I pissed on the smoldering ashes of our campfire with an indifferent sensation. If there's one thing I can say about living with lizardmen, it's that you just stop caring about certain things like whether or not someone might see your willy. We'd already fried up some local greens and bugs for breakfast, making fast work to hunt for food in the early morning light.

I stepped back from the fire with a zip, and slid my armored feet through the morning dew to observe the rest of our camp. Last night was uneventful aside from a lone slime we caught hiding in a bush, but that was short work. That was also something that seemed to unnerve the albino. According to him and one of our trackers, based on scent we should have drawn close to the den sometime last night. And yet, after Todone came back from scouting the area nothing was to be found that would point to a den being nearby. He did, however, discover something unusual.

The path of destruction in the underbrush was in a relatively narrow line, almost like a trail. Something to which our resident albino said shouldn't be the case.

"I'm telling you, I know what I saw! The edge between the grass and the freshly churned soil was like night and day!"

"And I'm telling you that shouldn't be possible. Slimes are unintelligent, they only consume in a haphazard bubble around their den"

I chewed my cheek. "Where did you get this information anyways?"

The lizardman huffed. "This is knowledge that was passed down amidst our shamans. I happen to be fairly confident on this subject"

"Is it… possible we're dealing with a different species than your shamans are used to? You guys still aren't quite familiar with the area after all"

The white lizard growled at that, but relented. "I'm willing to admit that maybe we're dealing with something new, but I highly doubt it"

Still, a thought came to me considering all the unusual things we've had happen so far.

"Maybe it is a little further out then?" I asked the albino, hoping that maybe this was just some weird fluke of nature.

"It shouldn't be," He spoke with annoyance.

"No no, hear me out," I began. "The path of destruction is more or less in a line right? Then that's gotta mean that this line might actually just take us to 'em. So… how about we just follow the line and see where it takes us? Worst comes to it, we end up wasting a day"

There's murmured agreement between the other lizards, something that annoys the albino.

"Very well…" He said with a sigh. "But I'm fairly confident that it should be close"

It wasn't. It was well around early afternoon at this point, and still no sign of the den. However, something that did interest us was the greenery. Or the lack of it to be precise.

"Holy shit," I couldn't help but let out with a low whistle.

The sun was beating down on us almost fully at this point, and for good reason. Even the trees were missing their greenery, now dead and dissolved down to sharp spires that pointed to the sky. Even then, there was the sight of the occasional batch of slimes nibbling on a fallen tree or… corpse. There were a couple of bones jiggling around in some of the larger slimes too, presumably demihuman if the occasional skull was anything to go by.

"By the ancestors…" The albino murmured in distress. "This… this is something else entirely…"

"There's a lot of 'em too. I mean, evenly spread out, but something tells me we're gonna have to be really cautious here. One wrong step and-"

Shlk!

I turn to the sight of Todone spearing one of the smaller slimes with his weapon, before withdrawing and whipping the slime off of the head of the spear. Almost as if an alarm rang out, the slimes closer to us rose up from their meals in a pillar shape, prodding the air with their pseudopods before they began the task of slithering towards us. That included a couple of the larger ones as well.

"God damn it," I muttered, readying my brush-hook.

At least this will prove to be a means of gaining experience.

"Alright boys, pinwheel formation! We can't let them catch us off guard on our asses!"

We all grouped together back to back, intent to keep our bases covered. And a good thing I called that too, some slimes were starting to slither out from the hollows of trees we'd passed and from under the occasional rock. Loathe as I am to admit it, I was in the center with the albino as a fellow magic caster.

"Albino, you're with me! We need to make sure those larger slimes don't get close, they'll smash our barrier like paper mache!"

"What's paper mache?!"

"I… I'll explain that later! Point being, focus on the big guys!"

He nodded at that, casting his {Vine Whip} at a larger slime, making it splatter from the cracking motion.

