Early this morning, I was wandering through some unexplored forested areas on my mental map when I discovered what appeared to be a higher-level variant of the green slime: the “Metal Slime”. It was a metallic gray, twice the size of a green slime, and moving surprisingly fast with its wriggling tentacles. Its digestive fluids were also much stronger than those of a green slime.
What I found especially peculiar, though, was how inconsistent its attributes were. I tried using Flame magic on it, but it wasn’t very effective. However, when I used Pyrokinesis, it died quite easily. Metal slimes must specifically have a resistance to Flame magic. I picked up the gunmetal-gray core it left behind, stored it in my Item Box, and continued my search for more metal slimes.
First, I needed to investigate the characteristics of the metal slime, so over the course of an hour, I managed to hunt about twenty of them. What I discovered was that metal slimes have a high resistance to all types of magic except for the Terminus spells I can use. They seem to have a general resistance to elemental magic, neutralizing it below a certain level. Plus, in addition to the magical resistance, they also have significant physical defense. Their passive Physical Attack Mitigation meant that any direct attack below a certain level either had its damage significantly reduced or nullified entirely. With their speed, excellent digestive abilities, and unusually strong resistance to magic, they could be formidable opponents.
Strangely, the flames from Pyrokinesis and the lightning from Electromaster kill them effortlessly. Is it because these abilities aren’t technically classified as magic? I’m not sure, but I can kill metal slimes effectively either way, so it doesn’t really matter.
I took out the twenty gray cores from my Item Box and ate them all at once. Each core was about five centimeters in diameter and looked and felt like hard candy—though they were entirely tasteless.
[Ability learned: Physical Attack Resistance!]
[Ability learned: Self-Replication!]
[Ability learned: Fluid Regeneration!]
It seemed the metal slimes actually had Physical Attack Resistance, a more advanced version of Physical Attack Mitigation. No wonder they were so strong. When I learned Self-Replication, I immediately understood that slimes likely multiply by dividing once they reach a certain volume. To test this theory, I bit my finger and let my blood flow. The blood wriggled and formed a miniature red version of… me!
It was called Self-Replication, after all, so there was a certain connection between the miniature me and the original me, allowing me to share not only my thoughts but also my vision with it. When I did so and shared what I was seeing back and forth with my smaller self, I found myself in the bizarre situation where, from my perspective, I could see the smaller version of me, and from its perspective, it could see the original me.
It seems impossible to share tactile sensations, but it’s still an extremely useful ability. In fact, it looks like another overpowered one that might give me an unfair advantage. Sure, it’s not an ability that’s going to be instantly effective, but its utility will grow as I invest more time into learning about it. I can easily see how it could greatly simplify tasks like gathering intelligence or securing reinforcements. Plus, I can easily replenish any blood used to create these replicas through my Vampiric Drain ability.
After I ate the metal slimes, I continued my hunt with a light heart, preying on creatures like golden spiders, demonic spiders, and triple-horned horses.