Dark. Too dark to see anything. Where was I? What happened? I heard some voice calling me a predator or something, and then…
I remember now. Some dude came out of nowhere and stabbed me in the back. Ok, I remembered all of that and I don't feel any pain, which is good.
I tried to look around, but I couldn't feel my eyes.
..Weird. I can't feel my limbs or hear anything either. It's more like I can't navigate my head.
Wait. Let's stop for a moment. I tried to calm down and then slowly make sense of the situation. I can feel my body, and I started focusing on that. I'm moving… without limbs.
I can feel the grass or plants touching me. So, I'm not in a hospital, but outdoors. Maybe I'm lying down on a rock or something. It doesn't make sense. I tried to open my eyes again, but no luck. Perhaps I'm just in some shock. I remember hearing paralysis or something.
Just in case, I tried to find my other senses and I can feel my mouth, I think?
{Use Unique Skill `Predator´?
Yes
No}
Oh, the voice from before. What are you, exactly? Also, what do you mean by unique skill?
...
..can you explain it in more detail?
...
..
...
Yes.
{Confirmed}
Motherf***er. Is it making fun of me? Maybe it is— Whoa. The plant(?) disappeared... No, I absorbed it. It didn't taste like anything.
Well, it's safe to say that I am no longer a human given the fact that I can eat(?) things without a mouth. More importantly, my body tensed up when I said yes. What was that?
I tried to sense what happened to me, but I couldn't figure it out. However, in the process, I discovered the culprit. It was none other than Predator.
Wow... This is...
..
(Time skip for a few minutes)
It turns out the skill allows me to store the things that I consume. Pretty convenient. I also seem to have acquired some skills, probably through... transmigration.
So yeah. I died and got transmigrated into the body of some kind of blob thing without any organs. Perhaps a slime.
—————————
(Time skip about 3 months)
It's been a while since I got transmigrated into this new body. To be honest, it's still a little hard to adjust. I can't see, hear, or speak. It's hard not being able to experience the world like I used to. Well, it is isekai after all.
There are some perks, though. For example, I never get hungry or tired. Well, not unless I use my skills too much. I guess I need some kind of energy to do that. I found that out the hard way after I went overboard with Predator.
Still, I thought for sure I was going to get attacked by some random monster or even humans. Luckily, that didn't happen. My days were pretty peaceful.
So, I have been using my free time (which is almost always) to play— *cough cough* understand my skills. I've learned a lot, but I haven't had a chance to test my resistance in the field since no one has attacked me. I've been pla— training with Predator a bit.
With Predator, I can absorb the abilities of the absorbed and add them to my own. I learned about the plant I've been absorbing so far—
Hipokute Herbs: A valuable herb that grows in areas rich in magicules. Used as an ingredient in salves in healing potions.
I used Predator to analyze the Hipokute Herbs and stored them in my stomach. Now, whenever I want, I can create any potion I want.
Why potions you ask? Well, it's all part of my genius plan. If a human comes here and attacks me, I will simply use the commotion as a distraction to throw a potion and then go into hiding. They will simply think of it as a drop item and leave happily, while I am safe the whole time. I am a genius!
Also, for some reason, I cannot use my other unique skill, Great Sage. Is there something I'm missing? Is there a condition I haven't met? I don't know. Since Predator needs to consume a skill for analysis, I couldn't find out the cause.
Let's talk about my other skills. There is this thing called intrinsic skills and I (and every other slime) have 3 of them. What? Did you think I am only limited to having 2 skills?
...
Allow me to enlighten you. While I don't know too much about them, apparently these skills are similar to racial traits in my previous life. For example, Lizards can regrow their tail over time while others cannot, since it is unique to their evolution/DNA.
So far, I've only gotten to try 2 of the 3 intrinsic skills. With Absorb, I can absorb matter into my body. With Dissolve, I can break down matter into its components, nutrients, and energy.
I've been pla— testing out the skills Predator and Absorb to see which is best for absorbing herbs. So far, Predator is the clear winner. It works much faster than my racial absorption skill and it also stores the broken-down components from Dissolve in its stomach. It is a pretty solid process without any wastage of components... no wastage... hmm... Now that I think about it, what are the conditions actually needed for my survival? I'm not eating, I'm just making potions out of herbs. I thought the need for food was the reason for a racial absorption skill, but if not then... what is it?
[Report: Slimes do not need to consume food as long as they can keep absorbing magicules.]
'I see. So, I can use food as a substitute to make up for the lack of these `magicules´ you speak of and vice versa.'
[Report: Affirmative]
'...'
[..]
'I was wondering if you were ever going to talk again, you bast*rd.'
[Report: Unanswerable.]
'.. Who are you?'
[Report: It is the effect of your unique skill `Great Sage´. Since your ability is established, you are capable of reacting more quickly]
'So, you are Great Sage. Why couldn't I access you before? Also, why does your voice sound the same as the voice who talked during my transmigration?'
[Report: To a—
'Wait. First of all, what do you mean by 'magicules'? Is it mana or something?'
[Report: Magicules are special energetic materials found in all—
..and that is how I finally found someone to talk to before turning completely insane.
—————————
(Time skip for a few hours)
I've been talking a lot with Great Sage. I think it's more like me asking a lot of questions because whenever I don't pose a question, the reply is—
[...]
Well, at least I'm getting some responses. Whatever doubts I had for the past 3 months (It's been 90 days according to Great Sage), I'm getting answers for them.