{Vine Whip spell learning progress: 6%}

Yesssss, excellent. You do that some more, and I'll be grateful. I cast {Frostbite} on another one of the big slimes, making it's membrane freeze in place for another {Vine Whip}.

"Don't you have any spells that will actually do anything?! Freezing them rarely does much!"

I grimaced at that. "It holds them in place at least damn it! I don't exactly know any that would… oh wait a minute, {Dust Devil}!"

A gust of whipping dirt and detritus formed a tornado, following my directions. It swallowed up one of the bigger slimes and a few of the smaller ones, before I sent them flying and splattering against the surroundings to their deaths. Huh, so that's what that looks like. I've never really had a chance to cast it before due to the lack of safe open space and loose dirt. But here?

I could go to town.

"{Frostbite}!" I cast again, catching another big slime just as it drew close. Todone broke formation for a moment to reach out and spear it, shattering it and its core.

It seemed however that the more we fought, the more that almost seemed to come out of the woodworks. The others hadn't connected the dots just yet, but I could tell you right now that the thought of being swarmed by slimes was not a fun one to entertain.

"{Dust Devil}!" I shouted out, casting another one to cut a swathe through their numbers. Two more of the big ones down, as well as a couple of the smaller ones.

"That's three of the big ones I've killed so far, how about you?"

Another whipcrack, followed by his reply. "Five now!"

"Winner has to clean the loser's laundry?!" I shouted.

"Oh you're on human!"

The rest of the group chuckled at that despite our situation, and that was a good thing. I needed to keep their spirits high and distracted, cause… the slimes started retreating again, heading further back down our intended path with a tumbling pace that almost matched our march. Great. I watched them slither away, realizing I had most likely just lost the bet already. Maybe I could worm my way out of this?

"So… by the time we clear out this den and head back will decide our final tally?" I asked, getting a scoff followed by a short laugh.

"You're still going to lose, human," He boasted, though I could tell he was actually enjoying the banter.

"Yeah yeah whatever, I like my jeans warmed by the fireside," I shot back, and I could see the others loving the show.

We had ended up camping for the night again. As it turns out, we think the scout very much did in fact not go that far, because this was a hot mess out here. Enough so that it should have been mentioned. Lazy bastard. On the plus side, Todone spotted the den entrance not too far from here, so come morning we should be able to finally wrap this whole mess up and go home.

Now as for food… due to the lack of anything in the area, I used my insight check to see if something was even remotely edible. Turns out there is something.

Slime cores.

"This has got to be one of the weirdest meals I've ever had yet…" One of the hoplites murmured.

"I know it's not ideal, but I know for a fact these particular slime cores are in fact edible. If you don't wanna eat it, that's fine. That's what the dry, smoky rations are for"

Though the rations were just fine, I could tell the prospect of a hot and fresh meal was far more enticing to him. Although I don't blame him for being wary, I didn't exactly prepare myself for the slime cores to smell like a weird mix between limes and pork when boiled. If I had a bit of garlic and brown sugar I probably could have made it work, but as it stands we're just working with the most barren amount of spices possible.

As I prepared the slime core stew, the lizardmen's conversation pushed more into territory that required me to pay attention. Mostly because it delved into our situational issues.

"So… what kind of bets are we placing?" One of them said.

Another huffed. "On what?"

"On what we're gonna find when we get to the den! I'd bet my copper knife on someone raising a queen slime"

A third scoffed at that, shaking his head. "Don't be ridiculous, slimes can barely even recognize the difference between a rock and a rabbit"

I couldn't help but add my two cents on this. "They could tell when one of their own was killed and came running to us. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt, considering they could sense and recognize that much"

One of the other lizardmen decided to butt in. "Maybe it's just a couple of regular wild queen slimes instead?"

"Wouldn't explain the unusual patterns we've been seeing," The albino pointed out. "Sudden retreats? A clear cut path? Cutting down even trees for sustenance? Whatever this is, there's definitely an intelligent driving force behind it. Loath as I am to admit, it's very well likely that somehow, someone has managed to take control of a queen slime"

I chewed my cheek at that. "You think they might be demihuman?"

