Drip-Fed Pt. 01

The north Ctonian mountain eagle was an impressive creature. With its wingspan of over a metre and the ability to use very basic air magic, it was something adventurers began to hunt for after getting out of the initial levels. This was not only because it was a popular pet for monster tamers, but also because its beak was worth a fortune.

A beak that, as the eagle noticed, suddenly started smelling rather sour, just as its tongue started burning. The highly acidic slime was deemed an improper meal by the avian creature and untraditionally released from its claws. The eagle wasn't hungry enough to damage itself like that, so it swallowed that one meaty leg it had ripped off and left the rest to rot.

The slime, in a lot of pain from just having a leg ripped out and eaten, fell to the floor. It would have died right there, if it hadn't landed on a patch of grass that slowed its fall. A bit further or with just generally more energy, its insides would have been squeezed rather catastrophically out through that wound.

Even now, It was oozing precious acidic life-slime out of the hole. Its outer layer was a membrane that wasn't meant to be pierced like that. Prey could travel through it via a somewhat complicated process that opened the membrane and closed it behind the prey.

Thankfully, the slime's base form was rather simple, so it could be stitched back together by simply pulling the surrounding areas until the wound was sealed up. The membrane would need a bit to heal back together at that point, but that was a different problem.

Having survived by the skin of its teeth and being aware of that, the slime realized how fragile it was. It had almost become as much of an afterthought to the eagle as one ant was to itself. It was soft, slow and the only thing that saved it was the fact that nothing wanted to eat something that would melt it from the inside. Getting a bit of it eaten in order to convince its predator that it wasn't worth killing wasn't a good survival strategy in the long run.

Eventually something that wouldn't even eat it would kill it by mere accident. That was somehow more insulting than being preyed upon. If it was devoured it would at least serve as sustenance to what murdered it, with how it was currently likely to end, the slime was just going to rot or get washed away by rain.

Well, if there were predators like that hanging around the area, that could cheat the laws of gravity, then the slime had just one choice. It pulled in any and all growths until no part of it looked fleshy or tasty in any way, then it began eating grass.

Time to start from the beginning again.