Chapter 3: Chapter 1

 

- Slime –

 

So what shall I do?

 

I know I grew too much to be safe at human settlements since there are simply too many eyes to spot you, even if you hide.

 

• And I’m not going to give up on my hard-acquired mass!

 

As I’m pondering about the harshness of my fate, I catch a glimpse of light in the darkness of the nightly forest.

I should state at this point that slimes don’t need to sleep.
While there is no way the liquid which makes up my body could ever tire out, just my mental state is important.
I have noticed that one to three hours of a state of rest enhance my mental capabilities but real sleep is not needed.
Might be a good point of the fact that my center of consciousness is a crystalline structure.

As it is like this, I’m able to determine the identity of this light.
The light glowing in the distance has to be a campfire.
And because I know the closer area and know that more primitive humanoids as the likes of goblins only use those in permanent settlements, which were not built here, I conclude that the only sort of humans who dare to come this deep into the wilderness are adventurers.

I would like to point out that I’m not especially hostile to humans or go purposely hunting them.
Because I’ve gained my mindset by observing them, I feel quite close to this particular species.
That is to say, I have no problems killing attackers regardless of their identity.
And in general, I consider a boost in sustenance always as positive.

Anyhow, as I said I’m bored in an unbearable manner.
No, I’m not going to kill them.
Watching is enough since this could turn out quite interesting.
But to be clear, hostile actions lead to the respective reactions.

 

Things being like this I’m closing the distance in the stealthiest way I’m able to perform.

And there they are!
Our typical group of four, sitting on self-made benches of lumber around the fire.
Let’s see if I can determine what we have here:

The easiest is a big guy with an enormous sword hanging from his back.
That’s the common vanguard, a close combat fighter, who crushes most of the common foes and even can use the width of the sword to shield himself a bit, like this he ensures that any dangers to those fighting behind him stay at distance.

Next is a considerably slim guy, in comparison to the brute next to him.
I can see a small crossbow and daggers.
Well, the crossbow is indicating that he fights from the distance, yet as it's a small version for medium distance and he is low on bolts, I would say that the daggers are his main weapon, with a high probability of being poisoned.
Completely unconcerned about this.

So his role would be to attack the flanks of the opponent, aiming for weak spots and contributing by weakening or killing the creature.

 

• Now for the rest.

 

Two girls sitting next to each other.
One has a staff, the other nothing but the book she is browsing right now.

 

• That is tricky.

 

First: The girl with the staff.

The problem is that she is quite small, if not completely underdeveloped.
I just can’t think of her hitting anything with this thing, hoping to do any damage.
I mean in comparison to the vanguard she looks like she would get blown away by a gust of wind.
The only use I can see would be as a walking pole.
Well, if not like that, I can at most see her aimlessly throwing a tantrum in an attempt to hold smaller critters away.

 

• Hey! This could be it.

 

That would indicate that she has no offensive abilities.
And to perform offensive spells, this staff is too cumbersome.
So this means no magic.
The only reason for someone like this coming along with such a group is utility.
That concludes that this girl is a supporter, to be precise a healer.
From now on she’s recorded as healer-girl.

And last but not least, if the girl before needs that staff and the other one doesn't and, according to her clothes, is not prepared for unarmed combat, there is only one possibility.

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A mage.

Well, mages are always a surprise, you never know what they use till they do so.
Nevertheless, since I’ve never had many problems with anything they used, I am not too concerned.

 

All in all, we’ve got here a very balanced group that might hold their ground against nearly all this area brings against them.

 

"And do you think we get enough pelts here to lie down for a while?" (brute)

"Until now we had a good run. We had a good amount of encounters and managed to bring them down without damaging the goods too much. Like this, we can soon afford two weeks in an inn and still get all our necessary expenses done!" (daggerboy)

"Hope it won’t take too long. I don’t like the wilderness. You are constantly on edge for anything that might throw itself at you, especially in the forest!" (healer-girl)

"Don’t freak out like this. Although you're not the strongest here, we're always vigilant. By now you should know that Luck here, will shoot anything with absolute precision before it can draw close." (mage)

 

Well, so much for that I need to say.

I stay low until they’ve finished and change to one night guard, while the others sleep.
They can’t see me in the greenery, because the only thing different from my surroundings is my violet glowing core.
Good thing, the light this one emits is so dark in color that it is invisible at night.
They are rambling on quite a while after this and I learn nothing overwhelming.

Not that their personal information wouldn’t be interesting.
It’s very entertaining to delve into their relations.

It seems mage and healer girl learned together to use their magic at an institution called "the academy" and after their graduation enlisted in the guild.
Healer-girl would seemingly have been able to just take a job in town with her abilities but decided against it.

At the guild, around a year ago, they came across the brute and daggerboy/Luck.
Those two seem to have done their training directly at the guild.

While I didn’t learn much about the brute, it seems that daggerboy is something like the unofficial leader, as he knows how to disassemble the prey, has a profound knowledge of plants, and makes most of the strategies they use.
That might have something to do with him being the one who looks for weak spots in fights so he developed that kind of skill.

 

For the next two days, I did follow that group at a safe distance.
I even left a third of my mass in order to better manage to do so.

Yes, I know what I’ve said before, but I got kind of hooked up in this and did want to keep it going!

During this time I made a discovery.

Because they did fight more than once against all kinds of beasts, their battle strategies were laid open to me.
Like I thought, the brute takes the front together with daggerboy, who closes the sidelines.
Healer-girl makes sure that no one drops out and ensures that everyone is always fully able. The mage uses lightning shots to stun the beasts.
This allows the group to perform clear hits without damaging the fur too much.
Something that seems to be fairly important for them.

Now for my discovery:
It’s clear that they are protecting the healer, who is both, defenseless and their lifeline.
So putting effort into keeping her alive is only natural.

What I didn’t get was: Why do they concentrate so much on defending the mage?
Even if something would get through, her stuns should be more than enough to defend herself.
But it seems they all treat her like something fragile.

Logic would dictate the way I see it, that the small healer-girl with the short brown hair, who looks as frail as nothing else, should be their center of concern to ensure survival.
Still, for some reason with or without ongoing fights, they seem always to look for the mage.
I mean even if she’s not as bodily strong as those fighting at the front, she is considerably taller than healer-girl and by no means as fragile as her.
Maybe her waist-long blue hair, which could be linked to her lightning aptitude, is an eye-catcher that attracts the vision.
But if you really work together for the mentioned amount of time, you should be accustomed to the color by now.

Like this, it’s plain stupid to neglect your healer-lifeline like this.
And especially healer-girl should look more for the frontline since there is a higher probability of injuries.
And when you have to scan the sidelines for attacks, you should concentrate on your own, as the other one is covered.
Instead, all are looking to the mage.

 

• What a terrible strategy!
   
• But let's keep looking since it doesn't concern me.

 

 

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