I didn't get much sleep that night.
Not because I was in a new world under an unfamiliar sky.
But because my Leaf Sproutling kept snoring. Loudly.
"Kuuu… kuuu… kuuu…"
I poked its cheek. It flailed its tiny arms before settling back into its snore cycle, leaf sprout flopping with each exhale.
"…Bro, how do you even have lungs?"
Morning came, and the guild was already bustling when I arrived.
Adventurers in leather and iron clanked around, checking quests and bragging about goblin kills and wolf packs. My tiny companion sat on my shoulder, eyes sparkling, leaf sprout wagging excitedly whenever it saw food.
"Morning, Summoner," the receptionist smirked when she saw me. "Here to turn in another slime quest?"
I sighed. "Look, I'm new, not useless."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," she said, flipping through paperwork.
I'd been roasted on day one and day two. Consistency.
Today's plan was simple:
✅ Farm more slimes until the Sproutling hit the F-rank cap.
✅ Farm more mana so I could prepare for a higher-tier summon.
Because that hidden mechanic—10% of defeated enemy's stats for the summon, up to their rank cap—was gold.
The Slimes only had around 10 total stats split in Speed and a bit of Attack, so each gave 1 stat to the Sproutling.
And the F-rank stat cap was 40.
That meant I needed to kill roughly 40–45 slimes to max it out before evolving to an E-rank summon.
The fields outside town had become my grinding zone.
I'd set up a tiny "base camp," which was just a flat rock to sit on and a water flask the guild gave me after I nearly fainted yesterday.
"Alright, buddy," I said, standing up. "Ready for another round?"
The Sproutling clenched its stubby fists and nodded.
[Summon Active: Leaf Sproutling]
Current Stats:
HP: 20/20
MP: 5/5
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Vitality: 8
Magic: 7
Intelligence: 5
(Cap: 40 Total)
"Let's get you maxed out."
And so began The Slime Massacre of Day Two.
The slimes bounced, squeaked, and splatted while the Sproutling unleashed tiny anime "hiyaaa!" slaps with increasing speed and force.
Sometimes it punched a slime so hard it exploded into sparkly shards, and it would look back at me with a thumbs up and a smug grin.
At one point, a slime managed to bounce on top of the Sproutling, flattening it like a pancake.
It struggled, limbs flailing, before rolling out from under the slime and slapping it in the butt, popping it into dust.
It turned to me, face dead serious, covered in slime goo.
"…Don't look at me like that," I muttered.
It wiped its face and flipped me off with its tiny leaf.
By noon, it was dodging slime lunges like a pro, counter-slapping them mid-air.
[Leaf Sproutling gains +1 Agility]
[Leaf Sproutling gains +1 Strength]
The system kept pinging stat increases like mobile gacha pull notifications, and I was loving it.
At around slime #38, a bigger slime appeared—twice the size, a pale blue glow around it.
[Blue Slime – Rank E]
HP: 40
"E-rank…!"
The Sproutling looked back at me, determination burning in its eyes.
"Let's get it!"
The Blue Slime lunged, faster than normal slimes, but the Sproutling rolled to the side, slapped it, dodged, slapped again.
Splurt!
The slime countered, knocking the Sproutling back. It staggered, but then, something clicked in its movements.
It ducked under the slime's next bounce and punched it upward, leaf sprout flaring, before landing a final slap that exploded the Blue Slime into shards.
[Blue Slime defeated. +1 EXP]
[Leaf Sproutling gains 10% of foe's stats]
The Sproutling stood there, panting, before throwing both arms in the air.
"Yaaaa!"
[Leaf Sproutling: Stat Cap Reached (40/40)]
I fist-pumped the air.
"Yes! We did it!"
Back at the guild, I submitted another slime quest while the Sproutling slept in my hood, exhausted from its training arc.
The receptionist raised an eyebrow as I walked up.
"Back already?"
"Quest complete," I said, dropping the slime shards on the counter.
She picked up one, turning it in her fingers. "You really are serious about this."
"What, you thought I'd quit?"
"I thought you'd cry after your first injury," she deadpanned.
Fair. I would've, if the Sproutling wasn't a literal MVP.
While counting my copper coins, I checked my system panel:
[Mana: 65/65] (+15 mana from slime grind)
The more mana I had, the higher-tier summons I could attempt. The E-rank summon would require 60 mana, but it was worth it.
Because the cap for E-rank summons was 50, allowing me to build up even stronger summons for higher-level hunts.
That night, I found a quiet spot under the stars outside town. The Sproutling sat beside me, clutching a berry I bought from a stall, nibbling happily.
"Tomorrow," I said, "we're going to try summoning an E-rank."
The Sproutling froze, berry halfway to its mouth.
"Don't worry," I chuckled, patting its head. "You're not getting replaced. We're a team."
It relaxed, going back to munching the berry with tiny squeaks of joy.
I lay back, looking at the constellations I didn't recognize.
No cheat skills. No destiny.
Just a hidden mechanic, a small summon, and a plan.
Tomorrow, the real grind begins.
Morning came with the Sproutling slapping my cheek to wake me up.
"Hey, hey—stop—! Bro, chill!"
It jumped down, pulling at my sleeve, eyes shining with excitement.
Today was the day.
Today, we were going to try an E-rank summon.
