The squad trudged through the forest, dwarfed by trees that stretched so high, Alwin swore they were trying to tickle the clouds—if he could even see them through the dense canopy. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, bathing the surroundings in a soft green. Birds belted out their greatest hits, and squirrels scurried through the underbrush, stopping only to give the trio a judgmental once-over before continuing their nutty business.

Nature was beautiful, but sometimes being beautiful wasn't all that helpful. No amount of trees or chirping birds could stave off how bored Alwin was feeling. It was like watching grass grow. Seriously! There was nothing to do but walk and stare at the trees. Maybe he’d start talking to them.

By decree of the dictator Uchronia, talking was forbidden. She mentioned something about their positions being given away if they were too loud. Alwin proposed that they could whisper to each other, but she wasn't having any of that. On the bright side, she didn't shout at them. So...yay?

Uchronia was on the lookout for any humans, and technically he should be on the lookout as well, but it was so boring. From the way Milvus and Lin were talking about the Forest of Beginnings, you'd expect the place to be teeming with humans. But, the only things teeming here were the plants, looking smug in their leafy abundance.

Gus was... Well, he was doing what he did best. Eating. As they ambled through the forest, he pulled out yet another muffin—honey muffins to be exact—its golden crumbs scattering with each bite. And for the umpteenth time, Alwin still didn't know where he was storing all of those muffins.

Time oozed by, each second stretching into an eternity as Alwin's thoughts drifted to far-off places and grand adventures. His daydreams were abruptly cut short when he collided with Uchronia’s back, earning him a death glare from her. Alwin's mind was wrangled back to reality, and only then did his ears finally register the sounds around him—the crunching of leaves, the snapping of twigs, and, unmistakably, voices.

The sound grew louder, prompting the trio to dive behind some shrubs. Through the green foliage, a group of people emerged. It was actually two people, but a group sounded more menacing to Alwin. A guy and a girl—were they on a date? A date that involved snuffing the life of a bunch of innocent monsters minding their own business. Because why else would you be covered in leather armor and armed to the teeth?

The girl looked normal—to Alwin anyway. This was his first encounter with a human, something that would be enshrined in his memory never to be forgotten. He had to relish the moment and savor every minute of it. She had Auburn hair tied up in a ponytail, and a lean but supposedly fit physique. She was covered in brown leather armor and it's not like Alwin could see through clothes. A dagger sat on her hip, while a bow was slung across her back.

Her date on the other hand... was just as normal, swapping auburn hair for jet-black locks. He too looked fit, but that could've just been padding under leather armor, so Alwin would have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Instead of a bow and dagger, this guy brandished a sword and shield.

The pair chatted away, the guy in leather armor boasting about how he was going to single-handedly wipe out all the monsters in the forest. The girl rolled her eyes, telling him to be careful. The monsters in here weren't that difficult to take care of, but it was the monsters under the Monster King's army that they had to be worried about. In other words, they were afraid of Alwin.

And afraid they should be. Those evil humans barged into the forest, just to wipe out its innocent residents. Seriously, couldn’t they just leave the monsters alone? Was that too much to ask? Apparently, it was, if not there wouldn't be a need to create the Human Hunter Corps.

Alwin's thoughts were interrupted by Uchronia’s tail making contact with his face. It was a light slap that didn't hurt at all, but it still hurt his heart. Why did she always have to be so violent and mean!

Turns out she was trying to get his attention, because, Alwin as always, was lost in thought again. Using the tip of her leaf tail she drew out a plan in the dirt. She should do this more often. A picture was worth a thousand words after all, and this was way more entertaining for lil ole Alwin.

Uchronia's drawings were... crude to say the least. If there ever was an award for the worst artist, she'd be a shoo-in to win that. To be fair to her, she was drawing on the ground with a leaf that doubled as her tail. It was amazing that Alwin was able to decipher her drawings at all.

