It's been two years since the incident. Jean's hand had to be treated at the hospital in Faeris for almost three weeks, because there wasn't a healer in our village. I almost cried again when she left Ellie and I, but I held my tears back. I told myself to be done with crying and to become stronger for my family.

Jean's back now, but there's a white scar on her palm. She tells me it's fine, but I can tell it's going to be a while before she can blacksmith properly again. To lighten her load, I've been helping out with cleaning the house, doing laundry, and carrying groceries. I liked doing these things anyway. It gave me a chance to practice moving this unfamiliar body, as well as practice talking to the grannies at the market. Oh yeah, that's right. I can talk now~ It's more like telepathic communication though. I don't actually open my mouth, I just think whatever I want to say in the slime language and direct it at who I want to talk to. I've been able to do it ever since I turned one year old. I'm not sure why, though.

Ellie's been the same as ever, spending most of her time dozing off or reading a book in our living room. However, she's been keeping her eye on me ever since the incident to make sure that I don't do anything dangerous again, not leaving me out of her sight for more than a few minutes at a time. I didn't really mind. It was better than her going out and returning home all banged up like she used to. Moreover, I think she enjoyed watching me struggle to make different shapes with my pseudopods, occasionally stopping me to pick me up and snuggle with me in front of the fireplace.

Even if she wasn't my mom, I'd want to cuddle me too. I took a look at my blobby reflection in the water the other day, and was surprised to find out that I was white, rather than the blues, greens, browns, or reds that I’ve seen before. Furthermore, unlike the other baby slimes, my nucleus was a tightly packed cluster of crimson spheres in the center, with smaller ones orbiting it on three dimensions of rings. I’ve seen this shape before in my textbooks. I think it was called the Bohr model of the atom. It didn't surprise me that none of the other slimes knew what shape it was; I doubted science even existed here.

I attributed these physical differences to being a reincarnated soul, but couldn't really understand the rationale for the choice of color nor the shape. Maybe some god out there was being racist about my skin color, and perhaps the nucleus symbolized a being from a more scientifically advanced society. I don't know. I was just glad that no one treated me differently because of these deviant characteristics.

Anyway, something pretty amazing happened today. I'm actually quite proud. Goodbye to the age of barfed up Yaksha berries; hello freedom!

I learned how to eat my own food! All it took was weeks of practice stuffing solid berries into my body, and attempting to rip it apart into tiny pieces through shear pressure. It takes a while to digest even one berry fully, but I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

'Mom, what's this?'

After the long and agonizing process of digesting my own dinner, I spit out a card that I accidentally stumbled across while Ellie was taking a bath. It said something about being employed by an SDF, and labelled her as some sort of water user.

“Ah, I thought I lost this!”

Ellie snatched the card away and looked at me scornfully.

“What did I say about taking things that aren’t yours, Bell? I swear, that troublemaking attitude you got from Jean…”

Jean lightly nudged Ellie with her elbow.

“Don’t pin this on me. Your mom’s right, Bell, you shouldn’t go taking peoples’ things.”

‘I didn’t know it was yours, mom. What’s an es-dee-eff?’

I gave Ellie my best puppy dog eyes and feigned ignorance. Truthfully, I wanted to confirm my suspicion that mom had some sort of combat profession. My second goal was to confirm the existence of magic, which I wanted to learn ever since I heard about it at the market.

“Sigh… Well, I guess you would’ve found out anyway.”

Ellie lifted and locked her arm parallel to the floor, with her fingers spread apart as if she was reaching for something in front of her. All of a sudden, I felt a shift in the atmosphere as if someone had dropped a muffler over my ears, and a small, blue glow appeared at the center of Ellie’s hand. The ball of light glided forward and spiralled into a tentacle of water that twisted and elongated to resemble a rod over 1 meter in length. Taking a step forward, Ellie clamped her fingers around the rod, instantly causing it to freeze and form a spear of ice with a sharp, deadly tip.

‘Cool!!!’

My eyes sparkled while Ellie took a deep breath and let the spear dissipate into a mist of countless ice crystals. She gave me a satisfied grin and lifted me onto her lap.

