"Okay… let's go over the old evolutions then," I said. "I guess we will start with the species' evolutions, although I will point out that I technically didn't get a chance to reject three of them due to my last evolution being forced."
"Sure thing, lay it on me!" Vee said excitedly.
<Chimeric Cluster Slime (Pink)
An extremely rare form of slime species coveted by the world as its iconic slime is the primary component in superior Healing potions.
They do not spawn naturally and are only scarcely found, sometimes occupying Healing Fountains inside the largest dungeons.
Their Cores can be utilized as Healing Catalysts or ground down into a vital component in Regeneration Elixirs.
The prize for selling such a slime is untold riches from some of the most powerful nations. Some even consider it a crime to kill such a creature.>
"I'm getting a pink core, so this evolution is useless to me."
Vee bobbed in agreement. "Oh, definitely, it would be a waste. Still, I'm now looking forward to you getting that core. Wouldn't that mean I could regenerate lost limbs with your help?"
"Uh… maybe? I guess I could use [Sub-Cores] that way… it seems a bit cruel though."
"Now you know how Wiggles felt!"
I sighed and moved on to the next one.
<Slime (Grey)
A dungeon slime that attacks by crushing foes under its extreme weight, as the slime has the strange ability to freely adjust the weight of its slime.
While its method of attack can be exceptionally deadly, the slime itself has no additional resistance or immunities and can be easily dispatched unless caught off guard.
Its slime cores seem to offer no known uses and are considered not worth the trouble of attempted harvest.>
"Hey, do you think you'd be able to make teleporting yourself cheaper with this ability?" Vee asked.
"No, that's dimensional weight. I doubt it would affect the Mana costs."
"Well, that's a pity… and while this evolution sounds interesting, I'm not sure how useful being able to change your weight would be."
"Definitely something I'd rather eat a core to gain than willingly evolve into myself."
"A bit dull. I hope the next one is interesting."
<Slime (Gold)
An extraordinarily rare slime hardly ever encountered due to its scarcity and strange nature. The gold slime seemingly has no ability of its own but instead causes reactions based on various substances it encounters or mixes with.
Its habitat is unknown, but it can presumably be found in dungeons with a rarity exceeding that of the highly sought-after pink slime.
One main use recorded for the Gold slime is its usage in Enchanting, as apparently, its slime worked marvelously for Rune Engraving.
Another recorded usage is in Alchemy, where its slime had strange catalytic properties that either enhanced the outcome or, in some cases, caused a contrasting effect.
There are no recorded uses for its core, likely due to its unwillingness to risk losing its source of the mysterious golden slime.>
"Um… what?" Vee said.
"I have no idea, which I have to admit does make it a little tempting since I have no idea what it might do. For all I know, it would give me some hidden feature that gives me unlimited power!"
"Yeah… I'm not much of a gambler, so I don't think it's worth the risk personally speaking."
I nodded. "I agree. Honestly, the main thing that draws me to it is its scarcity, as I might never run into a gold slime core myself. Of course, now the same theory applies to my prismatic slime, which is 'lost to time.'"
"Yeah, not even existing is infinitely rarer," Vee said with a giggle.
<Slime (Black)
By far, the black slime is one of the deadliest base slimes, as this slime has the ability to siphon life force for nourishment and to replenish itself.
The slime is extremely hostile, sensing and seeking life with fervor; it is known to overwhelm adventurers by attacking and engulfing them from all angles.
The slime itself is weak to Holy magic, and when enough of its slime is destroyed, it retreats, keeping its vulnerable core out of sight and secure.
Exclusively found in the highest-level dungeons, they prove that even a humble slime can still threaten even veteran adventurers, as they often attack in small yet overwhelming swarms.
There are no known uses for their cores, and some adventurers who've encountered them even swear they do not have a core despite the logical impossibility of such an existence.>
"Holy crap, why didn't you pick this one sooner?"
"It wasn't an option; otherwise, I might have. When I could have evolved into this, my evolution choices were taken from me during my forced evolution to fix the things I had broken."
"Well, that's a bummer."
"I could see it as a positive now, though, as I quite like my current mutation, and I'd be slightly reluctant, or at least regretful, to pick prismatic now if I had picked black already."
"And by picking prismatic, I guess you could just eat a black slime."
"That's my hope. Anyway, we're moving on to the mutations."
<Gluttonous Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
A mutation of an existing slime species, this slime has an endless hunger it constantly seeks to end.
This mutation can efficiently turn anything into a slime mass and grow to tremendous sizes; plants, animals, even rocks—this slime devours all.
Due to their ability to devour an entire ecosystem into a wasteland and lack of subtlety, they are often quickly exterminated.>
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Holy shit, this one describes you perfectly!"
"No, it doesn't…" I grumbled.
"You actually got an evolution for gluttony… that's hilarious! No way you can tease me. I've never gotten anything like this."
"Oh, I'm sure it's coming. Your next evolution list will have a Spider of Gluttony."
Vee shuddered. "Okay, let's drop it and move on."
<Aquatic Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
A mutation of an existing slime species, this slime gains the ability to command bodies of water that its slime core is submerged within.
This mutation can freely traverse water and gain greater control over water as it grows.
Extremely destructive when angered, but fragile as water lacks the defensive properties of its own slime.
The largest recorded species took over a lake, and many fear what would happen if one found the ocean depths.>
"Oh, this is like the Swamp or Sleep mutations you got?" Vee asked.
"It was very tempting, I considered it for one of my very first evolutions, but I was worried that water would always be inferior to slime. Considering what my slime can do now, I definitely made the right call."
"Yeah, and as much as I hate to admit it, that Swamp evolution is basically this but better? You'd get water control and mud control."
