The hours crawled by in measured silence. Arthur remained in the chasm, letting his body recover from the ordeal while his mind worked through possibilities and threats. Each distant sound made him tense, listening for footsteps or voices that never came. The forest settled into its nocturnal rhythm, insects chirping and small creatures rustling through undergrowth. Eventually full darkness descended, thick and complete except for scattered moonlight filtering through the canopy above.
Arthur shifted position carefully, testing his restored legs one final time. The flesh felt solid, no different from before the arrows had punctured through muscle and bone. Remarkable. He'd need to understand exactly what this healing capability could do, what its limits were, but that could wait until he'd secured proper shelter.
He eased himself upward, movements slow and deliberate, peeking out of the chasm with his head raised just enough to scan the surrounding area. Nothing moved in the darkness. No torches cutting through the shadows, no voices calling coordinates or positions, no signs whatsoever of continued pursuit. They'd probably labeled him dead by now, written him off as another casualty claimed by the forest and its magical beasts. The assumption worked entirely in his favor.
Arthur reached down and touched the green slime where it rested against his leg. The creature vanished immediately, absorbed into his skin without resistance. A crest appeared on his right hand, glowing with faint green light before settling into a permanent mark. The pattern looked organic, almost like living tissue arranged in deliberate design. Common enough phenomenon for anyone possessing a talent and forming bonds with creatures. At least that much aligned with normal expectations.
He pulled himself out of the chasm fully, muscles protesting slightly from the extended inactivity. The moment his feet touched solid ground above, the chasm behind him closed shut. Earth grinding against earth, stone sealing seamlessly as if the opening had never existed at all. As if the space had only manifested to facilitate this specific meeting between him and that particular slime. As if his talent itself had orchestrated every step, arranging circumstances to bring them together.
Standing alone in the forest darkness, Arthur's mind drifted toward the immediate problem. Where to go now? The forest stretched in all directions, unfamiliar territory made hostile by circumstance. He had no supplies, no weapons beyond a hunting knife, no clear destination. Just the clothes on his back and a talent nobody understood.
Sharp pain exploded across his mind without warning. Arthur staggered, hands flying to his temples as the sensation lanced from one side of his skull to the other. Then a voice cut through his thoughts, clear and distinct despite having no external source.
"Master, it's me! The green slime you made a bond with!"
The voice belonged to a child. Female, bright with enthusiasm and energy that felt completely inappropriate for his current situation. Arthur's breath caught. This wasn't possible. Slimes were mindless creatures, simple organisms that dissolved organic matter for sustenance. They didn't possess consciousness, couldn't form language or coherent thought beyond basic survival instinct.
"Leave me alone! It can't be!"
His own voice sounded strained even to his ears. The pain in his head intensified for a moment before settling into a dull, persistent ache. The childish voice responded immediately, undeterred by his rejection.
"It's really me, the green slime. I can talk because you have the talent of becoming our god. You can understand us and communicate with us as we can with you."
Arthur forced himself to breathe steadily, pushed past the instinctive denial and considered what he was hearing. He'd already watched his severed arm regrow from nothing in a matter of seconds. He'd seen a chasm open and close on its own. He'd been hunted by his own father after a talent ceremony produced impossible results. Given everything that had happened in the past day, telepathic communication with slimes barely registered as the strangest occurrence.
"That's unheard of."
"Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but I'll only do what's best for you."
Something loosened in Arthur's chest, a tension he hadn't fully acknowledged until it began to ease. The complete isolation he'd felt since watching Areal's head fall to the ground diminished fractionally. Having someone to talk to, even if that someone existed as a voice in his mind originating from a sentient blob, felt like being handed a rope while drowning in deep water.
"That's just great. I thought I was alone, but having someone to talk to is nice."
"I'm glad to hear that. And I bet you're looking for somewhere to stay, so I'll help you."
Hope flared in Arthur's chest before he could suppress it. After everything, after the betrayal and the pain and the desperate flight through hostile territory, the simple offer of assistance hit harder than it should have. "Really?"
"Yes, Master. Protecting you is my duty after all. You're the fourth Slime God reborn after so many ages."
Fourth. The word carried implications Arthur didn't fully grasp yet. Three others had come before him, three other individuals who'd possessed this same strange and misunderstood talent. Questions multiplied in his mind. "There were others before me? What happened to them?"
"They all died."
Direct and blunt, offering no softening or elaboration. Arthur waited for more information but the slime remained silent. "How?"
"I'm afraid I don't know. I wasn't born during their time. I was living in that chasm for a while, feeding on the bacteria that lived there."
Another dead end. Arthur started walking, choosing a direction based on nothing more than instinct since staying still accomplished nothing productive. His boots crunched against fallen leaves and small twigs. "You don't know. Anyway, where did you come from originally?"
"That's where I'll be taking you, Master. There's a cave where my kind lives and it's close by."
"Close by? Why did you leave from there then?"
"It was because I wanted to explore the outside world. And more importantly, it was due to a rebellious phase of mine."
