MC PoV

After issuing the adventurers my ‘request’ they very kindly agreed to help me. So once the mage woke up and the elf was placed on the leaders back, we headed for the dungeon exit. Sadly there wasn’t any teleport runes or pedestals like there are in games because this is a foe dungeon. So we had to ascend the floors to return to the entrance the adventurers came through.

Though I’m happy we did, because on the way I discovered some newly spawned earth slimes. They were only lv1 so absorbing them would be pointless to my current self, but I learned something interesting. They react to me not as a threat, but as a father figure. I soon realised that it was due to becoming ‘One with the earth’. It seemed there was more to this insight than I initially thought. I already knew that the span of my control over earth would increase with my mass but there was nothing in my memories to explain such a reaction.

I guess that’s just another reason to infiltrate a sentient society. The mimic slime will allow me to seek out knowledge on slimes and where to find the perfect prey for my growth without too much risk. I at least need to know where the danger zones are located so I don’t accidently walk into a dragon’s nest or something.

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We have reached the first floor. The adventurers seemed annoyed by my slow pace but 30 seconds without breathing shut them up pretty quick.

Not knowing what was beyond the entrance I decided to take precautions. I used ‘Quest updates’ to inform the group of my plans details. I would be disguising as the newly tamed pet of the elven archer. This would work for two reasons. One; ranger classes often have taming skills of some degree, and two; taming a creature stronger than oneself would lead to injury and exhaustion providing a perfect cover for her condition.

Sadly I would have to limit my sensory range to 50 metres. This is to prevent any powerful experts nearby from noticing me as anything more than a regular slime. This will likely make hunting for the Mimic slime more difficult but the rogue seems to have good senses so we should be ok.

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I felt quite disappointed upon reaching the dungeons exit as there were only fields and rocks within my sensory range. I’m sure I would see be a beautiful sight of floating mountains and twelve suns should I have had eyes, I’m looking forward to the mimic skill even more.

“Yeah the world is pretty. Only two suns though and there aren’t any floating mountains in this particular area.” (Adam)

But they do exist though right?

“Maybe. Or I could just be fucking with you. There isn’t a lot to do in here now that I’ve read all your memories.” (Adam)

Well I’m sure I’ll find a way to steal human memories before my classmates come so you might get something out of them.

“Oh yeah. I do recall there being another guy in your class that liked anime but he was pretty tall so nobody bothered him for it.” (Adam)

So there was. I don’t remember his name though. I think I’ll be tall when I get a human body maybe 192cm (6.3 feet).

“Sounds good. What about hair or looks? You want to be incognito right? Handsome people get a lot of attention and every protagonist needs a crazy haircut.” (Adam)

Not sure yet. I’ll play around with it once I get the skill. Anyway these adventurers seem to be a bit tired so I’ll let them rest a bit. Besides if they are too tired and let my mimic slime escape, I would be more than a little upset.

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We carried on the journey for a few days. We left the road after a few hours so I guess they decided to look for the slime themselves than go to the city and buy a core. I didn’t bother with the details too much but noticed that the elf was recovering quite quickly with the help of, what I assume are potions.

Besides that there is nothing unusual. The greenery has been getting a bit thicker so we are probably approaching a forest and the lv80 nature slime in me (gained a few lvls from the mana vein) feels the connection to nature I used to feel for the earth, the same comfortable feeling is enveloping me the further we go.

Sadly we didn’t enter the forest and stopped just outside of it. The rogue is eyeing the area like a hawk while the rest set up camp. From the fact they station more complex traps and runes around it I can tell they plan to wait here for a few days.

So after an hour I send a ‘quest update’ stating…

[[Quest update: -anomaly- is unclear on your purpose for setting up a camp here. Should you fail to communicate your intentions you will fail the quest.

Note: should your intentions be conveyed yet still annoy -anomaly- you will not automatically fail the quest but may suffer repercussions. Note: -anomaly- has listed some of the possible repercussions as the following: you will have several limbs/appendages eaten by –anomaly-, -anomaly- will eat half of your face, -anomaly will infuse your bones with metal and puppet you like ‘Magneto’. Note: full list of 125 items is locked and may vary greatly based on gender.]]

What ensued was the most panic stricken game of charades to grace this planet. Eventually thanks to their diverse mimes and using ‘eyes of truth’ to detect for any lies, I understood that they had to enter under the guidance of a forest resident or they would be considered an enemy. I couldn’t understand who the ‘forest residents’ were but it’s probably pixies or Elves or something like that. However I can understand the permission request, it’s likely that slavers of some kind target the forest residents so they would like to ban entry, but adventurers who want to kill the dangerous creatures in the forest are abundant and useful to the residents.

I sent another quest update saying I understood and that they wouldn’t be punished. Of course they became a bit more wary of me. They will probably try to explain their actions to me before acting next time.

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Bordani’s PoV

“huff….huff…huff….that…huff…was…huff….the most…huff…terrifying thing…huff” (Taron)

“I know…huff…limbs/appendages…fuck this guy!” (Bordani)

(Sete)

Forty minutes were spent trying to communicate with the slime. It obviously had no expression so we had no idea if it understood or not which made it very stressful but the quest notification came through stating all was understood. Though I don’t know how much of that a slime could have understood as long as it’s not preventing me from having a beautiful half snow wolf child in the future I’m happy.

Regardless, the danger has passed and the preparations have been made to accept the dryad ambassadors. Dryad are a purely female race that absorb the life force of others to grow in power but their bodies are developed to tempt the hearts of men. While this was beneficial to them in humanities early years it has now made them a target of nobles. While forcing adventurers to get permission does stop the majority of slavers there are cases of dryad children being abducted.

