Watching a fight unfold between a tree and a scarab is an odd spectacle. The scarab is obviously faster, able to avoid or attempt to sever the vines reaching for it, however, the tree has many more avenues of attack, a total of six thick tentacles whipping and curling through the air.
The scarab has the advantage for the moment, its blades threatening to sever another of the angry, wrist-thick swishing tentacles, one stump already oozing sap from where it was lopped off. The discarded end lays motionless, grass bending around it.
It's a little early to call it but I'm leaning toward victory for the beetle. It moves with surety, always keeping as many vines as possible in front of it and lashing out wildly with its blades when it rushes in to attack. What can the immobile plant possibly do against a faster, armoured opponent with deadlier weapo-?
It happens so fast I almost miss it; if I hadn't upgraded my Mana sense, I probably wouldn't have caught more than a blur.
Numerous tiny, grasping roots no longer than a forearm writhe out of the ground in a patch beneath the oblivious beetle, its attention fixed above while it fends off a sudden attack by the vines. The myriad little appendages latch onto the beetle's legs, a few questing across the bottom of its carapace in an effort to locate something, anything, to grab. Caught off guard, the now trapped beetle slashes down at the ground with its claws in a rage, laying waste to the weak roots holding its legs down.
It isn't enough.
Without any sharp appendages to avoid, the vines descend en masse, forcing their prey into the ground in a move that resembles burying the beetle under a massive bowl of ramen noodles. The vines coil and writhe, the shockingly quiet battle now dead silent aside from the susurrus of vines rasping against each other.
It doesn't take long for the beetle monster's fate to become apparent. A pair of bladed forelegs are half pushed, half flung out of the pile of murderous plant-life, shortly followed by four others to complete the set of limbs.
I'd love an outside perspective right now. I'm curious to see if I turn green watching the limbless, headless carapace of the once formidable beast quivering as it's pulled up into the canopy, the separated head still twitching on the grass, only for a couple more vines to descend from above to gather up both it and the legs once the main bulk has been securely hidden amongst the leaves.
Sitting there in stunned silence, I run through the struggle once more. I really thought the beetle had the advantage; It seemed to be anticipating everything the plant was going to do, the only exception being that patch of grasping roots that ended up heralding its downfall. Thinking about its behaviour while I was tailing it, and the fact that it went straight to eating the second it got here... It makes me think the beetle was familiar with this place and had tussled with that tree before.
So why was it caught off guard? A simple mistake? I consider whether the tree had been holding back for just such an opportunity but find it unlikely. I know mutations are a thing around here, maybe that was a new one to help it fend off predators, or perhaps even that beetle in particular?
If so, that's a problem for me. No matter how much time I spend observing or putting myself in danger to get a better understanding of a particular monster's capabilities, they could mutate whole new ones between encounters. I'd been considering just forgoing advancement and building my knowledge base until I can take advantage of any weaknesses I find... but if this theory proves correct, that's just a waste of time. Any weakness I find in my rivals could be nullified by a single mutation or a new skill...
Dammit! If only I understood more about this bloody system!
Twisting my body from side to side, I sigh internally, the slime equivalent of shaking my head making me feel a little better. Being an immobile blob with no limbs can get restrictive unless I exercise my ability to move about a bit, something I've started noticing recently. Getting angry and antsy won't solve anything but it's just so frustrating!
The currents inside my body swirling and roiling, it occurs to me that I'm probably hangry. I turn to head somewhere safer in order to find some food when something catches my attention amongst the grass at the site of the all too recent massacre; an irregularity in the Mana of the grass.
Angling my body to get a better idea of what I'm looking at, I see the severed section of vine that the beetle lopped off, as well as the pair of long, bladed foreclaws just lying there on the grass, a few feet from the base of the tree.
Curious. I wonder why it didn't stash these items in its canopy? The vine I can understand, eating part of yourself just feels wrong, but why the beetle limbs? The blades take up around half the length of the leg, one piece each of solid chitin shaped and sharpened to deadly effect. Maybe it can't digest them? I have no idea how a killer tree would even digest anything, but if it's anything like a Venus flytrap I think they dissolve their food in some kind of acid? Or something?
Eyeing the carnivorous tree, now completely still, I focus my full attention on the collection of scraps. I decided being a scavenger was my best shot at a meal, right? What better opportunity to put that into practice than right now?
Brain ticking over, I consider how to go about transporting these leftovers. The legs probably weighs less than I do but look rather unwieldy, each one twice my length. The vine, on the other hand, is that long again and looks a bit more hefty. I have no idea what '8 Physicality' translates to in terms of raw strength, but considering it's less than half of what I'm assuming is an untrained human's physical might...
