“Hehe, I knew you would respect the cabbage,” said Catherine as she took my empty ptes oable in front of me.
After examining the stats I have ora litter something, Catherine brought me to the dining room as she cooked a cabbage sad i alone. I tried to assist her to cook, but she deed as she showed her petite hands and flexed her bicep muscles, assurihat she would like to cook alone.
“Please rest, Catherine. I’ll do the dishes,” I said as I tried to take the empty ptes from her, but she held the ptes away from me.
She smiled and assured me, “don’t worry about it for today. We’re gon some monster iernoon, so you’ll need your extra stamina.”
My hand became stiff as I heard her sentence, yet after I took time to swallow her words, I became excited aless instead. “Monsters..?” I muttered with a mix of ay and thrill. Though, if it was anything like the one I entered this m with Roy and Elise, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
“Ah, don’t worry too much. It’s just a couple of slimes and a few dragons,” Catherine casually said while taking the dirty dishes into the kit. She put the ptes down on the sink and started doing the dirty dishes. She did surprisingly quick work at ing them.
I smiled at Catherine and immediately put my head down oable while closing my eyes, “okay, goodnight.”
Catherine said nothing and after washing her hand, I could hear her holding her magic staff. I took a peek, and found Catherine aiming her magic staff at me. Just before I could say anything, my entire body lost all of its weight.
“Wh-what are you doing?!” I yelled in defiance.
Catherine walked into the front door while still aimiaff at me. My body floated as it followed her from behind without my sent. I kept wailing around but with no success. My pints were ignored pletely as the sued us after we left the house.
“Miss Catherine, please let me down!” I yelled while doing various body movements of defiance.
Catherine only smiled and immediately stopped pointing at her staff, aing my body fall around oer from the ground. My butt hit the ground with an unfortable thud and I moaned in pain.
“I-I’m gonna die…” I muttered.
“Oh, stop being a wuss. You’re not gonna die.” Catherine walked in front of me and spread her arms. The gust of wind id out her long red hair beh her witch hat. Her petite body and modest outfit stood out on this giant meadow on the hill. If I had my smartphone on me, I would capture this moment forever. Catherine smiled, but it was unlike her other pyful, teasing smile. It was a… bittersweet smile. “I won’t let you die.”
Hearing that, I could feel my fox ears fluttering wild without my trol, just like my tail. It was a strange feeling. There was no doubt in her voice, just a serious decratiohe red eyes on her expression showed a trast alongside her flig smile. It was almost as if there was a hint ret or ay on her expression, but her voice showed a firm vi.
“Okay…” I said, as I got up from the ground. “I’ll do my best.”
Seeiting up, Catheriarted walking into the dire of the forest below the hill. I started following her. We walked further and further from her house, and the vilge. I took a peek behind my back to see the ndscape of the vilge started disappearing from my view. I could see Catherine in my peripheral vision.
“This is quite a remote vilge, you see. The adventurer guild ter doesn’t see much value in having a branch here, and merts only e here weekly, sometimes even monthly. So for the st two hundred and fifty years or so since I st settled here, I’d take care of the monsters for an exge of dists whenever I bought something from them.”
I listeo her in silence as I watched the sery of the forest getting closer. The trees were dang around rhythmically, guided by the wind, as the colorful birds chirped to fill the silence of the forest. I looked at the sky to see a blue bird resembling an eagle with a smaller wing soared the sky with pride.
“Doesn’t that sound… Lonely?” I said in a small voice, while imagining Catheriing dinner alone in her house on top of the hill far from the vilge below for turies.
“Hm… You say that.” Catherine walked as she held her magic staff pyfully. She grabbed her bag and put her hand inside, rustling ihe bag and pulled out a small crystal, the same size and appearance as the one I and the children saw after the two blue blobs disappeared into nothingness after ice arrows pierced them. “I wouldn’t say I particurly love this vilge, but I grew attached to it, you see. During the war of the witches, they were… really nice.”
