Chapitre 45: In a not so dark any more cave*
Situational update. I'm still alive.
I know this sounds crazy but after spending an undetermined amount of time in a dark and dangerous dungeon this helps me keep it together. Being deprived of human contact for extended periods of time is easiest dealt with by talking to an imaginary audience. At least that is according to all the dungeon-delving guides I ever read.
Something about being able to report progress every day puts me at ease so the guide certainly had a point.
But why am I even explaining this? I don't need to explain myself to my imaginary audience. Or do I? The guides never specified how to interact with the imaginary audience. I'll have to contact the authors of those guides after getting out.
But look at me going off on a tangent. Back to the report I was about to give. I've grown somewhat accustomed to living in the dungeon. To minimize the risk of dying I only attacked level 1 monsters which considerably slowed down my progress. However, losing some time is a small sacrifice to preserve the knowledge that will benefit mankind.
Today I have finally reached level 5 which I believe is the required level for a lesser slime to evolve. My stats and skills have also improved by a bit leaving me with a status that looks like this:
Status Lv. 5 lesser slime
Mp 10+4
Strength 1+4
Constitution 7+4+1
Speed 1+4
Magic ability 3+4+2
Skills:
Dissolving lv. 3; claw resistance lv. 2
Appraisal lv. 1; synthesis lv. 1; diagnosis lv. 2; alchemy lv.3
Alchemy and dissolving are my highest skills at level 3. Alchemy is my primary weapon as an infinite source of stone spikes that allows me to deal actual damage while dissolving is my main way of eating and making corpses disappear. I have also begun to train dissolve by eating stones in the hope of one day being able to simply dissolve weaker monsters directly.
Additionally, I have discovered that I have a third add-on of stats. This has appeared on both my constitution and my magic ability stat. Since those are the stats I primarily use I have theorized that they are a form of training stats that replace the human enhancement skill series.
There is so much to research but despite all my effort to get out of this place, I have not been able to discover an exit nor any traces of human activity. Why is there no dungeon map skill?!!!
Be that as it may, I will now end my report and take a nap before I try to figure out this whole evolution business.
I dream of a blue blob of gelatin. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a slime, the evolution of my current body. If only I could finally evolve and gain the basic morphing skill.
The slime approaches and I begin to worry but this is a dream I keep telling myself so there is nothing to be worried about. I keep trying to repeat that fact in my head but as the slime approaches closer and closer I start to have doubts.
Then, the slime suddenly opens up and swallows me. I panic and struggle but escaping from inside the slime seems impossible. I feel my consciousness fade away but no pain accompanies it. Is this how I die? At least it's painless.
I'm awake. I stir from unconsciousness in a biplane matter and wildly look around trying to take in my surroundings. I was eaten by a slime.
Was it just a dream?
The small circular hole I made to be my home base looks like something bad happened here. The smooth walls are ruined, bits and pieces missing everywhere. It looks like another my dissolving was randomly applied to the walls.
Was there really another slime here? Then why am I still alive? Fighting of something as strong or stronger than myself while asleep seems unthinkable. Are monsters of my own species perhaps not hostile towards me? I've never encountered another slime based organism so far so the hypothesis seems plausible.
Quick, I need to check if I learned any communication related skills so I can talk to a slime. Status open!
Status Lv. 1 slime
Mp 10+5+5
Strength 1+5
Constitution 7+5+3
Speed 1+5
Magic ability 3+5+3
Skills:
Dissolving lv. 4; claw resistance lv. 2; basic morphing lv. 1
Appraisal lv. 1; synthesis lv. 1; diagnosis lv. 2; alchemy lv.3
Well, well, well. That's certainly not what I was expecting. I'm a slime now...
Did the slime perhaps eat and kill me and then I was reincarnated into exactly that slime? Possible but not realistic.
I believe it's more plausible for level 5 to be the lesser slimes level-cap allowing me to evolve. But what in the world went ham on those walls? Surely not me...
I got it! A monster must have attacked while I was evolving and was unconsciously dissolved by me. While it struggled my form was then contorted through the force it exerted and the walls I touched were also dissolved.
Mystery solved! I think.
But now that I have graduated from being a lesser slime and become a fully fledged slime I finally have the basic morphing skill!
With this skill I can take the form of any monsters I dissolve. Given, at level one it will be just their form and my gelatinous body will remain as it is but at higher levels I'll be able to imitate even the texture of a monsters tissue.
And why is that so important to me you ask?
Well, I'm glad you asked. While this may sound strange humans are seen as monsters by the dungeon so if basic morphing reaches a high enough level I will be able to get a human body.
Then, I will be able to return to civilization and report all my recent discoveries. I will be famous! I will get all the research prizes there are!
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
djarcher
djarcher Can you guess the identity of this slime?
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone