“Thanks for the food,” I said as I clapped my hands together.
“Hehe, I knew you would respect the cabbage,” said Catherine as she took my empty plates on the table in front of me.
After examining the stats I have on the astra litter something, Catherine brought me to the dining room as she cooked a cabbage salad in the kitchen alone. I tried to assist her to cook, but she declined as she showed her petite hands and flexed her bicep muscles, assuring me that she would like to cook alone.
“Please rest, Catherine. I’ll do the dishes,” I said as I tried to take the empty plates from her, but she held the plates away from me.
She smiled and assured me, “don’t worry about it for today. We’re gonna defeat some monster in the afternoon, so you’ll need your extra stamina.”
My hand became stiff as I heard her sentence, yet after I took time to swallow her words, I became excited and restless instead. “Monsters..?” I muttered with a mix of anxiety and thrill. Though, if it was anything like the one I encountered this morning with Roy and Elise, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
“Ah, don’t worry too much. It’s just a couple of slimes and a few dragons,” Catherine casually said while taking the dirty dishes into the kitchen. She put the plates down on the sink and started doing the dirty dishes. She did surprisingly quick work at cleaning them.
I smiled at Catherine and immediately put my head down on the table while closing my eyes, “okay, goodnight.”
Catherine said nothing and after washing her hand, I could hear her holding her magic staff. I took a peek, and found Catherine aiming her magic staff at me. Just before I could say anything, my entire body lost all of its weight.
“Wh-what are you doing?!” I yelled in defiance.
Catherine walked into the front door while still aiming her staff at me. My body floated as it followed her from behind without my consent. I kept wailing around but with no success. My complaints were ignored completely as the sun greeted us after we left the house.
“Miss Catherine, please let me down!” I yelled while doing various body movements of defiance.
Catherine only smiled and immediately stopped pointing at her staff, and letting my body fall around one meter from the ground. My butt hit the ground with an uncomfortable thud and I moaned in pain.
“I-I’m gonna die…” I muttered.
“Oh, stop being a wuss. You’re not gonna die.” Catherine walked in front of me and spread her arms. The gust of wind laid out her long red hair beneath her witch hat. Her petite body and modest outfit stood out on this giant meadow on the hill. If I had my smartphone on me, I would capture this moment forever. Catherine smiled, but it was unlike her other playful, teasing smile. It was a… bittersweet smile. “I won’t let you die.”
Hearing that, I could feel my fox ears fluttering wild without my control, just like my tail. It was a strange feeling. There was no doubt in her voice, just a serious declaration. Yet, the red eyes on her expression showed a contrast alongside her conflicting smile. It was almost as if there was a hint of regret or anxiety on her expression, but her voice showed a firm conviction.
“Okay…” I said, as I got up from the ground. “I’ll do my best.”
Seeing me getting up, Catherine started walking into the direction of the forest below the hill. I started following her. We walked further and further from her house, and the village. I took a peek behind my back to see the landscape of the village started disappearing from my view. I could see Catherine in my peripheral vision.
“This is quite a remote village, you see. The nearest adventurer guild center doesn’t see much value in having a branch here, and merchants only come here weekly, sometimes even monthly. So for the last two hundred and fifty years or so since I last settled here, I’d take care of the monsters for an exchange of discounts whenever I bought something from them.”
I listened to her in silence as I watched the scenery of the forest getting closer. The trees were dancing around rhythmically, guided by the wind, as the colorful birds chirped to fill the silence of the forest. I looked at the sky to see a blue bird resembling an eagle with a smaller wing soared the sky with pride.
“Doesn’t that sound… Lonely?” I said in a small voice, while imagining Catherine eating dinner alone in her house on top of the hill far from the village below for centuries.
“Hm… You can say that.” Catherine walked as she held her magic staff playfully. She grabbed her bag and put her hand inside, rustling inside the bag and pulled out a small crystal, the same size and appearance as the one I and the children saw after the two blue blobs disappeared into nothingness after ice arrows pierced them. “I wouldn’t say I particularly love this village, but I grew attached to it, you see. During the war of the witches, they were… really nice.”
