Camilla lay in the hospital bed for two more days before finally being allowed to get up and move around, though her range of motion was still strictly restricted.
Ophelia hardly left her side until the morning of the third day, when she was forcefully called away by Korova for “urgent Student Council business.” Only then did Camilla find some free time.
Seizing the chance, she washed up briefly and, cradling her still-heavy head, slowly shuffled out of her ward.
A faint scent of herbs filled the corridor, with white-robed healers occasionally hurrying past. According to her previous inquiries, Ms. Victoria’s room was around the corner on the same floor.
The door was slightly ajar. Camilla knocked gently, and a tired but still crisp “Come in” came from inside.
Pushing open the door, she found the layout similar to her own, except for a few pots of thriving magic plants on the windowsill. The sunlight streaming in added some life to the pale room.
Professor Victoria was leaning against the headboard, a lightweight wooden board across her lap. Spread out on it was a thick stack of lesson plans and several worn books. Her left hand was still bandaged, and she looked a bit pale, but her uninjured right hand held a quill. She was writing quickly, her brow slightly furrowed in concentration.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up. Seeing it was Camilla, a rare look of surprise appeared on her serious face. After all, if her memory served her correctly, this was the first time Camilla had sought her out voluntarily.
“Student Camilla?” She put down her pen. “Why are you here? How is your body feeling?”
“Much better, Professor Victoria,” Camilla replied politely as she approached. “I heard you were recovering here as well, so I came to visit.” Her gaze swept across the stack of plans. “Are you still working?”
“Out of habit.” Victoria shook her head slightly, gesturing for Camilla to sit in the chair beside her. “I’m just lying around anyway. I might as well refine some teaching plans I’d been thinking about. This practical test exposed many issues. The adaptability of summoners in sudden situations, coordination with different classes, tactical choices against unconventional enemies… all of it requires adjustments to the curriculum.”
As she spoke, her gaze landed on Camilla’s still bloodless face. Her voice paused, and a clear flicker of guilt flashed in her sharp gray-blue eyes.
“Speaking of which, I should apologize to you, Student Camilla, and to Student Ophelia. As one of the people in charge of that test and as your professor, I failed to protect my students. I let you fall into such danger and sustain such heavy injuries… It was a failure on my part.”
Her apology was direct, making no excuses. Her voice was steady, but the tips of her fingers gripping the quill tightened slightly.
Camilla was stunned and waved her hands quickly. “No, it wasn’t your fault, Professor Victoria. No one could have predicted that situation. The Dark Magic Beast Legion are madmen. You were also fighting a powerful enemy and got injured yourself…”
Victoria remained silent for a few seconds, not dwelling on the topic, but the weight in her eyes didn’t fully dissipate. “So, did you come to see me for something? About the curriculum? Or questions about your training?”
“Ah, actually, it’s about Rimuru.” Camilla brought the conversation back on track, patting the blue slime that had been resting quietly on her shoulder. “During the battle earlier… well, it swallowed some bad things. Afterward, it seemed to undergo some changes. I’m not sure if the changes are good or bad, so I wanted to ask for your help to take a look. You are a Professor of the Summoning Department and an experienced High-Level Summoner; you should be able to see what’s going on.”
“Oh?” Victoria’s interest was piqued. She pushed the lesson plans aside. As a summoner, she possessed a professional curiosity regarding the growth and mutation of various summoned beasts. “Let me see.”
Camilla nodded and took Rimuru off her shoulder, placing it on the empty space on the bed.
Rimuru let out a *puji* sound and stretched its body.
“Can you show us your new state?”
At Camilla’s command, Rimuru’s round body began to tremble slightly. Under Victoria’s focused gaze, the blue on its surface changed. Within a few breaths, the originally sky-blue slime transformed into a crystal-clear, cherry-blossom-pink creature, looking like a ball of pink jelly.
Not only did the color change, but its size seemed to increase slightly. Overall, it radiated a — strange — sense of cuteness and vitality.
Victoria’s eyebrows shot up. Color changes weren’t particularly rare; some slimes changed hue based on their environment or what they consumed. However, she had never seen the ability to actively change color like this before. Moreover, she could sense that the energy fluctuations emitted by Rimuru in this form were significantly different from the blue form. It seemed even its stats had changed along with it.
“Interesting. Does this form have any special abilities?” Victoria asked curiously, her gray-blue eyes carefully examining the pink Rimuru.
“Well, how should I put it… See for yourself.” Camilla’s expression became a bit subtle. She took out her messenger bag — it had been enchanted with Simple Space Expansion Magic to hold Rimuru and various small props, so its capacity was much larger than it appeared.
She unbuckled the strap, turned the bag upside down, and shook it gently.
*Puji!* *Puyo!* *Iya!*
A series of soft, squeaky cries in different tones rang out. Tiny pink slimes, only the size of ping-pong balls and a lighter shade than the original, rolled out of the bag like beans, landing on the white hospital sheets.
One, two, five, ten… In the blink of an eye, a small patch of wriggling pink “jelly” appeared on the bedsheets. They looked around curiously; some tried to roll toward the edge, while others huddled together and bumped into each other with faint *smack* sounds. At a rough glance, there were at least twenty or thirty of them.
Professor Victoria’s serious expression changed noticeably for the first time. Her eyes widened slightly — the same expression Camilla had when she first saw Rimuru “giving birth.”
“Is this… splitting? No, there are no signs of the main body weakening. Is it… production? Creation of Kin?”
As a High-Level Summoner, she had seen many summoned beasts with the ability to split or create sub-bodies, but most of those had fixed forms or required specific conditions. For the main slime to stably “produce” small individuals with independent vitality but the same energy nature while not in combat… this completely exceeded the scope of conventional Summoned Beast Studies.
Furthermore, these little slimes looked healthy and active. There was a clear mental link between them and Rimuru, yet they also seemed to possess a simple independent consciousness.
Rimuru’s main body let out a *puji*, sounding a bit proud. A small slime hopped over to Victoria’s hand resting on the bed and gently rubbed against her fingertip. It felt cool and soft.
Victoria snapped out of it and took a deep breath. She pushed up her nonexistent glasses, her gaze becoming sharp and full of inquiry once more.
“Incredible… This can no longer be explained simply as a ‘mutation’.” She looked at Camilla with a solemn tone. “Student Camilla, this very likely involves the evolution of a summoned beast. Simply observing here won’t provide enough data. Given your physical condition, can you perform light activity? If you can, I want to take you to the academy’s Summoned Beast Testing Ground.”
She paused and added, “This is very important. If a new ability is not properly understood and controlled, it could bring unknown risks — both to the summoned beast itself and to you as the contractor.”
This was exactly what Camilla had in mind. After all, having played the game so many times, she had never seen this happen to Rimuru. Victoria’s suggestion was exactly what she wanted.
“I can do it, Professor Victoria. If it’s just walking, I’ll be fine.”
Camilla nodded and carefully gathered the tiny, curiously crawling slimes back into her bag one by one. As if to save her master the trouble of catching them individually, Rimuru’s main body sent out a slight mental ripple. The little things obediently lined up and jumped back inside in an orderly fashion.
Seeing this, the light of inquiry in Victoria’s eyes grew even brighter. She pulled back the covers and got out of bed slowly but steadily. Though her left arm was still in a sling and she was a bit pale, much of her efficient and capable aura had returned.
“Follow me. The testing ground isn’t far from here.”