A small green-colored slime woke in a world called Asterra, this was a land shaped by mana tides and ancient war.
A very long long time ago, a divine war shattered the continent and left behind colossal craters, fissures, and bottomless pits.
Mana leaked from those wounds and turned them into living ecosystems called the Dungeons.
A Dungeon wasn't just a maze. It was a breathing ecosystem that devoured the weak but made the strong become stronger.
The slime felt the Dungeon pulse around it. The floor vibrated with mana currents flowing through distant tunnels. Every monster within these depths fed on that same mana energy and their evolution also came from it.
Adventurers from various professions on the surface treated Dungeons like treasure mines. Miners dug mana ore from its walls. Herbalists harvested magical herbs from its chambers. Monster hunters risked their lives for rare body parts that sold for fortunes.
And they all wanted the legendary Dungeon Core, a crystal worth more than a kingdom.
A Dungeon never welcomed intruders warmly. But it let them in, only because the Core, which was its heart, required constant mana flow and dead adventurers fed that flow perfectly.
The slime suddenly opened its senses inside one of the Dungeons called the Endless Gloom Cavern, this was one of the oldest Dungeons beneath the northern kingdom.
Thousands of creatures crawled through its layers.
The slime lay in a puddle on the Bottom Floor, the lowest level and the graveyard for those who fail.
Mana density swirled thick here, but unstable. The energy would melt the fragile, and empowered predators who knew how to digest it.
Mana in Asterra existed in three forms:
Dungeon Mana, the pure energy saturating only inside the Dungeons.
Core Mana, condensed inside living creatures such as animals, monsters, humans, beastman, elves, etc. when they were born.
World Mana, the natural flow controlling elements and growth. This was abundant on the surface, but not as strong as the Mana inside a Dungeon.
Most beings used Core Mana to manifest skills, but the slime understood nothing of this yet.
It convulsed once in a confused state. It remembered nothing before awakening. It only has the instinct to absorb, divide, and hide.
Suddenly, a boot struck its side and launched it against a rock.
The slime wobbled, confused but unharmed.
A goblin snorted. "Trash gel! Even simple rocks make better pets than you!"
The slime stayed silent. Its body vibrated slightly as an inner spark suddenly ignited inside its gelatinous body. The slime could hear something in its mind.
[Analyze skill activated]
[Subject: Goblin]
[Result: Low mana. Low threat. High stupidity]
The goblin yawned and walked away. The slime watched mana flicker off the creature like dim fireflies.
Every monster here carried mana. Every corpse also leaked mana.
In this world, mana wasn't just energy. Mana was currency, weapon, and… food.
The slime immediately moved based on its instinct and absorbed a droplet of poisonous moss nearby.
Its body tingled.
[You used Consume skill]
[Absorbing Core Mana…]
[Core Mana acquired: poison moss]
[Minor Poison Resistance acquired]
[Consume Skill level 1: 1/100]
[Evolution: 1 / 1,000]
[Consume more to start your evolution!]
The dungeon's laws became clear in its mind a moment later.
Consume or be consumed. Adapt and fight, or die.
The slime slid across the cavern, studying everything. In Asterra, even non-human beasts learned instincts from mana currents.
The slime starts to process the mana differently now. It didn't just use instincts. It was thinking. It started to understand patterns and recognized strategies.
It suddenly possessed a mind no slime should have.
Stone lizards darted around it. They sniffed, found it uninteresting, and left.
The slime stored their scent and movement in memory.
Hours passed. The cavern grew louder. Monsters roared and fought and devoured each other in every corner of the Dungeon.
A gust of warm mana swept through, signaling a distant predator's kill. The slime ignored it. It was not the time to face that kind of enemy yet. It was still too weak.
The slime hid in a crevice dripping with toxic moss. It absorbed another flake of poison and strengthened its body.
The moss tasted bitter, but the slime started to feel power flowing through its core.
Footsteps echoed again. Torchlight glowed. The two goblins returned.
"Where's the stupid jelly?" one asked. Another goblin laughed.
