Consciousness returned like a slow tide creeping up the shore.
For a long moment, Frieren floated in nothingness — warmth and weightless stillness, as if she was both everywhere and nowhere at once. Then, with a single pulse, reality crashed back.
Frieren gasped — or, well, made the slime equivalent of a gasp — as light and sound flooded in.
'What the hell happened...? Did I explode or something?'
Before she could sort through the fog, a deep, booming laugh echoed across the cave.
"Hah! You're awake at last, Frieren Tempest!"
That voice. That overdramatic, bass-heavy thunderclap of a voice. Veldora.
Frieren blinked — mentally — and turned toward the massive figure hovering in the glow of their magic sense. The dragon's golden eyes sparkled with unrestrained excitement, his wings twitching like a kid who couldn't sit still.
"You have done it, my friend! You have evolved!" he declared, his tone a strange mix of awe and pride. "Never in all my years have I seen such a phenomenon!"
Frieren's first reaction wasn't pride. It was confusing.
Then irritation.
'Wait—did he just call me Frieren again? That girly name stuck?!'
"I... evolved?" Frieren asked carefully, ignoring the name issue for now.
Veldora nodded eagerly. "Indeed! It is the first time I have seen someone acquire Demon Lord Seeds and evolve simply from being named! Not only that—you absorbed far more magicules than I bestowed! Hahaha! Truly magnificent!"
Frieren's form quivered in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait—Demon Lord seeds? And I absorbed more than you gave me? That's... that's not supposed to happen!"
The dragon scratched his chin sheepishly. "Well... I might have, ah, overdone it during the naming. Got a bit excited, you see. I poured more magicules than intended."
> ["Correction. Subject Veldora transferred approximately 3.6 times the standard safe threshold for monster naming. However, Master absorbed the excess and simultaneously drew ambient magicules from the surroundings."]
'...So basically, I inhaled the whole cave.'
> ["Affirmative."]
Frieren groaned mentally. "Great. I'm a magical vacuum cleaner now."
Veldora let out another laugh. "Truly, you are full of surprises, my friend!"
She wanted to argue about the name, to ask why Frieren, but the excitement in Veldora's face stopped her. The mighty dragon looked so genuinely proud and happy — how could she ruin that?
'Alright, fine,' Frieren thought. 'Frieren Tempest it is.'
> ["Master, your new status is available for review."]
"Show me."
> [" Status:
Name: Frieren Tempest
Species: Draconian Slime
Unique Skills: Great Sage, Predator, Jester's Trick
Extra Skills: Infinite Regeneration, Resistance to all Abnormal Conditions, Water Manipulation, Synthesis, Magic Sense, Magic Manipulation
Existence Value: 690,000"]
Frieren blinked — or rather, rippled in stunned silence.
'...Six hundred ninety thousand? Holy crap, I'm jacked!'
> ["Clarification: compared to the average evolved monster, Master's existence value exceeds the norm by approximately thirty-five times."]
'Sage, you sure I'm not breaking any cosmic laws right now?'
> ["Not currently."]
"Ha! You are powerful indeed," Veldora boomed. "Even my naming could not have produced such results alone. This must be your own talent!"
Frieren smiled faintly. "Thanks, partner."
The dragon blinked. "Partner?"
"Yeah," Frieren said, bouncing slightly. "You and me. Partners. Remember?"
For the briefest instant, the mighty Veldora Tempest looked touched. Then he puffed his chest and grinned. "Hmph! Of course! Together, none shall stand in our way!"
They bumped fists — or in Frieren's case, an amorphous blob against a claw the size of a wagon. The contact sent a satisfying pulse of energy through the cave.
"Alright," Frieren said finally, "time to keep my promise."
And with that, her body began to ripple.
> ["Activating Unique Skill: Predator."]
The world warped. Space folded like liquid glass, and Veldora's colossal form began to shimmer. His body dispersed into threads of golden light, flowing straight into Frieren's translucent form.
> ["Predation complete. Target Veldora Tempest stored safely in internal stomach space."]
Frieren exhaled. "Alright, Veldora. Analyze the Infinite Imprisonment from your end. I'll start from mine."
> ["Acknowledged."]
