A creaking sound came from behind me. I glanced back quickly, afraid one of the slimes might decide I was next on their menu.

  The only thing I saw on the big, sleepy animal was the arrows protruding further from the turtle. The giant creature must be healing itself or expelling the pole-sized projectiles somehow. Incredible.

  My wonder faded to the back of my mind as the silver slimes moved slowly toward me, stopping at a respectful distance—far enough that I couldn’t hit them, but close enough for me to get a good look.

  I could try grabbing my shotgun, but could I kill them before they killed me?

  Out of nowhere, a cacophony of voices flooded my mind.

  "...greetings..."

  "...strange scented..."

  "...erythocetes!..."

  "...we..."

  "...have come..."

  "...with a..."

  "...wonderful..."

  "...deal..."

  "...amazing deal..."

  "...bond with..."

  "...the marvelous..."

  "...us!"

  Now I’ve seen everything.

  "Who are you, and who do you think I am?" These blobs aren’t just a threat—they’ve located me here and know what I am: an heir. If they know, others must too.

  "...you survive..."

  "...strange scented..."

  "...while your..."

  "...kin..."

  "...has not..."

  "...they smell..."

  "...rotten..."

  "...you wonderful!..."

  "...you are..."

  "...special then!"

  "...they have..."

  "...bad smell..."

  "...yes..."

  "...yes..."

  "...sure!..."

  My smell?! These slimes are lunatics! And good talkers—they didn’t answer anything I asked!

  "So my scent gave me away? You still didn’t answer who you are."

  "...different scent..."

  "...special..."

  "...special means..."

  "...wannabe ruler!..."

  "...maybe powerful..."

  "...surviving means being strong!..."

  "...a little risk..."

  "...strange scented..."

  "...not special..."

  "...eat!..."

  "...not eat!..."

  "...maybe sniff?..."

  "...sniff!..."

  So they’re not even sure I’m an heir—or they’re lying. I don’t doubt at least one of them wants to eat me. How am I supposed to know who’s who?

  They’re all silvery, their gelatinous forms slightly translucent, though the things inside or shown through their bodies are opaque.

  I could see the tiger being digested, its form less opaque than the objects deep within the slimes’ bodies.

  The creaking sound of the arrows snapped me out of my thoughts.

  I need to get the shards before this damn turtle wakes up.

  "Do you mind if I grab some of these shards while we talk?"

  "...shards bad!..."

  "...bad tastes..."

  "...yes..."

  "...meat better..."

  "...delicious meat..."

  "...delicious..."

  "...juice better!..."

  "...Din weird..."

  "...really weird..."

  "...Din strange..."

  "...not weird!..."

  "...weird weird!..."

  These slimes are all weird. They don’t seem hostile now, but that’s no reason to lower my guard. I’ll just pocket the core shards and nexus ones. A mind-blowing conversation and loot to grab—better than I thought my day would go.

  Not like that this poor turtle.

  My corpse full of arrows in this alien forest? No, thanks.

  This turtle is a real shard hoarder, though. Why didn’t the creature consume them if it had all that? Does the turtle want to do something with them?

  "Alright, alright. I’ll accept this scent thing for now. But you still didn’t tell me who you guys are. I can’t bond with nobodies."

  I could actually bond with nobodies if they improved my chances of surviving this bloodbath—not that the slimes needed to know.

  "...no nobodies..."

  "...we marvelous..."

  "...platinum ooze!..."

  "...majestic platinum..."

  "...we nobles..."

  "...yes nobles..."

  "...queen offspring..."

  "...one queen..."

  "...to rule..."

  "...them all!..."

  "...we can't..."

  "...rule ourselves..."

  "...maybe future..."

  "So you’re noble slimes—or oozes—and you want to bond with me?" The weirdest part is that I can’t hear their voices in my mind—it’s like the concepts just appear directly in my head. No doubt I’ll have a headache after all this. Trying to comprehend them is no easy feat.

  "...no slime..."

  "...we ooze..."

  "...concept similar..."

  "...yes similar..."

  "...maybe slime?..."

  "...Din fool..."

  "...fool..."

  "...we ooze..."

  "...queen said..."

  "...yes said..."

