“Ewwww.”

I watched as the Toxic Toad was slowly consumed by my sludge-like body. The purple goo wasn’t really transparent— just mostly translucent. Still, it felt weird watching bits of a (formerly) living being dissolving at my touch.

Well, it wasn’t my touch, per se; I had to focus and kind of squeeze it to ‘eat’ the Toxic Toad. Overall, it was a very weird experience, and the frog legs definitely didn’t taste like chicken. It was filling, though.

You have replenished 10 Arcane Essence!

I jerked back at the sudden popup.

“Alright… so I’m going to have to get used to that, aren’t I?”

So, by eating the Toxic Toad, I replenished my lost Arcane Essence, and I was only missing 10 Arcane Essence earlier, which meant I was back to full, right?

Name: Violet [Level 2]

Species: Arcslime

Combat Power: 120

Arcane Essence: 120/120

Skills:

[Appraisal - 10 Arcane Essence]

A quick look at my details confirmed that fact. I stared at the blue box for a bit longer— my eyes hovering over my name. It was kind of odd. That wasn’t my name— at least, it hadn’t been my name in my previous life— yet I didn’t feel like it was unusual to be called Violet. Weird. Maybe it was because my brain still felt fuzzy since I just woke up. My memories as Stacy were a bit of a mess, right now.

I dismissed the blue box, turning to face the rest of the cavern. Because— and to address the elephant in the room— I’d been in a dark, dank cave this whole time. And it wasn’t even a tiny cubby hole. I took it in. The sheer scale of it.

I was sitting right in the middle of an expansive, desolate cave chamber riddled only with rocks and stone and dirt. Its ceiling stood a thousand feet over me, dangerous, sharp stalactites stabbing down from above, some of them reaching nearly a hundred feet in length. The rest of the cavern spread out far beyond what I could see, disappearing into a void of darkness, as if swallowed by the gluttonous beasts hiding within its veil, and reeking of the permeating musky stench of a—

Oh my god, it was boring.

It was a cave. It was dark. That was about it.

I made my way away from the lake, trying to put together a general plan of action. First of all, I had to get a good grasp of the situation: I was a little blob trapped in a cave in a world with weird creatures. Monsters, even. I had special abilities called Skills (like in a video game) that used something called Arcane Essence which I could regain from killing said monsters or gain from leveling up (like… in a video game.)

That was all fine and dandy. I understood that much. Right now, I guess I’d try to get to safety. First, find a way out of this cave, then maybe I could find my way to a city. It’d be a bit difficult trying to convince anyone that I was actually a Human in this body, but I’d have to try.

Wait a minute… did this world even have humans?

My rumination was cut off when I rounded around a rather large stalagmite.

“Ribbit.”

“Ribbit.”

“Ribbit.”

I was greeted by a cacophony of croaks. A hundred eyes turned to face me as I stopped face-to-face with a dozen Toxic Toads. I (metaphorically) whistled.

“Oh, wow, that’s a lot of you.” I stared at them as they just stood there. “So, uhm, how about you guys move along and there won’t be any trouble—”

They leapt at me as I made a break for it. I bounced away, occasionally glancing back as a few of the Toxic Toads kept up with me. I used [Appraisal] on the closest ones, since apparently I didn’t have any other Skills that were worthwhile.

“Missed me— you’re Level 3. And you’re Level 2. And you’re… ouch! That hurt!”

I lashed out at a Toxic Toad as it hopped on my back and gave me a violent, terrible, and ferocious lick. A large pseudopod protruded from my body, whipping out and knocking the monster back.

“Didn’t know I could do that with that. Neat.” I admired my appendage for a fraction of a second before I took off once more, bouncing up and down as vigorously as I could as I was chased by a bunch of annoying frogs.

They probably would’ve caught up with me if they hadn’t drawn the attention of other monsters. One of the higher-leveled Toxic Toads croaked as it hopped ahead of me to bar my path— only to be snapped up by the jaws of a giant centipede.

Me and my flock of frogs halted to stare at the humongous creature. It was the size of a car!

[Centis - Level 16 (Combat Power: 360)]

“So, who wants to deal with that?” I glanced back at the cross-eyed toads. “Not it!”

They scattered. The Centis gave chase to the numerous, slower targets as I slipped away— quite literally— down a side passageway.

“Safe at last!”

* * *

Unfortunately, I wasn’t safe, even after escaping the Toxic Toad. There were a myriad of other monsters milling about in the tunnel, although they were less numerous so I actually stood a chance.

Name: Violet [Level 2]

Species: Arcslime

Combat Power: 120

Arcane Essence: 70/120

Skills:

[Appraisal - 10 Arcane Essence]

Despite having used up a significant chunk of my Arcane Essence earlier, I didn’t feel like my Combat Power had gone down. I was moving as quickly as before, and I wasn’t any weaker. I did feel slightly winded, but it was almost like some other part of me was missing, rather than any kind of physical exhaustion.

Anyways, it didn’t take long for me to regain my Arcane Essence from fending off all the monsters trying to eat me. I also leveled quite a few times, too.

“Why are you trying to eat me, anyways? I’m a blob of purple goo!” I smacked the brown creature hard over and over again with one tendril as another tendril latched onto its left antenna. I could make multiple appendages, which was convenient, as it allowed me to do this.

I whipped the monster over and over again until it finally stopped moving.

You have defeated a [Grubby Roach - Level 7 (Combat Power: 100)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

Everytime I killed a monster, I’d absorb some of their so-called ‘Physical Essence.’ And if I gained enough Physical Essence, I’d advance to the next level.

