Chapter 21

We arrived at the spot exactly in the afternoon and Kinoko was already waiting there.

'Hey there little bud.'

[ Hi Boss! ]

'Well you're quite energetic this afternoon, anything happened while grinding?'

[ Yeah! Um.. well.. Um.. I found a cave. ]

'And?'

[ and then when I went in the cave, I saw lots and lots goblins inside! ]

'Oh really?'

[ Uhn! Yeah!! ]

'So did you run away after going in?'

[ Haha no! ]

'Wait.. so what did you do?'

[ I gobbled them all up until there was nothing left! ]

'H-how many did you say was in there?'

[ A whole lot! it was like an ant's home or something. ]

'A-and you're saying you killed them all?'

[ Uhuh! ]

The exp points.... No Haruki! You should be glad he's alive!

Besides, he probably just leveled up twice or thrice since its just a goblin's den.

Open Kinoko's stats.

[ Kinoko ( Slime ) Lv. 56

Status: Ready for Evolution

HP: 110000/110000

Mana: 90000/90000

Attack Power: 252000

Skills: Absorption (Lv. MAX), Mana Crash (Lv. MAX), Magic Null (Lv. 9), Battle Sense (Lv.MAX, Heal (Lv. 6), Harden (Lv. MAX)

Title: Eichi Haruka's Follower.

Blessings: Slime God's Blessing. ]

...

He's almost at my level in one go? Seriously? Not only that, but as well as unlocking-

Slime God? Is there even a god like that?

I'm done..

[ Boss? ]

'y-yeah?'

[ Are those two on the Boss's back the heroes? ]

'Yep.'

[ Cool! ]

'Yeah.. uh.. sure... Anyway, we'll head to the Golden Desert first.'

[ So we'll head out now Boss? ]

No wait- I need them to farm skills first.

Besides, I don't even know where the Golden Desert is.

I guess we should wait until they both wake up.

'On second thought, we'll head there next week. Especially since these two heroes are barely level 10'

[ What? Really? They're weak! weak heroes! Kinoko is much better! ]

'Yeah, but they'll catch up in no time so you better grind diligently, alright?'

'Can Kinoko go and grind now?'

[ Uh sure, just be back before tomorrow at dawn alright? ]

' Owkie! '

Once again, he happily bounced through the forest.

The sun was setting and the moon was becoming much more visible.

I guess I'll just get some sleep.

But then-

"Ugh..."

"..."

Both of them woke up.

"What a fluffy bed..."

'Get off..'

"Ah!"

"..."

thud.

"Hm? Rio?"

He's awake, but he's not responding. His eyes are so devoid of life making him look like a corpse.

"Rio?"

Just an empty vessel.

"Rio, are you okay?"

Ruri then noticed the changes on Rio.

"Haru, what happened to Rio?"

'You don't wanna know.'

"I see..."

'Don't get me wrong, I didn't really do anything except kill the angry mob that he formed.'

"So he isn't dead yet right?"

'Dead on the inside, maybe.'

"Oh... that's too bad.."

'You're inner thoughts are leaking out.'

"Oh, I mean, how unfortunate."

'Anyway, your mission as heroes right now, is to gather as much skill as you can starting this week.'

"Gathering... skills?"

'Yeah, open your stats.'

"Oh okay Sta- wait a minute... why did my hair turned into blonde?"

'Part of the hero gig.'

"Gig?"

'Don't mind it, just open your stats.'

"Oh uh, yeah."

I like how she really doesn't care, from the looks of her face anyway.

She opened her stats and begun reading them.

'Familiarize yourself with the options there first. I'll give you an hour."

"An hour before?"

'Before farming skills obviously.'

"Oh right."

I really can't figure this girl out. From her appearance and face at first, she seemed like a refined and polite girl, a little introverted, but pretty nonetheless.

But now, after being a Hero, she somewhat acts more.. bright? Although yes, she still has those thoughts and that side of her but now, she's a better version of herself than before.

'What changed, Ruri?'

"What do you mean?"

'It's as if... your real self is in plain sight.'

"Oh.. it's probably because of you Haru."

'What do you mean?'

"Ever since what you told me, I've decided to embrace myself and accept myself for who I am.

I really thought about it a lot when I went home and while I was locked in the basement.

I thought, 'Why did I agree to go with him? Why did I tell him everything?' and so on."

A... character development this early?

"But then, that's when I decided I wanted to be free. For me, I really couldn't care less about the Demon Lord or the end of the world.

I just thought, ' If I go with him, I'll surely be able to find happiness'.

And with that, here I am, the brand new Ruri."

'I see... I like this Ruri better.'

"Oh! uh...."

"....thanks.."

I she embarrassed? Haha! nice to be young.

'Well, have you gotten used to that yet?'

"... Oh uh, yeah!"

"But what is this Hero's party blessing option?"

'Oh that, I'll explain it later, for now just focus on getting getting skills.'

"Oh alrightn. Wait, one more thing."

'Hm?'

"Can you show me your stats?"

'For what?'

"I just wanna see.."

'Alright.'

I haven't been checking it myself lately.

Stats.

[ Name: Haruki Satoshi

Level: 65 EXP: 12700/1250000

Status: Alive

Race: 4-Tailed High Mana Fox

HP: 217000/217000

Mana: 350000/350000

Attack Power: 648000

Skills: Mana Scratch (Lv. MAX), Mana Bomb (Lv. MAX), Tail-whip (Lv. MAX), Gather (Lv. MAX), Intimidate (Lv. 8), Pig's Greed (Lv. MAX), Dull Tongue (Lv. MAX), Wind Walk (Lv. MAX), Mana Dash (Lv. 8), Mana Beam (Lv. 3), Quake Detection (Lv. MAX), Mana Cleave (Lv. 3), Mind Manipulation (Lv. 2), Mind Break (Lv. 1)

Titles: Slime < Kinoko >'s Master,

Blessings: Gaia's Blessing (Earth Attribute), Aeolus's Blessing (Wind Attribute) ]

Ho? I gained two new skills.

"Woah.. Haru's so strong!"

'Uh, yeah. If you want to be strong like me then gather lots and lots of skills'

"Skills not experience points?"

'Trust me. Besides, it's just for this week. So don't be down.'

"I'm not, because I trust Haru's judgement."

'Really?'

"Yep."

'Alright, thanks, anyway go start gathering skills now. As a tip, anything can be a skill if you thought it to be.

Just remember that the concept is what matters. For example, 'I want to cut!' that very thought will be made true.'

Although I wish I knew this sooner

"I see... alright then!"

'Oh yeah, whatever you do, don't go over level 10. Otherwise, all this will be useless.'

"Uh.. okay!"

With that, she went of and started gathering fruits and herbs.

As for me...

[ Mind Break Lv. 1

User can break someone's mental state if they are weak and is in an extremely distressed state.

Skill Cast: Instant

Mana Cost: 10000 Mana

Cool down: 3 months. ]

[ Mind Manipulation Lv. 3

User is able to manipulate those who has the <Mind Break> debuff. The level will be equivalent to how accurate the body will move according to the user's order.

Skill Cast: 10s

Mana Cost: 50000 Mana

Cool down: 2 H ]

Hmmm....well this ought to be good.