  "...said ooze..."

  "...no slime..."

  "...no fool!..."

  "...fool fool..."

  "...slime tasty?..."

  "Alright, so I bond with the five of you—" Before I could finish, they interrupted me, flooding my mind with an avalanche of concepts.

  "...no five..."

  "...no..."

  "...eight..."

  "...yes eight..."

  "...three cousins..."

  "...slime duchess!..."

  "...wrong!"

  "...grand duchess!..."

  "...yes..."

  "...yes!..."

  "...sorry mistake..."

  "...grand-duchess offspring..."

  "...three word!"

  "...hurt jelly..."

  "...rest Lin..."

  "...yes rest..."

  "...rest jelly..."

  "...platinum jelly!..."

  "Yes, rest..." Damn, these slimes are a handful. It seems they’re limiting their words in mind-speak—maybe a side effect of not having a bond? Houonas didn’t have that issue, though.

  "So, who are these three cousins of yours? Where are they?" That’s what I needed—three ninja slimes.

  "...they shy..."

  "...not majestic..."

  "...still noble..."

  "...yes noble..."

  "...palladinum ooze..."

  "...palladium ooze!..."

  "...palladinum cooler..."

  "...yes cooler..."

  "...palladinum wrong!..."

  "...Din boring..."

  "...boring boring..."

  "...maybe boring?..."

  "...certainly right!..."

  "...certainly boring..."

  "...ha ha..."

  "...ha ha..."

  "...ha ha..."

  "...ha ha..."

  "...no funny!..."

  "...come cousins..."

  "...no shy..."

  "...no fear..."

  "...welcome-by us..."

  "...Lin hurt?..."

  "...three word!..."

  "...a little..."

  From the trees, I saw three slimes—or oozes—approaching. They were slightly different—whiter than the platinum slimes, more translucent, though the same size and shape.

  One of them had a piece of burned meat inside its body. Peculiar.

  Soon, unfamiliar words entered my mind, still just concepts, but with a different tone—strange.

  "...welcome-heir..."

  "...welcome-welcome..."

  "...nice-meet..."

  "...Geen-shy..."

  "...not-speak..."

  "...us-sorry..."

  Like I could tell who was or wasn’t talking to me among these slimes. As for the shinier things, I’m glad I’m only putting core and nexus shards in my shoulder bag—it’s already almost a third full. Maybe I can toss some things from my camping bag to make more space.

  "Alright, so you guys want to bond with me too? What can you do?"

  From my peripheral vision, I saw movement. By the time I turn, the figure was gone. Not fast enough, though—I’m sure it was a tiger.

  Looking for round two, are they? I still need to figure out what to do with these slimes before the turtle wakes up.

  The tigers are the least of my worries compared to these gelatinous death machines.

  "...Xeen-medic..."

  "...Mia-weapon..."

  "...Geen-bag..."

  As soon as they finished, the cacophony of voices from the platinum slimes returned.

  "...Lin chest..."

  "...Runi arm..."

  "...Din arm..."

  "...Doom leg..."

  "...Vex leg..."

  "...Grim dead..."

  "...Poor Grim..."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "...red lance..."

  "...big strong..."

  "...fast fast..."

  "...straight through..."

  "...past master..."

  "...as well..."

  "...died too..."

  "...killer Erythocetes-too..."

  "...strong..."

  "...strong strong..."

  "...full of..."

  "...bonds..."

  "...we run..."

  That’s pretty grim indeed—no pun intended, slime Grim. So someone showed up and killed their master with one hit.

  Fuck.

  I kind of did the same, didn’t I? Although the turtle finished the job.

  No, better not to get overconfident.

  "So, to confirm, what would your platinum oozes do for me? The palladinums are pretty self-explanatory." To kill both their sibling and their master in one hit—would they even be useful? Their master didn’t have much success with them.

  The platinum slimes must be something like a shield or armor.

  I still can’t believe the palladinum slimes—a slime medic?!

  "...we armor..." they told me in unison. Pretty impressive—and I got that right. Armor makes more sense than a shield.

  "Alright, but with one of you dead, there’s still a spot left to protect—my head. And I don’t feel safe with guys who just ran away and left their master." I’d run too, though.

