Snapping out of my brief daze, I summoned the backup blade from my inventory. Gripping it in a reverse hold, I slashed through the cursed vine with a sharp, clean motion. I braced and dropped hard, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins had me back on my feet almost instantly. Without turning my back on the bouncy freakshow, I lunged toward my spear, shaking off the last of the damn vine wrapped around my leg.
Getting my weapon back wasn't too hard, but of course, things couldn't just end there. Nope — the damn slimes had heard the ruckus and decided to drop in, curious about the party.
"Perfect! Tentacles and slimes — I'm living every cursed magical girl's worst hentai nightmare. And lucky me, I get the starring role!"
Fortunately, I wasn't completely on my own in this mess. Perched on my shoulder, Rimuru had seen enough and decided it was time to tag in. With a bubbly little warble, he launched himself into the fray — though what happened next, I didn't get to see. I had more immediate concerns.
Like the mutant man-eater who still hadn't given up on making me its next meal. One of its writhing appendages shot toward me again. Trying to track its movement was a nightmare — I could barely dodge in time, and on top of that, the fire slimes were closing in too, clearly eager to take a bite out of me just as much as my leafy friend.
To say the situation was "less than ideal" would be putting it mildly.
I waited for the opening after its next lashing strike, spun my spear into a tight arc, and went for the vine with everything I had — but it wasn't enough. The damn thing twitched out of the way and then countered, catching me clean.
The whip of air. The searing pain in my leg. Stars burst behind my eyes as I howled through gritted teeth, a string of curses flying from my lips.
Barely staying conscious, I stumbled back, the pain slicing up my nerves like razors. With a wound like that, pushing the offense was out of the question — I had to switch tactics. Just a quick glance around was enough to see that Rimuru, somehow, had managed to splatter two fire slimes and was working over a third like it owed him money.
No time to waste. Gritting my teeth, I limped through a few short, agonizing bounds and brought my spear down in a heavy vertical slash on the last one.
Done. And weirdly… that was easier than it should've been.
Something to think about later. Right now, there was still the angry mutant shrub that wanted me dead. Running was off the table with my leg messed up. So was getting close. And I didn't have anything long-range — no Molotovs, no bombs…
Unless…
I glanced at the still-smoldering globs of fire slime scattered across the ground. The idea that had just popped into my head felt too stupid to be real — but also too good not to try. Slowly, almost reluctantly, I reached out.
The instant my fingers made contact, searing pain shot up my arm. Still, compared to the mess that was my leg, it was manageable. Grimacing, I locked eyes with my bouncy nemesis again. And the second she bounced close enough, I hurled the remains of the fire slime straight into her gaping maw.
She was barely five meters away — well within range for someone with my buffed agility.
"Choke on it, you damn freak!"
I watched, immensely satisfied, as the burning blobs vanished down her throat. A moment later, the bloodthirsty mutant started thrashing violently, her whole body convulsing as she began to burn from the inside out.
One second… two… three... and by the end of the fourth, the mutant plant finally dropped dead, granting me a fresh chunk of EXP for my trouble.
Level Up
Level Up
New Title Unlocked: "Novice Monster Hunter" (+1 to all attributes)
Two levels and a bonus title that bumped all my stats? Not bad. But I didn't even have the energy to feel happy about it. Sadly, leveling up didn't come with a full-body refresh, which meant I was still very much injured. Healing would have to be done the old-fashioned way.
Grumbling under my breath, I limped over to the corpse of the vine freak and extracted my well-earned spoils — a full twenty synthesis points. Then, somewhere between victory and collapse, I nearly keeled over on the spot. I only managed to stay upright thanks to my trusty Anemo slime, who looked up at me with those big, worried anime eyes.
"I'll live," I muttered, trying to sound reassuring. It came out somewhere between a groan and a lie.
Wincing every step of the way, I dropped into a sitting position and exhaled through clenched teeth. First things first — assess the damage.
