At death's door.
Scheherazade calmly continued her stories night after night.
Not even Scheherazade herself could have known that her stories would blossom into the great masterpiece known as One Thousand and One Nights.
「Desperation sometimes fashions the most brilliant miracles.」
Just as a wise philosopher once said.
A flower blooming on a parched cliff at the end of life carries the richest fragrance.
And now.
I, too, had quietly stepped onto that distant stage of trial.
***
Perhaps.
It might have been a simple matter to deduce.
Ah, the conclusion was fairly obvious.
This place was filled with pure mana, and highly concentrated Mana Stones lay everywhere.
Yet there was no trace of any apex predator beyond low-level monsters.
In other words.
A far stronger and more overwhelming superior being ruled this place.
'And if I had to name a superior being that made its nest this deep inside a cavern......'
Only one absolute race flashed through my mind.
'Could it be a Dragon after all......?'
But I sensed no murderous intent. She remained reclined on her soft bed, simply watching me with languid eyes.
Could it be the ease of a mighty being who could take my life whenever she wished?
It was a reasonable thought.
Trapped in a Slime's body, I could not fathom the realm she had reached.
It was like a single drop of water trying to measure the depth of a boundless ocean.
But the action I needed to take immediately was clear.
I had encountered absolute beings while climbing the Tower.
Before overwhelming force, rash hostility and attempts to flee were useless.
I had to show the utmost courtesy while proving my worth and arousing her curiosity.
I firmly steadied my sloshing jelly body.
Rather than flattening myself against the floor and trembling abjectly, I finely controlled the mana in my core and shaped my body into a neat sphere.
For a human, it would have been the equivalent of offering a polite bow.
It was the bare minimum of pride I had to preserve as a martial artist who had survived brushes with death.
At the same time, I pulled the mana within my central core taut.
I created a subtle vibration.
It was an advanced application of mana that converted waves into sound and scattered them through the air.
"I sincerely apologize for the sudden disturbance. I am merely a Slime who lost his way."
The squishy jelly vibrated.
A clear, transparent wave that seemed to ring directly inside the mind filled the cavern.
Even I thought it was a remarkably clever and polished response.
As though agreeing with me, her red lips curved gently.
After silently watching me for a moment, she blinked her languid eyes twice.
Then she could no longer hold back and let out a light laugh.
"Pfft."
'Did it work?'
I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"What a peculiar and adorable guest has come to visit."
I had barged straight through the wall of her nest.
Yet she appeared rather intrigued by the sight of a Slime greeting her with impeccable courtesy through advanced mana control.
'This is it.'
I might now have become an unremarkable Slime.
But at heart, I was an intelligent being overflowing with refinement to my very bones, born and raised in the courteous nation of the East.
I decided to exploit that contrast and win as much of her favor as possible.
I moved a little closer.
Boing, boing.
I kicked lightly off the ground and approached the foot of the bed.
Seen up close, she possessed a truly otherworldly beauty.
Long silver hair spilled like a waterfall across the soft cushions.
Skin pale enough to be translucent contrasted with deep amethyst eyes.
Beyond her languid gaze, I caught a glimpse of the weight of unfathomable years.
More than anything, what captured my gaze was the true nature of the bed beneath her.
Hundreds, no, thousands of Supreme-Grade Mana Stones.
An enormous quantity of elixirs sufficient to buy an empire in the outside world was being treated as nothing more than a soft mattress.
"You seem surprised."
She propped her chin on one elegant hand and asked.
"They are merely dregs that solidified each time I breathed. In this deep and quiet cradle, they are useless stones."
'Dregs?'
My core spasmed faintly.
Those brilliant Mana Stones I had picked up and eaten as though they were candy were mere byproducts of her breath?
'......Ahem, anyway.'
An overwhelming gulf.
Once again, I keenly felt the absolute difference in our power.
I raised the waves from my core once more.
"Those stones allowed me to stave off my hunger. Please forgive me for taking them without recognizing their rightful owner."
"You speak so beautifully. Despite being a Slime, no less."
Her amethyst eyes seemed to pierce through my body for an instant, but she soon smiled gently again as though it did not matter.
A gaze that saw through everything.
She already understood perfectly that I was no ordinary demonic beast.
"You seem to have circumstances of your own. Perhaps I should hear your story?"
'As expected.'
If I could not hide it, I was better off revealing it boldly.
This was instead the perfect chance to prove that I was both harmless and special.
I adjusted the viscosity of my body and leaped lightly into the air.
Boing, bo-oing.
I hopped lightly in place and stretched out my round limbs adorably.
It was the best movement I could manage.
The paths of swordsmanship I had honed through decades of bone-grinding pain in my human life.
I had no sword to hold, but the movement of my body itself could become an embodiment of intent.
I spun in the air.
I focused the mana in my core sharply along the edge of my jelly.
The principle of penetration I had realized while breaking through the stone wall earlier.
SWISH—!
The edge of my blue jelly briefly assumed the form of sharp, crescent-shaped sword energy.
