“A system?” Flay asked as he heard the term.
“Yes. The Eos group known as the Sol were among the strongest members of the Eos. I was bestowed by each of them this power and was ordered to assist a might hero that will rise. They never told me who, but it’s getting more and more obvious that they meant you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Your battle instincts allowed you to take a simple ability to stick to stuff and use it to flee a monster that is several Ranks of power greater than you! Not even the heroes that I knew can do what you did!”
Suddenly, the gator began to shake as they tried to move around.
Flay was stunned as he could feel the gator moving up in the hill.
“Stupid gator! It’s moving because it no longer sees the Pteranodon! But I can still hear it!” Flay cursed.
“Master, try removing me out of this and stabbing me again. Maybe if my power leaks quickly enough, it might cause the Pteranodon to roar or make a commotion!”
“That’s a great idea! Ready? Go!” Flay instantly pulled the sword down and immediately stabbed it back up.
The gator groaned in pain but then…
“ROAR!”
The Pteranodon shouted in rage as it began to fly around.
The instincts of the gator forced it to stop moving as the Pteranodon was moving.
Flay listened carefully and smiled.
“It worked! The Pteranodon is flying around this area. It was too fast and too faint that he couldn’t tell where the energy was!’ Flay rejoiced.
“Have you recovered enough energy, Master? That attack was faster!”
“...Yeah. I noticed. It wasn't that just that I recovered. I guess I hadn't gotten used to this new body and was moving like my former speed. But now that you told me I'm stronger, I tried to move faster, and I did. Maybe it was because I’ve been constantly on the move that I never got to reflect on my new speed and power. You’re right. I am slightly faster and stronger than I was. But I don’t feel that this is at the level of an Apprentice.”
“Your strength is actually fluctuating. When you took in the attack, your body manifested the Brute power when it sensed your bones breaking and muscles tearing. It seems that this power appears when you are forced into such situations. But other than that, I also noticed that what is constant is how you add the Brute power on your sword. You could perform attacks that are several levels than Rookie-6 and even reach up to Apprentice with your sword. But if you use other attacks like punching or kicking, then you could only use attacks up to Rookie-6.”
“That’s very confusing.” Flay frowned.
“Master, this means that the stronger you get, the more power you can tap on. So you need to increase your level!”
“Yeah, I don’t think increasing my level just like that.” Flay chuckled.
“Actually, you can, Master. If you could kill this gator, I could use Mars’s power to drain the life essence in this monster's core to increase your rank!”
“...What?!” Flay was stunned. Absorbing the energy from a monster core was a very expensive investment for the Tamers of Monster’s Edge. They would have to go into the Kingdom which despised them, pay a hefty sum to wizards, Core Extractors, and so on to increase each level. And the higher the rank, the more expensive it would be.
“You can harness the power of the monster cores and bestow it to someone?!”
“Yes. That’s the power of the Eos Mars. However, your surprise tells me that your village doesn’t have access to this. Is that why you said no one in your village only reached Apprentice 5? Your village cannot afford to pay wizards, Core Extractors, druids, or certain groups to harness monster cores? Or is it related to your branding as traitors?”
“Both! We can only make this request in the castle. And they charge a hefty sum! This is another reason why no one in the village can cultivate a higher level of power! The price to become an Apprentice-6 is triple that of Apprentice-5! The Kingdom did this so that we would only be this strong! But if you can do that, my village is saved! What exactly are your powers?!”
“I have the powers of Eight Sol Eos.”
“Who are those? You’ve been saying things about Eos. I know they are gods, but you seem to be more familiar with them. What exactly are they?”
“There are two types of gods. You are probably familiar with those who transcended the heavens and attained the powers to become gods. These are the gods that remain in this world. The Eos belong to the second type. They are the ones who created the very universe itself. They stepped into this universe from a dimension we cannot comprehend and caused light and healing to disrupt the darkness. After that, they left. Most of the gods you call Eos in this world aren’t real Eos but only imitated and took on their titles. The real Eos have left. They are journeying from one realm to another.”
“Woah… And you served these original Eos?”
“Yes. Eight Eos took me in as an apprentice. I served them for a long time, and then, something happened as we were attacked. I was tasked to aid a hero since they needed to leave to another Realm, but something happened. The next thing I knew, I woke up in that drained pool of mystical water you claim to found me in. Luckily, the System they gave me is still here. And as my Master, you can use it.”