Still, I haven't a clue how big I am in relation to a human, so maybe-
Oh, for fuck's sake! Just get on with it!
Reprimanding myself for my blatant stalling, I ripple forward slowly, stealthing my way up to the nearest prize; one of the bladed beetle legs. All my senses stretched to their limits, I slide over the limb, covering the detached end up to the base of the blade where it once grew from the socket of the leg joint. It looks like it wasn't cut off; rather, the vines just ripped it out of the bug's body, tassles of trailing tendon and a little viscera wafting in the flow of my slime. Ewwwwww...
Now that I'm here, I'm met with my first hurdle; how do slimes grab things?
I've never been in a situation where I've had to lift or carry something with this body before. Muttering sulky comments at myself for forcing me to rush ahead without thinking, I visualise grabbing hold of the appendage half buried in my body. Instinctively shifting, my membrane firms up around the appendage, the almost imperceptible film designed to maintain the shape of my personage melding with an identical film solidifying to cover the surface area of the limb submerged within the once liquid layer of slime touching the object lodged inside me.
In no time I have something akin to an internal sleeve of membrane constricted around the limb which provides me with ample grip as I pull it along behind me. It's honestly lighter than I expected. Must be 'cos there isn't much to it besides carapace and chitinous blade. No wonder the tree left them behind.
Successfully hidden beneath the banana fern once more, I wonder how to go about moving with this weird sleeve inside me. In response, like the automatic response to shake or pull your hand away from pain, the layer of membrane inside me rapidly reverts back into its usual non-Newtonian state, my outer membrane sealing me back up as if it was never there.
Heh heh, cool.
Repeating the process for the second limb on the other side of the little clear space around the tree, I return a third time for the biggest of my prospective scavenged resources. The severed vine is about twice as thick and a bit longer than the legs, so I doubt shifting it will be so smooth an operation as the legs were.
Getting an idea, I ripple over it from the skinny end, taking my time with subsuming it into my body. It's an effort but I'm able to guide how the membrane sleeve is structured inside me by manipulating the way my slime moves around the vine. Once it's in, I start coiling it around like a snake, trying to pack as much of it inside my body as I can.
Once I've got about half of it inside, I stop. I feel… sorta stretched thin. I'm almost twice my original size now, most of that mass accounted for by plant matter. Crawling is a massive struggle but with most of the weight of it taken up inside my own body, it's much easier than it would have otherwise been dragging it behind me.
Success!
...hoo boy, I'm knackered...
Despite my exhaustion, I'm quite pleased; I've managed to bag my first spoils as a scavenger! This is cause for a feast! I think briefly about pulling my haul further away from this danger zone as I let the vine slide free but the fact that I wasn't noticed while stealing said haul, compounded with my current level of exhaustion, result in me saying: fuck it.
I'm hungry, let's eat!
Starting first with one of the legs, I glomp over it and start digesting...
...
Oh my lord, that is nasty!
I almost stop eating then and there, the taste suffusing my molecules at present making me shiver. But I can't let a little flavour get in the way of eating and regaining my strength, no matter how much I wish I had a tongue to wash out!
Continuing the gruesome task, I must admit it's an interesting feeling, the motion of my body sliding over and around the carapace as it begins slowly stripping tiny flakes away.
It takes almost ten seconds, but finally a small chunk breaks off and rapidly dissolves into my body, marking my first 'bite' of food taken in this new life.
[Organism detected. [Initial]Profile: Blade Scarab unlocked.]
[This simple insect monster commonly found in the First Atrium sports bladed foreclaws and a sturdy exoskeleton, which it relies upon heavily for defence while attacking in a frenzy at close range.]
What's this?! The moment I ingested part of this beetle's leg a notification popped up, followed by a small screen. So, I can gain information about other monsters as long as I've eaten one? So useful!
Also, First Atrium? Is that where I am? An atrium is like an entryway, right? Mom used to love her atriums. Am I at the entrance of something?
I look hard at that [Initial] tag. There must be more information I can unlock, though I'm not sure how I'd go about doing it. Yet again the questions pile up.
There's not much here I couldn't figure out on my own, still, I commit it to memory while I continue digesting. It takes almost a full two minutes to be done with the leg and the blade is still sticking around inside me. Hmm, guess I can't break down everything.
Spitting it out with a wet plop, I move on to the next leg. No notification chimes this time- not that I expected one, really.
