[POV: Slime]
In LWO, slimes were considered pests for one simple reason.
They proliferated far too quickly.
At the same time, however, slimes were also considered one of the great natural equalizers of the world. Regardless of the environment they inhabited, they had an uncanny ability to adapt to whatever resources were available.
They ate rocks and returned the minerals to the soil. They consumed organic waste. They cleaned sewers in urban centers. There were countless practical applications for them.
Depending on their environment and diet, slimes could even produce materials with rarity and qualities superior to naturally occurring resources. Entire farms had been established solely to cultivate different varieties, much to the delight of alchemists, dwarves, craftsmen, and various other societies.
There was only one problem.
Their hunger was bottomless.
A single slime could be useful. A hundred slimes could be productive. A thousand slimes could become a problem. And once they began multiplying through their self-replication ability, the problem could become considerably larger.
…
..
.
Boing. Boing. Boing.
I bounced happily through the forest. My body was blue, round, squishy, and perfectly suited for the most important purpose in existence. Eating! My last orders had been simple. Fight stuff. Consume them. Contribute to our great leader, Sloth.
So I hadn't stopped since then.
I munched on rocks, trees, old bones, and the carcasses of rabid beasts who apparently thought they were better than me.
Hmph.
Who did those furry things think they were? I bounced toward another beast. It looked dangerous. It snarled. I bounced closer. It roared. I bounced closer. It turned around and ran.
Boing!
I chased after it. The beast sprinted through the forest with its tail between its legs while I happily bounced behind it. Eventually, I caught up and ate it. It was a glorious victory. Hooray for slime supremacy!
Anyway, I continued bouncing.
I encountered a particularly large group of my fellow slimes. There were perhaps twenty of them gathered around a tree. I bounced toward them. They bounced toward me. I bounced faster. They bounced faster. When we collided, my entire body flattened against another slime.
Boing!
Another slime bounced into me.
Boing!
Before long, we had formed a ridiculous chain of bouncing blue blobs that rolled down the slope together. I had no idea where we were going. I also didn't care. I was having the time of my life.
"Boing!"
We slammed into a tree. The tree shook. The slimes bounced backward, creating distance. Everyone bounced forward again, smashing at the tree. We celebrated by eating it. This was the life. There was no need for complicated thoughts or worries about the future. I existed. I had mana. Therefore, I consumed. That was the natural order of slime existence.
My existence might have been temporary, but that didn't matter. As long as there was mana within me, I would continue on my great slimy quest!
A flash of lightning burst from within. I felt myself become incredibly bright. It didn't last long. Thunder erupted inside my body. My entire gelatinous form expanded like an overinflated balloon.
I didn't understand what was happening.
POP!
The slime was dead.
…
..
.
[POV: Jin]
There were few existences in this world, let alone on this continent, that could be considered my equal.
For a dragon, I was not particularly ancient. Age was one of the most reliable measurements of strength among my species. The older a dragon became, the more powerful it naturally grew. Given enough time, many of my kin could reach the peak of cultivation simply by continuing to live. We instinctively learned whatever skills we needed, adapted to whatever dangers we encountered, and eventually overcame almost every obstacle placed before us.
We were dragons, after all.
Our bodies were naturally superior to those of lesser species, our bloodline granted us advantages that cultivators of other races could only dream of, and our ability to fight above our cultivation rank was something we took for granted. Against inferior creatures, a dragon did not need complicated techniques or elaborate strategies. A casual blow could crush them.
Compared to my kin, however, I was somewhat of an eccentric.
I had actively honed certain skills instead of relying entirely on my natural gifts. I studied the properties of my own bloodline, cultivated techniques that did not come naturally to me, and sought knowledge whenever I encountered something unfamiliar. I did not want my strength to come solely from the fact that I was born a dragon.
Naturally, that meant I had a certain amount of draconic pride. Right now, that pride was being challenged. No matter how many of these strange blue, bouncy creatures I destroyed, more of them appeared.
I had already flattened countless numbers of them. Some had been crushed beneath my claws. Others had been torn apart by thunder qi flowing through my scales. I had even vaporized several with a casual breath.
Yet more kept appearing.
Worse, they were eating the forest with increasing viciousness, as if the threat I represented only spurred them to eat more.
Trees, roots, stones, even patches of soil were disappearing beneath their voracious appetites. They were strange creatures, seemingly harmless individually, but their sheer numbers made them an infestation that could not be ignored.
At first, I had assumed they were simply an unusually resilient species.
When I noticed the 'little insect', I knew it was part of the reason this blob menace wouldn't just die.
The 'little insect' was small enough to fit between two of my claws, perhaps no larger than a pebble if one ignored its humanoid shape. It possessed a pair of delicate wings resembling those of a butterfly, a tiny humanoid body, golden hair, and an irritatingly cheerful expression.
Most importantly, it was blessing the bouncy creatures.
Every time one of them died, that little insect would appear somewhere nearby and cast some strange spell upon the others.
I chased after the little insect as it sensed my approach.