The two poorly drawn stick figures were clearly the humans—the one with a triangle dress to indicate the female. The three wobbly shapes, which might have been circles once upon a time, represented Alwin and his squad. Only one had a tail while the other two did not. If Alwin had to guess, the larger blob was Gus while the smaller one was Alwin. It's not like Gus was actually larger than he was in real life despite all of his snacking, but maybe Uchronia was implying something. It's either that or Alwin was projecting his feelings and he was the jerk, not Uchronia.

This was the plan Uchronia had devised. They were going to lure the humans towards their bush, and then surprise attack them. Alwin on offense, Gus on defense, and Uchronia would provide support. At least, that's what Alwin guessed. With all the drawing she was doing over the initial picture, it slowly descended into a bunch of indecipherable scribbles.

Uchronia put her tail into her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle. Sure enough, it got the attention of those humans because they suddenly became very quiet. Peeking through the bushes, Alwin saw the duo inch towards him. The guy was now wielding his sword while the girl had gotten her bow and an arrow out. With a nod, the girl halted and drew her bow, the arrow aimed and ready to fly, while the man continued to creep forward, eyes darting around nervously.

The moment the guy reached the bushes, Uchronia shouted out, 'Now!"

Uchronia used her tail to touch her squad mates, blessing them with Haste. Alwin felt his body become more nimble, almost lighter, as he launched out of the bush. The humans flinched, they of them weren't expecting a Dark Slime to leap out of the bushes and especially one that was in the midst of preparing a technique.

"What the f—" the male human started, but his sentence was cut short by a Spirit Blast to the chest, courtesy of Alwin.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The guy stumbled backward, flailing wildly before gravity won, forcing him to greet the ground, butt first. He clutched his chest, grimacing in pain. This man was so much weaker than that wooden dummy. This was going to be easy.

"Arrow Blow!" the girl shouted.

An arrow sailed through the air, the arrowhead coated in a light blue aura.

This was bad. He was still at the apex of his jump and now an arrow was flying straight towards him. Not just any arrow, but an arrow with a skill imbued in. Well, it would be bad if he was alone. Good thing he wasn't.

Gus leaped up in front of Alwin and just as expected, the monster chomped down on the incoming projectile.

"Blech." Gus spat out the remains of the arrow, coating the area with spittle. "It's yucky."

Uchronia burst out of the bushes rushing towards the girl. But this wasn't Alwin's Uchronia—it was a different version of her. The Furball Uchronia had her fur standing on edge as crackles of static electricity bounced between their tips. More Arrow Blows came sailing toward her. She dodged the first couple of shots, but a miscalculated hop caused an arrow to graze her side. It all went downhill from there.

Two more arrows struck Furball Uchronia, piercing her fur. Her eyes rolled back, the sparks of electricity flickering out. This version of Uchronia faded into particles leaving the arrows to clatter to the ground.

"That's what you get, you horrible monsters!" the girl yelled.

Uchronia clicked her tongue before emerging from the bushes.

"Leave her to me and Gus!" shouted Uchronia. "You handle him!"

Gus and Uchronia charged towards the bow girl, while Alwin turned around and made his way to the fallen warrior. The guy had managed to push himself back up to his feet. His expression was contorted into a mixture of anger and fear, as he clutched his chest.

"You disgusting slime. I'll make you pay," he said between gritted teeth.

With that said the guy pulled out a red vial from his belt and consumed its contents in one gulp. His breathing relaxed as the color returned to his face.

"Come at me, you rancid monster army menace." he grinned, before adding, "Copper Body!"

The exposed parts of his skin took on a reddish-brown hue as it began to harden. A shine glimmered across the surface of the man's skin. With a fierce battle cry, he charged at Alwin, raising his blade high. Mana poured into the weapon, making it glow a bright yellow. "Slash Blow!"

He swung his blade downward, cutting through the air. Alwin lunged backward and avoided the sharp skill-infused steel, or maybe it was iron. Metallurgy wasn't exactly his expertise.

