Eventually, I found my way back to the safe sections of the cave.

I collapsed instantly and fell unconscious the moment I recognised my surroundings for what they were.

I had done everything I possibly could.

Day 6

I’ve lost count of how many slimes I’ve killed.

The first thing I did after eating was to go to the merchant and buy a new sword.

It was almost exactly the same as the previous one but it was somewhat longer and heavier.

Thankfully this one had a sheath and belt so I wouldn’t need to lug it around like a videogame character.

I also purchased a sewing kit. Besides the main essentials… well, my clothes were the only thing from Earth I really owned. I wasn’t going to lose them so easily.

I headed back and took a while repairing my clothes and getting accustomed to the new blade.

I almost died yesterday. That absolutely cannot happen again.

I will not allow myself to suffer such a humiliating defeat a second time, against the same type of opponent.

I need more creative ways to fight. I’m also not going to take a risk like going to the second floor again.

Not yet.

I need to be stronger. So that they wouldn’t even be able to touch me.

The fights with normal slimes is basically a game to me now. I need more power.

Enough that the slime hand becomes an insect against my foot.

So what if I rethink how I use my magic?

I thought of fireball exploding so it created the burst variation.

What if I reduce the scale of that? Make it smaller?

Then use it for something besides a frontal magical attack?

What if I use it to enhance my physical capabilities?

I head down to the lower sections of the cave and find a crowd of slimes.

I picture it in my head. An explosion. A small one. Like a rocket filled with fireworks.

Then minimise it. A blast with kinetic force but minimal burning effect.

That’s step one.

Second, I’ve got to apply it to my sword.

As if the ball of fire in my mind is a rocket attached to the weapon I wield.

Stolen story; please report.

It’s a flicker away from detonation.

When it happens it’ll send my blade flying forward at unimaginable speeds and thus with increased power.

Instead of firing flames at my enemies, I’ll use its propulsion in the opposite direction to move.

I will turn my sword into a bullet for a fraction of a second!

I approach a slime and stretch out my left arm.

It leaps towards it. I drop my left arm. The creature is midair.

It won’t be able to dodge this. I swing my sword back with just my right arm as if it were a racket of some kind… and then I slash with all my muscles can muster.

The moment I can feel a downward shift in the momentum of my slash, I know that’s the time to test my theory.

“Fireball: Burst!” I hear the roaring for an engine for half a second and then a popping blossom of fire.

My right arm is filled with power and weight like it had never known before.

The velocity of my attack is blindingly fast!

For a second I see my sword coated in red heat.

It incinerates all of the slime's body from merely being in close proximity.

Melting away like foie gras on a hot plate.

Then the slash finishes properly.

The core is cleaved clean.

Success.

This attack is faster and stronger.

It’s certainly overkill to use on a single slime but it’s good to know what I’m capable of.

It didn’t feel particularly taxing mana wise but my right arm does feel a small tingle from the shockwave of the swing. Still, if I want the best results from my training… well, now I can both use magic and a physical move at the same time. That certainly will improve both attributes.

You’ve obtained a new technique - Explosive Edge.

Now comes the fun part.

I begin to comb the first floor from top to bottom.

Through every nook and cranny.

I hunt the slimes with efficiency and proficiency like never before.

Each and every one of them tastes the force of my explosive edge.

I cut them down one after another without even less difficulty than before.

Until I had cleaned the first floor of their presence entirely.

LEVEL UP

Maki Hibiki Lv12

Skills:

1H Swords Lv14

1H Skill Lv14

Slash Lv22

Spell Slots:

Fireball - Variations: Burst

Blasting Bolt - Variations: Discharge

Techniques:

Explosive Edge

I headed towards the floor of the second stairs.

I felt pretty tired from the expedition today but I had to know something.

I opened the red vial from the bag of supplies I had gotten on my first day.

I chugged it down. It had the consistency of ketchup but with the bubbles of a soda.

It tasted like cherries.

I felt my heart pound like a war drum.

My body began to instantly felt re-energised.

As if I had drunk a red bull but it kicked in the moment it touched my lips.

I waited with my sword drawn at the top of the stairs.

I simply stood there for hours absentmindedly swinging my sword in succession.

After what felt like half a day… they appeared.

A horde of slimes that slowly dragged their gelatinous bodies up the stairs without a single thought.

I found myself grinning while my mind was brimming with curiosity.

So they do restock themselves.

I have no idea if the Slime Royalty that was making them was intelligent in any way but these things are like territorial vermin.

They march back to reclaim what is theirs.

Excellent. I can stay around here and be completely safe.

Only the fodder comes this way.

They sense me. They leap. I rip them into nothingness.

Over and over again. Ceaselessly until my body was once again at the breaking point.

I drank another red flask and continued. I would not know defeat against fools of this caliber.

Creatures that can only march onwards, without nothing in their brains but how to serve their master.

Just like…!

“You shall not pass!”

I’ve always wanted to say that.

My blade dances through the air, fuelled by my fury.

Until the stairs smelt like smoke. Until the critters completely stopped coming.