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Chapter 52: Welcome to Slime Kingdom — Special Arc
Once morning came, everyone woke up and washed their face. They ate an easy breakfast and prepared themselves for the journey to the Underwater Palace.
Burapha took out a wooden raft when they arrived at the beach, causing Bluebird to frown.
“Can this raft take us to the Underwater Palace? Won’t it sink?”
“Don’t worry. We just have to arrive there. For the return trip, we will use Return Scrolls. The problem is that I didn’t prepare for our team to have an additional member. I’m not sure myself whether this raft can handle our weight,” Burapha said.
“No problem.” After Bluebird finished speaking, his body flashed and transformed into a blue tailorbird. “It’s okay now.”
“Can you help us fight in this form?” Burapha asked.
“Ahem, don’t worry. I can use magic in whatever form,” Bluebird replied while thinking inwardly. ‘it’s much weaker than usual though.’
“We should get going. How long will it take for us to arrive at the Underwater Palace?” Sila asked.
“If you travel by normal raft, it would take you full day. But with me around, just three hours is enough,” Burapha answered.
Sila nodded and stepped onto the raft, followed by Burapha. As for Bluebird, he flew and landed himself on an open spot.
“Okay, Water Spirit.” Burapha activated a skill. Then, the sea under the raft began to push the raft forward at high speed as fast as using motor. Sila felt slightly surprised. No wonder he couldn’t see a single paddle at sight.
“Merpeople are psychic type, aren’t they? How can you use magic?” Bluebird was quick to ask. As expected of a newshawk.
“Water Spirit is not magic. It is a racial skill of the merpeople that lets the user control liquid. It’s much easier to use than magic, but its downside is that I can’t generate water out of thin air like magic. I can only control it,” Burapha replied.
“So, you can’t use it in a desert?”
“No, but I have already come up with a solution. I always bring water tanks with me in case I have to fight in a place without water. I even purchased water tanks used by armies,” Burapha said.
Sila began to respect Burapha’s prudence for knowing his own weakness and trying to overcome it. Compared to himself who had so many weaknesses, Sila thought that Burapha was more praiseworthy than him.
He had decided. Once he has gotten Qi of Little Turtle, he would immediately go to Madmen’s Valley to cure his body. After that, he would try his best to polish his ability while searching for Montra to have a rematch.
***
At the same time, within the Labyrinthine Forest Cathedral.
The sound of fighting could be heard loudly in the forest. The trees fell disorderly as if they were hit by a hurricane, but upon looking closely, one would notice that it was actually caused from the fight between a man and a white tiger.
The tiger’s body was injured all over in contrast to the light injuries on the man. While they were glaring at each other to look for an opportunity to strike, the man’s injuries were beginning to recover at fast pace.
Seeing that, the white tiger was aware that it would eventually lose if the fight went on like this. Its opponent could recover too fast.
This man used power as though he had a limitless resource. Just based on the fact that he had broken through the maze to come to the cathedral without waiting for the maze to become undone was enough to indicate this man’s insane power.
The tiger knew that it would die from exhaustion if it waited any longer. Hence, it circulated qi throughout its body. Its body seemed to double in size. This was its last attack. It put all of its attack power into this upcoming strike, hoping to decide the victor within one move.
The growl that fused with qi was roaring aloud throughout the forest. The surrounding trees were torn apart with this roar. However, the man stood still as if this roar had no effect on him. His body was glowing with qi while he was standing firmly on the ground.
The tiger charged at him suddenly at a speed unsuitable to its body size. Two of its claws lifted up and were prepared to behead its opponent. If this man was still able to recover after his head was separated from the body, it would have no choice but to give up.
The man crouched down slightly. His hands were put together, forming a blade made of psychic energy. The qi within his body surged into the newly formed blade, causing the blade to shake slightly.
The man turned his body to dodge the tiger’s claws and performed a counterattack. He used his right hand covered with the psychic blade to stab under the tiger’s chin. Coupled with the tiger’s charging speed, the cut was slashed down to its abdomen.
The momentum of the tiger ended by crashing into the trees behind the man. Its qi was completely depleted. With its wound being larger than a meter and its nonstop bleeding, it knew its fate. The enlarged eyes of it were staring at the man who was about to kill it.
The silver-haired man was wearing soft silver armor. His set of knight’s armor seemed to be incomplete as it was lacking the piece for one of the arms. The man didn’t wield any weapons. The tiger couldn’t see its opponent’s eyes as they were covered by a blindfold.
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It even lost to a blindfolded person.
The man moved closer. His hand was placed on the tiger’s thick skin.
The tiger closed its eyes to accept its own death. Actually, this man didn’t have to do anything. It would die anyway in no more than three minutes.
Suddenly, the flow of qi was transmitted into the tiger’s body. It also felt less pain.
The tiger opened its eyes and found that its wound was recovering. The qi it felt was actually Recovering Qi.
“I only need an item. I don’t intend to kill anyone,” said the man.
Ten minutes had passed, the wound on the tiger’s body was completely healed. It put itself onto its feet and stared at the man who had almost killed it. However, it was also this man that pulled it back from death’s door. It had waited for this kind of man for a long time.
A white light was flashed covering the tiger’s body. A system sound rung inside the man’s head.
[You have been acknowledged by the Cloudy Tiger, Level 500 Marquis Rank. It has become your pet. Since the rank of Cloudy Tiger is superior than yours, you have no right to decline its offer.]
[You have been acknowledged by the Cloudy Tiger and gotten (A) Cloudy Tiger Card.]
[You have been acknowledged by the Cloudy Tiger and gotten (A) Tiger-Subduing Bracelet.]
[You have won against the Cloudy Tiger within the Labyrinthine Forrest Cathedral, achieving a special condition. You have gotten the Scroll of Qi of Little Tiger.]
