Swoosh! Another ball of goop came hurtling after my face. It was easily dodged by tilting my head to the left but the real problem is.
'What the hell???'
The area around me had already become a prison of slime. Balls of black slime bounced about the forest.
Hitting trees and bouncing off any surface. After the slimes bounce they become faster.
The huge mass of slime which I could only think of as the main body had melted into more balls that bounced.
This is super annoying.
I feel like I am playing a human-sized pinball and I was one of the pins meant to be struck by the pinball.
Swoosh! A head-sized ball of goop lurched again at me. Irritated, I punched out.
Boin~ Too bad my attack was nullified by the thing's shock absorption.
Damn this is annoying no?
How can I kill something that perfectly counters my attack style? Crush it? The slime is shock absorbent and has high physical damage resistance.
Du Du Dun! Fist shaped slimes bounced to me and I punched back against them. Sending the slimes flying off into the distance and bouncing once more.
If only I knew magic! A simple fireball spell would be the doom of this thing!
I narrowed my eyes seeing the bouncing balls form a big slime again.
It formed a mouth.
Glub Glub glub Glub!
And it looked to be as if laughing...
Alright, that's it... I can't kill you and you can't kill me either.
What am I supposed to do here...
"That's it!" I snapped my fingers and looked around the surroundings. I need a container to scoop up slime pieces and trap them in there.
I observed the surroundings and found nothing. No possible containers in this spot huh.
The slime formed a question mark as it looked confusedly at me who just stood there. I scowled and uttered a word.
"Weakling..." I looked disdainfully at the now fiercely vibrating black slime.
And then I ran.
Having a black slime angrily chase me was part of the big plan. Now I just have to find some hollow bamboo and then my mission would be done. Get some hollow bamboo and trap some slime in it then get then go back to town.
Sounds easy enough.
I ran and wandered the forest in search of any growing bamboo. And that took a long amount of time.
Good thing my stamina was up to par for such a task. I can keep on running for a whole day without having to stop and rest.
The forest shifted around me. It grew thicker and sometimes thinner. But soon, my goal had come into sight.
Tall and remarkably lean and flexible. It was a green bamboo. I gazed up at it only to be disappointed. Sadly, these ones weren't bearing any flowers. Bamboo flowers were said to be beautiful.
Not that it mattered right now.
My right hand straightened. Using it like a knife, I chopped at the bamboo's base. Easily severing it from the lower half.
Ton~ I cut it again until I got a glass sized hollow section with an opening on the top.
And as if on cue, something landed heavily behind me while producing a sound akin to a screaming kettle. It was the black slime.
Wonderful... You're just on time. I split into multiple lesser slimes and jumped at me. Perfect timing!
My hand caught a goop of slime and after that, I retreated.
BlurbBLURU~ The lone slime goop on my hand tried to escape but sadly for it, I won't let it leave. I prepared the bamboo container and stuffed the greatly protesting slime inside it. I grabbed a nearby rock and sealed the container by forcing it in despite being a little bit bigger than what it can let in.
I held it up high while the other slimes looked stunned at me. With this, I can finally leave.
bLURBLUBLR! The black slime recondensed back together and a comical bulging nerve formed on its head. How pitiful.
It stretched out a piece of goop and formed it into a hand. A hand that pointed at me before pointing back at the slime. Then it issued a "Give it back" gesture.
"You want this?" I raised the trembling container and the slime had a checkmark atop of it.
"Then burrow into the ground for ten seconds. Then I will give it back. After I give it back you should leave me alone okay?" I nodded after reasoning with it and the slime sank into the ground. Alright. Time to leave.
"One..." I started counting before readying myself for a great burst of sudden speed.
"Two..." I took a deep breath and calmed myself further.
"Three..." My leg muscles flexed. Ready to move.
"Four..." My eyes grew clearer and my body achieved full sync.
"Five..." The surroundings disappeared. What existed here was only me. The ominous slime underneath the ground and the bottle.
Goodbye.
BOOM! My legs launched me forwards and I immediately disappeared into the thickets. Running off to the location where my gobs were. Now that I had what I needed, it was time to leave.
I'll postpone the staff searching operation for now and do that tomorrow.
"Dean! Deck! Dandy!" I called out and the three gobs who were dozing off waiting for me woke up with a startled expression. They looked around before seeing me.
KHUUUEEEE!!! They cheered out and I nodded.
"Let's continue doing things tomorrow. I have a business to take care of and right. Be more vigilant. If you see any slimes, evade them as much as you can." I commanded the three who blankly nodded despite not understanding why I was telling them such things.
Dean had a displeased expression on his face. Probably due to the order about evading slimes. After all, slimes are quite weak. Even weaker than a single goblin unless they grow large enough.
They stood up, took their gear and jumped into the bushes. I sensed them running off and disappearing from my makeshift sensory radar. I'm a bit dissatisfied with having our training session end just like that. And the feeling of returning while having one uncompleted quest with me was a bother.
But I have to leave. The slime is hot on my trail and I have to shake it off. As long as I have this jar of black slime, it would be able to follow me. That much I can conclude from the way the goops of slime seemed to share one will while attacking me.
Too bad I can't kill it with brute physical strength. The black slime has no magic core to destroy. It has no "heart" that I can tear apart.
The leaves from the distance cracked and gave way to something that flowed viscously. It was approaching me fast.
Alright. Time to move.
I ran as fast as my legs could bring me but the slime seemed to be able to latch on to where I was no matter how much I leave it in my dust.
This is fine... All I have to do is go back to Zirakib and if it follows me up to there then death would be the thing that awaits it. There are thousands of people in Zirakib and a good deal know magic. Taking care of one slime is a menial task for any guard who knows magic. Even if they do not know magic, these guards could just use some torches to scare away the slime.
It continued chasing me until the sun started setting. I had to take a lot of detours and dump a squirming human body drenched with my blood every now and then.
Why so?
The dragon locked on to me as well and started tracking me down by smelling me. Luckily, the bodies drenched in my blood served as good live bait. As for if those men lived or died?
Do I look like I care? Obviously not.
They can do whatever they want but to plot against someone who I have to protect. Bad move.
It is always best to root out any possible problem before they grow into a real problem. Like troublesome weed pestering your lawn. You have to pull them out by the roots.
The forest parted and what was revealed to me was a caravan wanting to enter the forest of shadows. The coachman widened his eyes seeing me running at him with a big black slime in tow while my clothes were a bit torn.
NEIGH!!! The horse yelled.
"Please no! Go away!" He screamed at me while trying his best to stop the horse who started disobeying him out of fear. It rampaged and wanted to break free after seeing the black ball of goop behind me.
I shrugged before speeding up and backflipping into the air. As I fell and turned, I witnessed the black goop collide with the caravan, shattering it apart and launching the coachman and the passengers into the air.
I landed on the ground and dashed off to Zirakib.
The slime is not my problem anymore coachman. It is yours...
They should be fine. I sensed someone who had good amounts of mana inside the caravan. Probably a mage.