Chapter 18 – Slimy Surprise

【Spring Forest Grove – Rank: Usual】

Time Limit: 5:00

Rewards: Random

›Armor Piece, Accessory or Weapon ( – of Spring)

›Spell Tome

› – Potion

›Random Material (Forest Biome)

Objective: Exterminate 15 Spring Kobolds

Once again, I entered a Trail with Lime. The Spring Forest Grove was a dense forest area, much unlike the Spring Path, which was practically just empty plains with a few trees here and there.

⌈An extermination again? I don’t like these that much... Oh well, it’s not like I have a choice. Don’t get left behind!⌋

⌈*Yes! If I may ask, why do you dislike extermination Trails?*⌋

⌈It feels wrong to kill other living beings. I still haven’t grown accustomed to it.⌋

⌈*Hmm… Would you rather be killed than kill?*⌋

⌈That’s unfair. If I was driven into a situation like that, of course, I’d do anything to save my own life. I just dislike being forced into a situation like that.⌋

⌈*I see, I see. But it’s not like you have a say in the matter, y’know? You know how this world works. There’s no room for the morals of a saint on the Trails..*⌋

⌈I suppose I’ll have to get used to it. I hope it’ll stop bothering me before long…⌋

After all, the value of life does differ drastically between this world and my old one. I guess I’ll have to suck it up and live with it.

…

Time Limit: 4:02

⌈*Watch out! Monsters up ahead!*⌋

⌈Got it!⌋

A group of 8 Spring Kobolds stood in our way.

I swiftly cut the flimsy spears of the front row Kobolds of the first group with a wide horizontal cleave. Little by little I'm beginning to get used to swinging a sword around. Unlike regular Kobolds, the Spring variants don’t stop their charge once they’re disarmed. This is good for my feeble conscience. I couldn’t live with myself if I had to stab a monster in the back that’s running away for its life.

⌈One…⌋

An uppercut beneath a kobold's right arm.

⌈Two..⌋

I continued my onslaught as I brought my blade down horizontally to cut a second one.

⌈Three.⌋

I vigorously swung my blade horizontally, slicing through the Kobold flesh, which was but butter in the face of my Darksteel Blade. I was about to finish the front squad off by stabbing the final kobold when Lime suddenly smacked it far into the horizon.

⌈*Four!*⌋

Is this what they call the “One Punch”? Can slimes even punch? But if that wasn’t a punch, then I don’t know what was.

⌈*How many Kobolds are left to gore?*⌋

*Squish squish*

Lime happily squished around, after making a godawful nursery rhyme about slaughtering Kobolds. Morbid.

⌈Can you please stop with the rhymes! And for the love of god don’t call it ‘goring’, it makes me puke.⌋

⌈*Haha! Sorry… Be careful, there's still seven left!*⌋

…

Time Limit: 2:25

⌈*Just three left!*⌋

And three rapid strikes was all it took... The dark blade, reflecting the sunlight that pierced through the leaves of the surrounding trees, quickly found its way to the heart of the opposing Kobolds, painting itself red with their blood.

Once again, a rather anticlimactic end for a Trail. It’s still better than being centimeters away from death on the regular, trying to fight giant enraged ogres.

【Spring Forest Grove – Status: Clear】

›Reach: 1/1

›Rewards:

›【Origin Spell Tome – Rank: Usual】

›Shard of Knowledge:

›【Agricultural Knowledge: Basic Farming Tools】

Finally! A spell tome! That took a good while... I hope I can start casting magic soon. The Shard of Knowledge isn’t half bad either. I felt the knowledge of creating and utilizing various hoes and sickles and such radiate through me... Really though, a shard like this is a good find, especially when compared to some of the shards I had gotten earlier such as ‘Utensil Knowledge: Spork’, which I seriously contemplated throwing away into the bushes, never to be seen again.

I gave the Shard to Lime, who quickly devoured it and stored it in 'her' dimension. I still haven't gotten used to calling Lime a female. And I probably never will.

The Spell Tome, as I suspected, was just a book with some ancient runes on it, similar to those decorating Lumi's Eye of Void. I would pray to the gods that those runes aren’t the written language of this world, but judging from my experience with them, I'd rather roll a twenty-sided dice.

