The moon hung high up in the night sky, overlooking a dense sea of trees. Beneath that sea, was a group of five mercenaries camped next to a cozy fire. Earlier that week, they had received a mission to guard and transport a certain item. Their employer had no intention of revealing their identity or what they would be guarding which understandably put them on edge. With all the danger the lack of information presented, they all expected their dwarf leader, Godfrey, to refuse the request. However, to their disappointment he gave in immediately after seeing how much they would be paid.

“I just don’t see why you’re all so uneasy. It’s been smooth sailing so far and we’ve been paid so much money!!!” Godfrey said as he caressed the sack of gold they had been paid with. They all turned toward their leader with disgusted looks in their eyes. “...Why is he the leader again?” Grumbled a petite, pink-haired girl. This girl was Floren, she was the party’s mage and the youngest one there. Her young age and height made the others dote on her, much to her chagrin. “Come on, you know why. He’s the most experienced one out of all of us. …And he beat us all in rock paper scissors.” The reply came from the bear beastfolk sitting next to Floren. Her name was Marianne and just like any beastfolk, she was covered from head to toe in fur. To be frank the only difference between Marianne and an actual bear was that she stood on two legs and wore clothes.

“We all agreed for Godfrey to be the leader when we formed this party so there’s no use in complaining about it now.” This time the voice came from the trees. The masked human archer Edward, liked to stay out of sight and was rarely seen by anyone, not even his own party members. Floren sighed, she already knew how reckless and greedy Godfrey was. But she also knew that there was no one more reliable in an emergency. Yet, she could not help but feel uneasy about their mission. She silently prayed to the god Solvis that no harm would befall them on their mission. Even though the others were not as vocal about their complaints, they were also uneasy about the mission. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

That silence was broken by Niall, the scout of the party. “Godfrey, that sack of gold is just the advance payment, right?” Surprised, the others all turned to stare at Godfrey. Godfrey sighed. “I was hoping to surprise you all after the mission. But thanks to a certain someone, I guess I can’t hide it from you anymore. There’s more money waiting for us once we finish the mission.” “H-How much exactly?!” Floren questioned. “Three times the gold we were already paid.” Realizing just how much money they would make from this mission, they all began to fantasize about what they would do with it. Floren thought of getting a new staff. The one she had been using was a gift from her mother and she really treasured it but as her strength grew the staff proved to be inadequate. Marianne drooled at the amount of fish she could buy, not only for herself but for her children back at home. Edward dreamt of adding more masks to his collection.

As they all finished daydreaming, they all went up to pat Godfrey on his back. Marianne’s pat knocked the wind out of Godfrey and brought him to his knees. With the exception of Niall and Godfrey, who was still gasping for air, they all celebrated and screamed into the night. Niall watched over them with a smile on his face. As the scout of the group, it was his responsibility to be aware of any danger and how best to avoid it. Sometimes those dangers could come from within. Which is why he always made it a point to try and lighten the mood.

Their celebration was cut short as Niall sensed the presence of something approaching their camp. He turned around and drew out his dagger. The others saw this and also got ready. Godfrey picked up his sledgehammer, Edward nocked three arrows on his bow and Floren gathered ether in her staff. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. The only sounds that they could hear were the crackling fire and the wind whistling through the trees. Although it was a rather cold night, sweat formed and fell off their faces. Then from the darkness, he emerged. The stranger resembled a lanky man and wore a black hooded cloak and a faceless, white mask which made it impossible to discern his identity. Upon seeing the man’s mask, Edward felt a sort of kinship with him, but he knew it would be foolish to approach as they did not know if the stranger was friend or foe.

“Hi there, is there anything we can do for you stranger?” Questioned Godfrey. The stranger did not answer. Instead, he placed his right elbow onto his left palm. Then he put his right hand over his mask as if in thought. After a few seconds, he dropped his arms and sprinted towards Godfrey. Marianne intercepted the stranger and sent him flying with a swipe from her paw. While the stranger was still airborne, Godfrey ran behind him and swung his hammer. Before the hammer could hit him, the stranger grabbed hold of it and used it to launch himself away from Godfrey.

