By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 9

Chapter 7, Episode 9: Three-Day Weekend, Day 1

The morning after the surprise visit from Hughes, Lulunese, and the others from the duke’s residence offering to help with my projects for the foreseeable future, I was more excited than ever to get to work. And according to my work schedule, today I...

“...have the day off.”

Not like grumbling about it was going to change the reality of the situation.

Since I got back from Fatoma, I hadn’t taken a single day of R and R for myself, and the guild masters had all dutifully relayed directly to the duke that the first thing I did upon returning was to visit them and Serge.

And so, an offer I quite literally couldn’t refuse was thrust upon me—all my work would be delegated to the newly hired and very capable help for the next three days. It was like they’d put me on reverse house arrest, except the “house” in this case was my shop. At the very least, I had to put my foot down at their offer to cook all of my meals and basically wait on me the whole time... Whatever. Basically, you get the picture. No work for three days straight, lest I become a dull boy.

I’d made plans for myself for the last day of this impromptu vacation, but today and tomorrow, my schedule was wide open. Which meant there was only one logical thing to do all day...

“Slime experimentation!”

I’d barely had any time to do that lately, and I’d been wanting to properly catalog the slimes I had, which were still actively evolving from the feed I’d acquired in Fatoma. Plus, there were some things I wanted to try out with the acidic cleaner. No time like the present!

■ ■ ■

The day whizzed by, and by the time darkness had set in, I’d managed to sit myself down with the intent of getting all my notes on the experiments I’d done in order. Firstly, I made a simple table cataloging my slimes, what they ate, and what they’d evolve into. Something like this:

Pre-Evolved Form → Hypothesis Based on Feed → Actual Evolution

•    Sticky Slime → Crab Slime → Spider Slime

•    '' → Crustacean Slime → Crust Slime

•    '' → Net Slime → Fiber Slime

•    Acid Slime → Seashell Slime → Shell Slime

•    '' → Seashell & Egg Slime → Pearl Slime

•    Poison Slime → Charcoal & Sand Slime → Filter Slime

•    '' → Stinger Slime → Sting Slime

•    Metal Slime → Net Slime → Wire Slime

•    Bloody Slime → Parasite Slime → TBD

•    Stone Slime → Sandy Slime → Sand Slime

•    '' → Porcelain Slime → TBD

•    Weed Slime → Watergrass Slime → Aquatic Weed Slime

•    '' → Duckweed Slime → Algae Slime

Next, I wrote down my observations on the newest slime evolutions. Starting from the top, I had three sticky slime evolutions.

Spider Slime

Appearance: Similar to sticky slime, but smaller.

Skills: No skills lost from evolution; new skills Nesting and Trapper acquired.

Note: The spider slime began constructing webs on the walls of the mines, and uses its silk to move through the air like a spider. Its silk seems to have different properties from that of a sticky slime; I conducted an experiment by asking both a sticky slime and spider slime to weave the most durable silk it could, wrapping my arms between them and tearing them apart. As a result, I discovered that the spider slime silk was more elastic, and seemed more durable (based only on personal experience). Even on Earth, spider silk was viewed as a fabric with highly efficient structure and properties. Sticky slime silk is already durable, so the spider slime silk may have a structural advantage. Plan to ask a specialist about its utility as materials. This also might be a smaller specimen; I will calculate their average size once I have more of this evolution.

Crust Slime

Appearance: Identical to sticky slime.

Skills: No skills lost from evolution; new skill Molting acquired.

Note: Moulting is a skill where the slime hardens its secretions. A hardened surface layer does not impede their movement; it seems to be strictly an upgrade to their defensive capabilities. Upon appraisal, I found their hardened secretions had almost the same properties as the hardening solution I created. Checks out, since my hardening solution came from sticky slimes. Upon command, the crust slime could spread the same secretion on a flat surface to produce the same results as the hardening solution. With the crust slime, I can now use the hardening solution without alchemy... However, the crust slime seems very similar to the sticky slime in nature; the same can be said of the spider slime. They seem to be evolutions that maintain the original slime’s characteristics, enhancing them with the nature of another creature.

Fiber Slime

Appearance: Identical to sticky slime.

Skills: No skills lost from evolution; new skill Fiberfy acquired.

Note: By giving it shavings from a fluff slime, I can create slime rayon. Maybe I can turn other things into fiber? E.G., giving it metal or glass to create wire or fiberglass. Should look more into this.

Then, I noted the two that evolved from acid slimes.

Shell Slime

Appearance: Conceals itself in a turban shell; rather like a hermit crab.

