The areas surrounding cities were always infested with some specific type of monster that dominated its own territory. In cases like Luxar, the entire city stood close to Nemoria, so it wouldn’t be strange to run into an Ash Beast somewhere nearby.
Mitsuki propelled himself through the air, studying the map and recognizing the terrain. Once he realized he had reached his destination, he descended and looked around to make sure.
’Hours and hours of Virtual Map have turned me into a master of maps. If only I had a map of the kingdoms I’ll be visiting soon...’
As he walked, he heard something dragging itself along. He stopped in the middle of a clearing in the forest surrounded by trees. He listened carefully for a few seconds.
A bush rustled, and from inside emerged a rock with completely black button-like eyes. It was a chubby little entity that bounced around despite the hardness of its body. Several stone fragments protruded from its gray viscous composition.
[ A wild Stone Slime blocks your path. ]
"You must be my nemesis," Mitsuki said. "We’ve finally met."
He raised his hand as though challenging it. The slime trembled like jelly despite its rocky composition.
"What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to attack me?"
The slime jumped forward and positioned itself in front of Mitsuki as though this were just a random encounter. The two stared intensely at one another for several seconds. The atmosphere grew tense as a strange rivalry emerged between them.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and sharp rocks burst upward from below with the sole purpose of impaling Mitsuki. He sensed the danger and leaped backward to dodge, summoning Viktor, the shapeshifting sword, and gripping it tightly with his new hand.
"So you know Stone Edge. I just hope you don’t know Magnitude, or you’ll make every Poison/Dark type cry."
The Stone Slime lunged toward Mitsuki. Around it, several sharp rocks were summoned, bursting from the ground like blades.
Mitsuki swung his sword forcefully, shattering several rocks and facing the slime head-on. Then the mass of stone launched itself at him like a projectile, nearly hitting him before being stopped by the sword.
Viktor’s devastating blade sliced the creature cleanly in half, and its body collapsed among the rubble. Mitsuki sighed.
"I thought my nemesis would be stronger. I’m honestly disappointed," he said, pretending to be let down.
A small smile formed on his face.
’Man... this is fun. It reminds me of the first slimes I killed in Ultimate Fantasy. I remember laughing so hard at the ridiculous animations they gave those monsters.’
While reminiscing about the old days, the slime’s body reconnected itself, regenerating the cut as though its body were made of rubber. Then its small button-like eyes glared at Mitsuki with fervor and rage.
Mitsuki showed it an arrogant grin.
"So you dare rise once more, huh? Do you believe yourself worthy of facing the King of the Void? Very well then, slime hero, come forth. Prove your worth!" he declared, raising his hand like a Demon King.
Internally, he was enjoying himself while pretending to be a villain. This was the same attitude he used to take behind a screen, which also showed the slow return of his emotions.
The slime trembled furiously and charged at Mitsuki. The rocks on the surface of its body detached while being held by tentacles, immediately turning into hammers capable of crushing everything in their path.
Faced with the sudden attack, Mitsuki put his sword away; he didn’t need it.
He charged toward the slime as well, and together they starred in a fierce and bloody fistfight.
The slime swung its tentacles while imitating human hands, while Mitsuki used his fists to shatter the rocks and counterattack. However, because the slime was such a strange mass capable of reshaping itself, he wasn’t actually hurting it. Still, that didn’t matter to him, since he was more focused on having fun with the slime than training or searching for its mana core.
And so the minutes passed, with Mitsuki brutally beating up a poor slime that had simply been peacefully existing in the forest.
By the end of the fight, Mitsuki was lying on the ground staring at the clear sky stretching above him. The slime lay beside him, imitating him in a rather strange way.
"And now it looks like the Guild Master herself is coming to personally break my legs. I think it’s fine if it gets me promoted to S-rank, but honestly, it’s a little scary. That probably means my emotions are almost back. I mean, I had a lot of fun kicking your ass."
The slime trembled like jelly.
"Did that make you mad? Come on, bro, your ego can’t be that huge. You’re weak. If I’d used my shotgun, you would’ve vanished from the face of the planet. And I’m saying that because I already disintegrated a super powerful specter that blew my arm off."