After landing on his feet, the stranger was ready to face off against the mercenaries again. He morphed his hands into swords and charged towards them again. The mercenaries were caught off guard but only for a moment. After all, they had cut down countless monsters and people in their travels so something like this was hardly surprising. Niall ran to the man and tried to slash at the stranger with his dagger. At least, that’s what it looked like. As the stranger tried to counter, a small bag dropped from Niall’s free hand. Black smoke obscured the stranger’s vision once it hit the ground. Now that his part in this was done, Niall quickly retreated from the smoke.

Once he was out of the way, a beam of light pierced through the smoke. It was Floren’s light magic. Her affinities leaned towards support which is why it had taken her so long to charge up her attack. Even with that limitation, in terms of pure firepower she was the strongest member of their group and due to that she ended up being a key player in most of their battles.

When the smoke cleared, they all let their guard down. The light beam had hit its mark. It pierced through the stranger’s mask. A gaping hole could be seen through his head. The mercenaries had won. Or so they thought. The stranger stuck his arm through the hole in his head. Then he pulled out his hand and stared at the mercenaries. At least that’s what they thought he was doing. He didn’t really have a face for them to tell. A blue liquid filled in the empty hole in his head. It was then that the mercenaries knew what the stranger was. He was a slime and a particularly dangerous one at that. Slimes that gained and mastered the ability of mimicry were highly intelligent and very strong. Thankfully since the slime still had to disguise itself, that meant it had yet to reach the zenith of its power. There was a chance that they could win, a chance that could all survive. So they took it.

Although slimes were nearly impervious to all damage, they had one fatal flaw and that was their core. One strong hit to the slime’s core and it was done for. Edward loosed his arrows at the slime. He aimed for multiple different parts of its body. But the slime cut the arrows down with his sword arms. The slime was aware of its weakness and would not allow them to figure out where its core was located. While the slime was distracted with Edward, Godfrey nodded at Floren. Floren nodded back and gathered ether into her staff. Unlike before, the ether accumulated much faster as she was using it for her true role. The gathered ether burst out and covered Godfrey in light. The ether strengthened his body and greatly increased his perception of the world. Everything seemed to move slower now. He dashed towards the slime and swung his hammer downwards. Even though it was caught off guard, the slime was still able to stick its arms out and block the hit.

However, Godfrey’s greatly magnified strength proved to be too much for it and brought the slime down to its knees. Their clash shook the air and cracks formed on the ground. Godfrey lifted his hammer and swung upwards lifting the slime into the air. Without missing a beat, Niall threw many small bags at the slime while it was in the air. Then Edward shot an arrow at one of the bags causing it to explode. The blast spread to the other bags and created an even larger explosion. The slime fell to the ground with a loud thud. Parts of its clothes had been destroyed but it was mostly intact. They all came to the conclusion that the slime’s clothes must have been enchanted. Even after hitting the ground, the slime was still able to move. It seemed the explosion had failed to destroy the core.

“Tch,what a resilient bugger! Marianne, you’re up!” Yelled Niall. Marianne breathed in and let out a mighty roar. Her roar was filled with her ether and it stunned the slime. She ran up to the slime and bit its head. Then she smacked the slime around. She slammed it into trees, rocks and the ground. Finally she tossed him into the air as another beam of light pierced through its chest. While it was falling the slime stretched its legs out to the ground and retracted them instantly. None of their attacks had dealt any damage to it. But there was still a chance for them to win. They had managed to destroy more of its clothing. Meaning it was only a matter of time until they found its core.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for too long for the slime’s core moved into its head. That alone was enough to make them question everything they knew about slimes. Slimes could not move their cores, that was an undeniable fact and yet this slime had done just that. It spat in the face of natural law. The movement of the slime’s core did more than surprise Godfrey. It infuriated him. He was a man that hated being looked down upon and the slime was clearly taunting them. Why else would it so blatantly expose its weak point? Giving into his rage Godfrey dashed towards the slime and brought his hammer downwards. Again the slime blocked his attack and again the slime was brought down to its knees. Although this time, something different happened. The liquid that formed the slime’s head rippled and swirled. Then like a spear it shot forwards and pierced through Godfrey’s chest and heart. Blood pooled in Godfrey’s mouth and flowed out. The blue liquid returned to the slime’s body and Godfrey collapsed to the ground.

