“You are correct we are isolated on a remote planar archipelago that sits on the outer reaches of the Modus.”

Someone frowned as they continued to listen to the new information.  They had been here for a while and he had noticed several odd things about this place.

“As you have suspected this plane is used as a test ground for biological and technological devices for the Races.  Though the area is high in minerals there are limited amounts of flora and fauna.  Thus any disasters that occur during testing would be minimalized.  However as a consequence the laws of the Modus do not apply here, only the laws of the universe.  The strong make the rules.”

They had survived in this place for over a month.  They had fought, killed, foraged, built, ran and almost died.  Well actually, he did all of those things.  His partner could only talk to him and provide information.  She had been severely injured and was not her usual self.  Regardless, he would accept her in any form as long as she continued to live.  And right now, she wrapped herself around his body and merged with it.  She was a spider web of tattoos.  Her internal systems were still unstable, so the tattoo continued to move as if alive.  It was an odd sensation at first, but he got used to it.  

Kai took a moment to digest what had happened.  The disposers had damaged and disabled much of Yuni’s clusters.  They had barely escaped.  If not for some fortuitous events, they would have perished.  In her current form Yuni was a numerous set of interlaced bands around his body who talked to him by sending signals into his nerves.  However, Kai preferred to speak out loud with her and only wanted to use the internal channel for emergencies.  Even though it was a close friend, he still was not used to talking to someone using his mind.  He preferred to reserve that for himself.

“So at least you found a way to connect to Libri.  I’m glad you were able to successfully integrate the survival cluster that Kahn gave us.  Though I am surprised that it came with an interstellar communications system as well, even if we can only use it sparingly.”

Khan’s survival cluster provided Yuni with communications, survival knowledge, quadrant data and other various seemingly random data that might solve unexpected “what if” situations, like knowledge covering the basics of The Flow to learning how to eat a flamberg on Proxima Prime.

Kai held out his hands and closed his eyes.  He began to massage the air and imagined the flow of chakra.  He imagined himself as Naruto and began to move like one who used Rasengan.   And sure enough after some time a tiny energy ball slowly began to form.  He opened his eyes and suddenly pushed his hand forward to unleash the power.  However, the ball only traveled a few meters before fizzling out.  Sweat began to drip off his forehead and he complained in frustration.

“Why is this so hard to do?  In anime, it doesn’t take this long.  I even spent three days standing in a waterfall in order to cultivate my power.  But nothing changed except I caught the sniffles.”

A friendly voice attempted to clarify his misunderstanding.

“Yuni told you that cultivating was a waste of time.  Especially standing under a waterfall for prolonged periods of time.  What you need is practice and not some misconception of how it works.  As painful as it is, you must continue.  According to the guide, your body has to find its own way to bend with the Flow.  It is also quite rare to have the ability to control the Flow.  You should be quite satisfied that you can even manifest it at all.”

Somehow those words did not make Kai happy.  He had to get stronger.  Only then could he defeat his enemies.  

“You must become shapeless and formless like water.  Become like water my friend.”

Yuni then paraphrased the familiar inspirational line he taught her as a casual remark during one of his observations regarding the teachings of The Flow.  He wondered if Bruce Lee had ever considered that his words of wisdom would inspire others at the far reaches of the galaxy.

In addition to basic flow knowledge, Kahn’s cluster gave her some basic combat skills.  But Yuni was still in no shape to leverage it and aid him directly in a fight.  And on this planet, they seem to be fighting almost every day. 

Clapp. Claap. Clap… Clop...Clop. Clop.

An awkward clapping broke his train of thought and he turned to look at the source.  It was his followers.  The small army of monsters that tried to mimic his gestures as a sign of friendship and loyalty.  The pudgy little guys were like semi-transparent ovular slugs and moved on the ground.  They were slimes of various colors and personalities.  He had gained their trust one night after he defeated their queen.  It was a do or die moment and luckily he was the victor.  If it was not for the recently discovered ecological data, he might have lost.

