The Behemoth's breath smelled like rotted meat and ancient sulfur. Its foot, a massive pillar of matted fur and obsidian claws, slammed into the ground just inches from Jojo's gelatinous body. The shockwave sent a ripple through his liquid frame.
[Warning: Physical Impact Detected.]
[HP: 8/10]
One hit, Jojo thought, his mind racing in the dark. If that thing actually steps on me, I'm not just a slime—I'm a stain.
[Passive Skill: Shadow Meld (Level 1) — Available]
[Description: As a Shadow Slime, you can liquefy and merge with any surface cast in darkness. Visibility: 0%.]
The Behemoth let out a low, rumbling growl that vibrated Jojo's very core. It was looking for the "snack" that had just fallen from the sky.
Activate! Jojo screamed internally.
His obsidian body surged forward, not as a puddle, but as a thin, flat ribbon of ink. He didn't run; he slid into the jagged shadow cast by a nearby stalagmite.
The transition was instant. To the Behemoth, the small black blob simply vanished into the floor. The monster sniffed the air, confused, then let out a frustrated roar that cracked the stone ceiling. It turned its massive head, its glowing red eyes scanning the darkness, before lumbering off deeper into the 100th-floor abyss.
[Shadow Meld Successful.]
[Stealth Bonus: +5 XP]
[Level: 0 (5/100 to Level 1)]
Jojo didn't move for what felt like hours. He stayed merged with the cold stone, his "vision" now restricted to the vibrations of the floor. He was a nobody in a classroom of 30, and now he was a shadow in a world of Level 800 nightmares.
I have to get out of here, he thought. But I can't go up. The King saw to that.
He began to slide. He didn't use the open paths where the giants walked. He moved through the cracks in the walls, slipping into narrow fissures where even a mouse would struggle to fit.
The Scavenger's Luck
After an hour of silent sliding, Jojo felt a different kind of vibration. It wasn't the heavy thud of a Behemoth. It was a wet, rhythmic pulsing.
He emerged from a crack and looked down into a small, hidden alcove.
There, lying in a pool of glowing violet blood, was an [Abyssal Crawler]. It looked like a centipede made of glass, nearly three meters long. But it was broken. A larger predator had bitten it nearly in half and left it to rot.
[Target Identified: Abyssal Crawler (Level 705)]
[Status: Near Death (1% HP remaining)]
[Condition: Paralyzed by Neurotoxin.]
This was it. His first chance. Jojo looked at the glass-like armor of the creature. Even at 1% health, its defense was higher than anything Jojo could punch.
But Jojo didn't have to punch.
He slid toward the creature's open wound. He didn't feel disgust; he only felt a terrifying, hollow hunger.
[Would you like to use 'Void Consumption' on the Target?]
[Warning: Consuming a Level 700+ being at Level 0 carries a 50% risk of 'Soul Indigestion'.]
Jojo didn't hesitate. In that classroom, I was nothing. If I stay a slime, I'll die as nothing. Eat!
His shadow body surged upward, wrapping around the dying Crawler like a black shroud.