The campfire dispersed the darkness. The firelight passed through the glistening green Gel, making the Slime's body shimmer with an amber luster like a gemstone.
Chen Yu melted into a liquid puddle on a tree stump, comfortably basking in the warmth of the fire.
'Sergash had been right. Monsters really were afraid of fire.'
The moment he saw the fire, his Slime instincts recoiled in faint fear. But his status as a Slime Warrior soon kicked in, and he easily suppressed the feeling.
Sergash sat to the side, skewering Moss Monsters on a wooden stick. She propped them over the fire, roasting them until they sizzled and dripped oil.
The savory aroma drifted through the air. Monsters stirred restlessly in the darkness, but they never dared to approach.
One reason was the roaring fire, which the monsters instinctively feared.
The second was the seemingly harmless Slime by the campfire.
Any predator with half a brain could sense the dangerous aura emanating from it.
It was a threat on par with a Poisonous Sting Bee, at the very least.
Fearful, they hesitated, and ultimately, they retreated in silence.
Sergash, who had been keeping watch on their surroundings, let out a sigh of relief. She handed the skewer of roasted Moss Monsters on an oak branch to Chen Yu.
Watching the Slime beside her grunt and snuffle as it devoured the skewers, she was overcome for a moment by a sacrilegious urge to reach out and pet it.
"Sergash, aren't you going to eat?"
Chen Yu glanced up at the dazed Sergash. 'How odd.'
"Oh...!"
Sergash snapped back to reality, feeling ashamed of the thought she'd just had.
'Sergash, what are you thinking.'
'That is Putu's messenger. You must show reverence.'
'Reverence.'
She took a deep breath to compose herself and returned to the solemn and sacred task of grilling for the messenger.
The Moss Monsters were grilled to perfection. They remained crisp yet tender, sizzling with oil and carrying the fresh fragrance of the wood, which greatly whetted Chen Yu's appetite.
After snuffling down a few more Moss Monsters, he began to ask about the situation outside.
"Are you the only one of the Descaled from your tribe left? Could your companions be looking for you?"
"Ah? What?"
Sergash came to her senses, only then realizing what Chen Yu had asked.
She grew visibly dejected.
"The corrupt faith began to spread during the winter. Back then, there weren't many Lizardmen in the tribe who worshipped the corrupted Morgul. That is, until..."
"Priest Zulok publicly called upon our people to embrace the corruption. He claimed the corrupted Morgul would grant us enough power to hunt larger beasts and monsters, like the Jackal Wolfmen, and that we would no longer have to suffer from hunger..."
"So you believed him?"
Chen Yu swallowed a Moss Monster, his gaze curious.
"Some of our people believed. A violent conflict broke out within the tribe, which was already suffering from hunger and cold. My father... he was killed for resisting Zulok... So my sister and I organized the last of the Descaled forces, escaped Zulok's encirclement, and hid in the Swamp Forest."
"We were exiles for several months. Relying on our faith in nature, we survived one danger after another and finally made it to spring..."
"But in the end, a pursuit by the Jackal Wolfmen forced us to separate... To this day, I still don't know if my sister is even alive."
"So you have a sister."
"Yes. Her name is Semia, and she is the most valiant Warrior in our tribe. She once single-handedly slew a terrifying bear goblin before all our people, completing the tribe's trial bathed in its blood."
"A trial?"
Chen Yu seized on the keyword.
"That's right. It's a ritual passed down for generations in our Scale Claw Tribe. When a Lizardman defeats a seemingly unbeatable foe before the eyes of the tribe, they receive the blessing of the Spirit of Life and become much stronger and more formidable."
'Isn't that just a reputation title?'
Chen Yu was now certain. The native creatures of Zeyarira who could obtain such reputation titles were more like beings who had ascended to a higher tier of life.
'Just like him.'
'Evolving from a trash mob into an elite.'
'Even though some monsters could still crush an elite Slime with a single stomp, it was a decent start, at least.'
Chen Yu had more questions, but seeing Sergash lost in her memories, he held his tongue and let her have a quiet moment to think.
The night deepened, and the glow from the Fluorescent Moss grew ever dimmer.
The campfire still burned, but its flames were no longer enough to dispel the oppressive darkness. The light seemed to shrink, gradually becoming hemmed in before the shelter of branches and leaves.
"Go to sleep. Remember to wake up in the middle of the night and add more wood to the fire."
Chen Yu hopped onto a rock a bit farther from the fire, absorbing the cool moisture from the air to replenish his internal water content.
Basking in the fire's heat was extremely comfortable, but it also tended to dry out his Gel, so he couldn't stay there for too long.
"If you don't mind, you can squeeze in with me?" Sergash asked cautiously as she nestled into the bed of leaves.
Chen Yu didn't answer. Sprawled on the rock, he was already circulating the Kaiyuan Baojuan, a Cultivation Technique from the Three Elements Sect, and had entered a state of meditation.
The Spiritual Qi in Zeyarira was remarkably thin, but every little bit helped.
It was densest during the night and early morning, making it the perfect time to cultivate.
Cultivating with two bodies at once yielded even better results.
As he entered a state of cultivation, his Slime body began to slowly emit a faint, fluorescent glow. Tiny, almost imperceptible specks of light quietly seeped out from the surrounding air, soil, and even the leaves, lingering around it.
The light was gentle and pure, both sacred and natural, as if it were the condensed essence of moonlight. It was deeply reassuring.
Lying on her bed of leaves, Sergash watched the scene unfold. Her heart, which should have been anxious in the unfamiliar surroundings, unknowingly grew calm, like a drifting boat finding a tranquil harbor.
She quietly murmured a prayer to Putu as her eyelids grew heavy. At last, she fell asleep, her breathing becoming steady and deep.
She was fast asleep.
...
Over the next few days, Chen Yu practiced his Little Arrow Skill while waiting for Sergash's injuries to heal.
Four days passed in the blink of an eye, and during that time, no Lizardmen or Jackal Wolfmen came looking for them.
Ignoring the new resident, Sergash, the Swamp Forest was practically no different than before.
On this day, Chen Yu felt he had swollen and grown larger again. His Beetle helmet was starting to feel a bit tight.
——
Race: Acidic Slime
Level: Black Iron Lv.3 [EXP: 0/30]
Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Lv.3 [Spiritual Power: 12/30]
Life Status: Healthy [HP: 105/105]
Racial Talent: Devouring and Digesting Lv. 2
Other Talents: Acid Secretion Lv.2
Skill List: Kaiyuan Baojuan Lv.4, Artifact Manipulation Skill Lv.3, Little Arrow Skill Lv.1, Sound Transmission Skill Lv.1
Reputation Title: Slime Warrior (A fledgling Slime)
——
'To be honest, after leveling up to Black Iron Lv.3, I only feel like my HP is higher and I'm more durable. There don't seem to be any other changes.'
'Oh, wait.'
'The amount of acid my Magic Organ can condense at once has also increased.'
Chen Yu lurked in the swamp, observing the bustling Oak Territory—Poisonous Sting Bees hovered around the oaks, farming and harvesting Moss Monsters, while that swarm of Beetles still lingered stubbornly beneath the trees, refusing to leave.
The two sides seemed to have reached a stalemate.
However, after several days of recuperation, Sergash's injuries had completely healed.
He felt the time had come.
'It's time to drive these monsters out of my territory.'