The First Battle

Julius, Leo and I walked past the great gates that separated the town the the outskirts proper. The paved stone slowly lost bricks and eventually turned to a dirt road wheel tracks imprinted into the ground. The three of us moved down the road, the city slowly shrinking in the back. This lush green world was serene and unlike anything I had seen back home. It was so green and alive, and the air felt so pure. I stopped i the center of the road, closed my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. I exhaled and smiled, pumping my fist in excitement. I turned around to face Julius and Leo, clapping my hands. "Alright lads, lets get started. Were can we go find some weaker monsters to level up?" Leo pulled out a weathered roll of parchment and unfurled it, revealing it to be a basic map. This must have been his own personal map.

"Well, if you wish to stay near Turpilia, there is a large meadow that is home to a number of Slime creatures." He said, pointing towards the map, at a symbol of a strange raindrop creature. I studied the map, seeing that we were near by that same field. I give him a thumbs up, turning towards the field and pointing.

"Well then, let us go forth!" I say, running towards the field. Julius and Leo followed, Leo moving slower as he rerolled his map up and put it away. The grass in the meadow I was running through shifted as my feet fell on it, leaving flattened blades of grass. I could hear Julius and Leo behind me, Leo breathing periodically and Julius' armor clattering as he ran. I could run like this forever.

Eventually, I heard a strange sound that sounded like a waterdrop. I stopped, focusing on my surrounding and looked for anything out of the ordinary. Julius and Leo did the same, preparing for a fight: Julius pulling out a gladius, and Leo cracking his knuckles. I raised my own hand and closed my fist, ready to clock what ever monster tried jumping at me. Then, the rain drop sound came to me once more, and a small watery-like creature hopped towards me, its interior shaking as it landed. I let my guard down when I saw the creature, seeing that it didn't look like any slime I was familiar with. The slime then jumped towards me, and I reflexively raised my hand, catching it in my gauntleted hand.

"Be careful, sir." Leo said, covering his hands in cloth, "Slime fluids dissolve what ever they touch." Hearing that I began to feel a strange sensation o my arm, seeing that some of the slime was touching my shirt. I watched as the shirt slowly dissolved and began to spread, destroying the sleeve of my shirt. My skin began to sting, and I growled. I had a firm grip on the thing and turned it to Julius, who took the initiative and slashed at it. The monster squirmed until it went limp, sagging and acting more like a bag of water now. I held onto the remains, looking at the liquid substance held within. I began to relax, but my companions were still on guard. "Be wary of your surroundings, sir. Slimes tend to move in groups." Leo said, his covered hands up and ready.

I was too preoccupied with studying the effects of that battle. An XP indicator popped up from the slime, and split into three separate numbers, moving to Leo, Julius and myself. I saw that I had gotten ten XP, and a bar slowly filled. This must have been my XP bar, and my indicator of my level. More and more like a video game with every passing second. I dropped the dead slime bag when I heard more rain drops approaching, and prepared to fight the encroaching slimes. "Make sure your skin is safe. I'm positive we can heal the burns, but I'd rather not have to try and restore any lost limbs." I joked, winding my fist up. A slime bounced at me and I swung, the gem on my gauntlet glowing up as it made contact with the slime. It felt like punching a water balloon, and after it stretched around my fist, it popped. leaving the remains of the creature's "body".

The gem lit up and the body was absorbed into the gem, evaporating into a red mist. My HUD filled my vision as something akin to a skill tree popped up, showing loads upon loads of different paths from the central node. A path lit up, revealing that there was a "Slime Gauntlet" tree, connected to a number of different variants based on the color of slime. The main Slime Gauntlet had some locked effects, and I assumed that if I absorbed more, I would unlock these effects. I also gained ten more XP, as did my companions. I looked back to them, nodding at them. They nodded i return, and we began to slice, slam and slap any slime approaching our position.

This farming escapade went on for a few hours. I had leveled up to Level 3, Julius had reached Level 5 (having joined me at Level 2), and Leo hadn't leveled up from what I could tell, but he was already at Level 20. They had told me that the slime membranes could be sold for some coin, but not much. The Liquid was worth more than the membrane since it had many different applications. The first Slime we killed was saved from my gem, as well as those who had not lost their fluids. I absorbed the other membranes and unlocked one of the properties of the Slime Gauntlet.

I selected it and the gauntlet around my hand glowed, transforming into a gelatinous blue form. It felt weird to have this gauntlet on my arm; it felt like my arm was submerged in water, but I could move normally. I then swung at another slime, and my arm extended, a fist shooting towards the Slime. The Slime was not destroyed, but rather absorbed, and the arm grew in size. I also gained an inventory item, simply labeled "Slime".

"This arm is pretty cool." I commented as the slimy limb retracted back, covering my arm once more. A few more slimes came out into the opening and I swung, my arm colliding with the three slimes, collecting them and storing them in my inventory. Leo and Julius were looking rather tired, and the sun was beginning to set, so I called it. "Let's call it for today, guys. Good hustle. Tomorrow, we'll-"

I was interrupted by the sounds of s scream coming from a nearby forest. It sounded like a young girl, and I turned immediately. Julius and Leo both looked in that direction as well as another bone chilling scream came from the forest. I turned back to them, getting a nod from the two, and we began sprinting towards the forest despite our fatigue.

There was someone in that forest that needed help, and by god, I was gonna be a hero and help them.