The next day.
Hyuzu and the others came to Gimuru last night and will be helping me for awhile, so I really got fired up to do some work, but…
“Today’s a rest day…”
Saying it didn’t change anything. It’s a rest day, guys. I haven’t rested for even a day since I came back from Fatma Territory. And the guild master went out of her way to inform Hyuzu-san and the others that I started talking to her and Serge-san as soon as I came back, so now I have to rest for the next three days. During this time the skilled maids and the men will be taking over my work, and I won’t be allowed to go outside or drop by the store. They even offered to help take care of my meals and other daily necessities, but of course, I refused them… Anyway, because of that I will be taking a break for the next three days.
I have plans for the last day of my break, that is the day after tomorrow, but from today and tomorrow I am completely free. Which is why…
“I will be researching slimes the ‘whole day’!”
For the longest time I couldn’t find the time to organize the slimes, and I just kept on feeding them and they kept on evolving, but now we have the time, so let’s do that. Also, I have something I want to try out after I made that acid back there at Fatma Territory. Let’s use this opportunity to do what we can! Alright!
And so, time passed, and before I knew it, it was night time. After experimenting and observing since morning, I organized the notes I took down.
I decided to make a list of what the slimes ate and what they evolved into.
| Variant | Expected Evolution Based off Feed | Actual Evolution |
|---|---|---|
| Sticky Slime | => Crab Slime | => Spider Slime |
| => Shell Slime | => Crust Slime | |
| => Net Slime | => Fiber Slime | |
| Acid Slime | => Shell Slime | => Shell Slime |
| => Shellfish and Egg Slime | => Pearl Slime | |
| Poison Slime | => Charcoal and Sand Slime | => Filter Slime |
| => Poison Needle Slime | => Sting Slime | |
| Metal Slime | => Net Slime | => Wire Slime |
| Bloody Slime | => Parasite Slime | => Evolution pending. |
| Stone Slime | => Sand Slime | => Sand Slime |
| => Porcelain Slime | => Evolution pending. | |
| Weed Slime | => Water Plant Slime | => Aquatic Weed Slime |
| => Algae Slime | => Alga Slime |
After that I summarized my observation records and inquiry.
First, let’s talk about the three slime variants that evolved from the Sticky Slime…
‘Spider Slime’
Appearance: Slightly smaller than the sticky slime.
Skill: It didn’t lose any skill, and it learned two new skills, Build Nest and Trap Mastery.
Note: The spider slime has woven a nest at the tunnel walls. Lately, it could frequently be seen crawling along the threads like a spider. The thread it produces has also changed a little.
To test it, I had a sticky slime and a spider slime produce the strongest thread they could, and then I asked them to bind my arms with it. I compared the two threads by trying to break free from them. From that I found out that the spider slime’s threads were more elastic and harder to tear. Overall, they felt stronger (Note: This is merely based on my personal impressions and as such is completely subjective.)
Spider threads were seen as well structured fibers with good qualities even back at Earth and was a topic for research. The sticky slime threads were also fairly durable, but the spider slime’s threads have probably undergone some sort of structural change. I don’t know how good a material it is right now, but I’ll find out once I talk to a specialist when the opportunity presents itself.
Also, I mentioned that the spider slime had become smaller, but the change was within the margin of individual specimen differences. I’ll find out their average size once there’s more of them.
‘Crust Slime’
Appearance: No particular changes.
Skill: No skills lost from evolution. Learned a new skill, ‘Form Carapace’.
Note: The Form Carapace skill works by covering itself with its liquid and letting it harden. Hardening the surface of its body does not impede its movement, and can be considered as a pure increase to its defense.
I used Identify on the carapace and was able to discover that it’s almost of the same nature as the ‘Hardening Liquid Sheet’ which are made with the liquid of the sticky slimes.
The hardening liquid sheets were originally made from the liquid of the sticky slimes, so it should be possible, but just in case, I had the crust slime spread the liquid it used for its Form Carapace skill on a surface, and when that liquid hardened it indeed successfully produced a hardening liquid sheet.
With the crust slimes, I can make hardening liquid sheets without having to rely on alchemy, but other than that, it’s not really that different from a slime. The spider slime was like that too. It feels as if they’re just taking the special characteristics of other species and evolving while keeping their intrinsic nature as slimes.
‘Fiber Slime’
Appearance: No notable change.
Skill: No skills lost from the evolution. Learned a new skill, Fibrification.
Note: In the same way the fluff slimes could make fluff, this one could make slime rayon.
If I change the material, I wonder if it would be possible to make fiber out of those too.For example, I could give it metal or glass to produce wire or glass fiber… I should give it a try sometime.
Next are the two acid slime variants.
‘Shell Slime’
Appearance: It carries a turban-shell-like spiral shell on its back and hides in it like a hermit crab.
Skill: No skills forgotten, but its Produce Strong Acid has become Produce Weak acid, and it learned the Create Shell skill.
Note: This might be the most surprising evolution yet. It doesn’t look much different from the slimes until now, but when I investigated the acid from its Produce Weak Acid skill, I found out that it was actually highly concentrated succinic acid. I discovered that there were a lot of ‘umami ingredients’ mixed in with the shellfish. Although it can’t be eaten straight, by adjusting it with alchemy, the succinic acid can be used as a seasoning. Thanks to that I was able to make a delicious oyster-sauce-like ingredient in the afternoon.
