I didn't wake up, persay.

It was more of a sudden realization, like coming out of deep thought, with things I really didn't think I could have known swimming into my mind. And otherwise? Nothing seemed... right. It was a somewhat lackluster realization that whatever I was now, it was not what I used to be. Does that make sense?

First thing's first, did I remember anything? No. Nothing personal at least. But I did have coherent thought, and with it, a language, which is always a good thing to have. I don't know what language it was name-wise, but I understood it, so it was a level above abstract thought.

My progress was very slow at first, as it took me quite a while to even figure out exactly what I was. To put it simply, I felt as if I was basically a fat bubble sitting on what felt like stone... maybe. I couldn't feel very well yet either. Upon more investigation I decided I was not just a bubble, but more of a... big water droplet. A filled bubble? There was some word for it, I just couldn't... remember it...

A Slime.

Uh... okay? That felt... weird.

Once I figured out my form, I set about trying to move it. I instinctively tried to move a limb that wasn't there anymore, just making my bubble self twitch for a moment and reminding me that this body was not my usual one.

Thinking about how a droplet of water moved, I willed my form toward one side of the bubble as hard as I could.

A brief moment of terror went past as I accidentally hopped into the air, followed by joy because I had learned to move.

I willed myself in a horizontal fashion and found I could roll, or perhaps just "amoeba" my way across the floor.

Unlocked: Speed: [30]

What the hell? I don't think in brackets. I unlocked speed?

I took a moment to ponder the strange voice before deciding to leave it be. It seemed instinctive, at least at the time, to welcome any help I could get, considering I couldn't even see yet.

Ignoring the voice, I thought long and hard about how I could learn to see. Realizing I didn't have any manner of reference for such a thing, with no memories after all, I focused on the one thing I did have, touch.

It took who knows how long, but eventually I could sense the outer reaches of the floor and walls. It wasn't much, but it would do.

Skill Gained: Sense

Very helpful, anonymous voice. Is there anything else you can tell me?

Skill List Activated:

Oh Shit, that worked.

Sense: The Power to Sense objects without direct touch. An extension of the senses.

Unlimited Potential: The Power to Become Stronger

Two Unknown Core Skills to Be Discovered

I processed the information for a bit, still unsure if I was crazy or if the mental voice was real. I could 'feel' a distinct difference between my own, natural thoughts, and the almost robotic feed of information into my mind, like it was forcefully placed there.

Not too long after, I decided to move about the hall I awoke in. It was not very wide, but seemed to stretch endlessly in either direction. I didn't really have anything to go off of, so I picked at random and set off at a slow crawl, picking up speed as I grew used to piloting this strange body of mine.

The hallway continued for what seemed like an eternity, and it might as well have. With no apparent fatigue appearing and nothing but smooth stone walls to show the way, I could have been rolling along for years and never known.

To my relief, I eventually encountered a prison door, though I could only tell because of the bars. I considered the idea of me being a prisoner, but as I easily slipped through the bars, I dismissed the idea as my form melded back together effortlessly.

I sensed around the small jail cell with as much scrutiny as I could, finding a few things on the floor as well as a larger object in the corner. I approached the smaller objects first, rolling over each of them and letting the lot of them float around inside me. It was a very bizarre feeling, but it felt right somehow. All at once, they suddenly disintegrated, tasting of dust and metal, and my helper began talking to me again.

Core Skill Discovered: Consume -- The Power to Assimilate any object or creature and enhance the user with its properties.

Consumed:
Metal Can (2) -- Increased Defense -- Increased Attack -- Increased Physical Resistance
Stale Bread (1/4) -- Increased Health
Small Rock (4) -- Increased Defense

Quite happy with the results, I moved on to the mysterious lump, checking it for signs of life first of course, before enveloping it in my mass as well. It didn't last as long, vanishing almost instantly as I actually tried to eat it this time. Oooohhh... Delicious~

Consumed:
Unicorn Pony Corpse [Long Deceased] -- Magic Stat Unlocked -- Memory Bank Increased -- Health Increased

Core Skill Discovered: Mimic -- The Power to recreate the parts, abilities, magic, and form of any creature consumed by user.

Magic Discovered: Magic Shot -- Raw magic with no elemental affinity capable of mild destructive force.

Ugh... It feels kinda strange that it tasted so... amazing, but at least this Unicorn thing was already dead before I ate it. However, this mimic thing is extremely useful. My apologies, strange (possibly sentient) creature, but your body will be used to further my own.

With a bit of concentration, I finally managed to manifest eyes, and opened them eagerly. I was extremely grateful to have actual sight back, even if there was only stone walls and darkness to greet me. Instead of a voice, a half dozen little lines of text flashed across my line of sight as I began summoning other senses back to me.

