My throat was burning and my head felt as though it would split in two, I opened my eyes to Aureus toppling off of me as I bolted up in a coughing fit. I cleared my throat and frowned, yet again I had lost consciousness. An orb of water hovered in front of me as Aureus righted his posture and looked at me expectantly. My new talent of drinking water as though I were an astronaut once brought me great joy, but now I was trying to drink down the feelings of envy along with it. I patted Aureus on the head as I tried to ignore the figure of inferiority that was looming over me.

How long was I out?

It's only been a couple minutes probably, you were already out when I arrived.

I could feel Aureus’ disappointment with himself, I struggled to encourage him while pushing down my own feelings of disappointment. My fingers traced along his head, the beginnings of horns budding in line with the three triangular frills that had been steadily growing along either side of his jawline. His face was framed nicely by them, and surprisingly they were soft. His horns had yet to breach the surface, and he complained endlessly when I teased him about it.

[“Reflection of an Empty Throne” complains saying that they can’t believe you made it.]

[“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” cheers and looks at you greedily.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” tells you that you’ve surpassed her expectations and says you did a good job.]

[“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” is surprised and grumbles about revising calculations as he scribbles in his notebook.]

[“Void Who Gazes Back” clicks her tongue saying that you’ve accomplished a great feat and laments that her contractor has some fierce competition.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” says that her contractor isn’t inferior, and tells her not to worry.]

[“Void Who Gazes Back” blushes and exclaims that of course her contractor is the best, that’s why she vowed to take only one.]

I continued scrolling through the messages I missed, it seemed like there were a few new gods commenting on the events that had just happened. Also from the looks of it the Painter and the Void were friends as well. I wondered why I hadn’t seen the Void in the GGC so far. I shuddered at the thought of gods that had merely been lurking and not chatting, it made me feel uneasy.

The chats for the last few minutes mostly consisted of complaints that I was successful, admiration for my feat, complaints about their contractors, and questions about how long I’d be out. I stopped counting new names at around 20 and gave up on reading through the chat history.

I pulled up my status window expecting to see a new skill. I had clearly done something impressive when I killed the slime with how the gods were reacting. But there wasn’t anything new. I was disappointed, but only for a brief second because I remembered that I had never gotten a skill when I figured out how to coat my dagger with mana either.

“Can you guys tell me what I just did?”

[“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” snickers at you and repeats ‘just’ sarcastically.]

[“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” explains that you created a mana emission similar to how skills work but you intuitively learned it on your own.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” says not to worry about passing out, that you had experienced mana exhaustion. She exclaims that it was bound to happen at some point.]

“So… if I mimicked a skill why didn’t I earn one?”

[“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” questions your logic and asks why you would need to ‘earn’ a skill.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” begins explaining that skills can only be given not earned, but she stops and corrects herself; they can be earned as rewards but not earned in the way you mean.]

[“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” says that you think too much, if you can do it just do it. Asking -] The rest of the chat box was obscured, I assumed that there was something I wasn’t allowed to know on it. I let out an exasperated laugh as I ran my hands through my hair.

[Naked and Unafraid, last milestone rewards can be claimed.]

Expectation and anxiety coursed through me as I opened my final reward. “Well, I guess I have another weapon I can’t really use.” I mumbled to myself as I read the name of the first reward, ‘The Waterdrop Staff’. The next was similarly called ‘The Dew Drop of Water Breathing’. I opened the status window for the staff and immediately took back my words. The staff increased mana control and reduced consumption by 20% and included the ability to store mana in the staff in the form of spells.

I couldn’t really use spells at the moment, but maybe I could ask Aureus to try storing one. More importantly the reduction of mana consumption was insane, I already had a higher mana regeneration than normal so reducing the consumption even though it was only 20% would be exceedingly helpful in speeding up hunting. The Dew Drop of Water Breathing was a simple silver anklet with a pale blue moonstone bead, with unsurprisingly, the ability to breathe underwater for 20 minutes with a 3 hour cooldown.

[“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” complains that you’re not grateful for anything they do for you.]

“NO!” I flushed, and cleared my throat, “I mean, no I really appreciate this! These are great items. Thank you, I really do like them.” I pulled the items out of my inventory, putting the anklet on my left leg and marveling at the staff, it was gorgeous. It had a typical hooked shape at the top, but the body of it was intricate, covered in vaguely riverlike swirls branching and curling as they made their way to the top.

As the hook tapered to its end a single water drop hung down. The drop was also made of moonstone according to the item window and looked as if it would fall at any moment. It was astounding how real the drop looked, I carefully touched it half expecting it to roll down my finger. It didn’t, and surprisingly it didn’t feel fragile either. I looked up to talk to the Playwright, but surprisingly the quest window was still there.

[Congratulations, you’ve completed Naked and Unafraid!]

[Please accept the quest completion reward.]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

It took a second for me to process the words I was reading, I still had another reward? Really?

[You have earned the title “Slimes’ Number 1 Enemy”.]

~~*~~

Slimes’ Number 1 Enemy

Description: You have killed countless slimes, pushing them to extinction. Tales of your massacre will be told to slime children for decades to come, even the mention of your name shall strike fear in their hearts. You have faced your fears and made your fears fear you instead!

Passive: You have an aura that scares slimes, they will avoid you at all costs.

Active: When equipped your bloodthirsty aura will cause slimes within 50 feet to fall into a fear state.

~~*~~

My smile fell slightly, this title was moderately disappointing when compared to my other two, but I quickly cheered up. I wouldn’t ever have to deal with slimes ever again!

“You must really care about me Playwright” I teased, “Not only did you give me a quest with amazing rewards you also gave me a way to face my fears and avoid them at the same time! How sweet of you. Thank you!” I smiled overdramatically with a small flourish as I pretended to bow towards the GGC. My words were sickly sweet and though I didn’t like the way that the Playwright went about the quest I did really appreciate what they’d done for me.