Their fire magic crackled. But even those weak fire magic held value. Mana was mana.
The slime suddenly trembled with anticipation. Arrogant creatures walked toward it again, unaware that they were walked into a growing predator.
It stayed still, letting them think it was harmless.
The two goblins moved toward the slime's last location.
Like all weak Dungeon creatures, goblins entertained themselves by bullying anything lower on the food chain. And in the Endless Gloom Cavern, nothing stood lower than a slime.
One goblin kicked aside rocks and grunted, "It was here!"
The other jabbed the wall with its torch. "Stupid jelly probably melted somewhere."
The slime waited.
It clung to the inside of the crevice, body flattened, its gel trembling with hunger.
The toxic moss coating its membrane shimmered as mana surged through its core.
The goblins stepped closer while laughing.
The slime finally decided to act.
It launched itself from the crevice like a green blur that slapped against the first goblin's face with a wet thud.
The goblin's eyes widened. "W–Wark?!"
The slime tightened its body instantly. It sealed the goblin's mouth and nose, clamping over its head like a suffocating mask.
The goblin clawed at its face but its fingers only sank into the slime's membrane and dissolved slowly as the Consume skill activated.
[Consume skill activated]
[Absorbing Core Mana…]
[Core Mana acquired: Goblin]
[Consume skill level 1: 3 / 100]
The goblin's struggles weakened. Its breath stopped. Then its body went limp and fell to its knees.
The slime swallowed the mana from its head and dropped the corpse.
The second goblin froze, torch trembling in its hand. Its face was pale in horror.
"H-Haah?! A slime… killed… Goru?!"
Goblins bullied slimes because slimes were supposed to be harmless and mindless. They were just easy targets.
But slime in front of it devoured life like a predator!
The goblin stepped back. Then it turned and ran.
The slime didn't allow it to escape.
It contracted its gelatinous body and launched itself off the ground. Its body slapped onto the fleeing goblin's legs then wrapped tightly around both shins.
The goblin fell face-first into the dirt with a scream.
"Aaah! No! Get off! Get off!!"
The slime tightened its grip and activated its skill again.
[Consume skill activated]
[Absorbing Core Mana…]
[Core Mana acquired: Goblin]
[Consume skill level 1: 5 / 100]
The goblin's legs started to dissolve but the process was slow and painful, mana leaking into the slime's body.
The goblin tried to crawl while screaming, but without its legs, panic replaced its strength.
"N-No! J-Jelly monster! H-Help!"
The goblin dragged itself across the cavern floor, nails scraping against stone, leaving a trail of frantic claw marks.
Its breath starts to become broken sobs. "N-No… no… don't…!"
The slime tightened around the goblin's legs. Its body pulsed, drawing in mana slowly. Far more slowly than it wanted. It simply wasn't strong enough yet to finish the creature quickly.
The goblin felt the pressure first, like something heavy was squeezing the life out of its legs inch by inch. Then a creeping pain that climbed higher from its legs.
"A-AAAH! HELP!"
Its scream tore through the cavern, bouncing off the stone walls and tunnels. But nobody cares.
The slime eats more of the goblin's flesh. Its core flickered.
It had never eaten anything other than moss before. But now the slime starts to eat a goblin for the first time without hesitation.
The goblin twisted, trying to pry the creature off. "STOP—STOP—LET GO! LET GO!!"
But the slime was relentless.
In that slimy liquid form, its instincts kept commanding it to keep consuming.
The goblin's struggles slowed. Its shouts turned into choked whimpers then gasps.
The slime climbed higher, devouring more of the goblin's body.
The cavern shook with one final, desperate scream, and then only silence.
The slime settled over the remaining torso of the goblin, quivering with exhaustion.
When its energy recharges, the slime continues eating. and eating, and eating. Finally, a whole goblin body was consumed.
The green slime lay there for a couple of minutes to regain its energy again. He heard voices that kept telling him something.
[You have consumed a goblin]
[Consume skill level 1: 10 / 100]
[Evolution: 5/1,000]
And that was the start of the most dangerous predator in the continent of Asterra.
—