: My vision was black, my hearing dulled, my scent was odorless. A complete deprivation of sensory modalities.
Nothing hurts at all, it's better to say that it's actually pretty comfortable. Not even hot or cold, but it was the silence and the darkness that gave me anxiety.
๐'๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณโฆ3 ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด?
At this time, a feeling of being touched by something traveled through my body.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ, I thought as I breathed a sigh of relief.
I concentrate my entire consciousness on that sensation. Gathering it into a single spot, I could then roughly understand the area of that spot. Occasionally, I could feel a slightly prickling sensation from something that seems to be a leaf-like plant.
๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด! ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต? ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ ๐ช๐ต?
[Activate Unique skill ใPredatorใ?]
(YES/NO)
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ!โโ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ ๐๐!
While I was pressing my whole body onto the grass, and feeling the tactile impression of it, the part of the grass that was in contact with my body started to melt.
๐๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ, I thought, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ใ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆใ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎโโ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐บ.
๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ 90 ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ. ๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด.'
โโโโโโโโโโ
28 days, I came to find the body of a slime to actually be pretty convenient, but also torturous. No sleep means more productivity, but since I have nothing I needed to do other than waiting it got boring, fast.
Given that it's only been 4 weeks,ใGreat Sageใhadn't awakened yet.
My sarcasm at wanting someone to talk with to awakenใGreat Sageใbecame a genuine one as I desperately wished to leave this dark and silent body that couldn't even sleep to pass the time.
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ [๐๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ] ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข 2 ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด?!
ยซAnswerโโSlimes, as spiritual lifeforms, possess additional sensory modalities beyond the five physical senses that enable them to perceive spiritual matterยป
To my surprise, it actually answeredโโ! I couldn't believe it. I had thought that I'd be stuck in this void for 90 days.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
ยซAnswerโโDue to the presence of two souls, it allowed me to divide the integration process between [Hiroomi Kanbara] and [Satoru Mikami], resulting in a threefold reduction in the time required for integrationยป
Hearing that last detail made my amorphous, streamline head itch.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด?
ยซAffirmativeโโThe body of the [Nameless] slime contains two souls: [Satoru Mikami], who possesses skills, and [Hiroomi Kanbara], who serves as the primary egoยป
After learning about this news, I was initially shocked. I had believed that I would completely take over Satoru's soul. However, upon reflection, I realized that if I had indeed taken over his soul entirely, then I wouldn't be able to utilize any of his Unique Skills.
๐๐ข๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ถ?
ยซAnswerโโThe ego of [Satoru Mikami] has been suppressed, and its presence within the body has been overshadowed by the primary egoยป
Hearing that, I thought it was weird. Satoru's soul is supposed to be the strongest, being able to support 6 Ultimate Skills.
Then the thought that my soul could've been stronger than the protagonist's crossed my mind, to which I immediately convinced myself that it was impossible.
And fearing that Satoru would one day wake up and take over my body. I remembered a limerick I made about split personality in the past.
"There was a lad who thought he was fine.
But a split personality did combine.
One side was quite meek,
The other one was a freak.
His psyche, now split, was a constant line."
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, I reassured myself, ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ [๐๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ]?
ยซAnswerโโAt the moment, I lack sufficient knowledge about magicule perception to provide you with any guidance or directionยป
I was shocked, disappointed even. The ใGreat Sageใadmits that it can't answer my question. I wondered if it's because I'm not it's true master that it's acting this way.
Ouchโ!
Was that pain? Don't I have Pain Nullification? More importantly than that, what did I just bump into?
ใ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆใcan I useใPredatorใon this thing?'
ยซAnswerโโUnique SkillใPredatorใis applicableยป
๐๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ! ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ!
As my body expands and envelops the object, this slime-like form begins to wrap around it like a cocoon, encasing it within a blue-hued membrane.
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ดโโ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ใ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณใ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐?
ยซAnswerโโใPredatorใSubskill: Analysis can be chained together with ใGreat SageใSubskill: Parallel Processing. Need to enable it?ยป
(YES/NO)
๐ ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต?
ยซAnalysis Complete โโ
Magic Ore: Raw materials of a durable alloy. Only proliferates in high magic essence density regions. That is because when over a certain period of time regular mineral ores are exposed to dense concentrations of magicules, the ores will slowly absorb them and eventually turn into Magic Oreยป
Oh it's just Magic Oresโโwait! You said this thing absorbed magicules? Shouldn't that be enough for an analysis on magicules and help me sense it?
ยซAnswerโโWhile there were only trace amounts. With the amount I was able to pick up, it's enough to perform an analysis to pair with your spiritual detectionยป
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฉโโ! I was a slime with no sight or sound, but soon my world will turn around! With eyes and ears soon to be found, I'll see and hear with joy unbound!
