solution to a problem
- Location
- In Orbit
Hmm. An even mix of mind and soul development.
The slime had a problem. This had never happened before. This was mainly due to being new to the world. Running on instincts that it didn't know that it had it altered its internal structure. It changed its digestive acid to primordial ooze and from that spun out neural tissue.
For the very first time the slime had a brain. For efficiency's sake it was as simple as it could be, just enough to recognize the problem and try to think of a solution.
The problem was that its food had too much solid and not enough liquid and consuming it was starting to hit the limits of what the slime's body could handle. Having either too much or too little liquid was a problem.
Solutions?
-1. Stop eating the excess solid
-2. Find a way to eat all of the solids
Solution 2 preferred.
Thinking...Thinking...Thinking.
Success.
To eat all of the solid food it just needed more liquid. The slime altered another section of itself so that it had a mana catcher and then set it to leak overflow as water. The production rate was slow but sufficient that over time all of the solid food could be consumed. The slime now had a mana core floating at its center.
Having achieved a solution the slime no longer had a problem. It dissolved the neural structures so that it could eat more efficiently.
~~~
Dougie returned to his room sad and depressed. Bragging to his friends had turned into going out for celebratory drinks which had turned into bragging to hot girls about his success but Sally, Melanie, Lee, and Sophie had not been impressed. Even when he had done something amazing he still struck out.
His own personal pity party was interrupted as he felt a draw on the magic in his room that wasn't there when he had left. His mana sense was one of the weakest in his class so he needed tools to help him get any further information but since he knew that this would be the case he had a magimeter handy. Of course it took him a few minutes of rummaging to find it but he was able to pinpoint the change as coming from the bowl that the slime had been placed in.
He whipped off the lid and saw that the slime was in the process of consuming the rations. It was comical how it was trying to dissolve the dense slab that was larger than it was. The slime had spread itself thin and still couldn't reach the bowl on all sides let alone engulf the food entirely.
Dougie noticed that the slime had carefully absorbed all of the slop leaving the bowl meticulously clean. Significantly cleaner than before the slime had been decanted into it in fact. Dougie was distracted from his thoughts of having a slime maid as he noticed the reason for the mana drain. The slime had a mana core that wasn't there when he had left.
He knew that no-one had messed with the slime in his absence. Slob he might be but long and painful lessons from his father made sure that his security spells were top notch. This meant that the slime must have grown the core itself.
There was a rule to gaining the power of magic. You had to open yourself up to the aether of the universe and let it flow through you, let it fill you and change you. Only then could you use the power of the universe otherwise known as mana for your own selfish purposes. This was hard for sentients to do since their own thoughts, feelings and desires kept getting in the way. Learning to get out of one's own way was easily the hardest part of training a mage. Various mind altering substances helped with that and Dougie would be the first to admit that it was his favorite part of magic training.
Conversely it was why the creatures of the world naturally gained in magic as they aged. Powerful creatures would even start crystallizing their mana in structures that they could tap in emergencies making them even more dangerous. The only reason that people, of any sort, held any power in the world was through their ability to plan and work together. And Dougie's pet slime had just managed to replicate that accomplishment as a new born.
Dougie's grin only grew as the implications sunk in.
What does Dougie do?
[] take the slime to his professor for advice and hopefully academic credit.
[] perform experiments on the slime
[] remove the mana core and examine it.
[] something else
[] write in
The slime had a problem. This had never happened before. This was mainly due to being new to the world. Running on instincts that it didn't know that it had it altered its internal structure. It changed its digestive acid to primordial ooze and from that spun out neural tissue.
For the very first time the slime had a brain. For efficiency's sake it was as simple as it could be, just enough to recognize the problem and try to think of a solution.
The problem was that its food had too much solid and not enough liquid and consuming it was starting to hit the limits of what the slime's body could handle. Having either too much or too little liquid was a problem.
Solutions?
-1. Stop eating the excess solid
-2. Find a way to eat all of the solids
Solution 2 preferred.
Thinking...Thinking...Thinking.
Success.
To eat all of the solid food it just needed more liquid. The slime altered another section of itself so that it had a mana catcher and then set it to leak overflow as water. The production rate was slow but sufficient that over time all of the solid food could be consumed. The slime now had a mana core floating at its center.
Having achieved a solution the slime no longer had a problem. It dissolved the neural structures so that it could eat more efficiently.
~~~
Dougie returned to his room sad and depressed. Bragging to his friends had turned into going out for celebratory drinks which had turned into bragging to hot girls about his success but Sally, Melanie, Lee, and Sophie had not been impressed. Even when he had done something amazing he still struck out.
His own personal pity party was interrupted as he felt a draw on the magic in his room that wasn't there when he had left. His mana sense was one of the weakest in his class so he needed tools to help him get any further information but since he knew that this would be the case he had a magimeter handy. Of course it took him a few minutes of rummaging to find it but he was able to pinpoint the change as coming from the bowl that the slime had been placed in.
He whipped off the lid and saw that the slime was in the process of consuming the rations. It was comical how it was trying to dissolve the dense slab that was larger than it was. The slime had spread itself thin and still couldn't reach the bowl on all sides let alone engulf the food entirely.
Dougie noticed that the slime had carefully absorbed all of the slop leaving the bowl meticulously clean. Significantly cleaner than before the slime had been decanted into it in fact. Dougie was distracted from his thoughts of having a slime maid as he noticed the reason for the mana drain. The slime had a mana core that wasn't there when he had left.
He knew that no-one had messed with the slime in his absence. Slob he might be but long and painful lessons from his father made sure that his security spells were top notch. This meant that the slime must have grown the core itself.
There was a rule to gaining the power of magic. You had to open yourself up to the aether of the universe and let it flow through you, let it fill you and change you. Only then could you use the power of the universe otherwise known as mana for your own selfish purposes. This was hard for sentients to do since their own thoughts, feelings and desires kept getting in the way. Learning to get out of one's own way was easily the hardest part of training a mage. Various mind altering substances helped with that and Dougie would be the first to admit that it was his favorite part of magic training.
Conversely it was why the creatures of the world naturally gained in magic as they aged. Powerful creatures would even start crystallizing their mana in structures that they could tap in emergencies making them even more dangerous. The only reason that people, of any sort, held any power in the world was through their ability to plan and work together. And Dougie's pet slime had just managed to replicate that accomplishment as a new born.
Dougie's grin only grew as the implications sunk in.
What does Dougie do?
[] take the slime to his professor for advice and hopefully academic credit.
[] perform experiments on the slime
[] remove the mana core and examine it.
[] something else
[] write in
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