Veldora's voice echoed faintly inside her mind, sounding strangely amused. "Heh. Feels like I'm taking a vacation inside a luxury suite."
Frieren chuckled. "Just don't start redecorating in there."
The next few days were... productive.
Frieren spent them exploring deeper regions of the cave, hunting everything that moved. Each battle taught her something new — about her body, her powers, and how disgustingly efficient she could be when she put her mind to it.
The first was a Tempest Serpent, a massive, horned snake crackling with lightning.
It lunged from a pool of glowing water, fangs bared. Frieren dodged with liquid grace, her body flattening mid-air like an elastic pancake.
'Sage, what's the weak point?'
> ["Underbelly. Suggest penetrating with high-velocity water blade."]
Frieren spun, compressing a torrent of water into a thin, gleaming edge. With a thought, she sliced upward — clean through scale and muscle.
The serpent's body spasmed once, then went still.
> ["Predation successful. Acquired: Lightning Resistance, Electric Discharge."]
'Lightning powers? Oh yeah, this is happening.'
Next came the Steel-Webbed Spider. Its web spanned an entire cavern chamber, shimmering like wire mesh.
The spider hissed, spitting strands of metallic silk that could've sliced through stone.
'Okay, creepy bug. Let's dance.'
Frieren charged her body with lightning, firing off rapid bursts of energy. Sparks met steel, shattering the web like glass. Then she aimed a concentrated jet of compressed water — a water bullet, essentially — straight through its abdomen.
> ["Predation successful. Acquired: Steel Thread, Web Manipulation."]
'Nice. Now I can play Spider-Man too.'
The Venom Sprouting Spider came next, oozing poison with every step. Frieren simply flooded the chamber with high-pressure wind cutters — a technique she'd just developed by mixing magicule control with her elemental conversion. The creature was shredded before it could even hiss.
> ["Predation successful. Acquired: Venom Resistance, Poison Generation."]
'One more for the collection. At this rate, I'm gonna need a filing system.'
> ["Synthesis function available for skill organization."]
'You read my mind, Sage.'
> ["Technically, yes."]
Frieren snorted mentally. "Smartass."
The following battles blended together in a blur of destruction and discovery.
A Supersonic Bat whose screams shattered stone — defeated by a focused sonic pulse amplified through Frieren's liquid resonance.
A Deadly Rock Worm with armor harder than iron — destroyed by chaining explosive magicule bombs into its open mouth.
And finally, a Bladed Boar that charged like a living tank — stopped dead by a triple combination of lightning blade, water cutter, and explosive burst.
Each victory brought new abilities, new resistances, and new ideas.
> ["Predation successful. Acquired cumulative skills: Sonic Wave, Tremor Sense, Stone Armor, Kinetic Boost."]
Frieren was starting to get addicted to the process.
'Man, this feels like farming rare drops in an RPG. Only bloodier.'
> ["Statement accurate."]
'Don't encourage me, Sage.'
…
On the fifteenth day, Frieren was making her rounds through a particularly quiet section of the cave when her Magic Sense flared. Or rather — didn't.
That was the problem.
'...Wait a second. Why can't I sense anything?'
> ["No life forms detected within fifty-meter radius."]
'Then what's that noise?'
A faint click echoed from behind.
Frieren turned — and froze.
Standing there, framed by the cave's dim violet glow, was a figure.
Tall. Graceful. Dressed in black leather that shimmered like night. Long white hair framed a face too sharp and beautiful to belong to a human. Her eyes glowed faintly red — and they were fixed on Frieren with absolute hatred.
A Dark Elf.
'Wait—what the hell is an elf doing here?! And more importantly—how did I not sense her?!'
> ["Warning. Subject's magicule presence is completely suppressed. This level of stealth is anomalous."]
'No kidding, Sage! That's like ninja-tier detection evasion!'
The elf's expression twisted into pure venom.
"You filthy slime…" she hissed, her voice low but trembling with rage. "Today is the day I end you!"
Before Frieren could even respond, the dark elf's form blurred.
And in that instant — Frieren felt killing intent sharper than any blade she'd ever encountered.
…
AN: You can read 20+ advanced chapters and advanced chapters of all my other fanfictions on my p@treon AnimefanfictionIND at just 7$.