With no idea of where the slime’s weak point was, there was no choice but to attack it at random. The green slime tried to slice it with a wind blade, only for the muddy slime to light up for a second before turning to sand. The blade passed right through it.
“Wh-What was that?!” Gabriel exclaimed.
The slime appeared to have changed its composition from mud to sand instantly. Even more surprisingly, half of the entire lake had also turned into sand. This slime was clearly incredibly large.
“Wibble, swallow up Fran and hide somewhere,” Gabriel ordered.
“Got it!”
Wibble took me into its body and climbed a tree so that we could watch the battle from above. The bird’s-eye view allowed us to see the giant slime’s whole form—and the fact that the lake was rippling disturbingly. What was going on? How could the slime turning into sand transform the entire lake like this?
If the slime had sand properties, then it was weak to water. Gabriel seemed to come to the same conclusion and commanded the blue slime to attack. However, the enemy slime transformed once again, this time into a fire that evaporated the water attack before it could make contact. The flames spread over the lake, their billowing movements making me anxious that the forest might catch fire.
“That slime changes its constitution based on its enemy, right?” I asked.
“Could be.”
If I were to give it a name, it’d be “transforming slime.” This was going to be problematic. It could block any kind of attack with its transformations. How was Gabriel going to fight it? I nervously watched the battle unfold.
The transforming slime turned into water to counter the fire slime, then a thundercloud to counter the water slime. For the physical slime, it turned into what seemed like mercury, slipping out of the way of the blows with ease.
“At this rate, Gabriel’s gonna lose.”
“What can he possibly do in this situation?”
Next, Gabriel cast an ice spell, summoning an enormous icicle that skewered the enemy slime. However, the slime transformed into lava, melting the icicle instantly.
“Oh no! Gabriel was proud of that spell.”
Unfortunately, the slime was even capable of defending against Gabriel’s advanced magic. He continued to try different elemental spells, but every single one was skillfully countered. With a look of resignation, he cast an earth spell.
“Oh great earth, tremble and shake! Quake!”
The ground shook, making the slime’s body wobble violently. It lit up again to transform into something that could resist earth magic—but when the tremors intensified, it was forced to first extend its tentacles outwards, grabbing onto the lake’s surroundings for stability. Right after that, it transformed into water, nullifying the attack.
This was the first time the enemy slime had become completely transparent. From atop the tree, I could see its entire body.
“Wow, that’s a big slime!”
“I can see the core!” I exclaimed.
The slime’s weak point was a rock at the bottom of the lake. It was likely stuck there. That was why the slime had clung for support when Gabriel shook the entire lake—to prevent its body and core from separating.
I quickly reported this to him. “Gabriel! The slime’s core is a rock at the bottom of the lake! It seems to be wedged into the ground!”
“I see. That would explain why it grabbed onto its surroundings when I cast an earth spell.”
“I think so too.”
Gabriel came up with a new plan on the spot. “Pull the slime out of the lake!” he ordered his slimes.
The five slimes all formed tentacles at once and grabbed the transforming slime. However, it turned into sand so that they couldn’t get a good hold on it.
“Now! Use that!”
What’s “that”?
The green slime leaped high in the air and spat something at the transforming slime—the sticky plants we’d seen at the previous lake. They spread like a net, covering the transforming slime in its entirety. Earlier, Gabriel had had the green slime eat the vegetation in an attempt to clean Shining Lake, but he hadn’t been able to clear the entire plant infestation because it had extended deep into the water. Who would have thought it would come in handy so soon?
The plants’ sticky coating adhered firmly to the sand, and the green slime instantly began hoisting up the transforming slime. With the help of Gabriel’s other slimes, the transforming slime—despite its frantic struggling—was dragged out of the lake and onto land. Freed from the slime’s influence, the lake turned back into regular water.
“Heave-ho!”
“Pull, pull!”
“Harder!”
“Grrrrr!”
“Almost there!”
The slimes combined their efforts to pull the transforming slime farther away from the lake. Meanwhile, Gabriel summoned the kaolin slime in the hopes of preventing the enemy from escaping back into its home.
“What do you need?” the kaolin slime asked.
“Please fill the lake with kaolin,” said Gabriel.
“Okaaay!”
The kaolin slime released the kaolin it had inside it into the lake, removing any possible point of entry. The transforming slime, which had been brought onto land, trembled in fear. It was still connected to its underwater core by a sort of rope, but if that were cut, the slime would die.
Gabriel approached the transforming slime and began negotiations. “You can either die here or swear loyalty to me. Which will it be?”