I sit there twiddling my metaphorical thumbs for another minute, the only stubby appendages I'm capable of making flopping against each other like little nubbins of jelly while I gaze longingly at the much heartier looking vine. Thinking about how good it'll be to eat something solid once I'm done with this, my digestion pauses, a flash of inspiration rocking me to my core. I laugh at myself for missing something so obvious. I've definitely inherited more from my human life than just my mental stats; I'm still thinking in fleshy, humanoid terms.
I'm not a human with a single mouth, oesophagus, and stomach... I'm a slime! I don't have such human limitations as only being capable of eating one thing at a time; as long as it fits in my body I can digest multiple things at once!
...as much as I wish said digestion tasted at least a little more pleasant...
Crawling over to the tip of the vine, I suck it into my body like an oversized udon noodle. Without a protective covering like the beetle's carapace, I'm able to digest the plant matter much faster, getting my first little bite after only a few seconds.
[Organism detected. [Initial]Profile: Grasping Arbour Sapling unlocked.]
[This small tree takes after more aggressive variants of plant monster found throughout the Dungeon. Relying on its nest of tentacle-like vines to capture prey and ward off predators, this monster is a minor inconvenience within its natural home of the First Atrium when undeveloped but can become dangerous if left to grow into maturity.]
Woah, there's a lot more info here! Wait, that was only a sapling?! The file says it's a small monster but it's easily as tall as a street light, if not taller.
Just how tiny am I?!
Grumbling about the unfairness of it all, I take solace in my gastronomic superiority. Let's see a boring old human eat and digest two things simultaneously, ha!
The sapling's profile also provides me with a piece to the puzzle of my location. So, I'm in a dungeon? Or, from the sound of it, the Dungeon. Combined with what the scarab's profile mentioned about an atrium, I appear to have been born in the entrance to this Dungeon.
I don't really know what I expected. Slimes are well known for being low-tier dungeon mobs, so it makes sense, but having semi-concrete evidence that I was reborn inside a monster-filled complex oft delved by parties of adventurers is a bit to take in.
After another minute I'm halfway done with the leg and about a third of the way through the vine. Feeling like I've just passed the half-full mark, I'm getting ready to knuckle down and pig out when David Attenborough's velvety voice demands my attention once more.
[You have consumed one Impurity]
I stare at the innocuous little notification, my mind still ringing with the words of that most beloved of nature enthusiasts.
Yes, yesyesyesyes! I got an Impurity! Food forgotten, I jiggle what my momma (or whatever it was) gave me for all I'm worth. I know how to get Impurities!
Granted, it seems like they come from eating monsters, and I have no idea if I'll get as lucky again as I did just now, but who cares! It's a start and a path forward, let's fucking go!
Leaping back to the vine with abandon, I eat as fast as I possibly can, digesting like a madman. I need every advantage I can get! Even if I can only squeeze a single Impurity out of the rest of this meal, that's one more miniscule edge in my journey to survive.
Extending and stretching my body around as much of the morsel as I'm able, I've got my game face on. Just you watch out Dungeon, I'm gonna survive you yet!
In the end I do in fact finish up with only one additional Impurity. In addition to that, I'm so full I can hardly move, likely the result of eating at least twice my bodyweight in monster! Calling up the Impurity screen now that I have two whole Impurities to spend, I assess my options.
[Mutations Available: Membrane +1: Increase durability of surface membrane, reducing damage taken and increasing force required to destabilise form
Motive Molecules +1: Increase the speed mass can be moved and manipulated
Mana Receptors +2: Improve Mana Sense
Digestive Molecules +1: Improve rate of digestion and damage dealt to matter being actively consumed]
[Mutate Mana Receptors to +2, consuming two Impurities?]
Inspecting my only +2 mutation, I see the cost for upgrading my Mana Receptors has increased from one to two Impurities. It'll likely only go up as I mutate further, so I'm going to have to be careful about how I do this... specialise too much in one area and I might find it difficult to get a hold of more Impurities if conditions change.
For now, though, being aware of my surroundings and having the ability to tell a plant monster apart from a normal one is vital to my survival.
[You have successfully mutated Mana Receptors to +2]
Confirming my selection, that fizzy sensation occurs again, a little stronger this time.
The difference is immediately apparent. There's a slight increase in quality, the aura of Mana around everything now sharper, making it easier to identify outlines, broad details and tell when objects are overlapping. I'd say my vision now is comparable to looking through a dirty window, rather than the frosted one I started out with.
With my mutation complete, I notice I don't feel quite so full anymore. I would go so far as to say I'm actually a little peckish.
Well, nothing else for it then! Time to find out what else this garden of wonderous terrors has to offer!
