My instincts told me to charge in.
But, I didn't. These things were desperately protecting their homes and their families. I could respect that. But you're all becoming my exp.
That said, I quietly mimicked a hobgoblin and walked amidst them without any problems whatsoever. Finally, some damn vision! Huh? I didn't mean to be hypocritical but my vision kind of sucked and I saw way better as a slime. But hey, I could at least focus a bit better and hearing seemed to be decent too. Sense of smell, I could do without. Smelled horrendous in here.
Hobgoblins were elites, and no ordinary goblin would be able to object to anything they say. Technically they barely said anything though. Goblins mostly communicated through grunts and roars. But I didn't come here to play spy. I came here to reach the boss unnoticed. Which I accomplished fairly easily.
At the very center of the floor, away from all the typical goblin and snake soldiers, was a single individual. A king goblin. It wore a crown on its head, but even this fat thing wasn't wearing any clothes. You can make weapons, houses, and babies, but can't make clothes, huh?
Some women did wear clothes so… more like a personal preference honestly. Maybe things just don't like covering their bodies in this world?
Scaly skin, somewhat reptilian in nature? It was at least two meters tall and a whole meter wide. It carried a massive club and by the looks of it, damn thing was pretty strong.
The king eyed me suspiciously a few seconds before disregarding me and looking at the entrance. Apparently, some unforeseen prey just entered. Lucky me.
"Hrmm?" The goblin king staggered, as I touched his shoulder. He tried slapping my hand away but I melted and grabbed his whole upper torso. I easily covered his whole face along with his shoulder. Sizzle!
Not fast enough-
He whammed his club on his head.
[HP -7]
I lost about one third of my HP from a single swing?
[Initiating Repair (Minor)]
Apparently, this skill let me repair 1 HP every ten minute. Not bad, nothing great.
I didn't jump off though, I just stayed. Head still sizzling, the goblin staggered at its feet. I suppose it did more damage to its own head than to me. Yet, it still didn't fall and tried slamming the thing again.
Wham! I took it head on this time as well.
[HP -9]
[Warning, HP critical. Fighting ill-advised!]
Uh-huh. I understood that. One more hit and I was done for. Yet, I didn't let go. I didn't stop. I kept on melting its head. The skin perished, the muscles too. I was almost at the bone level, yet it still moved. Let's see what goes down first. My HP or your brain!
The club raised high above as it slammed it down! Or it would have, if it was still alive. At the very last moment before the club connected, it lost all its strength, and the club fell down. Along with the goblin king, with a massive thud.
I won.
Heh!
[Goblin King (Solo Boss) defeated]
[Level up!]
I absorbed it.
[Absorbed Goblin King]
[Skill acquired: Massive strength, Boost, Goblin control (Mid)]
[Level up!]
[Stamina increased!]
Did I even have stamina? Anyway, I had the attention of a lot of lovely goblins and snakes. Whatever was at the very entrance was probably dead.
Mimic!
This time, I became larger, way larger than I was used to. A goblin king! "Hrmm…" I couldn't talk but I could at least swing the damn club around! Boost! Massive strength! Goblin rage!
I was shrouded in a red and orange light which suddenly made my muscles larger, yet I didn't feel any difference; no, wait… rage bubbled up from within and I felt great! I could swing the damn club around way easier. "RAAAHHH!!" Screaming I dashed forward and crushed the goblin that was in front of me slack jawed.
This feels so good!
Bit too fast maybe? I wasn't expecting that kind of agility from this body. Or maybe I'd leveled up too much? Or was it the skills?
Heh!
The goblins were too scared to even approach me. While the snakes were also cowering but they gradually surrounded me. Commendable.
In a clean swing, I cleaved their heads in two, while the poor goblins watched in horror. Oh don't worry, I'll take good care of you lot too!
Otherwise, their families would start missing them in the afterlife!
Hiss! A snake bit me. I grabbed its head, crushed it and the poor thing just hung around. I tried shaking it off but that wasn't working. I wasn't poisoned necessarily but I did lose an HP because of this. Sigh, I got careless. I tore the thing away from my flesh.
Hmm?
Weirdly my HP was oddly full? And my max wasn't just 22, but rather it was close to a hundred?
Because I leveled up? No, HP just improved with this body. But I hadn't felt any different when I mimicked a goblin. Well, it is the dungeon boss.
Shrugging, I screw- killed and absorbed everything in sight. Once done, I cleaned up the whole floor.
[Level up!]
I didn't get anything new. And the weapons were fairly useless to me, since I mostly relied on my brute melting capabilities and these weapons in general were pretty shit.
Anyway, at the very end of the room, near the entrance there was a puddle of blood and a corpse. Human.
Red hair, a shirt and shorts. About fifteen; girl. I felt like I'd seen her before but nothing came to mind.
What the hell was she doing here with that puny knife? Eyes, dangling open, no, one of them was missing along with an arm. She had this frightened look on her face and a big gash on her back. She was probably poisoned too. Poor thing.
[Would you like to absorb? Y/N]
So, I could absorb humans too. I mean, should have been obvious. Do I want to? I didn't see why not. I mean, she was already dead. And it wasn't like I killed her or anything. Letting her body rot here would just be a waste anyway.
So, what the heck, let's goo!
Yes!
[Human, Emilia Absorbed.]
[Skill acquired: Cooking, Cleaning, Sewing]
[Memories available. Can now mimic humans!]
My head went a little fuzzy… and then I remembered. Damn it! I stomped the ground, or more like just jumped high and then body slammed it. The corpse and the girl were gone but I was stuck with her memories and in her memories, I was there. The boy from the first room, he was there. And a lot more….
Sigh.
Anyway, the entrance was just up ahead. I tried getting out but- but something invisible stood in my way, like an invisible wall.
"Huh? What?" I kept trying but it didn't work.
[Warning, further insistence would invalidate the tutorial quest and disseminate you]
Disseminate me?
Bestiary: Means, you'll end up dead.
Ahem!
I'd nearly forgotten about the tutorial quest…. I pulled up the minimap and it was 98% complete. But I checked everything.
Then were there any hidden rooms? There had to be, right? So, I traced my steps back to the very entrance of the second floor and redid the whole floor, trying to find a hidden room. I eventually found a small room with some gooey stuff in there. Probably food for the goblins?
Uh, nope. It was their lavatory… sigh. No wonder it stank… I disintegrated the whole damn room without a trace. And no, I didn't absorb that shit.
[Tutorial quest: Map the dungeon, complete!]
[Earned 1000 credits]
[Level up X3]
[You have successfully completed the tutorial quest. You will no longer be bound to the whims of the system. From here on, live as you please!]
So, I'm not getting any main quests? I started feeling a little dizzy. Guess, I did need sleep in this body after all?
[Magic unlocked!]
[Alchemy unlocked!]
[All stats unlocked!]
[World Hatred Unlocked!]
[Slime system would now commence evolution and attempt to evolve into the Mega Slime system!]
[Commencing evolution!]
[Evolution… successful… congratulations!]
I passed out.