Hell of a lot more efficient than some stupid magic spell. I think I'll be
relying on this against monsters for a while to come.
So about this snake. Would it have any abilities I could steal by absorbing
and analyzing it? No time to waste. Let's give it a shot.
The results were…not bad. In addition to the ability to disguise myself as
a black snake, I gained the following two skills:
Sense Heat Source: Intrinsic skill. Identifies any heat reactions in the
local area. Not affected by any concealing effects.
Poisonous Breath: Intrinsic skill. A powerful breath-type poison
(corrosion) attack. Affects an area seven meters in
front of the user in a 120-degree radius.
It looked as if this poison had a corrosive effect on its target, damaging
whatever equipment or flesh it touched. A normal adventurer would probably
have a lot of trouble against this guy, wouldn't they? Though who could say,
really, given the kind of magic available in this world.
I spent a little while analyzing the skills of this snake I'd just vanquished.
The more cards in my hand, the better, I figured.
The results:
1. Mimicking the black snake increased my bodily volume.
2. The skills I'd just earned could be invoked without having to
mimic the snake's form, although their performance could suffer
as a result.
To go into further detail:
1. I could break down and store the monsters I consumed with
Predator in my stomach. I'd used Predator on my own body in
order to repair damage, and this provided some spare cells to
help with that, in other words.
2. "Intrinsic skills" appeared to be skills that were exclusive to a
certain type of monster. My Absorb, Self-Regeneration, and
Dissolve skills were intrinsic to me as a slime. However, to use
intrinsics, I needed to take the form of the monster in question, or
else I couldn't bust them out all the way. I could still use them in
part, though, and some skills—like Sense Heat Source—seemed
to work just fine either way.
Putting it all together: Predator freakin' rocked. I couldn't wait to track
down some other useful skills with this thing.
Three days had passed after my snake battle. I was still in the cave. I
couldn't feel heat or cold or anything, but for all I knew, it was pretty chilly
in here.
I had yet to see a single ray of sunshine, but my vision still worked just
fine in the dark. However, a certain anxiety was starting to work its way into
my head… I mean, I technically knew it wasn't possible, but I couldn't help
but consider it.
"…I'm not lost, am I?"
No. I couldn't be. What kind of idiot gets himself lost in the very first
cave? That first easy-peasy cave's supposed to be a springboard that helps
you dive into the experience, isn't it? It looked as if that adventuring trio
knew where the hell they were going, didn't it?
I'd be fine. It was probably just a really long path. Not knowing the exact
way did make me a little nervous, though. Was there any way to get some
help with that?
Received. Display the paths you've currently taken in your brain?
Yes
No
Pfft. I laughed at myself. Are you kidding me?! I thought, unable to resist
a little whining. If I had something like that, why didn't you tell me
sooner?!
Of course I immediately picked "Yes." I used to think automapping was
cheating once, too, but now I knew the error of my ways. With older games,
you were expected to bring your own pencil and graph paper, filling in the
squares with every step you took in the dungeon. That was what made them
fun—making sure you were on the right track with every single step you took.
As time passed, though, people became more reliant on strategy guides, and
games started to be shipped with their own built-in mapping features. It
sucked all the real fun out of the genre, you could say—but once you got used
to the convenience, there was no turning back.
What I'm trying to say is…you know, if you've got such a powerful
feature at your fingertips, you might as well use it, right? Besides, this wasn't
a game. It was real life.
I scoped out the map that flashed into my mind.
Am I reading this right? It looks like I've been circling through the
same area over and over again…
...
...
…
Following the map in my brain, I delved into a branch of the cave I'd
never bothered trying before. There, I was greeted by a sight that had wholly
eluded me for the past three days.
Heh-heh-heh. Guess I'm lost after all. Flustering me like this… This
must be one hell of a cave. I gotta hand it to the thing.
(And my lack of direction was not the issue, all right?!)
I must have been getting close to the entrance—to the great outdoors.
Moss and weeds were starting to appear on the walls and ground. And I
didn't know where the sun was, but the light, dim as it was, was starting to
make its way inside. Which meant it was daytime.
Along the way, I had a few more monster encounters. To be exact:
A centipede monster ("evil centipede," rank B-plus)
A big spider ("black spider," rank B)
A vampire bat ("giant bat," rank C-plus)
A big shelled lizard ("armorsaurus," rank B-minus)
No more of those black snakes, though. Maybe that was the only one.
They were all pretty strong. Not that I'm one to talk, given that Water
Blade was still enough to end a battle all by itself. But the bat guy did dodge
my blades long enough to get a few bites in, and my attacks just bounced off
the lizard guy's body if I didn't hit it at the right angle.
They wouldn't all go down easy. The centipede concealed itself long
enough to attack me from behind, but between Magic Sense and Sense Heat
Source, I had enough of a bead on my surroundings that I was fully prepared.
One Water Blade tossed behind me was all it took to end that encounter.
The spider, on the other hand. Oof.
I always had a hang-up when it came to bugs in the first place. It was as if
I was physically repulsed by them. Just one look was enough for me, thanks.
Transforming into a slime must've powered up my mental fortitude as well,
though—enough that I fought that guy without running away screaming.
Sorry, dude, you're getting full blast! Five Water Blades at once, thrust
deep into its thorax. I didn't want it in my sight for another moment.
Not that it stopped me from consuming it afterward, though, nor any of the
other guys. Survival of the fittest and all. The spider and centipede gave me a
little pause, yes, but I soldiered on.
If any cockroach monsters showed up, though, I was definitely making a
sprint for it. It wasn't a matter of winning or losing. Just because I could
didn't mean I always should.
Between this and that, I managed to absorb quite a few monsters in this
cave. Let's go over the skills I acquired.
Black snake: Poisonous Breath, Sense Heat Source
Centipede: Paralyzing Breath
Big spider: Sticky Thread, Steel Thread
Vampire bat: Drain, Ultrasonic Wave
Shelled lizard: Body Armor
Whenever you get a new toy, you want to use it, right? Same here. So I
harnessed the Great Sage to research all the skills I picked up.
Basically, I didn't use Poisonous Breath from the snake. I actually
transformed so I could try it out against the lizard, and…like, whoa. All that
armor didn't do jack for the armorsaurus. It literally melted into a puddle of
goo before my eyes. Grossest thing I'd ever seen in my life, all those organs
and bits of flesh all over the place. I had to spray another salvo of mist to
break down the rest of the chewy bits. Last time I'd have to see that,
hopefully.
Really, this breath was almost too much of a force to be reckoned with. I
didn't want to use it much, if possible. Sense Heat Source, though, was
awesome. Pretty much every living creature emits heat. Combining this with
Magic Sense meant that I was all but impossible to ambush. There was no
telling what kind of magic or special skills I'd run into once I started dealing
with humans or intelligent high-level monsters, so I couldn't afford to let my
guard down.