[13 points has been deducted.]
[A new item has been added to your inventory.]
Ash's arms shimmered with magical energy. The golden light shone with an ethereal beauty before fading and transforming into a pair of black leather gloves, fitting snugly on his hands.
Clenching his fists to test the fit, Ash uttered, "Perfect. This should work, I guess."
[Physical damage boost has been added.]
[You now have a 4% boost in all physical damage.]
After seeing the message, Ash sighed, his gaze shifting to Aisha. He could see her stats hovering beside her head.
[Name: Aisha.]
[Level: 2]
[Status: Scared.]
Ash stared at her for a moment. She hugged the blade tightly to her chest as though it were her only means of staying calm.
It was normal to be nervous before a battle. He wasn't sure, but he wouldn't be surprised if this was her first time even holding a sword.
Her previous owners had most likely only used her for dirty work.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
"Come on, let's get this over with." He walked away.
"H-hai!" Aisha scrambled after him, her short legs struggling to keep pace.
…
The next moment, Ash stood deep within the forest, his fists clenched as he watched the slimes slowly emerge from hiding.
They lacked a definite shape or color.
Most of them looked round and melted, while some were long like snakes, and others were square.
But they all had one thing in common: their cores. Green, glowing orbs could be seen floating behind their transparent skin.
Adding to their strange appearance was a surprisingly aggressive nature. They had no teeth, yet they constantly snapped their formless jaws as they drew closer.
'These are slimes? They look different from the ones I saw in the capital.'
[Name: Predator slimes.]
[Level: 15.]
[Rank: C.]
'C-rank? Isn't this supposed to be a D-rank quest? Was there an error in the readings?' Ash clenched his fist.
He had no issues battling these monsters by himself.
After his battle with the bandits and the wild beast, he had come to terms with the fact that he was no longer his weak former self.
However, this battle was meant to be a training exercise for Aisha. Starting with C-rank monsters might be too much for her.
"Aisha…" he called out.
Aisha looked at him, shaking in fear while still hugging the blade.
"I'll teach you something, and I want you to pay attention." Ash fully faced her. "These monsters will kill us the moment we let our guard down. If you hesitate, we are dead. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master," Aisha replied quickly.
Seeing that the fear in her eyes seemed to have settled a bit, Ash turned away. "Good. Draw your blade."
Aisha did just that.
She reached for the hilt and drew it with all the strength she had. She struggled for a moment, her feeble hands unable to pull the sword free, even though it was neither locked nor stuck.
"S-sorry, p-please give me a moment. I can pull it. I can pull it." Her fingers kept slipping on the hilt, unable to get a firm grip against the weapon's weight.
Ash frowned. The predator slimes were closer now, well within a range where they could easily attack.
"Shit!"
He watched as one of the slimes leaped from the ground, intending to pounce directly on Aisha. Clenching his fist, Ash immediately placed himself between Aisha and the slime.
Then, with enough demonic energy surrounding his fist, he attacked, landing a direct punch on the slime. Mid-air, his fist cut through the slime's body, causing it to collapse around his clenched arm.
[You have killed a Predator slime.]
[14 points have been added.]
Ash paid no mind to the system notification. He noticed another group of slimes approaching from behind, and once again, their target was Aisha.
'Are these creatures intelligent enough to target the weakest in a group first?' Ash considered.
Looking at Aisha, he could see she had somehow managed to pull the sword from its sheath.
She was now holding it in front of her like a complete novice. She held the blade with both hands but was somehow unable to lift it any higher than her lower chest.
"What the hell are you doing? Don't you see these things are after you? Come on!" Ash whooshed forward, catching a slime mid-air before it could land on Aisha.
"Switch!" he yelled, alerting Aisha that it was her turn to make a move, just as they had discussed before the battle.
Still shaking, Aisha readied herself to stab the slime when a new wave of horror washed over her. From where she stood, she could see more and more slime monsters charging toward her position like a swarm of ants.
If there was anything she had learned from her previous owners, who had all taken her dungeon-raiding, it was that no matter the monster's level, you needed to be very careful if you were outnumbered 100 to 1.
She had seen many adventurers die in gruesome ways.
Often, she had been thrown into such situations for the amusement of her owner and their party members.
The memory caused her to freeze up. Her breathing quickened, and her hands grew slick with sweat, making it a struggle to keep the blade raised.
Aisha's eyes had lost all the light they once had.
They now looked hollow and empty as tears welled at the corners. Then, a voice snapped her back to reality.
"What the fuck are you doing?! Do you want to die?!"
That was the voice of her current master.
When she turned to look at him, she noticed he had managed to kill a couple of the slimes around him, even though he was clearly struggling.
But for some reason, he had fear on his face—a look she never thought she would find on him. What could possibly have her current master so worried? He didn't look angry like he usually did.
That was when it hit her.
"Idiot!"
Ash placed himself in front of her, and the very next moment, a slime, configured into the shape of a sharp spike, ran through his gut.
Blood dripped to the ground from the open injury in his abdomen and from the corner of his mouth.
All the while, Aisha watched, shaking with fear and regret.