Pursuing Death

The leader of the slime group looked at the situation that was unfolding in a flabbergasted manner...it was speaking gibberish and even backed away from me a little.

The other slimes followed afterward, causing me a bit of confusion. "Are they retreating?" I ask myself, waiting for any signs of hesitancy or retraction.

But they don't move backward, fooling me for a few seconds, allowing the group of slime to continue with their relentless pounces.

...I recovered from the attacks rather late, as the collective group hit me a total of 4 times.

I stumbled, for a total of four times, losing grip on my spear.

I could feel it then, that right now, I'm feeling more fatigued than ever...I can go on, I can continue fighting, but I'm tired.

If I had a stamina bar that I could see, it would probably be used up to 50%.

Grabbing my spear, I focus on finding my balance, using my feet to support the weight of my body.

I aim the spear back at the slime, this time with the intent to spam my spear and pierce all of the slime. 

It's contradictory, right? I want to get richer and stronger, but I'm wasting time by focusing on other things.

For context, I should have been preserving my energy instead of using it as much as I can...but I couldn't just do that.

Not when I have a bigger goal in mind: to perfect my combat senses and spearmanship skills.

And so, with a big inhale, I steeled forward with my resolve and started to spam my hits at the slimes-- aiming for their weak spots.

Right now, I'm focusing specifically on the clumsy slimes first, as they seem to move and dodge less quickly than the others.

Piercing a total of 5 times, I only managed to kill 2 slimes...2 slimes out of a group of 10.

Now, there is a total of 3 slimes that are dead, and there are still 7 that remain...

I start to pant frantically now, feeling more tired than ever, but if I never fight without the intent to grow better at every near-death experience...then I'll never reach my goal.

I move away, exposing my back to the slime...but this was all a part of my grand scheme.

As I run to the side of the tree, an open space, they follow afterward, some of their backs now covered by the tree. I look at them with a grin, as they fall right into my trap.

Now that their leader slime is facing their back at the tree, I move my own body backward, making sure that the slime group essentially follows forward while maintaining their encircling position...and just at the very moment they do, I immediately push forward, thrusting my spear at their leader.

...and it goes exactly as I planned. The leader, with the initial instinct to dodge by moving backward, now finds themself trapped by the tree, falling into my elaborate trap...ending their life in seconds.

Horrified and fearful, the other slime starts to panic, just losing their leader. Now, they are jumping and moving without any sense of tact-- dispersing the more I move closer to them. They want to escape.

But I won't let them escape!

I chase the slimes that are the closest to me, their panic only fueling my instinct to hit them with precision.

They're erratic. Messy. Hard to attack...and it makes for good practice.

I learned to check small details, the movement of their eyes, the way their body moves when it decides which direction it wants to take...I see it all.

But realistically, this would never work on other opponents who are stronger or more agile than me...it's only working now because slimes are slimes.

I manage to hunt the second to the last of the slimes, leaving the number of live slimes to be 1...well, just for this group in particular.

If I were counting the number of slimes in this whole pasture, then it would hit a hundred...or more.

I've corned the last slime in the group now...but there's a problem.

My fatigue is easily overtaking my sense of reason and restricting my movements...now, it's not just my hands that are feeling heavy. It's my whole body. My arms, my back, my legs...they feel like a mountain is falling down on me...

But I don't give up...not when this slime is the last piece to my success.

I brace myself, aiming the spear at the slime...only to see the slime back away drastically, a strong light emitting in their body.

My body starts to shudder in fear...it can't be...it's evolving?!

I've heard that evolutions happen rarely in this game, and if they do, then the noticeable feature that you'll notice when a creature is evolving is when a warm light envelops the creature...and this exact moment is an example of said evolution.

I click my tongue in irritation, wanting to hit it as quickly as possible, knowing that I will die if it evolves.

It can turn into anything-- from an acid slime to a frost-type slime...and then, I won't deal with just jumping, but rather, status effects.

I start to chase it, even if my fatigue is building up easier than ever...I can't let go of this slime. Not when it's the one thing that's blocking me from my success.

