Re:Mimic [MONSTER MC LITRPG]

In his deep slumber, Lucas dreamt of many things. Most of these dreams were of him reliving his former life. But without fail, each dream ended in the world shattering catastrophe caused by that cosmic presence.

As he cycled through these dreams, his final dream was rather strange. He lived out his final life as a slime, specifically the dark slime he had so much trouble with.

He had its hazy memories of being created by a mysterious and gentle energy. He could remember moving around the cavern essentially blind and starving. He struggled to fend off the weakest cavern inhabitants for many, many days.

After yet another day of desperately playing survival, he mindlessly stumbled into a cave. Being a good slime, he slinked his way to the very edge without any semblance of thought.

What laid there was a small mineral deposit, not that he understood what it was. His instincts just told him it was absorbable so he absorbed it. The process took weeks of tireless effort.

The more he absorbed the metal, the tougher and more durable he got. His originally semi-solid and fluid form became as rigid as diamond and as tough as steel.

Of course in the process, numerous cavern monsters tried to get a bite out of him, rats, beetles, centipedes, and even bats but none of them could break his outstanding defense. His power grew with each victim he killed in the cave and eventually, the metal ran out and he was now too heavy to hunt. All he could do was wait, wait for something foolish enough to get into its domain.

As time passed, his wish was finally granted. A crimson streak suddenly raced towards him before he could ready his needles. Its attacks were sharp and fierce, each one filled with a strange power that overwhelmed his normally accelerated healing.

But he didn't panic, after all, he was a slime. He kept trying to take the creature down, firing tens if not hundreds of needles into it. But its relentless and blistering assault continued to grow more and more powerful until.

Crack!

———

Lucas' eyes slowly fluttered open. He felt strangely comfortable and relaxed. His body felt whole in a way it hadn't in a long time. His Mind also felt considerably sharper than before. He sat up on the cavern floor, trying to grasp a better understanding of his situation. His mind cleared up as it struck him.

'I just sat up!'

His head snapped downward at an inhuman speed, giving him a partial view of his body for the first time in this new world. The surreal light from beyond his cave painted his form with its gentle hues. His dark skin contrasted with the soft lights.

He raised his right arm to his face, clenched and unclenched it. A complex feeling bubbled up from within him. One which he could express only by roar.

"I'm human again!!"

His voice surprised him. It was different, heavier but somehow even more melodic. Making him sound androgynous. Ignoring that, he checked out his body once more as he stood to his feet.

His body was more fit compared to his past life. All his muscles looked developed and lean. As his eyes traveled down his torso, he couldn't help but ask.

"Where's my junk?!"

Down there was a smooth plane, no third leg in sight much less any pubic hair. He suddenly felt Crash hum and paid attention to it. What he learned left him exasperated but he kinda agreed with its logic.

Humm.

"That's true… It is a very sensitive weak spot. I wouldn't be using it in this cavern any time soon anyway… but still..."

After going back and forth with Crash for a bit, he turned his attention back to his body. His legs were perfectly sculpted similarly to the rest of his body. Since he had no reflective surface, that's all he could gleam for now.

'What matters now is how well I can control my body. Let's see… okay let's try a simple backflip. 1… 2…—Go!'

From his standing position, he shifted his feet apart as he took an appropriate stance. He then leapt upward, smoothly tucking his legs in and executed a perfect backflip. His form landed on his two feet with an almost imperceptible thud. Standing to his full height once more, he muttered.

"Three points in Physique is no joke. My body coordination is insane! Something still feels wrong though… Yeah that's right, I'm not using any tendrils."

At the thought, four thick tendrils sprouted from his back. They ended with deadly scythe-like claws ready to maim and kill any foe. The blades of each claw a pearly white, making them look like razor sharp fangs. As he flexed the new appendages in comfort, he spoke to himself out loud.

"Good, now that's more like it. I should check my status screen. I think I heard a few notifications while in my haze of misery."

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When he opened the notifications, he was stunned.

{Congratulations, you have performed a complete transformation.

[Mimicry] has leveled up from level 3—> level 5. +1 attribute point. Good job.

Attribute point applied to Physique.

You have leveled up from level 3—> level 5.

Achievement unlocked: Tough nut to crack.

[Guide] skill initializing.}

Excited by the series of notifications, he opened his status screen.

