Disclaimer: I don't own Tensura so don't sue my ass.
————————
{Central Axis World}
Jamie's consciousness surfaces from the abyss, which is supposed to be death. To his surprise, he feels an unexpected calm wash over him despite having crossed over to the other side.
'I'm pretty sure I was on the bed, right? Right, I died…..' Jamie tried to speak, realizing he didn't possess a mouth.
'What the hell? My mouth! I can't feel my body either, nor can I see.' moving his viscous body back and forth. He feels the liquid properties of his new body. The dark purple ooze dripped down his bumpy humanoid figure.
Absorbing the hard substances in the air and dissolving them into its body, the strange liquid creature jiggles about frantically in absurd motions. It was an undulating mass of acidic and poisonous liquids harmonizing together.
The crippling feeling of unease settled in.
'I guess I did die and reincarnate…. It doesn't explain waking up with shitty motor skills and being blind. Like, even though I wasn't able to move my body well, I should be able to move my head or fingers.' Jamie thought, his bumpy dark liquid body flattening.
'Huh, to think there wasn't an afterlife after death but reincarnation? Am I me, though? I can move, but I can't control my body. Oh well.' Jamie mused in fascination, accepting the situation he was in.
Jamie has always been a go-with-the-flow kind of kid, not stressing over things he can't control. However, this changed during the last moments of his human life.
With a long internal sigh, he concentrates, attempting to recover his memories. He does so with relative ease and surprisingly great detail.
After a period of intense questioning and revision of his memories, Jamie finally came to terms with his situation. However, he still possessed lingering feelings of regret.
'Damn, I didn't get to finish that season of Fate,' he reflects on his past experiences with a noticeable discontentment in his tone.
'I didn't even get to touch some boobies. Dammit!!' Jamie shouts in anger internally, and remarks with a saddening tone full of regrets.
*Whack*
His liquid body slams into a boulder, shattering it on impact. His gelatinous form, reforming quickly at an accelerated rate.
'That was the sixth time hitting a rock today. I think. Not being able to see shit really sucks.'
He runs into boulders frequently. Initially, he ignored it but the pain brought an intense irritation within him. Even though the pain wasn't as severe as the one he experienced during his death, it still annoyed him to no end.
Slithering through the seemingly endless desert, Jamie resolves himself and decides to survive this nightmare he finds himself in.
———
Several Weeks later,
In a vast wasteland contaminated with high concentrations of magicules, these magicules are corrupted by nature. They inflict potentially lethal magical effects on any living creature. Amidst this disastrous land brimming with grotesque Calamity Class monsters that wonder aimlessly and attack each other in heinous of ways, and combined with the raging sandstorms possessing fragments of magic ore that would normally kill most creatures in the world, this was a place truly deserving of the name The Desert of Death. Despite all this, a black gelatinous creature with a noticeably hard texture bounces around the area like it's his playground. All of its deadly conditions seem to have no effect on this monstrous creature. This is Jamie and he has mostly mastered movement with his new amorphous body.
He can squish, squash, and twist himself however he pleases.
'Day 69: It's been a while and I find myself both so incredibly bored and scared for my life in this place. I don't seem to need to eat, breathe, or sleep. I lost most if not all of my senses except for my sense of touch. The good thing, I guess, is I'm not stuck on a bed anymore, although I do miss Chika, Beatrice, Lisa, Layla, and Dad.'
'I hate thinking about them, it makes me so sad.'
'Anyway, I am able to tell to some extent the physical ground around me. With vibrations from the ground, I can visualize where things may be, though I still can't see,'
'I also learned earth bending. I'm not kidding, I can manipulate the ground beneath me. Dig underground and make boulders shoot upwards, I can also make mud by stimulating a certain area on the ground. I mostly use it to trap the monsters I run into that try to eat me, if I can't trap them I just run away. Who am I even talking to?' Jamie ponders, realizing he might be developing schizophrenia.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, which somehow Jamie was aware of.
Subconsciously, Jamie sensed disturbances from his position, which he promptly reacted to by moving in the direction where there weren't any signs of disturbances. Despite being blind, Jamie displays exceptional awareness of his surroundings. He had developed a sixth sense that functioned akin to precognition, alerting him of dangers slightly before they happened. He had spent his new life meandering the grim surroundings of the land, with danger at every corner. While there were some who would have given up in this situation, Jamie was an aberration who refused to give in either from the solitude or extreme fear the monsters embedded in him.
*Roooaaarrrrrrrrrr!*
A ferocious beast had its sights on Jamie. Without any delay, it attacked with its sharp talons and a deafening roar. Its attack whisked through the air infested with aggressive magicules and collided with a thick boulder Jamie had created.