“Remember that we cannot accept their hospitality. We don’t know how the slime will react to their presence and should its identity be exposed…” (Elaine)

“True, but it appears to have a good connection to nature by its colouring I don’t imagine it will be hostile on sight. Monsters of the same affinity tend to work together.” (Taron)

(Sete)

“Sete’s right. It also has a connection to earth and it ate every other slime in that dungeon. Plus mimic slimes are a nature variant similar to my blood affinity so I don’t think it has a sense of comradery between affinities at all.” (Bordani)

“Well it’s not hopeless. The Dryad may have a few mimic cores they can trade. Mimic slimes defiantly exist in the ‘illusion woods’ so they probably picked a few up over time.” (Elaine)

She’s right. The reason we stopped here first was purely to trade with the Dryad not to explore the forest. If they don’t have it we will try the city or ask the guild to look for any dungeons that have them. We have no intention of entering the forest as all the monsters are mimic or illusion based. And while this isn’t a major issue for us should the slime get fooled into thinking one of us attacked it…

“Let’s rest for now. It normally takes a few days for the dryad to respond.”

“Dammit, there’s no way I can sleep wondering what ‘may vary greatly based on gender’ means.” (Elaine)

“Yeah it’s probably going to take me an extra twenty minutes to fall asleep, now that you’ve said that…you know because I’m so concerned for you and stuff.”

“Fuck you Taron and from what I hear you’ll nod off in five hahaha.”(Elaine)

“Hahahaha” (Bordani)

“Who did you hear that from… no way…it’s not true dammit!” (Taron)

While I’m laughing at Taron, Sete hands him a potion.

“Eh what’s this… burn ointment? ...but I’m a fire-….OH FUCK YOU SETE”

““Hahahahahahahaha”” (Bordani + Elaine)

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The next evening, a few hours before sunset a group of 3 stunning naked women exited from the forest. They had perfect hour glass figures but unlike succubus they held more elegance and purity, their dark skin as though it had been slightly tanned. They each had a few silver tattoos resembling flowers and other plants each placed in strategically sexual places such as their thighs or lower back. Both their hair and eyes were silver with green tints in them but this silver had a closer resemblance to starlight than the metallic silver of the slime.

(Sete)

Sete was snapping his fingers in front of my face before I realised what was happening.

“Huh? What? Huh?” (Bordani)

“You were staring” (Elaine)

I was going to argue back but realised how pointless it would be so I coughed and looked towards Taron who I hoped would be in an even worse state than me. He wasn’t but was instead elegantly adjusting his robes before stepping in front of us and performing a delicate bow. Damn, so smooth. If he wasn’t so crude around Elaine I might even fall for him. No! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!

“Greetings adventurers, thank you for waiting here for us. What brings you too our forest?” (Leading Dryad)

Straight to the point huh. I guess they aren’t as fond of people as their kind smiles would suggest. Taron will negotiate with them. No lies and straight to the point. I don’t want to spend too much time here or the slime may do something.

“Greetings to you all. This one’s name is Taron Bentrathen and these are my companions. I won’t waist your valuable time with such phatic talk so I’ll get to it. We require the core of a mimic slime and were hoping you had some that you could spare for us. We can trade for it of course.” (Taron)

The Dryad seemed to ponder on the issue. Before replying

“We should have one. But it was retrieved from a slime that dared attack one of our scouts so it couldn’t be less than lvl 100. Its value is considerable for alchemists.” (Lead Dryad)

I don’t know anything on alchemy but by the look on Taron’s face it must be quite pricy. I hope we can afford it.

“Of course you could trade it for your tamed slime. It appears to be a rare variant and a metal slime would be beneficial for us Dryad as we specialise in magic and lack physical power” (Lead Dryad)

No that couldn’t work. That would defeat the purpose….unless

“I apologise but-“ (Taron)

“Wait…I’m thinking…we can give you the slime but we ask that you give us the core first. Then we will release the slime from our beast tamer contract and leave. Of course the slime is a bit stronger than its master so it may go berserk on release, could you handle that for us?” (Bordani)

“ what are you doing ?” (Elaine)

I ignored Elaine’s whispering and spoke to the Dryad.

“Would this be acceptable to you?”

What am I doing? The quest will be cleared when it gets the core and once we are free we will run. The Dryad can deal with the aftermath. I feel a bit sorry for them but they are still monsters after all. Either they buy time for us to run from the slow moving slime or they capture it. Either way we will survive this mess.

(Sete)

Sete seems to understand my thinking but doesn’t like the idea. He always was a bit more cautious, but don’t worry it won’t be like it was in the dungeon this time I won’t drag us down. We will escape this monster! Don’t worry Mono I will return to you soon.

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MC Pov

[[Dryad Shaman Polerta lvl147]]

The first thing I did upon seeing the women exit the forest was exam them with eyes of truth. You thought I would be stunned by their beauty? Free mind took care of that. I was able to appreciate and enjoy the sight without being mesmerised by it. The other two were a little weaker than Polerta but not by much.

They talked to the adventurers not once lying. But the adventurers didn’t respond in kind it seems they were talking about me given the dryads gaze and the slightly startled look on the female elf’s face. I didn’t think about it too much only assuming they were explaining that I was their tamed monster. That was until that evening.

The four had gathered in their tent after the dryad had left (assumedly to get my slime). The bickering and raised heartrates made me feel uneasy. They were plotting something. A pity I was really going to let them go too. But I won’t be a pushover in this life. I will kill those that oppose me without question. I’m a monster now. Its time I embrace it.

“Release control art restriction zero.” (Adam)

Shut up Adam!