Before I go, however, I cast a glance to the pair of picked clean scarab blades discarded off to the side. I may not be able to eat them but they still look sharp...
Staying low and slow on my trek through the undergrowth, one of the scarab blades lodged firmly inside my body, the upgraded Mana sense proves its worth. Alerting me to draping vines hidden on the flats of ferns once or twice, I also successfully circumvent a suspiciously uniform patch of dense grass surrounding a bed of flowers.
It could be that the flowers are nothing sinister but I'd rather avoid them than take that chance.
I soon arrive at my destination, a shallow stream of water cutting off a quarter of the cave from the rest. Starting as a trickle running from halfway down the furthest right wall of the cave relative to where I entered, I assume it must pool at the base before eventually trickling out into the gentle stream I see before me.
Moving closer, a clear stretch of short grass maybe four body lengths wide separates the foliage behind from the edge of the water. Keeping an eye out for trouble, I inspect the water.
It's surprisingly clear, like rippling crystalline glass. The silty bottom isn't too far below, neither monsters nor waterborne plants visible either upon or beneath the surface. Crawling right up to the edge, I dip a little appendage into the water.
Cold! Yanking it out and shivering from the chill, I eye the stream. That was pretty damn icy, even for an underground river... not that I've ever been in an underground river, let alone seen one, so what do I know...
Expanding and contracting in a deep metaphorical breath, I take the plunge.
Cold, cold! Bloody fuckin' cold!
The weight of gravity releasing me once I'm beneath the surface, I remain still, letting the blade I so conveniently decided to bring with me weigh me down. When it becomes apparent that I'm neither drowning nor dissolving, I allow myself to relax a touch.
That was a risk, but one I'm glad paid off. It would have sucked to find out water is one of my big weaknesses and this way I know I have a last-ditch escape route if I'm backed into a corner and there's a river or a lake nearby. I'm in an unknown world inside a dungeon, who knows what the hell I'll find down here! It could have an ocean for all I know, hahaha!
Chuckling at the absurdity of my statement, I look around at the streambed. Approximately three body lengths deep and about the same wide, I can drift comfortably along the bottom by pushing off the silt and gliding until the weight of my cargo brings me back down. The current is negligible, just enough to carry me but barely anything to strain against when I try going against the flow.
Remaining alert, I want to see how I go without my dive weight. Letting it slip free of my grasp, I feel the current's intensity pushing against me more than it was but not enough to warrant concern. I wobble, giggling internally. Now that I'm not gripped around something, my form starts warping and reacting to the press of water like a water balloon in freefall, undulating and distending in remarkably fun ways.
Wibble-wobbling, I let myself soften and spread out, intrigued by how being underwater changes the way my body moves. Taking a couple minutes, I just have some fun mucking about and pretending to be a lava lamp. You need to know when to take it easy, even in the middle of a killer Dungeon!
[Soften has reached Level 3]
Hahaha, even the Dungeon agrees with me! If levelling all my skills is going to be this fun, I'll be a grandmaster in no time!
Undulating down to the silty streambed once more, I grab hold of my scavenged weapon and look ahead to where the stream curves gently out of sight to the right.
Following its course, my body and mind are tired from the excitement of the day and the workout I just put myself through. Maybe that wasn't the most smartest idea. I may not be able to yawn but I feel so... sluggish.
Ignoring it as best I can, I push through the lethargy, soon arriving at a point where the stream seems to terminate.
A shallow pool, more a broadening of the stream than anything, sits at the base of the stone cavern wall.
Interesting. Despite the abundance of water, the foliage around here isn't flourishing quite so thickly as what I've seen elsewhere in this cavern, the ground cover a bit more sparse and the vines on the wall thinner than those I can make out dangling above.
A small tunnel, little more than a water-eroded crack in the wall, carries the water pooling here to places unknown. Possibly deeper underground?
Curious, I undulate over to the fissure, pushing off the bottom to get level with the widest section, just beneath the water's surface. It looks tight, but I could probably squeeze through.
But... do I want to? I can't see what's beyond due to the gap narrowing further in. What if it's just a sheer drop that'll send me tumbling to my doom? Hesitant, I re-evaluate. After a brief assessment, I'm tentatively sure it isn't a straight drop; surely the current would be stronger? Since there's been no change in the pull of the current, I'm guessing that whatever is on the other side is level with the stream.
One big temptation for checking it out is how secret it feels. If this were a game there'd almost certainly be a collectible or an easter egg hidden back here, surely? I may not have amounted to much in my past life, but no one could say I wasn't a curious cat.
