Vol 2 Chapter 3.1 (1/2)

2nd Volume, 3rd Chapter 【The Fluidic Creature】 2nd Part

「How do I put it? It’s not what I imagined. The image I had… was more of a muddy and damp swamp, but…」

There was no such thing at all.

Beneath the cloudless blue sky,

From a distance, the water looked so transparent that it appeared more like a lake than a swamp.

The depth of the water was shallow, though. The short water plants were ornamenting a light green carpet, spreading far and wide.

Spa.r.s.ely growing shrubs weren’t blocking the sunlight at all. A magnificent scenery was stretching out.

「The wetland belt was actually such a place…」

Far away, mountain ridgelines could be seen… is that Rave Mountain Range?

Because I’m in the southeast, it probably is.

If so, is Sven Empire on the other side?

I would like to travel to other countries, too… wasn’t the village where Lim used to live in the south of the Empire?

Demons… huh? It’s impossible for the current me.

Together with the Scale Dragon, I set foot in the wetland belt.

Since there was no such thing as a pathway, I proceeded with care.

Care ought to be taken. From the pattern, you might think of it as solid ground. However, it was in actuality a swamp.

Although the water plants were creating the illusion of a carpet, if one looked carefully, they would realize that it wasn’t the ground.

Even though the Scale Dragon can swim, I don’t want to plop into the water all of a sudden.

However, the Scale Dragon seemed to know this area better than I. Without any instruction, it firmly stepped on the ground and started walking.

No way! Even this kid can do it. Even this kid.

After advancing for a while, I could feel the dense mana in the atmosphere of the manaspot on my skin… not paying it any more mind, I started searching for the target: Slime.

――――There it is.

Floating on the shallow water surface… I caught sight of a luminous silhouette of a s.h.i.+ning white body.

Feeling slightly excited, I jumped off the Scale Dragon and drew my sword. I approached the enemy slowly while checking the damp ground.

《Light Slime》——possessing Light Magic Lv1 (2/10).

Now then, time for what I came here specifically for.

——To loot.

The enemy, who had noticed my approaching it, flabbily transformed its body and vigorously closed in on me.

Its shape was indeterminate… like that of a fluidic creature’s. Its height was less than half that of a human’s.

In the centre of its body, a pebble-esque object was floating… that’s probably the nucleic bead.

I thought it would use magic, but it hurled its fluidic body and closed in on me. With Noir in one hand, I launched a sword strike.

Having split, about one-third of the Slime’s body dropped on the ground.

Although I was carefully watching it split… I could only see the remaining two-third body, which included the nucleic bead, move.

The body which contained the nuclei bead seemed to have become the main body.

「What happened? Not gonna use magic?」

As if in reaction to my words, its nucleic bead sparkled a little, and a small Lightball materialized before the Slime.

While observing its state, I reconfirmed my foothold so as not to slip off the water plant.

――A Lightball, that was a size that could fit into one’s palm, was fired my way.

Although its speed was reasonable, there was no need for me to intentionally get hit.

After dodging it, I spared a vigilant glance to grasp the extent of its power.

The Lightball collided with a shrub and exploded dimly, scorching the trunk lightly.

Oh well. Lv1 (2/10) probably amounts to this much.

I cut the distance in one breath. While slicing the enemy’s body into two, I invoked Thief’s G.o.dly Skill.

However… it resulted in failure.

Since the success rate is merely 31%, there’s no helping it.

I was *wakuwaku* excited but ended up a bit frustrated

Oh well. Let’s search for the next one.

Before that, I must collect the nucleic bead of this one…

Although magic is important, so is money.

I turned around to deliver the final blow to the fairly small-sized Slime.

What… the…

The Slime flew at full speed.

Its *purupuru* jiggly body was unexpectedly quick.

「Running away?」

I straddled the Scale Dragon’s back and chased the escaping Slime.

If I were on foot, it might have escaped. However, the Scale Dragon’s legs cut the distance mercilessly.

「——A-HA-HA-HA, wanna go somewhere?」

I sound totally like a bad guy…

I sneaked around the Slime and blocked its escape.

「Now then, the game of tag ends here.」

Resigned? Or so I thought, but… the Slime jumped sideways――toward another Light Slime.

「What the――」

I wasn’t sure as to what I was seeing.

Can these guys coalesce?

I decided to view the spectacle first.

Their *unyounyo* wavering bodies soon settled down as if they were one body.