“Can’t they find you? The Eos?”
“And I do not hear their voice or call. So either they moved on to the Realm beyond, or they died fighting the enemies that they were looking for in the infinite realms.”
“Alright… That sounds like an interesting story. But we have more pressing matters at hand. What are the special abilities that you have now?”
“Let me show you instead. I’ll link the powers to you so that you can see and access these powers.”
Suddenly, a strange screen appeared in Flay’s vision.
///
Kairo’s Slime Sol System
///
Form of Mercury- Lvl. 1
Metal Devourer- Can devour low-grade metals and assume their form. Strengthens base metal strength and durability of assumed metal form by 10 percent.
Level up Requirement- Devour 2 tones of metal ores.
---
Passion of Venus- Lvl. 1
Fire Entity: Can absorb low-grade forms of fire and release 10 charges of fire magic.
Level up Requirement- Devour 1 low-grade Fire Core.
---
Nature of Gaia- Lvl. 1
Mineral Devour- Can absorb low-grade energy from minerals, ores, and elemental cores. Is used to strengthen other Eos Systems.
Level up Requirement- Level up Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
---
Bloodlust of Mars- Lvl. 1
Monster Devour- Can absorb and bestow life essence from monster cores of E-Ranked creatures and lower.
Level up Requirement- Devour D-Ranked Monster Cores.
---
Bolts of Jupiter- Lvl. 1
Lightning Entity- Can absorb low-grade lightning energy and release 10 charges of lightning magic.
Level Up Requirement- Devour 1 low-grade Lightning Core.
---
Life of Saturn- Lvl. 1
Plant Devourer- Can absorb plant essence from low-grade plants.
Level Up Requirement- Devour 1 low-grade Heart of the Forest.
---
Winds of Uranus- Lvl. 1
Wind Entity- Can absorb low-grade Wind energy and release 10 charges of Wind magic.
Level Up Requirement- Devour 1 low-grade Wind Core.
---
Baptism of Neptune- Lvl. 1
Water Entity- Can absorb low-grade water energy and release 10 charges of water magic.
Level Up Requirement- Devour 1 low-grade Water Core.
///
Flay was amazed at the details.
“I’ve already shown you Mercury’s ability. Any weapon of low-grade material I can devour and transform into. But right now, I can only do it on the weakest of weapons. So I took your sword and ate it, and I can assume its form, increasing its strength and durability by ten percent.”
“So that’s why you’ve become harder than my sword! Why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?”
“We were busy escaping from the Pteranodon! And I didn’t see any use of telling you since a mere sword can’t kill it! I didn’t want to waste precious time talking to you about such unimportant matters. Besides, you had nothing for me to absorb energy from!”
“Alright, I get it. But how did you get water? I know that you are casting Water magic to heal me, but what’s the source?”
“This is. We are in the mouth of a Gator. This beast has low-level water energy emerging out of its saliva. It’s very faint. That’s why it took me a while to be able to heal you.”
“Wait a sec! You mean to tell me you’ve been healing me with gator spit?!”
“Well, if you put it that way, it sounds disgusting. But yes.”
“If not for the great hope you’ve given me, I would have puked. Your name is Kairo?”
“Yes.” The Slime answered.
“Alright, Kairo. Since you call me Master, I’ll embrace it now. Kairo, we have to come out of this alive! Your powers can change the fate of our village! We could make strong warriors without having to pay that astronomical price! We have to think of a way to get out of here! If we kill this gator, will the Pteranodon detect us if you use your power?”
“I don’t think so. As long I remain hidden in this, we should be fine. Besides, the Death Mark is dispersing. We should be able to escape soon.”
“Good! Let’s kill this gator!”