In my head I cheered that I wouldn't live in darkness anymore. To finally be able to see again was a real joy to me.
๐๐ญ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต [๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ], ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐโ?
Suddenly, a chaotic array of multicolored orbs materialized around me. Through them, I could discern the expanse of the Hipokute Herb field, the walls of the Sealed Cave, and the very lake where Rimuru fell into
[Acquired Extra Skill [Magic Sense]]
...
I just stood there, with my new senses opened. I couldn't believe how fast it went by. Before I could even do anything, I had already acquired the Skill.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ใ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆใ, I awed at what a Unique Skill could do.
๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐'๐ฎ 2 ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ.
With that I ran around the cave, swallowing up all the Hipokute Herbs and Magic Ore I could find.
๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญโโ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ!
After gobbling the raw materials, I had ใGreat Sageใ process them into Magisteel and Full Potions. And after 3 days of non-stop gathering, I ventured deeper into the Cave.
Meeting some familiar faces, like a gigantic black spider. The spider was massive, easily the size of a small house, and its eight legs moved with a frightening speed.
I tried to dodge its attacks, but it was impossible to avoid all of them. The spider's fangs were sharp and venomous, and I could feel my body weakening with each bite.
I launched myself at the spider, using my own body as a weapon. I slammed into its face, knocking it back and stunning it for a moment.
That was all the time I needed. I quickly wrapped my body around the spider's head, using my sticky slime to hold it in place. The spider struggled, but I held on tight, squeezing with all my might.
Finally, with a sickening crunch, the spider's head popped off. Its body twitched for a moment before going limp, and then it dissolved into a pile of dust.
With the spider defeated, I used Unique Skill ใPredatorใ to absorb its body. Stretching my slime body to cover the entire corpus, and swallowing it whole.
[Acquired Common Skill [Sticky Thread]]
[Acquired Common Skill [Steel Thread]]
After the Black Spider was the Tempest Serpent, a large black snake with a head reminiscent of a dragon's.
Using [Sticky Thread] I managed to stick the back end of its body to the middle end when it folded. And used [Steel Thread] to tie it together to stop it from moving.
After it was immobile, I could easily dissolve its head in the same way I killed the Black Spider. It becomes easier to analyze withใPredatorใif the target isn't conscious.
[Acquired Common Skill [Poisonous Breath]]
[Acquired Common Skill [Thermal Regulation]]
[Acquired Extra Skill [Sense Heat Source]]
๐๐ถ๐ฉ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ.
I was thinking I would only obtain [Poisonous Breath] and [Sense Heat Source], but [Thermal Regulation] was completely out of my expectation.
Though I could guess what the skill could do based on it's name, I decided to ask Great Sage anyway.
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด [๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ] ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ?
ยซAnswerโโIts function is to regulate body heat to maintain different levels of body temperatureยป
True to my guess it was exactly as I thought.
๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ [๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ] ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ [๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ]
ยซAnswerโโWhile that is indeed accurate, [Thermal Regulation] is not an Intrinsic Skill, but a Common Skill of this particular Tempest Serpentยป
I was a little surprised by the fact that it possessed a Skill of its own, which would suggest that this particular Tempest Serpent was stronger than some of the others.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐บ.
Venturing deeper into the Cave I predated the rest of the monster inhabitants.
I killed the Evil Centipede using [Poisonous Breath] from the recently predated Tempest Serpent.
[Acquired Common Skill [Paralyzing Breath]]
The Armorsaurus, as its name suggested, had very thick skin that allowed it to endure physical stress.
So I had to put it to sleep with [Paralyzing Breath] then used multiple doses of [Poisonous Breath] to corode the armor like skin enough to properly eat it.
[Acquired Common Skill [Body Armor]]
And the monster I was looking forward to the most, the Giant Bat. Rimuru used its [Ultrasonic Waves] to speak, and more significantly, its wings to fly.
Defeating this one was quite the challenge despite being of lower rank than the others. Because it could fly, it was far away from my reach, and could easily dodge or run away.
I resorted to using Mimicry, a subskill of ใPredatorใ, to take the form of the Black Spider for not only its greater size, but its wall crawling capabilities.
I then used [Steel Threads] to block off all exit points so it can't run away. If one of them tried to attack me I'd use [Body Armor] to defend.
I sprayed [Paralysis Breath] throughout the entire room to reduce its ability to fly. And once it's disoriented enough, I would use [Poisonous Breath] to deal the final blow.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐-๐ฑ๐ญ๐ถ๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ!? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต.
[Acquired Common Skill [Drain]]
[Acquired Common Skill [Ultrasonic Waves]]
I wasted three days hunting for these monsters, collecting Skills and materials. And during that time, I had already found the exit to this god forsaken cave.
But I needed to pick up the biggest collector's item here, the grand prize, Storm Dragon Veldora.