Chapter 2: Soul Record
The cave was silent.
There was not a single slime moving.
The distant roar was heard one last time before fading away into the forest.
It was then that the village began to stir.
One by one, the slimes bounced back to their usual shenanigans, as if nothing had happened.
Tanaka observed the others carefully.
They were scared.
He could tell just by looking at them.
Although none of them had faces, none spoke.
As soon as that roar had rung through the cave, the very air around them had changed.
Now, slowly, it was returning to normal.
The small slime next to him bounced off of his side.
Boing.
It was warm.
"Guess we’re safe," he said.
The little slime bounced twice more in a row, before settling down.
Tanaka couldn’t tell if it had understood him or not.
He looked around the cave.
It was bigger than he thought.
Natural formations of stone jutted out from the ground, sectioning the cave into multiple rooms.
Small pools of clean water sparkled at the far ends of the cave, reflecting the sunlight that poured through the gaps in the ceiling.
Moss and pale blue mushrooms grew along the walls, casting soft shadows.
Dozens...
Wait.
Hundreds.
There were hundreds of slimes living here.
Some were bigger.
Some smaller.
A few contained small lights within their gelatinous forms.
Others rolled strange berries along the ground.
No one complained.
No one said anything at all.
The entire village moved as one.
"So this is a slime home..."
His unease was quickly forgotten in favor of curiosity.
"If this really is another world..."
"...then how does it work?"
He tried to stand again.
His body bounced instead.
After several failed attempts, Tanaka finally gave up.
"Fine."
"Guess bouncing is walking now."
He shot forward with a boing, a little too eager.
He flew past several slimes before landing with a plop in a small pool.
Cold water cascaded down his body as several nearby slimes bounced away in alarm before floating back over to him.
"Sorry."
A little slime bumped against his side.
Then another.
Soon enough, the entire pool had gathered around him, bouncing away as if inviting him to join.
Tanaka laughed.
"This place is ridiculous."
After several minutes, he tested his abilities.
He stretched and compressed, rolled and jumped, flattened himself against the rock walls and bounced off of them.
All of his movements were surprisingly easy to perform, his body responding to his every command with frightening speed.
It was all very... natural.
Like this was how he was meant to be.
"What else can I do?"
He focused, searching for some kind of interface.
Some kind of menu or screen.
Nothing appeared, as he expected.
"Figures."
Games always had one.
Systems.
"If this really is another world, then maybe..."
"Status?"
"Menu?"
"System?"
Tanaka bounced in irritation.
"I knew it couldn’t be that simple."
The small slime from earlier watched him curiously before pushing itself against his side once more.
Tanaka froze.
A foreign feeling ran through his body, like recognition.
Small waves of mana passed between them, transmitting images and feelings and thoughts.
Safe
Friend
Food
Home
It was all gone in an instant, leaving Tanaka stunned.
"You can communicate?"
The little slime bounced happily next to him.
The little slime communicated with him, not with words, but with instinctual feelings and mana and everything in between.
"So that’s how you all talk," he said, fascination blooming in his chest.
It was crude, but efficient.
His gaze wandered towards the cave entrance.
Beyond the trees, the village was silent.
The forest stretched on and on, vanishing into the horizon.
The tall trees swayed gently in the mornings breeze and birds sang lazily in the distance.
It was beautiful.
And, from the ominous roar outside, dangerous.
Tanaka wanted to see it.
More than anything.
Unfortunately, he was not alone.
A group of noticeably larger slimes stood near the entrance, their bodies a more deep shade of blue than the rest.
Their cores glowed more brightly as well, pulsing with energy.
The group of slimes bounced away together, vanishing into the forest.
They said nothing as they left.
"Hunters..." Tanaka thought.
No one responded.
They probably didn’t need to.
The hunting party left to find food, and the others stayed behind.
Tanaka bounced after them, only to be stopped by a bigger slime.
Boing.
It wasn’t hard, merely blocking his path.
Tanaka tried to move around it, but the bigger slime simply followed.
Left.
Blocked.
Right.
Blocked.
The large slime gently pushed him backward.
Protective.
Defiant.
A simple message ran through the mana touching their bodies, weak but clear.
Weak.
Stay.
Tanaka was clearly not strong enough to hunt, and so he was being kept safe.
"Guess I’m a child then," he said, watching his small, piddling form.
He couldn’t really argue with the evidence.
The hunting group vanished into the forest, leaving the village much more quiet than before.
"Guess I’ll stay then."
If he couldn’t hunt, at least he could learn.
Tanaka returned to the middle of the village and sat down, or rather, attempted to.
He focused on the small crystal floating inside his body, the mana flowing through it.
It was natural, warm, life giving.
Without thinking about it, Tanaka’s mind linked with the slow, steady pulses of mana.
Something clicked in his mind, and a flood of information crashed over him.
Not from outside, but from within.
[ Soul Record
Name: None
Race: Lesser Slime
Rank: F
Magic Core: F
Age: 0
Skills:
• Survivor Lv.1
Titles: None ]
Tanaka stared at it in shock.
"So that’s what it is."
"It’s not a system," he said, "...or if it is, it’s not telling me."
Not a system.
Not a program.
Just a record.
His own personal record, containing everything about him.
He looked at the skill listed under his profile.
"Survivor?"
Only one skill.
[ Survivor Lv.1
A common skill for those who possess a sharp instinct for survival.
Slightly increases endurance.
Slightly lowers damage taken. ]
"So that’s why hitting those rocks didn’t kill me," he muttered. "If this changes, then I can grow."
A bright feeling bloomed in his chest for the first time since arriving in this world.
A small wave of mana gently pushed against his mind, interrupting his thoughts.
The big slime from before had returned, and it gently bumped against his side.
Unlike the previous time, its core glowed with a soft silver light.
The old slime remained perfectly still, watching Tanaka.
Then it lightly pushed against him again, sending a wave of mana between them.
Curiosity.
Surprise.
Expectation.
They weren’t his emotions.
They belonged to the old slime.
It had noticed something strange about him.