Arthur laughed despite everything, the sound surprising him with its genuineness. A rebellious slime who'd gotten stuck in a chasm during some kind of adventure gone wrong. At least some elements of this absolute disaster carried traces of humor. "You sure are an odd one. Either way, thanks to your rebellious phase I survived."
"Maybe it was fate that brought us together, Master. But before going there, can you name me? It will help me evolve into a true named bonded monster."
The request caught Arthur off guard. He'd forgotten about the naming ritual, the formal process that strengthened bonds between talent holders and their contracted creatures. He'd never expected to perform it alone in a dark forest after being hunted like an animal. "Oh, my bad! I forgot. Since your work is healing and you're green, which is the sign of health, I'll name you Green."
Light flashed from the crest on his hand, sudden and brilliant enough to make him squint against the glare. When it faded seconds later, the voice in his mind had transformed completely. Still feminine but older now, mature and refined where it had been childish and energetic before. The change felt significant, like crossing some invisible threshold.
"Thanks for naming me, Master Arthur."
"How do you know my name?"
"It's part of the bonding process."
Simple enough explanation. The bond apparently worked both ways, sharing information between them. Arthur accepted it without further question. "I see. So can we go to the slime cave now?"
"Of course."
Green directed him through the forest with quiet instructions delivered directly into his thoughts. Turn left here, watch that exposed root, continue straight ahead. Arthur moved carefully in the low visibility, stepping wisely around obstacles he could barely distinguish from shadows. His eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness but the forest canopy blocked most moonlight from reaching the ground level.
Time became difficult to track. Arthur focused on maintaining steady progress, trusting Green's guidance because he had no better options available. Eventually the trees thinned slightly and he found himself standing in front of a cave entrance. A puddle of water just inside caught moonlight and threw pale illumination across rough stone walls, creating just enough visibility to navigate safely.
Voices drifted from deeper within the cave. Multiple voices overlapping and chittering, having what sounded like actual conversations in various pitches and tones. Arthur paused at the threshold, suddenly uncertain about what he was walking into.
"It's the voices of our kind, Master. Don't worry. Due to your talent you can hear the voices of other slimes and can even converse with them."
At least he'd have others to talk with. Others who wouldn't judge him for failing a talent ceremony or care about kingdom politics and bloodline concerns. The thought carried more weight than it probably should have. Arthur pushed the feeling aside and focused on the practical situation. "Enter the cave, Master. I'll introduce the ones living inside to you."
Arthur didn't say anything further. He stepped through the entrance and let his eyes adjust to the interior lighting. The cave opened into a natural chamber, large enough to stand upright and move around comfortably. Mineral deposits along the walls caught what little light reached this far inside. And scattered across the uneven floor were slimes. More than five of them, each a different color. One blue, one yellow, one red, one silver, one purple. All of them froze the instant they noticed his presence.
"It's a human! Run!"
Panic erupted immediately. The slimes scattered in different directions, scrambling for corners and crevices with surprising speed for creatures without visible limbs. Green's voice cut through the chaos, sharp with authority.
"Stop worrying! It's our new Slime God, Master Arthur!"
The frantic movement ceased. Five slimes turned their attention toward him, though they possessed no visible eyes or faces to indicate where they were actually looking. The purple slime pulsed once and spoke in a voice that resonated exactly like a cranky old man's.
"You troublemaker. You brought a human with you and you say it's the Slime God? You liar. You fled from here and came rushing back to us."
Arthur spoke up before Green could mount a defense, stepping forward into the chamber to address the misunderstanding directly. "No, she didn't. I'm actually the person who possesses the talent Slime God. And the troublemaker now has a name. It's Green."
Silence stretched through the cave for several long heartbeats. Nobody moved or spoke. Then the yellow slime bounced forward, voice high and crackling with excitement.
"Holy moly, it's actually the Slime God! It's been ages since the last Slime God died!"
There it was again. That casual mention of death hanging over the previous talent holders. Arthur needed more information, needed to understand what had happened to those who'd come before him. "Glad to be here. But more importantly, how did the previous Slime God talent owners die?"
The purple slime's voice turned solemn, losing its cranky edge. "None of us know. It was more than a thousand years ago."
Arthur's mood died out immediately. A thousand years separated him from any precedent, any guidance on what this talent actually meant or how to properly utilize its capabilities. He'd been hoping for concrete answers, for some kind of roadmap left behind by those who'd walked this path before. Instead he found only gaps and silence where useful information should have existed.
"Don't be sad, Master." Green's voice carried gentle insistence, trying to lift his spirits. "They all lived glorious lives when they were alive, according to what we heard from our ancestors."
"Ancestors?"
The word had barely finished leaving Arthur's mouth when darkness rushed in from the edges of his vision. His legs gave out beneath him without warning, muscles simply ceasing to function. He felt himself falling, registered the cool stone rushing up to meet him, heard Green's alarmed voice calling his name with rising panic, and then consciousness fled completely and there was nothing at all.