Slimes & Magic

26. Another monster

While traveling through the jungle Alex spends a lot of time talking to the two on their back, answering the myriad of questions they have. In the process of answering their questions Alex realises they are basically telling their entire life story. Happily answering their questions Alex also gets to know more about them in turn. Turns out that the two of them have been friends for quite a long time, having started out as a team of adventurers going out together slaying monsters and beasts. Then the two of them together decided to join the guild as veterans and work for them. This is also why the pair of them was asked to join Alex in Zonia. Iris specializes in magic as holding weapons while flying wasn't really an option, and with his big build Gerald prefers to use a two handed great sword. Asking about their levels, in true veteran fashion they are both above 50, making them a real force to be reconned with. Going between walking and trotting Alex is able to make good pace by the end of the night. Alex guesses that they will be able to get back to Zonia in a couple hours the following day, making camp well after the sun had set.

Just thirty minutes after they had set out again the following morning the sage notifies Alex, "[I have detected a large monster ahead of us, be careful.]"

"*There appears to be a large monster in the direction that we are heading. I'd personally like to defeat it, is that alright?*" Alex asks letting the other two know of the situation. "*Yeah no problem. Should we get off?*" Iris asks already reaching down to the straps around her legs. "*No don't worry. I'm itching for a fight, I should be able to handle it on my own.*" Alex says As they split in half creating an identical tiger next to themselves, "*Just sit back and watch, I'll prove that I'm worthy of ruling over Zonia.*" Alex says speaking from the second tiger and goes ahead, followed by Alex's initial body. "*Never seen such a skill before*" Iris comments in fascination. As they get closer to the monster Alex slows down approaching carefully from between the trees, trying to be as stealthy as possible. As the monster comes in to view from behind the trees it appears to be a large Snapping turtle. Alex with Iris and Gerald on their back stops and hides at a relatively safe distance while being able to watch the fight. Going over to the turtle Alex decides to try and figure out its abilities first instead of straight out attacking it. As soon as they step out from behind the trees to face the turtle it sees them. Waiting for just a brief moment the turtle rushes forward with an incredible speed. Prepared for the sudden attack Alex uses dash to quickly get out of the way. Looking back they see that the turtle even tried to lunge out with its head to bite them. The turtle quickly turns and runs at Alex again, its speed far exceeding that or any normal turtle. Quickly dodging by activating superspeed Alex moves to a good distance behind the turtle. Having created a moment where the turtle is looking for its opponent Alex decides to try a bit of the ancient magic they had learned about. Saying "*Ice spear*" in the ancient language Alex launches a large, very pointy spear at the turtle to test its shell. Slightly expecting the result the spear completely shatters against the turtles shell, not even leaving a scratch. Giving away their position the turtle turns around and starts to run at them again. Stopping them short with another bit of magic Alex casts "*Stone bullet rain*" resulting in a good 20 stone bullets to go flying at high speeds at the turtle. Seeing the attack coming it pulls in its limbs and hides inside its shell. For the moment that the stone bullets pummel the turtles shell it seems like the shell suddenly changed to become much harder. Leaving some scratches this time the hard shell still hasn't cracked. "***This is a problem. It's too fast and had a really hard shell...***"
"[May I suggest flipping the turtle up side down]" Sage suggests following Alex's line of thought. "***Hm good idea I hope its stomach is softer than its back***" Alex thinks as they jump up in to the air turning in to a falcon. Flying circles above the turtle to keep its attention on them it keeps trying to lunge and snap at Alex. Far enough outside the turtles range Alex quickly devises a plan to flip the turtle. With Air manipulation, Alex summons a very strong gust of wind pushing up from below the front of the turtle. It's front easily lifts off the ground and as it struggles to balance on its back legs it tumbles over backwards, wobbling as it flails around trying to get some footing to flip back over. Alex doesn't wait a moment and summons a very large stone spike with a flat end on the top right over the stomach of the turtle. Flying right over the spike Alex turns in to the biggest slime they can muster, releasing the magic holding the spike in the air as they fall down on it. Stabbing the turtle straight through the stomach with all their weight the stone spike gets buried deep in to the ground. [Experience gained from kill. Slime is now at level 26]