Just as Takuma was blissfully fantasizing about the elegant, older sister-type humanoid creatures of another world—perhaps a beautiful kijin, an alluring elf from Dwargon, or even a flirtatious majin—an overwhelming wave of hunger surged through his body. It was his very first craving since reincarnation, and both his body and soul screamed out for sustenance, demanding nourishment with all the desperation of a newborn predator.
"So hungry… So hungry… So hungry…"
Driven by primal instinct, Takuma's jelly-like form began to squirm in search of food. Yet, due to his newly acquired slime physiology, he found his vision severely limited—his world looked like a blurry, grayscale image, as if a human with severe myopia had lost their glasses. It was disorienting, even humiliating.
"Huh? What is this feeling?"
Suddenly, his round, streamlined body stiffened. A strange shift occurred in his perception. Through his gelatinous membrane, he felt the tremors in the air and the minute vibrations of the ground. Though his eyesight was poor, he could now detect the physical presence of objects with remarkable clarity, much like how Veldora described sensing mana waves through magical perception in the cave.
It was like floating on a still lake, where every ripple told a story. Takuma could sense movement, shape, and mass—though not specifics. It resembled a spider detecting vibrations on its web, or how Rimuru first learned to detect life through heat and air flow.
"Is this how slimes perceive the world? This is kind of… amazing."
With caution befitting someone aware of how fragile his current form was, Takuma slithered forward, inch by inch. He avoided bouncing like the other newborn slimes, relying instead on safe, crawling movements. He knew well—despite his overpowered talents—that right now, he was just a fragile slime. One wrong move, and even a goblin could kill him.
Pa!
His path was abruptly blocked. He bumped into something solid. The impact halted his momentum.
"This is… a sword?"
Though his blurry vision made it hard to confirm, the object's shape and the sharp aura it emitted through his tactile sense resembled a long blade. Carefully brushing against it, his membrane tingled with a sensation akin to danger.
"Why would a sword be lying around here?"
Unable to figure out its presence in this strange underground cavern—likely a forgotten area of the Great Jura Forest or somewhere beneath Tempest—Takuma decided to ignore it. Hunger gnawed at him. With survival his priority, he slithered around the object and moved forward.
Then something curious happened—he felt a light texture enter his body.
Pfft!
Within moments, Takuma felt it dissolve. A warm sensation spread through his body, not unlike the first time Rimuru devoured medicinal herbs. A gentle current of energy flowed through him, and his slimy form seemed to strengthen, if only slightly.
"Damn… it's digesting!"
Takuma stood still, stunned. Compared to the gnawing emptiness earlier, the sensation of absorbing something with his body was surreal—and oddly pleasurable. His instincts rejoiced in the fulfillment of his racial skill.
"Should I… try it again?"
Looking ahead, he noticed a patch of moss-like vegetation clinging to the damp stone wall. Without hesitation, he lunged. His amorphous body wrapped around the target and dissolved it effortlessly.
Each blade of moss, each tiny root, sent a pulse of energy through his form. He was growing—slowly, but noticeably. The sensation became addicting. It wasn't long before every edible piece of plant life nearby was devoured.
"Wait… if Gluttony lets me digest both living and non-living matter, then theoretically…"
Takuma glanced at the sword he had passed earlier. Then he summoned his internal status panel, the instinctive system born from his [Encounter in Another World] talent.
[Gluttony] (Purple):
You possess a bottomless stomach and a formidable digestive ability. As a slime, you can devour both organic and inorganic matter, fully absorbing their nutrients to accelerate growth and potentially acquire a portion of their properties.
That meant the sword wasn't off-limits—it was a potential meal.
"Alright, let's try. If this works, then metal, armor, magic stones… even monsters—nothing's off the menu."
Takuma crawled forward and enveloped the lower part of the sword. Instantly, he felt it begin to dissolve. The metallic taste was bitter and heavy, yet nourishing. He could feel the iron and carbon fusing into his core, making him denser and slightly more durable.
"It works!"
Excited, he lunged forward and engulfed more of the blade. His small body—only about the size of a basketball—couldn't take the whole thing at once, so only half the sword fit. Still, his digestion worked steadily.
Other newborn slimes hopping nearby paused as they noticed Takuma's strange behavior. To them, grass was food. But a sword? That was beyond their basic instincts. Their vacant stares seemed almost judgmental, as if saying: You're weird.
Bang!
A sudden metallic clang echoed as the undigested upper half of the sword dislodged and hit the ground. The sound spooked the other slimes, and they scattered. Takuma ignored them—he was already reaching to devour the rest of the weapon when—
Pa!
"Huh?"
He jolted. Something had slammed into him. A moment later, a familiar sensation returned—dissolving, digestion… only this time, it wasn't grass or steel.
It was another slime.
Startled, Takuma looked down to find a half-melted slime twitching beside him. Its lower body had been completely digested. The upper half was still intact but lifeless. It had jumped onto him by accident—and paid the price.
"…I just ate one of my own kind?"
A chill ran down his core. For a moment, he thought of a certain schizophrenic spider in a similar situation—eating allies, absorbing their skills. Was this how it began? The slippery slope of power? Had he just taken his first step down the path of a kin-eater?
But there was no time to dwell.
"Slimes… are this fragile?"
The incident reminded him just how weak they truly were. Despite his powerful talents, one misstep, one wrong predator, and he'd be the one melting on the floor.
"Rest in peace, slime bro. I'll live on for the both of us."
With a solemn squelch, Takuma enveloped the remaining half of the dead slime. As the final ripple of energy surged through him, a strange sense of resolve welled up.
Survive. Grow. Evolve.
Even if it meant eating others. Even if it meant being feared. The world wasn't going to hand him safety on a silver platter. He would have to take it.
And so, his journey as a devouring slime continued.