"... Uh...? What's with these damn eyes?!"

I wondered aloud as I rubbed my extremely strange eyes.

I looked back at the river, where floated the distorted reflection of the appearance of a boy about 16 years old. The most striking thing, aside from the pure golden color of my hair that was moderately long at the height of my ear, aside from my bangs that fell to the size of my chin, was the pair of eyes that could be considered quite unusual; crimson irises with a golden ring surrounding it like a gear.

Since when do you see a similar eye? I'm sure if I walk around town with these eyes, I'll attract a lot of attention, especially from that stalker goddess. Speaking of her, she might cause me quite a bit of trouble if I go to Orario, though I sincerely hoped that her perverted eyes would not be able to penetrate the core that hides my sacred soul. But considering that I possess the skill "Existential Veil," it's somewhat unlikely.

Back to the subject, even if I didn't have those unusual but same time beautiful and charming eyes, I would draw quite a lot of attention wherever I went. The reason is my appearance, which, although it was the one I possessed in my previous life, my skin looked smoother and, at the same time, milky, as if the sunburned cells had been erased.

A sharp face and chin; with my slime transformation, all the impurities contained in the human body were naturally erased.

I moved the pajamas I was wearing a little and realized that, although I had no muscles or fat, my body structure was firm and slender. As for my height, a little taller than in my previous life, I was about 185 centimeters.

It was a body I couldn't have used in my past life...

'My ancestors, forgive me for disappointing you...'. I made an exaggerated gesture as I apologized.

'If I say so myself, and I don't want to sound narcissistic, I am quite handsome.' If my pretty pajamas weren't in the way, this statement would certainly be more convincing...'

"This is another reason to train and maintain my dignity as a man. I don't think being kidnapped and rap*d by a random woman is all that pleasant, even if she is pretty. So, I need to be strong enough to protect this ass of mine."

Poor me. I wiped away the tiny drop of fake tears that fell down my cheeks.

As if I had made an important decision, my expression brightened, and I pulled out the Katana from my inventory as I turned around.

"Now that I have adopted a human form, that cave will no longer be useful to me. It would be smarter to stay in this place to train. Besides, the scenery surrounded by colorful trees and a crystal clear river relieves all worries."

Of course, I could change my form at any time, as they did not consume my energy in any way, something I am also satisfied with. However, if I want to change to another form, such as a stone, my energy will undoubtedly be depleted using my "Camouflage" skill. However, despite my excuses, I quite liked this place.

Cutting off the train of thought connected to a useless point, I closed my eyes and sucked in a big breath of fresh air, which seemed refreshing, unlike my previous world.

When I opened my eyes again, the whole panorama seemed to be going by in slow motion; the fluttering of insects, the swaying of leaves, I could see them clearly.

*Slash!

I positioned myself and launched a diagonal slash with my Katana. It was a move that showed I was only a beginner in using the Katana.

The more I wielded my Katana, I noticed that, albeit slowly but steadily, my movements were getting smoother and better, possibly due to the passive skill "Swift Learning."

Immersed in practice, after an hour of training, a familiar panel appeared in my field of vision, cutting off my concentration.

[Congratulations! You have learned the passive skill "Sword Mastery."

Description: exponentially increases the user's expertise in swordplay.

Note: Strive, experiment, learn, and increase your strength through your experiences!]

"Ugh.

I didn't have time to glimpse or listen to what the system was telling me as my core, where everything related to me should be, was filled with painful memories due to the abrupt leakage of information.

However, I soon calmed down and closed the floating screen in front of me.

"That was amazing! I wonder if I can so easily learn everything that can be learned."

My eyes sparkled with excitement, and I was thankful for the passive skill "Velocity Learning" since, thanks to it, I could learn so quickly. Another important point I had to mention was that the system had somehow granted me great sword experience.

If I had had this in the past life, I wouldn't have had so many problems when taking the test...

***

About ten hours later, where the sky was painted in a beautiful orange tint, and red clouds on the horizon heralded the arrival of night.

"Whew, that was a pretty intense workout." I sighed, though I didn't feel tired or anything.

I rubbed and stroked the blade of the sword, which, while not the best, was still a weapon; it was still much better than having to wield a stick.

"... Well, today's training is over," I muttered and looked at the map, fixing my eyes on a particular spot.

"And the hunt for goblins and dogs begins. Since the night is still young, we'll have plenty of time to play, hehe."

Somehow, I think that last line should be saved for a girl, but meh...

