"What is this peculiar lifeform you have brought here, Slimensa? Slimenso?"
The curious yet raspy voice echoed throughout the deepest chamber of the dungeon as its owner carefully examined the peculiar creature before her. She had lived long enough to traverse most of the Jura Forest, encountering countless species, monsters, and magical beasts throughout the centuries. If a creature resembling this one existed anywhere within the forest, she would have known of it.
Which only made the situation stranger.
The small lifeform before her possessed no mana whatsoever. Not a trace. No nature energy flowed through its body, no magical essence lingered within its flesh. It existed in a state so pure and unnatural that it seemed entirely detached from the laws governing this world.
"It's a Chicken, isn't it, Slimenso?" Slimensa asked, wanting to confirm the name she had heard.
"Yes, yes! It's a Chicken! It's a Chicken!" Slimenso enthusiastically replied. "I heard the human call it that with his own mouth! His own mouth!"
The entity's gaze remained fixed upon the creature as a portion of her gelatinous body slowly condensed into an elegant feminine form. Slender and graceful, she emerged from the mass of slime before gently lifting the chicken into her arms and settling herself upon the thorn-covered throne dominating the center of the chamber.
"A Chicken..." she murmured, absentmindedly stroking the creature's feathers. "And this human you mentioned?"
"Yes, Mother. A Chicken. That is what the human called it," Slimensa confirmed. "I heard it as well."
"A human?" The Slime Mother tilted her head slightly. "In the Jura Forest? Elaborate."
The twins immediately lowered themselves in respectful bows.
"We apologize for not reporting it sooner, Mother. Approximately two months ago, a human suddenly appeared near the far outskirts of our territory. Initially, we assumed he would perish quickly. The human himself was weak—far weaker than any creature that should survive within the forest."
Slimensa paused briefly before continuing.
"However, instead of dying, he began summoning strange creatures we had never encountered before. Soon after, he started constructing buildings, cultivating land, and expanding his settlement. Finding his actions suspicious, my sister and I left fragments of ourselves nearby to observe him continuously."
Together, the twins proceeded to recount everything they had witnessed regarding the mysterious human and his settlement.
The more the Slime Mother listened, the more intrigued she became.
"The more you describe this human, the more interesting he sounds," she said thoughtfully. "I would have visited him personally by now if I were not confined to this chamber."
As she spoke, the chicken's panicked cries suddenly filled the room.
Its body began dissolving.
Bit by bit, the creature melted within her grasp, absorbed directly into her slime body despite its desperate struggles. Neither Slimensa nor Slimenso reacted. To them, such a sight was perfectly ordinary.
What happened next, however, was anything but ordinary.
The moment the final remnants of the chicken disappeared, the Slime Mother's expression froze.
Then transformed into pure shock.
For a brief moment, the entire chamber fell silent.
Impossible.
Not in a million years had she imagined such a small creature could contain such an absurd amount of pure energy.
Every living being within this world possessed nature energy. Whether monster, beast, plant, or intelligent race, all life was influenced by it to some degree. Yet this strange creature had contained none whatsoever.
None.
And because of that, every fragment of energy harvested from its body had been astonishingly pure.
The Slime Mother's eyes widened.
To ascend into the next realm, she required one million units of pure energy untouched by nature's influence. Gathering such energy was an agonizingly slow process. For centuries she had remained within this chamber, refining ambient energy through her unique respiration technique while painstakingly separating the impurities of nature from it.
Occasionally she consumed powerful beasts to accelerate the process, but even then the gains were minimal.
Yet this single creature...
This single insignificant Chicken...
Had provided a quantity of pure energy that would normally take months to accumulate.
Her breathing quickened.
"Where?" she asked.
The calm and composed demeanor she had maintained throughout the conversation vanished entirely.
"Where did you say that human is?"
The twins exchanged glances.
"Mother?"
"Do not let him leave the forest."
The command exploded through the chamber.