⌈Oi, Lime! How do I use the Spell Tome?⌋

⌈*What do you usually do with a book?*⌋

⌈You read it?⌋

⌈*Wow! Master, you're so smart!*⌋

⌈Oh, fuck off... Alright, let's try it then.⌋

I opened the book, and a bright white light shining from within blinded me. Reading the tome immersed me in an empty space much like an entrance to a trail would, however instead of colorful stardust, I was surrounded by plain white... I'm not going insane, am I?

【Origin Spell Tome – Rank: Usual】

Available spells:

›Origin Flare

›Origin Ball

›Origin Bolt

›Origin Dart

Eh? Can I choose here? I guess I’ll go with flare... For no reason other than It obviously sounds the coolest.

【Origin Spell: Origin Flare – Rank: Usual】

I regained my sight as the blinding light dwindled.

Did I learn it? I guess I did..? Wasn't that way too easy, though?

⌈Lime. Do you have any idea how to cast a spell?⌋

⌈*Eh? Shouldn’t you know?*⌋

⌈Yes, I should, but right now I’m suffering from a terrible case of extreme amnesia, and can’t remember anything unless you tell me in utmost detail.⌋

⌈*Ahahaha! Alright. Just imagine the spell in your mind, chant the name of the spell and cast it!*⌋

⌈I don’t even need to use lengthened chants? That’s a shame… I always thought they were pretty cool.⌋

⌈*A lengthened chant can amplify the strength of the spell, certainly, especially if one isn't adept at magic, but that’s because it reinforces the mental image of the spell, or otherwise raises the user’s spirits. In reality, you really only need to chant the name of the spell...⌋

⌈Huh...⌋

⌈But! If you have advanced mastery of a spell, you can link a certain trigger for it, like extending or retracting one of your limbs or even fingers! It's a technique often utilized by martial arts classes! However, you should probably know that it's limited to spells you use very often and have absolute mastery of... Perhaps master could set a trigger for Origin Burst?*⌋

Really? If I correctly remember, the God of Origin used a lengthened chant while casting the curse, or whatever that was. Do the gods not know how their very magic system works? No wonder this world is a fucking mess...

Origin Flare, huh? Since it’s Origin element, I suppose it’d be like a concentrated bright white flame. If it’s something like a shot from a flare gun, maybe I can shoot it from my hand, like a Fireball Spell? Let’s go with that.

After constructing a solid concept of the spell in my mind, I took a wide, stable stance, extended my left hand out and imagined the bright white flame gathering in my grasp.

⌈Here Goes,【Origin Flare】!⌋

The words 'Origin Flare' eerily resonated across the forest, and birds began to flee from the branches of the surrounding trees. Indeed, the image I pictured in my mind soon manifested itself in my extended hand. For a while, the flames danced around me before slowly gathering together, forming a concentrated ball of peculiar magical fire in front of my palm.

I’m starting to feel a tad bit dizzy…

As everything began to fade away, I could see the bright light shoot out with blinding speed, leaving behind an afterimage of a glistening beam similar to a shot from a railgun. Before I could even decipher what had happened, the flare hit the tree I aimed at and burst out into glorious white flames.

Under the sound of wood cracking into million bits, a loud thud could be heard. That very thud being none other than yours truly.

Man, I hope I didn’t start a forest fire...

…

*squish squish*

⌈Shut up.. Five more minutes..⌋

*boun boun boun*

⌈Didn’t you hear me? Uhn… Go away…⌋

⌈*Wake up!*⌋

⌈...!?⌋

What’s this? Where am I?

I found myself laying down on an empty field of grass. Similar to the Trails that featured vast grassy plains, the horizons seemed to extend endlessly.

⌈Lime, is that you?⌋

⌈*Yes! Are you finally awake?*⌋

⌈I think so... But... Where am I?⌋

⌈*Ah yes... Welcome to my dimension, master!*⌋

⌈Your dimension!?⌋

⌈*Yes! Indeed.*⌋

Amazing…

⌈Is this where all the gear you devour goes?⌋

⌈*Spot on! They’re right behind you, y’know?*⌋

And there they were indeed. But in horrible order!?

