After laying his companion to rest, Azuro dissolved and absorbed the remaining half of the sword, and began to frantically devour everything around him. Whether it was rock, iron, bone, or the sparse vegetation, he swept it all away. Consequently, his newly formed slime body also experienced considerable growth.
Although the information on his talent panel remained unchanged, Azuro could feel that his slime body had become much stronger. The most obvious change was the elasticity of his body, which had improved significantly. Moreover, he could now jump forward at will, which was far better than before, when he would feel exhausted after only a few jumps.
It wasn't until the hunger in his body had almost disappeared that Azuro stopped. Only then did he realize that many slimes had surrounded him, and many of them gave him a feeling of power… at least, they were powerful to him now.
"These should be the previous generation of slimes, but I always feel like they have a power within them that I don't know about?"
Azuro sized up the slimes in front of him, gathered together and bouncing around. He had a strange feeling about them, as if some kind of energy flowed within them. Based on the novels and anime he had seen before, it should be something similar to magic—though he didn't fully understand it yet.
"However, how do I obtain this thing? Logically speaking, as a monster, I should be born with it, right?"
Subsequently, Azuro began to sense his own body, but perhaps because he was newly born and too weak, he did not detect anything similar to magic within himself. Of course, it was also possible that he had not yet evolved organs capable of sensing such power.
"Forget it, I'll know after growing for a while. The most important thing right now is to survive."
In the next second, Azuro, unable to find anything, stopped dwelling on it. In any case, with his [Encounter in Another World] talent, he would eventually possess this power. And even if he didn't, Azuro wouldn't mind devouring monsters that possessed it. With his Gluttony ability, he had a chance to gain some of their power. As long as the quantity was large enough, possessing this power would only be a matter of time.
"Then, let's get motivated and keep eating!"
Subsequently, Azuro glared fiercely into the distance, where there were still many things to devour. With his Gluttony, he didn't have to worry about eating too much or failing to digest it. His bottomless stomach and digestive power were more than enough to support continuous consumption. Every morsel strengthened him, giving this weak slime the power to survive.
In the following days, Azuro constantly devoured everything around him—even soil, though compared to other things, the nourishment it provided was minimal.
In addition, during these few days, Azuro also determined his location. Although his vision remained blurry, his perception was accurate. Combining what he had devoured with the surrounding environment, he deduced that he was in a place resembling a sewer. Moreover, it was a location full of garbage and filth. Apart from slimes and a few insects, no other life existed in this sewer.
....
Drip!
In the dark, messy, and foul-smelling sewer, a slime lay on a white bone, dissolving the skeletal remains of an unknown monster at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the filthy ditch not far away, the occasional drip of water broke the silence of this dead space.
"Still nothing."
After the white bone in his body was completely dissolved and absorbed, Azuro's elastic body jumped toward a nearby rock. Skillfully wrapping it within himself, he carefully sensed all the changes in his body. It was still the familiar sensation of infiltration, yet there was still no power similar to magic.
But according to Azuro's observations these past few days, some slimes born at the same time as him—but who clearly had not eaten as much—already possessed a faint power within them.
"Could it be…"
The next second, Azuro, having digested the rock, focused on a slime nearby. He clearly sensed a weak power flowing inside it. The only difference between this slime, born alongside him, and himself, was that it had followed the large group to devour that corpse on the day of its birth—a human corpse.
"I went to see that corpse yesterday, and although I couldn't see it clearly, it was indeed human. Judging from the remaining clothes, it was an adventurer. Devouring powerful creatures—or rather, creatures with magic—is more conducive to growth."
Thinking this, Azuro made a decision. He jumped little by little toward the slime's location. As he approached, the slime remained unaware, quietly stationary.
In the next second, Azuro directly crashed into the slime. With his Gluttony ability and the growth he had achieved over the past few days, his body was already several times stronger than his peers. The sudden sneak attack sent the slime flying, crashing heavily on the ground. Its round, streamlined body rolled several meters, and judging from its stillness, it was close to death. After all, slimes were recognized as the weakest monsters; even an ordinary human child could crush them.
"Rest in my body!"
Azuro jumped in front of the fallen slime, silently reciting a phrase in his mind, and wrapped it completely in his body. Then, a strange sensation surged through him. The world instantly shifted. His previously black-and-white perception became colorful, and he could sense the magic essence flowing in the air.
"Magic essence… so that's what it's called."
At this time, the talent panel displayed a completely new change: a new talent had formed.
[Magic Essence] (White): The symbol of a monster's power, the beginning of evolution. Having just been born with magic essence, you have become a true monster. Though still weak, it is the very beginning.
"However, magic essence plus a nameless monster… so this is that world, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Rimuru."
Feeling the magic essence in his body, Azuro already guessed the world he had entered. If it were simply called "magic," he might not have recognized it, but there was only one world with magic essence.
"Then, Rimuru Tempest, the other slime reincarnated into this world… have you already become a Demon Lord… or have you not yet arrived?"
Azuro's voice echoed in his mind, and a bold, new idea gradually formed. However, all of this would have to wait until he exited the sewer and learned more about the world outside.