Performing an excited little jig, I rest my recently procured blade against the rockface. Judging from the size of the gap I could probably get it in, but it'd be a hassle. Instead, I'll leave it by the entrance here and return for it if I need to.
Not seeing a reason to wait any longer, I push myself into the gap in the wall. Initially it's easy- the thing is as wide as I am- but after another foot it starts getting narrower... and narrower...
I'm in my element though. I don't need to worry about air and the firm press of rock on either side of me isn't uncomfortable, my smooth body gliding over the rough surface and helped along by the flow of water. I wonder if my new body has some physical or psychological effect on my experiences and attitude towards tight spaces? I wasn't claustrophobic in my past life, but I think anyone would be freaking out if they found themselves in this situation. Me though, I'm cool as a cucumber, squeezing and contorting myself deeper into the crack.
Maybe the fact that I can 'see' fine helps as well? It's probably really dark, but my Mana sense doesn't care; the rock walls are just as vivid now as they were outside.
It takes a minute or two of struggle and contortion but part of me eventually pokes out from between the close press of stone. Excited to see what I've found, I scope around with the leading edge of my membrane, the majority of me still inside the wall.
I'm curious, not a suicidal idiot.
Oh wow, there's a miniature cave with a tiny beach and everything back here! There appears to be some kind of rock sitting in the middle of the small patch of silty land with what look like rocky pillars and support bridges connecting it to the walls and roof. A LOT of pillars and bridges.
Watching for any movement and paying close attention to any shapes that stand out, it looks like the only thing of note in here is this weirdly shaped rock. The Mana swirls around it strongly, a bit more than any other rock I've seen.
Maybe this is some kind of secret collectible? The whole thing gives off a weird vibe, like it's almost...alive...
Sweating nervously, I look real close at the pillars and the rock they're all connected to. The main article is some kind of rocky monolith the size of a single storey cottage and shaped sort of like a flan crossed with a bulb of garlic; a broad, distended base transitioning narrower as it gets higher before flaring out slightly at the top, reminiscent of an erupting volcano.
As for the pillars and bridges, they spread out from the base and anchor to various points on walls and roof, all at different heights and angles. I count sixteen of the things, most of the ones anchored to parts of the wall far away from the base of the weird rock drooping like slightly slack ropes.
...or vines...
Looking at it from that angle, the cave takes on a whole new light. If what I thought were pillars are actually vines, then that makes the bulb shaped rock in the centre an actual bulb! Or maybe some kind of plant-heart?
Ever so glad I was cautious and inspected the area before traipsing on in, I tuck myself back into the wall, cursing my lack of abilities. If I had even a smidgen of natural weaponry I could try my luck, but I can't! It's just sitting there, vines dug into the wall, a stationary target, and I can't so much as lay a finger-
My pity party grinds to a halt as I latch onto an errant idea in the process of running screaming from my mind. I left that scarab's blade laying outside, innocent as can be. It's pretty damn sharp, so who's to say it couldn't cut through those vines?
I have no idea if I can even wield it, it's almost as big as I am, but I just can't shake the idea. Could I do it?
Looking back inside I don't see any other vines or appendages anywhere around the cave, no obvious defences of any kind. Maybe it set up shop in here so it wouldn't have to worry about any of that? I can't imagine anything but another slime or something even smaller getting in here, and what could we do to such an entrenched monster?
But maybe...
Maybe, if I play my cards right, I could actually take this thing on. I have no idea what level it is or what tricks it might have but the size of it alone is guaranteed to net me a heap of Impurities. The risk is real but if I prepare myself properly the rewards could be huge!
Mind awhirl with ideas, I squeeze my way back to the entrance and the cavern proper, brain bubbling with plans by the time I pop back out into the pool.
Floating before the entrance to the mini cave, I feel like I'm about to step into a boss room.
I just spent the last few hours out of the water training and preparing for my confrontation with the unsuspecting foe waiting within. During this time I also discovered that being underwater is what was making me feel lethargic. A minute out of the water had me feeling fit as a fiddle, so I obviously tried going in and out to make sure it wasn't a coincidence but it seems like being submerged does something to either my physiology or my mind. It doesn't seem dangerous, but it's certainly something I'll need to be aware of if I want to spend extended periods underwater in future.
My 'training' mostly consisted of figuring out how to use the scarab blade effectively, as well as determining whether or not I even stood a chance of cutting the bulb-heart's vines. That seems like the best strategy, as I don't want to run the risk of it managing to dig them out of the wall and doing to me what that tree did to the beetle.
