While floating atop my 'bathtub', I continued to ponder my situation. Pressure was weighing down on my mind as pessimistic thoughts began to fill my head.

I was becoming worried I'd never escape from this damn cave with my life intact. Or at the very least, with my brain still in working order.

If these damn lizardfolk truly trapped me in this place, I'd have to dig upwards or outwards and pray I wasn't beneath a mountain. If I measured some angles and tunneled in a rough approximation, I might get lucky and be able to bypass that guard and set of doors.

Unlike their 'bedroom' doors where I'd Devoured that one Kobold, this new set looked much sturdier and form-fitting. If I had time I could likely get through, but I couldn't just flee past the guard and squeeze through a gap.

Going down those stairs was an option I wanted to avoid for now. I just didn't feel safe. Perhaps I could follow a Kobold down there and use it as a forward scout. If I knew for sure they traveled safely downward, I'd be less hesitant. But that didn't explain that foreboding feeling that had taken hold of me.

Regardless, I needed to use the next few days wisely. If they boxed me in and eradicated my food supply, I'm pretty sure even I would starve. Then I'd have to rely on eating one of them for food, which was beginning to look like a more daunting task than expected.

I decided to continue my actions from yesterday and torture myself with more Mana Poisoning. If I were lucky I'd get more Intelligence points and that meant a larger MP pool to use my Slime Bullet Skill.

A brief image of having limitless MP and shooting Slime like a machine gun floated into my mind. Heh, that would be pretty sweet. As it stood now I had to ration each Bullet as if my life depended on it, which wasn't too far from being the truth.

And so, I repeated my earlier activities, sucking up Mana to the point I was violently spewing curses towards 'God' and my green boxes. I'd managed to get my Mana Poisoning level-up to 65 percent, then had to stop after my HP began draining at twice the rate it had when I'd gone up to 61.

Status Menu Name : n/a , Deathwarded Race : Tiny Slime Level : 10 (MAX) HP : 36/45 (-2.5/hour) Stamina : 13/34 MP : 20/20 (+0.69/hour) Strength : 11 Vitality : 17 Intelligence : 10 Wisdom : 7 (+5) Dexterity : 12 Luck : 30 (+5) Status : Mana Poisoning (Severe - 65%)

This had occurred over the course of a few hours when I'd decided I had enough. I spent a few minutes 'digesting' all the raging Mana inside myself and eliminating my Mana Poisoning. I'd gotten rewarded for my efforts in the form of a number increase.

Attribute increase!

Intelligence - 10 → 11

So delicious.

While this wasn't a bad way to spent the figurative morning, I was now a different kind of hungry.

I unblocked the entrance to my home and slipped out the front door, preparing to hunt for some much-needed protein. As I was making my way around the cave, I discovered something distressing.

There was a Small Cave Centipede's corpse squished on the ground.

My senses immediately sharpened, looking around for a possible predator. It had been cleanly squished from above, then scraped into the dirt further. Not dissimilar to grinding an insect beneath ones' foot. Or rather, claws.

Kobolds. ...

Mild displeasure arose. While I could still use Devour on this centipede, any combat training and potential for Skill Experience or however that stuff worked was lost. I wasn't sure if I'd still get credit for the kill, like for absorbing attributes or Skills. I didn't think the centipede still had any Skills after the last dozen or so, but that's beside the point. I begrudgingly scraped it off the ground and began feeding.

They did me a small favor in the fact I wouldn't have to hunt this one, but it was just another sign that I was being encroached upon. I found another 3 Centipedes and a Spider, along with a bunch of smaller bugs that I deemed not worth 'harvesting' and quickly filled my stomach. Lunchtime was over, and I was pleased when another notification arose.

Attribute increase!

Dexterity - 12 → 13

While the increase pleased me, I was beginning to worry about how to raise my Wisdom parameter. It was the only one needed that I'd never gotten from using Devour. Considering I was snacking on bugs this wasn't surprising, but I needed to find a source for this sooner or later. Still, it wasn't my most pressing issue. Not like I knew what Wisdom was good for anyway, so it just fell on the to-do list.

I created a few more hiding spots around my hunting ground, knowing I might not have the leisure in the future. While traveling I snagged another centipede, but for the most part, I was gnawing on rocks all 'afternoon'.

Time was funny. I didn't seem to particularly need sleep anymore, but I still enjoyed shutting my brain or whatever off for periods of time. I could tell my mental state was deteriorating so I was taking as much care as I could afford. Mental and physical health was important. If you neglected either, they would affect the other too. I couldn't afford to make mistakes in a fight or drop my guard.