Killing the slime queen had two benefits.  One was he now had his own minions that could find food for him.  They also worked as a living sensor mesh of sorts and provided him with information about his surroundings.  They would warn him of enemies, poisonous foods and harmful things in the environment.  The second benefit was The Flow.  The queen has consumed something that could capture the power of the Flow and she somehow manifested it into a crystalline form.  It was a gross bloody red and green ball that Yuni told him to eat.  She had sensed its power and according to her data concluded that it might help him unlock control of The Flow.  

Only after he passed out and woke up days later did Kai finally hear the rest of her concerns in regards to the risks associated with the likely mutation.  One of which was the possibility of death.  But given their seemingly endless fight for survival, it seemed like a trivial concern.  He knew that only the strong survived.

He did not die and woke up with an odd feeling.  And after he explained it to Yuni, she told him that he could likely manipulate The Flow.  When he realized what had happened, he finally felt like a true reincarnator from an anime.  He was excited.  He was finally able to use magic, well at least something that acted like magic.  That is until reality set in.  He could barely manifest his power.  And to make matters worse, Yuni constantly measured his ability and progress.

“Since you can manifest The Flow you are now a level 1 apprentice mage.  Congratulations.”

Great.  I’m the all powerful level 1 apprentice mage.

Kai’s mind was filled with sarcasm and after Yuni spoke and the clapping resumed.  He did not know how the slimes knew when to clap, but they did.  They even brought him food when he was hungry.  He felt it was really weird having his own private army of personal assistants.  He still felt like a teenager with limited responsibilities with an insatiable video game addiction and not a powerful leader who held the lives of many others.

Of all the miscellaneous data that Yuni had access to, he was surprised to find out that a system to measure one’s ability with The Flow came with it.  Yuni knew that Kai loved video games so she gamified the measurement system.  The new Role Playing Game-like interface even provided Kai with a skill tree that could help him develop a path for any specific affinity with The Flow.  Just like the aspects of magic found in many games, The Flow was in tune with the various elements including fire, water, earth, wind, and light.  The users of the Flow guided the elements with it.  There were other elements as well, but since Kai had a hard time visualizing them, he left those alone.  Without proper visualization, it was difficult to control any aspect of The Flow.  

He fumbled away in his thoughts until he heard Yuni’s voice calling to him.

“Once you learn how to master your first rune, statistics say that you will start to get a lot better.”

How did she have statistics on rune magic for the Flow?  What the heck was in that data.  Wait a second...rune magic?

She had tried to explain it to Kai once but it gave him a headache.  There was just too much unfamiliar technical data for him to take in all at once.  He needed more time to digest it all.  So he just told her to teach him the basics and he would figure it out from there.  She gamified the system to make it more familiar to him.  She also provided him with some basic runes, but every time he tried to picture it in his mind and fill it with energy he ended up in extreme pain that caused him to black out.  Yuni said that it was expected and he would have to train past the pain in order to control it.  He had to expand his mana pool and exhausting it was one way to do it.  Kai thought it was easier said than done.

“You know what Mark Twain said about statistics?  There are little lies, big lies and statistics!”

“Who is Mark Twain?  He is not in the Modus’ historical data.”

“A human from my world, but that is unimportant.  It’s the meaning of the saying that is important.  Statistics are not always truthful since they can be manipulated to empower a variety of misconstrued truths.”

“Interesting.  Yuni will store that data point.”

She still liked to collect these tiny tidbits of his world.  Someday she planned to visit it.  She did not tell him yet, but she had requested Droll to find out how to reach his world.  She had reached him after she had contacted Libri to ask about her mother.  Though their communication time was for only a few milliseconds every few days, she was still able to send and receive relevant information.  Though they were in a remote location, she still had to keep them hidden until she and Kai both got a lot stronger.  If those who scheduled her elimination found out they were alive, they would surely come after them.

Several slimes slid over to Kai carrying an assortment of fruits and berries.  They had once brought some local animals, but it looked too grizzly to eat.  In order for the slimes to kill the animals, they had to dissolve part of it which made it look very unappetizing when presented to him.  Therefore, he told them to stick to fruits and berries and that worked out well.  He was not greedy so he often shared the food with them.  As he sat down to eat with them, he recalled the night of the great battle with the queen of the slimes.

