Running through the forest and hunting for slimes was time consuming and dull. With a single strike, he could kill and gain three XP from a slime, no skill required. His legs worked like blurry wings. It was like he was flying through the bushes and trees. No doubt he was running quicker than the fastest human on Earth.

A slime came into view. Slash! It was dead.

[ Receive:

3 XP ]

He kept running, he didn't stop. Wearing a silly grin on his face, he wished to encounter a Slime Jack. That thing had previously required him, William, and Sun-young to defeat. By himself and wielding the Touch of Thunder, he hoped to kill it on his own. The Slime Jack dropped 300 XP upon its death. In a team of three, that value was divided equally, regardless of contribution.

He ran, he ran, he killed, he sliced—

Boing!

He twisted his torso and sprung to the left. He heard it. He heard the bouncy jump of the Slime Jack.

He made his way into a clearing and his eyes flicked upwards. There it was, the Slime Jack, blocking the sun with its massive shape. Its shadow was quickly shrinking and he saw a person underneath. A player. Kazi saw the confused facial features and the total lack of awareness.

"Watch out!"

Kazi sprung forward and lit his two blades up with Double Spark Strike. The Slime Jack wanted to crush the player and Kazi couldn't let that happen. He skidded beside the player and pointed his blades up. The Slime Jack fell right into his two blades and was electrocuted to its core. Its motor movements were strong, however, and it heaved itself off of his swords.

His attack had melted its motor functions and the large green slime was exploding like a volcano. Kazi charged at it during its vulnerable state and cross-slashed it with another Double Spark Strike.

He had done it. The Slime Jack was dead.

[ Receive:

327 XP ]

[ Level up! ]

'Level 11. Nice.' Kazi grinned and turned his attention to the player he had saved. A young woman with a brown low-ponytail and hazel eyes that seemed to look past him.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yes! Thank you!" She stabbed her sword into the ground and held onto the grip with a single hand. "I, ah, owe you one. I'm Nia."

"Nice to meet you, Nia. I'm Kazi." He tilted his head and looked at her. Really looked at her. She clung to her sword almost anxiously. Her eyes seemed to be preoccupied with his shoulder.

'Unless…'

"You're blind, I'm guessing?"

Nia gaped. "W-woah, how could you tell? I've…no one's ever noticed it that fast."

"I have a nose for that kind of thing." Kazi grinned. "Plus, you were kinda just standing there when the Slime Jack leapt into the air."

"Into the air? That's where it went?" Nia face-palmed. "No wonder I couldn't feel it. I knew it jumped but to think it stayed in the air…I really owe you."

"It's no biggie." Kazi blinked and did a double-take. "Wait a minute, you're able to fight properly without seeing?"

"I do my best," Nia replied.

His eyes shimmered. "That's incredible, wow! You're amazing!"

Nia smiled softly. "I'm really not."

"Don't sell yourself short! I'm a swordsman like you and I've almost died once or twice. You're doing it without a party too. I'm giving a thumbs-up, by the way. You're awesome."

Nia chuckled. "Thanks."

"Wanna grind together as a party for a while? I cover your back, you cover mine."

"That's…" Nia opened and closed her mouth. She tilted head back slightly and her expression changed. "...sure, why not?"

"Alright!" Another thumbs-up. "I'm pumped! Let's do this!"

***

"Switch!"

Kazi backed away and Nia swooped in to deliver the final blow. "Aqua Strike!"

Swoosh!

Her sword sliced through the Slime Jack like butter, almost as if temporarily mixing with its flesh.

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Hissss!

Water and electricity worked like wonders. His Spark Strike having already penetrated it, Nia's Aqua Strike exponentially increased its damage output.

[ Receive:

164 XP ]

"Nice, level up," Nia remarked. The level hovering above her head changed to level 9. "How about you?"

"Not yet," Kazi replied. "Close though. Five hundred XP left."

Since he was level 11 and Nia was level 9, there was a difference in their rate of growth. An almost unfair difference. He didn't mind Nia getting the fruit of their labour, however. He loved watching players light up in excitement. He loved watching people smile.

Plus, Nia was strong. Her arm strength was no joke. He assumed her spatial awareness would be better than his, and of course it was, but it was her arm strength that stood out to him. He wondered what she did in her previous life. It wasn't just the Game System aiding her, he could see refined technique in her arms.

"I really want to get a shield," Nia said. "Ya know, get that sword-shield combo like from Zelda."

"Ooh, great idea. Your HP is high too." One hundred seventy-five, to be exact. "Counter and poke, I like that strategy."

"Yeah, it—"

Red. He saw red blinking in his vision.

[ Warning! Mini Boss in vicinity! ]

Kazi's brows furrowed and he immediately equipped his swords to his hands, the Touch of Thunder longer than his khanda. Nia immediately followed suit.

"You seeing this?" Kazi asked.

"I am. A mini boss? They never mentioned it—"

Bursting into the forest clearing, a creature appeared as a colossal green mass. A chaotic blend of sickly greens and purples danced across its surface. Sharp, obsidian-like spikes protruded from its form, lending a dangerous edge to its otherwise amorphous shape.