‘Pearl Slime’
Appearance: Milky white with a peculiar luster. A big pearl.
Skill: Its body has transformed from the acid slime’s gel-like body to a solid body like that of the metal slimes. Because of that it looked completely different from its previous evolutions. Its special traits include ‘Refine Protective Body Liquid’, ‘Coating’, and Crystallization.
Note: It can use its skill to create pearls, which are highly sought after in this world. As such, its value is limitless. Making pearls won’t endanger the pearl slime itself, but I do have to exercise caution when using it.
There are also two evolutions from the poison slimes.
‘Filter Slime’
Appearance: Its body is black all over with little water content. It sparkles here and there and reflects light, so it looks like hardened black sand.
Skill: It transformed from a gel-like body to a body with little water content, so it lost most of the skills it had when it was a poison slime. But the remaining Poison Resist skill has been strengthened, and it learned the Filtration skill.
Note: The results of my experiments show that – just as the name implies – the Filtration skill can filter liquid and gas that pass through its body. It seems to be a slime that feeds off the deposits and poisonous substances caught in its filter. I’ve already confirmed in today’s experiments that the ‘Filtration’ skill can help in the production of medicine and can be used in place of a water filter. Perhaps it can even help in treatment when coupled with a gas mask or a bloody slime. Perhaps even an artificial dialysis would be possible. The list goes on.
‘Sting Slime’
Appearance: The purple color of the poison slime has gotten deeper and the nucleus can’t be seen anymore.
Skill: It didn’t lose any skills. It learned the Poison Needle skill.
Note: Just as the name implies, the Poison Needle skill produces a poisonous needle from its body. Upon testing, the Sting Slime shot out countless needles from its body like a sea urchin. It looked exactly like a sea urchin too. Even the color matched. To be more precise it looked like a black longspine urchin.
Also, since it knew the Spear Mastery skill, I asked it if it could produce a thick, long, poison needle and use it as a spear, and it turned out to be a success. Moreover, the spear it made possessed the same structure as the smaller poison needles and could release poison at the end like a syringe. Here I was thinking the poison needles looked like those of a creature used as feed, but they turned out to be a rather gruesome spear. Anyhow, injecting poison into your foe during a battle should be quite effective. For example… Ah, just imagining it seems too dangerous, let’s not follow through with that thought.
The evolution from the metal slimes, ‘Wire Slime’
Appearance: It doesn’t look much different from your usual metal slime, but it did become one size smaller.
Skill: It didn’t lose any skills and learned a new skill, Expansion and Contraction.
Note: It can stretch its body into a thin thread and even turn itself into a coping saw or a barbed wire. The maximum distance it can stretch is proportional to its maximum volume, but it’s not possible to stretch the nucleus and change its shape.
The evolution of the Stone Slime, ‘Sand Slime’
Appearance: A mountain or lump of sand.
Skill: Because its body has transformed into sand, it has lost its skills when it was a stone slime, and learned the same skills as the ash slime. These are: Scatter, Clump, Absorb Moisture, and Dry. Moreover, it also learned the ‘Assimilate’ skill of the mud slime.
Note: During experimentation a new possibility occurred to me. As such, I will be continuing the experiments in the following days.
The evolutions under the weed Slime.
‘Aquatic Weed Slime’
Appearance: It looks like there’s a water weed floating in it. It kind of looks like a glassless aquarium.
Skill: No change from the Weed Slime.
Note: No change in abilities, but it’s become able to live under water. It can leave for a while outside water, but it doesn’t like land. I wasn’t prepared for it, so I had to build a water tank using the Hardening Liquid Sheets for it. Next time I’ll make a bigger water tank for it, or if the climate permits it, I can make a pond for it too.
Its diet is similar to the weed slime, so it can either grow more water weed inside it and eat those or it can make do with photosynthesis. It’s not hard to feed. As mentioned, it looks like an aquarium, so once I start proselytizing people about the goodness of slimes it might be a good idea to recommend this one first.
‘Alga Slime’
Appearance: A clump of green algae.
Skills: No change from the weed slime.
Note: A slime that lives underwater just like the Aquatic Weed Slime. Not only can it grow algae under water and eat that, it can also nourish itself like the plant-type slimes via photosynthesis.
I took some of the algae covering its nucleus and used Identify on it, and I found out that it contained an abundance of nutrients. One of the types of algae on Earth, the Euglena, has been researched and used for diet supplements because of its abundance of nutrients, so perhaps the moss of the Alga Slime can also be used for something like that. I’ll have to prepare a special water tank or pond for it later, so it can provide more algae to me for research.
…Well, that about wraps it up.
To be honest, there are still a lot of other stuff I want to do, but if I don’t get any sleep because of my research, the maids will really start keeping a close eye on me, so I better stop here.
I guess being able to control myself is proof that I’ve grown a little?
“…Just kidding.”
Now then, it’s a bit early to sleep, so I better
Like this the night gradually grew deeper…
Tl Note: The dots on top of characters are for emphasis. This was previously translated by italicizing the words, but we’re back to using furigana (text on top), so they’re just left as dots now.
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