Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Talent and Experience

As she traversed the dense, lush forest, Iris fiddled with the explosive flasks. They reminded her of the dynamites of her previous world. She could use them as hidden weapons in a dire time.

Aside from the flasks, the tendrils around her held multiple gadgets, smoke bombs, throwing daggers, and many other exotic tools that Iris didn't recognise. She had to ask Fugria, who was begrudgingly following her.

Iris had already left the cave and brought the Soul Fruits and a branch of the Soul Tree. She knew it was valuable, and so, she left the rest for Kalender, with whom she struck a deal. He would omit her existence, and she would let Fugria go after she had safely crossed the forest into the inner part.

The thought of keeping Fugria popped up, but she wasn't ready to make an enemy out of a Master Knight. She wasn't strong enough to break the stalemate and also didn’t want to create more problems for her family.

"Fugria, how hard is it to reach the Master Tier?" Iris said. "How long did it take you?"

"What will I gain from telling you? Do not fancy your chance of having me alive. Death is salvation compared to your pitiful desire-driven existence."

"If I wished for such, you would have already been in my grasp." Iris glanced at Fugria, who gawked at her. "Your life worth less than my well-being, especially since your heart isn’t yours anymore."

Fugria narrowed her eyes and pulled her hands to her back. Her fingers discreetly slipped into the hidden pocket, where a small, sharp razor blade hid perfectly under the fabric lines of her clothes. She stepped closer to Iris, but Iris suddenly turned around, smiling.

"His terrified expression was nice." Iris grinned. "When I held you in my arms, he almost broke into pieces. He could have been yours forever if you confessed at that moment."

"And where are you in this?" Fugria gripped the blade, but Iris was too far away. She couldn't reach her core in one swift swing. "You don’t understand love. You’re only seeking lust."

"All I'm saying is," Iris said, "he'll be crushed."

The slime amulet on Fugria's chest quivered, sending a wave of pain and pleasure throughout her body. Her muscles spasmed, her chest clenching. She tumbled on the ground. The razor blade dropped and was caught by a tendril from Iris, who turned back and continued walking.

"I know every part of your body, intimately," she said as she took the razor blade from the tendril then snapped it in half. "If I keep breaking them, you’ll have to run around the forest naked and vulnerable.”

"Even if I'm naked, I'll still be able to survive. Your humiliation doesn’t vex me." Fugria sprung up from the ground and dusted herself, already recovered from the searing pain. "If not for the ambush, you wouldn't have won."

"Sadly, I won, and now I got to keep you. It's not entirely a bad thing for you, right? Don't you think it's an opportunity? When you come back safe and sound, he would be at his most vulnerable moment. So romantic."

Fugria quickly caught up to Iris and grabbed her shoulder. Her fingers lightly sank into the warm liquid body, but she uttered nothing and kept her feet locked in place, forcing Iris to turn around.

"You’re going the wrong way," Fugria said. "There is a patrolling team ahead, half an hour distance."

" He should be getting anxious now, but it would be better if you delay it further."

"Don't try to agitate me. I can sink it if you go too far."

Smiling, Iris allowed Fugria to lead the way. As they progressed through the bushes and leaves, Iris closely observed how Fugria navigated and moved through the woods, trying to imitate her. Her heightened senses of perception helped her learn swiftly, but Fugria knew this and planted useless actions.

The bickering continued until they left the danger into the inner part of the forest. Despite how Fugria tried to make things difficult for Iris, she couldn't do anything to the shapeshifting, liquid-body Slime Girl. Iris could easily imitate brute force through any annoying problem.

At some point, Iris took over and led the way while keeping her eyes on Fugria, who occasionally tried to resist and fail. Once, she used exotic bait to attract the Wild Beasts, but Iris easily intimidated them using the tricks Lenmia taught her, though she almost let Fugria run away.

After seeing how Iris manipulated the Wild Beasts, Fugria became interested in her technique. She slowly stopped trying to mask her techniques and came clean when they fully left the danger zone.

"I can teach you the skills I've picked up along the way," Fugria said. "In exchange for how you influence the Wild Beasts. That isn't magic or innate talent."

"What more benefit would I get?"

"You'll learn the principle behind my movement and how to do it correctly. Your imitation is flawed, riddled with inefficiencies."

"I'm fine with just an inferior imitation." Iris held a flask of explosive and tossed it at Fugria, who casually caught it. "Tell me about these tools. No need to tell me how to craft them; I'm not that greedy. That is your trade secret, and I'm not willing to trade mine."

