In this way Resh passed a few days, going in and out of the water, drinking and screaming at enemies when it could and taking down some of the very small denizens of the river bank. Those Fresh Water Mallusces were tasty and it had found some Burrower Worms that burrowed in the soil as well that were very meaty, it could use its mouth to just slurp them up and chew them down. Resh kept Photosynthesis on MP most of the time since had been using Sonic Boom quite a bit but other than that it did not need much healing, it wasn’t moving around much so it could keep using Meditate for the most part and its passive healing also took care of a lot of its small scratches and injuries.

Sonic Boom has increased to Level 4!

…

Sonic Boom has increased to Level 9!

Strong Photosynthesis has increased to Level 14!

Meditate has increased to Level 8!

Meditate has increased to Level 9!

Just as Resh snuck up on one of the Field Groles it also got a new and interesting ability.

For sneaking up on 5 enemies you have gained the Stealth Skill Sneak Attack Level 1! Bonus Damage to enemies you sneak upon. Duration of bonus and damage bonus increases with level.

Sneak Attack has increased to Level 2!

Sneak Attack has increased to Level 3!

That wasn’t the only thing that was gained from the Field Groles after it tried to Assimilate four different creatures both large and small it finally managed to assimilate successfully.

You have Assimilated 1 Field Grole and can now choose what to Assimilate from the Field Grole. Would you like to Assimilate the Ears, Paws, Nose, Mouth or Tail? If you do not choose then an option will be selected at random!

Assimilate has increased to Level 6!

Resh just chose the first option available since it did not know what was what.

You have chosen Ears. You have gained the Sense Skill Ears of the Field Grole! You are now able to hear things! Your hearing will improve with Level!

Without warning, Resh felt a buzzing, like its whole being was vibrating. Then it was hit with blinding pain that it could not think. Why did things changing always hurt so much! Then the pain died down and it relaxed a little and then when that eased up, the buzzing grew gradually louder until it was a dull roar. It was odd, this was new! These new things called Ears of the Field Grole had given it some new sensations and it could hear the faint roaring sound. As Resh got closer to the river that it had been moving in and out of it realised that the noise was coming from there. Resh used its mouth to blow out air to express its feeling of euphoria. This was amazing, hearing things for the first time! It would need to improve on its ears quickly just like it needed to get its eyes stronger so that it could experience more with them all. All these new things that it had added to itself came with some serious benefits, and the more it saw creatures the more it realised that most other creatures had these things, most had a mouth, eyes and ears as well as other things that Resh didn’t know or couldn’t identify. More and more Resh was excited to find out what other things it would gain from Assimilating more body parts of creatures. Compared to what it had started as this was like a forest compared to a tree!

Ears of the Field Grole has increased to Level 2!

…

Ears of the Field Grole has increased to Level 5!

Within a few days during its exploration Resh could hear the difference from the sounds that it received from the River, it could not hear anything other than the dull roar of the river so it was not the most reliable thing but somehow instead of inducing fear into the Copycat Slime it drew comfort from the sound. Resh reflected on how its instincts seemed to be saying the complete opposite of what they had been saying only a few days before. Then it shook itself and completely ignored the epiphany it had. Such were the fickle ways of Resh the Copycat Slime.

With this new experience understood and set aside for the moment Resh continued to move along the bank, snapping up more of the Burrower Worms. Some of them were even larger than the Fresh Water Mallusces. Eventually, it had eaten enough to Assimilate what they had to offer.

You have Assimilated 3 Burrower Worm and can now choose what to Assimilate from the Burrower Worm. Would you like to Assimilate the Skin, Mouth, or Tail? If you do not choose then an option will be selected at random!

You have chosen Skin. You have gained the Environmental Skill Underground Living Level 1! This skill will only level while you are underground. You will gradually grow accustomed to living underground the more time you spend there.

Resh didn’t have any plans to live underground anytime soon but it was not a bad skill to have in its repertoire, it might come in useful one day.