That was the end of their leader. They always knew his recklessness would be his undoing but they never thought his end would come like this. After Godfrey’s death, they all realized there was no hope of victory. Their only option was to retreat. They all knew what they had to do. Edward, Niall, Marianne and Floren put aside their feelings of grief and set forth to make sure their retreat would be successful. Marianne roared again and the slime was frozen in place. She ran to the slime to send it flying again. Alas as a result of the stress and grief she was under, she failed to put enough ether into the roar making it last significantly less than the first time. The moment Marianne’s spell wore off, the slime stretched out its hand and grabbed her face. While holding onto her, it leapt high above the sea of trees and slammed her into the ground. Chunks of dirt, rocks and trees flew into the air and scattered around them. The dirt and dust obscured the vision of Niall and Floren. They stuck close together in anticipation of the slime’s next attack. “Aaaahh!” An anguished scream pierced through the air. They both instantly recognized the voice. It belonged to Edward.

They stepped away slowly from the source of the scream. As they walked back, Floren felt something squishy under her foot. She turned to look and nearly screamed from the sight of it. It was Marianne. The impact had cracked her skull open. Blood and grey matter leaked out of her head. Floren fell to her knees and reached out to Marianne’s lifeless corpse. Marianne was the oldest mercenary in their group and saw the others as her children. Although everyone doted on Floren, Marianne did it the most. Floren saw her as a second mother. She gathered ether into her staff and spread it over Marianne’s body. She tried to heal Marianne but regrettably, her actions were for naught. After all, even for all the magic in the world, it would take a miracle to revive someone.

“...Floren, I know how you feel right now…But we have to go now.” Floren stubbornly continued to heal Marianne, it was almost as if she couldn’t hear Niall at all. Niall thought of forcibly dragging her away when Edward’s corpse went flying into a nearby tree. His body was riddled with holes and his mask had been removed. Once Niall saw Edward’s face for the first time he realized why he wore a mask. Edward’s face was covered in scars. It was a secret he hid from everyone. A secret he intended to take to his grave and thanks to the slime his wish had been fulfilled. Niall stood behind Floren to defend her. He held his dagger firmly and braced himself for any incoming attack.

The slime emerged from the darkness once more. This time its right arm had morphed into an ax. Niall readied his dagger even though there was no chance he could win. The slime moved faster than he could blink and easily closed the distance between them. It cut Niall diagonally in half. Niall’s torso slid off his lower body and hit the ground with a quiet thud. When the slime cut Niall, some of his blood fell on Floren. That finally made her snap out of the trance she was in and she turned to the slime. She looked her would-be killer in the eyes or core to be precise and prepared herself for death. The slime raised its ax-arm above its head and brought it down on Floren. It cut her vertically in half. Floren’s body fell to the ground with her entrails, heart, brain and other internal organs leaking out.

Once they were all dead, the slime set out for the mercenaries’ camp and rummaged through their belongings. Then it finally found it, the item they had been guarding. It was a small black chest with an enchantment that prevented anyone from opening it. The slime brought out a small red stone from its clothes. The stone began to glow and its light washed over the chest. Instantly, the enchantment was nullified. The slime opened the chest to confirm its contents. Inside was a small gold ring. It was a plain ring with no jewels or gems on it. It might go for a decent price in a market but other than that it was pretty worthless. The mercenaries had lost their lives for such a seemingly insignificant item. After confirming that it found what it had been looking for, the slime closed the chest and placed it inside its body. With its objective complete, the slime walked away from the campsite, disappearing into the night.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

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Out of the four continents that exist in the world, the continent of Asafua is by far the smallest. Yet when taking into account Asafua's size in comparison to the other continents, it has the highest amount of natural resources.