The transforming slime bowed in surrender. It didn’t seem like it was going to put up any more of a fight, so Gabriel cast his taming spell, which the slime accepted without resistance. There was a bright flash of light, and through the contract’s blessing, the slime was now able to speak.
“I won’t do anything bad anymore,” the transforming slime said with a whine.
“Very good.”
The contract also gave Gabriel an understanding of the transforming slime’s biology. It turned out that this slime was connected to its core inside the lake, so it was locked to this spot and couldn’t travel around with us like the others.
Gabriel ordered the kaolin slime to remove the kaolin from the lake, then said, “Fran, Wibble, it’s safe to come down now.”
“All right,” I replied. “Wibble, please do.”
“Okaaay!”
Wibble returned to the ground and let me out.
“Fran, were you injured at all?” Gabriel asked.
“No, I’m perfectly fine, thanks to Wibble and your expert instructions.”
“Thank goodness.”
“What about you, Gabriel?”
“I’m fine too.”
“And the other slimes?”
The five differently colored slimes jumped around me energetically.
“Feeling great!”
“That was nothing!”
“Totally OK!”
“As you can see...”
“...we’re fine!”
Much to my relief, it seemed that everyone had escaped the battle unscathed. The transforming slime was docile now, so Gabriel released it from the plant net. Seeing it up close, I realized it was around as large as a carriage wagon. Just standing near it was intimidating. Gabriel said that, in terms of size, it ranked in the top three slimes he’d come across.
“We managed to prevail because you realized the core was at the bottom of the lake, Fran,” he said.
“It’s your achievement, not mine. I was only able to see the core because you kept fighting without giving up.”
“You both accomplished it together!” Wibble cheered. It was right—instead of being humble with each other, we should have been congratulating ourselves.
“Still, it’s unfortunate that our last ray of hope ended up like this,” Gabriel said.
“Indeed.”
The lake was back to normal, but frankly, the water quality didn’t look very good. Plus, it was the transforming slime’s home. It wouldn’t be impossible to cultivate pearls here, but it probably wasn’t worth trying.
Gabriel told the transforming slime it could return to the lake, and it rolled in with glee, filling it in the blink of an eye. Then, it turned into mud, and the lake instantly became a swamp.
“Do you enjoy being in that form?” Gabriel asked, exasperated.
“Hmm, not especially!”
“Why do you stay like that, then?”
“So people won’t come!”
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
What a smart slime, turning the lake into a swamp not because it likes being muddy but to prevent people from approaching it.
“Should I keep it clean from now on?” the transforming slime asked.
“That would be much appreciated,” said Gabriel.
“Okay!”
As soon as it said that, it emitted a bright light, transforming from mud to clear water.
“What?!” Gabriel exclaimed upon seeing the result: a beautiful lake suitable for cultivating pearls. It was just what we were looking for.
“Gabriel, do you think...?”
“Yes!” His hands dipped into the slime immediately, and he was able to scoop it up as if it were real water.
The other slimes copied him, resulting in the transforming slime laughing, “Aha ha ha!” as if it were ticklish. It quickly grew accustomed to the sensation, though, returning to a calm expression.
With a serious look in his eyes, Gabriel asked the transforming slime, “May we use this lake?”
“Sure,” it said without hesitation.
“Fran, we may be able to cultivate pearls here.”
“What a wonderful discovery!” I exclaimed.
Joy welled up within me, and I hugged Gabriel without thinking. He caught me and returned my embrace. Wibble and the other slimes bounced in a circle around us.
“You did it!”
“Yay!”
“It’s a huge success!”
“Great work!”
“We’re feasting tonight!”
“Woooo!”
Not only did those slimes rejoice with us, the transforming slime also raised its tentacle hands in the air and said, “I hope it goes well!”
After returning home, Gabriel and I held a small celebration. The wine we were served was one out of several we were sampling for our wedding reception. Gabriel wanted only the finest choice for our guests, so we had to taste around fifty bottles before our big day. Drinking them normally would have been boring, so we’d decided to have one whenever we had something to celebrate. However, we certainly weren’t going to have fifty such things, so lately, we’d been stretching the definition with reasons like “To commemorate not being attacked by slimes!” and “To celebrate that my mother was in a good mood today!”
“It feels great to have a legitimate cause for celebration,” Gabriel said.
“It does,” I replied. “It was also fun toasting to the celebrations you tried so hard to think of, though.”
“Is that so? If we hadn’t found that lake today, I was going to say, ‘A toast to the talented and amazing Fran!’”
“I’m really glad we found it.”
“We’ll have to save that celebration for next time.”
Even if he was just praising me, I did not want that. I’ll need to make sure we accomplish something tomorrow so we can celebrate that instead, I thought, steeling my resolve.