After meeting Jina at the city gate, we set off once more for the hunt. This time, confident that we would find large groups of slimes, I wasn't too concerned about the number of brown slimes we might see. After breaking through yesterday, I feel I should only avoid the orange and blue ones.
— "You seem tense, want to test yourself?" – asked Jina, staring at me with half-closed eyes, sending a slight chill down my spine and reminding me she still wasn't too happy that I had advanced before her.
— "Yes, I'm curious to see how I fare against the slimes," I replied while leading the way to the Zher forest to relieve the tension.
Upon arriving, we headed to a slightly more remote area – not as deep as the great lake, but where the presence of more brown slimes and larger groups was already noticeable. Jina took the lead and began looking for tracks; although she was weaker, her experience and skill in identifying slime groups were remarkable.
With her expertise sharpened during weeks of hunting, she had no trouble locating an ideal group to start our day and test my strength. It was a large group, the kind you don't see every day – consisting of 6 brown slimes and 4 pink ones – but today would be different: we would start with them.
— "Ishida, let's do it differently this time. We can't let the pink slimes escape and we also don't want to face the brown ones right away, giving the pinks a chance to flee. Let's ambush them, wait for the moment when the 4 slimes gather together to eliminate them quickly and then deal with the brown slimes," explained Jina, pointing to the ideal spot for the ambush.
— "Alright, I'll get into position and wait for your signal," I replied, moving without wasting time.
We waited a few minutes until the pink slimes got closer to each other, while the brown ones still seemed relatively scattered. "Now is the moment," I thought, looking at Jina for her signal.
When I saw Jina nod, indicating it was time, without hesitation I launched a thrust that finished a pink slime instantly. I quickly turned and executed a side strike that swept away two more pink slimes. Jina had eliminated her pink slime and gave me a not-so-pleased look.
I barely had time to think of a response, as she was already heading toward the brown slimes. They had already noticed our presence and were moving to confront us. Taking advantage of her speed, Jina delivered a thrust, repositioning herself immediately next to a second slime, simultaneously striking again and eliminating it.
Wasting no time, I ran to assist her. When I arrived, one of the slimes was leaping at me; with the shaft of the spear, I redirected it to collide with another slime, causing them both to crash just as Jina delivered a side blow, eliminating two more brown slimes.
Only two brown slimes remained, which we dispatched within seconds – an extremely easy battle for the two of us. After collecting the cores, Jina threw me a taunt, lifted her chin and said, — "Humph, I don't see any difference in you. I'm still defeating more slimes."
"I let her finish off a few slimes," I thought, but chose to remain silent. — "You're really amazing, Jina, hehe."
— "Humph, remember that," she retorted, huffing in front of me.
In my mind, it echoed: "Ah, it was so good two days ago. Why is she so upset? Lord Gareth was right – women are hard to understand," as I hurried to keep up with her.
We continued looking for other groups, but this time, silence reigned. She didn't seem willing to talk, and I feared saying something that could make her even more irritated. Inside, I thought: "I'm sorry, slimes, you're going to face her fury," already anticipating how they'd be sliced by her anger.
When we entered a deeper part of the forest, finding slime groups became much easier. Shortly after, we located our next target, a smaller group composed of only 5 slimes, all brown. As usual, we followed the same strategy; even without talking, we already knew exactly what to do and when to act – our synchronization was really sharp.
We surrounded the slimes, ready to begin the ambush, and at the right moment, we attacked. Two slimes were eliminated almost unnoticed, leaving a 3 versus 2 fight. Once again, Jina led, pushing two slimes into the fight, leaving me with just one. It was clear she wanted to compete to see who would take down more slimes.
The slime that came at me was quickly eliminated. Looking at Jina, I realized she was in trouble, and I rushed as fast as I could to help her. She was so eager to eliminate more slimes that she made a mistake: while thrusting one of the slimes, she turned to dodge the second's attack but stepped wrong, losing her balance and compromising her guard. Although the spear's shaft protected her, the slime managed to land a hit on one of the hands holding the weapon, causing Jina to drop it.
Without wasting time, the slime launched another attack; Jina managed to dodge, but ended up falling to the ground and found herself in a tight spot. The slime leaped toward her head, but I managed, just in time, to land a thrust on the airborne slime.
— "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" – I asked, extending my hand to assess the situation.
Quickly, she pulled her hand away and replied:
— "I'm fine, I don't need your help."
— "Stop being stubborn, we're hunting. This isn't the place for us to argue. And besides, I don't want to fight with my only friend," I said, pulling her hand and applying some healing potion.
— "YOU... y-you're right, I'm sorry."
— "Why did you get so upset when I leveled up my cultivation?"
— "I've been training for so long and still haven't managed to level up. I know that, for a time, I focused more on helping the city than on being a cultivator, but it's just not fair. You're going to get stronger, explore new areas, advance your cultivation, and I... will be left behind, alone here in the village again."
— "So that's why you got mad? Haha, don't be silly. Of course you're going to level up, you're working so hard for it. And don't worry, I'll never leave you behind! You're my only friend and the one who helped me the most since I arrived. Without you, I wouldn't even know how to handle a spear – let alone have one to use. Hunting and tracking slimes would also be impossible for me."
— "You promise? You won't leave me behind?"
— "Of course, I promise. I'll take care of you just like you took care of me."