A Bloodsucking Mosquito Proboscis rose behind the [Strong] Slime.
The tentacle moved swiftly and drove the proboscis into the [Strong] Slime's body.
TING—
'I knew it wouldn't work.'
[Strong] was strong indeed.
It was a special specimen.
'I expected as much when I saw it had Hard and Tough Skin.'
Hard and Tough Skin was listed among its abilities.
Even if it was not impervious to ten thousand blades, it could at least deflect a Bloodsucking Mosquito Proboscis.
'This one's a dud. Better hide it quickly.'
When a plan failed, one had to retreat fast.
Otherwise, he would draw aggro.
He did not know whether he could win if they fought now.
'Even if it's cowardly, you should only fight when you can beat the other side one-sidedly.'
If a back-and-forth fight dragged on, something else would join in.
There was a reason people spoke of a third party reaping the spoils.
A creature weakened by battle made good prey.
If both were badly injured, even better.
'Let's watch it for now.'
He had to understand his opponent before he could find an opening.
Only then could he devise a strategy.
Fortunately, it was stupid.
After briefly searching for whatever had stabbed it, it continued on its way.
It was heading toward a nearby Centipede's territory.
The Centipede had recently killed the spider that lived there and claimed its nest.
Its wounds from that battle had not fully healed yet.
SHSHSH—
The Centipede threatened the approaching slime.
It was warning that it would attack if the slime came any closer.
The slime paid no heed to the threat.
It attacked the Centipede head-on.
SCREECH—
The Centipede drove its venomous fangs and legs into the slime's body.
At the same time, it tore into the slime's torso with its powerful jaws.
Even the slime's Hard and Tough Skin could not withstand the Centipede's jaws.
A chunk of flesh was ripped away.
The [Strong] Slime did not take that lying down.
It enveloped the Centipede starting from the head.
It looked as though a wrapping cloth had been thrown over the Centipede's head.
The two beasts continued their vicious struggle for some time.
It was a battle of biting and dissolving each other.
'The [Strong] Slime has the advantage after all.'
The Centipede was already wounded.......
The slime, on the other hand, was in perfect condition.
Regeneration was doing its job wherever it was injured.
One side continued accumulating damage while the other slowly recovered.
The Centipede's head carapace melted, and its writhing gradually came to a stop.
It had begun to be digested inside the slime's stomach.
'At least the [Strong] Slime is small.'
Despite its strength, the [Strong] Slime was small.
If it had been even the size of a small dog, it would have caught the Centipede with ease.
'Come to think of it, being a Medium Slime isn't bad either.'
For one thing, he had the advantage in size.
A difference in weight class was not easily overcome.
'Good. That'll work.'
The [Strong] Slime was not particularly intelligent.
Food lured it from place to place.
Sometimes its hunts succeeded, and sometimes they failed.
Regeneration was the reason it survived even when a hunt failed.
At those times, it absorbed weaker opponents to recover stamina and spiritual energy.
For example.......
'It's slowly getting used to taking my bait.'
To lure the [Strong] Slime, the Medium Slime used prey it had caught.......
It tossed over a fish.
The creature accepted it once, then twice.
Gradually, it drew closer to the waterway.
It was growing accustomed to free food.
When it approached the waterway to eat another fish, the Medium Slime struck.
The Medium Slime swallowed the [Strong] Slime whole with its massive body.
'Now it's you or me.'
[Acid Production: Your ability to secrete acid has increased slightly.]
Acidic fluid poured into the Medium Slime's stomach.
He tried to digest the [Strong] Slime as it was.
Slimes, however, naturally possessed Acid Resistance.
It could not be digested easily.
It kept writhing inside his stomach, trying to escape.
But the Medium Slime's stomach was vast and spacious.
It shifted along with the [Strong] Slime's movements.
The Medium Slime's stomach was not easy to escape from.
A battle between spear and shield had begun.
The Medium Slime entered the mud pool with his prey still inside him.
[Acid Production: Your ability to secrete acid has increased slightly.]
The Medium Slime lay utterly still inside the mud pool.
He sustained himself on the bodily fluids he sucked from other Mud Slimes.
His stores of nutrients and spiritual energy barely declined.
The [Strong] Slime, by contrast, had been cut off from its supply of nutrients and spiritual energy.
It slowly dried out and withered.
Eventually, even its Acid Resistance and Regeneration stopped functioning properly.
It gradually began to be digested inside the Medium Slime's stomach.
'Devouring!'
He shouted it in his mind.
Doing so felt as though it would raise his chance of absorbing an ability.
