Slime Valley, the place famed for its constant pest control problem. The townsfolk widely accepted that there were two main causes. Roughly 20% of the problem was the sheer tenacity of slimes. They could squeeze into any nook, cranny, or hidey-hole on the planet, and scuttle out like cockroaches when their would-be exterminators claimed victory. The other 80% was plain apathy. Even F-ranks refused the job- all a part of their cunning plot to have the guild create a new G-rank beneath them.

  One slime grumbled, its gelatin body quivering and making unpleasant noises. Other slimes around were making the same gesture, a chorus of shivering and strange sounds. After all, when your whole body was just one big stomach, expressions of hunger got pretty visceral.

  There was no food anywhere nearby. With nobody bothering to cull their numbers, the slime population had grown out of control and devoured everything in sight.

  Suddenly, one of them started hopping around erratically. It stumbled into another and the two creatures fused together into one larger slime. Others soon followed the early bloomer, colliding into each other and growing in size.

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  For a brief moment the entire field was a ballroom of chaos, but before long it had settled down to just the final two asymmetric slimes. One large and one small, the two finished the final steps of their dance and combined as one.

  The massive slime opened its eyes, blinking under the sunlight. It had been a long hibernation.

  It inhaled the air around it, now with a vastly enhanced sense of smell. The first scent it caught was of honey and pollen. Getting back at those pesky bees would be fun. Since ancient times their races had feuded over honey, with the bees usually winning.

  Still, it detected something even more delicious on the wind. A vast quantity of ice cream, chocolate, and sweats. It would be more of a trip, yes, but the slime didn’t mind much. With its giant body it wouldn’t take long at all to cover the distance.

  “Y mspkxb yl Y’ff oxx wi osp”, the slime rumbled more than spoke. And with that, it set off.