Chapter 183 - A Half and Half

'That's just messed up.'

Sitting up, Rynold reeled at the realization. Since there was no person alive that could tell him what had happened here, he could only wallow at his thoughts and conclusions.

And, as far as Rynold could have guessed, what happened here was infinitely messed up.

From what Rynold picked up, this pool of brown swallowed the people who lived here. It was such a crummy way to die. Rynold would've guessed that these people were conscious of their deaths as well. The acidic swallowing of their bodies would've felt the same as being burnt alive.

'Something still doesn't add up.'

Processing these thoughts, Rynold could've sworn that something about this whole thing felt amiss. He quickly raised his head and looked around, wondering what it was.

'This place is still wrecked.'

Just like how he first arrived, Rynold realized that the destruction reached the very outskirts of the slums. Not only that, but the buildings also didn't have anything in them. It was an unexplainable phenomenon, even more so now that he knew what this brown pool was capable of doing.

So, where have all these items have gone? As far as Rynold could tell, this brown pool wasn't capable of moving around, apart from its small, tentacle-like limb.

'There's something else here.'

A possibility that Rynold couldn't deny, not especially since the green slime revealed itself to him. Rynold thought that the green slime might have been an offspring of this brown pool. But, as the evidence suggests, Rynold knew it was something different.

'Axiom. Scan the area for signs of the slime.'

Commanding the Accord Sphere that's been idle for quite some time, Rynold finally stood back up. Even though his movements were still sloppy, Rynold managed to get back up with relative ease. He could feel his strength recovering, but his appearance was still worse for wear.

It wasn't a big deal, Rynold thought, as he picked True Caliber from the ground. With the firearm in his hand, Rynold secretly thanked the weapon for its service and reliability. Rynold could rest easy with this gun in his possession.

Gripping the firearm tightly, Rynold then proceeded to walk forward. The direction Rynold headed led back to the place where he had left the slime. Rynold was hoping that he could find some answers there.

'Nothing, huh? That's a problem.'

Rynold wasn't getting the answers he wanted. Like history repeating itself, Axiom's scanners didn't pick up any traces of the slime. He thought that the Accord Sphere's scanners would pick up everything. Apparently, that assumption was wrong.

'Note to self: Upgrade the Accord Spheres.'

He knew better than anyone the limitations of the Accord Spheres. There were some things that these things couldn't do.

However, that's beside the point as Rynold found his way back to where he had defeated the slime. And, as expected, it disappeared. Whatever physical traces the creature left behind had gone along with it.

'Isn't that annoying?'

Kneeling on one knee, Rynold let out a sigh as he looked around. It appeared that he was right the first time. The slime wasn't dead, just separated. Rynold only managed to stop the thing from attacking.

Its disappearance now only meant one thing. The slime had recovered and was somewhere in this area. As to where it was, Rynold had no clue. That is until he noticed one thing.

Because of the previous battle, green slime covered Rynold. That same green slime was suddenly moving on its own. It appeared that they were moving in a single direction, pointing at what could only be the slime's main body.

'This better be good.'

Acting in response, Rynold took the situation and turned it in his favor. By following where the slime was heading, Rynold would soon find himself moving in a different direction.

'There's nothing much here.'

It was the most thorough of observations that Rynold could make. Moving forward and following these drops of slimes, Rynold maneuvered through run-down buildings and broken floorboards.

And, soon enough, Rynold found himself somewhere underground, the exact location of which was unknown to him. Still, he tracked the slime to its location.

'There you are.'

The gelatinous pool of moving liquid was right in front of him. As Rynold stood just a few feet away from the creature, the slime didn't seem to be aware of Rynold's arrival, nor did Rynold make himself known.

Standing in silence, Rynold watched the creature. He observed it as if the slime was his test subject. Rynold analyzed every move it made. He was never the guy to shoot first, after all.

Rynold watched the slime do its thing. It felt normal for him to do so as Rynold was the type of guy to study anything unusual.

Fortunately, nothing was more unusual than the slime before him.

Predatory creatures would act on instinct. Monsters in the New World were no different. Ultimately, their behavior had a pattern. A pattern that Rynold could see and analyze. For example, ghouls would attack anything in their sight, as evidenced by the hundreds of ghouls Rynold killed before.

But, this slime right in front of him, Rynold couldn't understand what it was doing. It was just sitting at the corner of this dimly lit room. It seemed like this was the basement of some old building. Which, just like the other buildings in this area, had nothing in it.

The slime's behavior was far from the ordinary. Granted, this was Rynold's first encounter with one. Rynold just thought it would do more, that the slime would move around or something.

So, what the hell gives?

Where was the aggression that Rynold saw when he first encountered the slime? Why wasn't it attacking Rynold at the very moment that he appeared? Things didn't make sense for him, as this creature may not be what it seems.

'Scan.'