Skill gained: Sight
Skill gained: Vocal Speech
Skill gained: Smell
Skill gained: Hearing
Skill gained: Magic Sense

Merging Sense Skills...

Combo Skill Created: Omni-sense: All Available senses significantly boosted.

As that last, brighter text faded, I could suddenly see every inch of the cell in pure detail, the dark vanishing completely. I contorted my form a bit to look at my own eyes, and murky white slits greeted me. I widened them a bit to increase my vision range and decided it looked better anyway. I took note they also let off a faint white glow, probably a magic thing, but I knew with a bare minimum of light, creatures with advanced vision could see perfectly well in the dark. So I had somehow developed...

"Night Vision. Nice."

I looked to my own form, finally able to see it, and was surprised by pitch black nature of it. Even when I spread it across the floor as thin as I could, it might as well have been tar.

Race Discovered: Shadow Slime

Race Skills -- Body Manipulation -- Ability to eat any substance -- Affinity for Dark Magic -- High Defense against Dark Magic -- Level Capped Body Regeneration

Race Weakness -- Weak to Light Magic -- Weak to Direct Sunlight Exposure

Well shit. I sound like a monster. An evil one at that. It was likely that if I encountered any sentient creatures, especially the diurnal (day fairing) ones, they would condemn me as mindless evil and destroy me. I knew that the strange voice in my head wasn't normal, and the fact that my body didn't feel natural or instinctive was a good tip off that most slimes are mere animals.

Vowing to be extremely careful around sentient beings, as I was considered a beast, I returned to the door of the cell and consumed it as I passed through.

Consumed:
Rusted Metal Door -- Increased Defense -- Increased Attack -- Increased Physical Resistance

Level 2 Reached -- Adjusting Form...

I was forced to stop moving for a moment as my form shifted in on itself, rippling violently. It stopped almost as soon as it started, and I was left with the disorienting state of being... more substantial... heavier, with more mass, but seemingly the same size.

A level? Why not! Nothing else makes sense...

I continued down the seemingly endless halls for longer than I can remember, not encountering anything for the longest time. I extended the full use of my senses and the only thing I could guess was that I was headed in the right direction. I could vaguely smell water far ahead of me, while the passage behind smelled only of dust and stone. Even more unsettling and infuriating was the fact that there was absolutely nothing else down here except me. What or who had made this endless hall? and why was it SO DAMN LONG???

The good news is that I had become adept at moving, now able to cross about twenty of the stones that made up the floors in just a few seconds. I had started at a fraction of that, barely able to cross five in the same time.

.....

I was just beginning to wonder if I had encountered a certain pebble for the fifth time, when I finally noticed the mark on the wall. It blended in almost perfectly with the murky gray stone. Barely distinguishable even when one stood still.

Actually squinting my vision somehow, despite having no actual eyes, I finally made out faint pictures.

A small equine facing to the right, with an arrow pointing to the left. To the left of the arrow, a sun.

If I had ever eaten the pebble and moved on, I would never have seen it; my only way out.

If I had the limbs, I would have smacked myself for my stupidity. Long ago, my 'guide' had mentioned unlocking a magic stat. Key word magic. I should have guessed there was some trick to an endless hall. If I'm right, when one faces the exit, the way a mindless creature would always do, you can never leave. But if you turn away from the exit and walked backwards, as if you were entering the hallway, you fool the system.

I quickly faced the way I had come and moved back at full speed, extending my other senses behind me. It took barely a minute for me to finally come across something new. A turn in the tunnel. I faced it immediately and sped around with no small amount of glee. FINALLY SOMETHING NEW DAMNIT!

A large cluster of rats sniffed around in front of me, totally ignoring my presence. They weren't much, and nothing else seemed different about the tunnel ahead, but I was prepared to start screaming just five minutes before just to hear something.

A very natural thought occurred soon after. At least, to a slime.

How tasty are you?

Author's Note

STATS:

Shadow Slime
Lv. 02
Health: 155/???
Attack: 13
Defense: 35
Speed: 35
Magic: 10

SKILLS:

Consume -- The Power to Assimilate any object or creature and enhance the user with its properties.
Mimic -- The Power to recreate the parts, abilities, magic, and form of any creature consumed by user.
Unlimited Potential -- The ability to grow stronger.
Omni-Sense -- All Available Cardinal senses significantly boosted. (Includes Magic Sense)

MAGIC:

Magic Shot -- Raw magic with no elemental affinity capable of mild destructive force. (3 Magic to cast)

SPECIAL:

Physical Resistance -- Basic buff - Additional Defense against physical attacks.
Weak to Sunlight -- Race Debuff - Take gradual damage in direct sunlight despite any Defense Stat. Effect cannot be nullified with Mimic Skill. Indirect sunlight does not cause this effect, refracted light though glass the sole exception.