"Doubtful," The cloaked lizard said with a grimace, eyeing me. "At least, not one native to the forest. Most likely it's a human"

I grunted, putting the stew ladle down for a moment. "We can't rule out the possibility of a heteromorph either. There was that corpse hydra we encountered a while back, and that thing wasn't natural either. My money's on a lich or something ruling over these slimes"

"A lich? Don't be ridiculous, those are just an old wives tale"

I squinted at that, feeling a headache form in annoyance. "Contrary to popular belief, there are many things in this world that many would originally write off as mere tall tales. I'm certain you wouldn't have believed that abomination could have existed to begin with, right?"

"I still scarcely believe it if I'm being honest," The lizardman scoffed.

"And I wouldn't blame you," Todone said.

We all turned our heads to the toadman, interested in what he had to say.

"That… thing… wasn't anything that could be considered right. No sanity could ever be found in such a creation. The fact that it existed though, and wiped out a hunting party like it was nothing… I can't believe we even survived it to begin with. I'm… trusting Nolan's judgement on this. Maybe not a lich, but certainly something of sufficient power"

"Yulg… agree…" The wallflower goblin speaks, getting a growl from the albino. The sight of it makes my headache grow even stronger, and I feel an impulse to choke the bastard ou-

Wait a minute.

The lizardman himself seems ready to come to blows, and everyone else around the campfire is growing antsy for a fight. This isn't right, we were having a civil… nrgh, conversation. God this headache fucking blows.

"Does anyone else… have headaches?" I couldn't help but ask.

The albino turns to me with a grimace, but I could see the gears turning. "... Yes…?"

Fuck.

"Aight everyone, eyes up an' out, somethin's not right here," I commanded, my drawl slipping out from the irritation.

"Who put you in charge?" One of the lizards snapped.

"There's somethin' out there givin' us these headaches, and I think it's the reason we're gettin' pissy. So I say we get pissy at it"

There was a brief wave of sudden panic that flowed through my body, before the headache suddenly ceased and I felt in control of my emotions again. Everyone gasped out in relief, some clutching their heads. I spotted a miniscule pink slime slithering away, almost like a slug. Leaping forward, I tackle the damn thing as it squirms and writhes in my grasp, making an {Insight Check} on it.

{8r 1n $liM3: LK(JSh 12)}

I groaned out in pain as it attempted to pierce my brain with another lancing headache, but I crushed it in my grasp. I attempted to cast an insight check on the puddled corpse in my hands, hopefully to get something out of it.

{Brain Slime (Deceased: Level 12): A rare species of slime. Though small, their cores require an immense amount of energy to maintain the higher functions they're capable of, such as psychic attacks and even low tier spells}

This… this thing could cast spells if it wanted to? Jesus christ…

I turned around to reveal our culprit in my hands, getting gasps from the others. Our resident albino was staring at it with an unreadable face, before turning to eye the direction that Todone had pointed in earlier.

"... Whatever this is, we need to kill it as soon as possible"

As the others commented their silent agreement, Yulg pointed something out as he looked at me.

"Nolan… bloody nose…"

I just noticed a trickle of fluid coming from my nostrils, and let the brain slime slough onto the ground as I wiped my nose with my sleeve, seeing it stained with crimson. The others looked at me with wide eyes as they realized just what that thing could do. I, however, could only say one thing.

"Well… shit…" I said, dumbly staring at the stain on my arm. I looked to the albino to see if he had anything to say, but even he couldn't do much but stare with wide eyes. "Is… is this what psychic damage does?"

Everyone looked at eachother, several thoughts no doubt racing through their mind. What was once a cheerful evening became a somber event, as we quickly realized we were probably facing a strong opponent. Hell of a way to prove our copper gear works. Which it does, but… I'd rather have tested it out against what were supposed to be simple slimes, not this shit.

