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Chapter 40: Bow’s Decision

Sila couldn’t open his system window while following Bow as it took his full concentration just to glide alongside her. Therefore, he decided to read slime race’s skill descriptions later.

Bow seemed to be in a hurry. She went ahead of Sila as he was gliding too slow. She only waited for him when she was almost out of sight. This happened a lot, so Sila couldn’t help but comment.

“If Bow is busy, you can just tell me where to go and I can go by myself.”

“No, Big Brother, I’m not. I’m just impatient,” replied Bow.

“Impatient?” wondered Sila.

A big smile emerged on Bow’s pink body. “The faster Big Brother finishes your quest, the faster I will be able to witness the outside world. I’m just so happy. I have never seen the outside world before.”

Sila felt surprised yet also pitied her. He looked around and found that it wasn't just Bow, but other slimes as well that looked at him with meaningful eyes containing one word.

Hope.

Sila started to feel worried. He wasn’t confident in himself. The more hope they placed on him, the more pressure he felt. Once when he was a child, his teacher always told him that he was putting too much thought into his actions. Sometimes, people don’t need to be concerned about unnecessary thoughts, especially during a battle. There is no need to think about what would happen if he loses or what would happen if he wins; he should focus on the fight itself, not the result.

Sila was sometimes able to do it. But usually, when he faced stronger opponents, he couldn’t help but think that he might lose.

With these thoughts running through his head, his body stopped moving. He needed to focus again to follow Bow who was waiting for him up ahead.

Both of them finally arrived at the cliff located near the edge of the kingdom. There was a signpost saying this place is called the Cliff of Heroes. If it weren’t for the sign, the cliff wouldn’t look much different from other cliffs.

“Bow, why is this place called the Cliff of Heroes?” asked Sila.

“Because this is the place where slimes have to face against hard ordeals. It’s a place to test whether one is mature enough. If one wants to take on the ordeals, one needs to prove that one is brave enough to jump off this cliff,” answered Bow.

Sila moved closer to the cliff. “Thank you for bringing me here, Bow. You can leave now.” He said as he saw her still standing on the edge of the cliff.

Bow seemed to hesitate for a moment before determination flashed in her eyes.

“Big Brother, jump after me, okay?”

Sila couldn’t say anything back. Bow had already jumped off the cliff.

“Hey. Wait…”

Sila looked downward. The cliff seemed to have a bottomless pit, as he couldn’t see anything down there but darkness. As Bow said, bravery is needed to jump off and face against something unknown that is waiting for us.

“Even a little girl like her can jump...” Sila muttered to himself. He swallowed his saliva and finally jumped off.

Sila was descending. A dimmed light seemed to be slowly fading off. Sila was swallowed by the darkness. In the end, he was completely surrounded by darkness. Now he couldn’t see anything.

It was truly dark. It felt like he himself had become a part of the darkness.

***

He didn’t know how much time had passed. Once Sila woke up, he found that he was finally on the flat ground. He must have arrived at the bottom of the cliff. He was surprised by how this place was bright as daytime.

“So you finally woke up.” A bass sound of a man’s voice rang out. Sila turned his head to look.

There was a slime as big as the Slime King standing in front of him. This slime’s color was blue. A scar could be seen under his left eye.

As Sila was a qi-type player, he could somehow sense qi deep within the slime’s eyes.

“Yes, sir. I have woken up.” Sila replied before looking around. “Excuse me, sir, where is Bow?”

“That girl? She is currently participating in the trial,” answered the blue slime.

“The trial?” Sila was curious. Does this slime mean the ordeals of the Way of the Slime?

“It seems you don’t completely understand, so I will explain. We slime are different from other races that are born with their natural energy type. For instance, dragons are magic-type creatures, merpeople are psychic-types, and wolves are qi-types. Usually, when humans choose a race, they tend to choose a race that is in line with their current energy type for efficiency. Well, choosing a race of a different energy type from their own is fine too. Doing so would grant you the skills of another energy type. Although it’s not an efficient choice, some people choose this way as it’s more versatile.

