Just as Azuro was fantasizing about the wonderful older sister-type humanoid creatures of another world, a sudden wave of hunger surged through his body, his body and soul roaring and craving the first nourishment since his birth, driving Azuro to devour his very first meal.
"So hungry… So hungry… So hungry…"
Faced with the sudden hunger, Azuro's body drove him to seek his first food, but due to the slime's vision limitations, he could only vaguely see everything around him, as if viewing the world in the worst black-and-white picture quality, like a human with over 800 degrees of nearsightedness taking off their glasses.
"Huh? What is this feeling?"
The next second, Azuro's round, streamlined body suddenly froze. A strange sensation appeared in his perception: the vibrations of the air and ground transmitted everything happening around him. Even without clear sight, Azuro instinctively sensed the objects, creatures, and obstacles nearby.
It was as if he were on the surface of water, able to detect even the slightest ripple in the distance. He could perceive the size and movement of objects, similar to how a spider senses vibrations on its web, though he could not yet discern what each thing was.
"Is this the world in the slime's perception?"
Azuro instinctively crawled forward cautiously, his liquid body wriggling inch by inch. Although he knew that bouncing, jumping members of his own kind surrounded him, he chose the safest path, driven by caution and fear. After all, even with top-tier talent, he was now just a slime, so weak he could not even defeat a dog.
Pa!
Suddenly, Azuro, moving forward, bumped into something, halting his advance.
"This is… a sword?"
He looked at the long object before him. Though his vision was vague, its shape resembled a sword. His slime body detected sharpness and rigidity.
"Why is this thing here?"
After staring at the sword for several seconds and failing to comprehend its origin, Azuro ignored it. Hunger gnawed at him too strongly. Crawling around the sword, he continued forward—but the next moment, he felt something enter his body.
Pfft!
A sudden, warm current flowed through him as part of the object dissolved. A trace of power surged through his newly born slime body.
"Damn… it's dissolving."
Azuro froze, stunned. Compared to the hunger burning inside him, the novel sensation of dissolving matter within his body was exhilarating. The warmth and power permeating his entire being made him feel alive in a way nothing else had.
"Should I try again?"
The next second, Azuro approached the nearby grass. Recalling the pleasure of dissolving the previous patch, he leaped forward. His liquid body enveloped the grass, completely dissolving it into nutrients. Each piece strengthened his weak body incrementally, driving him to devour everything in sight. Soon, even the sparse grass in the area was gone.
"Speaking of which, it seems that other things can also be eaten."
Azuro's gaze shifted back to the sword blocking his way, while he consulted the talent panel only he could see.
[Gluttony] (Purple): You have a bottomless stomach and digestive ability. Due to your racial traits, you can devour living beings and inorganic matter, fully absorbing nutrients to accelerate your growth. There is a chance to gain portions of abilities from what you consume.
According to the panel, the iron sword was also edible.
"Let's try it. If this works, I won't lack food in the future."
Azuro cautiously enveloped the sword with his body. A moment later, the portion that entered his form dissolved under Gluttony's digestive power, turning into growth nutrients.
"It really works!"
Feeling the familiar power surge, he engulfed the entire sword. However, his basketball-sized body could only wrap half; the upper half remained exposed.
Nearby slimes paused as they passed by, bewildered. Their weak intelligence could not comprehend why this slime was stopping. Ordinary slimes could digest grass but could not consume metal swords.
Bang!
Suddenly, something smashed against the ground, startling the surrounding slimes. It was only the sword falling after the lower half had been completely dissolved.
Pa!
"Huh?"
As Azuro prepared to finish the remaining half, something struck his body. A slime had leapt onto him. The moment contact occurred, the intruder was instantly dissolved and absorbed, leaving only half of its body on the ground. Judging by its lack of movement, it was completely dead.
"So, I ate a member of my own kind?"
Azuro stared at the remains, recalling a certain schizophrenic spider. Could this be the path of a kin-eater? Oh… it already was. After all, half of it was now gone.
"Sure enough… the life of a slime is so fragile, it dies so easily."
Observing how vulnerable his kind was, fear flickered in Azuro's heart. Though he had infinite potential, he was now just a fragile slime, capable of dying in an instant.
"Rest in peace. I will live on with your legacy and become a powerful slime!"
Azuro crawled forward, wrapping the half-devoured slime in his body. The familiar power surged once again. A small change stirred in his heart: everything he did now was simply to survive… and to honor the essence of the life that had become part of him.
Also… rest in peace inside my body!