Opponent

[38th day]

I woke up ready to wage my war.

I was bloodthirsty and ready to face any opponent, yet I was also weary of any danger. Battles for me had been either easy or the complete opposite, with nothing in between, and I still had trauma from past battles.

My scars still riddled my body like an infectious disease, and my arm was living proof of what battle could do.

I needed my forces to grow; I wanted to be the king of all; and if I couldn't overcome my fear, I'd be a coward who fled and never initiated.

In my time in LordsVsLords, I was known to be a super aggressive player because I nearly always initiated combat. I did this because, 9 times out of 10, the initiator holds the advantage.

Deep down, I knew I needed to do this, yet I was still worried.

I knew fear was a weakness I was unlikely to ever rid myself of, so I needed to make it my greatest ally.

Fear was an infection that plagued nearly all living beings, yet if a creature could harness or even be immune to its effects, it would likely rule the planet.

I had a strange liking for fear, and in LordsVsLords I used it extensively to bluff and win as many battles as possible. That was why I was the greatest in the early game.

In summary, I need to get off my ash and start working.

I got up and habitually shook off the non-existent dust. I then started my day as usual.

A quick hello to my citizens and a quick breakfast that was quickly becoming a thing here nowadays, and I was ready for the day ahead of me.

Time to start looking for enemies.

Four hours later, I had found nothing: just some more wolves and a couple of bears, which I then slaughtered.

Looking at my holographic map, I realised my opponent was likely not on my map at all, so I started to wander around the edges of my map looking for an opponent.

The caves were more jagged in these areas, and the rocks appeared darker; it appeared as if an evil presence was present.

I thought, being the fearless guy I was, I cared little and moved forwards. Realistically, what are the chances of me, a 2-star staring positioner, being so close to an evil demon layer?

My strange clothes and the dreary atmosphere seemed to enhance my stupid appearance because, whilst I was walking, I heard a laugh from somewhere.

"Who is it?" I say, in bits of fear and, strangely, enthusiasm.

"Well, well well, small one, it seems as though you have stumbled upon my lair."

Well, he sounds like a textbook villain.

I turned to see the appearance of the fiend, yet, to my surprise, I found the slime was the one talking.

HUH.

Firstly, slime.

Secondly, he does not fit the image I had in mind.

Thirdly, this may mean he is a wandering mob.

And finally, I should inspect him before I forget.

[Name: Nameless] [Age: 1]

[Species: Dark Slime]

[Agility: 2]

[Strength: 0]

[Intelligence: 1]

[Mana: 14]

[Wild Beast level 1 Absorb, LVL 4 Mana Control]

[Overall grade: E.-]

Is this slime a secret boss or something?

And what is with that level 4 mana control?

Oh, please, no.

"I bow down to the benevolent master of the lair. Please, my kind, I will do anything to leave. I have a wife and kids. "

He looked at me in bafflement as he recalled what I had just said. Well, to be fair, my attitude took a steep 180 turn.

Truthfully, I had a completely shameless side, and when it came to life and death, I could be as slimy as a cockroach. I would do anything to live, and I mean ANYTHING.

In my opinion, it's one of my greatest talents, and it's gotten me out of loads of trouble back on earth. My fake silver tongue could swindle my way out of anything. It seemed whenever I was in trouble, due to my laziness, I would turn into someone who could win the title of most shameless.

After a while, the slime stopped thinking and started back to its dreadful monologue.

It seems as though you have a brain in that little sack of meat you have. Well, lucky you. You have come across a benevolent slime whose kindness knows no bounds. I cannot afford to just let my prey leave if they only ask, so I ask you to pay me instead. "

"As a kind Dark Slime, I only ask for your mana in return."

Huh, the edgy slime is actually a scammer. Wow, I have never been so shocked.

Right, let me just get close to this idiot and I can easily cleave his head off.

So, I say, "Oh slime anything for you, grace, and I will be on my way. Please take my mana; it is worthless anyway.

Finally, a smart prey! " "No, I mean partner, it seems word has spread from the other human whom I have let go."

Oh, it seems he has met some of my fellow contestants. That does not change my plan, though.

The slime, which was now nearly touching me, started to shine. This was when I made my move. I drew my sword and slashed the slime in two.

And that was it.

Not much for an E-rank beast, but its lack of intelligence showed, and I managed to kill it before it got a chance to retaliate.

Battles were usually fought like this, with a battle of more wit than strength.

Moving on, that slime had mentioned he had met others previously, so let's follow his tracks.

One hour later, I stumbled upon what looked to be a growing town.

I was on a ledge above the town and had a wide view of the whole place.

It seemed to be centred around a tree and had houses surrounding the tree. If this were my opponent, the pole would be in the tree, or at least it should be.

I studied my opponent and discovered his race: elves.

They were ungodly tall, with most looking to be 8 ft., but some looked even taller. I grew self-conscious when looking at my own height.

I was only 6 ft., and these giants would crush me just with their height.

A little more studying and I seemed to have found the leader. He was a giant at a stupidly estimated 11 ft minimum height, and he looked more like a building than an elf.

It seemed as if elves were stupidly tall, though they were all kind of twiggy. Not much could be seen in terms of body fat; they were all just skinny giants.

From what I counted, there were 38 of them, though my counting of moving people who looked all the same could be wildly incorrect.

Thinking of numbers, I had my medium mission today.

Dammit, I wanted to study them more, but no, I had to return to finish my mission.

The stupid dam system was not made to want to make people kill each other more quickly.

So, I returned at 11pm to complete my challenge.

I would return the day after, though. It was finally time to complete my hard mission.

Once and for all.

Took me long enough!