Which I'm glad I'd taken precautions for because I soon found a light heading my way. Another Kobold was trespassing in my cave, examining the walls and making a throaty gibbering noise. Muttering to itself?

I'd retreated and hid, watching the lizard as best I could. The light source was just as irritating to my vision as always, which worried me. Did Slimes have a weakness to light? Or fire, perhaps? That might make sense. I'd made mental note and sought to test this, all while avoiding flames in the meantime.

The Kobold passed quickly enough, exiting back out the cave. Good riddance.

I headed towards the opposite wall from my home base's entrance, near where I first found a spider in this cave. With my rough mental layout, I began digging and praying.

This continued on and on. Trip after trip. Exhaustion was piling up. To make matters worse, after digging about 20 feet into solid rock I happened up some even more solid rock. Fantastic.

I was starting to get angry. Too many things were trying to kill or inconvenience me. I thought it bad that my mental notification boxes had made an attempt, but now even the fucking rocks were working against me. Seriously, screw this world. Buncha assholes.

Hnn. Regardless, my Corrosive Toxin wasn't affecting this rock. Whatever it was composed of was brighter than the normal cave walls. Some kind of ore. Maybe iron or something? My Devour ability was chipping away at it, continuing to progress at a torturously slow pace.

After a short while, I realized something.

Hey, this stuff tastes pretty good. Kind of has a tangy sweetness to it.

Despite the reduced rate I was proceeding forth, I found myself getting distracted and mining out the rather small vein of whatever this stuff was. I kept an eye on my Status menu to make sure I wasn't poisoning myself again. It wouldn't be funny if I died of 'Rock AIDS' or something. Then again, I doubted I could acquire such diseases given the shit I'd eaten so far. I also doubted if my not-so-trusty green boxes would alert me to mundane illnesses. Relying on the Menu for this was probably futile.

Skill unlocked!

Due to incorporation of foreign materials, Mineralization Lvl.1 Acquired!

What? No really, Stonemasonry wasn't bad enough? What's next, Smithing or Arts and Crafts?

I frowned. Or rather, I would frown if I could. Mineralization? Incorporation of foreign materials? Was there something noteworthy about the rocks I just ate? Magic rocks, maybe. Hope I don't start hallucinating.

While pondering these questions, I continued eating the remaining bits of that ore while mentally browsing.

Mineralization Lvl.1 - Active

Ability to slowly create minerals and alloys within or on the surface of the body. At higher proficiency levels, skill and efficiency increases. Only able to create familiar or previously incorporated materials.

Wow. In all the books I've read, shows I've watched, or games I've played the characters would get cool powers like shooting laser beams from their eyes or super strength. I just got the ability to craft and create pebbles.

And shoot Slime Bullets I suppose, but I was more upset with my present acquisition.

Digging through the tunnel more, I began thinking about this Mineralization Skill. I was a firm believer that you could make use out of nearly anything with enough ingenuity. At the very least, I should give this Skill a try and think on it for a while. My tools were currently limited, so ignoring even one of them was unwise.

Getting used to new Skills was always a varied experience. The Slime Bullet was more instinctive, the Toxin skills felt disgusting as I attempted to mimic the spiders, and Mana Control was as simple as moving around.

Mineralization just felt really weird. Like indigestion.

A small 'seed' began forming in my mass like a foreign object. It was no bigger than the tip of a needle. I loosely devoted attention to grow it further, but it would appear the Skill description really meant it by 'slowly'. By the time I'd tunneled another 10 feet, it was still only as big as the tip of a pencil. Maybe half a millimeter, if that. Slooow.

Putting that on the back-burner, my digging proceeded smoothly. I put a quick halt on my excavation the instant I noticed a drop of light enter my vision. I'd broken through.

This was the moment of truth. I wasn't sure what was on the other side of the wall. I'd need to widen the gap more to see through it. Were there a bunch of Kobolds on the other side keeping watch, I might be met by a spear or claws or God-knows-what. I readied myself to retreat.

The hole was widened and I peeked through. What I saw left me unprepared.

It was a large room and several lights hung on the walls. In the very center was some sort of stone slab similar to an altar. It was dyed with dark red liquid I assumed was blood, only made more sinister by the poor lighting. To my immediate left was a heap of skulls and severed animal parts on a table. There were dozens of crudely shaped candles strewn about, most of them unlit.

There was one Kobold across the room sitting at another desk with its back to me, preoccupied with something. A light grinding noise was coming from near its hands. What struck me odd was the attire and physique of this Kobold.

