Primordial Slime: I Devour The World

The heavy doors to the Hunters’ Guild opened. Five hunters stepped inside. The whole guild hall fell silent as they entered.

The hunters were bruised and their clothes torn. The youngest among them had several bandages wrapped around his chest.

The bowwoman looked exhausted, and the swordsman beside her was missing part of his shoulder armor. The bearded leader looked relatively calm, though. The receptionist blinked as the hunters approached the counter.

"You’re back." She said.

The leader tossed a leather-bound report on the counter. "We finished the mission," he said simply. The receptionist smiled. "Slime extermination, I see?"

"Partially," the leader replied.

Her smile vanished.

"Partially?"

Several of the other hunters turned around, and one of them chuckled. "What happened? Did the slimes run away?" Another hunter chuckled. "Perhaps they finally learned to use weapons."

The receptionist opened the report and skimmed through the first page. Her eyes widened as she read the second.

"Evolved slime?" She looked up from the paper. "You encountered an evolved slime?"

The leader nodded. "Yes."

One of the hunters sitting nearby burst into laughter. "An evolved slime?" Another shook his head. "That’s impossible." "Slimes are F-Rank monsters," one said. "They’re barely even worth classifying." "What’s next?" One of the hunters in the back asked. "Rabbits forming kingdoms?"

The whole hall burst into laughter.

The bowwoman, and the other hunters ignored everyone. The receptionist looked at them. "You’re serious."

The leader nodded. "I wouldn’t lie about something like this in a Guild report." The youngest hunter finally spoke. "It wasn’t an ordinary slime." The hunter who had laughed earlier raised an eyebrow. "Then what kind of slime was it?"

"Blue," he said. "They’re all blue," the receptionist pointed out. "Fast," the bowwoman added. "Slimes bounce," the swordsman muttered. "It used skills," he replied tired of talking.

That silenced the man who had been laughing. The receptionist looked back at the report in her hands. "One evolved slime?" "One," the bowwoman confirmed. "And you fought it?" "We did," the leader replied. "And?" The receptionist asked. The leader looked up at her. "We ran away."

There was a hushed murmur in the hall. "Five hunters ran away from a slime?" One of them muttered. The leader ignored the comment. The receptionist skimmed through the rest of the report. Her expression darkened as she read about the battle and the strange formation the slimes had used.

The dungeon.

The strange battle tactics.

And finally, the evolved slime that had single-handedly led the attack.

She looked up at the hunters.

"Did it kill anyone?"

"No," the leader said.

"Did it chase after you?" The receptionist asked.

"No."

"Then why did you run?"

"Because we couldn’t win."

There was another murmur. The bowwoman crossed her arms.

"...And because it wasn’t attacking alone," she added.

The receptionist frowned. "Since when do slimes work together?"

The leader picked up his helmet.

"Apparently, now."

Before the receptionist could say anything else, the doors to the hall opened once more.

An old man stepped inside, his silver hair falling to his shoulders. The laughter in the room ceased instantly. The Guild Master slowly made his way to the front of the hall, his gaze fixed on the report in the receptionist’s hands.

"Give it to me," he said.

The receptionist handed it over, and the Guild Master read through it in silence.

The hunters who had returned from their mission said nothing as they waited for his reaction.

When he finally looked up, his eyes locked onto the leader of the five.

"You encountered an evolved slime," he said simply.

"Yes," the leader replied.

"You failed to kill it," the Guild Master continued.

"Yes," the leader said again.

"You believe it to be the cause of the other slimes’ behavior," the Guild Master said.

"I do."

The Guild Master turned to the bowwoman.

"You as well?"

She nodded.

"The other slimes followed it," she said.

"Blindly?"

"No," the bowwoman said. "They followed its orders."

The Guild Master’s eyes narrowed.

"Interesting."

He skimmed through the report once more.

"And you said it used skills?"

"Several," the leader replied.

"Which ones?"

"Earth Impact. Leap. And something that made our attacks less effective," Tanaka said.

The Guild Master looked up.

"Weakened?" He asked.

Tanaka nodded.

The leader frowned.

"It absorbed the mana in our attacks."

Several of the other hunters exchanged glances.

The Guild Master said nothing for a long time.

He simply folded the report and stared at the hunters who had just returned from their mission.

"Forest classification," he finally said.

The receptionist blinked.

"Yes, sir?" She asked.

"Raise it to Medium Risk," the Guild Master said.

Several of the hunters in the room groaned.

"Medium?" One of them asked.

"For that forest?" Another one said.

"That’s ridiculous," the receptionist said. "Isn’t it?"

The Guild Master turned to face her.

"Not because it is strong," he said. "But because it learned."

The room fell silent.

The Guild Master continued.

"A monster growing stronger is one thing. An evolved monster is expected, even common."

He tapped the report with his fingers.

"But a weak species changing its behavior... That is not something we see often. If this report is accurate, I want to know what this slime does next."

The leader of the five hunters nodded.

The Guild Master turned to leave.

The receptionist looked down at the report in her hands.

For some reason...

She suddenly didn’t like the words written on the first page.

Unknown Evolved Slime.