After a quick breakfast of questionable bread and a single boiled egg (my entire budget), I checked my mana:
[Mana: 67/67]
Barely enough. An E-rank summon required 60 mana, which was most of my reserve, but I had to take the risk.
I found a quiet patch of grass near the town walls, where the morning breeze was crisp and birds chirped in the trees.
"Alright, buddy," I said, "moment of truth."
The Sproutling bounced on its toes, clutching its tiny fists, and gave me a determined nod.
[Summon Initiation: E-Rank]
Mana Required: 60
Proceed? Y/N
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and pressed "Y."
The ground in front of me lit up with a large green-blue summoning circle, the air shimmering as if heat waves were rising.
The mana drained out of me so fast I nearly collapsed.
"Gah—!"
The Sproutling caught me by the sleeve, holding me steady as the summoning circle roared with energy, wind swirling around us.
"Please… let it not be something smelly…"
POOF!
The light cleared, and—
"…Huh?"
Standing in front of me were three small blue slimes. They wobbled, looked at me, then at each other, and then at the Sproutling, who was blinking in confusion.
[Summon Successful: Slime Horde]
Rank: E
Current Units: 3
Combined Potential: King Slime
My jaw dropped.
"A slime horde…?"
The Sproutling poked one of the slimes, which jiggled happily and squeaked.
I opened the system window:
[Slime Horde: E-Rank Summon]
Unit: 3 Slimes
Each gains 10% of defeated foes' stats individually, up to 50 stat cap
Can combine into "King Slime" temporarily once all units reach max capacity.
I fell to my knees.
"This is… actually good."
The Sproutling tilted its head, then threw its arms up in celebration. The three slimes bounced in sync, letting out a collective "pyo!" like an idol group.
Just then, a shadow fell over me.
"Oi, newbie."
I turned to see a burly man in leather armor, greatsword strapped to his back, and a smirk that screamed "NPC quest giver or guild senior here to roast you."
"Yeah?"
He looked at the Sproutling, then at the three slimes.
"You a clown or something? Summoning slimes?"
Bro, I get roasted in every timeline.
"These are E-rank summons," I retorted, puffing my chest.
"Oh, E-rank slimes. So they die slightly slower." He laughed.
The Sproutling crossed its arms, leaf twitching in irritation, while the slimes tried to mimic it but ended up squishing themselves.
He finally sighed. "Look, kid. Slimes are trash mobs, but if you can actually train them, you might survive goblin hunts. Just don't get cocky."
He walked off, leaving me standing there with my party of blue blobs.
I looked down at the slimes, who jiggled back at me.
"Don't listen to him," I said. "We're going to prove them wrong."
The Sproutling nodded, jumping onto my shoulder like a proud general.
The First Hunt with the Horde
The mission today was simple:
✅ Hunt low-level forest wolves.
The guild quest rewarded 6 copper for three wolf pelts, and wolves were stronger than slimes, meaning better stat gains for the Horde.
We found the wolves near the edge of the forest, one of them sniffing around while two others lazed in the shade.
I looked at the Slime Horde and the Sproutling.
"Team, operation starts now."
The slimes wobbled forward like soldiers, surrounding one wolf and poking it.
The wolf stared at them, confused.
Then it lunged.
The slimes split apart, bouncing in different directions as the wolf snapped its jaws, but one slime smacked the wolf's nose with a surprisingly loud thwack!
The wolf howled, staggering, while the Sproutling dashed in, landing a quick punch to the wolf's side.
The wolf lunged again, managing to bite down on one slime, but the slime wobbled and jiggled out of its mouth, unharmed.
The slimes began to glow faintly as they fought, bouncing around the wolf, slapping it from different angles, while the Sproutling kept it distracted.
Finally, one of the slimes jumped high, came down like a water balloon, and smacked the wolf's head.
The wolf whimpered before collapsing into sparkly dust, leaving behind a pelt.
[Forest Wolf defeated. +0.5 EXP]
[Slime Horde gains 10% of foe's stats]
The slimes bounced in a circle, chanting "pyo! pyo! pyo!" like they'd just cleared a raid boss.
The Sproutling gave them a thumbs up, though it still looked slightly annoyed at being upstaged.
We repeated the process, defeating two more wolves. The slimes grew faster, their bounce attacks becoming sharper, and the Sproutling worked with them, acting like a field commander, signaling with gestures before they attacked.
[Slime Horde Units: +3 STR, +2 AGI, +2 VIT]
[Sproutling: +0.5 EXP]
After completing the quest, I returned to the guild.
The receptionist looked up as I placed the pelts on the counter.
"You're back. And you're not dead. Impressive."
"See? Slimes aren't useless."
She raised an eyebrow as the slimes bounced onto the counter, waving at her.
She cracked a small smile.
"...They're cute, I'll give you that."
Back Outside
At sunset, I checked the system panel.
[Mana: 14/67] (Low, but worth it)
[Slime Horde Stats: Growing steadily]
I lay on the grass, the Sproutling napping beside me while the slimes bounced around, practicing synchronized jumps.
The system notified me:
[Once all units reach 50 stats, combination into "King Slime" will be unlocked.]
My heart raced with excitement.
A King Slime.
Not overpowered. But enough to take on bigger hunts, earn more money, and continue growing stronger in this world.
No cheat codes. No easy way out.
Just me, a Sproutling, and a slime horde that would one day form a King Slime.
And that was enough.
Because this was our isekai, and we were going to grind our way to the top—one bounce at a time.