Chapter 201.1 - Chapter 201: Summon (1/3)

“Fuu…” [Ryouma]

Today’s hunt and lunch went by in the blink of an eye for some reason.

All that’s left now is to wait for Niki-kun…

“Onii-chan!　I’m done with my work!” [Niki]

Nikki-kun finished his work early too.

“Ohh…” [Ryouma]

“?　What’s the matter?” [Nikki]

“No, it’s nothing… There’s something I need to tell you today. Actually…” [Ryouma]

I honestly told him about the evolution of the wire slime.

“Huh!?　It evolved already!?” [Nikki]

“That’s right. It’s because you and the village helped me so much. All that food really helped the slime evolve.” [Ryouma]

“Show me!　Show me!” [Nikki]

“Of course. We’ll go to the forest after collecting garbage to see what the slime can do.” [Ryouma]

“Alright! Let’s get going then!” [Nikki]

And so, we left the cafeteria.

It seemed like Niki-kun wanted to see the Wire Slime as soon as possible, so we went to the garbage collection space earlier than usual.

Because of that we were also able to collect the garbage quickly.

After collecting the garbage, we went to the entrance of the forest where we gathered firewood, and I called out the Wire Slime.

“Huh? It doesn’t look any different?” [Nikki]

“Yep, but it did get a little bit smaller, and also…” [Ryouma]

I ordered the slime to turn itself into a really thin and long thread

“Ah!　Wow! So it can do this kind of stuff now? …It did eat nets too. Can it be used like a net?　Can you change the thickness?　And how far can it stretch?” [Nikki]

“Let’s find out.” [Ryouma]

I asked the Wire Slime and it told me that it can change the thickness of the threads. But if the threads are thick it can’t extend itself very far.

I hypothesized this morning that the maximum range it can extend might be related to its volume.

To test that I had it extend its threads at a fixed thickness into the shape of a cylinder. From that I was able to judge that the maximum distance it can reach is roughly 40 meters.

I calculated the volume, and it was pretty much the same as the volume of the ball-form wire slime.

But while the body could expand and contract, the nucleus couldn’t. When the wire slime extended as far as it could, the location of the nucleus became obvious. After all, the body thinned out so much. One glance is all anyone would need to spot it. The volume is within the margin of error, but the location of the nucleus becoming obvious is something I have to be careful about.

I also checked if the wire slime could become a net just as Niki-kun asked, and it turned out it could extend threads from anywhere on its body. It could maintain several threads at the same time too. The wire slime could also entangle the threads, so it was possible to make a net or a thick rope with it.

It can also change into the shapes it learned when it was still a metal slime, but when I had it changed its thread to something like a barbed wire or had it add thin blades on the side of its threads like a coping saw, its transformation was limited to thread + α.

“…Something like that, I guess. Niki-kun, do you want to see the moment when a slime evolves?” [Ryouma]

“I do! I do!　Can I watch a slime evolve?” [Nikki]

“Yeah. Actually, I have a slime that can evolve right away.” [Ryouma]

This time I took out the new slimes I got in the past few days. Some of these I caught on my own and some were given to me by the village.

“Slimes don’t just react to food, they react to the mana that’s used to cast spells too. If you feed a lot of a certain type of mana to a slime, it will evolve into a slime that casts magic of that type of mana.” [Ryouma]

“Come to think of it, you did mention that you evolved your own slimes to be able to cast magic. Is that how you did it?” [Nikki]

“It was just a coincidence at first. What type of mana the slimes like depend on their environment. There were only earth and dark types back at my base, but I hear slimes that cast fire magic – fire slimes – have been spotted in volcanic regions.

So first, we have to find out what type of man the slimes living around here like. I already tested it actually, and it seems the slimes here mostly like water type mana.” [Ryouma]

“So if the slime evolves, then it will turn into a slime that casts water magic?” [Nikki]

“Yeah. I can provide the mana the slime needs, so I can make it evolve immediately. I also don’t have any slimes that can cast water magic, so it would be nice if I could get one. Let’s give it a try.” [Ryouma]

I released water type mana from my hand, then I placed the slime that reacted the quickest between me and Niki-kun.

Nikki-kun watched the slime with rapt attention as I poured water magic into it.

“It looks like it’s trying to stick itself to your hand.” [Nikki]

Niki-kun remarked. The slime is also trying to absorb the mana I’m pouring into it, so it might look like it’s extending its body toward my hand.

While I was realizing that, the slime finally absorbed enough mana.