Words of Confidence: Part 1

A few days later, they arrived in a town called Westenra. Near the center of town, there was a two-story building, where men and women walked in and out armed with weapons, staves, and other tools.

Inside the Slayers Guild, members stood about, talking amongst each other. Victor walked towards the mission board.

“Hm, let’s see.” His eyes scanned the wall of flyers until one listing a slime infestation caught his eye. “Perfect!” Victor took it down then walked to the receptionist desk.

“Welcome to the Westenra Slayers Guild!” The receptionist greeted him with a cheerful tone and a grin.

Victor handed her a slim tab of metal from his pocket. The card had his information inscribed into it, and near the top was a small crystal.

“Victor Troika?”

“That’s me,” he nodded. “I’ll be taking the job for the Slime Infestation.” He handed in the flier and she gave it a cursory glance.

The receptionist closed her eyes, and imbued mana into the crystal in his card. The crystal glowed with a dim light before she handed it back to him.

“All right, you’re all set. You have a week to complete and claim the reward.” She bowed her head. “May the good work be done.”

“Thoroughly,” Victor replied then walked towards the entrance. The slayers watched him as he left, and a scoff went off in earshot. Victor just went on as if he hadn’t heard anything.

-

I sat in the saddle, as I watched the receding back of a warrior with a great sword sheathed on his back. He was walking out of town with a beautiful woman in a cloak. I wondered what job they were on their way towards.

“We have a job, Caleb!”

I turned to see Victor with a grin on his face. I still wasn’t used to the new name I had been given.

While we were heading to Mount Pale Crown, Victor gave me a new alias to go by. Caleb Cole. Just to stay safe since my family name is attention grabbing and Victor isn’t sure if Captain Nemo would have approved on this ‘little’ detour.

“What’s the job?” I asked excitedly.

“A slime infestation!” Victor said. “It will make for a great first quest.”

My excitement dimmed a bit, but it’s my first job so I shouldn’t have expected any goblins, bandits, or dire wolves. “And how much is the bounty?”

“Two gold coins.”

“Couldn’t you have picked a more lucrative job?!”

“Listen, I’m only a fowl-ranked slayer,” he sighed.

In the Slayer’s guild, the ranks of Slayers are represented by winged creatures. Fowl, Falcon, Griffin, Wyvern, and Dragon.

Making poultry the lowest rank was a deliberate slight, meant to encourage newcomers to hurry and prove themselves as real Slayers.

“Plus, fowl-ranked slayers must be accompanied by a higher-rank slayer to accept those jobs.”

“I don’t really care that you are such a low rank, because this isn’t your main occupation. “But what business do you have dragging me to a dragon-infested mountain if you aren’t at least a falcon rank?”

“So long as my hunch proves correct, we won’t have to fight a single dragon.”

“And how likely is that?”

“I thought I got rid of your doubts.”

“Like that is possible with you and your plans!” I noticed that I said it without suspicion or accusation. I had genuinely accepted his particularities.

“Everything I do has plenty of thought put behind it. This job for example. Though the pay is god awful, we aren’t doing it for the money. We’re doing it for Yoki.”

“For Yoki?” I felt at the scarf around my neck. The cloth wobbled. Though the familiars of Beast Tamers were accepted in villages, they normally caused a ruckus more often than not.

I was hesitant at Victor’s idea to give Yoki Revian’s scarf. Then I realized that by doing this, the scarf would be able to keep its exact condition, and I would always have something of his by my side.

It was a personal satisfaction of mine, that people didn’t know I wore a living creature. And the scarf didn’t feel any different, still warm and comfy.

“So, will Yoki get stronger by killing other slimes?”

“For many slimes who cannibalize their brethren, they gain many benefits. Since Yoki is a special slime.” He whispered the last part. “It isn’t picky. And depending on what slimes we find, he can form items faster, or even gain new abilities.”

I grew excited to take on this job now. “All right, then let’s get going.”

- - - -

The job was several miles away. By the time we arrived, the sun was right above us.

