My friend is a slime, so what?

Part 8: Free Falling

I didn't expect everything to go downhill so fast. We were trying to come up with a name for Shinohara one moment and dealing with a group of adventurers who found us next to the remains of another adventurer the next. As the least menacing-looking of the group (outside of the egg), I tried to deescalate the whole situation by talking with the adventurer using my telepathy, which sadly backfired, as their first assumption was that I was assaulting their minds with some weird psychic magic. Ugh. Before I could further explain anything, they started attacking us. Kumoko wasted no time fighting back, and she wasn't holding back. Not like she could afford that. She may be fast and quite deadly with her poisons, but her spider body can't really take much damage. Soo, it was up to me to try to incapacitate the adventurer in a non-deadly way. The last thing I wanted was to kill more humans. One was already more than enough.

While most of the monsters in this cave are poisonous and most of their skills don't actually work for any non-deadly approach, luckily, I got a paralyzing attack from the centipede and earth magic from the basilisk, and with my defense and regeneration skills, I may have a chance to actually stop them without killing them. I try rushing toward the ones that look like a wizard and healer if their clothes are anything to go by, but I'm quickly stopped in my tracks by a towering knight and a speedy guy that looks like a rogue who is dashing around. I try to get around them, but the wizard throws me off with his magic, and if that wasn't enough, the mele duo gets buffed by the party healer. This is more complicated than dealing with monsters. They strategized and worked together to make sure to cover each other's weak spots.

The rogue was too fast for me to properly land a hit with my still low-level skills, so I focused on the knight. Each time I paralyze him, he gets cured by the healer, and when I try to trap him using earth magic, he manages to break free with some sort of herculean strength. "Great Sage '' I need you to scan them and suggest to me the best course of action.

Scanning Complete: All the foes, unlike monsters, have multiple skills which complement their specialty.

Observation: Continuing with the current tactics would lead to casualties on our side. Therefore, termination of the enemy force is advised while the enemy is still ignorant of our capability.

Wait, casualty? I can't let them kill Kumoko. Still, there must be a way to avoid killing them. Think Rimuru, think! There must be another option you aren't seeing. "Great Sage." Would scaring them work?

Calculating... Completing Calculation: There is a 70% chance for said plan to work under very specific circumstances. Do you wish to proceed with this plan?

Yes! Soon, "Great Sage" took control of my body and proceeded with the plan of scaring off the adventurer, using earth magic to envelop us in dust and make the earth around us move and raise small debris, like some sort of anime transformation. As I transform into my most powerful form, the giant snake, smoke covers us and obscures our vision. Once in this terrifying form, "Great Sage" uses the sound skills we got from the cave bats to let out a sonic screech.

<Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Intimidation LV1]>

It worked! They all scramble on their feet before running away. Wait! Do not take the egg! We didn't name her! Luckily, Kumoko came through with a name, Kiyohime. I just hope Kumoko didn't choose the name because she reminded her of the dragon in that tale. The egg glowed, and Kiyohime hatched from it. She confused us from the adventure for a moment until we started yelling that we were the monster, and she started wiggling, trying to break free. Kumoko's quick thinking once more came to save the day as she quickly suggested she use her electric attack. It's a level 1 skill, but it should be enough to do the trick, kind of like a teaser.