Often in stories and mangas, aren't there moments where the protagonist assumes something isn't going to happen, and it's obvious to the readers that something will happen?.
Even if there's no real reason for anything to happen, and it's basically the writer screwing over the character just because they think it's funny?
I feel like I'm in that exact situation right now.
The walk through the stream should be short, less than 3 meters, walking along a protective wall 60 cm above the ground and 1.60 meters above the stream itself. Nothing even a child couldn't do, but of course something had to go wrong.
Remember the milky white slimes that didn't swear when I threw a "rock" near them?
Yeah, the issue wasn't that they apparently couldn't hear, but that they chose to ignore it. Or (which I think is more likely) they didn't react to anything that wasn't organic, just like a cone-shaped carnivorous plant called Nepenthes. This type of carnivorous plant only closes when an insect falls on it, but if water or leaves from other plants fall on it, it remains open... at least as far as I remember.
Why did I decide to think this?
Simply, because as soon as my two companions and I reached the middle of the protective wall—by the way, I was carrying both of them to save time, and Impeto's claws hurt even when he's being gentle—all the nearestmilky slimes launched their tentacles at my legs and nearly made me fall.
Impeto dug his claws deeper into my shoulder, and Lumi struggled in my lap—that was what really threw me off balance and made me fall.
But using the strength of my body, I managed to throw us both into the middle of the street, after supporting and spinning with my left hand on the protective wall before falling toward the green slimes. I certainly felt my wrist split open, but better than falling down there. Thanks to the mosquito, I'm sure their acid is strong.
Fortunately, in this brief interaction, I realized that the milky slimes weren't acidic like the green ones, or their acid wasn't as strong as the green ones.
And their tentacles were weak; just a little force would break them. They were like amoeba-like tendrils, clinging but not really holding. I think it was more the shock that threw me off balance than their attacks.
It's incredible that I managed to think of this less than three seconds after the attack itself, but that time alone cost me dearly. We were soon surrounded from the front and back by the milky slimes.
At least the sides were still free, so with Impeto pinned to my shoulder and Lumi still complaining about the way I was holding him, I moved to the right, toward the side of the hill.
But I couldn't take two steps before one of the different slimes threw itself in front of me. Instinctively, I stopped and slapped it with my free hand. Big mistake.
*Sssshhhh*
"Uuughhghhh"
[-3 HP]
[Condition: Minor acid burn (-1 HP every 40 seconds), insignificant poisoning (-1 HP every 1.5 minutes)]
'Son of a–'
I didn't have time to finish the curse in my head when more slimes came bouncing toward me. At least I wasn't alone.
*Kkrrrroooooo!!!*
Impeto released a jet of fire as he moved his neck toward the jumping slimes. I could almost hear the *ploqs* of the dying slimes; the fire made it hard to see them, but the notifications came through frequently.
[Joint experience for eliminating white slime]
[Joint experience for eliminating white slime]
[Joint experience for eliminating white slime]
....
'White slimes are weak to fire, good to know.'
Sensing danger from behind, I swerved to the right, getting closer to the side of the road I wanted. As soon as I turned, I saw that the other white slimes had formed a semicircle around us but weren't advancing.
Danger again, I threw myself to the ground, getting into a push-up position to avoid crushing Lumi. Impeto let go of me and glided to the beginning of the slope that led to the hill where the park was.
As I bent down, I felt things passing over my head and a strange smell coming from the other side of the protective wall. When I looked, I saw that it was full of smoking holes that were getting bigger every few moments in the concrete.
"Strong acid!"
Strong enough to dissolve concrete, and the chitin in the exoskeletons of insects.
Rolling forward, I avoided more shots coming from above of the left side of the protective wall. It didn't take long for the green slimes that were firing those acid shots to appear.
'Wonderful, so the white slimes work in conjunction with the green ones, and the translucent ones look after themselves, it seems.'
Since they've never moved since they formed that semicircle, the white slimes have only increased in number, occupying almost the other half of the "bridge."