Vibrant and lush forests, deep and massive underground stores of minerals and precious stones, bodies of water full of fish and other wondrous aquatic creatures and a climate suitable for growing nearly every crop in the world. All of these features make the continent of Asafua a major world power despite its small size.

Its current capital, Argentum, is a large hub of commerce situated at the southern coast of Asafua. Just a few decades ago, the city of Kumate had been Asafua's capital and Argentum had been nothing but a simple port town, yet it is now a thriving metropolis. The reason for this sudden change was the wise leadership of the current Argentum Chairman, Shika. After taking the reins of the city from his predecessor, he invested his wealth on the research and development of various goods. One of the results of this research was the creation of steam engines. The steam engines were relatively affordable and could be seen in nearly every household in Argentum. Thus Argentum became known as the city of steam. Street lamps, lifts, heating and cooling were all powered by steam.

The king of Asafua and his court still remains in the city of Kumate but for all intents and purposes, Argentum serves as the capital of Asafua.

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In a certain inn in Argentum, there lived a young woman named Sheba and her son. Sheba had the long, dark flowing hair and dark skin that was common among the people of Southern Asafua and her face was covered in dark freckles. Her son Solomon also had dark skin but he kept his hair short. Solomon and Sheba looked very similar to each other and because of how young Sheba looked, they were often mistaken for siblings. There was a key difference between them though and that was their eyes. Solomon had blood red eyes while Sheba had the more common brown eyes.

Everyday, hours before the sun rose from its slumber, Sheba would already be awake and ready to prepare breakfast for the inn’s guests. On one such morning, she walked into the main hall and was surprised to find Solomon cleaning the large table in the middle of the room. “Good morning.” Solomon said as their eyes met. “Good morning? It’s still dark out and you shouldn't be up so early in the first place. You know you have to leave for school in a few hours right?” Sheba said with her arms folded across her chest. Puzzled, Solomon questioned her.“I’m still allowed there?”

“...Surprisingly even after everything that happened a month ago, the school will allow you to continue attending.” Sheba walked up to her son and despite their height difference, she pet him on his head. “I know things are pretty hard for you at school but you only have a few months left until you graduate and after that you won’t have to go to school anymore. So just bear with it for a little bit more, okay?”

“Understood, mother.” Solomon was leaving the room when he heard his mother call out to him. “And who knows, you might make a friend in these next few months…or even a girlfriend.” A teasing smile formed across her face.

Solomon turned and looked at Sheba with the same expressionless face he always had. “I doubt that is ever going to happen mother.” Solomon and walked up the stairs to his room. Once he left, Sheba began to frown. She often worried about her son. Solomon was never able to understand or connect with people and that included his own mother. He barely emoted and he was always uncomfortably formal. These characteristics often led to misunderstandings and those misunderstandings led to fights. Solomon never lost a fight but it still made Sheba worry.

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Solomon flopped onto the bed in his room and picked up the book he was reading before. It was a story about a hero going on a quest to save the world from a great calamity. Throughout the story, the hero went through tough battles and met many people that helped him in his journey.

Solomon had read through the book multiple times but he could never understand it. He could not understand why the hero would go through so much pain for the sake of others and he wondered if he could do the same for his mother. The conclusion he came to was that he couldn’t. Solomon did not hate his mother at all. He had no reason to. She was always friendly and always made time for him and yet he could not seem to care much about her at all. Even he knew that how he felt about his mother and people in general was not normal. He reread the book over and over again in the hopes that this time he could understand it.

The light of the rising sun filled his room and he realized that yet again he failed to understand the book. He closed the book and got ready for school. Solomon wore a black coat, a red button-down shirt underneath, a red scarf, a pair of black trousers and a pair of brown leather boots. He also carried with him a handbag to carry his books in. As he made his way out of the inn, his mother ran out to see him off. She waved at him and he waved back as emotionlessly as ever.

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Solomon made his way through the bustling marketplace that neighbored his mother’s inn. The stalls there sold everything from raw fruits and vegetables to toys for children. Whenever he passed by someone, they would always stare at him with a strange face before quickly turning away. He pretended not to notice and continued walking. Ever since he could remember, he always received strange looks from people when he walked by. Solomon was not ugly by any means but there was something about him that seemed to repulse everyone around him.

