The Tyrant Slime was bored, it had taken out quite a few challenges in the day, and only a few of them had been worthy enough for it to use its actual strength. It was now moments away from taking a nap, but suddenly, it sensed that someone had stepped within the area that triggered its Quest.
With a discontent sound, the Tyrant Slime left its rock with a single leap and appeared on the fields, but as it looked the opponent, the Tyrant Slime's expression changed as it felt its day had gotten better.
Nero saw that the Tyrant Slime had a look of joy on its face before it sneered, he didn't like that look, he adopted a clumsy battle stance and shouted, "Let's fight again you bastard!"
The Tyrant Slime chuckled as the Quest activated again, causing it to be freed from its limits as it transformed into Nero. The two staring at each other in silence, as one showed disdain and the other showed rage, a blast of the afternoon draft swept across their surroundings, rustling the grasses as it sent its loose strands and colorful leaves across the field, some even falling into the nearby river.
Despite Nero's clumsy battle posture, the Tyrant Slime that sneered removed its expression a bit as it felt that there was something different about its opponent. It felt a bit uneasy, so it decided that it would end fast by taking the initiative.
Swish! Instantly, the Tyrant Slime had blurred across the distance of a few meters vanishing from Nero's field of vision. Nero was shocked, as he had lost sight of his foe, hearing only the sound of something moving through the wind at high speeds.
Yet, as Nero became filled with panic, Adult Nero's voice sounded from the core of his mind, "He's faster than you, rely on your senses to feel his presence from your surroundings."
The instant Nero heard those words, his mind calmed down, he closed his eyes, and the world around him felt different. Nero was starting to feel a vague presence from behind him, but before he could even sense it clearly, he felt a sharp pain across the side of his head.
Pow! With a harsh hit, the Tyrant Slime smacked Nero's face with the stick from his right side, the force behind it causing his face to distort before he flew into the air for a few meters and toppled over on the grassy ground.
"Ouch! That stinking bastard!" Nero cursed as he lifted himself from the ground with one hand on his cheek. Surprisingly, he didn't lose consciousness, but only felt a slight amount of pain and dizziness while his HP fell by a quarter.
Adult Nero's voice then sounded, "Are you a pinata or training dummy? Learn to defend!"
Nero felt angered at these words, but he had no way to complain, he still hadn't gotten used to moving while using his Spiritual Awareness. He snapped back inwardly, 'Hey, it's not as easy as you make it sound!'
As Nero was complaining, the Tyrant Slime looked at him in shock as it never thought he would be able to stand. Soon, it grew a dark look on its face as to the arrogant Tyrant Slime, for someone as weak as him to resist his blow was nothing but a stain on his honor.
"Kiiii!" With a resonant roar far beyond its previously cute slime noises, the Tyrant Slime fired itself by warming up like a Muay Thai fighter in a ring, assuming a martial posture. It had one arm before it, as its body slanted forward with its head facing Nero as its eyes had an icy glint.
With the sound of drastic muscle growth, its arm that held the wooden stick bulged by a section as it waved the stick a few times behind its back, causing it to make whooshing noises.
Nero's eyes shrunk as he saw this, especially the cold icy look of the Tyrant Slime. He gritted his teeth, not willing to back down as he adopted a similar posture to the Tyrant Slime and shouted, "Come at me!"
The two acted simultaneously, their eyes flashing when they pressed their feet against the ground and pushed themselves forward with everything they had. As they ran with swift movements from their legs, the rushing wind pushed their hairs backward in a disorderly manner along with their clothes due to their charge.
They were like two arrows from a bow, pushing through the wind at alarming speeds before they arrived at each other once more.
As if he was waiting for this moment, Adult Nero spoke once more, "In fighting against a superior foe, you can't rely on direct combat. You must draw on your senses to catch his movements and strike his weakness."
Nero hearing this didn't complain this time, he quickly raised his wooden stick before his face holding it with two arms as he closed his eyes again.
The instant the Tyrant Slime saw this; it sneered as its body swayed vanishing from Nero's front like a blur appearing at his back.
At this moment, it made an arc with its back pulling back its arm which held the wooden stick by as far as it possibly can, achieving the perfect form, superior to an athletic stretcher by many degrees.
As he drew upon the power of his entire body, the Tyrant Slime's body made the 'peng' sound much like a plucked bowstring from a longbow, leaping forward with its arm waving the wooden stick with immense force towards the back of Nero's head.
Nero, whose mind was in a world of darkness, experienced a new change. The world around him seemed different as if he would sense things by picturing them of a different color. Harmless and weak creatures had a bluish hue, but dangerous foes and threats that targeted him glowed in red lights.
Suddenly, Nero sensed a wave of startling red light coming from behind him. He didn't need to look back, but he could feel the light had formed into a stick that was reaching for his head. He had originally wanted to practice the Foundation Footwork technique, but if he was knocked out, the training itself would become pointless.
Not wasting any time, Nero made a dive and rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the raging strike of the Tyrant Slime, which swept over his head with a brush of violent wind.
"Kii?" The Tyrant Slime expressed in shock, as he looked at Nero, who dived and rolled away for a little beyond two meter's distance.
Nero didn't hesitate as he pushed himself off the ground with one hand, and stood on his legs, at this moment his posture seemed a bit more natural, adopting a stance he felt was more comfortable for him to do battle.
One of his hand rested on the grassy ground as his other arm held the wooden stick at his side; his body was crouched as he seemed as if he was in a running posture, facing the Tyrant Slime with a slightly confident smile.
Adult Nero smiled as this as he spoke, "Good, now that you've learned how to sense, you should next learn how to dodge appropriately by practicing the Foundation Footwork technique. Only when you have achieved 10 Mastery will you be able to activate it and use its initial speed boost."
Nero was happy at his current small but sure progress, he answered with a smile, 'Right!'
The Tyrant Slime had calmed down; it knew that it had let its bored mood influence its emotions and actions previously. Now that it had calmed down, it decided never to treat Nero like a newbie again.
Suddenly, the Tyrant Slime took a deep breath and exhaled for an extended period. The moment it did this, the looks in its eyes changed as there weren't any traces of disdain but calmness.
Nero felt a bit nervous seeing this, but he felt confident about his progress, he was determined to defeat it before the day ended and nothing would stop him from accomplishing that goal.
Soon, the Tyrant Slime's body grew a bit slender, as it adopted a nimbler posture. Its body began to shift from side to side doing a strange but familiar movement, even the stick in its hand began to spin and twirl as if he was a master of blunt object combat, a cheeky smile soon after came on its face.
When Nero saw those movements, his previous confidence waned as his face sunk, he knew that those were the recorded stances for the Foundation Footwork technique and Foundation Weapon Control method.
Nero knew that the battle from now on would never be the same again, and unless he achieved a real breakthrough, he would be destined to lose again.
Unaware to Nero, Adult Nero, who sat within his consciousness, smirked as he saw the scene outside as he chuckled and spoke, "You think it's so easy, haha, that was only the warm-up, I had to go through shit just to beat this creature. It even took me fifteen days of hard work, now you'll do the same... the best way to train is to battle against once self, and who better to enlighten you than that which was famed as the Ultimate Trainer."
Following Adult Nero's words, the scene outside grew colder as if it was about to welcome the next stage of the battle between man and slime, or in this case… himself.