The slime trembled again.
"I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me. You stopped attacking me because you knew you couldn’t beat me. At that moment, you admitted defeat."
The slime responded... by trembling.
"What? You want a rematch? Because I can definitely give you one."
"..."
"No? Then what? You can’t talk, and you probably can’t think either..."
Frowning, Mitsuki suddenly realized something.
"Wait... Why am I talking to a Stone Slime? Maybe my mind is more broken than I thought, and I’m becoming even stupider than before."
The slime trembled as though agreeing with him. That annoyed Mitsuki.
"Hey, I could tell what you meant with that little jelly dance. It’s not funny."
This time, the slime didn’t tremble. It already seemed resigned to accepting that Mitsuki was an idiot. Regardless, there wasn’t much else it could do, since this human was far stronger than it.
"Well, that tells me you have some degree of intelligence. Which means you know where I can find others like you. I could beat them up and earn some mana crystals from it. Do you want to help me with that, or do you respect your own species too much?"
The slime trembled enthusiastically. Its little button eyes looked especially excited about massacring other slimes.
"Awesome! I like you, buddy. You’re a good guy. I’ll take you back to the inn, feed you, take care of you, and you’ll become my pet. What do you eat? Rocks? Because those are everywhere, so you probably won’t starve."
He approached the slime and picked it up like a pillow. Then he placed it on his shoulders and started walking through the forest.
"Ellegaard might not like you at first, but Jeanne is different. Even though she likes messing with me, she’s a good person. And if you can grow stronger, maybe you could help me defeat powerful monsters. Just think about it. A slime becoming a mighty adventurer."
The creature trembled excitedly.
"Looks like you like the idea. Who would’ve thought we’d become friends after beating the crap out of each other? That’s how real men are, right?"
Mitsuki laughed at the thought. Ironically, this was the first time he had made friends with another living being on his own. Even if it was a wild slime, it was a funny and friendly stone pillow. This could work.
***
Jeanne walked alone through the city. Ellegaard wasn’t around, and Mitsuki had disappeared somewhere, so she was extremely bored.
As she walked, she could still hear people whispering about the Herald of the Unnameable and how he still hadn’t appeared to destroy the world. The rumors had become smaller and smaller in his absence.
"People sure talk too much," she muttered.
But she knew the Herald was real because she had seen him with her own eyes.
"Well, it’s not that far-fetched. Once people find out the Kingdom of Axorhibis has also been freed, they’re going to lose their minds. The king of Amaria is probably already planning something..."
She suddenly stopped.
"That means sooner or later the world will discover Mitsuki is the Herald..."
That wasn’t good, because Mitsuki was still too weak and couldn’t defend himself from people who feared him. He still had a long road ahead of him, and judging by the recent accomplishments of the Ashen Kid, he was already above average. Still, there was no telling what might happen.
Two people passed by Jeanne while talking nearby. She overheard something interesting.
"Did you hear someone’s getting promoted to S-rank?"
"Yeah. They say the Guild Master herself is coming to evaluate him."
"No way. Poor bastard. They’re gonna snap him like a twig."
Jeanne looked at them and whispered, "Someone’s getting promoted to S-rank?"
Curious, she approached the two men and walked beside them.
"Hey, who’s the person getting promoted to S-rank? I’d like to know."
The two young adventurers were startled when they saw Jeanne, but they answered quietly and fearfully.
"Ah, well... It’s the same guy with the feminine face you usually hang around with."
"The one people call Poison Cake at the tavern."
"Though lately they’ve started calling him Ashen Kid."
Jeanne smiled.
"I see. That’s great. Thanks."
The adventurers were left dumbfounded when the princess suddenly walked away. No one who interacted with the Mad Princess lived to tell the tale, or at least those were the rumors surrounding the heiress to the throne of the Kingdom of Sardonyx.
"So Leona’s coming to kick Mitsuki’s ass, huh... I have to be there when that happens. The test should already be starting."