Trees hissed and melted. The purple orbs functioning as its purple eyes glowed terribly.

[ Name: Slime Queen

Level: 20

Class: Slime Family ]

"W-what level is that thing?" Nia's breath nearly stopped. "I can't…what…?"

"Level twenty…" Kazi tightened his grip on the two blades down his sides. The Slime Queen's health bar was long too. "Wanna run or…"

"Let's do it." Her resolve anchored, she lifted her sword, rolled her finger onto the grip, and readied herself. "If I can't do this, then I'm just a failure. I won't be able to win my wish."

Her emotions were leaking. Good. He could sense newfound strength in her and a smile worked its way up his lips.

"It's coming twelve o'clock," Kazi said. "I'll go in first. When we switch, we switch. We combo, we combo. We run, we run. Just like we've always been doing."

"Understood."

There was no gurgling noise from the Slime Queen. It observed them cautiously and waited for a move. While Nia's HP and defence was higher, he was faster and better at close quarters. Being blind didn't equate to having superpowers nor did it give Nia absurd levels of heightened senses. Certainly, Nia's four senses were better than his but they weren't at the point where she could read an opponent's movements willy-nilly.

Two blades behind him, he activated Double Spark Strike and thrusted forward. The Slime Queen's spikes were difficult to strike through. Fortunately, Kazi's skill with the blade had evolved and he could accurately hit with the lines.

Big mistake.

"Ugh!" The spikes were long and simply grazing them caused his flesh to burn. Inhumanely hot, he jerked himself away. The Slime Queen capitalized on his pain and lurched forward.

"Switch!"

If Nia had been a second too late, it would have been the death of him. She came in fast and hard and knocked the Slime Queen away with her Aqua Strike. But unlike with the Slime Jack, there was no penetration. Her blade instead slammed against the spikes on the Slime Queen's spherical body.

The collision was to Nia's advantage. Then, she let out a cry. Her sword was melting. Nia could feel it too and if she released her weapon the Slime Queen would swallow the two of them.

'What the hell—'

"Switch! Run six o'clock!" Kazi announced. Without question, Nia backed away and once again the Slime Queen attempted to swallow the two of them. Kazi wouldn't let that happen.

'Double Spark Strike!'

Two blades struck her between her spikes and this time the queen recoiled back. His wrists were burning from the brief touch with the spikes. Nia's footsteps kept going further and further away. The Slime Queen launched at him again.

'Double Spark Strike!'

His swords were a static shock the Slime Queen couldn't fight against. It sprung back ten feet, its back dissolving the trees behind it. Its skin was much, much stronger than the slimes that came before it. The Slime Queen started to advance again and left behind a sizzling noise in its path.

It was too strong. Its health bar hadn't gone down at all.

Its purple eyes beamed down at him and—

Kazi ran away and didn't look back. Slimes were powerful and durable but their speed left much to be desired. Even when jumping high in the air, limitations were capped on their travel speed. The bounce was neither repetitive nor fast in nature. The human legs were both of those things.

[ You successfully fled from battle! ]

***

Five minutes later, he caught up to Nia. She was flabbergasted and lightly swung her half-dissolved sword. The upper half suddenly snapped and fell with a thud. It was the most basic sword, amongst the seven weapons Azrael assigned to a player. Kazi was impressed she was still alive with that thing.

"Are you alright?"

Nia hung her head. "Yeah, I…man, I didn't expect that thing to just…" She groaned. "This sucks. It almost feels rigged. How come we had to encounter a mini boss? That's just…" Another exasperated groan and face-palm.

"At least we have something to work towards." Kazi approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've collected a lot of Prize Points, I'm sure. Go back to the White Abyss. Buy some stuff. Chill and relax."

Nia regarded the ground oddly and faced him with her forehead creased. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've done the main objective multiple times, right?"

Nia didn't respond. Her facial features fell deeper in confusion. "You can do it multiple times?"

His jaw dropped. "Wait, hold on. You've…just been here? You haven't left the forest?"

"Well, I…you know, I was trying to do the special objective. Find the baby monkey. I couldn't just leave after the main objective."

Kazi's gaping mouth shifted into an open smile and a non-judgmental chuckle. "I know this might seem like a game sometimes, but it's really not. You can't just power through everything. I'm assuming you slept through the announcement because somebody already did the special objective. Anjaneya is going to respawn in seventy-seven hours."

"No way, really!?"

"Really. Open mission status. You'll see it there."

[ Gate 1 : A Forest in Kishkindha

Main Objective: Kill 3 monsters of the Slime Family — COMPLETE

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: The baby monkey, Anjaneya, will respawn in 77:50 HOURS ]

For both Kazi and Nia, the screen appeared. He silently wondered how the Game System worked for her. Was it auditory? Visual? He wasn't able to ask because they had been too busy slaying slimes.

"No way…" Nia hung her head and covered her face with her hands. "I've just…been…wasting…I hate myself so much."

"It's alright, haha."

"How many Prize Points do you have?"

"Six thousand."

Nia groaned. "I rest my case. I'm stupid."