It quickly became apparent that swinging the blade wasn't going to work; I couldn't get the force I wanted while maintaining my hold on the smooth blade's base. Instead, I decided to use it to reinforce the one skill I hadn't touched yet: Pound.
By the time I'm satisfied with my ability to wield the unwieldy improvised weapon, I'm confident in cutting through the thicker parts of a fern's stalk and can leave sizable gashes in the fibrous wood of one of the non-sentient trees I was practicing on close by. It takes a few hits, and I fumbled half of them at first, but my few hours practice definitely show results.
Name: Luke
Species: Baby Blue Slime
Level: 1
Hit Points - 15
Mana - 5
Physicality: 8
Fortitude: 8
Thought: 24
Intent: 19
Skills: Pound [Lv.1], Soften [Lv.3], Bounce [Lv.2], Stealth [Lv.3]
Mutations: Mana Receptors +2
Skill Points: 0
Impurities: 0
Doing a final check of my status and running through the plan once more, I make sure the blade is lodged firmly along the top of my body. By securing the majority of the blade completely within while leaving the curved, pointy end sticking out of my forehead like an improvised horn, I can use it to add some much-needed damage to my arsenal. It usually gets pushed into me after a hit, making the end pop out my back, but it's almost no effort to reset it, and I've practiced doing it while moving so I'm not caught off guard in the moment
...hopefully.
Alright Luke, you can do this! You've got an actual weapon now, you've trained as best you can, and this monster has no idea you're coming! Just be smart, be careful and above all...!
...don't get dead...
Pep talk complete, I get my slime pumping and push into the passageway. It's a struggle to manoeuvre the blade through my misshapen body to avoid getting it stuck, and I wince every time it scrapes the wall, praying the monster inside doesn't have good, or any, hearing.
All too soon I arrive at the end of the squeeze, this time going all the way and entering the cave proper. I move with a prodigious lack of haste, passing the blade through my body and gently resting it on the silty floor, muffling any sound it might otherwise make while I slip free.
Doing so, I practically melt out of the wall in slow motion, making as little disturbance as possible, unsure of what senses a plant monster might have. One thing I'll give to us slimes, we can be sneaky little buggers when we want to be. I don't make so much as a peep lifting the blade up, cushioning it with my body when it bumps the floor slightly, any and all vibration eaten up by my pliant mass.
Weapon re-sheathed in my forehead, I crawl along the silty floor, leaving a trail of disturbed particles behind me. At least I can be pretty sure it doesn't have eyes; what need would a plant have for such things tucked away in this likely lightless room?
Pausing just as I'm about to break the surface, I steel my nerves. I have a chance to turn back here, but I'm not going to take it. I know I said my only option was to be a scavenger but dammit, even if this is a one-off chance or a mistake, I'm going to prove that even a simple slime can be a force to be reckoned with! We may be small, we may be soft, but there's a reason we keep coming back in all your favourite RPG's. We're tenacious, dammit!
Resolve affirmed, I ease out of the water, my smooth membrane breaching the surface with the slightest ripple. The mixture of silt, dirt and stone dust that forms this miniature beach is dense enough that I have little trouble moving, though bouncing around the place is out of the question.
Now that I'm closer, the plant-y nature of this thing is obvious. It wasn't easy to see from the wall, but here, only ten or so feet away, the whole thing pulsates with minute movements like it's breathing. Another detail that stands out to me is located where the creature's vines, sprouting from the centre of the room, burrow into the walls.
The wall is more or less flush with the circumference of these vines, implying they aren't designed to be removed. This is good news; I might actually have enough time to sever all sixteen before starting on the main body!
Looking around for any other details I might have missed earlier, I take note of how swollen the roots and the base of this thing look. It must be getting ample water from this environment. What a cushy setup!
My internal glee gains a savage edge as I finish sizing up my target. It obviously thinks it's safe here, secluded from all dangers, but I'm about to give it a rude wakeup call!
Readying myself before the nearest vine, I compress my body in readiness to leap forward and, hopefully, slice it clean through.
Aaand... GO!
Getting a few crawls worth of runup I leap for the plant limb, scarab blade cutting through the air as I Pound into it. I'd say it's about as thick around as a human thigh, so this shouldn't be too-
Shthk!
-I almost immediately stop, only the tip of the blade sticking in. The response from the plant monster is immediate, the vine I'm attached to vibrating like a taught bowstring, pulling tight and jostling free the blade while the main body trembles and creaks with a sound like worn leather.
