[Slimy Slime] Chapter 30: A Baby?!

Slimes are not fast, so I was using a trick I should really have practiced more. Hell, it was something I really wanted to practice more.

Flying! Flying on a magical hand!

Sadly, the cries of a baby were nearly eroding my good sense. Look, I know it’s a bad idea to head towards it but what kind of monster would I be if I ignored it?! What if there’s really a baby out there, alone, in the woods? Anyone who ignores that isn’t just not human, they don’t deserve to live!

Still, it wasn’t like I was being too reckless. I’d basically murdered everything that I felt could be a threat not four days ago. If there are any wolves, I’ll send them flying! After that… oh god, I don’t want to take care of a baby! I’m too young! My Slimy bachelor life has barely begun!

I flew forward, feeling the wind come over me, and the odd feeling of holding myself. But I was impressed. I’d focused on ‘amount’ of hands and getting used to them being out. But I hadn’t really tested their other properties. I was sure it was some multi-stat nonsense that decided how fast my hands flew, probably strength and all of the mana based ones, but I was definitely not flying slowly! People don’t think about it but… you can move your hand pretty fast!

That is to say… I was definitely flying at least at a human’s running speed.

The cries were getting louder now. I was almost there but suddenly, the cries stopped. Suddenly and immediately. My slime went cold. No…

I stopped and got down, where I’d last heard the cries. I looked around but, there was no sign of any blood. But that wasn’t exactly relieving. I kept looking, flying around the trees, hoping to find… answers.

I can’t seem to-

A pang. I moved. Claws.

At the last moment, I’d felt my danger sense skyrocket! I looked at what had attacked me and-

What. The fuck. Is that.

The tree I had been next to had been obliterated. Claws had torn through it like butter. And the thing that had attacked it… was that a wolf? No. No, it was no normal wolf.

It had white fur but with grey… rock scales? Going all over its body. Including its back, which rose up out of that fur and scale like some kind of, wild point. There were more than a few of those, giving it a very monstrous appearance. And that was only where it started. Red markings in intricate woven patterns covered its… fur? Twirling around and through it, all sharp angles and swirls and what looked like a tribal rendition of eyes. On the tuff sticking out behind, a very clear depiction of an eye marking could be seen. And then there was it’s face… a long extended jaw, downwards. Tongue rolling out. Eyes black. Entirely black. No pupils, no irises, nothing. Just black orbs staring down at me. And it’s size… it was bigger than a man, while on all fours.

For the first time… I truly felt like I had found a real monster.

It opened its mouth and-

My heart froze. A baby’s cry came out… before becoming a woman’s scream. More screams, more people. It sounded… exactly like them. To say I was unnerved was the understatement of a year. My danger sense was also ramping up, starting to warn me more and more. I brought my hands forward and-

Fast. I dodged it’s claws and fangs but it moved so fast, I nearly failed.

This wasn’t the time to screw around! I threw a punch with one of my hands and nearly let out a scream. It didn’t just claw my hand, it shredded right through it. I had to resist screaming in agony and dodge again. I felt everything my hands felt and I didn’t have a skill for pain. Not good. I’d seen what it could do to that tree and my hand now. There’s no way I could get close to it.

I… once more felt I was underprepared. Astra was out, hands had no protection, and that shot my methods of attack right into the ground. Mobility was fine and my defense was my mobility. I felt bitter. I only truly had one weapon, my fists. I wasn’t about to get my actual body close to that thing. That would be a quick way to die. Without my hands, I was a fish in a barrel.

So be it. Fists are my only weapon? Then that’s what I’ll use.

The wolf came at me, all speed and screams. Screams of people. Such a… demonic wolf. I threw all my hands out at once and focused. It screamed, this time in an old man’s voice, and aimed for two of my hands. It’s claws were a moment away from tearing them apart… when they phased right through. The wolf clearly wasn’t expecting that as it took two full force fists to the face, but it wasn’t over. I had eight hands left to use, not including the one I’m on. They rained down onto it and I had to grit my slime. Hard. It may be fast but that felt amusing at most compared to its iron like ‘fur’. It felt like I was punching a rock!

Worse, it recovered fast. Snapping towards another fist with it’s mouth but I phased through there as well. Another punch to head nearly had me losing the hand as it bit off three fingers in an instant.

I grimaced and reformed them, as well as my lost hand from before.

The Wolf didn’t even look winded… This was going to be… a long battle.

*****

Elsewhere…

“We’re being watched.” Sandra said, in a terrified whisper.

“I know.” Michael replied.

Michael was terrified himself, truth be told. He could tell something was watching him, following them, but not what. It didn’t take a genius to hear the snapping of branches or rustling of bushes. They were being followed. And not by just one thing either.

That, at least, was a relief. If it was that wolf from before… they’d probably already be dead.

He glanced at Tilia, their daughter. She’d stopped crying by now but they only had the one pack of food and water. They hadn’t exactly had time to do much more but flee. He had a sword on him, but he was just a [Commoner]. They both were. He glanced at his [System].

[General/Class

HP: 90/90

MP: 50/50

STR: 20

AGI: 10

DEX: 10

CON: 10

END: 13

INT: 11

WIS: 15

SPI: 10

Current Class: [Silver Commoner level 51]]

Michael was very, very happy with his status. He’d held out, like everyone recommended, and gotten his [Commoner] class to silver. With that, he received 20 free points and he’d used it to shore up his Dexterity, agility, Health, and the rest into strength. And as if that wasn’t enough, the next level up had increased his strength by two more. It was part of what had let him and his family to survive.