"Make absolutely certain he does not escape!"
The Slime Mother's eyes burned with unprecedented excitement.
A treasure.
An unimaginable treasure had practically walked into her territory and settled there willingly.
If one of these creatures contained so much pure energy, then what about the others the human was summoning?
How many did he possess?
How many more could he create?
The very thought caused her heart to race.
"Mother, are they truly that valuable?" Slimenso asked cautiously.
"Valuable?" The Slime Mother laughed.
The sound was almost manic.
"If what I just absorbed is representative of all those creatures, then that human could shorten my evolution by years. Perhaps decades."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Capture him if necessary. Negotiate if possible. I do not care which."
The throne beneath her trembled as her aura leaked into the chamber.
"But make sure you bring him to me."
A dangerous smile slowly spread across her face.
"By any means possible."
****
"Tsk, not again."
Aldric huffed in frustration, clenching his fists together.
The source of that frustration was the disappearance of our summoned livestock. Just a day after we had summoned them, three of the chickens vanished without a trace. The next day, the pigs disappeared as well. As a result, Aldric had spent most of yesterday investigating the entire territory and had even personally stood guard throughout the night.
Yet despite all that effort, two of our goats had disappeared today.
Only the cows remained inside the farmhouse.
"I can't understand it."
Truthfully, neither could I.
Any ordinary beast living within Jura shouldn't be capable of doing something this cleanly or methodically. Predators acted primarily on instinct. Even if one managed to sneak into the territory, it would have left behind tracks, scents, signs of struggle, or at least some indication that it had been there.
This wasn't like that.
The animals were simply gone.
Looking back at my fight against the drakes, even they had fought mostly through instinct despite possessing a degree of intelligence. Their actions had been straightforward and predictable.
Which inevitably led my thoughts elsewhere.
A human?
The possibility felt absurd.
Where would another human even come from?
More importantly, why would they steal my livestock?
As far as I knew, nobody in this world should even recognize these creatures. Chickens, pigs, goats, and cows didn't belong to this realm. Unless whoever was responsible was a transmigrator as well or perhaps—
Before that train of thought could continue any further, I stopped myself.
"There I go again."
A small laugh escaped my mouth.
"Maybe I've written too many fantasy novels. I'm always jumping to transmigrators and hidden civilizations whenever something strange happens."
Shaking my head, I forced myself to refocus on the actual problem.
Let's think.
Back when we were expanding the territory, the system had mentioned unusual movements around the swamp.
At the time I hadn't paid much attention to it.
Now, however, it seemed worth considering.
Slowly, I walked toward the edge of my territory and placed a hand against the invisible barrier separating my domain from the outside world.
Beyond it stretched the swamp.
My gaze lingered on the marshlands in the distance.
'Could there be sentient beings living there?'
The thought wasn't entirely unreasonable.
After all, my own circumstances would have sounded ridiculous before they happened. Compared to being transported into another world with a system, hidden inhabitants living within a swamp hardly seemed impossible.
'Or am I just overhyping this?'
Even as I questioned myself, the uneasy feeling that had been lingering in the back of my mind for days resurfaced.
Something felt off.
I couldn't explain why.
I simply felt it.
Focusing my attention toward the swamp, I activated one of my skills.
"Gravity Field."
My vision briefly blurred before returning to normal as an invisible field expanded outward from my body, stretching toward the distant marshlands.
Once the skill settled into place, I activated another.
"Gravity Sense."
Immediately, information flooded my perception.
The weight of trees.
The density of the swamp water.
The movement of creatures hidden beneath the mud.
And among them..
Several unnatural movements.
My eyes narrowed.
Could it be...?
Before I could continue that line of thought, a familiar notification appeared before my eyes.
[Ding! A Hidden Scenario has been detected.]
[Special Quest: Kill the peace breakers will begin in 10 minutes.]
Reward: 500 SP,Epic-Tier Summoning Ticket ×2.
Penalty: Death.