Oh no you don't! Leaping forward once again I attempt to widen the wound, but the intense shaking makes it a difficult target to land a hit on. It takes a few tries, eventually snapping at the site of my attack, but that's mostly due to the monster's desperate attempts to avoid my attacks putting it under too much strain.
Far out! Those things are tough! It took me nearly fifteen seconds just to get through that one vine, and there are fifteen more?! I tried cutting as close as I could to the base, maybe I should risk moving along to a thinner section?
No, the whole reason I'm doing this is so it can't use the vines to attack me. If I leave too much attached it'll just smack me silly, and then I'll never get close!
Not wasting any time, I've already started on the next vine, this one trailing up to the roof. I finish cutting through a little quicker this time, since I can make running passes as I Pound the vertical appendage, but just as I'm about to move to the next one, I feel the dirt tremble beneath me and hear a sound that freezes my slime solid in its membrane.
With a thick, wet sound like the tearing of a massive muscle, one of the vines that was burrowed into the roof rips itself out of the rock, thick fluid dripping from the tip.
Did this fucking thing just tear its own vine out of the wall?!
I barely have a moment to finish that thought before I'm forced to dive to the left, the damaged appendage flailing around madly like a garden hose possessed. The appendage impacting the spot I just vacated with a THUD that vibrates violently through both the soft earth my soft squidginess in equal measure, I dash toward the relative safety of the roots at the base of the plant monster's main body.
Okay, I should have a second here, surely it won't attack its own roots-
Oh boy, am I wrong.
Reeling after being caught by a blow that strikes the whole left wall of its own roots in a horizontal slam, I feel dizzy and achy, like my head just got squeezed by a vice. Also, am I smaller than usual?
I need to know how I'm holding up, and I try to think about consulting my status to see my HP but, as if in response, a little window appears in the corner of my mind displaying my current predicament.
[HP - 10]
[Mana - 5]
WHAT?! One hit nearly did a full third of my health pool?! I take it back, this isn't just a boss room, I'm in a full-on Soulslike Super Boss Encounter! Looking at the roots surrounding me though, I see they were just as damaged by the attack, if not more so. I guess my soft body holds up better against bludgeoning attacks than a solid object would.
In saying that, I am a little concerned by the glowing fluid painting the section of roots behind and around me. It looks suspiciously similar to the watercolour mess of my first encounter with one of the mole-dongos.
Is that stuff me!?
Jeez, I'm glad I'm not a red slime, or this place would look like a crime scene!
Eep! Pancaking myself as flat to the floor as I can, I still barely avoid a second attack by the rapidly flailing vine, followed by the sound of two more vines tearing themselves from the walls.
Ah yes; life or death situation now, freak out later!
Staying flat, I ripple swiftly out from under the main body to get a better idea of what's going on. I stay as still as possible while I watch the three vines flailing around the cave, whipping at the rock, dirt, and water in a frenzy. Twice I nearly get flattened, but I hold firm.
I need a plan!
Severing the vines is no longer an option- I'm quick but nowhere near fast enough to dodge these demonic garden hoses and the longer this fight drags on, the more vines it can pull from the wall to attack me with; I need to take out the main body.
But how the hell do I do that?! I can't get up to the top from down here and I'm a sitting duck for the vines if I wail on the outside.
Even if I avoid being hit, damaging the outside probably wouldn't kill it anyway, I'd need to get at the heart, which is inside-
Another vine ripping free of the wall punctuates my sudden realisation. I can see only one possible course of action to both avoid the vines and damage the monster enough to kill it. Awww man this is going to suck...
Rippling back into the relative cover of the roots, I pick up the blade I dropped when I was hit, a bit more of it poking out my forehead now that I seem to have lost some mass. I'd say I'm about 30% smaller now after that attack, but hopefully my Physicality hasn't decreased as well!
....
Nope, we're good. At least it's only my life in danger from these vines.
Circulating my internal fluid to calm down, I change the position of my blade. Alright, I'm ready, let's do this!
Jumping forth, I land with my back to the plant monster, the tip of my blade pointing up at it.
AHA! You thought, dumb plant! I'm a slime, I don't have a back!
Without the need to worry about inefficient things like turning around or adjusting my vision to keep the monster in sight, I smoothly transition to thinking of the part of my body with the blade sticking out as the front, only landing long enough to gain the stability required to jump again, this time up at the widest, most distended part of the plant's mass; the broad base of its bulb-like form.
Pound!
[Pound has reached Level 2]
My mighty bladed forehead strikes true, sinking an inch or so into the bulb. Immediately the violence of the vine writhing soars to new heights, painting the walls, floor and the plants monster's main body in its own vital fluids. My mass pressed up against the bulb where I Pounded into it, I push off, holding fast to the blade with my membrane.
