Say Hello to Nobu!

Lysera stared at Lucian, speechless.

"Is it really that dramatic?" she muttered. "Just drop your blood onto the magic circle."

Lucian didn't hesitate. He squeezed out a drop of blood and let it fall onto the red array.

Instantly, the circle split in two, each half glowing before shooting into both Lucian and the Slime.

Lysera began explaining, "A mutual contract like this is two-way. You'll be able to sense each other's presence and condition. But if one of you dies, the contract will break—and the other will suffer a backlash."

She added, "You can cancel the contract, but only the one who initiated it can do that."

"So if you want to keep this Slime by your side forever as your battle companion, you'll have to be good to it. Always. Don't hurt its feelings. Don't let it even think about leaving. Got it?"

"Of course! Nobu's way too cute!" Lucian said, lifting Nobu up to his face and rubbing against it affectionately.

Lysera: "…You already named it?!"

"Gujyu~" Nobu squeaked adorably, looking up at Lucian.

And Lucian understood exactly what it meant.

"You're hungry? Alright, I'll go find you some rocks." He held Nobu like a precious treasure and started walking, scanning the ground for stones to feed it.

Lysera's heart nearly jumped out of her chest watching him.

"Hey, hey! Don't just feed it rocks!" she protested. "Slimes need energy to grow. Things like rocks and leaves don't have nearly enough. You need to give it something rich in energy!"

"Rich in energy?" Lucian thought aloud, then looked at his still-bleeding finger. He grinned and held it out to Nobu. "Well, my blood's gotta count, right? Here you go, Nobu. Don't waste it."

Lysera: "…"

This guy is way too trusting!

You're seriously offering your hand to a creature that eats everything? Are you not worried about losing a finger?

"Gujyu?" Nobu chirped, staring at the finger before inching forward and wrapping its body around it. A moment later, the blood began to vanish rapidly.

"It's eating it! It's really eating!" Lucian said excitedly, like a proud pet owner watching their companion eat for the first time.

But then—Lucian blinked in surprise. A cool, tingling sensation spread across his finger, and right before his eyes, the wound began to close.

"What the…?" Lucian stared in disbelief. Even Lysera's eyes widened.

"Wait… Slimes can do that?"

"Mmhmm," Lysera said, dazed. "Slime fluid can heal wounds… but it uses up their energy. I didn't expect this one to actually waste energy to heal you…"

"I see…" Lucian murmured.

Sure enough, the wound closed up completely. It didn't even hurt anymore.

But Nobu… had shrunk. Noticeably. It was even smaller than when they first met.

"Gujyu…" the Slime let out a weak, almost pitiful noise.

Lucian paused, then said, "So Nobu used up a lot of energy healing me… and now it's smaller, right?"

Lysera nodded. "That's right."

Lucian's eyes filled with emotion. He pressed Nobu to his cheek again and nuzzled it like it was the most precious creature on Earth.

"This isn't some Demon Slime—it's my little angel!"

"Don't worry, Nobu. I'm gonna feed you so well, you'll be pink, round, and squishy again in no time!" Fired up, he turned and marched forward.

Suddenly, he spotted a river.

"A river! There's gotta be fish in there—or at least some small seafood. Way more nutritious than rocks!"

"Come on, Nobu! Let's go get you some fresh seafood!"

Watching the scene unfold, Lysera couldn't help but laugh softly.

"This guy… he's kind of a dork, isn't he?"

Then she called out, "Be careful! Don't get eaten by a river monster!"

...

Once they reached the riverbank, Lucian didn't rush in recklessly. He took his time to examine the water first.

The river was shallow and crystal clear, the bottom visible at a glance. It looked no deeper than knee height, and he didn't spot any large creatures. It seemed safe enough.

Still, to be cautious, he found a long wooden stick and began poking around in the water.

No danger emerged—but he did stir up a bunch of creatures that looked like tiny, rock-colored crabs.

Without hesitation, Lucian activated Analyze.

[Riverclaw: A common freshwater creature. Non-magical. Hard shell. Edible.]

No magic meant it wasn't classified as a monster.

Relieved, Lucian grinned. "Nobu, I'm gonna catch you some crab for dinner!"

With that, he carefully stepped into the water. Just as he expected, it only reached his knees. Bending down, he began collecting the Riverclaws.