Through a clearing in the trees, I saw an abandoned farmstead. Hardened globs of slime coated the wooden structures, and more slimes were sliding or bathing in the sunlight.

It was like a giant took a honey wand and dolloped colored syrup atop the buildings and smaller drops were scattered all around.

The job description had noted that the farm was long abandoned and that a colony of amber slimes had taken over. However, I saw a varying palette of slime colors as we approached.

“Whoa, it’s kind of pretty in a way.”

“It is pretty.” He turned to me with a big grin. “Enderan, we may have hit the jackpot! This is an extremely rare sight! When dealing with slime infestations, they are usually of one breed.”

“Did you anticipate this?” Sometimes it felt like Victor could see the future. So perhaps he knew this entire time that there was more to this slime infestation all along.

“As great as my intuition is. I was only expecting the amber slimes from the job description. But this…” He was in genuine awe, and I believed him.

“So, how do we go about this?”

“Carefully. Even though slimes are the only thing we have to contend with, like I pointed out, there are too many slime species for this to be a simple colony. Look.” He guided my gaze as he pointed at the different colors.

“You have your run of the mill forest slimes.” He pointed at the green stables. “Then you have the corrosive Poison slimes.” He pointed at a section of the old house melted around a hardened purple mass. “The yellow ones are Sunny slimes. While they aren’t very corrosive, they’re faster than the common type.”

“And…” Victor squinted at the barn house which was covered in crimson slime. “Amber Slimes. Looks like we stumbled upon a slime buffet for Yoki.”

“Buffet?”

“It’s like a restaurant where you can eat all the food you want. A feast, but the food never runs out.”

“Sounds like a dream.”

“It’s actually a scam. “Trust me, it’s not as great as it sounds.”

“Really?” I wanted to ask if he had been to one, but focused at the task at hand. “Anyways, have any tips in dealing with them?”

“Try to leave the Poison and Amber slimes to me. If you come face to face with a poison slime, just keep your distance. And amber slimes are very thick and sticky, so it’s best to avoid them as well.” Victor frowned, signaling for us to stop. “Get off your horse, looks like they don’t like us being here.”

Seeing Victor tense, I looked ahead and noticed the slimes were no longer idle and they began sliding our way. The green slimes hopped. The purple corrosive slimes slowly rolled, leaving a visible purple trail. The yellow slimes vibrated before making sudden surges forward before stopping.

I threw a leg over Rudy, and stepped down. As my foot touched the ground, I willed Yoki.

With practiced ease, I tugged off my scarf and the waving red fabric thinned and stretched into a short sword, and I adjusted my grip as the weight changed.

Victor slid on his conduit glove and took out his tome.

“Isn’t that the same journal that you write and draw in?”

“It is. It’s a rare tome that allows me to summon forth any notes or information stored on it. He opened the book and held it out towards me.

On the page were scrawls of archaic writing and symbols.

“Recall that drawing of you I made a few nights ago?”

I nodded, and the ink dissipated as the drawing from a few nights ago appeared. “Amazing! Although if it can reuse pages, why does it require multiple pages in the first place?”

“Some magic enchantments only work when applied to an item with a corresponding function. An enchantment for a book wouldn’t work on a single piece of paper, the same way an enchantment for a burning sword wouldn’t work on a bow.”

“Wouldn’t it just shoot fire arrows?”

“I feel like you missed the point.” Victor sighed.

I looked to the oncoming group of slimes. While they were still coming at us, they were still quite a distance away.

That didn’t stop me from feeling uneasy.

This was going to be my first real battle. When I heard we were fighting slimes I was almost disappointed in how easy it sounded. But was this how many aspiring slayers died?

That looks like a lot of them. What if they overrun us? What if Yoki refuses to fight his own kind? What if I get in Victor’s way when the fighting starts?

I felt my grasp on Yoki was too tight, and tried to control my breathing.

Who was I kidding?! Having only one arm means that I’m just going to be a liability rather than an asset! I’m just dead weight! I can’t do this!