'Yo! I guess you took the bait.' The familiar feeling of fear crept up his imaginary spine, however it was suppressed within the following seconds. If he had a face, it would have displayed extreme focus. Jamie had planned this entire encounter. Through his deep understanding of vibrations, he could distinguish objects from living beings. So he had lured the beast to a secluded area where they wouldn't be interrupted by a third party.
'I'm not sure if you can hear me but whatever.'
'You know, You guys terrorize me all the damn time. I have no choice but to fight back, I can't keep living like this. I'd rather die again than continue like this. I'm tired of running and being oppressed by you monsters—the biggest challenge in this new life. If I can't end you, I have no hope in this life. I'm ready to put my life on the line. This ends now!' A fierce battle cry erupted from the depths of his soul.
With vibrations coming from the ground, Jamie understood the beast's position and skillfully maneuvered, using the mud on the ground to boost his speed and mobility. The beast swung its claws around in wide arcs, grazing Jamie's liquid form multiple times. Although the beast's powerful strikes repeatedly missed Jamie, the force of its blows hitting the ground sent ripples through his seismic-like vision. Needless to say, this disorientation left him struggling to maintain his defensive stance, using every bit of energy he had to stay on guard. The feeling of fear nearly suffocated the boy now turned into a slime but he didn't falter. The next moment, the beast took off a large chunk of Jamie's form with its claw attack from its leg. There was a slight searing of pain, making him contemplate his actions. At the same time, Jamie had luckily seen through the vibrations of the monster's attack in time and utilized his control over the earth to send himself hurtling towards the beast at high speeds. The impact, laced with a toxic sludge that emanated from Jamie's body sent the beast monster flying to smash against another boulder.
Jamie's slimy figure stood there, in disbelief.
'I actually won? I won! I won! That's what you get for messing with me.' He thought, in amusement. All his fear washed away after the defeat of the monster. 'Ow! Ow!' Jamie had thought he was a goner, with the pain that continued to permeate through his body until ultimately subsiding.
As he got closer to the beast, Jamie's body was in a state of regeneration. On a closer look at the monster, it appears his contaminated slime cells invaded the monster's body, shattering its genetic bonds and leaving it immobilized, unable to move despite not being fully dead. However, Jamie was ignorant to this fact. With a merciless disposition, he employed his intrinsic abilities and devoured the beast in one go. In delight at his victory and not sensing anything else further, he picked a random direction and began bouncing. Moving randomly brought forth risks but time and time again, Jamie proved to be highly resilient. With his pitch-black vision, he could only perceive the endless torrents of disturbances but amidst the dreadful ambiance, he could discern spots where 'danger' was not prominent. He singled in on these areas and followed the path they created. This approach to traversing the lands decreased the chances of running into monsters though Jamie nonetheless encountered some monsters. He was especially susceptible to creatures that are air-born.
After a while of bouncing he came across a larger expanse that was filled with magicules and monsters. Although he couldn't see them he felt them through the vibrations in the earth and his danger sense. He had just ended a monster not too long ago, but he was not dumb enough to face those overwhelming odds so he decided to take a detour.
Digging deep underground, Jamie absorbs and dissolves any materials he can get his slimy hands on.
'But seriously, where am I? What am I?' Jamie thought as his mind accelerated, trying to find a probable explanation. The sudden questioning of the unusual situation of his new reality finally sank in for the young boy. He jiggles his recently incarnated body as he hears a familiar voice.
«Answer. You are currently residing in the Desert of Death of the Barron Lands. In the Cardinal World.»
«Additionally, you are a corrupted slime and a unique monster.»
The very same mechanical voice, devoid of emotion, resounded in his mind. Jamie surfaces with immense speed and hops wobbly, startled by the sudden response.
'Oi, slow down. Who are you? And why did it take so long for you to respond?' He questioned, his tone possessing a tinge of anger in it.
«Answer: it is the effect of your unique skill, [Philosopher]. Now that your ability is established, you are now able to react faster.»
'I-I see… You're not a person. [Philosopher]…' He replied, his voice softening with the realization that his skill isn't a person here to save him.
«Affirmative. Your skill provides information and analytical abilities as well as the power to effectively comprehend the truth.»
'Aren't you the person who reincarnated me? I heard you talking to me about skills and stuff while I was dying.'
«Negative. The phenomenon you are referring to is known as the Voice of The World. It is responsible for your reincarnation.» the voice stated.
'I see…'
Manipulating the ground from beneath, Jamie forms a large spherical dome made out of rock to protect himself from any potential threats.
Oscillating around in a circle, Jamie asked
"These skills you're talking about. Do I have more of them?'
«Affirmative. You possess two unique skills, five intrinsic sk—» the voice replies, getting interrupted by Jamie.
'Can you display them for me in my mind?' Jamie requested, curious about something.
