He knew this would happen.

Atlas threw himself to the side as a pseudopod erupted towards him from the side of the now massive slime, slapping into the first slime hard enough to send it bouncing all the way out of the pool entirely. It splattered against the wall and didn’t reform.

He didn’t dare think what he knew or how he knew it, but on some level he had understood that it was simply inevitable he would face some boss monster in a big cave like this. The slime’s surface rippled again, and Atlas ducked the pseudopod’s backswing.

It was between him and the shore, currently bobbing towards him without much momentum but getting speed with each bounce, and plenty fast enough to keep up with him backing up through the water, barely keeping clear of its clumsy attacks.

Atlas’ wrist monitor flashed into life. His MP bar had filled. The distraction almost cost him a tentacle in the face. He narrowed his eyes at the thing. This was all it’s fault in the first place!

Wait. His “materials logged” thing destroyed whatever he held, maybe the scanner worked the same way? He ducked as the tendril snapped back over his head, then slapped his hand onto the “scan” button. The green beam blazed out, enveloping the amorphous menace with energy.

SCAN SUCCESSFUL.

Yes! Atlas pumped his fist as a third bar appeared on his monitor, this one golden yellow. Eat that, you oversized-

The slime swatted him with its pseudopod.

As Atlas bounced across the surface of the water much like the slimes did, the yellow bar maxed out, and an array of messages accompanied the blur of passing scenery as he spun his way face first into the sandy beach.

SCAN LEVEL UP

LEVEL 1

NEURAL NET UPGRADED: LEVEL 1

CORE FUNCTION RESTORED: MATERIAL STORAGE

CORE FUNCTION RESTORED: CODE GRID (SMALL)

NEW CODES ACQUIRED: [Jelly], [Water]

Great. Atlas pulled his head out of the sand with difficulty, leaving a smooth round hole where his head had been. Two feet more and he’d have hit rock instead.

So… not disintegrated then. Atlas pulled a seashell out of his shoulder and weaved to his feet, head spinning from the impact. Just that one strike had been enough to drop his HP back to 1. What was left of his MP bar started to dwindle down to nothing once more.

This time, though, when he looked at the slime accelerating across the water towards him its eyes flashed red, and a small window appeared in the corner of his vision.

GIANT SLIME (COMMON - WATER)

THREAT LEVEL: 1

MONSTER CREATED BY TWO INJURED SLIMES MERGING TOGETHER.

ITS EXTRA MASS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO REACH ITS MONSTER CORES.

CREATES PSEUDOPODS TO ATTACK ITS PREY IN ADDITION TO TACKLE ATTACKS.

MOVES FASTER IN WATER.

Just. In. Time. Atlas slapped his forehead hard enough to make his HP bar wobble. And this thing was only threat level 1? What did that make him?

Glancing away from the speeding slime for a moment, Atlas backed away towards the wall of the cavern, pressing his back against stone. He was where the slimes had originally descended in the first place, the exit was on the other side of the pool from here. He might have been able to outrun the giant slime, but there was no reason to think it couldn’t squeeze into the narrow tunnels to follow him, and then he’d have an even harder time avoiding its attacks.

His time was up. As soon as it reached the shore the slime launched itself towards the ceiling with speed that belied its bulk, two pseudopods extending from its body as it hurtled down towards him.

Now.

Atlas threw himself forward, allowing the slime to land - directly onto the stone spike it had landed on to start with. He jumped a pseudopod that swiped for his legs, splashing into the edge of the pool to make space between himself and the flailing monster. After twitching its tendrils after him a few times, the slime withdrew them, its body turning to liquid as it began to flow around the stone spike.

Atlas struck, lunging out of the water and slamming the back of his gauntlet into one of the slime’s cores, catching it between the rock and his hard fist before it could solidify. The eye fragmented, and the slime splashed wetly to the sand, congealing around its single remaining eye. Thin tendrils snapped out, coiling around Atlas’ wrist, pulling him towards the centre of the slime puddle as he struggled to pull away. His HP bar began to blink as the skin on his feet started to burn.

Atlas slammed his free fist into the slime’s core, bouncing off its rubbery shell. Once. Twice. Thrice.

With the fourth punch the tendrils holding him fell apart. Atlas stumbled backwards, rolling to land head first into the pool, his body bent painfully over his planted shoulders. The burning in his legs eased in the water, and after two tries he rolled over into a slightly less undignified heap, dragging himself through the water without surfacing to avoid a further counter attack.

That attack never came. When his HP bar recovered by 1 with no sign of movement, Atlas poked his head out of the water, squinting to see the slime still wetly plastered over the shore, thin tendrils collapsing as soon as they formed on its surface. While maybe not dead, it certainly wasn’t a threat anymore. Atlas limped out of the water towards it, brushing aside its tendrils as he stared down at the cracked eye bobbing at its centre, still encased inside a protective ball of jelly.

It felt like this was the time for a meaningful saying.

MATERIAL LOGGED

Or pithy one liner.

MATERIAL LOGGED

Atlas scooped up another handful of caustic slime.

MATERIAL LOGGED

But he had no mouth.

MATERIAL LOGGED

MATERIAL LOGGED

MATERIAL LOGGED

Atlas slumped to the floor, surrounded by stray droplets of slime soaking into the sand, and waited for his HP bar to refill.