“Finally found you, Jewel Slime! Your Soul Shard (Experience) is mine!”
While I was eating the Trent Great Tree for moving purposes, a large, well-built man carrying a spear appeared in the plaza.
He was accompanied by four companions, who looked a bit tired.
“We… we finally found it…”
“The result of three days of effort…”
“Hmph, pathetic. You’re all worn out because you haven’t trained like me.”
Leaving his companions at the edge of the plaza, the large man began to climb the slope alone.
“You guys watch from there as I ascend to a new stage! As planned, I’ll handle this guy alone!”
“Understood!”
It seems he intends to monopolize my Experience Points.
His companions don’t seem to mind, but well, it doesn’t matter to me anyway.
(I don’t have any obligation to humor him!)
I stopped dissolving the Trent Great Tree and prepared to flee.
Given the spear-wielding, large man’s characteristics, there’s a high chance he’s the advanced adventurer named Jaskal I heard about yesterday.
He might even be stronger than that old man. Even if not, he might have a defense-ignoring Skill.
Fleeing is the only option here.
“Whoa there, don’t run away! Dark Iron Dome!”
(What!?)
I felt an explosive surge of Mana.
Immediately after, a black iron wall rose from the middle of the hill.
The wall curved inward, completely covering the plaza.
It was like a huge iron pot placed upside down.
The sunlight was blocked, and the plaza was enveloped in darkness.
“It was worth conserving my Mana. Even a nimble Jewel Slime can’t escape this! And a slime without Night Vision won’t know where I am!”
Actually, I do have Night Vision.
And if you charge while shouting like that, your footsteps will give away your position, won’t they…?
There was no twist where his loud voice was a feint to mislead the direction of attack.
Jaskal (tentative) approached in a straight line and launched a thrust.
“Uoooh, Heavy Thrust!”
(That was close!)
“What!?”
I jumped and dodged it.
The thrust hit the Great Tree, creating a large hole. It had quite a bit of power.
His running speed is about the same as a muscular Goblin, so I should consider him a powerhouse on par with a Dire Beast.
“Tch, could it be that this guy can see—”
‘Yeah, I can see you.’
“—!?”
Jaskal’s eyes widened. He was even more shocked than when I dodged his attack.
He took a half-step back, lowered his stance, and adopted a posture that conveyed strong vigilance.
“That voice echoing in my head… is that you? Slime?”
‘That’s right. So, it would be helpful if you could put down your spear for now.’
“…If you want to talk, I’ll listen.”
Jaskal relaxed his stance.
He wasn’t completely letting his guard down, but he didn’t seem like he would attack immediately.
‘Thanks. Actually, I’m not an evil slime. I would never attack humans. So, could you please let me go today?’
“You want me to believe just your words?”
‘Yeah, well. It’s hard to provide proof… but I want you to believe me.’
I think I’m making a pretty unreasonable request myself. I’ve been running away because I didn’t think I’d be trusted.
However, Jaskal’s reply was unexpected.
“Alright, I’ll believe you.”
‘Seriously!?’
Now it was my turn to be surprised.
Jaskal, who had surprisingly agreed, approached with a grinning smile.
“Seriously. When we get back to town, I’ll report that you weren’t an evil slime, so—”
Suddenly, Jaskal accelerated.
“—You became my Soul Shard (Experience) without resistance!”
‘That was close!?’
I narrowly dodged the sudden acceleration and thrust.
If I hadn’t been ready to Leap at any moment, I might have been hit.
After that, Jaskal quickly launched follow-up attacks, but with Blink and Flee, dodging was quite easy.
I even had the余裕 to complain while running away.
‘Why are you attacking me? I thought you were going to believe me!?’
“Hah, no one will blame me for killing a Demon Beast! I’m not going to waste such high Soul Shard (Experience)! Just let me kill you!”
‘Stop it! I’ll sue you with the Slime Protection Association!’
“I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
My desperate persuasion was meaningless, and the peace talks broke down.
Next, I turned my attention to the black iron wall. I tried attacking it once while running, but it didn’t seem like I could break it easily.
If it weren’t for that, I could escape…
(Hmm, will it be解除 if I defeat him?)
Magic is解除 when the caster dies or loses consciousness, which is common in manga and such.
But in the case of the slender Goblin who uses steel, which is a similar system, his weapons didn’t disappear even when he died.
(No, either way, if he’s free, I can’t try other methods. For now, I’ll take away his consciousness.)
The plan was decided. Now, all I had to do was act.
“Tch, for such a big guy, you’re so nimble.”
“Swoosh”
I jumped back with a bit more force.
Jaskal stepped in even more sharply, trying not to let me escape. At that moment, I threw a stone I had picked up while moving.
“Hah, I know you guys use throwing stones.”
(?)
He said something concerning, but I need to focus on the battle now.
Jaskal tried to deflect the stone flying towards his face with his spear.
At that moment, I closed the distance in one go with Air Jump and Charge.
“What!?”
Jaskal’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the sudden offensive.
He hurriedly flipped his spear to intercept, but that was a bad move.
It was quite powerful for a hasty action, but there was no way he could push back my mass with just a single spear.
The thrust, which had no defense-ignoring effect, was easily deflected.
“Shit—”
“Swoosh, swoosh!”
I transformed my body at close range, enveloping his entire body.
Jaskal tried to resist, but he couldn’t repel my Toughness.
“—! —! ……”
Eventually, the resistance stopped. He must have suffocated.
At the same time, the black iron dome disappeared. It seemed my prediction was correct.
“Ah, Broooother!?”
‘Here you go, take responsibility and take him home.’
I threw his body towards his companions, who were screaming at the sight of Jaskal’s miserable state.
He landed right on the backs of the four who had heartlessly fled, and they cushioned his fall, so Jaskal seemed unharmed.
“Hii, hiiii!”
‘Don’t come back again!’
The four carried the fallen Jaskal and retreated again.
They made it this far, so they’ll probably be fine on the way back too.
I didn’t feel like escorting them, so I swung the spear I had taken from Jaskal around and saw them off.