The blade slides free, a trickle of fluid leaking from the small puncture in the side of the massive plant monster. Re-adjusting the blade while readying myself for another Pound, I'm almost clocked by a vine moving so fast it appears in my Mana sense like a blurry wall rushing down at an angle toward me.
Thankfully, my practice pays off and I'm able to stretch myself forward beneath the incoming attack while still maintaining a hold on my weapon.
[Soften has reached Level 4]
I immediately dismiss the announcement. Unable to spare the time nor attention at the moment, I slip back into position with my blade at the ready. Pound! This time I strike almost exactly the same spot, opening a much wider gash in the creature, the slightly viscous fluid now streaming from the wound, stinging a little where it splashes against my body.
I'm getting ready to push off once again when I sense movement above and behind me. Looks like that hit alerted it to exactly where I am; a thick vine is poised and ready to squash me like a mosquito.
You think you got what it takes? Bring it on!
Pushing my newly levelled Soften skill to its limit, I leave the blade wedged in the monster's body, working as much of my body into the gash as I'm able and gathering the rest of me in a pool that sits flush against the surface of its skin.
It's hard as hell to stay this soft and not drip off the blade or run down the bulb's side, but I persevere, manipulating my slime into currents and grabbing appendages to keep a grip as the vine, like a righteous sword of Damocles, hangs above me.
It lurches into motion, descending to destroy the irritating creature attacking its most mighty self.
At least, so the plant monster thinks.
Instead, its blunt, torn appendage slams into the base of the blade stuck into the monster's side like a hammer hitting a nail on the head, tearing open a mighty rent as the force of the attack's impact splits the already deep wound even wider.
As for me, my all but liquidous body absorbs most of the impact, dropping me to a trifling six HP as I'm shoved along with the blade into the heart of the beast.
Or, more accurately, the belly.
Gah, it burns! This shit stings like a motherfucker!
And it absolutely reeks! I thought monster tasted bad but monster fluids? That's a low I hope never to reach again after this.
Sinking to the bottom of a slightly viscous bath of what I assume is digestive fluid or something of the sort, I discover the inside of the monster is mostly empty aside from large, pulsating sacs lining the walls. Looking around for anything vital, feeling my membrane breaking down every second I'm exposed to this monster's insides, I spy a pillar of fibrous plant matter in the centre of the space through the murk that connects each of the sacs via muscle like threads to the floor.
In the middle of this tree-like structure is a pulsating heart. I can't think of any other word to describe it. This living structure is the densest concentration of Mana I've ever seen sitting smack dab in the middle of the monster's body.
Wasting no time, I undulate toward my target, picking up the blade that was shoved in with me on the way. Looking at my health slowly tick down I inject more urgency into my approach, the whole monster shivering and creaking around me.
Arriving at the base of the pillar, I know I have no chance of reaching the heart suspended halfway up by the fibrous muscle, the digestive fluid is just too thick. Instead, I headbutt the base, only the slight swirling of Mana conveying that I'm even doing enough damage to hurt it.
Pound, Pound, Pound!
[Pound has reached Level 3]
Pounding the core of the monster blindly with everything I've got, I eventually notice it's gotten a lot easier to move. Finally taking a second to look at my surroundings, I realise the majority of the fluid inside the bulb has drained out of the rent in its side, leaving only a third of my body submerged in the remaining pool.
[HP - 2]
[Mana - 5]
Noticing how close I came to kicking the bucket, I hastily leap up and headbutt the pillar, lodging my blade into it and holding on for dear life. No way am I going down to DoT after surviving this far into the fight!
Taking a moment to catch my breath the whole structure around me trembles and shudders before falling silent, the roof that arches above me drooping down while the pulsating of the sacs gets weaker and weaker.
Holding my metaphorical breath in disbelief, a moment later all movement ceases and I hear the glorious tone of a system notification.
[Congratulations, you have defeated a Level 6 Vine Parasite]
[You have received XP]
OH MY ATTENBOROUGH! I did it! I actually beat this massive thing!?
WOOHOO!
[You have reached Level 2]
[You have reached Level 3]
[You have gained 2 Skill Points]
I went up two whole levels!? And I got Skill Points?
HELL YEAH!
Hold on, this thing was six times my level?! How the heck didn't I die? It should have been able to absolutely demolish me!
Eh, who cares? I won! I won, I won!
Revelling in my victory, I dream of Impurities galore once I get to chowing down on this smorgasbord.
...
Now, how do I get down from here without melting...?
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