The witch sighed and tinued walking in silence, and put back the crystal inside her bag. I could see her frowning while she walked. Perhaps sensing the solemn atmosphere, she tur me and repced her frown with a bright smile.
“But hey! It’s not that bad, you know. It’s not like I’m alone all the time. I used to share my home with—" Catherine’s voice faltered, her words dissolving into a somber silence as she clutched her worn staff tighter. “Get your sword ready, there’s a monster ining.”
Following her warning, I imagined myself grasping a sword like how I did earlier today in Roy's house. I put the sword in front of me while holding it with both of my hands. I put my guard up by looki and right. Catherine looked at me casually without giance.
“As always, fox magic is really ve, huh…” Catheritered. There was an indescribable expression on her face the moment I summoned my sword. There was a half smile, yet her red eyes were looking at me with an almost intimate stare.
“Fox magic…?” I muttered in fusion, while still looking for the ehat Catherine warned.
The moment I finished saying that, a rustling sound could be heard from my left. I turned my body around, and found a blue blob hopping up and down as it left the bushes. Meanwhile, another one appeared from the tree branch as it fell down to the ground.
“These are your first oppo, slimes. I believe you’ve entered them on the way to my house, correct?” Catherine asked.
I replied by nodding. While holding my sword, I prepared to walk closer to one of them and swung my sword. However, just before I could do that, Catherine grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.
“Before you defeat them, it’s important for you to know the enemy first. Try using your Identification skill to iigate what they are before striking them.” Catherine poi one of the slime.
“How do I do that?” I asked.
Catherihought for a moment before replying, “Just… look at it. Think of the creature inside your mind, its shape, and what color of the slime. You should be able to grasp it just like how you observe the world.”
I tilted my head in fusion as I looked at the fantasy creature in front of me. It’s a small blob that I saw in a lot ames as a child. I took a mental image of the slime in front of me, and as if something clicked inside my brain, it popped up.
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Description: Just a living blob, jiggly and proud. It might look harmless, but step on it, and you'll have a gooey mess—and one very offended slime.
“Living blob…?” I muttered, reading the text besides the blue slime.
Catherine nodded and gave me a thumbs up, “Seems like you got it.”
“Okay, what now?” I asked, unsure of what to do . There was no other indicator on the floati bubbles o the slime besides its health points and race. Perhaps sensing my thought, Catherine spped my bad pushed me towards the dire of the slime.
“What else? Beat the living hell out of it.”
? ? ?
“EWW!” I screamed as I swung my sword aimlessly as my once dress became wet with blue fluid.
After the first tact with my sword, the slime bounced and stuto the bde I was holding. I could see the slime’s health went down from 40 to 27 on my first swing, but after that, I was barely able to strike my sed swing. I tried to get off the slime by repeatedly swinging my sword, but what ended up happening ieces of the slime went inside my clothes.
A gross feeli my body into shiver, and I could only helplessly grab the slime that went into my clothes. It felt so disgusting, but satisfying at the same time. It was like pying around with jello, but the wetness of it made me sied.
“You do it!” Catherine cheered with the biggest ughter I’ve seen her do. Perhaps finding this situation amusing, she kept on ughing every time the slime I was trying to get rid off ended up stig into my clothes, sword and hand.
“Get off me!” After what felt like ay, I finally mao grab the slime, threw it into the air and sshed my sed strike while the slime was still falling down, bringing its hp down from 27 into 14.
“Wow, it only takes you twenty mio finally halve the slime’s health,” Catherieased me while sitting down under a tree shade.
I ignored her and this time, I focused all of my willpower to grab the slime and once more tried to toss it into the air. However, just before I could do arike, I realized that the slime didn’t fly into the air, but stuto the hand I grabbed with.
“Aaaah!” With frustration, I pihe slime into the ground and thrust my sword into its body. I could see the slime’s health slowly turning into 0. The moment it did, all traces of it burst into nothingness, leaving a pieall, bright rainbow cem I was familiar with and a bubble text.
[+10 EXP][+5 on EXP]
“Slimes suck!” I yelled, particurly to no one, which was met by a burst of ughter from Catherine.