He just hoped it’d be enough to make it out of this forest. His wife hadn’t passed into Silver yet, but she was close. With that, they might really have a chance. He prayed to the gods they’d all survive.

As if to spit on his prayers, the creature following them finally walked out. The second Michael saw them, he nearly fell into despair.

Not a Goblin.

Not a Hob-Goblin.

A Goblin Captain.

He’d heard of them. Seeing one was a death sentence. A sign of calamity. A Goblin wasn’t that dangerous, just terrible. Pests to be exterminated, full of lust and violence. Far worse than insects. A Hob-Goblin was in a completely different class. They were one of the most dangerous Tier 1 monsters. As a rule, every single one of them were suspected to have over 50 in a single stat. Michael knew he was weak, he’d married and had a child young, but Hob-Goblins were dangerous even to [Bronze Fighter]’s.

But a Goblin Captain? They only appeared if there were a lot of goblins. It’s rumored that if you see one, and only one, you’ve missed the other 999.

Shortly, his fears were partially proven correct. Behind the Goblin Captain, over two dozen Goblins appeared. Michael could probably take half a dozen, maybe a full twelve, but he’d be over run by numbers for sure. And that wasn’t counting the Goblin Captain.

She pointed her metal axe at him. And then pointed forward. Michael blinked and didn’t move. That seemed to make the monster angry, as he could see her glaring at him. He could see quite a lot. He’d always thought of Goblins as small, and he’d heard goblins grew taller as they evolved but still… the Goblin Captain was almost as tall as his wife. And this one wore almost no clothes besides a loincloth. Honestly, he was thankful. He knew exactly what a male Goblin Captain would try and do to Sandra.

The Goblin Captain pointed again and Tilia started to cry, only seeming to make the monster angrier.

“What do we do?” Sandra asked.

“It clearly wants us to… follow.”

“It’ll kill us. Or worse.”

“We can’t even run, look at it. You know how the goblin line works. It’s lean. An Agility focused monster. I think… we can’t do anything but follow it.”

Sandra grit her teeth but nodded. The fact that they were all still alive was already surprising. But not that much. She could see how more than a few of those goblins were looking at them. It made her sick. But their options weren’t many.

They took a deep breath and went the way they were being told to.

****

Ow! You know that hurts right?! Three of my hands were already in pieces. I hadn’t had the time, energy, or focus to remake them. This wolf… was way too tough! What are you made of, a block of iron?!

Forget just it clawing my hands to pieces, even punching it felt like I was breaking all the bones in my hands. My trauma and horror threatened to rear it’s head but I stamped down on that, hard. It’s just another, just another freakish devil wolf! I was going to kill it and eat it! Die!

I threw another barrage of punches at it and sadly, realized exactly how I was going to win. The wolf was fast. And it’s defense was incredible! It’s attacks were stronger than any other creature I’d seen so far, including myself. This… was definitely a Tier 2 monster! But… there had to be a limit. It couldn’t be good at everything.

While I focused on a plan, I hadn’t once stopped punching it. If anyone were to see, it would look pretty strange. Any time it looked like it was about to claw through or bite one of my hands, I’d turn them non-physical. More than a few hands were constantly phasing through it, with absolutely no intention of actually hitting it. The reason for that was simple, it confused it. It’d try to defend against a blow on its side, only for it to not feel anything.

I’d learned from my last fight and this one. Conclusion? I was an idiot. As long as I actually get good at combat, there’s no reason to try suicidal stunts! Even if I have to fight this thing for three more days, I could just wear it down to death. But that’s not my plan, well, not all of it.

It fought, more and more. I had no idea how long it had been but it was an eye opening experience. It moved so fast! I had to dodge constantly and I couldn’t let up either. All while it screamed, screamed and made such horrible noises. But I improved. I was getting better, rapidly. I’d never used my hands for so long in such a fight. The last one had been short and brutal, then a massacre. This was a challenge.

I wanted to tire the wolf out but it seemed like it would just never stop. But that’s fine. Not every plan survives contact with the enemy. Suddenly, I reformed my hands and brought all my other hands away. It blinked, horrifically blinked sideways instead of up and down, and looked at my hands.

My hands that each formed a Darkness Ball. Suddenly, it tried to dash out and quickly. But I hadn’t done all that practice for nothing! Not all my orbs hit it, but that didn’t matter. I only needed to hit its eyes. They smacked into it and blinded it, leaving me free to-

“AH!”

[HP 233/278]

Why isn’t it blind?!

My darkness orbs hit it square in the face! Yet… it can see just fine! I had been moving a bit closer to attack it, when it suddenly dashed forward and cut a line through my slime with it’s claws. Bad! Dangerous!

I was still preparing to go through my plan anyway when… it ran away!

My slimy slime self gaped in amazement. Hey…. hey! That’s… not okay! Get back here and die properly! Only I can run away, not fair!

I watched it go, utterly unable to keep up with it. Well… okay. Fine! Whatever! Go then! Next time I hear a baby calling out into the woods, I’ll know it’s you, you freak of nature!

I was thoroughly unhappy. That thing was… tough. And my fists clearly didn’t hit hard enough. That made no sense! I had a freaking Strength of 50. What on earth had it been eating?! Not to mention it was way too damn fast. I even got hurt and nearly died. Without my danger sense, I’d be screwed.

Well, fine, whatever! I’ll just go home and get stronger and maybe kill it later if it attacks me again. But I’d best take the rest of the day off. I’m getting exhausted. At least home should be fine.

****

“WHY IS THERE AN ACTUAL BABY HERE?!”