You have defeated a [Mushroom Critter - Level 5 (Combat Power: 100)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

You have advanced to Level 5!

- Arcane Essence +20

“Why is a walking mushroom as strong as a giant cockroach?” I wondered aloud as I consumed their bodies, replenishing my Arcane Essence. “Like, wasn’t the giant cockroach higher-leveled?”

One thing I observed was that levels didn’t necessarily correspond with the Combat Power. I did notice that when I encountered the Toxic Toad back at the lake, but I wasn’t sure if that was an anomaly or not.

Each time I leveled, I only gained 20 Arcane Essence, which would increase my Combat Power by the same amount. However, it didn’t regain the Arcane Essence I’d used in battle. That was only achieved by eating my downed foes.

You have replenished 20 Arcane Essence!

You have replenished 10 Arcane Essence!

Name: Violet [Level 5]

Species: Arcslime

Combat Power: 180

Arcane Essence: 160/180

Skills:

[Appraisal - 10 Arcane Essence]

“You know, cockroach actually tastes quite good together with mushroom. I’d even smack my lips if I still had any!”

I was starting to think that I was being a tiny bit too nonchalant about everything that was going on. It was probably a coping mechanism. But everything had been coming at me nonstop since I woke up— heck, I could hear the rumbling of another monster making its way down the tunnel right now.

It was a good thing I had [Appraisal]. I knew which monsters I could pick a fight with and survive, and which monsters I’d better stay away from or I’d soon be waking up in another world again.

Maybe if that happened I’d be something more humanoid and less liquid-y.

I pressed myself against the wall— like, I literally flattened myself against the wall— as I waited for the monster that was causing the entire tunnel to shake to pass. It was big, so it probably meant it wasn’t a monster I should be fighting.

[Ravinecrawler - Level 31 (Combat Power: 1120)]

A long, undulating millipede-like monster crawled its way past me, taking up nearly half of the passageway with its size. Bigger than a truck you’d see on the highway. Fortunately, that meant little ole’ me was too small for it to notice. Or maybe that was because it had no eyes.

Either way, it passed without issue, and I let out a mental sigh of relief.

“That could’ve been dangerous—”

Then, the wall behind me burst open, and I yelped. I found myself staring at a snout-like face. A badger the size of a person. It clawed its way through the wall as I backed up in a panic.

“Oh my god— where the heck did you come from?!”

“Oh, this is my home,” it said, casually striding forward. “I live here.”

“Wait, you can talk?” I stared at it in disbelief.

“Yep. You’re kind of breaking and entering right now.”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude— I was just trying to find my way to a city… or anywhere that’s safe.”

“A city, huh?” It took a slow step towards me. “I don’t know about any city, but I think you can find a village if you take the left exit out of this tunnel.”

“Really? Thank you so much!” I exclaimed, ready to take my leave. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—” I paused when I noticed that he was looming over me. “Uhm…”

I tried to scooch my way around it.

“If you’ll excuse me…”

It blocked my path again.

“I’m just trying to—”

I looked up at the badger and noticed that its face had darkened. It fixed me with a hungry look, and I shifted uncomfortably.

[Earthen Siren - Level 10 (Combat Power: 200)]

“So… do you eat people?” I asked hesitantly.

“Oh, no, god no,” it said in a disgusted voice. “Yeah, I’m vegan.”

“A vegan monster.”

“Yep.”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable.” I tried to squeeze my way past the Earthen Siren once again as it proudly nodded. “Now, if you’ll pardon me—”

And it swiped one of its terrible claws at me. I barely hopped out of the way.

“You lied!” I yelled as it continued its attack.

“I’m not going to eat you!” it protested, bringing its maw down at me.

“Yeah? Well, why are you trying to kill me then?” I circled around the Earthen Siren as it bared its fangs at me.

“I’m just going to absorb your Physical Essence. Now, stop moving so I can kill you.”

“Mmm, nope I think I’ll do the opposite of that.” I bounced off the wall and threw myself at its head.

It recoiled as I ricocheted around it, occasionally striking it with my body. Unfortunately, the Earthen Siren was a lot more durable than even the Mushroom Critter. I crashed against the monster’s back, but this time braced itself for the attack. It stumbled a single step forward before grinning.

“Uh-oh.”

I tried to hop off the Earthen Siren, but it grabbed me and picked up with ease. It licked its lips as I struggled to break free.

“Time to eat.”

“You said you wouldn’t eat me! Liar!”

My body shifted and a tendril reached out to cling onto its back. It grunted, pulling harder to get me free from its body. I held on with everything I could, but it was stronger than me. I found my appendage being stretched thinner and thinner until…

It snapped. Literally. It broke like a rubber band and whipped the Earthen Siren at a rapid speed. It yelped, dropping me and clutching the scar on its back. “Ah— what the fuck, man?”

I leapt onto its face before it could pick itself back up. Another appendage grew from my body, and I slapped the Earthen Siren across the face.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” Each word accentuated a slap. The monster reeled back before I pushed myself off it, leaping onto the wall before throwing myself back at it with all my might. I smashed onto its face, hard. “Now, sit there and think about what you did!”

The Earthen Siren crumpled to the floor as words flashed over its body.

You have defeated an [Earthen Siren - Level 10 (Combat Power: 200)]!

You have absorbed its Physical Essence!

You have advanced to Level 6!

- Arcane Essence +20

- Skill [Arc Shot] gained!

I landed, standing still as my body wobbled for a moment.

“Oh, it’s dead.”