by Yuu Tanaka
I was currently fighting some Slimes, a creature which was either the weakest or the strongest, depending on the work of fiction it appeared in. It was quite strong in this world, having amazing regenerative capabilities, strong physical defense stats, and being able to conceal itself to mount an ambush. It also had various ways of manipulating its gelatinous body to mount an attack, such as forming tentacles which lashed like whips and shooting out parts of its body like bullets. The Slime was made up of multiple layers, including a tough outer layer, an acidic inner layer to digest its prey, and its deepest layer being poisonous so it could better defend its precious crystal.
All in all, they were incredibly annoying. Especially the acid layer, since I took damage just from touching it. The only way forward was to spam my fire magic. They were quite large however, with the smallest one being around a meter tall and the biggest being two meters. They could take a great deal of punishment from my fire magic; I didn’t even know how many fire arrows I’d shot by now.
My current plan was to cut open the Slimes, fully prepared to take damage in the process, and shoot my fire magic right into the place they stored their crystals. The Slimes would sometimes resist by lashing away at me with their tentacles, which was a decent way of fighting back. However, forming tentacles took away from their overall body mass and in turn made it easier for me to fire my magic at their crystals. In the end, most of my mana went into healing myself instead of endlessly casting fire magic.
Is that all of them?
I must’ve stumbled upon their natural habitat because there was an absurd number of them. With every Slime I killed, two seemed to spawn out of the ground to take its place. The Slimes weren’t as strong as the rest of the monsters around here, but there was strength in their numbers.
I hear something…
I barely had time to catch my breath before I felt the presence of a new monster fast approaching. It might have been attracted to the pile of freshly slaughtered Slime. The creature approached me and roared, showing itself to be a giant turtle three meters in length. I wasted no time in using Identify on it.
Cannon Tortoise? I guess that tube must be a cannon.
There was a meter-long protrusion sticking out the front of its gigantic shell. That must have been the barrel of the cannon. So what was with the thin piping on the rear end of the shell? It looked like the exhaust pipe of a modified motorcycle. The turtle roared again, and what followed was the high-pitched sound of a vacuum cleaner as it sucked up the air around it.
I see, so the pipe’s an intake rather than an exhaust.
The Air Current Sight I got from the bird monsters allowed me to see the Cannon Tortoise suck up the wind around it to its rear intake. It then fired an invisible bullet out of its cannon. It would’ve been impossible to dodge had it not been for my vision.
So it shoots out highly-compressed air!
It wasn’t often that I ran into a monster capable of long-distance artillery. Its movement was appropriately lumbering, however.
Too slow!
But it could only fire one shot at a time, and the shots only came from one direction. I quickly flew behind it but it was very slow in turning to face me. Its shell was sufficiently hard, and I certainly didn’t look forward to being plowed under it.
I’ll just have to kill you before that happens!
I flew up and out of the Cannon Tortoise’s field of view. I could see its head as it looked at its surroundings to look for me, so I immediately plunged my blade through its head, killing it instantly.
Just as planned!
I couldn’t bask in the glory of victory for long however, since the other monsters were now swarming the Cannon Tortoise’s fresh corpse just as the Slime remains had called the Cannon Tortoise to begin with.
Could you at least give me a second?
Nature was enacting her law, but I couldn’t help but sigh since I was a concerned party for once. The monsters that came along looked pretty strong, too.
You don’t look very friendly…
Indeed, I was now face to face with a giant red leopard which stretched seven to eight meters in length. The tip of its tail looked like a torch that burned with a red flame.
Let’s Identify you real quick.
The monster was called a Flare Leopard. It had the highest stats of all the monsters I’d encountered so far. Its Agility even topped that of the Lesser Wyvern’s, coming in at 305. It also came equipped with Fire Magic, making it a force to be reckoned with at both close and long ranges.
You look like trouble.
But a creature this strong had to have had equally large crystals. I wondered what its crystal must have tasted like.