You have chosen Mouth. You have gained Mouth of the Burrower Worm! Your skills Tongue of the Grounded Squirret and Mouth of the Burrower Worm are compatible and as such have merged to form A Mouth to Devour! You will gain +200Exp for this adjustment, you can now form more coherent sounds. A Mouth to Devour gains 50% bonus experience when Consuming earth elemental related substances!

Assimilate has increased to Level 7!

You have chosen Tail. You have gained Burrower Worm’s Tail! You have gained Tail of the Burrower Worm Level 1! You have gained the Melee Skill Tail Stab Level 1! You have gained the Melee Skill Tail Rod Level 1!

Resh experimented with its new appendage. Resh could either stab or swing at an enemy with the tail. This wasn’t the same as Slime Club though. It was longer and thinner than Slime Club so it did less damage but it was also more versatile and Resh could see that with time it would be able to hit targets further away and not have to get so close.

Much better, Resh thought to itself.

Flexing its tails was a great feeling and it could keep bashing away at its target and not worry about them getting too close to it. It would need to test out some of its new tools.

The final creature Resh managed to Assimilate from during its river exploration was the Fresh Water Mallusces that it had been dining on with relish.

You have Assimilated 1 Fresh Water Mallusces and can now choose what to Assimilate from the Fresh Water Mallusces. Would you like to Assimilate the Body or Shell? If you do not choose then an option will be selected at random!

Again Resh just picked the first option as it didn’t know which was better.

You have chosen Body. You have gained the Talent Filtration of the Mallusces! +10 Resistance. This talent improves your resistance to poisons and other impurities that might try to cause you harm. +10% Resistance to Poisons and other Toxic compounds.

Talents are not levelled but can be evolved if the right conditions are met in addition you can lose Talents if you no longer meet the criteria. Understanding will come with time. All Talents are always tied to one of your core stats. For getting your first Talent +5 to its related stat, Resistance!

Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 12!

Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 13!

Strong Odour Alteration has increased to Level 14!

Many Eyes of the Insect has increased to Level 15!

Many Eyes of the Insect has increased to Level 16!

A Mouth to Devour has increased to Level 5!

…

A Mouth to Devour has increased to Level 8!

Strong Legs of the Squitter has increased to Level 13!

Strong Insectoid Wings has increased to Level 12!

Strong Insectoid Wings has increased to Level 13!

Strong Camouflage has increased to Level 13!

Strong Camouflage has increased to Level 14!

Tail of the Burrower Worm has increased to Level 2!

…

Tail of the Burrower Worm has increased to Level 5!

Also, because Resh spent so much time in the water the last few days, Underwater Living improved very quickly, more so than any other skill.

Underwater Living has increased to Level 3!

…

Underwater Living has increased to Level 10!

Congratulations on reaching Level 10! Underwater Living has evolved into Water Adjacent. Skill Water Adjacent means that movement penalty in water is reduced from -90% to -70%, penalty for natural recovery in water reduced from -50% to -40%.

…

Water Adjacent has increased to Level 13!

Resh had not managed to assimilate anything else yet but it was looking forward to trying some more! In addition, though it had beaten a lot of enemies in the time that it had been exploring and amassed a reasonable amount of experience as well in that time.

You have killed 5 Fresh Water Mallusces, 4 Field Groles (Youth), 2 Field Groles (Adult) and 20 Burrower Worms. You have gained a total of 503 Exp!

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 5! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Fortitude, +1 Acuity, +1 Endurance

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 6! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Intellect, +1 Reaction, +1 Vitality

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 7! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Fortitude, +1 Acuity, +1 Endurance

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 8! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Intellect, +1 Reaction, +1 Vitality

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 9! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Fortitude, +1 Acuity, +1 Endurance

YOU HAVE REACHED Copycat Slime Level 10! CONGRATULATIONS! +1 Intellect, +1 Reaction, +1 Vitality

Just like that Resh had made it to the maximum level of its species again, this time in real fights, with actual enemies. Apart from the worms, but the rest had been serious contenders. It would look at its evolutionary options in a bit first it wanted to explore a little more…