Chapter 15—Magic
Ten days later…
Under the dark rays of the early-rising black sun,
Wob!—Wob!
[ Evade proficiency +1 ]
[ Evade proficiency +1 ]
Slime#47 leapt up as—Whoosh!—a rock sliced past him.
Whoosh!—Thud! "Acid Fist!" he yelled, punching another mid-air rock into dust.
He used the recoilfrom the shattered rock to launch himself back down.
Whoosh!—Whoosh!
But Mama Slime and Elder Slime didn't back off. Whoosh!—Whoosh! Rocks kept flying. Wob!—Wob!The young slime bounced like mad, dodging everything they threw.
Wob!—Wob!The young slime kept bouncing from one place to another, dodging all of them.
'Evade... same aurausage as Acid Fist, but this time it's gotta empower the wholebody. Way harder. That's why the old slime went with rock-throwing torture—pain makes learning faster,' he realized, wobbling mid-dodge.
Ding!—A new panel popped up in his vision.
[ Ding! Skill 'Evade' leveled up to Lv.5—Lv. Max ]
"Stop! I masteredit already!" he shouted, wobbling madly to dodge one last stone.
Mama Slime stopped right away—but not the old slime. Whoosh!—Whoosh! He hurled two more rocks at once, both dead-on.
Both rocks came from differentdirections—one straight at him, and the other from above.
'If I jump, that top one nails me. Damn, the old blob's got sniper aim,' he thought, irritated.
Wob!—He bounced to the left but—Whoosh!—another rock was already coming at him, and—Whoosh!—Whoosh!—two more were launched by the old slime.
"Left, right…. and up next—tch!" His eyes twitched as he glanced at the old slime aiming at his predicted leap.
"Acid Fist!" Thud!—He punched the rock to dust, finally ending the torture session.
Smack!
Mama Slime boppedElder Slime. "That's enough, Elder," she said gently.
"Okay, okay, I was just checking whether he really mastered it," Elder Slime said with a grin.
Mama Slime had joined because the young slime had requestedher help. After Evade hit Level 3, progress crawled—just +1 after dodging two rocks for five whole minutes.
With her help, proficiency gain skyrocketed, since he had to dodge four rocks at once—returning to +1 proficiency per minute, and even more depending on the intensity of dodging.
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In the afternoon, he opened his skills panel after taking a short nap.
[ —Skills—
—Demon Tongue {Legendary}—
—Human Tongue {Common}—
—Acid Fist {Common}—
—Evade {Common}— ]
[ —Evade Lv. Max {Common}—
—Increases agility by 200%
—Increases concentration, allowing the user to dodge attacks
Note: Skill efficiency depends on aura input; more aura can increase effects. ]
'Not bad. Keep this up and I'll get my revenge for sure,' he thought, remembering that kid—and those trash-feeding humans.
Thud!—Thud!
'There she is,' he thought with a scowl as the woman holding a sack of trash entered the field.
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After some time, Slime#47 leaped into the trough, cooling himself off. He still felt like he was stinkingeven though he wasn't....
"Today, we will learn magic," Elder Slime said with a grin, glancing at the young slime in front of him.
As expected, Slime#47's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Are you serious, Elder? You're so strictabout languages every afternoon," he asked.
"Of course. Since you've mastered both Acid Fist and Evade, let's start with magic. About Herica—you've mastered speaking, but writingmay take three more months. And since the woman already gave us garbage, we have time," Elder Slime said cheerfully.
'Yes! Fireballs, lasers—maybe even explosions! It's magic time,' he cheered, bouncing his body, shaking left to right.
He'd already understood why the old slime was strict about language during the afternoons: humans entered the field with filth at that time. Sometimes they would appear in the morning, but it is very rare.
Language training was done in the afternoon since they could erase writings by bouncing over them if spotted. But getting caught while training skills would be troublesome.
"First, what do you know about magic?" Elder Slime questioned seriously.
"Magic works on mana—and magic is just moldingmana according to our wish," the young slime answered confidently. 'Basic knowledge.'
"Not bad. Your world has plenty of knowledge despite lacking mana. Yes, magic is molding mana into one's vision and will." Elder Slime nodded sternly, "Mana bends to runes, and by using runes we wield it."
"Runes?" Slime#47 puzzled. 'Isn't it just chanting names or some spell?'
"Let's start with fire," the old slime said with a grin. "Fire!"
A circular rune formed as soon as Elder Slime invoked the name, and a small spark of flameappeared within the circle on his tiny palm.
'Yes, this is it! I can't wait to bend space and time with magic,' the young slime couldn't contain his excitement, staring at the glowing red circle rune and tiny flame.
His excitement for magic died in under a minute, as it was a very small flame.
He stared flatly at the flame. "Pretty sure a human baby's sneezecould put that out." Elder Slime turned beet red.
Whoosh!
A strong gust of wind blew, and the tiny flame in Elder Slime's palm flickered out.
Silence!
Elder Slime's eyes turned crimson with fury. Clenching his fists, he roared, "I'm only level 4! My mana reserves are lowerthan a human baby's—of course, it's going to be weak!"
"Alright, alright—just teach me already," the young slime begged, tiny hands clasped like a praying jelly blob.
Hearing Slime#47's plea, he agreed. "Fine, let's start."
He picked up a thin wooden branch from the ground—but the young slime turned toward Mama Slime, who was tending to the other slimes.
Mama Slime's gaze shifted toward Elder Slime; her eyes glowed briefly.
"Hmph." He coughed and threw the branch away.
"Haha!" the young slime grinned in glee.
"Enough. Focus on your core and try to move your mana, since you already sensed it," Elder Slime bellowed, voice stern.
Slime#47 already sensed both mana and aura while training acid fist.
'Focus. Master fire, then burn that brat's arsehole first thing,' he told himself fiercely.
He sensed a faint blue flicker deep in his core and tried to push it, to make it move.
Jzz!
Jzz!
A jolt ran through him, making his whole body quiver. Aura had weight—heavy; mana didn't—it was slick, quick, and slipped through his grasp like water.
The more he focused, the faster it ran—wild, like a caged beast. Cool sensation raced through his jelly body, but he couldn't keep hold of it.
His focus shattered as—Thud!—Thud!—the gate creaked open. Five armored kids, maybe six years old, stepped into the field.
'They're… armored?' He felt a chill in his core. Behind them stood three bulky men and a woman in full gear—real battle armor. 'Why the hell are they dressed for war?'
End of the chapter. __________________________________________________________________________________