The Slime

"Well, it's not much, but it's better than nothing," I hummed, looking at the small wooden shack in front of me.

'Shack' was being generous - it was more like a tipi hut.

'Tipi hut' was also being generous - it was just a bunch of sticks propped up against a tree to give me some cover. After getting rained on while I was trying to sleep a few days earlier, I decided that my small land needed a roof.

"Grahh," Chippy let out a noise as he stood next to me, looking disappointed as he stared at the small structure.

"Hey, I tried my best!" I said indignantly, "I don't know the first thing about woodworking!"

Chippy frowned, his big, slightly scary, eyes looking disappointed.

"This is the best I can do. If you want something better, then go do it yourself!"

Apparently, Chippy decided he did want something better, as his little paw rose in affirmation. Then, he sprinted off into the forest.

Well, I guess I'll see him later. I turned around, also walking away from my small plot of land into the forest.

It had been a week since my arrival in the world of High School DxD, with the last few days mostly consisting of hunting. I decided to stay in this section of the forest to continue grinding AGI and MP.

AGI had been something I was severely lacking, and it was arguably one of the most important stats. Having high AGI was pretty overpowered.

If I run into a random level 100 monster? I can just run the other way - I'm fast as shit!

It was also great in a fight - I can't die if my opponent can't catch me.

And, most importantly: for hunting. This section of the forest, which only had weak but fast gremlins and demon birds, was a pretty safe area overall. The only issue came with catching the prey, not the fight itself.

Over the past few days, I had grinded gremlins and demon birds for AGI. Getting more AGI meant I could catch them easier, which meant I could hunt quicker, which meant I'd get AGI quicker. 

So, after the last few days, my stats looked very different.

[Un-Named]

Level: 5 (1,977/7,500)

MP: 855

STR: 175

AGI: 1,270

END: 179

INT: 46

CHA: 45

LUK: 45

HREG: 45

MREG: 45

Skills: [Devour LVL7], [Harden LVL5], [Global Communication LVL1], [Quick Step LVL2], [Material Change LVL5], [Demonic Resistance LVL7], [Light Manipulation LVL3], [Fire Ball LVL3]

I had also gotten [Light Manipulation] and [Fire Ball] after completing evolution quests for both gremlins and demon birds. The first one in particular was interesting, as while the gremlins only used it as a kind of mini-flashbang, I could see a lot of creative uses for it.

And, ok, maybe I went a little too hard on the AGI grind, but it just kept getting easier! [Devour] leveling up meant that I got more stats for each prey I caught, and more AGI meant I was catching them quicker.

Add the two together, and now I'm fast as hell.

I also had a ton of MP now, so I could use skills pretty carelessly without worrying about running out.

I tensed my legs, sprinted forward, and became a blur as I shot through the forest. I decided that I should look for some new prey other than gremlins or demon birds. I needed some more skills, and to round out my build more.

After I get to the point where I'm confident, I'll head back to take on the Great Wolf King.

I continued blasting through the forest, my legs and body a blur as the world blurred around me. A second later, I stopped abruptly as a giant foot-shaped hole appeared in front of me.

It was huge - stretching nearly five feet across, two feet deep, and looked like a giant foot. Well, it would've looked like a giant foot if feet only had three toes.

The massive footsteps continued in front of me, so I continued forward, following them. Soon enough, I heard a loud thumping sound in front of me and I spotted the monster.

It was huge as it stood at roughly 15 feet tall. It had green wrinkly skin, which was covered in warts and blemishes. Behind it was a large wooden club, which it was dragging carelessly through the grass.

[Troll] - Level 9

The troll still didn't know I was behind it, so I took that chance to launch forward at it. I hardened the skin around my fist, and then slammed it directly into the troll's back.

The punch connected, and then… nothing happened. The world was still for a second as the troll barely even noticed my attack.

I quickly ducked as it spun around, the huge club swiping over my head. I swung my fist up again, my punch slamming into its stomach, but it didn't even flinch.

I kicked my feet back as the troll swung its club at me again, rolling backward out of his range. 

This might be a bit tough. I got so used to farming mobs over the past few days that I started being careless.

If my fists aren't strong enough to break through it, then I'll have to find something that can.

The troll lumbered at me again, its club soaring through the air, but it couldn't even get close to me. It was far too slow.

I jumped backward, grabbing a stick off the ground and silently turning it to stone. After practicing more with [Material Change], I could change the entire stick easily.

I ran forward again, sliding under the troll's club as it swung at me again, and then slammed the stone stick into its stomach. 

The result wasn't much different from my fist - the troll barely even registered the hit, and the stone crumbled away. I was forced to roll between his legs to create some space between us.

I quickly grabbed another large stick, this time willing it to turn to steel. I wasn't as familiar with steel, but I still managed to turn the outer layer into metal.

I jumped forward again with the stronger stick, slamming it directly into the troll's head. Once again, the troll didn't even blink as it let out a growl and swiped at me with its club.

Alright, change of plans. Its skin seemed too hard to break through, so I'll have to get around it. I'll target the eyes and-

I blinked, stopping in my tracks as an idea came to me. Can't I just…

I stared directly at the troll's green skin, willing it to change into air. A second later, a small, couple-inch wide section of his skin disappeared, causing blood to start dripping out from his chest.

