Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: Initial Collection

: My vision was black, my hearing dulled, my scent was odorless. A complete deprivation of sensory modalities.

Nothing hurts at all, it's better to say that it's actually pretty comfortable. Not even hot or cold, but it was the silence and the darkness that gave me anxiety.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳…3 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴?

At this time, a feeling of being touched by something traveled through my body.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯, I thought as I breathed a sigh of relief.

I concentrate my entire consciousness on that sensation. Gathering it into a single spot, I could then roughly understand the area of that spot. Occasionally, I could feel a slightly prickling sensation from something that seems to be a leaf-like plant.

𝘏𝘪𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘴! 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣 𝘪𝘵?

[Activate Unique skill 『Predator』?]

(YES/NO)

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦!──𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥? 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘌𝘚!

While I was pressing my whole body onto the grass, and feeling the tactile impression of it, the part of the grass that was in contact with my body started to melt.

𝘖𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, I thought, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 『𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦』.

𝘈𝘩𝘦𝘮──𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘨𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘺.

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 90 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘴.'

──────────

28 days, I came to find the body of a slime to actually be pretty convenient, but also torturous. No sleep means more productivity, but since I have nothing I needed to do other than waiting it got boring, fast.

Given that it's only been 4 weeks,『Great Sage』hadn't awakened yet.

My sarcasm at wanting someone to talk with to awaken『Great Sage』became a genuine one as I desperately wished to leave this dark and silent body that couldn't even sleep to pass the time.

𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 [𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦] 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢 2 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴?!

«Answer──Slimes, as spiritual lifeforms, possess additional sensory modalities beyond the five physical senses that enable them to perceive spiritual matter»

To my surprise, it actually answered──! I couldn't believe it. I had thought that I'd be stuck in this void for 90 days.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥.

«Answer──Due to the presence of two souls, it allowed me to divide the integration process between [Hiroomi Kanbara] and [Satoru Mikami], resulting in a threefold reduction in the time required for integration»

Hearing that last detail made my amorphous, streamline head itch.

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴?

«Affirmative──The body of the [Nameless] slime contains two souls: [Satoru Mikami], who possesses skills, and [Hiroomi Kanbara], who serves as the primary ego»

After learning about this news, I was initially shocked. I had believed that I would completely take over Satoru's soul. However, upon reflection, I realized that if I had indeed taken over his soul entirely, then I wouldn't be able to utilize any of his Unique Skills.

𝘚𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘶?

«Answer──The ego of [Satoru Mikami] has been suppressed, and its presence within the body has been overshadowed by the primary ego»

Hearing that, I thought it was weird. Satoru's soul is supposed to be the strongest, being able to support 6 Ultimate Skills.

Then the thought that my soul could've been stronger than the protagonist's crossed my mind, to which I immediately convinced myself that it was impossible.

And fearing that Satoru would one day wake up and take over my body. I remembered a limerick I made about split personality in the past.

"There was a lad who thought he was fine.

But a split personality did combine.

One side was quite meek,

The other one was a freak.

His psyche, now split, was a constant line."

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, I reassured myself, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 [𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦]?

«Answer──At the moment, I lack sufficient knowledge about magicule perception to provide you with any guidance or direction»

I was shocked, disappointed even. The 『Great Sage』admits that it can't answer my question. I wondered if it's because I'm not it's true master that it's acting this way.

Ouch─!

Was that pain? Don't I have Pain Nullification? More importantly than that, what did I just bump into?

『𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦』can I use『Predator』on this thing?'

«Answer──Unique Skill『Predator』is applicable»

𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦! 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳!

As my body expands and envelops the object, this slime-like form begins to wrap around it like a cocoon, encasing it within a blue-hued membrane.

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴──𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 『𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳』, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘐?

«Answer──『Predator』Subskill: Analysis can be chained together with 『Great Sage』Subskill: Parallel Processing. Need to enable it?»

(YES/NO)

𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘵?

«Analysis Complete ──

Magic Ore: Raw materials of a durable alloy. Only proliferates in high magic essence density regions. That is because when over a certain period of time regular mineral ores are exposed to dense concentrations of magicules, the ores will slowly absorb them and eventually turn into Magic Ore»

Oh it's just Magic Ores──wait! You said this thing absorbed magicules? Shouldn't that be enough for an analysis on magicules and help me sense it?

«Answer──While there were only trace amounts. With the amount I was able to pick up, it's enough to perform an analysis to pair with your spiritual detection»

𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘩──! I was a slime with no sight or sound, but soon my world will turn around! With eyes and ears soon to be found, I'll see and hear with joy unbound!

In my head I cheered that I wouldn't live in darkness anymore. To finally be able to see again was a real joy to me.

𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 [𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦], 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘥𝘰─?

Suddenly, a chaotic array of multicolored orbs materialized around me. Through them, I could discern the expanse of the Hipokute Herb field, the walls of the Sealed Cave, and the very lake where Rimuru fell into

[Acquired Extra Skill [Magic Sense]]

...

I just stood there, with my new senses opened. I couldn't believe how fast it went by. Before I could even do anything, I had already acquired the Skill.

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 『𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦』, I awed at what a Unique Skill could do.

𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘮 2 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦.

With that I ran around the cave, swallowing up all the Hipokute Herbs and Magic Ore I could find.

𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭──𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳!

After gobbling the raw materials, I had 『Great Sage』 process them into Magisteel and Full Potions. And after 3 days of non-stop gathering, I ventured deeper into the Cave.

Meeting some familiar faces, like a gigantic black spider. The spider was massive, easily the size of a small house, and its eight legs moved with a frightening speed.

I tried to dodge its attacks, but it was impossible to avoid all of them. The spider's fangs were sharp and venomous, and I could feel my body weakening with each bite.

I launched myself at the spider, using my own body as a weapon. I slammed into its face, knocking it back and stunning it for a moment.

That was all the time I needed. I quickly wrapped my body around the spider's head, using my sticky slime to hold it in place. The spider struggled, but I held on tight, squeezing with all my might.

Finally, with a sickening crunch, the spider's head popped off. Its body twitched for a moment before going limp, and then it dissolved into a pile of dust.

With the spider defeated, I used Unique Skill 『Predator』 to absorb its body. Stretching my slime body to cover the entire corpus, and swallowing it whole.

[Acquired Common Skill [Sticky Thread]]

[Acquired Common Skill [Steel Thread]]

After the Black Spider was the Tempest Serpent, a large black snake with a head reminiscent of a dragon's.

Using [Sticky Thread] I managed to stick the back end of its body to the middle end when it folded. And used [Steel Thread] to tie it together to stop it from moving.

After it was immobile, I could easily dissolve its head in the same way I killed the Black Spider. It becomes easier to analyze with『Predator』if the target isn't conscious.

[Acquired Common Skill [Poisonous Breath]]

[Acquired Common Skill [Thermal Regulation]]

[Acquired Extra Skill [Sense Heat Source]]

𝘏𝘶𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸.

I was thinking I would only obtain [Poisonous Breath] and [Sense Heat Source], but [Thermal Regulation] was completely out of my expectation.

Though I could guess what the skill could do based on it's name, I decided to ask Great Sage anyway.

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 [𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯] 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭?

«Answer──Its function is to regulate body heat to maintain different levels of body temperature»

True to my guess it was exactly as I thought.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 [𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩] 𝘢𝘯𝘥 [𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦]

«Answer──While that is indeed accurate, [Thermal Regulation] is not an Intrinsic Skill, but a Common Skill of this particular Tempest Serpent»

I was a little surprised by the fact that it possessed a Skill of its own, which would suggest that this particular Tempest Serpent was stronger than some of the others.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺.

Venturing deeper into the Cave I predated the rest of the monster inhabitants.

I killed the Evil Centipede using [Poisonous Breath] from the recently predated Tempest Serpent.

[Acquired Common Skill [Paralyzing Breath]]

The Armorsaurus, as its name suggested, had very thick skin that allowed it to endure physical stress.

So I had to put it to sleep with [Paralyzing Breath] then used multiple doses of [Poisonous Breath] to corode the armor like skin enough to properly eat it.

[Acquired Common Skill [Body Armor]]

And the monster I was looking forward to the most, the Giant Bat. Rimuru used its [Ultrasonic Waves] to speak, and more significantly, its wings to fly.

Defeating this one was quite the challenge despite being of lower rank than the others. Because it could fly, it was far away from my reach, and could easily dodge or run away.

I resorted to using Mimicry, a subskill of 『Predator』, to take the form of the Black Spider for not only its greater size, but its wall crawling capabilities.

I then used [Steel Threads] to block off all exit points so it can't run away. If one of them tried to attack me I'd use [Body Armor] to defend.

I sprayed [Paralysis Breath] throughout the entire room to reduce its ability to fly. And once it's disoriented enough, I would use [Poisonous Breath] to deal the final blow.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘊-𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦!? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.

[Acquired Common Skill [Drain]]

[Acquired Common Skill [Ultrasonic Waves]]

I wasted three days hunting for these monsters, collecting Skills and materials. And during that time, I had already found the exit to this god forsaken cave.

But I needed to pick up the biggest collector's item here, the grand prize, Storm Dragon Veldora.