Clotho (0 y/o, Genderless, Slime Gluttonia)
Level: 12
Title: Devourer
HP: 465/465 (+100)
MP: 176/176 (+100)
Strength: 223 (+100)
Endurance: 231 (+100)
Agility: 196 (+100)
Magic: 180 (+100)
Luck: 191 (+100)
Skills: Gluttony (Unique Skill), Absorption (Rank D), Storage (Rank B), Blunt Damage Resistance
Passive Effects: Summoning/Magic Supply (Rank S), Concealment (Rank B)
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It had only been a few days earlier when, during one of our usual subjugation quests, Clotho had Evolved. After absorbing the monster that we’d defeated, my companion had abruptly frozen in place.
“And that’s the last one for today’s subjugation quest. Uh, what’s wrong, Clotho?”
The slime’s body was jiggling like always, but it wasn’t responding to my voice at all. Nothing was coming through the Follower Network either.
“Are you okay, Clotho?!”
::Honey, Clotho is trying to Evolve right now.::
“Evolve...you mean that process you mentioned when I first Contracted with it?”
::Yes, that, although there’s no telling what triggered it. For now, let’s just give Clotho some space.::
Heeding Melfina’s advice, I obediently took a step back to watch, but my heart was pounding like a drum. I was worried out of my mind.
::Looks like it’s almost there.::
As if responding to Melfina’s words, Clotho’s body began to shine so brightly that I had to avert my eyes. When the light subsided, the slime’s figure...uh, has there been some sort of mistake?
“Clotho, you’ve sure gotten big since I last saw you!”
My partner, which had previously reached no higher than my knees, had grown so huge that it was even taller than me. Are there no limits to the wonders of adolescence?
::A Slime Gluttonia...::
“Is that Clotho’s new species name?” I asked, remembering half a beat later that I had Analyze Eye, and activating it.
“Hot damn, all your stats have shot up across the board! What is this ‘Unique’ label attached to your new skill, Gluttony?”
::Unique skills are special and belong exclusively to a certain race or species, or perhaps even to a single individual. They are usually much more powerful than normal skills. The new skill that Clotho has acquired, Gluttony, appears to grant it the ability to steal a portion of the stats from a target that it eats.::
Doesn’t that mean Clotho is going to get increasingly stronger the more it eats? And what, there’s no upper limit? I’ve been having it Absorb all of the monsters that we’ve defeated so far, so...what, is it going to get stats points every time it Absorbs something going forward?! Well, here we go then, this is the story of how Clotho became the most powerful being in the history of the world!
::With this Evolution, Clotho has mutated into a Slime Gluttonia. It was several hundred years ago that such a creature last appeared, in Toraj, the Country of Water. Unlike Clotho, who is still very young, the last one was a full-fledged adult. Toraj is a magic-focused country that had dozens of court mages who specialized in Blue Magic, but every single attack they threw at the monster, regardless of size and scale, was simply Absorbed, as if the goal was to feed it rather than kill it. Almost half of Toraj was obliterated before a Hero finally arrived and defeated it.::
That almost makes Clotho sound like a Demon Lord — wait, so this world really has Heroes?
::In fact, Slime Gluttonias are considered pseudo Demon Lords in this world. And yes, there are Heroes here too. In fact, I transmigrated the latest ones over not so long ago.::
“I’m sorry, wait, what?”
::The Oracle of the Holy Empire of Deramis performed a summoning ritual, so I answered. Those Heroes must have leveled up quite nicely by now, I would imagine. It was a lot of work finding youngsters with both potential and looks.::
“Did I just hear you drop a crazy spoiler on me like it was nothing? Let me guess, the Oracle performed the ritual because the Demon Lord is resurrecting or something along those lines?”
::Yes, something like that. It’s completely unrelated to you, however, so rest easy. To be honest, I’ve already had my fill of that whole experience, so I’d prefer it if you would actively steer clear of those guys.::
“If you say so...”
There really isn’t much that I can do about that except take a wait-and-see approach anyway. And right now, Clotho’s more important. We definitely need to have a celebration when we get back tonight!