Chapter 4: Compression Testing_Syl

Chapter 4: Compression Testing

 Once I gained [Slime Density LV 1] I could feel theyout of my slime body a lot more clearly, such as the currentpression level of various areas of my slime mass and even down to the individual pseudopods. At the moment, I could onlypress my entire body or each pseudopod, but I can imagine that as I level up the trait, I could potentially have far greater control over what areas I raise the density of.

 Using the knowledge of my new trait, Ipress my body back down to just a little bitrger than my original size. I tried topress more slime mass, but this was the limit at my current level. Despite my smaller size, I felt safer and more solid with this higher-density slime.

 I was curious to see the effects of higher-density slime, so Ipressed one pseudopod while leaving the other upressed, and then I mmed both tendrils into each other with as much force as I could muster. St! It was like throwing a water balloon at a brick wall, and the upressed pseudopod exploded on contact.

 ''Very impressive! If I keep increasing the density of my slime mass, then I can hopefully prevent something from entering my body and reaching my core.''

 I had another idea I wanted to test as I recreated my destroyed pseudopod, leaving it upressed, and moved toward two nearby slimes. I ced my two tendrils in two different slimes and then waited while staring intently. My theory was that the higher-density one would be much harder to dissolve, and sure enough, I could feel my control being peeled awayyer byyer in only one pseudopod.

 Before I lost my pseudopod, I tried sending more slime mass to it while also trying topress it. I could feel my slime mass drain from my main body to reinforce the density, and the peeling sensation eventually stopped. Satisfied with the results, I surround the core of each slime with my tendrils. Crunch! Crunch!

 x2

 x2

 ''I haven''t leveled up yet; do I need to defeat a level 3 monster, or have I just not defeated enough? Also, I wonder if [Mana Slime] has a maximum level?''Looking around, I can see that the slime buffet has ended, and the slimes are returning to their earlier activities. I''m surprised how many are still alive, as I was not the only one who ate a few cores.

 ''Well, I have two more things I want to try out before I head into the forest, and I don''t wish to destroy all of my mindless brethren... If only a small number of slime are left, the humans might be suspicious.''

 I head towards thergest slime I can see, hoping it might be a higher level, and start pumping more slime mass into one of my pseudopods. The tip of my pseudopod starts to form into a ball, and I startpressing while this happens. As its size swells, I feel the limb isn''t strong enough to hold on to its own.

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 ''Maybe if I had a higher level of [Slime Density], the limb would be strong enough? Something to work towards. Let''s use two hands.''

 I use my free tendril to support the weight of the dense ball and stop increasing the size. It''s a bizarre sight, like a big-slimy mace, and my main body has diminished in size to distribute slime mass towards this experiment. I then bring down the impromptu weapon on therge slime, which explodes like an overripe fruit. St! Crunch!

 I finally gained another level, which felt great! However, I didn''t think about what would happen to the slime mass as it explosively flew out into the vicinity. Thankfully, quite a lot of the slime mass got stuck to my mace, and a portion of it sttered in my ''face'', but the rest either fell on other slimes or soaked into the soil.

 ''Maybe I can try to think of it as distributing the wealth to my poorer brethren if I pretend slime mass is our currency.''

 While mentally sighing over the loss of blue goo, I prepare for my next experiment by recollecting my slimy mace. I want to try to form a needle out of denselypressed slime, an improvement of my slime spear that saved my life.

 I keeppressing one of my pseudopods, but I can''t get it to match up with my mental image, which means I need a higher-level trait. I keep trying to brute force it, and I actually feel a dull sort of pain tremble in my core and quickly stop.

 ''Is this the slime equivalent of a headache or just too much mental strain? Maybe I should try a quantity practice approach.''

 I hold out my two pseudopods andpress one to thefortable limit. Then, Ipress the remaining pseudopod while simultaneously trying to dpress the first one. Compress, dpress,press, dpress... I keep repeating this process while hoping that this counts as training. Whates to mind is that I''m flexing my ''muscles'', or doing bicep curls, and as I keep repeating the process, I feel myself flow into a rhythm.

 I''d scream with glee if I had a mouth so both my tendrils do a happy wiggle instead. I can instinctively feel a better understanding of my slime mass and its current density. I once again put my body''s density to the newfortable maximum and shrink considerably, and then I begin forming my needle.

 Ipress a long and thin tip of my pseudopod as much as possible, a much higher density than my main body, and I only stop once I feel my core begin to strain. I''m satisfied even though it looks more like a rapier than a needle. I thrust it into a nearby slime; the pointed edge pierces both slime and core like a knife through hot butter.

 I raise my rapier above my head and give it a happy wiggle.

 ''So [Mana Slime] stops at 10. I wonder if that''s the limit for everything. Although now that my slime has maximum richness I don''t feel like sticking around to be harvested.''

 With a swish of my rapier tendril, I point it to the forest.

 ''Let''s go!''

MillionNovel

Chapter 4: Compression Testing