Almost all of my old gear, excluding my scarf, laid down in a messy pile on the grassy floor. Next to my old gear, was also a rather sizeable pile of Usual-Rank Mana and Health Potions. I didn’t need those, so I thought it would be best to save them, or maybe sell them once I get back to the capital.

To the right, I had collected a bunch of Shards of Knowledge. Maybe fifteen by now, actually. Finding a Trail took about ten minutes, clearing it and sorting the rewards took another five minutes. I could clear four Trails in an hour, and I didn’t really have to take breaks either, thanks to the effects of my scarf and new gear.

【Equipment: Light Jacket of Spring, Shorts of Spring, Boots of Spring, Leather Belts, Ashen Scarf of Tireless Wind, Darksteel Blade】

Apart from the Scarf, I had almost collected the entire set of ‘ – of Spring’ gear, apart from my belts. The stacking bonus of the【Effect: Spring Breeze】all the items of the set shared was amazing. I could run amazingly fast for an eternity! If I was back on earth, I’m confident I could’ve probably broken all the world records for every single running event. Apart from maybe the longest distance ones, as those would bore me out before I’d be able to finish…

The theme of the set was universal across all the pieces. The pieces were made out of dark, earthy leather, that was decorated with engraved leaf patterns. A lot of effort was clearly put into the details of the gear, finishing the design up with various leaves and vines intertwined into the clothes.

Even if I didn’t know a single thing about fashion, I felt pretty damn fashionable in my current attire, if I do say so myself. Although I do prefer the monochrome form much more. Maybe in the future? Hopefully, I can collect a set of some black clothes after I rank up!

I felt pretty accomplished. Of course, there were some duplicates.. I had two extra pairs of Boots of Spring. Though despite that, I still haven't found the Blade of Spring. But then again, I can't really imagine it surpassing my current weapon anytime soon.

【Darksteel Blade – Class: Blade – Rank: Regular – Rarity: B – Effect: Edge】

【Edge: Able to retain unparalleled sharpness. Medium Damage increase against monsters of lower rank.】

It’s absolutely perfect! Not only do I not have to actually pay attention and care for things I carelessly spent copious amounts of money for, but I can also slice through lower rank monsters with utmost ease, which greatly compensates for my absolute inability to fight! What a find!

Funnily enough, as easy as the Trails were, I was utterly defeated the moment I tried to cast a spell. I can’t remember anything that happened after...

⌈Oi, Lime. What happened when I passed out?⌋

⌈*My suspicion is that you used too much mana at once!*⌋

⌈Eh? But it was a basic Usual-Rank spell..⌋

⌈*What’s master’s current mana stat? If it’s too low you can’t use some of the spells, y’know? Even if they happen to be Usual-Rank.*⌋

⌈It’s…⌋

⌈*Yes? It’s not F, is it?*⌋

⌈It is.⌋

*sad squish*

What an utterly devastated sloshing sound she made... I felt like I just miserably failed to live up to her expectations. I’m sorry, buddy.

⌈*Well! The Great Elder suspected this when he sent me!*⌋

⌈He did? Oh… Who’s the Great Elder!?⌋

⌈*That's uh...! Classified information! Even from master... Sorry...*⌋

⌈It’s just the God of Origin, isn’t it?⌋

⌈*Haha! No way! Origin is but a mere child compared to the Great Elder!*⌋

⌈Eh? But you said he sent you... Did he intercept the process when the Gods sent us all our companions?⌋

⌈*Not quite. It was him who sent the companions to all of you in the first place! He thought long and hard about what he should send for your buddies, so you should be grateful. The Nine Gods wouldn’t do something like that, no way!*⌋

Did he trick the old man? Just what kind of role does the Great Elder play if the Gods are but mere children before him? And most importantly, how did he know to send Lime to me?

⌈*But master, you’ve slept for long enough! We should get going again!*⌋

⌈Yeah sure! But first things first, how long was I out for?⌋

⌈*Approximately two minutes!*⌋

Now, more than ever, I felt the urge to kick the shit out of Lime, but being the generous master that I am, I refrained from committing such disciplinary action.