They were barely larger than coins, round-bodied with shells so mottled they looked like pebbles. Curled up at the bottom of the river, they were surprisingly hard to spot.

But Lucian had a method—stirring the riverbed with his stick would flush them out, and once they moved, they were easy to catch. Riverclaws weren't fast, and their tiny pincers posed no threat.

With quick reflexes, Lucian scooped them up one by one and stuffed them into the side pockets of his pants, snapping the buttons closed so none would escape.

Before long, all four of his pockets were bulging with crab.

"Jackpot!" Lucian laughed, hopping back onto the riverbank. He grabbed one of the little Riverclaws and held it up to Nobu. "Dinner time, Nobu!"

"Gujyu~" Nobu chirped excitedly and wrapped its plump, jelly-like body around the crab. The Riverclaw began to struggle, bubbles rising from its shell.

The tough exterior melted away before Lucian's eyes. Within a minute, Nobu had digested it completely—nothing left behind.

And Lucian could swear Nobu had grown a little bigger.

"Nice! You're already starting to recover!" he beamed. "Come on, eat up. You've still got some growing to do."

"Gujyu~"

After downing over a dozen Riverclaws, Nobu had swelled to about the size of a dragonfruit, clearly recovering from the energy it had spent earlier healing Lucian.

Lucian looked at the few remaining Riverclaws and decided to keep them for himself. Time to find out what fantasy-world crab tasted like.

"My stomach's growling. Let's fix up some lunch," he said, glancing around. "First things first—fire."

Lucian had seen enough videos back on Earth to know several ways to start a fire. The classic method of friction with sticks came to mind—but that was notoriously difficult, especially for a beginner like him.

So he opted for a simpler technique: using a soft wooden plank with a long groove carved into it, placing tinder at the front, and rubbing a harder stick rapidly back and forth until sparks ignited the fibers.

First, he needed the materials.

He scouted around and found a decent chunk of soft wood and a suitable stick. At the riverbank, he picked up two stones and struck them together until he chipped off a sharp-edged shard.

With it, he began hacking away at the wood, slowly flattening one side into a plank.

It was tiring work, but Lucian was surprisingly patient—especially with Riverclaw on the menu.

Soon, he had a grooved board, a friction stick, and a pile of wood shavings to use as tinder. He also gathered some dry twigs and leaves for kindling.

Let's do this.

He sprinkled a bit of sand into the groove to increase friction, then started rubbing the stick back and forth as fast as he could.

It was a workout, but after some determined effort, the groove began to blacken and smoke rose into the air.

The spark fizzled out.

Lucian gritted his teeth and tried again.

Then again.

"Got it!" he cried. On the third try, a tiny spark appeared.

He carefully transferred it to the tinder pile, gently blowing until the spark caught. The wood shavings lit up, smoke curling through the air, and then—a small flame danced to life.

Lucian's face lit up in triumph. He began feeding the fire dried leaves and twigs, gently blowing to fan the flame.

Before long, he had a proper campfire going.

He was drenched in sweat, and the process had taken over an hour, but for a complete novice, it was a solid success. Even Lysera had to admit, "Not bad. I'm impressed you actually pulled it off."

Lucian chuckled and went to gather a few more sticks to build the fire higher. Once it was blazing strong, he tossed the Riverclaws in.

They writhed a little but quickly went still. A rich, savory aroma filled the air.

Meanwhile, Lucian stripped off his damp pants and hung them on a stick to dry over the fire.

The sight made Lysera blush slightly, though she didn't comment.

Soon enough, the Riverclaws were done. Lucian fished one out with a stick.

"Hot, hot, hot—wow, that smells amazing!" he said, cracking open the shell. Inside was a golden-yellow crab roe that looked incredibly appetizing. He dug in without hesitation.

He quickly realized the shell was tougher than expected—he actually had to smash one open with a rock. Nobu, meanwhile, had wandered over to the discarded shells and was happily digesting them.

Lucian quickly stopped him.

"Hey now, don't eat trash like that!"

He picked up a cooked crab claw and held it out. "Here, Nobu. Try the good stuff."

"Gujyu!" Nobu chirped with delight.

And so the two of them sat by the fire, happily devouring crab together.

After a satisfying meal, they were ready to set off again.