It Started with Slime - Part 1

Chapter 25 - Run...not that Fast

Whatever the reason was, it had no reason to engage those feet or Human (Male) again. It would stay away. Back on the river bed, Resh had time to shake off the fear that it had felt in that moment when it went flying through the air turning over and over in the air not knowing up from down. It had flown before but Resh had always been in control. That was the critical difference between the way it had been flying through the air just now and how it had been flying with its wings. Thank the skies that manifesting its wings and trying to fly had both righted it and bought it safely back down to the water. That was good to know as Resh had been acting on instinct again and not known what would happen if that had failed.

Why did it always feel the need to just rush into every dangerous situation? It was reckless and would lead to the Water Slime's death sooner rather than later. Resh looked back to the last few minutes, had it done everything it could to be cautious? It had actually with everything except that last part of climbing onto the foot and biting. That was the only thing it had done that was reckless. But at that moment Resh had been completely taken over by this need to taste the foot. It had needed to more than anything else, this invading force in its dreams that haunted it through sleep and during its evolutions. This was the culmination of that. Resh had done it and survived and that's what mattered. The taste of that foot had not been anything different than what it had tasted from the Squitter or the Grounded Squirret so that was fine. Resh was sure that it was missing something important still though, it was again that feeling it had in the dream. Like there was some crucial part of the dream that it had not understood fully.

For now, Resh felt that it needed to rest after the debacle with the human. It was going to be too much for it to continue hunting in this state, still shaken up with the interaction as it was. With that thought and with it still being daytime Resh decided to enter its relaxed and Meditative state instead of full sleep which would have the same effect just weaker. Resh would need to be in this state for longer but it would be better for it to be able to continue to recover its HP and other capabilities in that time. With Natural Plant Healing now working at night as well Resh's recovery had significantly improved. It was able to recover and regenerate twice as much each day and the Water Slime intended to make full use of that capability.

Resh thought it would need about 12 hours in this state to recover its mental faculties and calm down. In that time it could get its HP back up to full and it would be able to get some way to full MP as well. Resh had just settled on the bottom of the river expecting no disturbances while it was Camouflaged with the river bed when it heard a different sound coming from the direction of the Human (Male) that it had encountered. Fearing the worst, that the Human (Male) had come find and kill it Resh stayed very still. It saw the feet move closer and closer to its location and started to very slowly and deliberately move away but it was not fast enough! If it moved faster than it was it would be noticed!

Resh was not sure what to do, should it rush off and risk being seen and then caught? Should Resh slowly edge away and risk not being able to escape from the feet of the Human (Male) in time? Resh was dithering until the decision was taken from it, Resh moved too slowly and one of the feet landed squarely on top of it! Crushing Resh again like the Panther had done the first time they had met. This time it did not do as much damage since Resh was made of sturdier stuff than last time. Almost 10% more density than before made a difference and this time it was manageable, there was still HP damage, a lot of it but Resh both had more HP than when it started and also took less damage this time. It was down to less than 50% HP so as it continued to stay silent and bear the pain and squashing, Resh knew that its survival depended on this. The Human (Male) continued past and Resh edged away slowly. It was in pain, not something it had not felt before but it knew that if it did not get away quickly it would not be able to survive, that beast would kill it, at it had the strength to do it as well.

Resh whimpering continued to back away, for an instant it thought to bite the Human (Male) again to send it away but last time biting had not sent it away, it had come after Resh! The Water Slime continued to slowly back away and stay quiet. A little HP loss was better than death.

Eventually, the Human (Male) moved further away but Resh still was not able to relax. That had been too close. Unable to use Meditate while it was moving, Resh focused its efforts on Natural Plant Healing to allow it to heal its Health. Resh wished there was a way to boost Natural Plant Healing further but it only worked at one speed and would get stronger with time. Nothing Resh could do about it now, either it was on or off. Resh was curious as to what the Human (Male) wanted with it though, it assumed that that creature had been looking for it since it waded into that water toward its location. At least that is how it seemed to Resh.

After the excitement and fear of the Human (Male) trying to hunt it down Resh was even more tired than before. Its body and instincts and mind would not let it rest until it felt as though it were relatively safe so it had been able to remain awake until now. But the exhaustion that it had felt earlier quickly came back and with a vengeance. Resh decided to tuck itself away in a nook on the bank of the river on the opposite side from where it met the Human (Male). It would stay away from that side for the time being. Not being ready for any more encounters with that species of creature.

Resh needed 12 hours to recuperate. It would take them. It had eaten and water was abundant but it needed that rest. Nothing but a few Burrower worms in this part of the river which Resh could easily gobble up if it wanted.

Meditate has increased to Level 10!

Congratulations on reaching Level 10! Meditate has evolved into Zen Meditation. Zen Meditation will allow you to reach a deeper level of relaxation while you Meditate it will allow you to Meditate while you are sleeping. You will also be able to use other Healing abilities while you sleep as well. Sleeping while you are Meditating will not be as effective as Meditating while awake. However, your effectiveness will be 50% of Meditating while awake. In addition, Zen Meditation will be twice as effective as Meditate was.

This boost to Meditate was one of the most effective Resh had received. It couldn't wait to see what more it would be able to with Zen Meditation moving forward. Combined with Natural Plant Healing which now worked 24hrs in the day Resh was able to heal up much faster than its natural abilities would normally allow. It gave Resh a much-needed confidence boost as it had seen how it stacked up to the powers that be. There was a way to go still.

You have just received +2.9 Luck!

Resh had woken to some of those small fish that had eluded it nibbling at its top side. It seemed that some small plant matter had settled on Resh's ridged body while it slept. Half had submerged into its body because while Resh looked like pebbles and soil, its body was still very much soft and mushy, only imitating the ground it rested on. Identifying the fish told Resh what they were.

Darter Fish

With some quick movements, the tongues and mouths of those small fish were quickly trapped in Resh's body and while their struggles caused some minimal damage. Resh was ready to take back the title of the apex predator!

They were tiny and once they were stuck and unable to swim away from Resh a single of Slime Club and Crushing Jaws on each took care of them. Resh reaped the rewards of that effort. While they were all stuck and didn't require much to be subdued, it was anything but quick, Resh still had slow reactions and it needed to work on that as well. So it took a couple of seconds to take each out, Resh even managed to get in a few Water Gun shots as well but those were few and far between with the long cool down. It took a fair amount of its Stamina but it was well worth the effort.