The smoke clears, the blue of the sky peaking through, revealing the charred landscape cloaked by the smoke. The remains of slimes are sparse, only recognizable by small spots of goo scattered throughout. Our eyes hop from green puddle to green puddle, vainly attempting to comprehend the scene.

All the while, LionsBlaze stands tall, shoulders straight and head high. His staff planted into the ground, his eyes surveying the scene in front of him.

The silence from the question extends for a time, one side still gathering their wits, and the other basking in their glory.

Eventually, the pedestal beneath LionsBlaze’s feet shrinks, and the veil over our minds fizzles. One by one, the eyes of Ash, Silky, and myself fall on to the lone figure overlooking the scene.

Ash taps her foot, eyes boring a hole into LionsBlaze’s skull, “Sooo, explanation?”

LionsBlaze remains unmoved… for a moment. Then, his lips fall, shoulder dip, eyes widen, and posture crumples. Suddenly, it’s as though Ash stands hands and feet above him, looking down upon his smaller form.

He shuffles his feet and fidgets with his staff, avoiding her eyes.

Undeterred, Ash takes a step toward him, then another. Each step is slow, steady, and powerful. A war drum booms with each contact, striking LionsBlaze—sending him shuffling away.

Ash stands above him, her posture tall and imposing, “You know that we just failed the quest, right? Somehow, all of the goo managed to go up in flames. Seems, mysterious, mayhaps even… suspicious! But who could say for sure… It’s not like anyone here can do magic, right?”

Shivers travel up my back from the tone. It’s a Mother's tone when questioning a guilty child, and she knows.

Ash takes another step, removing any illusion of separation between the two. Then, suddenly, her hand land on his shoulders, the fiery aura around her fading. In the next moment, abundant energy exudes from Ash, her body trembling and her toes bouncing.

“Do you know what this means?! As long as the horns of the rabbits can survive the blast, we’ve just got our ticket to the next combat lesson!”

Removing all pretense, she shakes his shoulders, jumping up and down as a smile bloomed on her face.

LionsBlaze looks up, his eyebrows scrunched, peering at Ash’s face from behind his staff. After a few seconds, he nods, seemingly to himself, straitens his back, squared his shoulders, and lifts his head to its former position of glory.

Alas, it seems his shoulders were never meant to hold such a position for long. Moments later, his forehead scrunches as his lips pull down.

“I… Have doubts that the horns would survive the blast unscathed.”

Ash nods, patting his shoulder before turning back to us, “Well, beyond the failure of the quest, I think that the training was a success. Don’t you think?”

Feeling the air settle, I let out a breath as my shoulder loosen. Quickly, I nod. ‘We learned a lot about working around each other in tense situations and the power of a mage. I doubt there is much more one could really hope for.’

Silky follows quickly, her nod fast and exaggerated. Oddly, she has moved to be positioned slightly closer to me yet a few steps behind… ‘She’s placed me between herself and Ash… I see your game.’

After a moment, I turn toward the direction of the portal and begin walking. I wave my hand forward before I glance at LionsBlaze, “So, how repeatable is that?”

“Not at all. I only figured it out during my last slime mission. Getting all the Glyphs to properly work with each other is grueling and tiresome. Plus, even when you try to take hold of the mana, you can still fail, stealing energy from your internal harmony. I failed twice before I managed to successfully cast the spell!”

Ash turns toward him, head tilted, “How do you practice then?”

“Remember when I was fiddling with my hands in the lobby?”

We nod.

“I was actually conjuring the Glyphs in the air, trying to synch them, before letting them dissipate. As long as I don’t fuel them, the process of conjuring them is not all that costly beyond the focus required. Though the headaches after a long session suck.

However, that on its own would only do so much. The staff that Alrick gave us is super important. It allows me to see the Glyphs I need for the spell, allowing me to trace them in the air. It also helps to stabilize the Glyphs, preventing them from dissipating after I form them. As a tax, I need to funnel magic into the staff through the entire process. It’s one of the reasons that the process is so costly.”