According to Great Sage... 'It is a pain to call you Great Sage all the time so I'll just call you Sage.'
[...]
According to Sage, it took 90 days for the skill to fully fuse itself with my soul. Normally, it wouldn't be able to respond to my questions in the way of conversations, but in order to answer my questions, it apparently revamped itself, diverting part of its (Voice of the World) powers to assist me. Whatever that means.
Initially, I thought Sage was the World Language that was messing with me. I also apologized for it.
[...]
Voice of the World/World Language is the voice I heard when I crossed worlds. The way Sage put it, when certain phenomena occur — such as the acquisition or evolution of skills, racial evolution, or activation of some skills— the World Language will echo within the consciousness of all related parties. Sometimes it is heard by a single individual, while in other instances it is broadcasted to a large group of individuals within the range of the source phenomenon.
So, others cannot hear the voice when I acquire a new skill which is good to know. Not like there is anyone here in the first place.
Yeah, I am a slime stuck in the darkness, asking a barrage of questions. Even if it sounds weird talking to a skill of all things...
Another thing I confirmed was the reason I didn't need any sleep. Turns out, slime bodies are made up of identical cells. Every cell can be a brain cell, a nerve, and a muscle all at the same time. This means that my thought processes can be handled by different cells at different times. No Fatigue = No Sleep.
As stated by Sage previously, slime bodies move and are sustained with magicules. They lack hunger and thus do not need physical nourishment under normal circumstances, though if they lack the magicules they need they can substitute it with meat and plants. The reason I even felt some sort of drain at all when using a skill was not because of tiredness but the use of magicules.
In other words, the area I reside in currently was so rich in magicules that I didn't even need to eat. As one can guess magicules are like mana; an energy source required for the usage of skills and magic. There is no way I can ignore such interes— important information. So, I asked Sage to analyze the pattern of magicules I've been absorbing subconsciously to see if can do something with it.
{Confirmed: Extra Skill Magic Sense acquisition... successful.
Use Extra Skill 'Magic Sense'?
Yes
No}
'Oh, I acquired a new skill so easily. And what is this extra skill?'
[Report: Extra skills are skills with power and efficiency magnitudes higher than normal skills.]
I see. Yes, use Magic Sense.
The moment I invoked Magic Sense, my brain was filled with new information. A massive amount, something my human brain never could've processed—the waves of light and sound pushing every single tiny particle around—and I processed it all, converting it into perceptible data.
The thing about human eyesight is that it doesn't give you even a 180-degree view of what's in front of you. Now, all of a sudden, I could perceive a full 360 degrees around myself. I saw myself for the first time; a small, bluish-silver blob without any features yet still looking sublime.
If I were still human, all this perception data probably would've fried my brain. But now I was a slime. My cells could provide muscle just as easily as brain power.
Somehow, I managed to withstand the torrent of information. Then—
[Report: Synchronizing extra skill Magic Sense with unique skill 'Great Sage'… successful. Great Sage will now manage all information.]
Suddenly, my vision opened up. The brain-searing sensation from before was gone, and then I could see so clearly that it was a wonder I wasn't able to do it before. Still, it was surprising to see Sage taking action without any commands.
..Wait. Didn't it automatically hijack the World Language or something? Maybe I shouldn't treat it like an object.
'Hey Sage, why do take action on your own?'
[Report: I act following your wish upon death to get a—
'Stop!! You don't need to tell me that! Also, never reveal such information to others.'
[Understood.]
A—Anyway, so that seems to be the difference between other skills and unique skills. A strong emotion or desire. Unique skills as the name suggests are one of a kind. Meaning, that while others can learn Magic Sense or any other normal and extra skill, I am the only person who has Sage and Predator. If just anyone can acquire them, then I don't think I'll be able to survive for very long.
Predator consists of the following effects:-
Predation:
Takes the target into your body. Lesser chance of success if the target has its consciousness remained. Can be targeted on organic and inorganic objects, as well as skills and magic.
Analysis:
Analyzes and researches targets taken into your body. It lets you create craftable items. If the required materials are present, allows you to make a copy of the item. Successful analysis of the casting method allows you to learn the target's skills and magic.
Stomach:
Stores the Predated target. Can also store materials created via Analysis. Items stored in your stomach are unaffected by time.
Mimicry:
Reproduces the form and skills of absorbed targets. Only available once the target has been Analyzed.
Isolate:
Stores harmful effects incapable of being analyzed, neutralizing them and breaking them down into magical force.
I thought Predator was the most useful skill but Great Sage went a step further:-
Hasten Thought:
Boosts perception speed by a thousand times.
Analyze and Assess:
Analyzes and assesses the target.
Parallel Operation:
Operates on any matter you wish to analyze, separating it from the regular thought process.
Cast Cancel:
Annuls the casting period required when using magic, et cetera.
All of Creation:
Provides full coverage of all unsuppressed matter and phenomena in this world.
Um... Yeah. I can just go through them later, but now, for the first time in a while, I can actually see things (and can hear too) so I'm gonna explore this cave.
————————
Mc Skills
Race: Slime (constructing a blood-free body resulting in a slime race)
Intrinsic Skills: Absorb, Dissolve, Self-Regeneration.
Extra Skills: Magic Sense.
Unique Skills: Wise One (Great Sage), Devourer (Predator).
Tolerances: Pain Nullification, Paralysis Resistance, Fear Resistance, Physical Attack Resistance, Thermal Fluctuation Resistance, Electric Current Resistance.