Jiang Cheng walked through the smoldering remains of the goblin fortress.
The Slimes continued devouring everything in their path wood, flesh, leather, weapons… anything that could serve as fuel for their multiplication.
Their viscous bodies slid among the ruins like a living tide.
But Jiang Cheng was not satisfied.
Upon seeing the torn corpse of the Goblin Shaman, a bitter resentment rose in his chest.
That damned goblin had destroyed one of his evolved Slimes… one of the few he had.
No matter how big his army was, losing one of those mutated Slimes truly hurt.
In front of the shaman's body, Jiang Cheng noticed the intact wooden staff, still glowing faintly with residual energy.
He picked it up, inspected it, then looked at one of his common Slimes.
"Come here," he ordered quietly.
The small green Slime bounced forward in squishy little hops.
Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, thinking.
If that shaman could use fire magic… would it be possible to create a magic-using Slime?
It had already worked once with the spectral mantis materials.
Maybe… maybe these objects could work as evolution materials too.
"Eat it," he ordered.
The Slime lunged at the shaman's corpse.
In seconds, the body began disappearing under the acidic digestion.
"And the staff too."
The Slime enveloped the staff, absorbing it the same way.
Then
"Ding!
You have acquired a special material.
Would you like to attempt the evolution: Slime Shaman?
Cost: 500 points."
Jiang Cheng blinked. Accept.
Light engulfed the Slime.
Gray smoke rose from its body, as if it were burning from the inside, and then the entire Slime began to vibrate, swelling and contracting at the same time.
The glow intensified.
More.
More.
Until finally, the light vanished.
Jiang Cheng observed closely.
At first glance, the evolved Slime didn't look very different.
It was still a semi-transparent gelatinous mass… maybe a bit denser, a bit more stable.
Nothing that stood out visually.
But then, following Jiang Cheng's mental command, the Slime changed.
A portion of its body stretched out like a tentacle… and then solidified.
It formed a staff.
A staff made from its own body.
"Good… try something," Jiang Cheng ordered.
The Slime raised the staff, which glowed with an intense orange hue.
A sphere of fire formed at the tip.
"A fireball…?" Jiang Cheng muttered, surprised.
The sphere grew quickly and then shot toward a nearby burned tree.
BOOM!
The explosion was nearly identical to the Goblin Shaman's.
"Perfect…" Jiang Cheng smiled.
Then he gave a new command:
"Try the magic shield the shaman used."
The Slime went still.
The staff trembled.
Energy tried to gather…
But nothing happened.
Not a spark.
Not even a hint of the defensive spell.
Jiang Cheng sighed.
"So you only learned the fireball, huh? Well… that's already more than enough."
The Slime Shaman wobbled slightly, as if proud of itself.
Jiang Cheng watched his army devouring the fortress remains and nodded to himself.
The loss of the evolved Slime still stung…
But gaining this magic-using Slime opened an entirely new door for his army.
And Jiang Cheng was already thinking about how to exploit it.
Inside the silent chaos, he set up his tent on a cleared patch of ground.
The Slimes moved around him like an obedient army, forming a natural perimeter while he secured the stakes and prepared his shelter.
It had been a long night.
"Tomorrow will be another day…" he murmured, collapsing inside the tent.
He didn't know that far above the clouds, the drone was still recording everything.
And on the other side of that transmission, in the academy's observation hall, the teachers were practically speechless.
On the massive holographic screen, Jiang Cheng lay inside his tent while hundreds of Slimes finished devouring the goblin fortress remains.
"That boy…" one instructor said, crossing his arms. "How the hell did he get so far this quickly?"
"Not just that," another professor added. "Did you see how he used the Slimes to dig that tunnel? Common Slimes can digest any material, yes, but turning that into a strategy? That attack was… brilliant."
The director, seated at the center table, didn't look away from the screen.
"The tunnel part was impressive," he admitted. "But what truly concerns me is the other thing. What happened with the Slime that ate the shaman."
The professors fell silent.
The recording replayed the light of evolution, the Slime's body smoking, and then… the Slime Shaman holding a staff made of its own body while summoning a fireball.
"That shouldn't be possible," said a professor who specialized in magical beasts. "Slimes can't learn complex spells. They absorb materials, copy simple structures… but advanced fire magic?"
"It already happened before," another professor reminded him. "When they devoured the spectral mantis remains, they gained similar limbs. Maybe… maybe this boy's Slimes have a unique mutation capacity."
"A racial trait?" someone suggested.
"Or something tied to his spiritual affinity," another argued.
Murmurs spread across the room, but no one had a clear answer.
The director placed his hands on the table.
"The first mutation could've been luck," he said firmly. "But this is the second time his Slimes gain unique abilities after devouring special beings."
The professors nodded gravely.
"If he truly has Slimes capable of mutating based on what they devour…" said one combat instructor, "that makes him a potential monster. A dangerous future talent."
"Or a future calamity," another added.
But the director shook his head.
"It's too early for conclusions. And even with these evolutions, Slimes are still low-level creatures at their core. They can't sustain advanced abilities for long."
He leaned back.
"Just monitor him. Record everything. If it happens again…"
The professors nodded.
On the screen, Jiang Cheng finally fell asleep, surrounded by thousands of Slimes still devouring the remains of the village.
The night moved on, silent.