“However, our slime race is different. We are able to use all three energy types when we are young. We only have to choose the energy type once we mature. It’s like a succubus that can choose its gender once it reaches adulthood. Though, slime needs to be accepted that they have matured. What that girl, Bow, is currently doing is trying to pass a trial to prove that she’s mature enough to choose her own energy type. It’s only that…”

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

Sila was about to ask for more details, but as the blue slime paused at that moment, he felt that he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear. However, he asked anyway.

“It’s only… what?”

“It’s only that Bow is still too young. I don’t know if she will survive. Actually, she should’ve tried to do it in another five years, but she said she was in a hurry.”

Sila’s body was pale. “Wait. Why didn’t you stop her then, sir?”

The blue slime shook its body with a solemn expression. “I can’t. Jumping off the Cliff of Heroes means that she believes she is ready to face whatever fate awaits her. There are only two results: pass the trial or death. It’s a rule. The name of this place already implies that fact. If you dare to face the trial, you also need to accept the consequence of your actions.”

Sila was stunned. He couldn’t believe that Bow was such a reckless girl. No, thinking about it, this decision of her was made partly because of him. She might have been standing at the edge of the cliff for so long, hesitating to face the trial. But his arrival shoved that hesitation of hers away.

Hope.

Such a powerful concept which can lead to either good or bad results. It is like water that can make a boat float while also able to drag it down. Bow must be impatient to get out of this place and she believes that Sila can help her do that. She believed in him so much that she showed her resolve by jumping off the cliff to obtain her freedom.

“Don’t lose yourself in other people’s business. You would be better off being concerned about yours.” The blue slime interrupted Sila.

“Me?”

“Is what I have said not clear enough? There are only two results waiting for any slimes who jump off the cliff: pass the trial or death.”

Sila just realized at that time. He came to complete Way of Slime’s ordeal too.

“My name is Poluk. I’m your instructor in the first trial,” said the blue slime.

“My name is Sila,” Sila said with a quiet voice. He was still unable to stop worrying about Bow.

“Don’t worry. I’m kinder than the others. For my trial, two days from now, I will let you fight against a Troll, a level 1000, Squire-ranked monster. You just have to beat it. Easy, right?” said Poluk.

Sila pulled a wry face. He wouldn’t complain if he was in his usual human form. But with this slime form, it was hard to even move. Considering both this and the fact that he wasn’t able to use qi, how would he be able to win against a level 1000 Troll?

Oh, he realized that he still hadn’t read the slime race’s skill descriptions yet.

Thus, Sila opened his skill window to take a look at his newly acquired skills.

“What?” exclaimed Sila after he had read the skill description.

“What are you shocked about?” asked Poluk.

Apparently, Sila was shocked at how useless these skills seemed to be. Fluffy, colorful, and transparent. How could these things help him in a fight? What about that tale telling him that slimes are comparable to dragons? Is this supposed to be a joke?

“Umm, I remember that the Slime King told me that I can only rely on the slime race’s skills to complete the trials. Am I right?” confused Sila.

“Yes. That’s correct. What’s wrong with it?”

“Umm, I’m sorry, sir, but allow me to say it bluntly. I can’t see how these skills can help me in a fight.”

“Are you suspecting? Well, as I’m the kindest and most handsome among three Slime Guardians, I will let your witness the might of the skill,” said Poluk while he was hopping into the center of the arena. “As I’m the most handsome and kindest slime, let me tell you something first. I’m a qi-type slime. The skill that I’m about to show you is Form…,” oops, what was it called again? Oh, right, Fluffy Slime.”

Sila was distracted as he was curious about the criteria of how to indicate that slime is handsome or not. Therefore, he missed what Poluk was saying. He could grasp that Poluk was about to show him the Fluffy Slime skill though.

“Release the troll!” shouted Poluk.

The ground was slightly shaken. A wall in front of them was opened. Giant-size monsters walked through that wall. In their hand was a hammer that looked crooked just like their face.