At first, Ash’s head drops. However, as his explanation continues, it rises till she once again stands tall. “Ahh, so your not some magical genius that started casting spells before we can even access our mana to begin with.”

“Hey, I’m still ahead of most players. Alrick doesn’t expect anyone to be able to cast a spell till late tomorrow!” LionsBlaze complains.

“Don’t worry. You can still be our little magical prodigy… sister Pheno.”

“Hey! Just cause your all gals doesn’t mean I’ve gotta become one!”

I slowly inch away, trying to escape…

✧ ✧ ✧

The doors of the guild swing open, allowing us to once again catch sight of its interior. We walk to the attendant—Sarah apparently—to inform her of the quest’s failure.

The doors of the guild swing open, allowing us to once again catch sight of its interior. The guild attendant—Sarah apparently—turns, watching us as we come in.

At the desk, Ash steps forward, her bracelet extended. “Hey, Sarah. We killed all the slimes in the quest area, however, due to a certain pyro, almost all of them went up in flames. What's the guild policy regarding such incidents? No reward, loss of merit, temporary ban?”

Sarah gently grabs Ash’s wrist, lowering it to the guild table to transfer the quest items and reveal the quest info.

“Ahh, no worries. Because you have yet to complete your trial period, there will be no extra costs for the waste of the portal tablet. As you expected, you will get no reward or merit for the quest. You are allowed to take your next quest whenever you like, though try not to waste it.”

Sarah's small form vibrates as she speaks, a smile stretching from ear to ear. The memory of how she had been the same in our previous interactions surfaces in my mind. ‘I guess she really likes the job?’

“By the way, for the horned rabbit quest, what condition do the horns need to be in to be able to turn them in?” LionsBlaze asks.

“Well, as long as they're intact, they will still be enough to complete the quest for merit, though if they're too damaged, you may lose the reward in its entirety.”

“Ahh, I see. Thank you so much for your help.”

Sarah bounces in response, her smile so bright it may start to light the room on its own.

We grab the next quest and make for Silky’s portal.

✧ ✧ ✧

The next quest is less… Dramatic. We agree on the way to take this quest as a run to practice teamwork at spear point, as we are yet unsure whether using magic is a good idea.

We move through the portal, discovering a swamp with willows sprouting throughout. The light breaking through the canopy is majestic, yet what it reveals is anything but. The swamp is filled with stagnant water—nearly black in color—its surface littered with leaves and branches from the branches above.

“Sooo, this is new,” I comment.

“Really, I’ve had 2 quests like this?” LionsBlaze asks, bewildered.

“Really?” Ash returns

A moment passes.

“Well, I guess this is normal. We where just lucky,” Skily says.

I nod, “So it would seem. Unfortunately, it seems that that luck ran out.”

Ash, too, nods, “Or, LionsBlaze is bad luck.”

“Hey!”

Before a fight can start, I take a step through the portal, “Come on, those slimes aren’t gonna slay themselves.”

The others follow, dropping the conversation.

“...”

“Eeeew. This is gross!” Silky exclaims

“Indeed,” I say monotonously.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

✧ ✧ ✧

Traveling through the swamp is slow and irritating. The water is around two feet deep near the trees, deepening as the gap between them expands. Due to this, we are forced to trek an awkward route from tree to tree, our visibility limited by both the shade and trees.

After some time, we finally find the slimes. They are floating between a clump of trees, chowing down on the debris floating on the water's surface.

We form up between two trees, helping to prevent the slimes to surround us. With four people instead of three, we place Ash and me in the middle--half a stride ahead of the others—with Silky on the left and LionsBlaze on the right.

As we form up, the slimes notice us, the closest to us starting their advance. Soon those behind also catch sight of us, beginning a wave of sightings until the entire group quickly turns and moves toward us.

The fight is swift, but not without strife. The water hampers our movements significantly, meanwhile, it raises the height of the slimes. Further, the slimes swam through the water rather than hopping, eliminating the moment of immobility between hops. Worse yet, they move faster overall.