Most striking was the skull 'mask' or helmet on its head, two horns very visible on each side. I didn't want to encounter whatever that skull used to belong to. Coarse feathers went down the Kobold's back for nearly a foot and it was garbed in a thick set of furs from some sort of animal. The Kobold's body was thin and wiry, but unlike the first one I saw, this Kobold didn't appear malnourished. Its muscles were taut and without excess. I didn't doubt this lizard was rather agile.

My mind rolled back to when I'd devoured the first Kobold. It was called a 'Lesser Kobold' which implied there was at least a 'normal' or perhaps 'Greater' Kobold. I didn't want to mess with this thing.

There was more in the room—a few loose wooden stools, cups and bowls, a shoddy looking bed. A pickaxe was off in the corner near another metal container I assumed had some rocks in it. There was also a wooden shelf with several leafy plants on it, which I found interesting. They must serve a purpose, perhaps food or medicine?

It was a bit hard to see that far. The cave was lit well enough to mess with my Magic Sensory, yet not enough to blind me. But what concerned me most was that Kobold working over there.

It was like a freakin' beacon in the room. Small wisps and dots of magic were floating around it. They were rough in shape, but I'd never seen anything like it before. All logic pointed towards that Kobold being a magician or something. Not a lizard I wanted to mess with.

This venture was both good and bad. I'd discovered a way past those doors, but now there was an even deadlier potential enemy to contend with. And, well ... the doors didn't lead anywhere. Which almost certainly meant I had to go past their living quarters to find the exit. So really it was just a whole lot of bad news.

I attempted to move my exit higher up the wall towards the ceiling where line of sight was less likely to fall upon it. From up here, I felt more at ease watching the Kobold. Thankfully it didn't seem to have any magical way to detect me. Or perhaps it just didn't care.

I stalked the Kobold for a while longer, not noticing anything interesting. I realized it was grinding plants and other things into paste with a crude pestle and mortar. I'd a sneaking suspicion this Kobold was at least very important, if not their leader.

A shame I couldn't Devour it. Even if it were asleep, I wasn't sure I'd risk it.

There was simply too little I knew about magic. It could have detection abilities, healing magic, a way to neutralize my Toxin, ways to buff its defense. It already looked more physically intimidating than the previous specimen, so I was not tangling with this creature.

The only thing of interest that happened was the Kobold seemed to imbue magic power into a few of the bushels of leaves. There was also another Kobold that came in and 'discussed' something with the 'Kobold Leader'.

By 'discussed', I mean the second Kobold came in, got hissed at, croaked out some strange noises, and then got shrieked at before returning.

I believe this magic Kobold may be female from the vocal pitch, but I wasn't certified to make such judgments. I didn't follow very much of the scene that had played out.

Enough time had been wasted. I was hoping the exit was on the other side of those doors, but fate fucked me over again. While the information I'd gathered was interesting and moderately helpful, I was back to square one.

Well, at least I had a rock growing in me. Certainly didn't expect that one when I got up today.

Wonder what I should name it? Maybe if it gets big enough I can bludgeon something with it. Or stab an eye out.

Returning back to base, I decided to fiddle around with my new skill for a bit. I was determined to find a good use for it, so I started with examining the byproduct I'd created.

Bringing it to the surface of my 'skin', I first wanted to test its hardness. I couldn't apply a ton of pressure with my amorphous form, but I still dragged it along the cave walls. Looking at the results I realized it didn't seem to scratch or chip, while the stone wall had a very light groove in it. I kept bringing my pebble against the wall while attempting to carve a groove out.

Interesting. My pebble appears to be pretty durable. An idea formed.

Could I grow this material in a specific shape? It said I could form it around my 'skin'. Since I'm a fleshy blob now, that doesn't appear to be useful at first glance. Rather than around my 'skin', wouldn't it be better to form it around my center?

I began testing this theory.

I put my already formed rock closely against my center and tried to grow it around me. It seemed I should have success in this venture, but it wasn't immediately apparent. I hesitated once I thought about how long it might take. There was also the question of if it was really wise to encase myself fully or if it would interfere with the rest of my body. I decided to try leaving some holes in the mineral formation and create two 'bowls' that would go together to form a sphere-like casing. If I suddenly grew it would just pop open.

Once I ironed the details out, I was rather proud of my idea. It was like finding a small gem in a pile of garbage. Plus, an extra layer of protection around a weak spot is always welcome. It wasn't perfect, even in theory, but I didn't have a whole lot to focus on right now. When it was done it might save my life if someone tried to stab or pierce me. Maybe.