'The white slimes act as triggers and distractions, while the green ones are responsible for taking down the prey. At least if they're this big, they'd all theoretically be able to feed, probably.'
Is it strange that I'm analyzing the behavior of these monsters in this situation?
Well, that helps me calm down.
I'm in the middle of a "circle" of slimes. In front are the white ones that are "slightly" acidic, and from the left come the green slimes, at the same speed as a turtle emerging from the water, slowly closing the circle, while throwing small balls or jets of stronger acid in my direction. Leaving only the right side for me to retreat.
'Or not?'
Dodging more acid shots and trying not to watch as Lumi released the glowing glue from his mouth, I quickly took out one of the rats Mari had given me and threw it into the small opening on the left side. It began to melt a few seconds later.
'I knew.'
The slime types work together to catch large prey, circling and trapping it to a certain point but leaving an "escape route" both for them to have a place to aim and to inflict maximum damage using their individual abilities. White detection, green attack and ambush, translucent final surprise attack.
'The best alternative would be to do like Impeto and jump straight the remaining meters to get to the other side, but staying in the air leaves me very exposed to the green ones' attacks... Is the only way to really risk passing through the translucent ones?'
*Awu Awu!!*
With Lumi's whistle, I got out of my head just in time to dodge an attack from the white slimes; it seems they're impatient.
'Tsk, I'll have to risk it anyway.'
But before I could even turn around in their direction.
*Kkkkrrrrrooooo!!!!*
Impeto saved the day.
It seems the slimes weren't the only ones setting a trap.
As soon as Impeto saw the green slimes coming, and the translucent ones "joining" to form a large slime almost my size (no, I don't know how he noticed that, he just did, and that's what matters), he decided to launch a powerful attack to eliminate most of the translucent ones and open a real path for us to escape.
He puffed out his chest and sent a large fireball at the translucent slimes, making the "small wall" they'd made quite visible.
It seems there were more translucent ones than I expected, but that also makes sense—they're translucent, right?. They hadn't just made a small wall like I initially thought, but a Wall, a little thicker than the protective wall of the "bridge."
'Damn, if I'd really taken the risk, I don't think I would have come out the other side with just a few burns.'
The other slimes didn't seem to like seeing their "friends" on fire and decided to charge at them. Luckily, they were as slow as sea turtles on land. Unfortunately, they coordinated well; the green ones launched ranged attacks while the white ones got closer.
Having learned my painful lesson, I decided to use magic to deal with them. My hand was still red, burning, and peeling from the slap I gave the other slime.
Lumi managed to defend against most of the slimes' attacks with a kind of shimmering wall that also irritated my eyes, but I'd rather do that than get more poisoned burns.
Gathering mana in the palm of my "good" hand (the one that must have opened when I fell from the wall), I held it long enough to increase the explosive power and knockback effect.
"[Shadow Ball]"
Five seconds later, I sent it toward the slimes, which were now inches away from me.
'Oops!! That wasn't a good i–'
I was also sent backwards by the force of the push, but one thing I didn't expect was that it gave me enough speed to avoid being hit by many of the green ones' attacks.
[-7 HP]
[-6 HP]
[-7 HP]
Not getting hit by many, yes, I still got hit, and it hurt like hell.
[You gained experience for eliminating white slime.]
[You gained experience for eliminating white slime.]
[You gained combined experience for eliminating translucent slime.]
[You gained combined experience for eliminating translucent slime.]
[You gained combined experience for eliminating translucent slime.]
...
'Oh!! Not bad. This should give you a little boost for what's missing for the next level, huh.'
I thought, getting up from the ground, after losing another 2 HP when I hit the ground.
[-1 HP every 7 seconds for moderate acid burns]
[-1 HP every 15 seconds for mild poisoning]
Of course there would be something to mess it up, right?.
I just hope this is just the full effect of the attacks, including the burn on my hand; otherwise, I think things are going to get complicated.