All this is to say—they move faster while we are slower. We stab and thrust, taking them out—they advance. We step and shift, trying to maneuver—they advance. We tighten our formation, covering for each other—they advance. Soon, they are upon us, a large number within a stride of us, continuing their charge. Seconds later, it’s half a stride they a quarter.

“Retreat!”

Quickly, we turn, and we run. We may be slower in the water, but we still outpace the slimes. A few manage to catch me as I turn, but their weak acid makes no damage in the time before I swipe it off. We move, the distance between us and the slimes growing by the second. Soon, we entirely leave there aggro range, allowing them to slowly lose interest.

“Whew!”

“That was close!”

“How the heck did you do this on your own?!”

A mix of words come from us, though Ash’s question breaks through them all. LionsBlaze looks briefly startled, before quickly regaining his wits.

“Well, mainly by standing atop the mangrove roots.”

“...”

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” Ash questions.

Lionsblaze pauses, looking deeply at Ash.

“I had thought you had a reason for not attempting to do so. Mainly I suspected it had to do with the limited space reducing the amount of practice we could get on teamwork.”

Ash is briefly shocked, her eyes widening, before she closes them, taking a deep breath.

“No, I had not considered that. With that said, I think that your thoughts on why not to use them holds true. I think that the practice we’ll get from being hindered in the water will prove helpful, so I think we will continue as such. Thoughts?”

‘Hmm… I hadn’t thought of standing atop the roots—that was dumb. I’ll have to do a better job of taking in the surroundings. But as for what Ash is saying… I think I get where she’s coming from.’

“Are you thinking that we’ll have to think more strategically due to our reduced mobility, requiring us to more effectively utilize our teamwork to pull through?”

“Ehh, more the latter than the former. The water will largely inhibit our mobility for small controlled movements. It will force us to rely more on each other for difficult circumstances.”

I nod to this.

“Makes sense,” Silky says.

“Basically what I was thinking,” LionsBlaze adds.

“Round Two then,” Ash says, grinning.

✧ ✧ ✧

Coming around a wide mangrove, We spot the slimes in another clearing between the trees, around three-quarters of their original number.

“Climb up the mangrove and find a choke point,” Ash says.

I nod, turning and climbing the tree. Now crouched on the tall roots, I seep my gaze along the clearing. ‘No, no, no, ye—no, maybe, no, probably not, no, Yes!’ Across the clearing and a bit to the right, two mangroves are quite close, creating a sufficient gap for us to fit in, yet small enough to make it so in formation, the tree would be a stride from each wing.

“Found one. Over at 2 o’clock, there is a set of two mangroves with an ideal gap.”

Having reported my finding, I look back to the slimes, thinking through a strategy. ‘There are still quite a few. Even with the tree, some will be able to sneak threw the roots, so we will probably be overrun eventu—’

Ash pats my back, “Looks good. Let's go for it.”

We climb down the mangrove carefully, only making small riddles when we re-enter the water. Then, we move arround the perimeter of the clearing, keeping the mangroves between us and the slimes. Between each mangrove, I turn to watch the slimes, making sure they didn’t spot us.

Coming around the final tree, I poke my head out, confirming the slimes have not moved. Satisfied, I turn back to my team.

“Ok, I think we’re good to strategize a little. I think we need a new formation, as the current one was developed for fighting on solid ground.”

Ash nods, placing her hand on her chin, “Hmm… a good point. I suppose closing up ranks would be the first on the list. The whole point of the distance was to give space for maneuvering while still being in striking distance of a lounge. With the water slowing our movements, lounges aren’t really a standard move anymore, so we need to work without them in mind.”

“Mmm… but there's more to it,” Phino muses, “Footwork, in general, is hampered. We need to be more international with each movement. We don’t have the same wiggle room to overcome mistakes with faster movement. The slimes are now faster while we are slower. This is the reason why we decided to stay on the ground, no?”

“Very true,” Silky nods, “Though I will add that this won’t work on chasing after the horned rabbits, not that it needs to. Just pointing out that this isn’t perfect training—it’s just effective training for footwork and strategic movement.”

“True enough. Well it seems that beyond the addendum to the formation and the reminder to focus on footwork, we’re ready to go.” Ash says ending the discussion.

