章 31: The dark cave (1)*

*drip drop drip drop*

I wake up to the sound of water falling on stone, a sound I've heard so many times that I can recognize it anywhere. My mind feels a little groggy and I can't see anything. I force open my eyes and a cave submerged in a blue, viscous liquid appears in my view.

My eyes are telling me that I'm submerged in some unknown liquid and my body feels strange too but I don't feel the need to breathe. This is weird, respiratory failure should be the first thing to happen when submerged in a liquid.

None of this makes sense but the answer must lie in the composition of the fluid. If I can bring it back to the lab this could represent an important breakthrough!

But first things first. I need to find out where I am and find a way out. Chances are high that I am currently in an unexplored dungeon. I have no idea how I got here but it was probably a failure of a transport gate.

Yes, now I remember! I was heading to take samples of monsters in a newly discovered dungeon and while we were crossing the gate there was some kind of a malfunction.

The dungeon we were supposed to head to was a forest dungeon so it's safe to say I got transported to someplace else. Maybe the others are here too? I should look around and try to find them.

I try to move my arms to make swimming motions but all that happens is that slight vibrations go through the blue liquid. Is it perhaps too dense for me to move? Hardly.

I try to turn my head to see my arms and my vision shifts without any resistance from the liquid around me. However, the arm I'm looking for isn't there, nor is my body for that matter. All I see is more of the blue liquid and further down the ground.

Another strange thing is that based on the proportions of the stone surface my eyes are only about 20 centimeters off the ground. Slightly panicked I turn my head in all directions. The turns work flawlessly and I complete multiple rotations. The problem is that I see no body that would belong to my head. Furthermore, no human neck in existence can allow 360 degrees of rotation in any direction.

My conclusion, I am no longer fully alive, aka an undead severed head or I am no longer human. Both possibilities make me shudder and produce multiple ripples throughout the liquid around me.

I am a little scared by the prospects of knowing the answer to my hypothesis but in the name of science I must find out! I open my status.

Status Lv. 1 lesser slime

Mp 10

Strength 1

Constitution 7

Speed 1

Magic ability 3

Skills:

Dissolving lv. 1

Appraisal lv. 1; synthesis lv. 1; diagnosis lv. 1; alchemy lv. 1

As I suspected, I'm human no more. My species is clearly indicated as lesser slime and my level was reset to 1. Curiously, my name isn't displayed and whenever I tried to imagine it I feel a stinging pain in my mind.

I can remember everything from when I was human but my name simply disappeared into nothingness.

All this is strange but at least some of my questions are now answered. The blue liquid I had previously thought the cave was submerged in was my body and the thing I saw through must be my core.

So slimes really see through their core. This discovery will revolutionize the research on slimes!

But for that to happen I need to get out of this dungeon and contact the nearest laboratory to notify the research department I work at.

I assume that the monsters in this dungeon will be hostile towards me. I will have to first scout out my surroundings and establish a safe perimeter. To do that I need to perfectly utilize all my skills.

Thankfully, I retained most of my important skills even if they reverted to level 1. Especially appraisal is a skill I am very dependant on. At level 1, it can tell me both a creature's species as well as its level as long as it isn't more than ten levels above mine.

Dissolve is the only skill a lesser slime has by default and it is rather well researched since slimes are found in nearly every dungeon. At level one the skill does barely any damage and needs multiple minutes to dissolve living tissue.

In other words, my offensive means are constrained to parlor tricks using alchemy and my brain. For now, leveling myself and my skills will be key in order to survive.

Having remained stationary for far too long I begin to move. Once I focus on my form I can feel the extent of my gelatinous form and slither forward. The whole seeing through my core thing sounds fun but turns out to be very inconvenient. Looking through a viscous liquid makes my sight very unclear and in this badly lit cave, I have to be very cautious.

I slither over to the cave wall and advance while pressing against it. I scan every nook and cranny using appraisal every time just to be safe.

Despite my cautious approach I only notice the lizard when it suddenly moves its head. I don't think the lizard knows I'm there yet but it noticed something approaching. I have to hurry and get in a preemptive strike!

But how do I do that? I have never fought in the body of a monster before so what's the optimal strategy? A lesser slime survives by scavenging and has a one in a million survival rate so I have to depend on my retained skills. But what do I do?

I snap back to attention when something suddenly slams down on my gelatinous body. The sensation I get isn't comparable to pain bit acts more as a stimulant that makes my mind race. That dumb lizard found me and slammed his tail down on me!