Only one way to find out!
The leopard roared as I thrust myself into battle.
Two days had passed since my fierce fight with the Flare Leopard.
I should get going.
Specifically, to the outer rim of the grasslands, a place I had christened Area 5. As I mentioned earlier, the further I went away from the pedestal, the stronger the monsters became, possibly as a result of the barrier. So I decided to call the immediate area surrounding the pedestal Area 1, as it was populated with goblins and other lower-level monsters. Area 5 was the furthest away from the pedestal and was therefore populated with the strongest monsters in the grasslands. Beyond Area 5 was unexplored territory. It was where the grasslands ended and the forest started. However, I would sometimes see monsters from Areas 1 and 2 peeking out of the woods of the forest, so it was doubtful the forest was more dangerous than Area 5. I didn’t know why the monsters of Area 5 didn’t move into the forest, but maybe I’d figure that out once I got there.
It doesn’t look like there are any trash mobs around.
The number of monsters dropped the further out I went into the grasslands. The difficult areas were populated with large monsters who, although not as plentiful, maintained control over vast territories. I was hunting in Area 4 the other day and I had only managed to take down twenty of such creatures. However, the average crystal drop rate was about fifteen per encounter, which meant I had farmed far more crystals out of those twenty than I would have if I had hunted down a hundred goblins. Here was my current stat spread:
Name: Unknown
Race: Intelligent Weapon
Attack: 314; MP: 1000/1000; Durability: 800/800
Evolution: [Rank 5; Crystals: 1366/1500; Skill Capacity: 34; Free Points: 38]
Skills: Identify 6; Attack Up (Small); High-Speed Self-Repair; Skill Sharing; Recovery Rate+; Status+; Telekinesis; Telekinesis Up (Small); Telepathy; MP Up (Small); Bestiary; Mage; Skill Capacity Up (Small)
I used the points I received from my rank up to level up my Self-Repair into High-Speed Self-Repair and equipped Telekinesis Up (Small), Bestiary, and Skill Capacity Up (Small). I was free to switch up the skills I had in my Skill Bank, and it wasn’t like I could use all the skills I had acquired anyway. In fact, I couldn’t even use most of them.
Oh, I see a monster!
Name: Goblin
Race: Demon
LV: 3
HP: 10; Magic: 2; Strength: 7; Agility: 8
Skills: Vigilance 1; Poison Resistance 1; Cooking 1
Details: A demon born from a piece of the Demon God when it was destroyed 100,000 years ago. Bears deep hatred and resentment toward all non-demon species. While nimble and dexterous, it has a vicious and brutal temper. Being evil by nature, it is recommended to exterminate them as you find them.
Crystal location: belly; tailbone.
Two goblins were walking side by side on the borderline between Areas 2 and 3. Although I was able to destroy their base of operations, I still hadn’t managed to eradicate them completely. I got some extra details when I used Identify on them this time around, a benefit I most likely owed to investing some points into Bestiary. Who knew it would kick in when I used Identify? It actually made fighting monsters so much easier. It told me of a monster’s weak points and where its c
rystals were which made it possible for me to kill most my foes with one strike.
“Exterminate as you find them”… So, like cockroaches.
They were much eviler than I thought, which made sense from a human standpoint. As a former human, I was on the side of humanity. I was strengthened in my resolve to convert them into quick EXP.
Now what about the other one…
The other goblin looked slightly different from the first one. Its horns were about twenty centimeters long and were curved at a wicked angle. Its clothing was slightly different too, as it was dyed pitch black.
Name: High Goblin
Race: Demon
LV: 2
HP: 38; Magic: 21; Strength: 26; Agility: 19
Skills: Sword Mastery 2; Throwing Weapons 1; Climbing 1; Poison Resistance 1
Title: Slave of the Demon God
Details: Unknown.
