XVI: These slimes are not weak. 

The group had rested sufficiently and resumed their exploration of the dungeon. They left their room and walked through some small rooms, but there were no more enemies to kill, but a lot of traps.

You know, arrows from the walls, walls that move to crush you, walls with spikes that move to crush you, giant rocks... they came to a strange room with a little stream in the middle, why was there a stream in a ruin-type dungeon? I don't know, I'm no architect.

"Who puts hydra poison in arrows and uses them as traps?" complained John, breathing heavily as he remembered the feeling of dread that came over him when he noticed those damn arrows.

"Crazy rich people. Luckily I got some of it, which is enough for me," Axel said with a cheerful tone in his voice, in his quiver were several arrows whose tips glowed black, proving that they were poisoned. 

"Come on, glasses boy, only you would think of taking arrows that you may have had for hundreds of years without using them, just unhygienic," sneered Susie, who looked curiously at the room they were in.

There was nothing remarkable about it it was all too common, and that was incredibly wrong, every room they had passed through had something strange about it, something that was noticeable when they entered, even if they didn't realize what it was at the time, there was always something. But this situation caught their attention.

Ron, who was fingering his left wrist while muttering a few words, tensed his muscles as he examined the suspicious and out-of-place stream. Noticing his movements, his companions glanced toward the stream but did not feel uncomfortable or alarmed, so Marie turned to look at her partner. 

"What is it Ron, is there any danger?" the blonde asked as she wiped the sweat from her beaded brow, even though she felt a bit exhausted from so many confusing and annoying traps.

"There's something hazardous in that water, stay alert, I can't predict what it is, but it's giving me some terrible signals, it's like... it's swallowing my divination attempts," Ron said, somewhat tense. His trap was basically ready when he finished it, but he had a hard job ahead of him, he didn't even have good physical strength despite his enormous size, all his power was gained by 'intervening or guiding fate', whatever that meant.

But now something had interfered with his attempts at divination, he felt that something insatiable was destroying each of his attempts, as if... eating them. So he was very alarmed and scared, even though he trusted his team, this situation was a counter to soothsayers like him, and even though he didn't have the controlling personality common to people with the ability to see the future, it didn't mean that he liked this disadvantageous situation for him.

"Oi, don't scare me like that," John joked, but seeing the seriousness in his companion's eyes, he abandoned the relaxed mood and his eyes turned golden, as well as performing certain mudras for a relatively powerful spell.

Jessica used her six eyes to look into the river but felt something blur her vision, as if the river, or whatever was in it, was absorbing her 'vision', something surreal that made her face crumple, then she released her cursed energy to cover her body to strengthen it.

Noticing the changes in their companions, the others prepared themselves, Marie for example began to use the abilities of her Boosted Gear.

"BOOSTED," came a cry from the green gem in her gauntlet, boosting the blonde's physical abilities by another level. 

Axel prepared one of his precious poisoned arrows, the light covering it now was much more compact and less bright, but that did not make it weaker, on the contrary, the experience in the dungeon, even the traps, had increased its strength and dexterity.

Another who improved was Seone, the crimson vitality that came out of his body was more attached to his being, without undulating like flames, although there were small flashes of fictitious flames he had to improve his control even more to avoid this strange phenomenon. The boy held his sword with both hands, ready for whatever might come.

On Susie's side, her body began to emit a strange green flame, while her fingernails lengthened and her eyes took on an emerald glow, her magical power felt very different from the magical power of humans at the moment, effectively revealing her demonic nature. 

So they waited, and it wasn't long before they saw the terrible enemy. First, the water rippled as if it were coming to life as those terrifying creatures jumped out of the water and landed on the ground. They were small, round, cute blue slime with no defining features, just a quivering mass of tenderness and love.

Yes, they thought it was absurd until they heard a strange sound, then Axel realized where the sound was coming from and felt the hair all over his body, even in strange places, bristle as he came to a strange realization.

"Those things are melting the ground, no, they're melting it, devouring it, erasing it, they give me a very bad feeling," the young man said in a high trembling voice as he looked at the dozen cute enemies jumping softly as if they were playing with each other.

Jessica could 'see' him better, she even noticed something more frightening.

"They're not jumping, they're playing with the room. The six eyes help the Gojo Clan's cursed technique, which has nothing to do with space but affects it, and that gives these eyes some spatial sensitivity...they erase space to make their jumps." with this revelation, the danger posed by these cute creatures increased.

"No shit, aren't slimes the weakest enemies in every Japanese light novel? Why do the ones we have here seem to eat space and destiny?" Seone complained, realizing something he would be grateful to learn in the future.

Don't trust fiction, don't believe that things are fixed, and for God's sake, always be wary of any enemy, no matter if it's a fucking fairy or a fucking slime. With this strange revelation, Seone understood that it wasn't a good idea to use his sword, so he put it on his sword and then pulled his two spin balls out of his pockets, quickly breaking them.

The only thing he could think of in this situation was to use the spin energy and hope that it would work, he didn't have access to infinite spin, a technique that ran space and dimensions through the darkest places in the human body, but at least he wanted to use the normal version to defend himself.

"This is a warning call, we can't be careless in this dungeon and the future, guys, we have to decide now, do we fight or retreat?" asked Marie, her serious tone calming her already nervous companions and making them think, while the slime didn't seem to notice their existence yet.

"Chief, I want to fight, not only for the points, but to overcome this crisis, if we run away now, we will run away later, and... even if it is sometimes necessary, I want to fight at least before I decide that", surprisingly, the one who said these serious words was John, who had always taken the situation relaxed, but now decided to make the first step, even before warmongers like Susie or Seone.

"I must defeat everything that stands in the way of my prophecies, I feel that I will become very strong if I help them overcome these terrible enemies," Ron said, getting over the shock he had just suffered.

"I want to learn from them, they can help me understand blue and improve my use of limitless," replied Jessica, who took the lead of the group and prepared to protect her companions.

"These slime made me take on this hideous appearance, they must burn for my devilish flames," Susie muttered, the fire in her horns burning brighter as green flames appeared on her hands, which had turned into claws. 

"I want to see if I can develop different techniques, will I be able to use arrows that are not physical or arrows with interesting effects? I won't know until I experience a fight as... interesting as this one," Axel didn't have his trademark glasses this time, so he didn't adjust them, although he thought this was a perfect time to do so. 

Marie then looked at Seone, who was very focused on the slime and hadn't responded with words, but his focus and posture already indicated his words, so Marie smiled as her Boosted Gear did its thing.

"BOOSTED!" and that was the cry that started an incredible battle between newbies and some terrible and adorable creatures they would later call... The Gluttony Slimes.

...

A certain presence at the back of the dungeon, a surprisingly sunny area full of soft grass, blue sky, white clouds, and a warm breeze, looked out into the void as if his eyes were traveling through space, watching the battle that was about to take place. 

"Oh, they hit those things...and they are incredibly sensitive, I don't know if it's because I've become weak, but that golden-eyed boy could feel my gaze..." Then that being looked towards the center of the room, where there was an imposing tree.

It was a huge tree, incredibly gigantic, golden in color, and emitting a similar glow, but without blinding the view. On one of its branches was a strange fruit, a golden apple, and its aroma was becoming more and more delicious, sweeter, more and more striking.

A golden apple ripening.