Ever since he reincarnated, Jamie has felt a noticeable increase in his mental faculties. He is able to rewatch his entire life; he does this mostly to alleviate his boredom but lately, it really has been getting old.
The very next moment, his skills were displayed to him.
«You possess the corresponding skills:
Unique Skills:
[Philosopher]
[Freak]
Magic:
None
Extra skills:
[Seismic Wave Perception]
[Malice Perception]
[Danger Detection]
Common skills:
[Liquidize]
[Solidity]
[Earth Mold]
[Earth Wall]
[Acidic Shot]
Intrinsic skills:
[Absorb]
[Dissolve]
[Self-Regeneration]
[Paralyze]
[Corrosion]
Resist Skills:
[Spiritual Attack Resistance]
[Thermal Fluctuation Resistance]
[Corrosion Resistance]
[Paralysis Resistance]
[Blunt Force Resistance]
[Pain Resistance].»
'Magic!! There's magic in this world!?' The joy in his nonexistent voice was evident as he blurted out his question.
«Affirmative. Magic does exist; the casting of magic spells requires you to use incantations and/or hand signs to focus an image into reality. The phenomenon is fueled by magic power or magicules.»
'Shocks, I don't have a body anymore'
'By the way what the hell is Magicules? I could probably guess what Magic power is though,' Jamie thought with a questioning tone.
«Magicules: A special energetic material found nearly in all things. These particles are a kind of spiritual matter that can assume a variety of characteristics based on the circumstances and are greatly impacted by the thoughts of living things. Magic born are beings made almost entirely of magicules. They are also known as Majins or Monsters. As a Monster, you can exist solely on magicules in the atmosphere.»
'Ohh, that sounds legit. So that means I'm a magical being.'
'it's starting to sound like a fantasy world from the novels I used to read,' he thought, reminiscing about the past.
«Notice. Insufficient information on the subject of magic. Would you like to learn more about magic by accessing the event records of the world? Yes/No?» his skill inquired his consent.
'No, I'm more concerned about the fact I can't see.'
'Do you have any ideas on how to see? All I have been able to notice is the foggy dust, distant hills all around me, and the occasional monster that tries to eat me,' Jamie asked, praying for an answer.
«Answer. The Extra Skill: [Mana Perception] can provide sight to you. It is a rather simple skill to acquire.» his skill spoke.
'How do I get this [Mana Perception] you're talking about?'
«Processing… it has been hypothesized through Pursuit of Truth that acquiring [Mana Perception] requires the utilization of magic power as an extra sense to perceive the surroundings.»
'Meaning?'
«By examining how magicules react to the waves of light and sound that move through them, you can gain insight into the appearance and sounds of your surroundings.»
'Ok, I'll try,' Jamie remarks.
Determined, Jamie focuses, and after a few seconds. A sudden, brilliant, glistening light penetrated his mind. The very next moment, he felt the air shimmer with magicules as the same mechanical voice, sounded off in his mind.
«All conditions have been met. Acquisition of the Extra Skill: [Mana Perception] is successful.»
«Would you like to use the extra skill, [Mana Perception]? Yes/No?»
'Yes!' Jamie responded almost immediately.
«Initializing action...»
The sudden rush of sound and light invades his liquid body. It took a bit of fine-tuning to get it just right, but with [Philosopher]'s assistance, Jamie got the hang of it in no time.
'I can see!! Oh wow, I really thought you were Joshing me when you said i was a slime. So, I'm like one of those low-level mobs in video games?'
«Answer. Your interpretation is accurate.»
Focusing his attention to his form, there was an odd feeling that lingered deep within him, maming at his very soul. His once beautiful countenance although tarnished by illness was nowhere to be found, and his current physical traits made the boy scowl in revulsion.
His appearance resembled a lump of black goo with a somewhat humanoid shape. His surface, reminiscent of a dark purplish color. Even though he isn't moving, his body is in a constant state of liquescent, and never maintains a consistent shape even for a second.
Despite the pitch blackness of the rock-made spherical dome, Jamie could see just fine in fact he could see past it to view the large expanse of desert and magicules in the distance and the additional presence of the monstrous creatures.
Due to the identically contaminated cells that make up Jamie's constitution, his body is more efficient at managing energy and thus Jamie is able to process a lot more information than what a human's brain would conventionally allow.
'What an amazing view! I can pick up on almost everything around me-from the tiniest sounds to the brightest lights. I even notice magicules, which look really cool. They come off as little colorful particles that add a splash of flair!'
Noticing a more powerful monster, Jamie immediately reduces the effects of his [Mana Perception]. Calling out to his skill 'Hey, are slimes really weak in this world?'
«Affirmative.» the voice responds.
A deafening silence ensues between them.
