It was the first time I recognized it. This had to be the so-called World Language. There was no mistaking it, since the Sage spoke only when spoken to, but the two voices did sound exactly the same.
But I didn't have a moment to ponder over this. The more pressure I applied on the water, the more pressure I felt on myself, and I was rocketing forward at astonishing speed, as if I was about to launch myself into the sky. The acceleration was intense. Honestly, maybe it was a good thing I couldn't see. Instead, I just basked in the sensation of my body zipping along through the darkness.
Well, let me clarify. If I could've seen my surroundings, I'm sure the fear would've been intense…but not being able to see was just as terrifying.
If you've ever been on a roller coaster in an amusement park in total darkness, perhaps you'd understand the feeling. My mind flashed back to my previous life and the single day I spent visiting a certain paradise under the rule of a certain rodent. At least his magical dreamland offered safety harnesses.
By this point, I wanted to punch myself for coming up with the idea. And trying it out right after thinking it up? Come on, man! What happened to some kind of, you know, preliminary safety check?
The terror was starting to affect my train of thought. How long would I keep accelerating? How much water did I spit out, anyway?
As that thought occurred to me, I felt my body crash headlong into something and bounce off it. I braced myself for a wave of paralyzing pain.
Which never came.
Huh? Shouldn't that have, like, damaged me? Or did it damage me, and I just didn't feel it or whatever?
Received. You have acquired Cancel Pain, which interrupts the creation of pain. Your Resist Melee Attack has reduced the amount of damage taken. The amount of damage your body has incurred is ten percent. The intrinsic slime skill Self-Regeneration has taken effect. Would you like to support it with your Predator unique skill?
Yes
No
Oh, so I was hurt a little, then? Made sense. I wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad thing, but as long as I knew something was up, then maybe I didn't need to feel pain after all. It'd make certain things easier.
Predator support, though, huh? I don't really get it, but sure. "Yes."
At that moment, I was greeted with the feeling that I had suddenly lost some of my body mass. After a while, I felt it return. My damaged parts had been Predated, analyzed, and repaired. Talk about a useful body to have. I should try testing later to see how much of it I can afford to lose before I'm KO'd. It was way too dangerous to mess with in detail, but I guess I could afford to go without at least a bit of it at a time, so…
Something told me I was getting a little too careful, anyway. I had a stockpile of recovery potions, which I didn't even have to use. And I would've figured losing a tenth of my body would be a pretty serious issue, but now I knew I could just regenerate it in the space of ten seconds. Next time I was damaged, I'd try using those potions.
So where am I, I wonder? Making sure my body was back to normal, I checked out my surroundings. No telling what kind of dangerous monsters might be nearby. I was out of the water, but maybe there were scary, scaly things waiting for me on the other side.
Slowly, carefully, I started taking action.
It kind of seemed as if whenever I did something "carefully," it meant I was about to be exposed to a heap of danger. I was sure it was just my mind playing tricks on me, though.
And that thought probably did me no favors, because…
Can you hear me, little one?
I heard something.
Little one? It's probably not anyone besides me, is it?
It wasn't a voice, exactly, but something I could recognize more directly and instinctually in my mind. I didn't have any ears to listen with anyway.
Hello! You can hear me, can you not? Respond to me!
Well, no shit! But how was I supposed to reply without any mouth? As an experiment, I tried thinking Shut up, baldy! in my mind—not like this guy could hear it or anything. But how was I gonna get anywhere here if I couldn't even give a—
…Oh-ho! You dare to call me bald, do you…? Rather a lot of nerve packed into such a little body, no? I had hoped to give my first guest in quite a while a little kindness, but it would seem you are in rather a hurry to die!
Uh-oh. Geez, could've warned me that would work first. And I had no idea who I was dealing with, either. Well, that was it. My loss. Time for an apology.
I'm sorry! I didn't know how to reply to you, so I just tried saying the first thing that came to mind! I'm really sorry about that! I can't see anything right now, so I have no idea what you even look like!
Did that come across? Kind of rude to call this guy bald when I couldn't even see him, I supposed. If he was, I'd probably just pushed some very delicate buttons.
Heh-heh-heh… Eh-ha-ha. Ahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
The resulting laugh came in three distinct levels. A masterpiece. So were we cool now, or—?
How fascinating. I had assumed you reacted as such upon seeing me, but you cannot, eh? Most slimes are low-level monsters, incapable of conscious thought as they run through the cycle of absorption, division, and regeneration. It is the rare one, indeed, that ever leaves its habitat.
Now what was he talking about? Was he more curious than angry, then, or…? Either way, this was my first contact with another intelligent being. The first conversation in my new, oozy life. I wanted to keep it a friendly one.
