A Monster Slime!

'Thump.'

The last chameleon's body hit the ground with a dull thud, and James gave a final swing of his Death Scythe, flicking off the bright red blood that clung to its blade. The splatter stained the ground beneath him, marking the end of the battle.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he dismissed the scythe, letting it vanish into the ether. James instinctively reached up, running his hand through his hair; a habit he hadn't quite let go of, despite not having any hair. Realizing this, he chuckled to himself.

"Heh, old habits," he mused aloud. Though the battle had drained nearly all his energy, he was in high spirits, humming a cheerful tune. After all, it wasn't every day you wiped out over 200 low-grade F-class chameleons with ease, despite being only mid-grade yourself. It wasn't just skill, it was dominance.

Opening his personal status panel, James's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he saw the results of his massacre. His growth value had surged, climbing by over 21,000 points. He was now more than halfway toward his next rank.

"That's what I'm talking about," he sighed contentedly. "A few more groups like this, and I'll be top F-grade in no time."

Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Oh, right!" he muttered, realizing he hadn't yet checked what the dark matter his 'Erosion' skill was feeding him could be used for.

He quickly navigated to the 'Erosion' skill description and found a new line of text had appeared under its details:

Erosion: 'When causing dark damage to the enemy, dark energy is consumed to erode the target. When the target dies, the host will receive feedback in the form of dark matter. (Requires Night Heart Technique to be equipped.) (Dark Matter: 273)'

He focused his awareness on the dark matter section, and in an instant, a flood of information filled his mind:

Dark matter: 'The most primal force of darkness. Can be directly converted into dark attribute Aura at a ratio of 10:1, ignoring the current Aura limit.'

James's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh, now 'this' is interesting," he murmured, rubbing his chin. While the dark matter could be used to increase his Aura value without being restricted by the usual limits, he quickly realized the effect wasn't as impressive as he had hoped.

"Only 27 points of Aura from 273 pieces of dark matter," he muttered in disappointment. "That's nothing compared to what I could get from a couple hundred spirit crystals."

He glanced down at the mangled chameleon corpses strewn across the ground and clicked his tongue in frustration. "Such a waste," he sighed. "If only I knew how to properly deal with alien corpses. This could have been a fortune."

Even the remains of lower-grade alien species could fetch a decent price, often worth around one spirit crystal each. And these chameleons, with their high-quality camouflage skin and tongues capable of powerful penetration, were definitely valuable. If he could sell the materials to the right merchants, he'd be looking at a significant haul.

James made a mental note to learn how to harvest alien corpses. It was a skill that could pay off in spades, and he hated the idea of letting all this potential wealth go to waste.

As he pondered over the 'spirit crystals' lying all around him in the form of chameleon bodies, a sudden rustling sound caught his attention. The unmistakable noise of something crawling echoed through the stone forest.

James's eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned the area. "More chameleons?" he thought, tensing up. But as he looked around, he realized it wasn't chameleons this time.

Emerging from the shadows were a group of giant snakes, their scaly bodies almost indistinguishable from the surrounding stalactites. Their natural camouflage was just as good, if not better, than the chameleons'. The snakes slithered closer, their movements slow but deliberate, their eyes fixed on the fallen chameleons.

Leading the pack was an enormous milky-white python, nearly ten meters long. It stood out against the dim, rocky background, its presence imposing. While the other snakes crawled toward the dead chameleons, this massive python raised its head high, its tongue flicking the air as it issued a low, menacing hiss directly at James; a clear warning.

"Great," James muttered under his breath, instinctively gripping his scythe. "Seems like this place is full of surprises."

The python's cold, unblinking eyes bore into him, and for the first time in a while, James felt a flicker of unease. These snakes were different. Stronger. And they weren't just here for the chameleons.

They were here for him.

As James watched the group of giant snakes devouring the remains of his hard-earned chameleon kills, frustration surged within him. He clenched his fists, his jaw tightening, but the reality of his situation settled in like a weight on his shoulders. His energy reserves were nearly depleted. There was no way he could take on this group in his current state.

"Forget it... It's not like I can carry those corpses out anyway," he muttered to himself with a resigned sigh. The thought of turning those snakes into more growth points was tempting, but without the energy to fight, he had no choice but to let them claim the spoils.

Under the watchful gaze of the milky-white python, James slowly backed away, retreating cautiously, careful not to provoke any sudden reactions from the beasts.

---

Once he had left the territory of the snakes behind, James began to move forward carefully, all the while working to recover his depleted energy. He moved methodically, not wanting to take any unnecessary risks. The stalactite forest, it seemed, was far more densely populated with alien species than he had initially thought. One misstep, and he could easily be swarmed and overwhelmed.

'I need to conserve energy,' he reminded himself. If he exhausted himself completely, he would be easy prey for the creatures lurking around every corner of this rocky labyrinth. Even if he survived, the encounter would leave him battered and broken.

As he skillfully dodged yet another small group of alien creatures, a loud crash echoed from somewhere up ahead. His instincts kicked in, and he immediately ducked behind a stalactite, peering cautiously in the direction of the sound.

Though his energy reserves had mostly recovered by now, James knew better than to charge in recklessly. He had already crossed paths with at least seven groups of alien species in just a single day, and he couldn't afford to burn through his Aura recklessly. He had to be strategic, saving his abilities like 'Huaye' and 'Night Walk' for true emergencies.

Peeking out from behind his cover, James's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. Not far from where he stood was an enormous, translucent creature, easily several meters tall; slowly sliding forward.

"Slime!?" he muttered in disbelief, his mouth hanging open.

But this was no ordinary slime. As the creature moved, its appearance became clearer. It had four limbs, but they were absurdly short, barely visible under its massive, gelatinous body. The creature looked like a grotesque version of melted ice cream, with parts of its body constantly dripping and oozing down like thick syrup. A gaping mouth, located about a third of the way up its body, was continually being obscured by its own dissolving tissue.

Two large, bulbous eyes slid around inside the jelly-like mass, their movements erratic and unsettling. In its stubby, short hands, the slime was gripping a top-grade F-level bat, which it was slowly devouring, stuffing the creature into its collapsing, blood-streaked mouth.

"Slimes are supposed to be cute... What the hell is this thing?" James muttered, his face twisting in disgust.

But what truly unsettled him wasn't the slime's appearance, it was the complete absence of any discernible aura. He couldn't sense its realm or power level, making it impossible to gauge how dangerous the creature was.

Instinctively, James activated his 'Life Thirst' skill, allowing him to read the life force of the strange creature. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the number.

"3261 life force points? No way!" James gasped. "How can this thing have such strong life force?"

Though he couldn't tell the exact realm of the creature, he was sure of one thing: this monstrosity couldn't possibly be above E-level. And yet, its life force was off the charts for something so low-level.

Suddenly, the creature's strange, jelly-like eyes seemed to lock onto James's position. A sense of dread washed over him as the creature's body halted, its large eyes sliding across the gelatinous surface, focusing squarely on him.

The slime's huge, drooling mouth, still smeared with the blood of the bat it had been eating, slowly opened wider. To James's utter shock, the creature emitted a low, gurgling sound, as if its voice was trapped within the muck of its own body.

"...Human...!?" the creature croaked, its voice thick and sludgy, as if struggling to form the word.

James's blood ran cold. This wasn't just a mindless alien beast. It could speak. And it had noticed him.

This encounter had just taken a turn for the worse.