"It's just a slime," Zhang Ye stroked his chin thoughtfully. "In games, slimes are the lowest-level monsters, the kind you can defeat with a wooden sword as a newbie. So, this one should be perfect for me to practice on and level up."
"Yeah, let's use this slime to warm up..." Zhang Ye said.
"No!" Before he could finish, Aira quickly stopped him.
"Huh?" Zhang Ye froze in surprise.
Aira looked at the slime seriously, her face filled with concern. "Why would a slime show up here...?"
Zhang Ye asked in confusion, "What's wrong with slimes?"
Aira lowered her voice and said gravely, "Slimes aren't the easy-to-deal-with creatures you think. In fact, slimes... are extremely dangerous!"
"Uh..." Zhang Ye was stunned.
He hadn't considered that a small, round slime the size of an apple could be so dangerous.
Looking at the slime, he said, "I don't find it scary, actually. It's kind of cute."
Indeed, the slime in front of them was round and plump, with a pink, jelly-like body that looked bouncy, and two small eyes, like red beans, dotted the surface. It looked so adorable, it could easily be mistaken for a pet that would make girls scream in excitement.
Aira, however, didn't share Zhang Ye's view. She shook her head firmly.
"Don't be fooled by its appearance."
"This slime is probably in its newborn state, which is why it seems harmless."
"But if it's allowed to grow, it will become a disaster for the entire Beast Forest... maybe even the whole world!"
"Is it really that serious?" Zhang Ye asked, shocked.
"It's that serious!" Aira nodded emphatically. "Don't believe me? Why don't you check its stats?"
"Oh… how do I check it?"
"Just focus on it, and it'll work."
Zhang Ye nodded and focused on the slime. A panel popped up, displaying its details.
[Demon Slime: A creature born from the core of the Demon Realm. No rank. When unsaturated, it is immune to all physical attacks and can devour anything that contains energy, including magic!]
Zhang Ye stared at the slime, bewildered. He had a hard time associating the word "demon" with something so cute.
"It's a Demon Slime!" Aira frowned and said, "Slimes are immune to all physical attacks, and they can even devour magic, so it's really hard to hurt them. Demon Slimes are the elite of their kind. They have incredibly strong life force, and can even absorb the most sinister and evil powers!"
"And the more energy they consume, the stronger they get. Eventually, they can even turn into a massive slime wave that can devour entire cities!"
"Now you see, right? This slime isn't just a low-level monster, it's a boss!"
"A really strong, really troublesome boss!"
Zhang Ye smirked. "Then what do we do?"
While they were talking, the slime had already crawled up to a rock, covering it with its soft body. In less than three seconds, the rock the size of a fist was completely devoured.
The slime then let out a burp, and its body visibly expanded a bit.
"This isn't good. This slime just came from the Demon Realm, and now it's starting to consume things."
"If we let it continue like this, the Beast Forest will be devoured in no time, and even you will be affected!" Aira said with a grim expression.
Zhang Ye gasped. "So what should we do? Is there any way to kill it?"
Aira shook her head. "With your current abilities, no. But…"
"Hurry up and tell me. Don't just drag it out!" Zhang Ye urged.
Aira sighed, "...But there is a way."
"This slime is still in its newborn stage, so it's very naive and just instinctively consuming everything to grow."
"As long as it hasn't consumed any negative emotions yet, it's not a big threat."
"So, you still have a chance to subdue it."
"Subdue it? How?" Zhang Ye asked.
"By using love to influence it!"
Zhang Ye: "..."
"Are you serious?" Zhang Ye couldn't help but ask.
Aira nodded seriously. "Of course."
"Slimes are extremely adaptable, especially in their newborn stage. They're very susceptible to outside influences."
"As long as you can show it kindness and love, and it feels that you mean no harm, it will choose to follow you, and you'll stop it from consuming everything."
"And you'll gain a slime companion as a battle ally."
"Now, hurry up and try it!"
Zhang Ye sucked in a breath and grimaced.
"Easy for you to say… but how do I show it love?"
Love? What kind of nonsense is that?
But thinking is easy, doing is hard. Zhang Ye decided to give it a shot.
He walked up to the slime, crouched down, and extended his hand. "Slime, come here~"
The slime turned around and looked up at Zhang Ye, appearing confused.
To be honest, it was really cute.
Zhang Ye couldn't help but smile, then reached out to pat it.
Aira was shocked, her eyes wide.
The slime's body can devour anything, and here you are, reaching out to touch it. That's like sticking your hand into acid!
But Zhang Ye's movement was so sudden that Aira didn't have time to stop him. She could only watch as Zhang Ye placed his hand on the slime's head.
The next moment!
Nothing happened.
"Huh?" Aira stared, stunned, at the scene before her.
"Good boy~" Zhang Ye said, as though petting a dog, gently stroking the slime's head. The slime didn't devour his hand, but instead squinted its little eyes, looking very content, and made a cute "gurgle gurgle" sound.
"Ah…" Aira was shocked. According to the usual behavior, the slime should have instinctively tried to devour Zhang Ye's hand, so why didn't it…?
She looked at Zhang Ye and saw that he was smiling gently.
"Hehe, this is just too cute! The more I look at it, the cuter it gets. I really want to keep it…" Zhang Ye said happily.
Aira: "…"
At that moment, Aira realized what was going on.