You had aroused my curiosity, slime, by the way you so eagerly slammed into my body. The regenerative powers you just showed astonish me. Are you a named monster, perhaps, or a unique?
A what? And a what? Say again? I'm sorry, I don't get what you mean. I've only been alive here for ninety days…
Hmm. I suppose, with your sentience, you were never destined to be merely a slime. Named monsters are those who have been assigned an exclusive name. But only ninety days? Ridiculous. Are you a unique, then?
"Unique" meaning…?
A unique monster is an individual who has suddenly attained unusual abilities, akin to mutation. They are occasionally born in areas with high magical concentrations… Perhaps you were born from the mass of magicules that leaked out from me, then?
Muh? What the heck?
Let's try using my previous-world knowledge to suss this out. This guy (I'll call him a guy for convenience's sake) had been leaking magic all over the local area. It was so thick, in fact, that it gave birth to a monster. A slime. Me. Was that it?
Hmm. No monster has ever come close to approaching my domain in the past three hundred years. If you were born from my magical force, then perhaps, indeed, that gave you the power to touch me and live to tell the tale!
Oh… So you're kind of, like, my dad, then?
No, not your parent by blood. I have no reproductive ability to speak of. Some monsters do, and some do not, you see.
Really? 'Cause I thought that kind of came with the package by default. But if I just spontaneously burst out from magic or whatever, maybe you don't need it, huh?
…Your intellectual abilities surprise me. Very few, indeed, are the monsters that possess anything of the sort. Among all the monsters, only magic-born have sentience in the way you or I would understand it.
The commentary went on for a while. But the most important thing to learn from it was that apparently humans existed in this world, too.
Then there were nonhumans, species very close to mankind in nature and similarly gifted with reproductive abilities. These included races like elves, hobbits, dwarves, and other fairy types, and generally they were allied with the humans.
Alongside that, you had races like goblins, orcs, lizardmen, and so on, which were hostile toward mankind and treated like monsters as a result. This animosity wasn't inherent to their biology, however, so crossbreeding was entirely possible.
Next were the "magic-born people"—the catchall term for those who came into being from magic itself, monsters who experienced sudden mutation, and sentient beings evolved from animals or magical beasts. They had both intelligence and reproductive ability, but only within their own subspecies. In their upper social castes existed titans, vampires, devils, and other longer-lived species—all equally capable of having offspring, although they rarely did so, since their overwhelming magic force caused them to be nigh immortal, obviating the need to leave descendants.
These diverse intelligent, reproducing species were hostile to mankind and collectively referred to as the "magic-born race." And reading between the lines, the impression I got was that the magic-born weren't so much overtly hostile toward humans as the humans feared and coveted their powers. It remained true, though, that both sides were fighting for their own living spaces.
These sundry monsters had been classified by levels of danger. The upper ranks of the magic-born were packed with some pretty powerful buggers—all capable of leveling a human town solo if they felt like it. Not the kinds of guys you'd want to hang around.
So my new companion kept going for a while—about how he'd fought against the upper-level magic-born in the past and so on. Finally, the subject turned back to me.
As I told you, then, I lack the ability to produce offspring. The reason is simple… Because I do not need to. I am of the dragon race—one of only four in the world, both unique and the most perfect of my kind. You will hereby know me as Veldora, the Storm Dragon! My life span is infinite, my flesh unfathomable! As long as my will remains intact, I shall be ever alive! Ahhhhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
He could've skipped the laughter. I got it. So he didn't need to have kids, because he was gonna live forever, right?
And while this guy took a while to get to the point, he did mention something I didn't want to overlook.
Veldora was the Storm…Dragon?
Plus, if he liked taking a good-natured swipe at upper-level magic-born now and then, he was…like, pretty tough, wasn't he?
Using my knowledge of Earth stuff, I tried to picture Veldora the Storm Dragon, no doubt seated in front of me right now. I didn't like what my mind came up with. He seemed to be acting polite with me, and that made it all the creepier.
So what now…?
W-wow, really? Well, thanks for all that handy guidance, sir! Guess I better be on my way, then!
I tried my best to flee.
Halt. I have told you all about myself. It is your turn now, would you not agree?
I probably shouldn't have expected any other treatment. Hmmmm. He wanted to know about me? If I told him about my miraculous journey from an alien planet, would he believe me? He seemed to marvel at how smart I was for a slime—if I tried to make something up, I doubted he'd fall for it. Such an attempt seemed like a good way to dig my own grave.
Well, whatever. If he didn't believe me, I'd deal with it then. Summoning my resolve, I told Veldora everything that had happened to me so far.