'Sighhhhhh, I'm so cooked,' Jamie cries internally. After witnessing the monsters outside, he begins to doubt himself. 'How am I supposed to take… whatever that was in a fight or even get past it? When I looked at it, it stared right back at me. That shit must be a menace. No, I can't give up yet; I will survive! With my skills, I can definitely survive!'
'How was I able to survive this long though? Hmm… were the monsters I encountered before dumb or what?'
«Conjecture. Judging from the residual energy they exuded, it is likely they did not possess sentience as you do hence why you are considered a unique monster. One that gained intelligence and a stronger will than the others. It would be more accurate to categorize you as a Majin since you possess proper intelligence and rational thought.»
'Glazing me won't get you anywhere buddy.'
«…»
'Can you explain to me the [Freak] skill; what does it do exactly?'
«It grants you superior control over yourself to the point of contradiction.»
'Uhm what? What does that mean?' Jamie exclaims in confusion, a question mark appearing on his slime body.
«The unique skill [Freak] allows for the performance of actions, maneuvers, and tasks that would otherwise be impossible for the standard individual to accomplish.»
'I see… I still don't get it, can you please elaborate further?'
«Recalibrating...… Successful.»
«It allows you to possess near-perfect control over your entire being. Existential Outcome allows you to rewrite the laws of the world that govern your existence by altering variables to manifest an imagined result effectively turning fantasies into reality, Skill Creation allows you to acquire skills with relative ease, and Morph allows you to transform into nearly anything as long as you can envision it.»
'And you're sure it wasn't stolen from god or something? Seriously, I get isekaied and I get superpowers right off the bat? Score!'
'I guess I lucked out with [Freak]. Particularly, the sub-skill Existential Outcome, this shit is the purest form of Hax I have ever seen. A nice Trump card to have if I do say so myself.'
'However, if I linked this Morph with my [Philosopher], would I be able to get my body back?'
«Affirmative.»
'Let's go! My dreams of getting laid aren't dead yet.' Jamie thought, crying tears of happiness internally.
'Though I would like to stay in my slime form for a little bit longer, it makes traversing the lands a bit more easier and fun!'
Originally, the prospect of staying in this dangerous place with a weak slime body terrified Jamie but now he has adapted to his new body and can perform arguably better than his former bipedal body. He felt somewhat comfortable and with his skill backing him up, a sense of confidence began stirring deep within.
'Plus, it's kind of comfortable in this form, like laying on a woman's lap.'
'Not like I would know, seeing how I died barely having used my body. My request to Dad seems more unreasonable now; besides, who would have loved a literal sick freak like me?'
Escaping his weird thoughts, Jamie shapes his body into a more rounded and robbery state to increase his mobility. Then he activates his skill [Acidic Shot] and dark ooze shoots out from his figure. Corroding the wall enclosing his freedom.
'It seems I was subconsciously using the [Freak] skill without knowing,' he commented.
«Notice. Further analyzation of the skill [Freak] is required to decern the skill's full capabilities.»
'Go for it man, you seem to understand this stuff better than me anyway. I agree to anything that makes me strong enough to curb-stomp these monsters.'
As Jamie bounced across the vast wasteland with great vigor, he felt a newly found determination. 'First I gotta clear the monsters in the area. Time for my training arc. Oh and [Philosopher], can you please teach me some of that magic you were talking about before?'
«Acknowledged.»
'Thanks'
'Hahahahahaha!!!! I'm going to make all you monsters pay for what you made me go through.'
On this day, a true monstrosity of an entity was born. Its power steadily rises with every passing moment of existence.
————————
A/N: Hello there, I'm the author. I know, I created a truly weird character, but that's what I was kind of going for when I was creating Jamie's personality. A deviant or "unhinged teen." So, you can expect more gooner mentality from Jamie. Also, I'm thinking of changing his name in the future when he gets named as a monster. It isn't going to be any time soon because I don't want Jamie's elemental alignment to be limited. He has zero knowledge of tensura but he does have some familiarity with the aspects of the world. This is due in part to the various fictional works he indulged in while he was sick. I would appreciate it if you commented as I lose motivation to keep writing really fast. It's so bad, I have to listen to playlists of NEFFEX songs just to write. So please say something and help me get better at writing. Before I go, here's some made-up trivia that shouldn't conflict with canon too much
Corrupted Slimes or "Contaminated Viscous Bodies" are a race of Specters and are Demi-spiritual life-forms. They are a rare subspecies of slimes that are born and thrive in inhospitable environments contaminated with high concentrations of magicule radiations. They produce powerful acids and contaminated slime cells that corrodes and paralyzes targets. Although technically still weak, these types of slimes are vastly stronger than their regular counterparts. Jamie in particular was born from the Barren Lands, heavily influenced by both Guy and Milim's aggressive magicules.
Disaster Rank - Likely Hazard
「EP: Unspecified」
Time skip coming up next and thank you for reading. Bye!