Magic Essence

Chapter 3 · Magic Essence

After letting his companion rest in peace, Lu Minghao dissolved and absorbed the remaining half of the sword before beginning to frantically devour everything around him. Rocks, chunks of iron, bones, and even the scarce plants were all swept clean by him. Accordingly, his newly born slime body grew considerably.

Although the information on his talent panel remained completely unchanged, Lu Minghao could feel that his slime body had grown much stronger. The most obvious change was in his body's elasticity. He could now jump forward at will, and compared to his previous body, which became exhausted after just a few jumps, it was vastly improved.

Only when the hunger inside him had nearly disappeared did Lu Minghao stop. It was then that he realized quite a few slimes had gathered around him at some point. Many of them gave him a powerful feeling—at least, they were powerful compared to him as he was now.

"These should be the previous generation of slimes, but I keep feeling like there's some kind of power inside them that I don't know about?"

Lu Minghao examined the slimes gathered before him, bouncing around together. He sensed something strange from them, as if some kind of power were flowing inside their bodies. Based on the novels and anime he had seen before, it should be something similar to magic power.

"But how am I supposed to obtain this stuff? As a monster, I should have been born with it, right?"

Lu Minghao then began sensing his own body. However, perhaps because he had just been born and was too weak, he could not sense anything resembling magic power inside himself. Of course, it was also possible that he had yet to evolve an organ capable of sensing it.

"Forget it. I'll know once I grow a little more. The most important thing right now is to survive."

The next second, Lu Minghao stopped dwelling on what he could not find. With his Encounter from Another World talent, he would eventually obtain this kind of power anyway. And even if he did not, he would not mind devouring monsters that possessed it. With his Gluttony ability, there was a chance he could acquire an opponent's abilities when devouring them.

As long as there were enough of them, possessing this power would only be a matter of time.

"Then let's get fired up and keep eating!"

Lu Minghao viciously looked toward the area farther away. There were still countless things there that he could devour. With Gluttony, he did not need to worry about overeating or being unable to digest anything. His bottomless appetite and digestive ability were enough to support him in eating forever.

Everything he consumed would become powerful nourishment, granting this weak slime the strength to survive.

Over the following days, Lu Minghao constantly devoured everything around him. Sometimes, he even consumed dirt. Compared to other things, however, dirt had too little nourishment, making it a poor bargain.

He also figured out where he was during those few days. Although his vision was extremely blurry, his perception was fine. Combining the things he had devoured with the surrounding environment, Lu Minghao determined that he was in a place resembling a sewer.

It was also the kind filled with garbage, filth, and stench. Aside from slimes and some insects, there was no other life anywhere in this sewer.

Drip!

In the dark, chaotic sewer filled with foul odors, a slime lay atop a white bone, dissolving the unknown monster's bone at a visible speed. In the filthy ditch not far away, water dripped from time to time, bringing a tiny bit of sound to this deathly silent space.

"Still nothing."

After completely dissolving and absorbing the bone inside his body, Lu Minghao's elastic body leaped toward the rock beside him. After skillfully wrapping it inside his body, he began carefully sensing every change within himself. That familiar feeling of permeation remained, but there was still no power resembling magic essence.

The problem was that, based on Lu Minghao's observations over the past few days, some slimes that had been born at the same time as him—but had not grown as quickly—already possessed a faint power within them.

"Could it be..."

The next second, after finishing digesting the rock inside him, Lu Minghao looked toward the slime not far away. He clearly sensed a faint power flowing inside its body. This slime had been born alongside him, and the only difference between them was that on the day they were born, it had followed the larger group to devour that human corpse.

"I went to look at that corpse yesterday. I couldn't see it very clearly, but it was definitely human. Judging from the remnants of its clothes, it should have been an adventurer. In other words, devouring powerful creatures—or creatures that possess magic essence—helps one grow more effectively."

With that thought, Lu Minghao seemed to make up his mind. He began hopping little by little toward the slime. As he drew closer and closer, that slime still noticed nothing, remaining quietly where it was.

The next second, Lu Minghao slammed directly into the slime before him. After several days of frenzied eating with Gluttony, his body was already several times stronger than those born in the same batch. Combined with the sudden sneak attack, the impact sent the slime flying and crashing heavily onto the ground. Its round, streamlined body rolled several meters across the floor.

Judging from the way it lay motionless on the ground, it was already on the verge of death. After all, slimes were publicly recognized as the weakest monsters. Even an ordinary human child could casually stomp one to death.

"Rest in peace inside my body!"

Lu Minghao hopped in front of the slime he had sent flying. After silently saying those words in his mind, he directly wrapped it up completely with his body. Then, an indescribable sensation surged through him. His perception of the entire world instantly changed. His originally black-and-white vision became colorful, and he could even sense the magic essence flowing through the air.

"Magic essence... So that's what it's called."

At that moment, a completely new change appeared on the talent panel in Lu Minghao's vision. A new talent had taken shape.

[Magic Essence] (White): This is the symbol of a monster's power and the beginning of evolution. Having just awakened magic essence, you have become a true monster. Although it is only an extremely weak trace, it is still the starting point.

"But with magic essence and a Nameless Monster... So this is the world of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, with the Moe King, Rimuru Tempest."

Feeling the power known as magic essence within his body, Lu Minghao had already guessed what world he was in. After all, if it had been something like "magic power," he would not have been able to identify the world so easily. There were many worlds with magic power, but there was only one with magic essence.

"Then, the other slime reincarnated into this world, Rimuru Tempest—have you already become a demon lord, or have you not yet reincarnated into this world?"

Lu Minghao's voice echoed inexplicably in his mind as a bold new idea gradually emerged. However, everything would have to wait until he left the sewer and learned about the situation in the outside world.