  "...no run..."

  "...only if..."

  "...dead..."

  "...dead master..."

  "...maybe eat?..."

  "...no eat!..."

  "...sniffle..."

  "...yes sniffle..."

  "Okay, first, I need proof. Don’t take it the wrong way. I’ve never seen your noble kind before." Like I’d just believe random slimes showing up. Lunacy!

  "...test!..."

  "...test us..."

  "I think it’d be easier to test the medic—Xeen, right? Can you fix my arm?" A good way to test if what they say is true and to get rid of an infection at the same time.

  "...ah..." the platinum slimes said in unison. I felt a little bad for them, but how am I supposed to test armor? Using blazing ray my own arm? If it fails, I’m screwed.

  One of the whiter slimes slowly moved forward. As it approached the platinum slimes, it sped up—fast as a dog.

  Pretty good for a slime, I’d say.

  "...heal-arm..." A tendril slowly extended, gelatinous like a vine. Interesting.

  My adrenaline still pumping, I focused on the slime and its kind. Xeen slowly wrapped its tendril around a wound on my hand.

  I felt a warming sensation. I’d even say they were corroding my hand, but the translucent tendril let me see the wound slowly healing.

  Not instant, but enough to prove it worked.

  My attention snapped back as I heard another creaking sound. Ah, yes—with all these strange slimes, I almost forgot about the giant turtle.

  "Alright, it worked. But you guys are, what, eight? That’s too many bonds. Why would someone bond with you, aside from what you do? And how did the palladinum oozes lose their master?" Did Darefei or Houonas tell me how many bonds I can have? No, they didn’t... or I forgot.

  "...Palladinum-master..."

  "...sister-killed..."

  "...glorious-battle..."

  "...glorious-battle..."

  "...red-knight..."

  "...powerful-shining..."

  "...enemy..."

  "...murder-friends..."

  "...not-ooze..."

  "...master-friends..."

  "...lost-some..."

  "...not-all..."

  "...friends-betray..."

  "...DEATH-BETRAYERS!..."

  "...Geen-right..."

  "...master-died..."

  "...we run..."

  "...old-friends..."

  "...new-enemies..."

  "...think-ooze..."

  "...weak..."

  "...soon-revenge..."

  "...REVENGE!..."

  "...new-master..."

  "...master-help..."

  So their master was killed by a red knight, and these guys survived because the enemy thought they were weak. Hmm, that doesn’t bode well for our partnership.

  I didn’t quite get the "sister killed" thing. And asking me to take revenge for that... well, I’d have to kill them eventually, wouldn’t I?

  From the way they told it, it probably wasn’t the same person, but better to be sure. Not that it would make much difference.

  Asking the slimes about it would take forever—these guys are a little slow.

  Forget it. I need to be careful with any heir, anyway.

  And these pesky slimes still haven’t answered why I should bond with them.

  "You didn’t answer why I should bond with you. I need more than just what you do—something special, something that would make me choose you over anyone else." Maybe they’ll understand what I mean.

  I have to say, I’m starting to like them—and I’m beginning to believe they’re not hostile. Enough to not resist consuming the nexus shards as we speak. Sometimes you have to give the benefit of the doubt, even if the recipients are tiger-killing slimes.

  Binding another magic star—my 12th in the magic constellation—took two nexus shards. Before I could consume more, the slimes started mind-speaking again.

  "...more bounds...powerful-weapons..."

  "...bounds-bounds...big-space..."

  The two groups of slimes started talking at the same time. I can’t call this anything but mental harassment. How am I supposed to understand what they’re saying?

  "No, no, no—one group at a time! I can’t understand both of you at once!" Their speech is easy to follow, but not so easy to understand. Two conversations at the same time while I’m trying to interpret their meaning? No way.

  "...royal ooze..."

  "...rule-royal first..."

  "...nobles-concur..."

  "...bond royal..."

  "...six for-four..."

  "...four bounds..."

  "...four four!..."

  "Wait, six bonds? You’re five." Another three nexus shards, another normal star bond—my 13th. Instead of four, an increase of a thousand seed shards in value, not two thousand. I need to see how the next bond will be.

  "...scented correct..."

