Cold sweat dripped down Rainen’s temple, stinging his eyes as he stared at the cracked cobblestones.
His fingers trembled, digging into the soft, gelatinous body of the tiny creature in his palms.
Pippin, a speck of vibrant blue in a world of decaying grey, let out a faint, watery squeak.
Around them, the skeleton of Oakhaven stood like broken teeth against a bruised sky.
Black ash drifted through the air, settling on Rainen's worn leather boots.
Every breath tasted of old soot and forgotten lives.
"Please, not again," Rainen whispered, his voice cracking.
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Images from his past threatened to claw their way to the surface—screams in the dark, a home that existed one moment and became nothing but a crater the next.
He remembered the smell of his mother's fresh bread, cut short by the sharp metallic tang of ozone and burning dirt.
Since that day, Rainen had lived like a ghost, drifting from one empty ruin to another.
To a normal tamer, a slime was a joke, a useless creature easily crushed under the heel of an angry goblin.
Now, that fragile peace was shattering.
Suddenly, a low rumble vibrated through the soles of his feet.
Stone beneath him groaned, a deep, agonizing sound that made his teeth rattle.
A hairline fracture split the courtyard, spitting out puffs of oily, black vapor.
Darkness bled from the crack, dissolving the solid rock into a powdery, weightless soot.
It wasn't just breaking; it was actively erasing.
Just like that night ten years ago.
Panic seized his throat, cutting off his air.
His vision tunneled, the edges blurring into a terrifying, familiar void.
Memories of his mother's garden dissolving into a silent, bottomless pit flashed behind his eyelids.
Run, his mind screamed, but his legs felt like poured concrete.
Clutching Pippin, he scrambled backward on his knees, scraping them raw against the disintegrating flagstones.
Void crept forward, silent and relentless, eating the ancient stone pillars.
"No, no, no!" Rainen gasped, his knuckles turning white as he shielded the slime with his body.
If he lost Pippin, he would have nothing left.
Sheer terror seemed to spark something deep within his chest, a dormant ember that had remained cold for ten long years.
A sudden, sharp ping echoed inside his skull, loud enough to drown out the rumbling earth.
Blue light flickered behind his eyelids, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice.
"System initialization complete. Dormant trait detected."
"What?" Rainen blinked, his eyes stinging from the rising dust.
Letters burned themselves into his retinas, glowing with a harsh, neon intensity.
"Skill Activated: Slime Appraisal (Rank F)."
Instantly, a floating translucent screen hovered over Pippin's trembling body.
"Name: Pippin
Species: Common Blue Slime
Health: 10/10
Status: Terrified"
Beneath the standard statistics, another line of text began to write itself in a shimmering, violent silver.
"Passive Cheat Unlocked: Infinite Multiplication."
"Effect: Tamers with this mark shall never suffer loss; their companions shall multiply to fill the void."
Rainen stared at the words, his mind struggling to process the sudden influx of information.
Before he could comprehend the screen, the black ash licked at the heel of his boot.
A wave of pure, unadulterated dread washed over him.
"Protect him!" Rainen’s soul screamed into the empty air.
His frantic desire to keep Pippin safe collided with the dormant magic sleeping deep within his bloodline.
A spark caught fire.
Pippin's core, usually a dim, watery pebble inside his gelatinous body, suddenly flared.
Blinding silver light erupted from the center of the slime, casting long, stark shadows across the crumbling ruins.
Light was warm, almost hot, pulsing in sync with Rainen's hyperventilating chest.
Warmth flooded Rainen’s hands as Pippin began to expand, stretching like warm taffy.
Pippin began to split, the silver core in the center of his body dividing into perfectly identical spheres.
Invisible pressure built up between Rainen’s palms, pushing his fingers apart.
"Wait, what is happening?" Rainen stammered, trying to hold on.
Silver light pulsed again, brighter this time, forcing him to squint.
His passive cheat flared to life in a frantic, suffocating instant of sheer desperation.
As Rainen gasps for air, the single blue slime in his hands multiplies into two, then four, and then eight, their soft bodies expanding so rapidly they begin to crack the stone foundation beneath his boots with a loud, ominous shatter.