The little creature darted between the trees, flying with absurd agility. I sent a bolt of thunder qi after it, only for the attack to strike a tree instead.
The little thing vanished.
An instant later, its laughter came from somewhere behind me.
“Heeheehee! Too slow!”
“Come out,” I cried out, lashing at it, but I got nothing.
“Heeheehee! There you are!”
A flash of golden hair appeared between two branches. I struck again, and the tree exploded. However, the little creature just emerged from another direction, waving one tiny hand at me.
“Zap-zap! Boom!”
A peculiar shimmer passed through the air. My vision distorted. I growled and swept my tail through the surrounding trees, clearing the area in a single motion.
Again, nothing.
“Annoying little insect.”
“Heeheeheehee!”
Her laughter echoed through the forest.
I had fought my fair share of cultivators. I had battled humans, beasts, spirits, and other existences whose powers were difficult to understand. Even when I could not immediately determine their cultivation, I could usually perceive something about their strength.
This little creature was different.
I could not measure her rank or determine the basis of her power.
She did not seem to possess qi in the manner I understood it, nor did she display any obvious spiritual fluctuations that corresponded to a cultivation realm. And yet she was clearly casting mental spells upon me. Her laughter itself seemed to carry some kind of influence. Every time I heard it, my irritation grew.
That realization annoyed me even more.
From time to time, the bouncy creatures hurled themselves at me, apparently trying to distract me while the little insect escaped. They accomplished nothing. The instant they touched my body, thunder qi surged through my scales.
Boom!
The blue creatures exploded. I barely spared them a glance. My attention remained on the little insect.
She was far too fast for something so small.
She slipped between branches, vanished behind trees, created illusions, and occasionally manipulated my senses enough to make me strike at empty air. I pursued her relentlessly, refusing to let some unidentified creature escape me within my own territory.
Eventually, we broke through the canopy.
The forest spread beneath us. I followed her into the open sky. This was my domain. A dragon belonged in the heavens. Surely, now that there were no trees for her to hide behind, she would have nowhere to run.
Instead, the little insect simply vanished again.
I stopped midair.
My senses spread outward and found nothing.
"Impossible."
I turned my head as a shadow suddenly swept across me. A strange winged beast descended from above.
“SKREEEEEE!”
It swooped toward me with its claws extended. I recognized neither its species nor its bloodline. It was clearly some kind of beast, but its body was unlike anything I had encountered before. It possessed the body and limbs of a great feline predator, yet its head resembled that of a bird of prey. Massive wings carried it through the sky. It was the same winged beast I had spied earlier. I narrowed my eyes. I had seen beasts cooperate before. Symbiosis was hardly unusual. Some species relied upon others for protection, food, or reproduction. In fact, there were entire ecosystems built around such relationships.
The little insect, the bouncy creatures, and this winged beast could very well be cooperating.
As someone who actively sought knowledge, however, their unfamiliarity was becoming increasingly irritating. I chased the winged beast. It fled. I followed. It turned. I turned. It climbed. I climbed. It dove. I dove.
The winged beast was surprisingly elusive for something so huge, though I couldn't say much for myself. I was loath to admit I might be a poor chaser.
The winged beast's movements reminded me of the legendary winged tiger said to roam certain ancient forests. I had never seen one myself, so I could not make a proper comparison, but I imagined this was probably how such a beast moved. It was graceful, explosive, and unpredictable. I pursued it through the sky, gradually becoming more annoyed with every failed attempt to catch it. Eventually, I had enough. I stopped chasing it directly. Instead, I focused my senses downward at the forest, the strange creatures, the little insect, and the winged beast as a whole.
"You pests are starting to annoy me."
I extended my perception across the territory and carefully examined the relationship between them.
"There."
My eyes narrowed at the source. I’ve deduced that all of these ‘strange creatures' were created through mystical means, perhaps by means of summoning. Dealing with the ‘summoner’ ought to deal with the summoned, but they would definitely get in the way. I made my calculations and decided on a strategy.
There was no reason to waste more time.
I embraced the metal attribute within me. Lightning and thunder were not truly attributes. Their manifestations were merely byproducts of my skill.
Lightning was light. Thunder was sound.
Both could be produced through the manipulation of the metal attribute, and my mastery over metal allowed me to reach aspects of power that lesser beings could scarcely comprehend.
In particular, I could touch upon the principles behind the Heavenly Tribulation. It was the very power feared by cultivators throughout the world, and for a good reason. My scales began to glow. Lightning crawled across my body. Thunder rumbled within my chest. The air itself seemed to tremble.
“Fall before my might,” I breathed to the world.
Power erupted from my body. I moved. I became lightning. I burst forward with the speed of thunder and struck with overwhelming force. My tail snapped toward the winged beast. The creature barely had time to turn its head.
Bang!
Its body exploded, dead. I paused, surprised. That was... faster than expected. I thought it possessed greater resilience. Perhaps I had overestimated it. At the same moment, countless scales tore free from my body and rained down upon the forest like a storm of metallic blades.
Each scale carried lightning. The ground erupted. Trees splintered. The blue bouncy creatures were obliterated by the falling storm. Hundreds died. Perhaps thousands.