Standing outside the school gates, Solomon watched as the other students walked in. The school was a large three story building that saw to the education of teenage Argentum citizens. There were quite a number of similar schools scattered throughout Argentum. The one Solomon attended was considered the best in the city and the Chairman’s own son attended the school.

It was a new school term and Solomon hoped he could make an acquaintance of one of the new students. His hopes were crushed as he heard some of the other students whispering to each other. “...Whatever you do, make sure you stay away from him. I’ve heard he beat people up just because they looked at him weird.” Solomon wondered how rumors like that had spread about him since he had never started a fight before.

Solomon slowly made his way to his classroom while ignoring all the strange stares he was receiving. All the stares and glares blended together but there was one gaze that stood out to him. ‘Him again?’ The boy Solomon could not ignore was a classmate of his. He had pale skin, bright blue eyes and long red hair that flowed past his shoulders. The boy also wore a white silk suit with a red cape. All these features made it clear that he was not a local. The boy was Chairman Shika’s only child, Nira. Everyone knew how aggressive Nira could be and how much he bullied the students in the school but due to his position, no one did anything to stop it. Thankfully a certain incident had turned his focus towards only one student.

The incident occurred a month ago on the day the school was closing for break. Nira was roughing up a student in the classroom when Solomon walked in. Solomon had left his handbag in the classroom and had gone back to retrieve it. He caught sight of the bullying and was more than willing to ignore it but Nira mistook his appearance there as Solomon provoking him to a fight. He walked slowly to Solomon and delivered a right jab to him. Solomon swatted his jab with his right foot. Then he spun around and kicked him with his left leg right into a wall. Ever since then, Solomon kept on seeing him over the break. Nira would show up at his mother’s inn with the excuse of having a meal there and he would show up whenever Sheba sent him to buy something from the markets. There were even times when Solomon looked out his window at night and he would see Nira standing there. Most people would have found it exhausting to have such a dedicated stalker but Solomon was not bothered in the slightest.

Even after the break Nira’s interest in Solomon had not waned. Throughout their lessons on that day, Solomon could feel Nira’s gaze on him but he ignored it and focused on his studies. Fortunately, Nira stopped once the school day was over. At the end of the school day, he saw other students grouping up and talking to one another. Some students were making their way home together, while others planned to meet up at one of the many cafes close to the school. He didn’t understand why or how people could meet up for something so mundane and unnecessary. He was curious and wanted to reach out to some of the students but he realized how impossible that was. Even without his reputation in the school, Solomon had a hard time connecting with people.

Solomon began his walk home when he felt more gazes on him. Unlike the gazes he felt on the way to school, they weren’t repulsed by him. They were hostile. He took a different route than usual. It led him to a quiet, secluded alleyway. Once there, the people following him made themselves known. He recognized one of them to be Nira but the other four were strangers. From a glance he knew they were not students. They were all large and muscular men. After seeing the leather armor they wore and the emblem of a two-headed fox on the armor, he realized that they were the city’s official guard.

“I wish I could say that it is a pleasure to meet you again but we both know that that’s not true.” A smile full of malicious intent spread across Nira’s face. “Ever since our fight, I’ve only been able to think about you. I’ve had sleepless nights dreaming about you pummeling me. You’re the only thing that has been on my mind Solomon!” Nira’s address to Solomon made the city guard look at him with puzzled expressions. They had been told that they were going to fight someone that had disrespected the young lord but it sounded more like he was confessing his love. “The humiliation you caused me, I intend to pay it back tenfold.” The guards quickly corrected the expressions on their faces and took out their swords. They all had wooden swords. It seemed they only intended to rough Solomon up a bit. “It’s five against one Solomon, you have no chance of winning. We don’t have to fight you know. All you have to do is kneel before me and lick my boots and I just might forgive your transgressions.” The guards exchanged concerned looks with one another. They all came to the conclusion that their master had some rather strange interests.