...
...
…
So… Yeah. Here I am, I guess! It's been super rough, y'know?
While prudently keeping the topic of my skills unexplored, I regaled the dragon with my tale of being stabbed, waking up as a slime, and everything else that happened on the way to his domain.
It was a bit weird how…well, non-rough it all sounded when I put it into words. But it was rough for me all the same. And the worst part was how I was literally operating blind the entire way. If some cute lady passed me on the road later on, would I ever get to see her? The thought saddened me a little.
Hmm. So a transmigrant, then? Your origins are quite rare, indeed.
Huh? Are they? And you… "Transmigrant"? This isn't any big surprise to you?
What's with that reaction? So these "transmigrants" were common enough that he had a name for them? What was so rare about it, then?
Hmph. You do see transmigrants, on occasion. Their memories from the past are burned into their souls, due to a powerful will. There are some, indeed, who retain every memory of their past lives. But a transmigrant from another world… That is quite uncommon. A regular soul, by itself, would have no hope of surviving a journey across realms. It would dissolve midway, taking its memories with it. Someone retaining their full mind and becoming reborn as a monster out of pure magic… I cannot recall any past example of that. Quite…peculiar, indeed.
Transmigrants from other worlds, it seemed, kept only part of their memories at best. Someone like me, who still had them all, was pretty well unheard of—not that I cared too much.
He had just told me something I couldn't afford to ignore. A soul, "by itself"…? So you could travel to this world without getting reincarnated or anything?
Huh. Am I that unusual? 'Cause it sure doesn't feel that way… Are there people, then, who come here from other worlds without being trans-whatevered?
There are. None have succeeded in traveling to another world from here, but there are more than a few that have completed their travels here from elsewhere. They are known as "visitors," or "otherworlders," and they bear knowledge of things that do not exist in this world. They acquire, as I hear it, some manner of special power when they make the journey here. Beyond that, there are records of transmigrants, who—as I said—bear knowledge of other worlds. Not all of them choose to openly identify themselves as such, though, I imagine.
Interesting. I didn't know whether they came from the same planet I did, but it might be good to chat with them a bit. There might even be some from Japan, for all I knew. It was probably best for my sanity to have a goal while I was here, besides.
I see, I see! In that case, I think I'll try and track down some of these "otherworlders," as you called them. Maybe I'll find someone from my own land!
Well, one moment. You said you cannot see, yes?
Oh, uh, yeah. And? It was a pain in the ass, yes, but as long as I took my time and kept from getting myself killed, I was sure I'd run into some fellow visitors. Probably.
Let me help you see, then.
Um, what? Damn. This guy… I mean, Veldora the Storm Dragon… He was acting way too nice to me, wasn't he? Could I really trust him?
Uh, really?
Indeed. On one condition, however. What do you say?
I didn't like the sound of that, but…ah, what the hell.
What kind of condition?
A simple one. When I grant you the ability of sight, I beg of you not to fear me. That, and I bid you come visit and speak to me again. That is all. I trust my terms are agreeable to you?
That's all? Was he sure? What a lonely dragon. Guess there was no one else around at the top. No wonder he couldn't stop talking to me—I must've been his first conversational partner in ages.
If I'd had my druthers, I would have said this dragon was a total pushover. He might've been feeding me a line this whole time, even, saying he was a dragon. Maybe the dragons in this world weren't even all that powerful in the first place.
Heh. This was a pretty good deal.
Is that really all you need?
Yes. To be honest with you, I was sealed away in here three hundred years ago. Ever since then, I have had so much free time on my hands, I was practically out of my mind with boredom. What do you think?
Well, if that's all you need, you got yourself a deal!
Good. It is a promise, then…and I trust you will hold up your end of the bargain.
Of course! Maybe I don't look it, but you can count on me, man! Just ask anybody on Earth! They'll vouch for me!
Hopefully he wouldn't try to. That would be bad.
Very well. There is a skill known as Magic Sense. Can you use it?
Oh, here we go again. More walls for me to deal with. So unfair.
No, I can't. What kind of skill is that?
It allows you to perceive the particles of magic floating around you. It is not a very powerful skill, and all it offers is a visual reference, so it is not difficult to acquire.
Oh… Sounds easy enough.
Indeed. I can wield it as easily as I can breathe. I hardly even bother to think about it.
Really? So once I learn that, I'll be able to see again?
Precisely. This world is covered in sheer magic, although it is not spread evenly across its entire surface. Did you know, also, that light and sound both have the properties of a wave?
Yeah, I've heard about that. Light waves and sound waves.