Alwin began preparing an assortment of blasts. First was a regular Spirit Blast that was promptly sliced apart by the man's Slash Blow. Second was a Spirit Scatter Blast that when sliced apart, peppered him with a flurry of small projectiles, causing him to wince in pain. Third was a Spirit Burst Blast. Instead of destroying the blast with his Slash Blow, he chose to roll under it, but that was exactly what Alwin had planned for, believe it or not. The blast detonated above him mid-roll, showering the man with the explosive force of pure mana rushing out into the world. He yelled out as he tumbled along the ground.

Crumpled up on the ground, the man could barely muster the strength to stand. This was Alwin's chance. Time for his first kill. Alwin hopped over to the collapsed man, his leather armor was no match for the strength of a point-blank Spirit Burst Blast, a hole was torn open on his back revealing exposed copper-hardened flesh.

When Alwin was first born, he was immediately thrown into battle against a human, albeit a simulation. His very first kill, even if it was just virtual, had been with his Dark Tackle. It felt almost fitting to use it again on his first real kill.

Mana welled up within Alwin's core, dark and powerful, before surging out like a torrent. Like a bolt of lightning striking a tree, Alwin's dark form slammed into the man's back. The copper-hardened skin provided a decent amount of protection, but not enough, the man screamed in agony.

Alwin kept pounding away at the man. Dark Tackle after Dark Tackle, each one penetrating a little deeper and breaking a little bit more of the man's copper-hardened skin, each one creating weird crunching sounds like stepping on a twig. It was not until the twentieth—yea it was pretty weak—Dark Tackle that the man finally stopped screaming. Alwin hopped off his back, eager to inspect his handiwork.

The man lay flat on the ground, his back caved in where Alwin had struck. His face contorted into a permanent scream of pain. Tears still welled down his face. This was his first kill, and yet he felt nothing. No sense of joy or even guilt that he had snuffed out a life. Just nothing. It was weird even for Alwin, but he chose not to think about it and instead rushed over to Uchronia and Gus.

They were just about done. Gus was sampling the girl's bow, polishing the length of it with his tongue. Meanwhile, Uchronia had her tail draped over the girl's face. Her leafy tail was covered in a layer of thorns while the girl's armor and body were riddled with puncture marks.

"You good?" asked Alwin.

"Yeah. Had a bit of trouble, but it's okay," said Uchronia.

"No, I'm not. This bow doesn't taste nice at all, it's giving my tongue splinters. Her dagger is all bitter too." Gus pouted.

Uchronia responded with a roll of her eyes as per usual.

"I'll take the girl and Alwin you can get the guy. Next one will be for Gus. Sound good?" said Uchronia.

Take them where? On a date? Because that sounded weird even for Uchronia.

"To do what?" asked Alwin.

"You know... their essence..." said Uchronia. Alwin could tell that her eyes were locked and loaded, ready to roll around at the slightest provocation.

"Uchronia. Are we going to eat these guys?" asked Alwin.

"Eat?" said Gus, eyeing the body of the bow girl.

"No, Gus. Bad!" she yelled at Gus. "We don't eat them, we just extract their essence from their cores. Were you not paying attention in class?"

"Uh... I was testing you," said Alwin.

Uchronia sighed and shook her head, which involved shaking her whole body because her body was her head and her head was her body.

"Do you even know how to extract their essence?" asked Uchronia.

"Of course, I do. Do you? I think you should do it first just so I can make sure you're doing it right."

Another sigh escaped her lips, if Alwin didn't know better he'd say she was just out of breath and gasping for air. But, he did know better.

Uchronia hopped up to the girl and placed her tail over the girl's chest. Both girls began to glow and a second later the glow faded.

"Done. Your turn." Uchronia grinned.

Alwin swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. That demonstration of hers was as useful as cheese on a porcupine. Here's to hoping he'd find a way to get it right. All Alwin had to do was poke and prod around inside the guy's body, then maybe he'd luck his way into absorbing the guy's essence. Alwin slowly crept up to the guy's body. It was still warm to the touch and squishy, his Copper Body had turned back into a regular body.

Let's hope that Alwin would nail it on the first try. What's the worst that could happen?