That night he woke from his sleep when Yuni triggered an alarm.  He was being pelted with sticks and stones when several small slimes jumped him at his campsite.  It was still mostly dark, but there was enough light from the campfire and starlight to see shadows in the distance and the slimes nearby.  He picked up a burning stick from his campfire to fend off the bigger ones while he stomped and kicked the smaller ones closest to him.  The larger slimes could burn through his light fur armor easily if they managed to wrap themselves around him.  

However, Yuni provided him with moveable piconite armor that they could not easily break which made it easier to fend them off.  Additionally Yuni provided him with a navigation-like guidance system that told him about the most dangerous ones and how he should avoid or attack them.

The fight lasted for nearly an hour when the queen finally appeared.  He was exhausted and surprised he could keep up with the intensity.

Droll’s dungeon really did a good job of training me after all.

Kai was surprised when he acknowledged Droll’s contributions to his survival.  As he panted with his hand on his bent knees, he took a deep breath.  The slimes seemed to be chanting, though they did not speak, they were able to make harmonious sounds by tapping and rustling things nearby.  They drummed as if to welcome a great authority, which they did.  The queen was a gigantic slime that was much larger than Kai.  It could easily swallow his dad’s car whole.  

He watched as the queen consumed the injured slime that lay before her.   Many smarter slimes quickly moved out of her reach as she ate anything that was in her path.  Though she was their monarch, she reigned with a harsh hand and wielded the authority of the land, the strong made the rules and the weak obeyed.

~ Kai.  The queen has absorbed the traits of many creatures.  Yuni’s sensors are still lacking so Yuni can not easily probe for her weakness.  Please be careful.  Yuni will notify you if there is an opportunity for victory.

She spoke to him internally.  It felt similar to how they first met.  Perhaps he was getting used to it, but this unique bond with Yuni made him more courageous.  It reminded him that he was not alone and that he fought for both of them.  He did not say a word and kept on examining the queen.

Kai stuck his spear into the fire and the bladed tip became red hot.  He was not sure if it would be useful against the slime queen, but it was his best weapon and it did work against the minions.

Suddenly it rained slimes.  The small ones that should not be fighting were tossed at him.  He dodged, deflected and easily destroyed them.  It seemed like a waste of life to him.  But they kept coming.  And when the injured ones on the ground tried to run away, they were eaten by the larger ones and the queen.  It looked horrible.  Kai did not understand the world of slimes, but this seemed a bit too savage to him.  Suddenly a ball of energy appeared in the air.  It swirled as it became larger.  Then it shot forward at him with incredible speed.

~ Dodge left and roll.

Luckily Yuni warned him.  He reacted in an instant.  However the ball of energy managed to burn through the armor on his left shoulder and caused him a moment of great pain.

~ Yuni has temporarily disabled your left shoulder’s pain receptors. 

~ Thanks.

Kai tumbled on the ground as a few more energy balls flew at him.  He was braised a few more times, but he managed to avoid a direct hit.  If it wasn’t for Yuni, he might not have made it.

~ This is not good, do you have any ideas on how we can fight back?

~ The Queen is a user of The Flow.  So I have no data to counter it.

When the attack subsided he examined the queen once again.  It seemed like the attack had consumed too much of her energy and she moved as if agitated.  She ate the large slimes closest to her while some of the other large ones moved away quickly and escaped.  Once she regained her power, Kai was sure she would attack once again.  He was wounded and exhausted, so he might not survive another round of attacks.  The entire area was covered in slimes both small and large, so escape was unlikely.  If the slimes managed to slow him during an escape the queen could easily shoot him square in the back and could severely injure or kill him.  They needed a plan, so his gamer knowledge bore fruit.

~ So do these slimes have a nucleus of sorts.  One that if destroyed kills the queen.

~ Yes and No.  If you destroy the nucleus it will die.  However, the queen has more than one.  Yuni is currently unable to determine how many.

~ Can you give me a way to break the nucleus?

