Early the next morning, Mud moved through the small, public cooking

  area with quiet authority. He pounded and rolled the seasoned dough;

  his movements were a rhythmic, practiced dance that kept the noise of

  his usual anxiety silent.

  As he worked, his

  mind drifted back to the gray, pulsating mass in the alley.

  Feed it what it

  despises?

  He formed the

  seasoned dough into perfect rounds and lined them up in precise,

  masterful rows on his tray, the riddle of the bestiary still banging

  around inside his skull. The slimes were the ultimate scavengers,

  living garbage disposals that thrived on the rot of society. What

  could a creature like that possibly find offensive? Another Slime?

  Sunlight? A cross and an exorcism?

  He pulled on his

  thick, heat-resistant gloves and slid the tray into the maw of the

  stone oven. He adjusted the temperature with a quick, intuitive twist

  of the flue. Now there was nothing left to do but wait for the

  biscuits to bake, and ponder his current riddle.

  Nothing. He was

  drawing a complete blank.

  Mud pulled the

  biscuits from the oven, the golden-brown crusts steaming in the cool

  morning air. He methodically transferred them into their delivery

  boxes, then carried the greasy, flour coated trays to the washbasin.

  He reached for the small, burlap bag of concentrated soap flakes he

  used to clean his equipment.

  His hand froze, his

  thoughts aflame.

  Soap.

  A slime was a

  creature born of sludge, rot and organic filth. What would a living

  stain despise more than the very substance designed to destroy grime?

  It was the perfect elemental antithesis.

  “That’s it,”

  he whispered, running a flour coated hand through his dark hair.

  “It’s not food at all. It’s a cleanser.”

  Mud tore through

  the rest of his morning routine. He hustled to the local eatery to

  drop off the delivery, barely even pausing to register the owner’s

  praise. She even tossed a few extra coins his way, apparently his

  cheese biscuits were a huge hit, but for once, the gold wasn’t his

  primary motivator.

  Sweaty and huffing,

  Mud ignored the protest of his aching calves and hauled himself

  toward the western edge of the city.

  This had to work.

  The western

  district was a decaying mirror of the east side where Mud had spent

  his first week. This felt far less like the quaint fantasy village,

  he had gotten used to, and more like a neglected urban gutter.

  He’d briefly

  considered summoning Ricky to help scout, but he dismissed the

  thought immediately. The memory of the rat’s frantic squeals from

  the night before were still fresh. He didn’t want to further

  traumatize his buddy.

  As it turned out,

  he didn’t need the help. In this part of town, the slimes were

  maybe less rare than the people that lived there.

  He turned into an

  alleyway that made his usual hunting grounds look like a palace. Two

  slimes were there, their translucent, gray bodies undulating slowly

  over the grime-encrusted cobblestones. It was a strange sight; they

  left a trail of unnaturally clean stone in their wake, stripping away

  most of the filth as they fed.

  Mud took a deep

  breath, his nerves tingling, as he tightened his grip on his only

  weapon. A sloshing, wooden bucket of soap-water.

  He crept toward the

  nearest fiend, his breath shallow. He tried to keep his feet silent

  on the slick stones and his shaking hands steady, though his effort

  was ultimately wasted. The slimes didn’t even twitch. To them he

  wasn’t food, just another piece of the terrain.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He reached the

  first creature and hoisted the bucket. Nervous, shaky hands, tipped a

  quarter of the soapy brine over the gray mass.

  The reaction was

  instantaneous and violent.

  The slime erupted

  into a column of foul-smelling steam. A high-pitched squeal pierced

  the air as the soap-water began to eat through its membrane. The

  sound of frantic bubbling mixed with the stench of boiling rot, hit

  Mud like a physical blow. Within a few seconds the blob simply…

  liquefied. It melted into a puddle of suds, leaving behind a soggy

  pile of half-digested trash.

  [Slime Defeated]

  Mud

  waited, staring at the empty air where a notification should have

  been. No ‘summon unlocked’ message appeared, Ricky remained his

  only option.

  “Well,”

  He sighed, wiping his arm across his sweaty forehead. “It

  definitely despised that.”

  At

  this rate, he could probably spend the afternoon scrubbing the west

  side of town and gain a level or two. But at the moment he had a

  purpose. He pulled up the Bestiary entry again, focusing on the

  specific wording.

  Feed

  it what it despises.

  “Feed,”

  he muttered grimly.

  A

  reckless, nauseating idea began to take shape. He knelt beside the

  bucket and dipped his entire right arm into the concentrated soap

  water, coating his skin in a thick, slippery film of lye and bubbles.

  This

  is really going to suck, he thought, his stomach doing a slow,

  heavy roll. He looked at the second slime, which was still mindlessly

  pulsing toward a strip of rotted leather. “But I guess its going to

  be worse for you than it is for me. Sorry, bud.”

  Taking

  a deep breath, and offering his right hand a silent, terrified

  goodbye, Mud lunged, shoving his entire forearm directly to the

  center of the slime’s shivering mass.