‘Can you teach me how to do that?’

“Of course, Bell. But first you have to wait until you’re older. You’ll awaken to something called ‘mana’ when you’re 10-13 years old, like everybody else. That’s when you can go to the academy and learn alllllll about how to use it. Exciting, huh?”

So I have to school again? And I have to wait like 7-10 years until I can learn magic? Dammit.

Seeing my disappointed face, Ellie giggled and hugged me. Changing the topic, she explained that she was a Advanced Class Water Shaper with a specialization in ice magic, and a member of the Kingdom's Slime Defense Force, or SDF. Her ability to crowd control made her important for driving back enemies that would sometimes raid our floor of the dungeon, including armies from neighbouring kingdoms. This was news to me, because I didn't know that there were other species in our world, much less other civilizations. Then again, I probably shouldn't have been so surprised, considering that Jean forged weapons and armor for a living.

Ellie continued and explained that the SDF would also sometimes go dungeon crawling to gather pelts, equipment, magic items, and other supplies. My eyes lit up when she told me her stories about protecting the Kingdom from an army of the undead led by a corrupt lich, seeking and destroying an evil goblin mage who was terrorizing the Kingdom with natural disasters, and discovering a subdungeon that led to an epic fight against the Jade Queen, a powerful golem who commanded an army of jade warriors and, upon defeat, bequeathed a phantasmal grade staff powerful enough to level an entire village. I felt as giddy as a child on Christmas Day, and I was awed by the strength of my mom.

Curious, I turned to Jean and asked her about her elemental affinity and mastery, at which she coughed abruptly and turned red.

"Well, heh, while your mom over there was a genius at water shaping, I-I wasn't as talented as her--"

"What Jean means, Bell, is that she spent every day in the academy skipping class and playing hooky with her friends. And girlfriends."

Ellie shot an accusatory look at her and pouted, "Hmpf. If you weren't lucky in finding an apprenticeship as a blacksmith, who knows what you'd be doing..."

"Ahh, don't be mean. You're so cute when you pout, darling~"

Jean gave her a smooth on the cheek, but Ellie just spun her face away from Jean without responding. I could see that she was smiling, though. I thought to myself, 'love birds =_=', but couldn't help but smile as well.

"I only know Basic Class Fire and Earth Shaping, but I am one of the best blacksmiths in the Kingdom. It just goes to show that academics and elemental masteries aren't everything. Bell, if you have a dream and you want to pursue it, you have your mom's blessing and support."

Jean confidently declared while lifting me up and nudging her nose into mine. I felt like crying because of how much I loved her.

Before I could say anything though, Ellie snatched me away again and put me on her lap.

"What are you saying to our three-year-old child like he knows what he's going to be doing when he grows up? If he did, obviously he would want to become a high class Water Shaper, wouldn't you Bell?"

Peering down at me, Ellie poked my cheeks to prompt a response.

'I just want to be strong', for you guys.

I didn't voice the second half of my answer, but my first half was met with laughter.

"Bahahaha, our son's growing up already, isn't he, Ellie."

"Fufufu, he sure doesn’t take after you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Jean came over and gave us both a bear hug, while Ellie stroked my head and continued to tease Jean.

Watching the flames flicker back and forth in the fireplace, I seriously pondered what my plan should be for the next while. I didn't want to just wait until I 'awoke' ten years later. However, as hard as I might, nothing better came to mind. And then it hit me.

'Information. What I lack is information.'

Once my parents fell sleep, I slipped out of Ellie's arms and dragged myself to the bookshelf. I wasn't the best at reading, but my moms had read me plenty of children's books, and I frequently asked Ellie what certain words meant when she was reading her complicated books about magic. The book I reached for now was one that I had kept in the back of my mind since I first saw it, titled "The Eyes of a Lonely Wanderer", by JFK.

Unlike the other books, it was bound in old, worn leather, and was written in crimson ink. I brought it closer to the fireplace to read. Under the flickering light of the flames, the words glistened as if they were alive. What I saw sent a cold sweat run down my spine. The contents were written in English.