~ Yes, Yuni will use the piconites to wrap your arms with an armor coat that will vibrate at hypersonic speeds and turn your arm into a cutting blade.  However, you have to destroy the queen from the inside.  And Yuni is unable to determine if we can succeed before she digests both of us.

~ Well at least we have a plan.  Ready up.  Let’s do this.  Only the strongest will survive and we are the strongest.

Kai was surprised that the entire conversation had only taken a moment.  That was one of the benefits of conversation via thought, the concept of time was abandoned.  Once Kai’s arms and his vitals were covered by Yuni’s piconites, he picked up his spear and dove at the queen.  She was busy consuming nearby slimes and stood stationary for a moment and that was the chance Kai needed to dive at her.  

As his spear and arms broke through her outer membrane, it created an opening for him.  He dove right into the tear on her skin and soon he was encased by the queen.  Luckily a thin piconite membrane covered his head so he could see and breathe.  He began to swim around inside looking for nuclei to destroy.  What he did not expect was that the queen’s magical energy could still attack him while inside.  He also painfully recalled Boyle’s law.  The pressure exerted by her internal fluids were getting stronger and his body felt oddly colder as the pain grew.  He was being digested as well, sections of his clothing began to disappear.  He searched and found his first nucleus.  Then he grabbed it with his hand.  It shattered easily causing the body to shiver slightly.  The pressure he felt around him began to increase significantly as well as the frequency of the magical energy attacks.  This would be a fight to the death, the queen would either dissolve him or he would kill her.

After what felt like hours.  The sun finally rose.  His spear had dissolved as well as all of his clothes.  Most of his skin was malformed but his hands were steady.  He had destroyed countless nuclei and killed the queen.  However Yuni told him to spare a specific one.  He rolled it in his hand as he sat on the ground trying to gather himself.

~ I feel awful.  I’m glad your pain killers have kicked in, if not I’d be totally screwed.  So what do I do with this thing?

~ You eat it.

~ You’re kidding me right?  It looks and smells awful.  My gut tells me to throw it away.

He had just survived a long night in the body of a slime that tried to eat him.  So he definitely did not feel like eating anything.  Especially something that came from that slime.  But Yuni had other ideas.

~ If you eat it, you might be able to use The Flow and learn how to cast magic.

~ Oh that is unfair.  You know that will make me do it.

~ Yuni knows we have to get stronger and to get stronger, you must eat it.

He was exhausted and he wanted to sleep.  He had no energy left to complain.  Luckily the slimes retreated once the queen was defeated.  Yuni had scanned the area and most of the slimes were gone.  Only a few small ones remained hidden in the thicket.

Oh well, if I eat it now.  At least I might sleep through any pain.  I guess I’d better get it over with.

Kai looked around one last time and grumbled.  He opened his mouth and ate it.  It tasted as bad as it looked.  It even began to numb his mouth and throat as he swallowed it.  Slowly a warmth began to spread throughout his body that was soon followed by an ever increasing pain.  When it overwhelmed him, he blacked out.  His body gently slumped to the ground with a slightly relieved expression.  After a while the slimes began to move towards him.

It was mid day a few days later when Kai finally woke up covered in branches and leaves.  He laid in a shelter of sorts.  He was surprised that Yuni could build it, but when he asked her about it he was even more shocked.  She did not build it.  It was the slimes.  They had even brought food to him.

There was a pile of fruits and berries next to him as well as a gourd of water.  Yuni analyzed the food and determined that it was safe to eat.  Yuni might not need food, but he definitely did.  So his hungry body welcomed the food.  He thanked the slimes with gestures and shared the food with them.When he looked around again he saw many slimes carrying more food for him.

“What is going on?”

“I believe that when you defeated the large slime, you became the Queen of these primitive creatures.  These creatures are not as simple as they seem.  They have organized themselves beyond a single hive mind and started a very primitive society.  Since you are now the Queen they follow your lead and serve you.”

“I am a man, so I am the King, not the Queen.”  demanded Kai.

“The creatures reproduce asexually, so they have no king, therefore the most appropriate term for a ruler is Queen.  You are their Queen.”