I wonder what these rocks are made of though? Mana, I guess? Perhaps a fusion of Slime goop and Mana. My Stamina dropped a tiny bit faster than expected, but I was mining stone. Hard to tell how exhausting Mineralization is. Still, they just look blue to me. Maybe I should hold it up to a torch next time I pass by. That last thought made me wonder what color I was. I should form an 'arm' in front of myself next time I go near the torch. Yeah, knowing my coloration is important for stealth and sneaking around. Let's do that as soon as possible.

And so I set out to discover myself, figuratively speaking. There was absolutely no sign of life near the dimly lit hallway, so I crept toward the edge of it. Now was as good a time as any. Soon after though, I became distraught.

I look like fucking green sludge. 'Arm'? More like a science experiment that should've been tossed in the trash 10 years ago and set on fire. What is with that texture and discoloration? Urk!

Ah, I was ugly. Or rather, I really am just a puddle of green goop just like expected. How depressing.

At least I wasn't able to see myself in a mirror. That would probably fracture my psyche more than it was already crumbling. Small mercies, I suppose.

I wasn't trying to ignore the fact I'm not human anymore, but seeing it brought 'to light' really hammered the fact home. If I weren't so stubborn, I'd probably just march to my death right now and hope I had better luck next time. If there was a next time.

Well, maybe I can evolve into something less distressing. A Metal Slime or Ruby Slime sounded kinda cool, right? I might still be okay. Rubies are gorgeous and a nice sheet of polished metal didn't sound unappealing.

That reminded me, the pebble I'd created was rather attractive. Damn small though, but very clear and crystalline when held up to the light. An off-white, I think? Hard to see. Kinda reminded me of a diamond or quartz. Hah, that would be funny. Just start crapping out diamonds. I'd be the richest Slime in the world. Yeah, right.

I mentally shook my head.

Speaking of Metal and Ruby Slimes, how was I doing on the Evolution front? Come forth, O' mighty box! Praise ye!

Evolution Overview Small Slime A larger variant of the regular Slime. Basic. Default Tiny Poison Slime Toxin wielding Slime variant. Adept at poison and subterfuge. Silent, deadly. Uncommon. All conditions met! (2 of 2) Small Hunter Slime Vicious, physical-based Slime variant. Able to take a beating and overpower foes. Uncommon. All conditions met! (1 of 1) Small Blue Slime Blue-toned Slime that is a cousin to the standard green Slime. Exposure to high levels of Mana has caused it to begin developing magical abilities. Uncommon. All conditions met! (2 of 2) Tiny Assassin Slime Diminuitive size belies a dangerous nature. Often mistaken for a low-rank slime due to its green coloration. This mistake is generally fatal. Distinguishable by a dark-blue to black colored Core. Fights with a mix of toxins and attacks from the shadows at the most opportune moment. Rare. All conditions met! (2 of 2) ???????? Unavailable. 2 of 3 conditions met. Small Black Slime Black-toned Slime that has undergone further mutation due to high Mana exposure. Able to harness various forms of sorcery with ease and a high level of precision. Some even have access to Holy and Dark-type magic. Rare. All conditions met! (3 of 3) ???????? Unavailable. 4 of 6 conditions met. ???????? Unavailable. 4 of 7 conditions met. ???????? Unavailable. 3 of 5 conditions met. ???????? Unavailable. 5 of 10 conditions met.

'Praise ye', indeed. Interesting.

I'd made a little bit of progress. I had some 'Rare' options available now. Still only 'halfway' to my real goal. I was curious about the conditions I fulfilled between now and last time but it really wasn't worth getting my mind turned into scrambled eggs again over.

My flesh shuddered. Yeah, I reallll~ly don't wanna do that. I'll stick with speculating.

I hunted around the room for a while before discovering a centipede hiding under a rock. It soon turned into nourishment. Still, I needed more. Especially if I wanted to practice my Skills or delve into that Mana vent. Which was super important. My appetite was increasing while my food supply was diminishing. Starved for resources, so to speak.

"Pllplbth."

An aptly put sigh. That noise expressed my thoughts perfectly.

Conflict was inevitable. I went back out into the main tunnel and listened quietly for footsteps.

If I were the 'settling' type of girl, I could have simply tunneled away and lowered my standards. I could've abandoned my cave and tried digging to freedom and hoped nothing above-side would be even more lethal. Perhaps choosing a lower form of Evolution might not even be that bad. Maybe I could make up for it later on? It wasn't impossible, despite what my instinct was screaming in protest.

But no, I really only had three options. I'd chosen my path and now needed to act accordingly. Kill, starve, or die.

I would wait for them to fall asleep. After that, it was simple.

—Someone was going to die tonight.

Map.