***

"Hmpf, annoying dogs." A snort full of derision and disdain was heard through the fog.

A flash of metallic white cut through the whistling wind. The mists, as if cut in two, scattered to either side.

The movement and trajectory of a seemingly ordinary black katana traced a line with precise, flawless control.

The sharp figure of the boy spun in the air, and, with a swing, a huge monstrous head streaked across the sky, blood splattering the headless neck.

*Thumb

The golden slime that took human form, or in this case, also known as Adler, ignored the collapsed body of the enormous wolf and, as if it were a light feather, stepped gracefully onto the ground and leaped forward again.

*Roar!

The last giant wolf standing let out a loud, furious roar and opened its jaws wide to tear apart the flesh and drink the blood of its enemy. Heavy footsteps shook the dense forest floor, where not even the chirping of crickets could be heard.

*Whistling!

Without giving it a chance, Adler spun in mid-air and placed a hand on the wolf's nose, leaning down and stomping on the monster's head. With extreme precision and elegance, the Katana seemed to dance in his hands, and, in the next moment, the wolf's head separated from its body.

Adler smiled softly and moved towards the lifeless bodies piled on a nearby mountain. One by one, he extracted the valuable magic cores from inside their bodies.

The magic cores were like the life sustenance that maintained the monsters' bodies and lives. Each time their magic cores were extracted, their bodies gradually disintegrated into ashes, blown away by the wind.

"It took me two full days to get 150 magic cores. To top it off, I had to move to another forest closer to the previous one because the monsters had been depleted."

With a bitter smile, he put the last magic core that had a crystallized appearance with violet energy dancing inside it into one of the slots of his system inventory.

"I'm still 350 magic cores short of upgrading the system. I guess I'll have to wait a bit since, unfortunately, just like in the other forest, all the monsters in this place ran out. Not to mention I still have to advance to the next rank."

Muttering his thoughts, he looked at the map. The golden dot marking the place he was at was the edge of a small forest located next to the other, with a village in the middle. Unlike before, the forest had no red dots.

It was a pity that the monsters were depleted, as he was just a few steps away from fulfilling one of the requirements for upgrading his system. On the other hand, Adler discovered that he could no longer increase his strength by consuming the surface monsters. However, there was nothing he could do to change this fact except embark on a journey to Labyrinth City.

He was eager to go and experience this world.

"The distance between Orario and this forest is not much; at most, it will take me a day to get there, of course, if another one of those pesky bandits doesn't try to block my path again."

An interesting fact that happened apart from going from one forest to another was the fact that he had run into some bandits in a village where he stayed for a few moments to sample the food.

During his meal, he was interrupted by the bandits who had not had enough with the robbery they had committed in a store, and seeing Adler's handsome face, they tried to rob him and, at the same time, take him as an enslaved person; since according to them, there were several goddesses or rich women who wanted a handsome boy as a s*x slave.

Unfortunately for them, Adler was strong enough for the "level 2" adventurers to get their hands on him.

Once captured, Adler thought about using them as a test of mental fortitude since, from his point of view, there was nothing wrong with taking down the scum of the earth.

He also thought it would be as easy as sticking the spoon in his mouth; how wrong he was...

He never thought that when his Katana cut the neck of one of the bandits, he would feel vertigo, an unreal sensation at the same time that his mind was trembling.

F*ck those who kill others without even blinking an eye! These were his thoughts at that moment.

He felt like vomiting but obviously couldn't because he didn't possess any organs. It was only the part of his subconscious from his past life, which, although he also had no brain, was somehow related to his core, which contained feeling, rationality, and mental strength, among others.

Although he was a little afraid, gritting his teeth and renewed strength, he had managed to kill all the bandits who claimed the monthly money and the beautiful girls of the village for their personal satisfaction.

Although he kept some of the money for his use, he returned the rest to the villagers, which was rightfully theirs, but to his disappointment, the villagers were terrified of him after what had happened, as if they were in the presence of the devil himself. They had not even thanked him. Not that he cared anyway...

But he had to thank the bandits for showing up at a reasonable time, after all, at least he had gained a bit of mental stamina for murdering someone. He figured next time; he'd have less trouble resolving such matters.

"Well, enough of useless thoughts. I'm a little excited to meet Labyrinth City in real life. Even in the anime, it looked majestic...".

And so, off went the new adventure of slime, who, unbeknownst to him, would be the living legend that would never be erased by the annals of time.