The following morning, I dove straight back into my slime research. However, my theme for the day wasn't just the creatures themselves; I intended to conduct experiments and verifications regarding "magic" and the various "attributes" of mana.
To begin the day’s testing—and to explore the hypothesis that had led me here—I enlisted the help of one Sand Slime and one Mad Slime.
"Well, setting the Mad Slime aside for a moment, I only have one evolved Sand Slime to work with..."
To observe their Assimilation skill, I prepared separate patches of sand and mud. Creating the materials was simple enough; I just used magic to transmute the ground. Once the stages were set, I instructed them to use the skill.
The results were immediate.
"...Just as I thought."
As the two slimes approached their respective patches, they seemed to melt away, vanishing into the environment. They became completely invisible to the naked eye, yet I knew they were still there. They had fully integrated with the sand and mud, becoming one with the substance.
While they likely couldn't survive an attack that used magic to obliterate the target of their assimilation, physical strikes—piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning—were now completely negated. Most fascinating of all was that, in this state, the "Core" that usually served as a slime's vital point simply disappeared. They had truly become the naturally occurring sand and mud.
Despite this, they clearly retained their consciousness. When I issued a command, they could reform into their typical slime shapes or crawl along the ground to move. They performed these actions while remaining in that core-less, natural state.
Seeing these two species demonstrate the skill's effects right in front of me left no room for doubt. I had to accept this as a reality and a capability inherent to them.
That was the conclusion I had reached by the end of the previous day.
However, after that, I couldn't stop wondering why this happened and how such a thing was even possible. My curiosity eventually led me to focus on "mana" as the key.
I had three main reasons for this line of thinking.
First, common slimes—the ones that aren't High-tier Species—vanish upon death, leaving only their Core behind.
Second, through previous observations and evolution experiments with magic-type slimes, I had discovered that slimes absorb mana and that different individuals have preferred attributes.
Third was the result of an experiment I had conducted on a whim some time ago. When I had a Poison Slime use a spear Magic Tool, it succeeded, but I confirmed that the slime grew weak and its physical volume decreased as it consumed mana to power the tool.
Based on these three points, I had long entertained a hypothesis: "a slime's body is composed of mana."
It was a fundamental principle and common knowledge of magic that mana tended to dissipate if it wasn't under a caster's control. If a slime's body was essentially a mass of mana, that would perfectly explain why their bodies vanished when they died.
Furthermore, if their bodies were made of mana, wasn't it possible that the state of "assimilation" was actually a form of magic? I didn't want to over-rely on magic as an explanation for everything, but it was an undeniable fact that magic existed in this world to make the impossible possible.
Additionally, a hundred slimes could merge to become a Big Slime, and five hundred could become a Huge Slime. It might not be that the slimes were consciously "casting" a spell; rather, the slimes themselves—or the mana they were made of—possessed a natural property that allowed for merging and assimilation.
That was my theory.
To test it, I decided to focus on my second point: "slimes absorb mana, and individuals have preferred mana attributes."
"Time for a re-check," I muttered.
I began by investigating the preferred attributes of the two species that could use the Assimilation skill.
The Mad Slime reacted strongly to Earth and Water, while the Sand Slime reacted strongly to Earth and Wind. I had performed this check during my initial observations yesterday and seen the same results, but now I was looking at it from a different angle.
"The Mad Slime, which assimilates into mud, prefers Earth and Water."
To take it a step further, there was an existing magic that combined those two elements: Mud Magic. I couldn't believe this was a mere coincidence.
Moreover, the combination of Earth and Wind preferred by the Sand Slime reminded me of a certain spell.
"『Polish Wheel』."
I cast the spell, and the earth I had transmuted into sand began to churn. Swirling winds caught the grains, causing them to rotate at high speeds like a tire.
This was an original spell I had designed to polish or process objects using the momentum of sand particles. I had created it on the spot when I needed it; the "Polish" came from the act of buffing a surface, and "Wheel" came from the tire-like image I used to stabilize the rotation. I had named it "Polish Wheel" rather haphazardly at the time, but in hindsight, "Grinder" or "Sandblaster" might have been more intuitive.
Regardless of the name, this spell I had created and used so casually... couldn't it be classified as "Sand Magic," similar to Mud Magic? It suggested a potential law or relationship between slimes, their preferred mana attributes, and the resulting magic.
"Two data points aren't enough to make a definitive judgment. All right."
I decided to test the attributes of my other slimes. I looked for something manageable with two attributes... and found the Ash Slime. Its preferred attributes were Fire and Wood. That was an easy image to grasp—wood burning in a fire became ash.
"Let’s see what kind of spell I can make... 『Ash』."
I focused on the image of simply producing ash, much like the "Water" spell produced water.
Upon activation, mana composed of the Fire and Wood attributes converted into ash, which rained down around my feet.
"Another success... This is actually getting fun."
Next, I recalled that Acid Slimes favored Poison and Water, so I decided to try that—
Then, a thought struck me.
The counterpart to an acid was an alkali. I remembered that the etymology of the word "alkali" was related to "ash." In my old world, mixing wood ash with water created an alkaline solution.
If that held true here, could I create an alkali by combining Ash (Fire + Wood) and Water?
Like acids, alkaline solutions required careful handling. I took twenty minutes to prepare the proper equipment before attempting the experiment.
The result was a success.
Mixing three attributes was a bit challenging, but I managed to produce an alkaline aqueous solution using Fire, Wood, and Water.
However, when I tried to produce an acid using Poison and Water to neutralize the alkali, I failed.
I wondered what had gone wrong.
"I need the Poison Attribute, but since I have Poison Slimes and Medicine Slimes to handle things for me, I've barely ever used Poison Attribute Magic myself... I don't exactly use it in my daily life, either."
I realized I should probably start by learning Poison Attribute Magic from the basics. Once I did that, I could revisit the reasons for this failure.
For the rest of the day, I reviewed the attributes of my other slimes and systematically tested everything that seemed like it could be turned into a spell. I cycled through successes and failures, meticulously recording every observation and question that arose.
Perhaps because I had used unfamiliar magic at such a high pace, by early afternoon, I had drained most of my mana. I felt a wave of exhaustion, though not quite the nausea that came with total depletion. I decided to call it a day for my research.
"...And now I'm bored again."
After some thought, I decided to cook and eat a quiet lunch.
I spent the afternoon relaxing and playing with the slimes while preparing for the next day's plans.
Interestingly, while I was preparing dinner for the slimes, I remembered that the Ash Slime's attributes were Fire and Wood. On a whim, I offered some ash to the Weed Slimes, which preferred the Wood Attribute. To my surprise, fifty-three of the Weed Slimes showed an incredibly strong reaction to it.
The relationship between slimes and mana was proving to be even more fascinating than I had imagined.