——

[STATUS]

Name: Lucas Maverick

Species: Mimic

Tier: 0

Level: 5

Essence: Freedom

Achievements: [Anomaly], [Tough nut to crack]

Attributes:

•Physique: 4(+)

•Spirit: 1(+)

•Mind: 2(+)

Skills:

•Guide [Special]

•Mimicry [Level 5]

•Leech [Level 4]

•Spirit sense [Level 3]

Attribute points: 1

——

Lucas was struck in awe at the state of his stats. His Attributes, level and skills made a massive jump. He even got a new title as well.

"Things probably couldn't have gone much better than this."

But his status screen seemed to take that remake personally.

{[Guide] skill initialized.}

A new notification appeared in his mind, before he could ask anything, a new line of text appeared.

{Greetings, Lucas Maverick. I shall be your [Guide] from henceforth. You may give me a name if you so choose.}

Reading the now blue text on his status screen, Lucas felt confused for a moment, he asked out loud with his tendrils softly whipping behind him.

"What are you?"

{As I said, I'm your [Guide]. To elaborate further, I am a very special skill imbued into your system by The Arbiter.}

The [Guide] answered patiently. His tendrils froze mid-air as he processed the entire response. Hoping for some clarification, Lucas asked further questions.

"Who is 'The Arbiter'? And why didn't you activate sooner?"

{The first question is not something I can answer. As for the second, your mental faculties were too low to properly handle my capabilities.}

Both responses felt… off to Lucas. Like half truths though not outright lies. Crash buzzed with agreement. Lucas raised his guard by several notches as he questioned his [Guide] some more.

"Be honest with me, would your activation have turned my brain to mush before or is this whole thing a test to see if I can get to level 5?"

Lucas might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew when a situation was strange. This cavern… all the creatures seemed tailor made to pressure him but not outright kill him as long as he was cautious and skilled enough.

OR, he may just be super paranoid and his mind was grasping at straws from being isolated in a cavern for a week as an alien creature.

Either way, it was a valid question to ask. [Guide] didn't waste any time to answer however.

{Your Mind was truly incapable of bearing the strain of my activation. As for why you appeared in this specific cavern, I have no clue. Any further questions?}

Lucas still didn't trust it for a second but it was quite literally in his head and given that he wasn't even sure he would see his next sleep cycle, he sighed and decided to go along with it.

"So what can you do for me?"

{Glad you asked, you now have the analysis function for you status screen. Just think of anything on it and focus on it for a deeper explanation. Apart from that, you can also assign me a core task. You should know that not everything in your status screen is available at the moment.}

Reading the new message, Lucas' eyes widened slightly. He went to his status screen and went to his {Achievements}. Focusing on [Anomaly], lines of text appeared in response.

{[Anomaly]: You are a truly unique being in the vast cosmos. Your existence is a mystery in and of itself.

Reward: Special [Guide] skill granted.}

{[Tough nut to crack]: You have shown your outstanding tenacity and determination again and again, using your willpower to push back in a world determined to break you.

Reward: +1 Mind.}

Reading through the descriptions, though [Anomaly] sounded grand, Lucas resonated much more with [Tough nut to crack]. He felt a swell of pride when he read through its description. This [Achievement] was attained with his own blood, sweat, and unbending will.

His four tendrils whipped back and forth as he turned his focus back to his status screen. Trying to dig up more knowledge. Unfortunately, he was met with a roadblock as he focused on his Physique attribute. Switching to check his skills, he received the same notification.

{Access denied.}

With his guard raised once more, Lucas asked softly.

"Why?"

{As I said before, not everything on your status screen is currently available. To gain access to them and more, please assign me a core task.}

"What is a core task? And how do I select one?"

{A core task is the primary reason for my existence. It is the main path in which I can guide you. It can be anything you desire, my job is to bring you along that path as efficiently as possible. As for your second question, you can select one by simply stating it with a firm Will.}

Reading through the stream of texts, Lucas thought about what he truly wanted. Did he want to leave this cavern? Of course. But he knew that was short sighted. If his theory about the cavern being a test was anywhere near the truth, the beings he might face outside would be much worse.

With all this in mind, Lucas spoke firmly, his eyes gleaming with Crash's otherworldly light for a fleeting moment giving him a steely look. He spoke firmly, with more conviction than he had ever held.

"I want to be strong. The strongest being possible."