I move around, panting heavily, making sure that the slime doesn't escape to an area that's close to any other group of slimes...it can't happen! No!

I will keep it by the bay!

...and soon after, I corner it again, but this time, I only have 3 shots in hitting it with my spear.

It's light is growing stronger, a sign that its evolution is coming closer now than ever...and right now, I can't help but feel like this will be my only chance.

I hit it once, thrusting with a focus on speed rather than strength, but it only jumped away, trying to get away from me again.

I block it with my feet, moving my body in the direction of where it's going...and I try to hit it again.

But I fail! But this time, its speed is getting slower...something I must take advantage of!

...and the battle ends...with a spear hitting the body of the newly-evolved slime.

Its body turns into a gooey mess on the dirt, but, when compared to the dead bodies of the unevolved slimes...this slime had a toxic substance in its dead body.

"Sh*t...I would have died if it evolved! It was evolving into a poison attribute." I thought to myself, as I looked at the pathway.

I'm close to it now...of course, I am. I chased that slime to the best of my abilities, making sure it never got close to the pasture.

But I don't care about that...I have to get out...before my fatigue gets too low...

I move to the pathway-- and immediately, before I can even walk any further, I collapse on the spot...

~~~

Rosyvliana Edensfield had always been an individual who focused first and foremost on making sure that the streets of Catelia observed peace in an orderly manner...thus, she would never skip her days patrolling the area with her subordinates. But...when she heard the voice of the gods warning her of the current condition of her husband, her eyes immediately perked to the path that led to the Pasture of Mire, a look of anger momentarily slipping into her eyes.

She grits her teeth in annoyance, tightly gripping her sword and moving in that very direction with as much speed as she can muster...of course, after relaying to her subordinates to continue patrolling without her.

After a minute, she reaches the area and sees an exhausted man with brown hair fallen down the pathway with a spear gripped in his hand. "It's my husband," Her voice echoes in her head, with a particular distaste for the word husband. She refuses to enunciate it with anything that can be described as affectionate. It's not an emotion she should associate with &#*@32...ah, no, rather, with men...

She looks at him curiously and carries him over in her hands. "What a damned fool, fighting without any sense of safety," She scoffs, looking into his solemn state, a small smile creeping on her lips...but it wouldn't be something that resulted from affection or like.

Rather, it was for respect. "However, I will respect your grit...perhaps you are a true warrior after all," She comments, as she starts walking to the path of the mountain.

She then reaches her pagoda shortly and sets him in some room where he can recuperate. Now, all she had to do was watch over him and make sure he was alright, even if it was against her wants.

Thus, after long hours passed, Rosyvliana was pleased when she noticed subtle signs of him about to wake up. And when he does, he seems rather dazed.

He looks confused, as he looks around for any sort of clue as to how he got here...

~~~

"...uh...what's happening?" I ask myself, trying to understand what happened before I passed out...

But my vision still seems blurry, and I can only make out blended colors of black, red, brown, and yellow in my line of sight. I rub my eyes, hoping that it could help me understand my situation better, and thankfully, it does.

After a few moments of getting used to my dizzy-head state, I start to see a bit better now.

And now, I see...that I'm in some sort of home that's decorated in a very ornamental manner.

It looks exactly like...Rosalina's pagoda?! But how did I get here?!

I squint my eyes, trying to focus my vision, and finally, I get to see the vision of a woman. It's...it's Rosalina?! What?! But...how did she?...

"I-" I try to speak, but my voice comes out as incredibly exhausted, and she only clicks her tongue and crosses her arms.

"Don't speak, recovering strength is a priority..besides, nightfall is about to come," She insists, looking over at me with seriousness.

I then looked over the window, wondering what she meant...and instantly, my heart dropped.

"Rosalina...what time is it now?" I ask, a hint of nervousness laced in my voice. She looks at me curiously and answers with a customary tone. "It's nearing the sunset, why do you ask?" She answers, as my look turns into a mortified one...

Sh*t! I fucked up! It's nearing nighttime and I haven't even logged out! My mom will kill me!