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The witch sighed and continued walking in silence, and put back the crystal inside her bag. I could see her frowning while she walked. Perhaps sensing the solemn atmosphere, she turned at me and replaced her frown with a bright smile.
“But hey! It’s not that bad, you know. It’s not like I’m alone all the time. I used to share my home with—" Catherine’s voice faltered, her words dissolving into a somber silence as she clutched her worn staff tighter. “Get your sword ready, there’s a monster incoming.”
Following her warning, I imagined myself grasping a sword like how I did earlier today in Roy's house. I put the sword in front of me while holding it with both of my hands. I put my guard up by looking left and right. Catherine looked at me casually without changing her stance.
“As always, fox magic is really convenient, huh…” Catherine muttered. There was an indescribable expression on her face the moment I summoned my sword. There was a half smile, yet her red eyes were looking at me with an almost intimate stare.
“Fox magic…?” I muttered in confusion, while still looking for the enemy that Catherine warned.
The moment I finished saying that, a rustling sound could be heard from my left. I turned my body around, and found a blue blob hopping up and down as it left the bushes. Meanwhile, another one appeared from the tree branch as it fell down to the ground.
“These are your first opponent, slimes. I believe you’ve encountered them on the way to my house, correct?” Catherine asked.
I replied by nodding. While holding my sword, I prepared to walk closer to one of them and swung my sword. However, just before I could do that, Catherine grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.
“Before you defeat them, it’s important for you to know the enemy first. Try using your Identification skill to investigate what they are before striking them.” Catherine pointed at one of the slime.
“How do I do that?” I asked.
Catherine thought for a moment before replying, “Just… look at it. Think of the creature inside your mind, its shape, and what color of the slime. You should be able to grasp it just like how you observe the world.”
I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at the fantasy creature in front of me. It’s a small blob that I saw in a lot of RPG games as a child. I took a mental image of the slime in front of me, and as if something clicked inside my brain, it popped up.
<
Health Points: 40/40 [100%]
Race: Monster
Description: Just a living blob.
“Living blob…?” I muttered, reading the text besides the blue slime.
Catherine nodded and gave me a thumbs up, “Seems like you got it.”
“Okay, what now?” I asked, unsure of what to do next. There was no other indicator on the floating text bubbles next to the slime besides its health points and race. Perhaps sensing my thought, Catherine slapped my back and pushed me towards the direction of the slime.
“What else? Beat the living hell out of it.”
----------------------------------------
“EWW!” I screamed as I swung my sword aimlessly as my once clean dress became wet with blue fluid.
After the first contact with my sword, the slime bounced and stuck into the blade I was holding. I could see the slime’s health went down from 40 to 27 on my first swing, but after that, I was barely able to strike my second swing. I tried to get off the slime by repeatedly swinging my sword, but what ended up happening was pieces of the slime went inside my clothes.
A gross feeling sent my body into shiver, and I could only helplessly grab the slime that went into my clothes. It felt so disgusting, but satisfying at the same time. It was like playing around with jello, but the wetness of it made me sickened.
“You can do it!” Catherine cheered with the biggest laughter I’ve seen her do. Perhaps finding this situation amusing, she kept on laughing every time the slime I was trying to get rid off ended up sticking into my clothes, sword and hand.
“Get off me!” After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to grab the slime, threw it into the air and slashed my second strike while the slime was still falling down, bringing its hp down from 27 into 14.
“Wow, it only takes you twenty minutes to finally halve the slime’s health,” Catherine teased me while sitting down under a tree shade.
I ignored her and this time, I focused all of my willpower to grab the slime and once more tried to toss it into the air. However, just before I could do another strike, I realized that the slime didn’t fly into the air, but stuck into the hand I grabbed with.
“Aaaah!” With frustration, I pinned the slime into the ground and thrust my sword into its body. I could see the slime’s health slowly turning into 0. The moment it did, all traces of it burst into nothingness, leaving a piece of small, bright rainbow colored gem I was familiar with and a bubble text.
[+10 EXP]
[+5 Weapon EXP]
“Slimes suck!” I yelled, particularly to no one, which was met by a burst of laughter from Catherine.