[New ability, Regeneration, has been registered.]
'I got it!'
He raised nonexistent hands in triumph.
'I got another one!'
The rewards were generous, fitting for a creature labeled [Strong].
[New ability, Hard and Tough Skin, has been registered.]
He gained two abilities from the [Strong] Slime.
He danced exuberantly with nonexistent arms and legs.
Even a fish passing nearby was startled into fleeing.
'Now I can finally make a real go of this.'
At last, it was time to leave the waterway and venture onto land.
***
The Medium Slime prepared to go ashore.
First, he searched for somewhere to establish a base.
The surface might be an endlessly competitive battle royale.
Even so, he could not fight without rest.
He needed to eat, sleep, and recover.
He needed a territory of his own.
Once he secured one, he could defeat the surrounding competitors one by one.
More space meant more food and spiritual energy.
'I should target the weakest one.'
That would be the creature with the smallest territory.
There was such a place right next door.
It was where the [Strong] Slime had lived.
Another creature had quietly moved in while the owner was gone.
It was a venomous snake.
'The poison is a problem.......'
Since it had failed to claim a territory of its own and occupied an empty one instead, it was probably not very strong.
More importantly, it was small.
Small enough for the Medium Slime to swallow in one bite.
'Then shall we go?'
He left the waterway and headed toward the venomous snake's territory.
HISS—
HISS—
The venomous snake grew wary as the massive slime approached.
It hissed a warning.
The sound meant it would bite if he came any closer.
The Medium Slime ignored the threat.
He spread out his body, making himself several times larger.
Then, like wrapping food in a cloth, he swallowed the venomous snake whole.
The snake tried to bite the slime, but he never gave it the chance.
With the snake trapped inside him, he secreted acidic digestive fluid.
[Acid Production: Your ability to secrete acid has increased slightly.]
The venomous snake tried every way it could to escape.
But the slime's insides were also hard and tough.
The snake began to be digested.
[Venomous Snake Devoured: Devouring has increased slightly.]
After messages appeared for some time, a new notification was added.
[New ability, Poison Production, has been registered.]
'Yes. That's more like it. Poison is basic equipment for the demon race.'
Many Demon Beasts evolved from venomous creatures.
No ability was as effective as poison.
Most creatures could be assumed to use poison and possess Poison Resistance.
'Poison Resistance is essential if I want to fight other creatures.'
No matter how powerful one's Regeneration was, there was no recourse after being bitten by deadly venom.
Poison Resistance was indispensable.
From now on, he could train automatically.
'Autoplay is the foundation of leveling up in games.'
It let players skip repetitive, tedious stretches.
The Medium Slime brought out another Bloodsucking Mosquito Proboscis.
He softened a section of his Hard and Tough Skin.
Then he drove the proboscis into it.
He connected his poison sac to his body with a tube.
Poison secreted by the sac automatically flowed into his body.
[Poison Production: Your ability to secrete poison has increased slightly.]
[Poison Resistance: Your ability to resist poison has increased slightly.]
The notifications appeared in sequence.
[Poison Production: Your ability to secrete poison has increased slightly.]
[Poison Resistance: Your ability to resist poison has increased slightly.]
'Now this is true autoplay.'
As time passed, the rate of improvement would slow down here too.
Eventually, he would reach the limit.
'When that happens, I'll get a new poison and do it again.'
Poisons had their own levels of attainment.
It was no different from having to break through the wall of the Qi Refining Realm to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Within each level, however, this method worked.
Since the process was automatic, it did not matter if the pace slowed.
He would steadily advance all the way to the limit.
'Stopping with poison would be a waste.'
The Medium Slime had another set of abilities he could train automatically.
They were his acid-related abilities.
Acid could dissolve most things.
His acid-related abilities were still weak, but.......
'I can put my acid abilities on autoplay too. Ha ha.'
He brought out a Bloodsucking Mosquito Proboscis and repeated the earlier process.
Acid was injected into his body from the sac that produced it.
[Acid Production: Your ability to secrete acid has increased slightly.]
[Acid Resistance: Your ability to resist acid has increased slightly.]
'Let's go!'
[Acid Production: Your ability to secrete acid has increased slightly.]
[Acid Resistance: Your ability to resist acid has increased slightly.]
His acid-related abilities rose rapidly.
Even while grinding those stats.......
'Caught one!'
He continued fishing.
'Raising things is more profitable than eating them after all.'
The Mud Slime farm continued operating as well.
He slowly amassed strength inside the waterway.
Now it was time for the real hunt.
'Let's go!'