Here was the High Goblin. I had actually run into some at the goblin nest before, but I had thought them to be nothing more than just odd-looking goblins at the time. The Goblin King notwithstanding, they were far stronger than any of the normal goblins. The stats this thing had at Level 2 were ridiculous, and it even had a title to boot. They were probably the elite fighting force of the goblin race, considering I had often seen them lead a crew of goblins. There were no further details about the High Goblin and I wondered if I needed to put more points into Identify, or if I needed to kill more of them to get it to unlock. Well, I was told to exterminate any goblins I came across, so it must have held true for the high goblins as well. EXP was EXP.
Still, I was amazed to discover that gods existed in this world. I didn’t know whether the gods here were self-proclaimed superhumans or actual gods, but I didn’t want to run into them either way. Gods and religions were both annoying to me.
Leave your crystals at the door!
And so, I carried on my hunt for monsters.
Yeehaw!
I came up with a great method of getting around the other day. I would charge up Telekinesis and launch myself at great distances. Then I’d let myself fall wherever I would. I called it the Telekinetic Catapult. It was much more mana-efficient, since all I needed to spend was the initial mana it took to cast Telekinesis. With this method of transportation, I reached Area 4 sometime before noon.
The residents of Area 4 were as strong as I expected. I could no longer one-shot everything I came across, and I took significant damage to my Durability whenever the monsters hit me. An attack from a goblin in Area 1 wouldn’t even register a decrease in Durability, but a direct hit from the monsters here knocked my Durability down by at least one hundred points. I needed to be careful.
Eventually, I reached Area 5.
What monsters await me here?
I used my various detection skills to scout the area for monsters. Getting a preemptive attack on my enemies was a vital strategy in my hunts, and, at times, I would come out of the ensuing scuffle unscathed because of it.
Where are all the monsters, though?
I had been searching for monsters to kill for close to an hour to no avail. Were there no monsters to be found here? Was Area 4 the final stop in my journey after all? Just as I was beginning to question myself, I sensed a large magic source coming from a corner of the area. It had to be a monster, and a strong one too.
Ooh, that’s one hell of a pulse!
The response was even stronger than the Flare Leopard in Area 4, which was the strongest thing I’d fought up till now.
Let’s get some altitude.
I flew up into the sky so the thing wouldn’t be able to see me; at this height, it’d be difficult for monsters without advanced detection skills to do so.
Found it! Wait, what is that, a puddle?
A pool of water about five meters in length lay over the spot where the strong pulse was coming from. Was the pulse coming from inside it? It didn’t look like there was anything living within it from a glance.
I’ll get closer and use Identify on it.
Identify didn’t work with this much distance between the target and me. I figured its effective range was about twenty meters. I closed in on the body of water and its surface began wobbling. Was it the wind? The wind wouldn’t make it wobble so much as ripple. The gelatinous pool of water continued shivering before breaking the optical illusion and exploding to reveal its true identity. The pool wasn’t a body of water after all.
Ew, that’s one huge Slime!
The puddle gathered itself and formed a giant Slime. It must’ve sensed I was around and prepared itself for confrontation. The thing jumped up with the pressure of a water fountain, but soon lost to the force of gravity. Its gelatinous body looked like a waterfall as it fell to the ground. It splattered against the earth before reforming into a gigantic blob of Slime.
Aside from its massive size, it looked like all the other Slimes I had faced. A regular Slime was about one meter in diameter, two meters at the most, while this gargantuan blob was over fifteen meters long and loaded with magical energy. It was quite intimidating.
L-Let’s just Identify him for now…
Name: Gluttonous Slimelord
Race: Monster; Slime.