The kindness Zhang Ye was radiating had been absorbed by the slime, which was why it didn't attack him. Instead, it responded to him.
But how could he so easily offer up kindness like that? Just moments ago, she was warning him about how dangerous slimes could be, and yet here he was, petting it without any guard up?
Aira was a bit speechless. This guy had no caution at all.
But perhaps it was precisely this kind of pure kindness that was able to influence the slime.
"Gurgle~" The slime made a cute sound, then bounced its soft body and landed straight into Zhang Ye's arms, where he held it gently.
"So soft… it feels so good…" Zhang Ye said contentedly, petting it.
Aira sighed lightly. The kindness Zhang Ye was emitting was so pure and simple. It wasn't complicated; it was just pure affection for something cute. That's why the slime was so easily won over.
"Gurgle~" The slime made a noise, and then a red magical circle, the size of a plate, appeared in front of it.
"Huh?" Zhang Ye's eyes lit up as he watched this magical scene. "So this is magic?"
Aira's eyes went wide, and she said in disbelief, "Wait… it actually initiated the contract?!"
"This is too easy!"
"Contract? What contract?" Zhang Ye asked.
Aira quickly explained, "It's a pact of equality. Once the contract is made, you and the slime can trust each other and fight together as partners!"
"I didn't expect it to initiate the contract… Hurry up and sign it!" Aira urged.
"Sign it? How?"
"Drop blood!" Aira said.
Zhang Ye froze, his face contorting in pain. "Blood? You mean I have to bite my finger? That's going to hurt…"
In novels and comics, the protagonist might bite their finger to pledge allegiance, but who the heck willingly does that? It's incredibly painful, okay?
Don't believe me? Go ahead and try it yourself.
But for the cute slime, Zhang Ye braved it.
He put his finger to his mouth, gritted his teeth, and bit down.
"Ugh… it hurts!" Zhang Ye winced, looking at his finger.
Wow, it turned red, but no blood came out.
"Damn, how do those people do it so easily? It hurts like hell!" Zhang Ye grumbled, then bit down again.
Finally, this time, blood came out, and the pain made his finger tremble.
"Ugh, such a loser…" Aira muttered, "Just drop the blood on the magic circle."
Zhang Ye immediately complied, dripping a drop of blood onto the magical array.
Instantly, the magical array split in two and embedded itself into both the slime and Zhang Ye's body.
"The pact of equality is mutual," Aira explained. "You can sense each other's presence and condition through the pact. But if one of you dies, the pact is broken, and the other will be harmed."
Aira added, "But if the contract is broken voluntarily, it can only be undone by the one who initiated it."
"So, if you want the slime to stay by your side forever, as your partner, you need to treat it well. Don't let it feel disheartened or want to leave, understand?"
"Of course, it's so cute!" Zhang Ye said, cradling the slime to his face and rubbing it affectionately.
Aira: "... You've already named it?!"
"Gurgle~" The slime looked up at Zhang Ye, making a cute sound. Zhang Ye immediately sensed what it meant.
"Are you hungry? I'll find you some stones to eat," Zhang Ye said, holding the slime while walking around, looking for rocks to feed it. Aira watched with her eyelids twitching.
"Hey, don't just feed it stones!" Aira couldn't help but call out. "Slimes need energy to grow. Rocks and leaves don't have much energy. You need to feed it something more nutritious!"
"Something with more energy?" Zhang Ye thought for a moment, then looked at his still-bleeding finger. He quickly offered his finger to the slime, smiling, "My blood should count as a high-energy substance, right? Here, eat up, little slime. Don't waste it."
Aira: "..."
This guy really has no fear at all!
Isn't he worried the slime will eat his finger, too?
"Gurgle?" The slime looked at Zhang Ye's finger, then moved closer and wrapped its body around it. In the next moment, the blood on Zhang Ye's finger disappeared at a visible speed.
"It's eating it!" Zhang Ye said, as excited as if he were watching a pet eat for the first time.
But suddenly, Zhang Ye felt a cool sensation in his finger. To his astonishment, the wound started healing at a visible rate!
"Huh?" Zhang Ye couldn't believe his eyes, and even Aira's eyes widened.
"The slime... can do this too?"
"Yep, the slime's internal fluid can heal wounds, but it consumes its own energy to do so. I didn't expect this slime to be willing to use its energy to heal your injury…" Aira said, still stunned.
"I see…" Zhang Ye nodded, looking at his now-healed finger. It didn't hurt anymore.
But then he noticed something surprising. The slime's body was shrinking, and it had gotten smaller than when they first met.
"Gurgle…" The slime made a weak sound.
Zhang Ye froze. "So, the slime used up a lot of its energy to heal my wound, and that's why it got smaller, right?"
Aira nodded. "That's exactly it."
Zhang Ye was deeply moved. He immediately pressed the slime to his face and rubbed it affectionately.
"This isn't a Demon Slime at all. It's like a little angel!"
"Don't worry, little slime, I'll go find you some food and make sure you grow up healthy and strong…" Zhang Ye said, now full of energy, as he marched forward.
Suddenly, he spotted a river.
"Fate is on my side! There should be fish in the river, or at the very least some snails. That's definitely more energy-rich than rocks!"
"Come on, little slime, let's go have some fresh river food!"
Aira watched this scene and couldn't help but laugh. "This guy's got no sense of danger…"
Then she shouted, "Be careful, don't get eaten by the river monsters!"