“Hm? Why are so many coming out? Well, whatever,” muttered Poluk.

Tens of trolls walked in Sila’s direction. Their bodies were huge. One of their shadows could easily cover Sila’s tiny body. It was bigger than him even if he was in his human form. With him being in the slime form like this, the troll’s body looked so gigantic and there should be no way for him to beat it.

“Watch closely,” Poluk said to Sila.

One of the trolls lifted its hammer up, then smashed it down to Poluk. Meanwhile, Poluk didn’t even care to dodge. He instead stood firmly, welcoming the attack.

Based on Poluk’s confidence, Sila didn’t worry at all. He decided to give his all to watch what was about to happen closely.

*Crack*

The sound of something cracking could be heard as soon as the hammer collided with Poluk’s body. But it wasn’t his body that was damaged. Instead, it’s the hammer that was broken into pieces. Sila could see that Poluk’s body had turned gray like steel.

“Watch again,” said Poluk.

Then, Poluk sprung himself from the ground into the air. He was rolling as though he was a blue-color ball spinning towards a troll at high speed.

Once Poluk landed on one troll, he was bouncing off and landing on other trolls as if he was a rubber ball. Sila focused without blinking and noticed that upon contact, Poluk’s body would turn gray like steel for a moment, then change back after he hit the troll.

Poluk was floating in midair before his body turned black and dived towards the ground at a high speed. Once he was close to the ground, his color changed once more to white and he landed softly.

All trolls turned into white lights and disappeared at that moment. Not even ten seconds had passed since the last troll came out.

“Well? Did you understand anything?” asked Poluk.

Sila nodded using his whole body, “Mister Poluk, why did you sometimes turn black and sometimes turn white?”

“Think about it yourself. I have shown you enough.”

Sila tried to use the Fluffy Slime skill. His body seemed to turn whiter. He had no way to tell whether his body had become softer or not though.

However, no matter how long he tried, his body wouldn’t turn blacker at all.

Seeing Sila that was trying, Poluk didn’t interrupt him. He just walked around Sila until the ground shook slightly again. This time, one orange-colored slime came hopping towards Poluk with a troubled expression.

Poluk went to talk with the visitor and they began whispering about something. Sila turned his head to look at them. However, doing so caused him to lose control and release the fluffy state. He had to refocus his mind.

‘Being a slime is so troublesome. I can do only one thing at a time,’ thought Sila.

Poluk and the orange slime seemed to have finished their conversation. The orange slime went back to where it had come from. The wall shook again and closed itself off. Meanwhile, Poluk walked toward Sila. Seeing that, Sila stopped his practice as he could guess that Poluk wanted to tell him something.

“I have good news and bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?” asked Poluk.

“Bad news first, then,” replied Sila. He was the type to keep the good part for later. This way, at least he would feel that the bad news was compensated by good news.

“The bad news is… that girl didn’t pass the trial.”

“Does that mean… she is dead?” Sila’s voice was shaken. Although it was true that he had only met her today, he could tell that she is a very likable and energetic girl.

“Dead? Why are you cursing her like that? She just didn’t pass the qi-type trial. There are still the magic-type and psychic-type trials left,” said Poluk.

Sila smiled. “Phew. You told me that it was bad news, so I thought…”

“It is bad news though. I always hope that there will be one more qi-type slime. Geez…” sighed Poluk.

Sila ignored this. At least Bow was still trying her best. It seemed like one could afford to fail up to two times in this whole ordeal.

“What about the good news, sir?” Sila asked happily.

“The good news is, just now, there was an error. All of the trolls have been released. There’s nothing for you to beat now,” replied Poluk.

“Ah? What about my trial, then?”

“Don’t worry. This handsome and kind slime has already come up with a solution.”

“What is the solution?” asked Sila.

“It’s easy. Just fight against me instead. If you win, you pass.” Poluk smiled.

Sila’s body went paler without him activating any skill. He wondered how this slime differentiated between good and bad news.