A few days have passed since I left Lam City.
Travelling alone was quite lonely.
I had no one to talk to or share my burdens with.
I slightly regret setting out alone but I guess I reap what I sow.
I had to relieve some of my loneliness by hunting monsters along the way.
I didn't get any new skills though. Sad.
On the main road to Aqua Port City, I encountered many forks leading to other places within the Cloud Kingdom.
It was a good thing that signposts existed or I would have gotten lost even with the simple map I bought.
Fortunately, I could now read and write in this world's common language.
My vocabulary is still lacking, but that's something a little time and experience can fix.
I could have used [Shapeshift] to turn into a fast moving monster, but I was not in a rush so I took my time leisurely wandering between the forest trees.
###
South of Lam Forest was a long expanse of plains called the Gote Plains and I was currently making my way through those plains.
It was nice to finally get out of the forest environment after travelling through it for a while.
The environment here made me feel like I still back on Earth, taking a hike through a trail in the countryside.
"It's starting to get pretty late."
The sun was starting to set causing the scenery of the plains to take on a golden red tint.
"Beautiful."
I took some time to appreciate the scene.
"If only I had some drawing or painting skills. I can't take pictures anymore…"
One of items that I lost in my detonation was my beloved smartphone.
I always kept it inside my mud body right next to my ruby core.
That's how important it was to me.
Losing it was the most painful thing I have experienced to this day.
With my new body, I have become very tolerant to physical pain.
My WILL stat is pretty high so mental pain isn't a big issue either.
I've even gotten used to the pain from headaches caused by low mana.
But the emotional pain I felt from losing my phone deeply affected me.
Whenever I thought about the countless pictures, videos, files, and memories I had on that phone, I felt like I was reliving the time when I was being dissolved by the mud monster back in the Cockroach Cave.
Even though I had a backup of my files on my cloud storage, I had no way to access it here.
I've had that phone for more than five years.
My friends and classmates always showed off their new phones whenever they bought one.
I didn't understand why they would get a new phone even though their old one was still working perfectly fine.
I was content with my phone that had all the features I wanted.
"Haa... I want to listen to music while travelling... I'm glad I didn't trade anything for David's solar charging power bank back then."
I had negotiated with David a while back regarding this.
But he never gave in to any of my offers.
If he did, it might have been destroyed along with my phone by now.
As a fellow novel enthusiast, he wanted to record things about this other world like me so he needed his power bank.
"This scenery would have made a great background image..."
Trying to distract myself from thinking about my phone, I took another glance at my surroundings.
The setting sun.
The roaming plains.
The tall grass being blown in the wind.
The rocky, unpaved road that travelers like me used.
The carriage that was being chased by bandits.
"Wait what?"
Over in the distance, I spotted a carriage being attacked by five bandits on horses.
I used my tiny mud cockroach scouts to get a closer look.
I always kept these guys within the range of my subconscious control giving me a clear understanding of everything within 200 meters from me.
I put some focus on the scouts that were in the direction of the carriage.
The carriage driver was in a panic and was madly whipping at the horses to speed up.
It seems that the chase had been going on for a while as the horses looked overworked and were foaming at the mouth.
Finally, one of the horses collapsed due to exhaustion and the carriage flipped over and crashed into the ground.
"Yeeeaaaaahhhh!"
The bandits shouted in glee at the unfortunate people who were on the carriage.
I used [Stealth] and headed over.
---
Name: Cody Lv. 18
Job: Marauder
Race: Human
---
After I became a complete mud girl, or should I say evolved into a mud girl, I've been able to use [Appraisal Analysis] from a much farther distance than before.
Four of the bandits had the Thief job and the last one was a Marauder.
It might be the job up of Thief.
Nat was only a level 3 third job yet he was able to push me to the brink of death and I was forced to self-detonate.
This guy was level 18 so he might be even stronger than Nat.
Although I was stronger than I was during my fight with Nat, I had to be cautious.
Based on what I could tell with [Sensing], the carriage driver and another person that was inside the carriage were already dead.
"Nooooo! Mother! Father!"
But there was still one person who was alive.
It looked like a teenage girl who was around my age.