I move over to the right-wing position, two strides off from the large roots of the Mangrove. A little to the left and in front of me is Phino. To the left of him is Ash. Finally, parallel with me, Silky stands in the left wing.

“Huh, now that we tightened up the formation, this spot is no longer as ideal…” I note.

“That’s true, I guess we can climb a tree to find a new sp—”

“The slimes noticed us!” Silky announces, interrupting Ash.

I turn, counting how many have started in our direction. ‘two… four… six… seve—’

“Well, we can still leave, but we’ll have to wait for them to loose aggro,” Pheno says.

‘Eight. That’s a pretty stacked wave, but we can handle it.’ I turn, returning my focus to the group.

“I’d say stay. We weren't going to defeat the wave to begin with, so this is no real loss. We’ll get a feel for the formation, and do it right next time.”

“I agree,” Silky says

“Sounds good to me,” Ash says.

“Welp, guess we’re staying then,” Phino notes.

I return my focus to the oncoming slimes. More have begun approaching. The ones in the lead have reached their max speed, cruising along toward us, while the new ones are still speeding up. The speed isn’t exactly fast, maybe a light jog, but when you’re in knee-deep water, that's fast.

Instead of the first one being taken out at the 2 strides away (4-5 feet), Ash stabs out as the first slime reaches about a stride and a half’s distance. She is quickly followed by Phino as he takes at one coming for her from just behind the first. In the next second Ash stabs again, followed yet gain by Phino.

As they get into their rhythm to keep the slimes off them, the first slime gets to my range. I stab out, taking out only it’s core. I get into my rhythm. I recover, I stab, recover, stab, recover stab. One sneaks by Phino—stab. One tries to get around me—stab. One goes past me for Phino—stab. 2 come for me—I stab right, Phino takes left.

We continue, more slimes coming, more stabs firing, more breaths falling from our mouths. I recover—stab stab. Recover—stab stab stab. Recover—stab slash. Recover—stab stab punch. Recover—stab slash punch punch. Reco—

“Retreat!” Ash calls.

I stab, slash, punch and thrust—clearing my way for retreat. Phino follows through my path, as Ash does Silkys. Phino covers the retreat, striking slimes that try to come in from the sides as I take out those that managed to get behind us. I stab, I run. I slash, I run. Repeat on end until… eventually… the slimes before me clear.

I throw my arms into the air, “We’re out!”

Phino slaps my back, “Yeah, we are!”

I turn to him, offering my hand for a shake, “Thanks for the cover.”

He grabs it, and shakes, “All a part of the plan.”

Soon Ash and Silky meet back with us. We discuss the battle, point out what worked and what didn’t, and prepare for the next attempt. We repeat this tactic twice more, finishing off the last of the slimes. We then move through the previous clearings, collecting the slime corpses. Fortunately, we are able to complete the quest, if only just.

“I think once was more than enough,” I comment, collecting the final slime.

“Seconded,” Adds Silky with an emphatic nod.

“Sounds good to me. We’ll just have to make sure to listen through the description of the quest to check for the environment,” Ash says.

“Ok,” LionsBlaze says.

With that, we return to the guild. Twice more, we take a slime quest—twice more, we complete them—allowing us to take our final slime quest before the horned rabbits.

“One final slime quest, then we face the rabbits,” I comment on the way out of the guild.

“Yeah, I just hope we can get the teamwork to flow smoothly,” Silky says.

Ash stands tall, “We’ve got this.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to use the fireball for the rabbits?” LionsBlaze questions for the umpteenth time, causing Ash to deflate.

“Yes!” She drawls, “As I’ve said, every, single, time! As best we can tell, the purpose of the rabbits is to both prove competence as well as quality experience with the spear. We will achieve neither if you simply blow them to oblivion!”

LionsBlave says nothing, though his aura recedes marginally.

“Hey, think about it this way. You are so powerful that allowing you to go full blast would mean that the mission is so easy to the point of meaninglessness,” I try.

His figure straitens… slightly.

“Yeah, I guess,” a pout still clear in his tone.

Needs a closer