The arm was easy. Second-degree burns. Nasty, but survivable.
The leg, though… that was a whole different story.
The skin was split open, blood soaking the entire lower half of my pants. If I was being smart, I'd rinse it out and wrap it tight — except, surprise surprise, my so-called starter kit didn't come with a first-aid box. Because of course it didn't. That would've made things too easy.
Sighing, I shrugged off my shirt and gave it a quick once-over before summoning my knife from inventory. With a quick slice, I sacrificed the left sleeve to make an improvised bandage. Once done, I swapped the blade out for a canteen of boiled water and set it aside for the moment.
"Rimuru, could you bring me a stick? About this big?" I asked, gesturing with my hands to show the size.
The slime nodded wordlessly, then leapt off my shoulder and bounced off toward the road.
"Thanks," I said when he returned a minute later with the requested stick.
I took it, soaked the end in water, and clamped it between my teeth.
This is going to hurt like hell...
And yeah — I was absolutely right.
The second I started, the pain nearly knocked me out cold. Somehow, though, I managed to stay conscious and actually finish the job. Barely. My first aid skills were… well, let's call them "underdeveloped." Honestly, I probably made things worse, but hey — worse is still better than dead.
By the time I was done, the stick between my teeth was almost bitten clean in half. Miraculously, it survived the ordeal, so I offered it a heartfelt, if slightly unhinged, "thanks for your service." No way I was walking anywhere in this state — not unless I was aiming for a slow, painful death. So for now, I just sat there, silent and still, praying nothing else decided to drop by.
And while I was waiting…
Name: Mark
Health: 170 / 280
Mana: 58 / 70
Title:
Novice Monster Hunter (+1 to all attributes)
Level: 8
Attributes:
Strength: 16 (17)
Agility: 21 (22)
Perception: 11 (12)
Endurance: 14 (15)
Mana: 6 (7)
Unspent Points: 26
Abilities:
Skills:
Spear Mastery – Lv. 5 (Beginner)
Pain Tolerance – Lv. 6 (Beginner)
Field Medicine – Lv. 1 (Beginner)
Campfire Cooking – Lv. 2 (Beginner)
Beast Handling – Lv. 2 (Beginner)
I scrolled through the logs and let out an impressed whistle. In that one short fight, I'd leveled up four out of five core stats — some of them more than once. Nice. Definitely not eager to do that again anytime soon, though.
The mana usage took me a second to figure out. Turns out, mana — damn its sneaky nature — had been quietly boosting my natural regeneration. Which explained why I was still alive. Of course, it came with a catch. A few minutes into the impromptu healing session, I was starving. I hadn't eaten since yesterday, and what I had left barely qualified as food, but it was enough to fill my stomach and knock me into a semi-conscious food coma.
Mental note: food doesn't just speed up physical recovery — it also boosts mana regen. Which is nice. Shame my luck for the day decided to go rogue again.
Because just as I was wobbling back to my feet, still very much held together with makeshift bandages and spite, he showed up.
A massive, gods-damned Mitachurl. Easily two and a half meters tall at the shoulder. And he'd brought backup — smaller, but still very much in the mood to murder.
How the hell did they even get here? And more importantly, how the hell was I supposed to survive this without getting turned into mulch?
I didn't have long to ponder. The hilichurl pack was closing in, slow but steady, and when they were only a few steps away…
A wolf's howl echoed behind me.
Then, in a blur too fast for me to follow, something — someone — streaked past my side. I didn't even catch the movement, just the rush of air and the sudden scent of ozone.
A heartbeat later, the entire front line of hilichurls exploded in a flash of violet lightning.
The blast ripped through them like divine retribution, cleaving them clean in two — and incidentally taking out a few trees a dozen meters behind them. Total overkill. Glorious overkill.
"You good?" a voice asked.
I turned, still reeling.
It was a kid. Couldn't have been more than sixteen, casually resting a massive two-handed sword on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.