"I… think we should eat and get some rest," I slowly suggest. "And as for our watches… we should do it in pairs. And snuff the flame out once we're done cooking, heat or no. Everyone's going to need to utilize darkvision to the best of their capacity while staying in close range of each other tonight"

There was mostly nods and lowly muttered agreement. Everyone was on edge now, realizing that we were very much facing a real threat beyond what was expected.

As I cleaned myself off, I started thinking about what this meant. First there was the corpse hydra, and now this? This stuff wasn't even remotely mentioned in Overlord, so what the hell is going on? Is this one of those miniscule butterfly effects where because I saved Zarusosa suddenly whatever almost killed him is interested in wreaking havoc in the forest? If so, I almost feel bad, but I stop that train of thought dead in its tracks.

No matter what, simply being here already changes things. All I can do is roll with the punches as best as I can and try to work with what I'm given. If saving him means bringing some weird third party's interest then fine, we'll kick their ass too. I could use the experience anyways. It doesn't… fully erase my woes, but I'm self-reflective enough to admit that I at least try to pick things apart in a more logical manner. Emotions can be a bitch sometimes, but that's what it means to be human. Er, more than human really, considering my company.

I poured the bowls of slime cores and handed them out to those that were willing to eat them, the rest of us opting to stick to the rations that had been boiled to soften them up. I popped one of the damaged cores in my mouth, and… it tastes almost what I'd imagine an eyeball to taste like, texture included. Surprisingly gelatinous yet chewy, with a candy like taste backed by an indescribable meat flavor. It smelled like pork earlier, but it sure as hell didn't taste like it. Overall, I briefly had to fight a gag reflex before the texture was reduced to something manageable by my teeth.

"Well…" One of the lizardman hoplites grunted. "It's not as… good as some other things… but it certainly beats the rations"

I nod, in agreement with that much. I wasn't the one who made these rations, and unfortunately the lizardmen think rations should only fill your stomach, not necessarily taste good. Well, we can at least write this down as another potential meal in the event of famine… even if it's not a particularly enjoyable one.

The rest of the evening moves along uneventfully, mostly because everyone was too engrossed by the task ahead of us tomorrow. And who wouldn't be, if this brain slime was parked out not that far from the entrance, I shudder to think of what's in the den.

"Yulg and I will go ahead and take the first watch," Todone spoke after finishing his food in one gulp like he usually does. "Does anyone have any objections?"

Negatives were muttered, and everyone began preparing for sleep. Just as everyone was tucked in, I cast {Create Water} to put the fire out. Tomorrow, we marched into the slime den. God help us.

Nolan Potts, Human (Karma: 60 [Neutral]) [18/21 Spell slots used]

Classes: Brawler (5), Ranger (3), Druid (4), Clothier (3), Translucer (1). Total Level (16).

Spells (Druid): Frostbite, Entangle, Create or Destroy Water, Guidance, Jump, Cure Wounds, Dust Devil, Protect from Poison, Hold Person, Spike Growth, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Darkvision, Sleetstorm

Spells (Ranger): Animal Friendship, Speak to Animals, Ensnaring Strike, Conjure Animals

Items of Note: {Humble Beginnings}

Party Members are as follows…

Member One: Todone, Son of Kodrotti, Toadman (Karma: -15 [Neutral])

Classes: Toadman Warrior (9), Brawler (9), Total Level (18).

Member Two: Yulg (Karma: 30 [Neutral])

Classes: Goblin Marauder (1), Brawler (8), Warrior (3), Total Level (12)

AN: I appreciate the positive feedback I've been getting on the story lately, mostly because I'm just glad that you guys enjoy it.

hackslashbash: You wanna see real speed bitch I'll show ya speed

Just random guy: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Yo I'm lucky: Level twenty will come soon in the relative scheme of things, but keep in mind this story is almost entirely improvised aside from the bare bones of the beginning, middle, and end game plans. So uh, it may be ten chapters from now or it may be twenty. Even I can't say I know.