  The

  reaction was instantaneous. The slime boiled and convulsed, it’s

  body trying to recoil from the chemical invader. The soap-coated skin

  of his arm carved a hollow funnel straight through its translucent

  gut.

  Mud

  gritted his teeth, pushing deeper until his fingers brushed against

  something hard, marble-like, the beasts core. The slime gave one

  final, distorted squeal, its entire form shivering before it erupted

  into a blinding flash.

   [Summon

  Unlocked: Slime LV. 1]

  

  Mud

  let out a long, shuddering breath of relief. He’d done it. He had

  officially graduated from ‘guy with a rat’ to a summoner with

  actual options.

  With trembling fingers, he pulled up his summons page to inspect the

  new addition to his roster.

  As expected, the Slime’s raw stats were pretty dismal. It was

  maybe even less of a combatant than Ricky, far slower, but a bit more

  bulky. However, as he scrolled down to it’s skills, his eyes

  widened.

  [Elemental

  Sponge] This monster can

  temporarily inherit the elemental properties of an item it consumes.

  The item itself will be destroyed.

  [Sticky

  Body] The monster can

  liquefy into a viscous puddle to slow or even root enemies in place.

  [Disgusting

  Backpack] The monster’s

  internal cavity can be used to store and transport inanimate objects.

   Wow,

  a mobile pantry, except I don’t know if I would want to eat

  anything that had been ‘stored’ in your body,

  he thought.

  He tapped the monster’s portrait and aimed the summoning reticle

  at the damp cobblestones. With a soft, wet splat, the creature

  materialized. It looked largely the same, though thanks to the soapy

  enema, its gelatinous body was noticeably clearer, almost sparkling

  in the sunlight.

  Mud looked down at the shimmering, nasty blob. “I’m gonna call

  you Sludge.”

  The system prompt once again flickered to life, asking to confirm

  the name change. Mud hit accept with a sense of pride he hadn’t

  felt much since arriving in this world. He was now starting to do a

  little more than surviving. He was making real progress and building

  a team.

  Looking

  to the sky Mud realized it wasn’t far off from Noon, and he had

  promised Layhla not to be late. Turning he quickly left the grimy

  alleyway behind and made his toward the city’s front gates.

  ***

  Mud

  trudged through the final stretch toward the massive stone archway of

  the North Gate. His lungs burned and his legs were screaming in open

  revolt. He wasn’t built for this…

  this ‘walking’ thing. As

  he wiped a thick layer of grime and sweat from his forehead, morbid

  thoughts took root in his head; maybe Horizon city wasn’t so bad.

  He could buy a small cottage or apartment, spend his days baking

  biscuits, maybe even find a nice digital wife. A quiet peaceful life

  that sounded better than whatever lay beyond those cursed walls.

  “About time. I very nearly left without you.”

  Layhla’s irritated shout cut through the peaceful courtyard. She

  was leaning against a stone pillar, her gear looked freshly polished

  and her posture was utterly perfect. She was looking him up and down,

  her face an odd mix of pity and disbelief. “You look like hell. Did

  you run here?”

  “No,” Mud wheezed, hunching over with his hands on his knees as

  he fought to regain his breath. “More of a… brisk walk. Had an

  errand to run.”

  Layhla didn’t look convinced. Her eyes drifted to the ground

  beside him, and her shoulders visibly drooped. Her gaze narrowed into

  a judgmental stare. “You didn’t…”

  “Meet

  Sludge,” Mud said, ignoring his burning lungs to offer a proud,

  sweeping gesture toward the pulsing slime

  at his heels. “My new summon.”

  “That

  summon isn’t worth the mana you wasted on it,” Layhla grunted.

  She didn’t even bother to look sludge in the eye, if it even had

  eyes. “I don’t know if it’s any better than your rat. What’s

  it going to do against the Island Boss? Clean his toes?”

  “Not every summon has to be for killing things,” Mud said, his

  voice shrinking but he felt the need to defend the little blob.

  “Sludge is… he’s a support-style monster.”

  Layhla sighed and rubbed her temples, as if trying to massage away

  an incoming headache. “It doesn’t matter. Regardless of what

  ‘monster’ you use, your biggest weakness is yourself. That’s

  what you need to focus on first.”

  She stepped into his personal space, her movements curt and

  efficient. She jabbed a finger into the center of his chest. “If

  every monster on this island suddenly disappeared tomorrow, you would

  still die just trying to walk to the next region.”

  Mud flinched at the contact. His eyes darkened, and that familiar,

  heavy shroud of self-loathing came knocking, threatening to eat him

  whole.

  “You’re right,” he muttered, looking at his boots. “I suck.

  I get it.”

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s pathetic, and it’s even

  more useless than your glob.” She poked him again, harder this

  time, forcing him to take a half-step back. “Now are you coming

  with me or not?”

  Mud didn’t trust his voice enough to answer and simply nodded.

  With a sharp gesture from Layhla, the heavy iron-bound gates of

  Horizon City began to groan. Slowly, the massive timbers parted,

  revealing a sun-drenched, boar infested field that Mud knew all to

  well.

  It was time to get to work, the real grind had truly begun.