Beyond The System
Chapter 173: Slimes

“How are you feeling?” I asked, glancing over at Thea.

She had tensed up just like I had after we took a few more steps past the treeline. “Fine. The pressure just caught me off guard.”

It had shifted from a mild annoyance to something more intrusive, like a child clinging to your ankles. You could still move, just not gracefully.

The oddly shaped creatures we’d spotted earlier hadn’t shown themselves again. Still there, still moving, but keeping their distance.

“It’s weird, right?” I said. “With those teeth, you’d think they’d be out here hunting something. Yet we haven’t seen anything else out here, let alone get eaten.”

We strolled along the forest’s edge without incident. Thea nodded thoughtfully.

“Maybe they eat each other. Or fish. Or maybe we just haven’t reached a place to see the other animals yet.”

I glanced around, then offered, “Should we try sitting down? Might make us look like easier prey.”

She didn’t answer, instead yanking me down by the arm and sat, dragging me into the moss with her.

We stayed alert, but let the quiet settle around us as we chatted.

“How’s your progress going?” she asked.

I gave a half-laugh. “Not much progress at all. I’ve basically had to pause Spiritual Refinement. I don’t want to risk using the Voidseed here. We could carve new channels, but that’s about it.”

Something rustled nearby. I kept my posture still.

“I noticed,” Thea said. “But I don’t think we need to push flow speed anymore, so maybe we could do something else for the carvings. This Spiritual Sense stuff is wild though. It’s like a second pair of eyes you can move wherever you want.”

She nodded toward something behind me, using her actual eyes.

I turned slowly.

It was… a green blob. Seriously. A smooth, gelatinous dome, perfectly round except for the flat side stuck to the ground.

A slime.

It waddled forward until it bumped into the hem of my shirt. Did it think I couldn’t see it?

“It’s kinda cute,” Thea murmured, leaning in. “Definitely not like the thing from earlier. Do you think they’re even the same species?”

The slime rested against my shirt for a bit longer, then gave a little tremble and scooted over to my pants leg.

“Thea, do you have any food?”

“You can’t have it,” she replied defensively. “I told Mister Ironscribe to store one for you too. Even for you, giving up Miss Stars treasures... Maybe just a bite, ok?”

I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “Not for me. I think it’s looking for something to eat. Though, if you're willing to share a bite with me, I won't—”

She leaned closer, examining it, cutting me off before I could finish. “Yeah, I was thinking the same. It doesn’t seem aware of us though.”

And that’s when I realized one of the many reasons I cared for her. She did what I was only thinking about. Brave enough to take the next step. Letting her desires win her over.

Thea stretched out her hand, extending one finger until it barely touched the slime.

Her fingertip sank in just a little, like pressing against a balloon, then pulled back, leaving a dimple that rippled outward like water after a pebble toss.

The slime barely reacted.

“Spongy,” she muttered, sounding oddly pleased.

I reached out and gave it a try myself. “Not very cautious of danger, is it?”

The surface was smooth and cold under my palm. A little pressure gave the same soft give she described. It really was like pressing into something halfway between a gel and a pillow.

Not wanting to torment the poor thing, I let go and stood.

“But it’s not moving like the others,” I said, brushing my hands off. 

Thea shrugged. “If the fast ones haven’t messed with us, maybe these slower ones are harmless. I say we can relax a little. Want to go further in?”

I gave a small nod. “Yeah. I think it’s worth checking out.”

She got up and headed toward the beach, unhurried. When she reached Elric, she knelt and passed along the update in quiet tones.

As for Griffith, I figured the situation didn’t warrant secrecy anymore. I crouched beside him and gave his shoulder a shake.

He cracked open one eye. “So?”

“Seems safe enough,” I said. “Thea and I are going to scout further. Elric’s staying—”

He cut me off with a wave. “Not necessary. If it’s safe like you say—”

“No.” I held my hand up. “Sir, I appreciate your care. But just because it feels safe doesn’t mean it is. Thea and I are fast. We can get out if something changes. You can’t keep up like this. You should focus on recovery and training. Safely.”

His brow tightened, jaw shifting with the beginnings of an argument until Elric chimed in from behind us.

“Peter’s right,” he said, shrugging. “All this means is you’ve got to step it up. Plus... I’ll listen to him. Not you.”

I blinked, then stared down at my arm. With my other hand, I pinched my bicep just to be sure.

“Ow.”

Not dreaming, then.

A good subordinate, Wyrem praised in my mind.

Friend, I corrected.

Can it be both? Luna asked sweetly.

Griffith exhaled slowly, then rolled his shoulders with reluctant acceptance. “Alright, alright. Fine. But same rules—exploration only. No risks.”

I nodded, already moving to rejoin Thea.

I nodded along with Thea, and Griffith closed his eyes without another word.

“Thanks, man. Hope you don’t get too bored by yourself,” I said to Elric, turning back.

He waved me off lazily. “I’ll just be messing around with some ideas. You kids go have fun.”