[“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” cracks a sly grin as they match your tone of voice expressing how impressed they were that you were actually able to complete a quest they never expected you to.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” says that she is glad the two of you are getting along better now.]

[“Void Who Gazes Back” huffs and says that even though you’re impressive her contractor will still be better.]

I grunted as I forced myself to my feet, Aureus began whining, Master! You should rest more, your body isn’t in great shape right now!

It's been at least a week of being stuck in this place I want to go home now. We can take a day off and have fun together, wouldn’t that be nice?

Fun? With Master, the two of us? Aureus lit up, his fat tail knocking up rocks as he hopped about in anticipation.

Yes, well. I would like to nap with you first though, I am beat. I was looking through the disgusting mound of goop that used to be the big slime. I couldn’t find anything of value, so I just hobbled my way over to the small pool of water I entered through. Briefly I considered if I should check the pedestal, but exhaustion was weighing on me like a lead blanket. Before I could even think to ask him Aureus had hooked his front legs under my arms and plunged into the water.

Breathing underwater with an item was a very strange feeling, it wasn’t unpleasant but instincts don’t let up easily. My first breath was sudden and deep as I fought my mind back, I knew I would be able to breathe but the doubt creeping in made my chest feel heavier. The feeling of breathing in water but turning to air before it even touched my tongue was baffling. I almost asked Aureus to swim with me underwater for longer.

I pulled myself up on the shore as I wrung out the water from my hair, my outfit dried quickly but my hair had always kept moisture like a sponge. The pink tinted light gleaming down on me illuminated injuries I wasn’t aware of. Well, I was aware I had been injured but the extent of them was a bit shocking.

Both of my hands were bloodied and raw, the skin in some places had melted from the slime and in other places had small rocks and lacerations from falling back on them. I was also pretty sure I had a few broken ribs and was covered in bruises. As I braced myself to get up off of the shore, a paw came down on my collarbone. My back slapping down on the shore again as I let out a pained squeak.

Master, just take a break here for a little while. I can go and hunt and when we level up you’ll be okay again. The desperation behind his eyes was prickly, it was stabbing at the tender inferiority that had been welling up in me. Ultimately I couldn’t disagree, I was dead tired and my whole body was telling me not to move. Various emotions fought for dominance, envy, happiness, sadness, frustration, love. None of them were clear victors until I watched him fly off leaving me forlorn.

“I know I chose this class, but I really wish I was more useful.” I muttered to myself, even though I knew that I was doing good and using Aureus appropriately. It was the right way to utilize a class like mine and eventually I’d have several familiars and I wouldn’t need to do much at all, probably. But it was surprisingly hard to let Aureus do all the hard work, maybe it was because I thought of him like a baby or a pet. I sighed and leaned into a stiff stretch, groaning and wincing as my sore muscles and bones creaked.

[“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” expresses that you’re strangely smarter and stupider than he expects every time.]

[“Traveling Spring Painter” is confused and says she does not understand your line of thinking.]

[“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” says that this is the reason they like humans, they never understand their worth without something to compare to.]

[“Playful Cat Hates Yarn” scoffs at you and marvels at human greed.]

I grimaced and subsequently flinched at the pain it caused. I wanted to argue with the gods but just didn’t have the energy, and I knew deep down they were right. I wanted a class like this in the first place because I wanted others to fight for me, but humans have always strived for innovation. I couldn’t help my ambition, the stronger we got the less I would have to fight with Aureus and I could relax. I just wanted to be lazy, I grumbled about auto hunting and comfortability in the dungeons as I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke to the level up notification, a familiar refreshing energy filled my chest. I stood and stretched, finally I could head home again. I had been in here for over a week and I’d already earned 3 titles and leveled up to 15, I wondered how other Candidates were fairing.

“You know I haven’t asked you how other Candidates were because I didn’t think you’d tell me, but have monsters attacked normal people? Am I going to return to a near apocalyptic world?” I lazily scrolled through messages I hadn’t read in the GGC as I casually asked about the state of the world. All the responses I got were vague and noncommittal though. With a sigh I started the trek back to the entrance of the Underhollow, but quickly I turned back and filled a canteen I’d gotten as a sponsorship while I was passed out in the slime cave.

With a new full container of water I continued on my journey, the thought of laying in my own bed again pushing each step to be quicker than the previous. I laughed as the wind threw my damp hair into new tangles I’d no doubt have to fight with when I returned, my feet nearly getting away from me as I ran down the hill.

Aureus joined me at the archway, I poured some of the water I’d collected on our patch of potatoes I’d collected over the last week. They were basically just regular potatoes but the skin was a bluish purple and much larger than any other potato I’d had. I sighed and took one last look into the fantastical place that had nearly killed me. It was strange, part of me didn’t want to leave.

The trip home was uneventful, the sun was rising over a mountain in the distance as I leisurely made my way down the mountain. Even though I was taking my time, I still ended up only taking a fourth of the time it had taken me the first day. I was finally able to see my house in the distance as the sun had left its spot on the mountain and hung in the worst part of the sky. It had to be about 7 a.m. now, it was just high enough to be glaring and just low enough that blocking it out was difficult. The glare made seeing my house clearly impossible.

I squinted into the light as my home’s familiar silhouette became more clear, and another familiar silhouette sat on my stairs. Looking up at me with both relief and anxiety plastered across its face. “Mia…” Caroline started but stopped and looked down at her hands when I made eye contact.

“What are you doing here?” When I didn’t receive a response I just walked past her and unlocked the door. Motioning begrudgingly for her to follow me inside so we could talk for the first time in ages.