“The Slime Kingdom... Xylene Dungeon... slimes...”

Fwip.

“…fought their way... built the Kingdom... lived in harmony."

From this, I assumed that I descended from the so-called Water Queen, remembering the ocean of blue that swallowed me whole and birthed me into this world.

Fwip.

“Over hundreds of years of expansion and development, the descendants of the Kings and Queens erected over 20 great cities that populated the Kingdom. Each city governed a region of the Kingdom that encompassed multiple villages. These regions became less and less distinct as their populace gained the skills and trades necessary to function independently. Slimes of all colors, genders, and abilities were accepted by all.

Since I was summoned to this world 100 years ago, I have never met a more versatile and adaptive creature than a slime. In only 200 years of growth, they have built a nation that doesn’t discriminate against color nor gender. They have accepted that each slime is capable of learning any element they desire, irrespective of heritage nor association. How is this possible? After being exposed to hundreds of civilizations out there that have prejudices against those who dress differently, speak a different language, or have an extra appendage or tail, I am honestly amazed by these mysterious beings.

I can only hope to continue watching them for the many years to come.”

Fwip.

“Magic in this Kingdom is quite undeveloped. The only ones to reach Saint Class in the elemental magics are the Kings and Queens themselves, while only a handful have broken through to the Advanced. I believe the main reason for this is their lack of understanding of mana manipulation. Rather than study its philosophy and implications rigorously, the slimes seem to use their instincts and innate abilities. They believe that spells are restricted to Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Saint ranks, fully unaware of the King and Emperor ranks that are beyond the initial four.

Mastery of the elements is usually achieved by creating, combining and destroying the molecules in the air. For example, water shaping requires the duplication and manipulation of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the correct orientation as well as in the appropriate structure. The velocity and density of the generated molecules can give way to different forms, including gas and ice.

Wind shaping, in comparison, focuses on the gaseous phase alone. This allows the practitioner to become more proficient in its application; for example, creating clouds that can support weight.

Fire shaping, on the other hand, requires fundamental knowledge of plasma manipulation, while earth shaping necessitates the manipulation of gravitons. These are beyond my knowledge.”

Fwip.

“Apparently, there is a public bath-house in Faeris. I shall disguise myself and… investigate. I sense there is something worth discovering in the co-ed pool.”

Fwip.

“I have been frequenting the bath-house too much. I seem to have become a regular.”

Fwip.

“Slimes never cease to amaze me. Their bodies are top quality, even though copulation doesn’t result in making babies. How this is possible despite common evolutionary logic is beyond me. Wasn't beauty a characteristic due to the need for reproduction? I must investigate further.

Tonight, my phoenix shall rise from the ashes.”

Fwip.

“Apparently, slimes can’t use magic until they have reached a certain age. I believe that this is a misconception, although I don’t know exactly how slime physiology works.

Mana, as it is known, is a finite energy that exists in the atmosphere, and can be collected and used. The trick to using magic for the first time is to collect it. This usually requires the formation of a ‘mana core’. For slimes, this core is their nucleus. I believe that over the course of natural development, their nucleus evolves to become capable of storing mana.

My theory, however, is that slimes can forcefully train their nucleus to ‘awaken’. Of course, that requires a slime under the age of 10 to be mentally mature enough to even attempt such a feat. Perhaps I should adopt one of the baby slimes for experimental purposes…”

Fwip.

“Abort mission. Abort mission. The theory is flawed. The main issue is that slimes aren’t instinctually able to ‘sense’ mana until they actually develop their mana core. I have spent way too long today trying to teach my cute child something that she can’t understand. I will take her to the pond with her friends to make it up to her.”

Fwip.

“After observing these creatures for over thirty years, I believe there is something stirring within this Kingdom. I am not sure of what it is, but it is definitely evil. One of the royalty has been corrupted… by something. My powers of divination can only do so much. I have to protect my daughter.

I am going to head for the source.”

Fwip.

[in slime language]

“There is no time, but I must depart.

Ellie, my daughter. I love you.”