"Not that I'd pick that one either, I'm fully invested in slime power."
"Cool. What's next?"
<Chimeric Doppelgänger Cluster Slime (Blue)
A direct evolution of a mutation is a rarity beyond measure. It answers a long-standing question: If the primary species can evolve, why not the mutation itself?
The Doppelgänger Slime has gone beyond simple mimicry and now steals the lives it has claimed entirely.
Levels, Class, Race, Emblems, Traits, and Skills—all are copied at the time of the prey's death and form a perfect transformation.
Doppelgänger forms, however, cannot be improved beyond their originals. Who needs to grow when you can take more?
Almost no information is available for this species, and it is rumored to be only a theoretical possibility.>
"Um… holy shit, is this a cheat?" Vee asked.
"I nearly took it," I admitted. "But I wasn't in a good headspace at the time, and I felt like I'd be better off making my own power."
"But… like… couldn't you eat your way up the food chain? Just keep eating one size bigger until eventually you eat a dragon."
"Sure… and then?" I replied.
"And then what? You can become a dragon?" Vee asked, sounding puzzled.
"But what if I want to get stronger than that?"
"You… find something stronger than a dragon, I guess? Although I have no idea what that would be."
"See, that's sort of the issue I had. I'd need to keep finding something stronger, but when I picked Chimeric, well, I could simply make something stronger. I also wasn't too happy about the idea of stealing power, and I still think I made the right choice."
"Huh… I never thought about it that way. Still, couldn't you pick it now?"
"And do what exactly? I'd be giving up the prismatic evolution, which I think will let me build an even better me, far more than anything I could steal."
"Okay, point made, especially after I went on and on about evolving your species. Let's move on…"
<Alchemic Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
An extremely rare and highly sought-after mutation of slime that is the envy of alchemists worldwide.
Its slime can substitute for almost any alchemical ingredients, and high-level monsters of this species are said to be able to generate complex potions from scratch.
While many alchemists have tried to obtain this slime as a bonded familiar and lab assistant, its mutation condition is not entirely confirmed, and controlling non-intelligent monster evolutions is another challenge in itself—this has led many alchemists to early bankruptcy.>
"Llewel would love you if you picked this."
"He'd need to get in line. Simon was first…" I joked.
"Oh? Was he as handsome?"
"He was a walking, talking skeleton. No, he wasn't."
"Then—"
"Moving on!" I interrupted.
<Predation Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
A mutation of an existing slime species, this slime targets and hunts prey like a veteran assassin.
This mutation gains unique traits to blend into the environment and eliminate its own sounds and smells, in combination to make it nearly undetectable.
Advanced cases of this species are said to be able to detect lifeforce and conceal their own lifeforce and Mana.>
"Oh, an assassin slime! Cool!"
"I had to pick between this or Mimic as my very first evolution. I ultimately went with Mimic because I wanted to find a way to interact with people."
"Hey, just like me now."
I nodded. "It was certainly tempting back then. But now… well… it feels so greatly outclassed by everything else I can do."
"If you didn't have access to classes, I'd say it would still be worth it. But since you can, I mean, you might as well just swap to an assassin class if you're that desperate."
"My thoughts exactly."
We moved on.
<Magma Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
A mutation of an existing slime species, this slime gains the ability to command magma and lava that its slime core is submerged within.
This mutation can freely traverse the molten rock and gain greater control over it as it grows.
Extremely destructive and hard to kill due to being protected by the molten rock, the only saving grace is that they are generally small due to the inherent difficulty of controlling such a powerful element.
Commonly mutated from red slimes, they share the weakness of water and Ice magic, which can trap their core in a rocky obsidian prison.>
"Okay, I think this is the coolest of the bunch. Magma is way better than Sleet!" Vee declared confidently.
"I have [Magma Magic] now, though… not that I've used it."
"Oh yeah. I nearly forgot with the plethora of other stuff you keep adding to your utility belt."
"I'll get around to it eventually. I'll have to if I want to make [Intermediate Elemental Magic]."
"Better get on it then," Vee teased.
<Cloud Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
A mutation of slime that is said to only be found on floating islands.
This slime has the ability to transform and control its slime into a cloud-like substance and slowly fly around.
Its primary form of attack, suffocation, is extremely deadly and feared among careless adventurers.
However, due to its inability to reasonably protect its core, it often dies swiftly.>
"Oh, a flying mutation!"
"I can already fly," I retorted.
"Oh yeah. Shit, I guess this is useless?"
"Yup."
<Queen Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue)
The apex of a particular slime species, this evolution is the final destination for any slime species as it turns away from self-growth to progeny.
The Queen Slime loses the detriment of decaying slime mass and instead produces new slime mass over time, which is a necessity for its new goal and ability to create entirely new slime cores. Slime cores birthed by the Queen that become independent slimes become the base slime species, but on rare occasions, can also be born with any of her other mutations.
For this final evolution, the Queen Slime gains a boost to all its attributes and traits.>
"Queen Syl!" Vee marveled.
"No!" I snapped.
"Okay, okay… Plus, it would be a final evolution, so it seems like a big waste to take it now."
"Yeah. Definitely one to only take right at the end," I agreed.
Vee gasped. "You're actually considering it?"
"If there's a limit to our evolutions… then maybe? What if I only get one more after prismatic? Then I'd need to seriously consider the Queen evolution over grabbing another mutation."
"Really? I mean, I know it says it boosts everything… but still, you'd be having children!"
"It also lets me generate slime for free, something that definitely can't be overlooked. Plus, I don't have to make slime babies."
"I guess… although I'll definitely tease you about being a Queen."
I rolled my eyes.