Activating this skill, Rynold thought he would see an information window pop up. That information window would provide him with a better understanding of this creature.

Much to Rynold's surprise, though, there was nothing.

The reason for his surprise was simple. Monsters could be [Scan]'ed. People could not. This rule applies to other humans such as Oliver and Jack. It also applies to the elves and dwarves that Rynold had met.

However, this was the first time a creature would deny that rule. And it was a slime of all things! With this revelation, though, Rynold was now sure of the slime's unique characteristics. Such that, this slime wasn't as it seemed.

From Rynold's initial presumptions, he soon changed his mind once he took a closer look around. As his eyes dotted around this rather dull place, he soon came to a decision.

'You're protecting something, aren't you?' Rynold directed his thoughts to the slime, 'Or maybe there's something special about this place for you. Either way, this would be a whole lot easier if you could actually talk.'

He wasn't sure what the slime was doing, as he could only guess. But then, what does he do now?

Does he go and take the creature out? Maybe approach it and see what happens? Rynold wasn't so sure anymore as this situation was far from anything Rynold expected.

Still, it seemed as though the slime was preoccupied with whatever it was doing. No matter how much noise Rynold made, the creature was uninterested.

'Maybe I should just leave it alone,' Rynold thought as he contemplated turning around and leaving.

However, something interesting suddenly occurred.

The slime suddenly grumbled. It was a sound that other creatures with voice boxes made. Slimes, on the other hand, don't have voice boxes, right?

Rynold hesitantly waited for what the slime would do next. Whether it would be hostile towards Rynold or not, he would have to act accordingly, reacting to whatever the situation might lead to.

As the slime's gelatinous body suddenly started jerking violently, Rynold aimed. True Caliber was directed towards the slime, ready to bring hell whenever Rynold felt like it. Releasing a cold breath of air, Rynold watched as the scene unfolded.

But, what had happened next was something even Rynold wouldn't have expected.

The slime's gelatinous form started to mold into a shape. It was weird, Rynold thought, as he watched its green color change to something human-like. The gelatinous green goo turned into something resembling that of a humanoid.

'What's it doing now?'

Prior to its change, the slime had a spherical-like form. It looked like how slimes were in video games, like a piece of bread. But now, its form turned to something with two hands and two legs. Then, it proceeded to form a face and a body. Basically, it was a person. And, it was a kid at that.

'How the hell did that happen?'

Watching the creature complete its transformation, Rynold stood in awe. It was as though the slime's previous form was that of a child. And, now that it was sleeping, the slime turned itself back like some muscle memory.

With this newfound discovery, everything fell into place. The pieces of information in Rynold's mind connected as Rynold soon concluded what this creature was.

The slime/kid was loyal to its very bone. It stayed here in this run-down building because it was its home. Not only that, it seemingly attacked Rynold because it was protecting its territory, much like any person would protect their own home.

But then again, it didn't seem like it knew what it was doing.

The hostility that it had presented before; and its docility now were two very different things. That being said, Rynold could tell that it was struggling with some sort of personality disorder.

In other words, the creature was a slime in most parts of the day, while becoming a human in its sleep. What's saddening about this was the fact that it was unaware of what had happened. Perhaps it was a slime when it rested and a slime again once it awoke.

Knowing this, what can Rynold do about it? If he woke the kid up, he might be attacked as soon as it turned back into a slime. Naturally, Rynold wouldn't have trouble killing it. But then, what about the kid?

This was a morally ambiguous problem. If Oliver were here, he might kill the poor creature without batting an eye. Rynold, however, wasn't the same.

'Maybe I should just leave.'

It was a much safer option. The slime didn't seem like it would venture out into the open world on its own. Leaving it here would ensure Rynold's safety and he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty trying to fix this. Hell, he wasn't even sure he could fix this.

But then, it wasn't easy to walk away either. Doing so would mean that he abandoned a helpless child.

'Fuck it.'

With heavy steps, Rynold walked forward. The sound of his foot pressing on the hard ground echoed within the walls of this very room. And, soon enough, he tapped on the kid's shoulder, jolting him awake.

Groaning, the kid rubbed his eyes as he stared at who woke him up. Rynold, standing tall, seemed to intimidate him as the kid hurriedly inched back in surprise.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Rynold squatted and looked at him in the eye, "Can you tell me what happened to you?"

His tone sincere, Rynold was sure that he would have appealed to the kid's friendliness. Unfortunately, the opposite seemed to have happened as the kid looked down on the gun that Rynold held in his hand. This resulted in the child cowering and covering his head in a cradle position.

'Ah, shit.'

Realizing his mistake, Rynold threw his gun into his inventory. He wanted to make sure that this was a safe space. And, so far, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"I'm Rynold," he introduced himself, "What's your name?"

The child seemed to understand Rynold. But, he wasn't quite ready to open up yet. That much was certain. At least, though, the child didn't seem to turn into its green counterpart.