots scattered all across the stone walls that surrounded them. His mind began to wonder.
'Come to think of it, why is this even here? I thought Londria kept the metal's secrets closely guarded to themselves…'
However before he could form any theories as to why it was present there, the slime invaded his mind with its thoughts.
'Luke… I want to leave this place.'
"Huh?" He looked at it, surprised. "Why do you say that?"
'It is just a feeling, but that memory has something to do with Leona.' There was a tingling sensation coursing throughout its body. It was as if the repressed memory awakened something within it. It looked up with its 'So give me a name. A name befitting someone that will save her.'