A single clear drop of water fell from the tip of a stalactite.
I swung the jelly blade at that tiny target with considerable grace.
SLICE.
A miraculous trajectory.
The droplet silently split precisely in half and seeped into the floor.
Tap.
I landed lightly and sent out another vibration.
"Though I have lost my flesh, I have not lost my former convictions or pride."
My unjust circumstances and cruel fate, and the memories of facing death after being betrayed.
I diligently wove them into the paths of my sword and the motions of my dance as I explained.
With her chin propped on one hand, she watched me as though I were terribly amusing.
"Hahahaha!"
At last, her clear laughter, like jade beads rolling across a silver platter, filled the cavern.
Her perpetually languid face began to glow with vivid life.
"How amusing. You truly are amusing. In the hundreds, no, thousands of years I have spent inside this tedious nest, I have never experienced such delight."
She lightly snapped her fingers.
WHOOSH.
The flow of air around me instantly turned warm, and I felt the mana circuits within my jelly stabilize deeply.
A gesture of goodwill. Or perhaps a small mercy bestowed by the mighty.
"Betrayal by humans. It seems their nature has never changed."
A trace of bitterness entered her voice.
It sounded as though she, too, had once crossed a mire of vicious betrayal and intrigue long ago.
"I do not intend to obsess over the traitors. I will merely walk my path again."
I sent the wave out calmly.
Being devoured by rage while shackled to the past was the behavior of amateurs.
What I needed now was only the strength to advance. The firm tenacity to overcome this cruel fate and climb toward the summit once more.
She narrowed her eyes.
A peculiar light flashed within her amethyst gaze.
"Oh, what a bold ambition."
She lightly flicked a fingertip.
CLANG—!
One of the Mana Stones scattered across the floor traced a parabola and flew toward me.
It held a pitch-black light and stood on a completely different level from the stones I had eaten so far.
Sharp sparks leaped from its surface as violent mana poured out.
"Anyone can boast with words. Would you prove that you truly possess the right to embark upon that arduous path?"
It was both the amusement and the test of a mighty being.
I had never possessed the right to refuse in the first place.
Without hesitation, I launched my round body forward and gulped down the pitch-black Mana Stone.
Gulp.
At that instant, a tremendous storm raged within my jelly body.
Agonizing pain, as though I had swallowed red-hot molten iron whole.
The raging torrent of mana tried to tear violently through my translucent inner walls.
It felt as though my body would burst.
But with the resolve to grit my teeth, I spun my core at high speed.
I pushed my core's power to its limit. I forcibly engraved the breathing method of the Lightning God Style upon the inner walls of my jelly.
CRACKLE—! CRACK—!
Black lightning leaped violently across the surface of my blue jelly.
The mana that had raged like a wild stallion finally surrendered and transformed into obedient energy.
[Your mana circuit has grown sturdier.]
[Your Soul Rank has risen slightly.]
[The System pays tribute to your control.]
My translucent body took on a deeper and harder steel-blue color.
I steadied myself while catching my ragged breath.
"It was a little spicy, but it was an excellent feast."
My glib answer drew a small exclamation of genuine wonder from her.
"Goodness, you subdued that rampaging mana. You truly are an unusual creature."
She looked down at me with a satisfied smile.
"The way you chatter is truly lovely, child. However......"
For some reason, a mischievous glint flickered across her gently smiling lips.
"To carry on your former pride, you must face a trial that proves it."
'......Then what was that just now?'
But before I could finish forming the question.
She lightly extended a hand toward me.
Warm golden mana burst from her translucent fingertips and cut through the air.
It gently enveloped my blue jelly body, then formed a thin, sturdy membrane and seeped inside.
This was......
A single-use barrier cast by mages.
It was magic that would save one's life from a fatal blow once.
'But why would she give me this......?'
"I would like to speak with you a while longer, but you have no time. Therefore, this is all the help I can provide......"
Her lips slowly parted.
"It is time to determine whether the pride you possess will hold true in this new world."
Pressure that subtly distorted spacetime.
"Now, your trial has come. Prove yourself by your own power."
A low whisper.
After saying those words, she quietly closed her eyes again.
'Just what choice will you make......?'
A strange excitement and anticipation flickered at the edge of her languid smile.
'What is she suddenly talking about?'
Under the crushing pressure, I tilted my round head in confusion.
Then I felt an ominous premonition, as if some irresistible mechanism had interlocked and begun to turn.
It did not take long to understand what she had meant.
My translucent blue body had begun radiating brilliant light at some point.
A fierce glow rose from within.
Something unknown beyond the distant dimensions was calling to me with overwhelming force.
'What......?'
My vision flickered. An explosive torrent of light surged, and a brilliant flash that seemed to cleave space erupted through my jelly's thin membrane.
A vortex of mana formed around my body.
A mass of white light suddenly churned and swallowed me whole.
In the fleeting instant as every sense turned white.
"Live, child. If you return alive, would you call my name?"
Beyond my consciousness as it sank into the darkness.
Her low, elegant voice echoed deeply in my ears.