Solomon dropped his handbag on the ground and adopted a fighting stance. He squatted a bit and raised his fists to cover his face. It was clear that he had no intention of running. “Y-y-you’re going to resist, seriously?! Fine then, get him!” One of the guards approached Solomon slowly. “I’m sorry I gotta do this to ya kid. But orders are orders.”

The guard swung his sword downwards but Solomon nimbly moved to his right. Solomon tried to hit him with a spinning kick but the guard dodged just before he was going to hit. Before the guard could counter, Solomon hit him with his left elbow right into the wall. Small cracks formed on the wall and the guard collapsed onto the ground. Seeing this, the other guards realized that this was not a fight they could take lightly.

One of them charged at Solomon and made a series of fast stabs with his sword. Solomon easily avoided each stab but he was so preoccupied with the opponent in front of him, that he did not notice that one of the guards had slipped behind him. The guard behind him slashed horizontally aiming for Solomon’s head. Luckily, Solomon noticed right before he hit and raised his hand to block the hit. The guard’s attack knocked Solomon into the wall. After cornering Solomon, the two guards wasted no time and continued to press the attack. Using the flats of their swords, they unleashed a vicious assault on Solomon. One guard would knock Solomon into the sword of the other and occasionally they would mix in some punches and kicks.

Even after doing this for several minutes, Solomon showed no signs of giving up. They stopped beating him up and stepped back a bit. “Hah. Come on kid….won’t you…just give up already.” Solomon slowly got up and looked them straight in the eye and smiled. Everyone present was taken aback and they all took a few steps back. Truthfully, Solomon was not as emotionless as people thought. There was just one instance where he truly felt something close to human emotion. That instance was when he was in a fight. While fighting, there were times when he entered into a state of fever and could only think of finishing the fight.

Solomon got on all fours and sprinted. He vanished from the view of his opponents. When he reappeared his palm was on the face of one of the guards. Solomon launched him past Nira and the guard standing next to him. Then he delivered an uppercut to the closest guard next to him, propelling him into the air. While he was still airborne, Solomon grabbed his leg and slammed him into the concrete floor. Next Solomon picked up one of the wooden swords and threw it. The sword hit the last guard right in the head and he fell to his knees. After knocking all the guards out, the smile on Solomon’s face faded. The fever only lasted for as long as his opponents could fight. Solomon went to pick up his handbag when Nira called out to him. “Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going?!” Solomon was puzzled by Nira’s question. “My opponents can no longer fight. As far as I am concerned, this fight is over.”

“Do you mean to say you don’t consider me worthy of being your opponent?!” The veins on Nira’s head popped out. To any normal person it would be obvious that he was angry and that they should choose their response carefully in order to avoid provoking him more. Unfortunately, Solomon was anything but normal. His reply to Nira’s question was a simple “Yes.” That single reply caused all the anger on Nira’s face to disappear. Then he started laughing. “Hehehehe….You’re going to regret that.” The moment he stopped speaking, flames burst around him. Even though he was engulfed in flames, they did not seem to be burning him.

Nira’s arrogance was rightfully earned as he had always been good at everything he did and that included magic. Even as a child, using magic was as simple as breathing to him. Although the heat from the flames melted the concrete next to Nira and made Solomon sweat, he felt no fear. Nira gathered the flames that engulfed him into his hands and as he did Solomon smiled again and braced himself for Nira’s attack. The attack would never come as their fight was interrupted by the appearance of a stranger from above. The man jumped on top of Solomon and pinned him to the ground. He wore a hooded cloak and a faceless white mask. A blue liquid leaked out from his fingers and covered the entirety of Solomon’s head. In mere seconds, Solomon lost his breath and passed out.“Hey what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Nira said as he shot a fireball at the man.

The man’s free hand turned into a whip and smacked the fireball. The smoke from the ensuing explosion hid the man from Nira’s vision. When the smoke cleared, the man had disappeared with Solomon. Nira looked up and was just able to catch a glimpse of the man leaping from rooftop to rooftop while carrying Solomon with him.