Hope.This was a precious commodity in the village of Flay, especially since the past months have been particularly brutal for the Tamers.But Flay now had great hope. And not just hope, but motivation. He could save his village and lift them out of the cruel injustice and dangers it faced. And it all would start by killing the gator.“So you think that with a sword, my power can reach apprentice swordsman because of my Brute power?” Flay confirmed after hearing Kairo’s various explanations as to why Flay’s strength was not constant.“I’m positive. By the time we reached this pond lands, you already battled across the river, and while I was healing you, it could only do so much because of the Death Mark. Now that the mark has weakened, and my healing abilities have refueled your energy, you should have enough power to kill and stab this gato
Kairo was pondering on the meaning of the vision. Why did he have that vision when he tried to force the power through the mysterious obstruction that stopped him from sending the life essence of the monster core to Flay?What was that vision? His masters talked of Pluton and attacked this person?The logical conclusion was to assume Flay is Pluton.“But that’s impossible! The Eos has the powers of Foreknowledge! They would have known that this Pluton would be here! There must be a deeper mystery!” Kairo began to think and knew that there should be something the Eos had done. Even his awakening was mysterious as it made no sense that he was a slime pool being used by the Pteranodon for whatever reasons.“Kairo? Are you alright?” Flay asked again.Kairo was startled and glanced back to his master. He st
The strange land with many ponds was an unusual place for Flay.The dark of the night was thankfully not a hindrance to Flay, who now could see in the dark with his new strange powers.It had been several minutes since he jumped out of the Pteranodon and sprinted as fast as he could. The creatures had gone into hiding at the appearance of the Pteranodon, and this meant that Flay could make his escape from the region without being detected. And so, Flay bravely traveled through the land, knowing that he could buy himself more time.Using the stars as a guide, Flay began his quick run towards the location of the Camp Site.“The Tamers should still be there! I just hope everyone is safe from the attacks of the Might Wolves!” Flay thought to himself.“Master. We can use the Pteranodon a few more times.” Kairo ad
Kairo began to devour the plants and shrubs that were nearby quickly. It would slowly envelop and digest the plant, and its slime form would change in color. A green coating soon filled it as the leaves of various plants were devoured.But as expected, the Life essence that it got was not even noticeable to Flay when he tried to absorb some.After devouring the second plant, Kairo condensed all the green coating into a small ball. Soon, a large ball was formed, and Kairo spat it out.Flay grabbed the strange green ball. It was slowly starting to melt away.“Mix that into your body, Master. That should hide your scent. It’s plant essence, so it will make you smell like a walking plant. As a result, most monsters should avoid you.”“Great! How about them stamina pills? I need to keep running out of here to avo
The successful plot of Flay led to the angry Pteranodon going after the Midnight Panther, which it saw devour the slime. With an angry Pteranodon chasing the Panther, the entire forest boomed with loud sounds.Flay continued to run through the thick forest, which was now in a state of panic. The booming thunders from the distance and the mighty roar of the Pteranodon could be heard.“Sorry about that. I made you sacrifice quite a bit of your slime. It would take a while for you to recover it, right?” Flay asked.“Yes, Master. I would need to absorb two gators and take all of its energy.”“That much, huh? Sorry. I sort of expected that. But, if the entire concoction that the Pteranodon was brewing was so thick and had several creatures, I knew that a single drop of you would be worth an astronomical value.”
Flay arrived in the oasis and could see the Bewilderbisons feeding on the marsh that grows nearby. The strange thing was that the Kragg Hippose were not alarmed by the heard but welcomed them.“Strange…”“What is it, Master?”“The interaction of these monsters… I thought the Kragg Hippos would get all territorial with a herd of Bewilderbisons approaching since it would mean their food supply would decrease. But the Hippos actually welcomed them!”“What does this mean, Master?”“I don’t know. I should have paid more attention to the classes in the village regarding the Three Hs. In any case, I need to get this green plant essence off me! Otherwise, the hippo or the bison will eat me!”Flay ran and jumped into the water to wash
Kairo couldn’t believe what he had done. It was one thing when he would experiment with the hazardous waste of creatures to create elements; it was another to clean up little nighttime accidents.“Alright. What are my stats?” Flay asked immediately.“...Master. I’m still processing that nightmare.”“That should make you more afraid of what I, your Master, can make you do! But anyway, let’s move on. You’re a slime. You’ve dived down the bowels of beasts, for crying out loud.”
The anger and frustration that Flay felt all those years began to flash through his eyes. He had gone through intense bullying, mocks, and jeers from those who were of his generation.Flay was an orphan and grew up challenging his friends to various contests of strengths. He would always win and was seen as a genius. But he soon became a fallen genius.He failed when he claimed he had finally reached Rookie-4 and took the test. And the result of the test was rather embarrassing.The Strength Measuring Sto