The little insect was caught within the rain of scales. She tried to flee. Her wings beat frantically. She attempted another illusion. However, it failed. A scale struck her and then another. Lightning swallowed her tiny body, and the little creature disappeared.
"..."
I hovered above the forest. My scales slowly returned to me, leaving the trees below scarred and smoking. I stared at the place where the little insect had been. Dead. Just like that. I blinked in confusion. It was anticlimactic.
“Hm.”
Perhaps I had overreacted. My original intention had been to distract and immobilize them long enough to reach their summoner. Though there were still a lot of the blue blob menace, I had killed quite a lot of them. And it had happened in less than half a breath.
When I appeared before the cliff, a full breath had already passed.
A human was sleeping beneath a tree at the edge of the cliff.
I stared at him.
There was a mysterious barrier surrounding his body, one that operated according to principles completely unfamiliar to me. It was not powered by qi. At least, not qi as I understood it. Something else sustained it, an energy that I could neither identify nor properly perceive.
"Interesting."
I almost wanted to study it.
There were few things I considered more distasteful than striking down an unguarded opponent. Even among inferior species, there was a certain dignity in facing one's enemy directly. Unfortunately, this particular human had disturbed my precious sleep. That was an atrocity I could not overlook. I would not mind demolishing him with my breath. Yet my pride would not permit such an effortless execution.
If I killed him, I would do so with my claws.
“Human,” I declared, lowering my head toward the sleeping figure. “You shall pay with your life for this atrocity. Perish beneath the sharpness of my claw.”
I raised one claw.
Before I could deliver death upon the witless human, the earth beneath me suddenly moved. Something erupted from below.
An earth spirit?
I instinctively shifted backward as a bulky humanoid figure burst from the ground. It was clad in armor resembling that of a warrior, though its entire body was unnatural. Its movements lacked the fluidity of flesh, and its appearance suggested that it had been carved from some strange material. It wielded a single longsword. The blade came toward me with startling fury. I caught the creature by the torso, flailing at me with its sword that bounced harmlessly from the qi barrier I just erected. The creature struggled against my grip.
I stared at it for a moment and tossed it away. The strange warrior flew through the air and crashed into the ground several hundred paces away.
“Paltry tricks,” I scoffed.
I turned my attention back toward the sleeping human.
“Now, die.”
I extended a single digit and pressed one claw against the mysterious barrier. The moment I made contact, I felt resistance. My claw pushed against the barrier, but it did not break. When I applied more force, the barrier trembled. My claw slowly began to pierce through it, but the process was far more difficult than it had any right to be.
“You possess strange sorcery.”
I leaned closer, examining the barrier and laughing softly in wonder.
“I feel tempted to learn the mystery behind your power. Yet at the same time, I feel an eagerness to prove my superiority. Hah. This fills me with wonder. Alas, my draconic pride has been wounded. To remedy my hurt, I must put you in your place.”
The human continued sleeping, snoring even.
"Grrrrrrrnnnngh...”
My eyelid and lips twitched.
Another snore followed.
“Hrrrrrrrgh...”
If I had been in my human shape, my expression would undoubtedly have been one of profound disgust and anger. Instead, I merely stared. How dare he? I was standing directly before him, announced my intention to kill him, and attempted to break his barrier. And this human was sleeping through all of it. Where did his sense of self-preservation go? Worse, he was even snoring.
“Grrrrrrrnnnngh...”
I raised my head. Very well. If this barrier wished to protect him, then I would simply destroy everything around it. I lifted my claws and swung with my full might.
BOOM!
The cliff collapsed.
Rock shattered beneath my claws, and the ground gave way in an enormous explosion of stone and earth. The tree was uprooted, the earth crumbled, and the sleeping human disappeared beneath the collapsing cliff. I thought I had succeeded, but moments later, I continued to sense him, alive and his barrier still intact. I watched in disbelief as the entire mass of earth carrying the human rolled away.
The human bounced once, twice, and then again. The entire chunk of cliff crashed down the slope, sending him tumbling an absurd distance away like a stone skipping across the surface of the lake. I followed his trajectory with my eyes. He finally came to a stop.
"..."
I waited. His life signature remained vibrant. He was still alive. More importantly, he was barely disturbed.
“What...?”
That should not have happened. I had struck the cliff with my full strength. Even a cultivator of considerable cultivation would have been seriously injured by such an attack if they had been caught beneath it, yet this human had merely gone rolling down the mountain. My anger began bubbling. The unfamiliarity of everything surrounding this human was becoming unbearable. Nothing about this human made sense. I had already exercised considerable restraint, and it had clearly been wasted.
“Fine.”
I opened my jaws. The air around me began to distort. Power gathered within my body. Flames and lightning gathered within my throat.
“If you refuse to perish beneath my claws, then perish beneath my breath!”
I unleashed my dragon's breath. The world disappeared beneath a torrent of destructive power. And as I watched the blast engulf the offending human, one thought crossed my mind.
Perhaps I had become slightly too angry.