The way he said it made it sound like Thea and I were heading off on some weekend getaway.

I played along immediately. “Been a while since we had a date, right?”

She shot me a look, raising one brow, but her lips curled into a grin. “Have we ever had a real one?”

“I mean… this counts, right?” I gestured to the forest. “Secluded atmosphere. Exotic wildlife. Risk of death. Very romantic.”

“It really does sound nice,” she said dreamily, nudging me with her elbow.

"Gods, please just go away," Elric begged, covering his mouth.

We started jogging, retracing our earlier steps. I kept my awareness sharp, but compared to before, my nerves had eased a bit.

We slowed as the ground began to slope upward, the Force growing heavier with each step. The deeper we went, the more it felt like walking through mud.

“This pressure’s building,” I muttered, adjusting my breathing.

“It doesn't seem to increase as much anymore at least,” Thea said between gasps. “Plateauing, maybe.”

She was right, but we weren’t even that far in. Maybe thirty meters past the treeline, and we were already worn out. I could feel sweat forming along my back from spiritual strain.

Still, we kept going. New creatures finally flickered at the edge of my senses, some fluttering overhead like birds, others crawling low with chitinous limbs. A few were just the cute blobs. One green one in particular caught Thea’s eye.

“Absolutely not,” I said as she reached toward it. “Don’t touch the squishy thing.”

“It’s cute.”

“We still don't know what it does.” I said that, but I was tempted myself to grab it, if not for some worms advice in the back of my mind. "We'll pick out a pet later."

She chuckled but pulled her hand back.

With Luna’s help, I caught signs of smaller lifeforms burrowed just under the surface. Small molehills of energy that pulsed quietly. This place wasn’t dead. It was very much alive, but everything was smaller than us... so far.

We pulled each other along, leaning shoulder to shoulder whenever one of us stumbled or slowed. Eventually, we came to a halt at the edge of something clearly unnatural.

“That’s… something,” I breathed, blinking against the tension pressing on my vision.

Half-covered in moss and earth was a faint path of stone tiles just barely visible beneath the overgrowth, leading to a small set of faded steps.

At the top, a structure sat waiting. Old and rough, made from cobble, and just barely lifted slightly above the ground.

“What do you think?” Thea asked, stepping beside me, her voice low.

“You wanted a house, right?” I weakly lifted my arms to gesture. "Welcome home... Hopefully no other guest in there."

“Fifty-fifty shot.”

“For me, those are great.”

We exchanged a glance, nodded once, and started up the steps together.

Our footsteps echoed faintly as we stepped inside. The place was quiet and thankfully empty, aside from moss creeping along the corners and a thin layer of dust clinging to the stones.

“I like it,” Thea said, still in mock-tour mode. She gestured toward a jagged hole in one corner room and gave a dramatic nod. “Plenty of natural light.”

I followed her gaze with a faint grin. Definitely a house, or something like one. Maybe a shrine if I felt like guessing.

There were three decently sized, connected rooms with a single, broken stone bench half-buried in one wall. That, and a squat outcrop in the corner with a narrow hole leading downward.

Not too hard to guess what that was.

“Charming,” I said. “Truly. You’re adorable, you know that?”

“I know,” she replied immediately, flopping down and dragging me with her by the arm. Her head found my shoulder without delay.

The nights light filtered through the broken ceiling, painting long shadows across the cracked floor. I leaned back against the cool stone, eyes drifting toward the stream of World Force descending in the distance. We were close to the Dragon Vein. I could feel it in the air, humming under my skin.

“It seems… safe,” Thea murmured beside me. “Other than the pressure, obviously. But why?”

I tilted my head toward her. “No clue. But there’s got to be something else going on here, right?”

“Yeah… maybe.”

Something’s coming, Luna warned softly. It’s a bit bigger. Still not like you.

I stood without a word, turning to face the entrance.

Something moved just outside the doorway. It crept low to the ground, knuckles brushing the dirt as it approached with a cautious, swaying gait.

When it stepped fully into view, I blinked. It was no taller than my waist, and looked like a lanky primate with too-long limbs and dusty brown fur clinging to its thin frame. Not muscular.

It stopped.

Locked eyes with us.

Its head suddenly snapped upward, jaw stretching open in an unnatural arc revealing a mix of flat and serrated teeth.

Thunk.

I didn’t wait. A needle flew from my finger, straight through its skull. It collapsed with a sickly wet—pop—twitching once, then going still.

Thea stepped forward, eyes narrowing. “It’s not bleeding, just like before.”

I watched in tense silence as the creature’s body began to unravel, dissolving into the floor. The flesh pulled apart in gelatinous globs until it was nothing but a transparent green puddle, wobbling faintly at the edges.

Then, before either of us could speak, the slime began to pull itself back together. It reassembled, becoming once again a half-sphere of soft, jiggling goo.

Adorable, and innocent-looking.

And unmistakably the same thing I’d just killed.

“What the…”