The troll grunted, looking down at his new wound in confusion. He wasn't just looking for long, as a second later I burst forward and slammed my fist directly into it.

The troll let out a roar as it brought a hand up to cover its wound, its eyes silently glaring at me as it finally took damage. 

In response, I stared directly at another part of its huge chest, willing it to turn to air. A moment later, the skin peeled away, being replaced by air as more blood started dripping down its body.

Alright, this skill might be more overpowered than I originally thought. It hard counters anything with a strong defense, and I don't even have to be close to my opponent to use it.

I danced around the forest as the troll swung its large club clumsily, slamming it into trees and the ground in vain as it tried to catch me. As it tried, I continued to spam [Material Change], slowly turning more and more of its skin into raw bloody spots.

As it continued to lose blood its movements became slower, and I took advantage of that to finish it off. I shot forward, my hands blurring as I slammed fist after fist into the raw flesh. The troll let out a roar, stumbling at me in one final attack, and then slumping over as it missed.

He fell to the ground, a huge thump ringing out and a crater forming around his body. A hunger formed in my gut, and a minute later the troll glowed blue and disappeared. 

[Devour] has been used on [Troll] - Level 9.

You have gained:

+1000HP (2,525/2,525)

+200 MAXHP (2,725/2,725)

+50 END

+50 XP

+ [Physical Resistance] Skill!

[Physical Resistance] - [Physical] attacks will do less damage to you!

I stared at the stat gains, my jaw nearly dropping to the floor. While having [Devour] at level 7 meant I got more stats from each monster, I had never gotten nearly this much. 200 max HP and 50 END were by far the most I'd gotten from any monster so far.

Well, looks like it's troll-hunting season.

As I started to move forward through the forest again, I quickly found out that it was not, in fact, troll-hunting season. Instead of large footprints, I started seeing spots of sticky blue goo on the floor.

I didn't need to be a genius to predict what was up ahead: I was on a slime trail. So, I burst forward, sprinting through the forest as I followed the trail of slime.

Eventually, I found the slime and was… underwhelmed. It looked exactly how a starter mob would: A round, blue glob of goo with no limbs.

[Slime] - Level 2

"I'm sorry, little one," I quoted Thanos as I felt a small amount of guilt for what I was about to do. It just looked so small and innocent!

But, stats are stats. Time to get in my stomach.

As I approached the slime, it suddenly bounced in place, turning around and looking at me. Well, maybe looking at me - it didn't have any eyes.

Then, it started to grow. It stretched upward, its blue slimy outside shifting into a green, rough color. Then, the outside hardened, shifting into rough, hard, skin. 

It continued to grow higher, rising further and expanding bigger. A second later, I was staring down a huge troll.

"What the hell?" I said blankly, staring at the giant troll. I didn't get a moment to think anymore, as the slime (troll?) lunged at me. 

I quick-stepped out of the way, slamming my fist forward as I did. My punch connected with the side of the troll, but instead of making physical contact, it squished into it. My fist sunk into the troll, the slime breaking away as I did.

The troll swung its arm up at me again, not even reacting to my attack. I jumped backward, making space between us.

Alright, it's still a slime. It just changed shape, so physical attacks won't work. Luckily, I'm not a one-trick pony.

I held up my palm, positioning it at the slime-troll, and a small fire formed on it. I thrust my arm forward, the fire growing larger as a fireball flew at the slime.

With its new huge troll body, it had no chance of dodging. The fire slammed into him, bursting around it and setting its skin ablaze. 

The slime didn't even seem to feel pain, instead flinging its huge flame-covered body at me again. I dodged, jumping out of the way, and starting a game of tag.

I continued dodging the troll, repeatedly launching fireball after fireball as I danced around it. The fire on the troll grew larger, spreading to the grass around it as it continued stupidly lunging at me.

Finally, after nearly five minutes, the troll went down. It slumped over, the huge body slamming into a tree and then spreading around it into a pool of slime. The tree lit up, starting a small fire that crawled up the bark.

For only being level 2, that slime actually put up a fight.

I walked over, carefully avoiding the flames as I wiped up the slime on my hand and then pushed it into my mouth.

[Devour] has been used on [Slime] - Level 2.

You have gained:

+50HP (2,725/2,725)

+20 MAXHP (2,745/2,745)

+4 CHA

+4 LUK

+10 XP

+ [Physical Morph] Skill!

[Physical Morph] - Temporarily change a physical part of your body!

Wait, CHA and LUK? From a slime? 

More importantly, a very nice skill. I held my hand up in front of me, staring straight at it. My hand started vibrating, the skin slowly breaking away into a blue goo, and then shifting into something else.

I imagined a knife, and suddenly where my hand had once been was a blade sticking right out of my arm. I tested it out, swinging my arm-knife into the tree, and it clanged against it, not breaking into small bits of slime.

I imagined it shifting back, and the knife was gone, my hand going back to normal.

My face shifted into a grin, already imagining the possible ways I could use this. 

Looks like it's slime-hunting season!

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

If you would like to support me, you can at Patreon.com/Koyon ! I'll also be posting early chapters there for this story soon!