LV: 58
HP: 620; Magic: 822; Strength: 539; Agility: 308
Skills: Evasion 3; Evasion Up 4; Camouflage 6; Drain 8; Harden 8; Instant Regen 7; Abnormal Status Resistance 7; Jump 5; Soften 8; Fluid Mastery 7; Fluid Arts 8; Physical Resistance 7; Predator 9; Magic Sense 7; Pocket Dimension; Spirit Manipulation; Enhanced Drain; Acid Body; Enhanced Digestion; Mana Manipulation
Details: The final evolution of a Gluttonous Slime. Consumes every living thing in its vicinity and possesses unlimited capacity for growth. Stores away its defeated prey in a pocket dimension for later consumption, making it capable of time-space magic to some degree. Some speculate it is capable of killing and eating dragons when there are no smaller creatures to consume. Upon sighting, some countries dispatch entire squadrons to deal with this threat.
Crystal location: Center of the body.
Whoa, that thing looks dangerous. “Unlimited capacity for growth”?
The Slime in front of me was quite young by the looks of it, but that didn’t change the fact that it was high on the threat level, particularly with the skills of Physical Resistance and Acid Body. It might drag me to my slimy grave if I wasn’t careful. Also, where the other Slimes only had four levels of Fluid Mastery, this guy had seven.
I’d probably die if I committed to a frontal assault.
So, what then? Do I start spamming fire magic? Even if I did, it would’ve taken hundreds of Fire Arrows to take this thing down given the sheer bulk of it. I’d run out of mana before that even happened. The Slime formed a tentacle to lash at me, but it fell short given how high in the sky I was. Its high level in Magic Sense probably told it that I would make for a decent meal. Do I start pummeling it with my physical skills? Not that it would do much good against the Slimelord’s Instant Regen.
Would I even be able to withstand attacking him?
It had Acid Body too, so I wouldn’t be able to attack it without taking damage myself. I had a limited number of strikes to work with.
Whoa!
My Dodge skill helped me evade the Slime’s attack, though I had a feeling that that was just a prelude to its real assault. I wasn’t sure if I could dodge this thing when it got serious.
That just means I’ll have to send you to your grave with one attack. Your death will be quick and painless.
I aimed at the Slimelord and shot my fire magic at it. It didn’t do much damage, but that was enough for me.
I know how you Slimes think.
I continued pelting Fire Arrows and stones that I shot with Telekinesis at the beast. I pressed my advantage, fully expecting to take damage during my offense. The Slime lashed out its tentacles at me to the point where I was spending more MP on healing than on attacking.
Damn it, I can’t heal fast enough to cover the damage I’m
taking.
The Gluttonous Slimelord became more frantic with every tentacle it sent after me, but that was exactly what I was aiming for.
Evolve all you want, you still have the habits of a Slime!
With most of its body mass focused on offensive tentacles, it didn’t have much Slime left to protect its magical core, so I used Telekinetic Catapult to launch myself directly at the thing’s crystal. It was a reckless charge into which I put my entire being. Indeed, I had increased the potency of the Telekinetic Catapult with the wind magic, Wind Shooter. Coupled with the boost in attack power from Sword Mastery, this was the deadliest move in my repertoire.
I’d even thought of a name for it. “Heavenly Slash!” I shouted in my excitement. If I took some time to consider the name, I would have probably rejected it. Probably.
Silence fell upon the grasslands for a moment which was followed by an ear-piercing roar. If I had ears, they’d probably be ringing right now. I had stabbed a huge hole in the Slime’s body, which left it unable to counterattack. Its crystal was clearly broken as well. The Slime stopped moving and melted all over the ground. It was a strange sight to behold as earth and grass were covered in mucilage.
Phew, I did it… That was dangerous.
Half my blade had been melted off. The Slime would’ve dissolved me if it had gotten a hold of me, and I felt good about my decision to end the fight as quickly as I could.
You have reached a new Evolution Level. You have acquired 30 Evolution Points.
I got 150 crystals out of it—I expected nothing less from a high-level monster.
Name: Unknown
Race: Intelligent Weapon
Attack: 352; MP: 1300/1300; Durability: 1100/1100
New skills: Camouflage 1; Harden 1; Instant Regen 1; Soften 1; Pocket Dimension
