Three years after Takebayashi Ryoma hid himself away in the Forest of Gana to devote himself to training his martial arts and magic...
He still had no intention of leaving the forest.
“All right, all right... It’s food time!”
The crude cave that had been his dwelling had been widened with his improved earth magic, a barrier placed at the entrance to secure the safety of his home. He also had furniture made of hardened dirt he had got from digging out the cavern.
More than enough food could be acquired from the blessings of the forest, which he could determine the safety of eating with the knowledge received from the gods and the neutral magic Appraisal. Within such a comfortable environment, Ryoma didn’t have any strong desire to leave the forest, instead spending his time enjoying the hobbies he couldn’t have in his previous life.
One particularly devoted hobby was the research of ‘slimes.’ In the beginning, he had captured a slime by simply trying the ‘taming magic’ he had been bestowed with, which somehow led to the decision of keeping it as a pet. Half a year later, he woke up one morning to see the slime was a different color. Fearing it had fallen sick, he hurriedly used the taming magic Monster Appraisal to find that it had evolved into a species of slime called the sticky slime.
From that day onwards, Ryoma became interested in slime evolution and spent much of his time observing them. And the first thing he learned was that wild slimes were at the bottom of the ecosystem. Because slimes did not possess the power to hunt prey, Ryoma was yet to witness a wild slime eating a proper meal. However, he would feed them the leftovers of his own meals, as well as carcasses of the green caterpillars he often came across on his hunts. In other words, Ryoma’s slimes ingested much more nutrition than their wild counterparts on a daily basis.
Furthermore, the green caterpillars in the meals were capable of spitting out a sticky string. Ryoma formed a hypothesis that one of these differences was what caused the slime’s evolution, so he captured new slimes and continuously fed them green caterpillars and food. Two months later, the slimes that had only consumed green caterpillars had all evolved into sticky slimes.
In addition, the slimes with green caterpillars removed from their diet as a controlled variable had evolved into a different species of slime. It was from this point that Ryoma’s interest grew significantly, leading to huge numbers of slimes being captured and fed assorted leftovers and gathered materials, resulting in the six species of slime Ryoma presently kept.
Slime x13
The weakest monsters of the world, existing everywhere. Omnivorous, with an average diameter of 20cm. These mysterious creatures will die when the core within their jelly-like body is damaged, causing everything other than the core to disappear.
Skills: Consume 2, Absorb 3, Split 1
Sticky Slime x153
A creature of the same size as the regular slime, capable of forming a highly sticky solution in its body. It can either spit the sticky fluid directly, or hide and use it in traps to capture prey.
Skills: Strong Sticky Solution 4, Hardening Sticky Solution 1, Sticky String Shot 1, Jump 1, Consume 3, Absorb 3, Split 3
In the beginning, its only skills were strong sticky solution and the three basics: consume, absorb, and split, but it eventually learned hardening sticky solution and jump as well, which was how Ryoma learned that monsters could also acquire skills through training. Sticky string shot was discovered when Ryoma was investigating the qualities of the strong sticky solution and hardening sticky solution alongside evolution, mixing the two solutions to create a string shape. When he tested whether the same phenomenon could occur within the slime’s body, all the training led to the acquisition of those skills.
Acid Slime x100
A slime with exceptionally high digestive ability, capable of consuming less-digestible material such as animal bones. After being discovered in the process of researching evolution, its numbers increased through splitting.
Skills: Acid Production 3, Acid Resistance 3, Jump 1, Consume 4, Absorb 3, Split 2
Poison Slime x188
Slimes that have been continuously fed poisonous plants. A fair number of slimes had been unable to resist the poison and died, but those that survived evolved. After that, their numbers increased through splitting.
Skills: Poison Production 3, Poison Resistance 3, Paralyzing Poison Production 3, Jump 1, Consume 3, Absorb 3, Split 3
Cleaner Slime x11
Slimes drank water often, but there were some which were oddly insistent on drinking Ryoma’s bathwater after he was done washing. Seeing no issue with that, Ryoma allowed them to do as they wished, which resulted in this evolution.
Skills: Cleanse 4, Deodorize 6, Deodorant Solution 4, Disease Resistance 5, Poison Resistance 5, Jump 1, Consume 3, Absorb 3, Split 1
Scavenger Slime x457
When Ryoma was unhappy with the smell coming from the toilet and waste disposal area he had created in the cave, he recalled how slimes liked to swarm around rotting corpses and threw twenty newly captured slimes into the room. As a result, the slimes acquired the skill to digest the things they ate and expel the nutrients as fertilizer, along with the tendency to split more often than the other slimes.
Skills: Disease Resistance 5, Poison Resistance 5, Foul Feeder 5, Cleanse 6, Deodorize 6, Deodorant Solution 4, Stench Release 4, Nutrient Reduction 3, Jump 1, Consume 6, Absorb 3, Split 6
There weren’t many species, as he had switched his focus from evolving them to rearing them partway through, but their numbers were over 900.
Ryoma’s personality meant he wasn’t bothered by simple and repetitive tasks to begin with, so with no one to stop him in this situation he had lost sight of where to stop. However, that lifestyle was what healed Ryoma’s tired heart and gave him vitality. This allowed him to live his life steadily despite the occasional encounter with bandits or large beasts, which Ryoma could deal with using his own powers and army of slimes.
And so, Ryoma would go on living in this way...
Or so he had thought, when fate came knocking one day.
It was during his daily hunt when, instead of prey, he spotted five armored people in the forest.
It’s rare to see people around these parts. Their equipment looks too uniform for them to be bandits... This might be my first time seeing people who aren’t bandits in this world. Well, I am a recluse living in the depths of the forest... Oh, is there someone injured?
Hidden in the thickets behind the trees, he observed from a distance, and saw one person was leaning on his companion’s shoulder, wrapped in bloody bandages instead of armor.
“U-Urgh...”
“Hang in there, Hughes!”
“Camil, how’s your magic energy?”
“Sorry, it’s still...”
He doesn’t look too good... They don’t seem to be bandits, so I can’t turn a blind eye... I can at least let them rest at my place. If they turn out to be bandits, I have my emergency measures in place anyway.
Ryoma stepped out of the thicket he was hiding in to call out to them. However...
What should I say to them? ‘Good day?’ No, this isn’t the time to be so carefree. ‘Oi! You lot!’ That would just make them wary, and it’d be rude to boot. Really, what should I say to them?!
Although Ryoma had stepped forth with the intention to help, it had been three years since he had last spoken to anyone else. He found himself faltering, unable to decide on what to say, during which time the group on high alert had spotted him.