She was dressed in clothes that I commonly saw people wear back in Lam City.
There were a few blood stains on her clothes so she probably has some injuries.
"Hehehe. Boss! This one is still alive!"
One of the bandits called out to the Marauder Cody
He dragged the crying and screaming girl away from the wreckage and threw her to the ground in front of Cody.
"Kya!"
"Hahahaha! Looks like we got lucky boys! With her looks, she'll probably sell for a few gold coins at the slave auction! Get all the valuables from the carriage. I'll take care of this merchandise."
Cody ordered the others.
I didn't know that the slave trade existed in this world but I wasn't surprised.
I've read countless novels where slaves existed in fantasy worlds.
My favorite was the one where the slave beastman girl became a great support to a forsaken hero who used shields.
There weren't any slaves in Lam City but I guess that place was special.
"Why did you do this?! My parents didn't do anything to you!"
The girl screamed at Cody.
Her parents must be the people who died in the crash.
I might have done something to save them but I was too far away at the time.
These people were complete strangers to me too.
I didn't know whether they were good or bad.
In most isekai (other world) novels I read, there were always bandits causing trouble somewhere and the protagonist had to come in to save the day.
I'd like to believe that I'm not as naïve as those protagonists.
In any situation, I would like to first gather information before making my move and prepare in advance.
Just like in this template scenario.
Cody bent down and grabbed the girl by the hair and lifted her face closer to his.
She groaned in pain.
"It's nothing personal. You can only blame your parents for hiring weak Adventurers as body guards. Hahahaha!"
So there were other people involved.
I should make my move soon.
I'm just waiting for the bandits to gather up all the goodies.
It will save me some effort later on.
"You're all monsters! No, you're worse than monsters!"
The girl couldn't hold her emotions in and lashed out.
But Cody easily dealt with her.
"Don't try anything funny. I don't want to accidently hurt your pretty little face. Your value will drop if you get any more injuries."
Cody licked his lips.
He stared at the girl with lustful eyes.
I remembered the face of the rapist from my childhood while looking at Cody and gritted my teeth.
The girl was in despair.
She looked like she had given up all hope.
But I could see something different in her eyes.
A small fire of rebellion was starting to burn.
If she's thinking of doing what I think she's going to do, then I'm going to have to intervene right now.
I was about to move when I noticed something.
I didn't know when I started, but I've been unconsciously gathering and concentrating mana in my right hand for a while.
"Hmm. Before I sell you to the slave trader, maybe I should try you out myself. I gotta make sure that the goods I'm selling aren't defective. Bwahahaha!"
Cody wiped the drool off from the corner of his mouth.
The mana in my hand spiked all of a sudden.
I almost got out of [Stealth] because of it.
"I'd rather join my parents than-"
*Shwing Clang*
"GAAAAAAAH!"
Suddenly, I large metal-like bear trap appeared from beneath the ground and clamped deeply onto Cody's waist.
It was made by me of course.
My mana and mud had become so dense, it almost seemed like it was made from real metal.
It's different from all the imitations I've made with [Shapeshift] before.
"AHHHH!"
"UGH!"
"MOTHER!"
Screams from the four other bandits could be heard as mud spikes popped out of the ground and pierced through their bodies.
One guy even screamed for his mother.
"Now, I wonder what skills I can get from thieves and marauders. Hehehe…"
CHAPTER END.
Name: Ruby Sen Lv. 18
Age: 17
Race: ???
Class: Magical Creature
Job: - Lv. 18
HP: 20 [100%] (+10)
MP: 20 [98%] (+10)
STR: 15 (+15)
DEF: 15 (+35)
INT: 22 (+10)
WILL: 20 (+10)
SPD: 15 (+10)
<
Assimilate
Mana Manipulation
Physical Resistance
Foresight
Shapeshift
Novice Magic Caster
Poison Resistance
Sleep Resistance
Intermediate Weapon Master
<
Dissolve
Sensing
Sculpting
Detonate
Appraisal Analysis
Cloning
Mana Designing
Mana Disturb
Heal
Boost (Active)
Stealth
Engraving
<
Tongue Enhancement
Sin of Sloth