I watch the slime as it sits in the stream, my mandibles hanging open as it consumes frankly unbelievable amounts of water.

[How is it doing that? It's been sitting there for an hour.]

[From what I can tell, its subspace stomach lets it eat just about whatever it wants. And since it knows you want it to, it wants to drink as much water as it can possibly hold.]

[Should I be proud or worried?]

[I'd say a healthy amount of both.]

The slime rolls out of the stream, looking no worse for wear, and burbles happily.

I nervously nudge it with a mandible and its surface ripples.

[...How much water did it end up drinking?]

[I can't calculate that without seeing into its subspace, and since I can't do that, I honestly have no idea. If I had to estimate, I'd say it was well over twenty tons.]

[That's a lot, right?]

[Yes, definitely.]

Bouncing into the air, the slime aims for my head, and I flinch, expecting to be crushed.

Instead, it flattens on my head and bubbled in satisfaction.

[Why doesn't it weigh any more?]

[Subspace rules - the water's not actually inside it, technically speaking. It's all stored in a very small universe, and the only way in or out is through its mouth.]

[...Don't I have one of those?]

Joule sounds smug when she responds.

[Yes we do, and you couldn't find a good reason to keep it.]

I don't really have a response to that, so I tilt my head forward, dumping the 'pet', and get a better look at the slime. It doesn't seem any different.

[Can it use the water to attack?]

[With the amount it just drank? We could probably take out a magolem.]

[I'm not going to ask what that is.]

[Trust me when I say you don't want to know.]

The slime inhales slightly, puffing up into its hardened shape, then starts rolling circles around me. I turn around, trying to keep track of it as it moves.

[Well, if you want to see what it can do, there's one of those ice-pigs nearby. I checked Noah's Cosmopedia for any information on it, and it turns out he gave it a name to better identify it.]

Given Noah's naming history, I'm not sure I want to know, but...

[What's it called?]

[A Frost Hog.]

[Well, at least he didn't work a pun in somehow.]

[Yes, I suppose giving a unique name to the species of every new type of creature you run into would get a little difficult after a while.]

We sit there for a moment, pondering Noah's strange names before I remember what I'm doing.

[Right, the hog.]

I carefully and unsuccessfully try to pick the slime up with my mandibles before giving up, opting to instead walk in the direction Joule suggested. The slime happily follows.

[What happens if the slime freezes?]

[It's essentially made of acid, with extremely high surface tension and a thick outer layer. If something manages to freeze it, the surrounding area would be covered in ice almost immediately.]

[So if it freezes, we're basically already dead?]

[More or less.]

I can see the frost hog now, and it sees us. Lowering its tusks, it charges immediately, horns coated in icy patterns. This one is quite a bit larger than the first one I'd seen, but I'm bigger than ever.

Covering my mandibles with frost, I take the attack head-on, sliding backward slightly under the unexpectedly immense pressure.

[This thing is strong!]

[I know, I know - I'm working on it!]

A jet of water blasts from my side and carves a hole through the hog, killing it instantly.

[What was that?!]

[That was - oh my gosh.]

The slime is spurting concentrated water from its mouth with unbelievable pressure. It seems to be a very powerful attack, but the slime isn't nearly heavy enough to control it with any level of skill. Instead, the slime lifts off the ground, projected backward by the power. As it flies around, wailing in its strange bubbly voice, water exploding from its mouth, I can only laugh in my head.

[That looks absolutely ridiculous.]

[I was thinking it looked like fun.]

The stream of water impacts the ground near me and cuts a massive trench through it, shredding the dirt and grass in the process. I look at it, surprised at the force it's still packing from however far away the slime is in the air.

[Perhaps we should find cover until it's done.]

[That's probably wise.]