  "...now five..."

  "...poor Grim..."

  "...bind noble?..."

  "...royal and-noble!..."

  "...Lin smart..."

  "...one noble..."

  "...five royal..."

  "...two cousins..."

  "...two left..."

  "...leave Din..."

  "...one more-cousin?..."

  "...keep Din!..."

  "...leave Din..."

  "...abandon Din..."

  "...Din boring..."

  "...Keep Din-sibling!..."

  "...okay..."

  "...right..."

  "...still boring..."

  Some of these slimes really hate Din. What could make a slime boring? Maybe it’s a good thing. Anyway, it seems I can bond with six for the price of four. That seems like a good deal. Heirs have bonded with these slimes before, so they must be worth something. The medic one seemed especially useful.

  Although the heir-killers thought they were weak enough to let live.

  I don’t have a line of Dominion’s Digit candidates waiting to bond with me, though. Let’s hear the deal from the palladinum slimes.

  "So, what do you have to offer, palladinum oozes?" Four nexus shards and a new influx of energy later, I confirmed a theory—the cost is increasing by one thousand each star bond. Great! Because an exponential cost would’ve been the death of me. How would that even work, anyway? Food for thought for later. The palladinum slimes are trying to sell me on their deal.

  "...become-head?..."

  "...head-armor..."

  "...head-slime?..."

  "...Xeen-go..."

  "...Xeen-go..."

  "...Xeen-medic!..."

  "...medic-head..."

  "...bag-head?..."

  "...no-bag..."

  "...bag-storage..."

  "...medic-head..."

  "...weapon-head..."

  "...weapon-dangerous..."

  "...alright-medic..."

  It seems they’ve reached a conclusion. For slimes, their thinking is surprisingly coherent. Imagine a weapon as a helmet or a cap—whatever these slimes could do, I bet it wouldn’t work with them protecting my head. Before I could ask about the other two, they continued.

  "...two-siblings!..."

  "...goodbye..."

  "...goodbye-Xeen..."

  "...no-goodbye!..."

  "...Mia-deadly!..."

  "...Geen-vast!..."

  "...I-filled..."

  "...master-treasure?..."

  "...yes-treasure..."

  "...new-master..."

  "...want-treasure?..."

  "...want-Geen!..."

  What the actual fuck. Are slimes trying to appeal to the universal human language—greed? I’m pretty controlled when it comes to greed, but who wouldn’t want some treasure? Probably the treasure from their past heir. Maybe the slimes are lying. Would I sleep peacefully after being scammed by slimes?

  My conscience is already taking a hit. What’s one more regret on the list?

  If my mind wasn’t already made up, the turtle’s eyes flickering and its blood seeping from its wounds sealed the deal.

  I bet I won’t like what this giant turtle does next. The blood flowing on the ground will make it harder to grab the shards, too. The slimes could give some help.

  "Alright, alright, you oozes got me. Let’s do this! I accept you as my Dominion’s Digit candidates. Bond away!" The faster we go, the faster I get these shards.

  The slimes moved faster. Three of the platinum slimes fused together, while the other two merged with a palladinum slime. The group made of only platinum slimes stayed the same color as before, but the mixed group, though the same size, became slightly brighter and glossier.

  The other two palladinum slimes stayed in place.

  They didn’t say anything or perform any weird ritual like Houonas—as if staying in place was enough. The only thing they did was take four nearby shards—two cores for each of the mixed slime groups and two sparks for the single ones.

  As each shard entered their jelly bodies, a rune flickered to life. My mind went blank as the starry void appeared again, bonds forming and connecting to me. Two were wider, stronger, but one was barely holding together, its strands constantly being forced back into place.

  In a blink, they reached me. The connections grew taut, the frail one firming up. The wider bonds, each with double ends, bound to me.

  Six bonds in total, for eight slimes. Maybe I’m the victim of a scam. But the bonds seemed the most genuine I’ve ever seen.

  I’d like to take a moment to get to know my new jelly friends, but the turtle’s bloodshot eyes opening ruined that plan.

  Seems like the battle isn’t over after all. Sadly, there’s no way to stealthily steal those shards now.

  Let’s see what these slimes can do.