Ah. How intelligent of you. Did you learn of that in your past world? You must have, I wager. But, indeed, you will be able to observe how these waves disturb the nearby particles of magic, then use that information to calculate how the area around you looks and sounds. Simple, yes?
Um? Not really? What kind of BS was that? I, um, I'm not really sure whether that sounds simple or not, actually…
No? But that is what allows one to continue fighting even after losing both their sight and hearing! It protects you from surprise attacks, and that is all but a requirement for survival here, is it not?
Y-yeah, but…can we skip all that fighting talk and just get me seeing again, maybe?
Mmm… Very well. Allow me to help you acquire this skill, then. This is the only method I am aware of.
W-wait, can you do that? I'm kind of a newborn here…
Worry not. You do have your memories from your past life, yes? And there, you gained knowledge about the nature of light and sound. Without that, not even I could help you, I wager. Luck is on your side, truly.
True. I supposed it would be hard to explain sight to someone who can't see at all. I certainly couldn't manage it. I read somewhere that Helen Keller learned how to speak only by following cues she learned before going deaf at age two. Maybe I could use my knowledge of Earth to harness this "Magic Sense" thing to figure out what the world around me was like…
Worth a shot, I guessed. This blindness was getting to be a massive pain. Plus, I had the Sage on my side. It could work this out.
I'm ready to learn, sir!
Now, now, no need for such ardor. It is quite simple. First, try moving the magic around you with the force in your body.
I had an inkling of what he meant. It was the skill I'd probably adapted to blow myself out of the water a moment ago.
Like this?
I tensed up, trying to imagine the strength circulating through my body. I could feel something moving within—the magicules my companion was talking about. I hadn't been conscious of it in the water, but it looked as though I could adjust the force by how much I tensed up. Before, I hadn't been controlling the water so much as I was controlling the magic dancing around in it. I was exercising my magical muscles, and the particles around me were reacting. It came to me surprisingly quickly.
Mmm. You are more gifted in this than I thought. Now, do you see the difference between the magic moving within you and that outside of your body?
Whoa. Maybe this actually was easy. Maybe I was more sensitive to the magic I absorbed now that I was conscious of the way I lived off it.
Well, sure! Like, that's the stuff I've been eating all along, right?
Heh-heh-heh! If you understand that much, the rest is child's play. All it takes is feeling the movements of the particles outside of you.
Yeah, that I didn't get. But I gave it a shot, doing as I was told and feeling out the particles surrounding me. And I found I could.
I could sense them hanging in the air, riding air currents, moving around—all sorts of sensations.
Let's ask the Sage about this.
Confirmed. Extra skill "Magic Sense"…successfully acquired.
Use the extra skill Magic Sense?
Yes
No
Huh? It was that easy?
Well, sure—yes, then… Man, talk about a rock I can rely on!
The moment I invoked Magic Sense, my brain was filled with new information. A massive amount, something my human brain never could've processed—the waves of light and sound pushing every single tiny particle around—and I processed it all, converting it into perceptible data.
The thing about human eyesight is that it doesn't give you even a 180-degree view of what's in front of you. Now, all of a sudden, I could "see" a full 360 degrees around myself. The shadows of the rocks around me, the views hundreds of meters away—the moment I turned my attention to it, I could figure out what it was. If I were still human, all this perception data probably would've fried my brain circuits. But now I was a slime. My cells could provide muscle just as easily as brain power.
So somehow or other, I withstood the torrent of information. Then—
Synchronizing extra skill Magic Sense with unique skill Great Sage… Successful. All information will now be managed by Great Sage.
Suddenly, my vision opened up. The brain-searing sensation from before was gone, and then I could see—so clearly that it was a wonder I wasn't able to do it before. Something told me that having the Sage at my side was almost cheating. It wouldn't be going too far to put it that way. If someone else had it, I'd probably bitch that it was against the rules. Since I had it, though… No problem.
Oh, I think I've got it. Thank you very much! I said, turning my attention to the creature in front of me.
Holy crap. He really was a dragon. He was covered in scales that shone a dark shade of black, tougher looking than steel itself but supple and flexible. A big, evil-looking…
Gahh! You're a dragon!!
He looked positively demonic, towering far higher than I anticipated. My internal scream welled up, pouring out of me, and I don't think I could really be blamed for it.
What a surprise. I feel bad for ever thinking this guy was pet sized. This was…for real. Absolutely no doubt.
The body, startlingly similar to a Western-style dragon's, shone like obsidian. There were six fingers on each "hand," equipped with claws that looked ready to tear through whatever they found. The two pairs of wings on his back—one larger than the other—came to a point at their respective ends, like swords honed to perfection and ready to dice.