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"Your core is a strange one." Fugria smiled. "Deal. After this, we'll part way, and this will be the last we see each other."

"We've never seen each other." Iris reached her hand out, smirking.

Fugria stared at the hand then shook it. Her hand clasped against the cold, viscous slime, to which she frowned but endured silently. Iris giggled and deliberately tightened her grip, soaking Fugria's hand until she had enough and forcefully pulled it back. She clenched her fist but then merely sighed, tired of keeping up with the antic.

After that was a series of teaching and taunting as Iris struggled to learn how Fugria navigated through the forest as a Master Tier Archer. The mastery of a Master Tier individual required years of training and passion, which Iris didn’t have.

At one point, she wondered if she should turn Fugria into a Monster Girl and used their innate ability to exchange information via kissing. She started to envy Lenmia, who could do it effortlessly. Still, she couldn't be rash, so the suffering continued.

Iris held a dagger and closed her eyes, sealing her visual perception, listening intensely for the whistling of the winds and the rustling of the leaves. Her stance shifted to match the direction of the current. As the softest noise echoed, she thrust her form forward, pushing her feet against the ground, shooting her blade through the thick bushes.

The tip of the dagger penetrated through the leaves, hissing at Fugria, who pushed her dagger up. It crashed against Iris's, diverting its trajectory. The blade slid past Fugria, grazing a bit of her hair while she stepped forward and grabbed Iris's arm. With her superior agility, she twisted it then sweep-kicked Iris on her waist.

A human would have lost their balance and fell, losing the dagger in the process. Iris, however, was a Slime Girl. She paid no attention to the twisted arm and forcefully stabbed down while the part that got kicked splashed away and regenerated.

Fugria pushed Iris's arm backwards and crushed her membrane, knocking the dagger out of her grip. It flung away, but Fugria kicked it to her with the back of her foot and gripped the handle with both her hands and stabbed down. The blade curved the liquid body in halve and approached the core.

At the same time, Iris reached her other hand at Fugria and gripped her face. Her fingertips hardened and pierced her neck, tightening. She returned Fugria the kick with her reformed leg, hitting the stomach, which caved in and knocked Fugria away. The blade grazed the false core, causing Iris to collapse on the ground, panting, tingling.

Fugria immediately jumped right back up and shifted her stance, seeing an opportunity, but Iris had already manifested multiple tendrils and commanded the slime amulet to quiver. She knew it was dangerous. If she were careless, she would get killed instantly. Her power was still inferior to a Master Tier, not to mention that she had lost a lot of her body mass from the previous battle.

"Pathetic but passable," Fugria said as she wiped both daggers with her clothes and dusted herself, feeling refreshed after a good workout. "You already know the basic. The rest is just a grind and improvisation."

"How long did you train to become this strong?" Iris slowly got up, looking wretched. "You almost cracked my core open."

"Fifteen years, give and take." Fugria chuckled. "Why did you think I would really kill you? It's just a test, a very realistic, consequential test."

Iris definitely felt the murderous intent, but she merely smiled. As she started walking away, she kept her eyes closer to Fugria while reviewing the previous battle in her mind. It was a pleasure to train, even more so from a great teacher, despite that it was life-threatening.

Unlike Iris, Fugria easily learnt how to intimidate the Wild Beasts. Her life-long experience of the Wild Beast’s habits and location, as well as the abundant source of knowledge from the library and the training ground, had considerably boosted her learning speed.

Iris envied it and swore in her heart she would visit the human city once she could flawlessly disguise herself as one of them.

At one point, Iris stopped moving and turned to Fugria. They looked at each other and, without the need for words, knew they had to part. The thickness of the bush and greenery was getting too dense for the sunlight to penetrate, allowing the darkness and the gloom to take over.

In front of Iris was the edge into the inner world of the Sinking Dark Forest, the place where the mysterious and the strong resided.

"Our time together has been peculiar," Iris said. "I've taught you all about my art, and you've taught me yours. When you are far enough, the amulet will lose its connection with me and disintegrate away."

"You're a bizarre creature. I hope to never see you again."

"Don't let him blame me if you died after this."

"Don't fret if I come back to kill you."

With that, Fugria turned around and took off into the distance, leaving Iris to stand alone in the darkness, feeling empty. Maybe the Pure and the Corrupted could coexist? She wasn't sure, but it was a fun idea to think as she ventured deeper into the wood, heading towards where Vilia used to hide.

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