Warix Viviana

[Slimy Slime] Chapter 49: Michael's Strange Lord

Added 2023-05-08 17:02:32 +0000 UTC

Chop.

Michael considered himself a simple man. That’s how he had lived after all. Strong? No. Not in the slightest. There were people out there who could literally take multiple armies worth of people like him. Smart? Only average at best. His wife regularly beat him out in that department.

But simple? He could do simple.

Chop.

So many young men and women chased power. He could understand and even encouraged them. More than a few had left the village… only to never come back. Dead or onto better and greater things, it was hard to say. That was never what he wanted. Who cared about power? Even the strongest of the strong still died. So many people chased that next level, that next pound able to be lifted, that next bolt or sword swing able to kill.

Chop.

But Michael had already won. He had everything he needed. A wife, a child, a beautiful village.

…Except that wasn’t true. His village was gone, dead or scattered like them. His wife, child, and him were only alive by pure luck. Luck to have escaped the [Black-Eyed Wolf] that King Slimy had killed. Luck to have been found by a [Goblin Captain] that served King Slime. Luck that King Slime was friendly and strong.

And now it was dead. Just like that. Killed by him.

For once, he truly understood that deep craving for power. But there was a balance. How many sought it, only to die early? How many villages went for hundreds of years without issue? His dad and granddad and more never spoke of tragedies like the one that befell him. Others, sure. Drought, food shortage, cold winters, low level monster hordes.

Chop.

He didn’t know what to think. Enough power, his village would be alive. In pursuit of that power, he might have left his wife a widow and his daughter without a father. When he’d taken [Lumberjack] there was a voice in the back of his mind, practically yelling at him to take [Fighter]. If he did that… he would never rise as fast as a lumberjack. Where he should be in 20 years, would take him 40. He had already been a Lumberjack back in the village. The trees grew fast and there was always a need for wood. Was it selfish, even after all that… to still want to be one? To not strive for power? Or was it selfish to give up his dreams and pursue power, only to probably die for it?

Michael shook his head. He was a simple man. If he should’ve become a [Fighter] his wife would’ve told him to. She never would, nor would he tell her what to become, but they would’ve discussed it. Would’ve talked about what they should be since coming to this strange area.

Chop.

“Timber!” Michael yelled out. He couldn’t help it, a wide smile blossomed on his face.

Even after so much tragedy and his life turning so strange… things were good. Tilia and Sandra were alive. All he had to pay for ‘rent’ was his useless mana and more than that… he had never felt so important. King Slime hadn’t hid anything. Goblins were coming. A Horde. Their only saving grace was that it wasn’t a Horde with a normal [Goblin Chief] leading them, or they’d be doomed. On the other hand… a [Goblin Chief] usually only had around 10,000 goblins under them, or so he’d heard. Quality for quantity.

And every tree Michael cut down was another part of the flat field King Slime could defend against. He’d talked in passing about a temporary moat with Sandra and setting up watchtowers with proper Dungeon Monsters as lookouts.

Chop.

Truthfully, he didn’t know much about King Slime. His actual name was… slightly hard to use. It sounded like something a child would make up at times. But he seemed so proud of it… He was always… fun. That was the word. Cheerful in an odd way. He was clearly smart enough to talk to his wife about architecture, most of that went over his head. He had an odd charisma about him. He had never thought much of slimes… but he knew of slime farms and even a few people keeping them as pets. He was simple, not stupid, so he’d never brought it up with King Slime but he wondered how he felt about that? And if all slimes were as cheerful.

His goals were simple too, Michael felt. He wanted to be King. To rule. He had promised to protect them and Michael genuinely believed in it. He’d seen the ‘look’ on his ‘face’ when he’d heard about how many goblins were coming. The cheerfulness had drained away, leaving only frantic resolve.

He’d watched the goblins with him, and while still trying to figure out what to do, had helped chop trees with him. Their conversations had realized that at the end of the day… King Slime was still a slime. He was missing a lot of information and Michael was happy to fill him in on the gaps. If they survived the current crisis… Michael didn’t know what was next. Not truly. King Slime never took a break. He was always doing something. Training, working on the kingdom blueprints, going out to fight something, chopping trees to clear land. He never stopped.

Chop.

To be honest, Michael was amazed at everything King Slime had done. Roads were already being made, houses were up, a stone wall. King Slime had even mentioned that in the future he wanted to upgrade the walls to steel and the houses to a much stronger stone. This… this was where Tilia was going to be raised. In a forest, among goblins, and in a Kingdom run by a slime. No, a [Dungeon Master]. To say Michael wasn’t worried would be a lie.

Chop.

But… food and water could be restocked with an almost insulting amount of mana. There was indoor plumbing which took a moment to get used to but was infinitely better than doing it outdoors like he was used to. They had a shower something only the rich would have in a city. Not just them, everyone did, and King Slime was adamant about everyone taking daily showers and using the toilets. Michael had seen it. Seen the wooden box King Slime stayed in.

And now he looked at stone walls, roads, and a castle that was slowly forming. Less than two weeks and already this was what could be accomplished. In a year… this might really be a City within a Kingdom. Tilia would have things that he could only dream of. By the time she could walk and talk… they might not be the only family here. Sandra still wanted to go to the Capital and try to find anyone they could from their village.

Chop.

Michael breathed deep and out. His thoughts were spinning wildly today. He’d just do as he’d been doing for the past week. Cut down more trees. There was always a lot to think about while he was around here. He smiled and continued to go to work.

Chop.

“Timb-” Michael began, only for his eyes to go wide as a certain slime seemed to appear out of thin air.

“Michael! Look at what I can do- What the heck?!” King Slime said, his eyes going wide.

Suddenly, ten ghostly hands spawned out of nowhere, catching the tree about to crush his King. With ease, King Slime pushed it to the side.

“Ha! Guess I should have said a warning or something…” King Slime said, laughing it off.

Michael felt stunned, but before he could even apologize, King Slime began talking.

“Sandra is a genius! Did you know that?! Michael, you married the best woman in the world, I tell you. She took only a few looks at the bracelet I gave to Krrrgg, my darkness magic, and suggested that I try to move my Meridians and magic core itself. Naturally, I failed. That’s impossible! But it got me thinking, hard. Darkness by its very nature isn’t the same as fire or water. It is not physical. It is absolutely not. It is the lack of light. I’d been thinking about it all wrong! My magic may have a physical component but that was just magic! Darkness, the nature of it itself, is a “Lack of Light”. That makes it weirdly both a ‘physical’ thing… and conceptual. That’s why surrounding someone in darkness cuts them off from sound! So! I tried to instead of move my magic or darkness or etc… but try to move it from my ‘Core’ to another bit of darkness, never releasing it from my body at all! And look, look! I did that… and I teleported to you. I have no idea how, but I did it! I think after I master it and understand it, I’ll even level up my magic skill! This solves all my mobility issues! Uh… kinda!”

A mass of words was blasted at Michael and the second they were done, he saw Slimy Slime focus, grow dark for a moment, and then disappear again. Shortly afterwards, from beyond the wall, he could hear a shouted, ‘Damn it! How?! Why?!’

Michael blinked, before a smile that slowly transformed into a smirk crossed his face. Yeah, he and his wife and daughter were going to be just fine. With a hearty chuckle, Michael returned to chopping wood.