Skills: No skills lost from evolution; Harsh Acid Production skill changed to Gentle Acid Production, and new skill Shell Production acquired.

Note: This may be the most surprising evolution yet. For one, its appearance drastically changed. I looked into the “gentle acid,” and it turned out to be a highly dense succinic acid, with plenty of the umami found in many shellfish. While it can’t be consumed as is, I’m able to adjust its composition to turn it into sodium succinate and use it as seasoning. The ersatz Worcestershire sauce I made with it for a late lunch turned out good.

Pearl Slime

Appearance: Milky white with a unique sheen. Rather like a giant pearl.

Skills: Perhaps derived from its shift from the gelatinous form of an acid slime to a more metallic one, it has a drastically different skill set from an acid slime. Skills of particular note are Protective Mucus Secretion, Cover Up, and Crystallize.

Note: Its skills allow me to create pearls, a precious commodity in this world. This slime’s like a license to print money. While it isn’t dangerous in and of itself, it needs to be handled with caution.

And two more from the poison slime.

Filter Slime

Appearance: Dry and blackened overall. With refracting speckles here and there, it looks like a clump of black sand.

Skills: Changing form from a gelatinous one to a dry, nearly solid one seemed to result in the loss of most poison slime skills. However, the remaining poison resistance is reinforced, and it acquired one new skill—Filtration.

Note: From my experiments, it seems this slime can filter poison and buildup from liquids and gasses that pass through them. Also confirmed that the Filtration skill can be used to help compound medicine and serve as a water purifier. Plenty of potential for medical applications, like using it as a gas mask or combining it with a bloody slime. Dialysis, perhaps?

Sting Slime

Appearance: More pronounced purple hue, obscuring its core.

Skills: No skills lost from evolution; new skill Stinger acquired.

Note: With the Stinger skill, as I found out upon command, it produces countless spikes, like a sea urchin; the resemblance was further reinforced by its color. It more closely resembled the long-spiked variation. Since it retained the Spear Mastery skill, I asked it to make one thick stinger and use it as a spear, which it did. Furthermore, it still maintained the syringe-like structure of the stinger, allowing it to inject venom. I think it took after the stingers of its feed, but all things considered, this was pretty gnarly. That being said, the ability to inject poison on impact would be effective in combat. For instance... Well, maybe it’s better off not writing this down.

Next came one each from the metal slime...

Wire Slime

Appearance: Identical to metal slime, but slightly smaller.

Skills: No lost skills; Stretch newly acquired.

Note: It can stretch itself into a thin wire, and even shape its elongated form into a saw or barbed wirelike form. Its maximum length corresponds to its mass; it cannot stretch or change the shape of its core.

...and the stone slime respectively.

Sand Slime

Appearance: A clump of sand.

Skills: It lost stone slime skills from the change in form, but acquired Disperse, Condense, Absorb Moisture, and Dry Out—which it shares with ash slimes—as well as the Synchronize skill previously seen in mud slimes.

Note: I noticed something while experimenting. More notes to follow after further experimentation...

Last, but not least, were two new evolutions from the weed slime.

Aquatic Weed Slime

Appearance: Watergrass visible floating in the slime’s body, like a glassless aquarium.

Skills: Same as the weed slime’s.

Note: While its abilities stayed the same through evolution, it now lives in water. It can survive for some time out of water, but doesn’t seem to like living on land. I made a tank with the hardening solution for the time being. I plan to upgrade to a bigger tank or make a pond habitat, weather permitting. Feeding them was easy, since they grew and ate their own watergrass or got their nutrients from photosynthesis, just as the weed slimes do. Their ease of care and their aquarium-like curb appeal makes this a good candidate as a first recommendation when converting people to the way of the slime.

Algae Slime

Appearance: A lump of green algae.

Skills: Same as weed slime.

Note: They live in water, like the aquatic weed slime. It grows and eats its own algae, and also utilizes photosynthesis. I took a small portion of the algae that covers their body and appraised it to find that it was packed with various nutrients. A type of moss called euglena, for example, was being studied on Earth for its potential application in supplements and health foods. Maybe I can use the algae slimes in a similar manner. I plan to build a dedicated tank or pond for them, so they can produce enough algae for me to experiment on.

That seemed like a good summary of the day. To be honest, there were plenty more experiments I wanted to run, and I could have kept going. If they were to find out that I was working with slimes through the night, though, I feared that they would force one of the maids to stay with me all day... Maybe I was actually learning a bit of self-control?

“...Nah.”

It was still a bit early, so I decided to prepare for the days ahead. Eventually, night fell and I called it for today...