Once the system sound died down, a white bracelet suddenly appeared on his right hand. The Cloudy Tiger turned into a light and was absorbed into the bracelet.
Shueria looked at a scroll in his hand. He had reached a halfway point towards achieving his goal. The training in Madmen’s Valley had helped him to become stronger than he ever imagined. But that itself was just a bonus. More importantly, his mind had been reformed and calmed down.
As he immersed himself in the training, he had received enlightenment. The thought of avenging his defeat at the hands of Sila was no longer important to him. He even felt gratitude to Sila whom had drove him to develop his ability to this degree.
Nevertheless, although he didn’t feel resentful anymore, he still would like to have a rematch against Sila to prove his ability.
He was reminded of the saying ‘Let yourself be free and you will find a way.’
Personally, Shueria didn’t have a grudge against Sila. He wasn’t himself at that time. He acted as he was ordered to do. At that time, his mind then was affected by Sila and the heated atmosphere of battle, causing him to be angered. Looking back, Shueria saw that his mind wasn’t strong enough and wavered easily. Since then, he has been training his mind to become calm and clear instead of training his body. However, the result of the training had caused his fighting ability to surpass his old self.
“Next destination is Cloudy City,” muttered Shueria while forcing his way out of the forest with terrain complicated like a maze.
***
At the same time, in the Slime Kingdom.
The Slime Kingdom was peaceful as usual. The slimes practiced their skills as a part of their routine. Due to the fact that all three skills could be practiced anywhere and anytime, the slimes could always polish their skills. Their expertise in these skills was top notch.
However, today, something had changed in the Slime Kingdom. The alarm went off in every corner of the kingdom.
[[Your kingdom is about to be invaded. Please prepare yourself for the invasion in the next five minutes.]]
Every slime was looking at each other. This was the first time that their kingdom had been invaded so many of them didn’t know what to do. However, some of them were jumping merrily by the fact they were about to have a fight. It was very boring for them to practice skills without an end goal. At least they would have a chance to show off the result of their practiced skills.
The Slime King and Slime Guardians went to the central plaza. Every slime greeted their king before turning their head back to stare at the dimensional portal that was distorting in the air. They were counting down the time until the portal completely formed itself.
“Why is the Slime Kingdom being invaded? We have never offended anyone before,” Poluk said
“It’s because of Bow,” Slime King answered.
“How is Bow related, Your Majesty?” Viola asked.
“Bow was born and has grown within this kingdom. That’s why she would still be in her genuine form even when she goes outside. Humans are greedy. Witnessing Bow, there must be some people who think that they can find other slimes like her in our kingdom. I had already expected this outcome when Sila took Bow outside. It’s just that it happened way sooner than I anticipated. Only a few days have passed since then,” Slime King explained.
“What should we handle this, Your Majesty?” Poluk asked.
“They are guests. Obviously, we will give them a warm welcome. Are there three minutes remaining? Umm… Divine.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Do you have an order for me?” Divine asked.
“Can you help me move this dimensional portal somewhere else?”
“Your majesty is quite playful. You want me to move it to there, am I correct?”
“Yes. Help me with that.”
Divine nodded and went to the corner of the kingdom. The portal was moving, following Divine as if it was being dragged away. This was caused by the psychic skill called Psychic Manipulation which has the ability to manipulate an opponent’s skill result.
The Dimension-Crossing Device is counted as a psychic device, so it was affected by this skill.
“All slimes should follow Divine,” Slime King said.
All of the slimes then obediently followed after Divine. The only slimes that remained in the central plaza were the Slime King, Poluk, and Viola.
“Where is it that your majesty intends to move the portal to?” Viola asked with curiosity.
“Oh. To the Cliff of Heroes.”
“Cliff of Heroes?” Viola wondered. “Please forgive me for saying this, but I personally can’t believe that our slimes would lose to those who are invading, whoever they are. There should be no need for us to be concerned about the slimes’ safety.”
“Firstly, I’m sure that the invading party is humans. There are not that many races that can use a device like the Dimension-Crossing Device. Lastly, I’m not concerned about the safety of the slimes. I’m more concerned about the safety of those who are invading instead.”
“Concerned about their safety? I don’t understand. Why do we have to be afraid of them dying?” Poluk asked.
“Hoho. We rarely have any guests. Given we have a chance now, we should do our best to welcome them. I don’t know how many are coming. Their numbers might be too few for us.”
Viola grinned. She finally noticed Slime King’s intention.
“I see. With the Cliff of Heroes’ ability, we can welcome them to our heart’s content. We can even welcome them multiple times.” Viola emphasized the word ‘welcome’ with a sinister tone.
Once Poluk heard Viola’s comment, he finally understood. He smiled while saying, “That would be the best course of action. Our little slimes are having a problem of lacking in actual battle experience themselves. The trolls that we once tamed have all died. They are too stupid anyway. Instead of the trolls, those humans must have different kinds of attack patterns. They are very suited to be welcomed by our slimes to increase the slimes’ combat experience.”
“It’s good that you two understand. Poluk and Viola, your duty is to re-invite our guests to the Cliff of Heroes to receive our warm welcome. I will go help you guys shortly after this.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Poluk and Viola gave Slime King a bow. Then, they followed after Divine and stayed at the edge of the cliff. Their duty was to re-invite their guests into the bottom of the cliff again and again.
The Slime King was looking at the starless sky of the Slime Kingdom. He thought he had to take some action. Placing all the hopes on Sila might give Sila too much of a burden. He longed to see a smile on the face of every slime once they witnessed the true sunlight and stars.
The sorrowful cries could be heard from afar. Hearing those, a smile formed at the corner of the Slime King’s mouth.
“At least the Slime Kingdom is livelier than usual today.”