Encounter in the Forest

I lay down in the grass; we had managed to defeat all the enemies, but I was exhausted. I don't know how long we had been fighting, but the sun was already starting to descend; it's probably around three in the afternoon. My stomach growled; all the physical effort I had just exerted had increased my appetite, although I think seeing over fifty giant rat corpses would turn anyone's stomach. I suppose I've gotten used to it.

"I didn't expect so many darn rats to come out."

"It was very dangerous and exciting; I can't believe I've used up all my MP." Nozomi leaped onto my chest; she was struggling to breathe, equally exhausted as I was.

"My HP and MP are at a minimum. Fighting against so many enemies isn't a good idea, at least not for now."

"But we gained a couple of levels, and my blood magic leveled up; thanks to that, I have a new spell."

I looked at the stats page; we were now at level 8. My "Offensive Boost" had leveled up, as well as my Monster Tamer skills, and I learned a new skill, "Defensive Boost," the same but for defense. Nozomi had also leveled up; both her blood strike and blood magic were now level 2, and she had learned a new spell, "Bloodshape," a spell that allows her to mimic the appearance of any creature from which she has absorbed a bit of blood. It was quite interesting, costing 50 MP, and it seemed to consume MP per second to maintain the transformation. I want to see how this spell works; I can think of two uses for it, but I want to try it out. Nozomi had already recovered quite a bit of MP, so I wanted to test it.

"Here, Nozomi." I took off the glove from my left arm; it was covered in rat bites, and blood was oozing from them. Although some of the wounds had already closed, others were deeper and would take longer to heal. "Can you take a bit of my blood? I want to see if you can transform into a human."

"But... Are you sure you want me to drink your blood?"

"All in the name of science, I mean, magic."

Nozomi, with hesitation, stuck out her tongue and licked a part of my arm, absorbing the blood. Her tongue tickled me, and after a lick, Nozomi moved away from my arm and tried to use the spell. Her body began to grow, taking on a human form. Her height and shape were the same as mine, but her eye and skin color remained hers. Additionally, her body remained semi-transparent and had a gelatinous texture. Other than that, it was like looking in a mirror.

"Oh, master, I look just like you, although, except for the fact that I'm still red." Nozomi was speaking with her own mouth, not using telepathy.

"Can you talk?"

"It seems I gain the abilities of what I absorb; an advantage."

But that's not the only surprising thing; she had perfectly imitated my entire body, reproductive apparatus included, which made me feel uncomfortable. However, her voice tone remained the same as hers.

"Well, I want to try something else. Could you turn back into a slime? I don't want you to get tired."

What I don't want is for her to keep scrutinizing every part of my body; she even started striking different poses, making it awkward for me to look at her.

"Hmm, fine, it does consume more MP than I can generate."

Nozomi returned to her original form. Regarding MP and HP regeneration, I estimate it's about 1% of her intelligence and vitality, so Nozomi regenerates 1 MP per second. She wouldn't be able to maintain the human form for long.

"What now?" It seems Nozomi can still talk, another interesting detail.

"If you absorb the blood of the giant rats, I suppose you can transform into one, and if you absorb... well, I'm not sure if blue slimes bleed, but if you absorb a bit of them, could you transform into one?"

"Hmm, I guess if I absorb their fluids, it should work. I'll change my color to blue."

"Then you'll be able to enter the city without them knowing you're a Blood Slime."

"But does that really matter?"

"For starters, everyone will look at us weirdly. Who would make such a strange monster their companion? Besides, I'm sure more than one would try to kill you, judging by the experience you give. I prefer them to think I'm weak; I don't want to attract too much attention."

Although with all these consecutive missions, I won't be able to keep that promise, but well, being able to eat and have a place to sleep is more important.

"Oh, that's a good idea. I'd like to be with you as much as possible. That way, I can defend you more often, and having the appearance of a blue slime would make it much easier."

"Exactly, let's do it. Absorb the blood of a rat while I pick the flower."

"Do I have to?" Nozomi sounded somewhat disgusted; I guess she won't like having the appearance of a rat.

"You never know when having the appearance of a rat might be useful."

Somewhat reluctantly, Nozomi devoured the corpse of one of the rats. As for me, I tore the flower and took the opportunity to collect berries from the fruit bushes; we should have something to eat, although I don't have much space to store things. I'll ask Nozomi to carry them.

"Master, I don't like being a rat."

I turned towards Nozomi; her body, as it did when she transformed into me, had grown, now adopting the size and shape of a giant rat, but maintaining her red color, gelatinous texture, and emerald eyes.

"Don't worry, it's only for situations that require it. I won't force you to use it more than necessary."

"Thank goodness." Nozomi returned to her original form, and I offered her the flower and berries. "Do you want me to keep these?"

"Yes, I'll collect more berries in the meantime. Can you search for and consume a blue slime? You're faster at searching than me, and if you find more magical flowers, collect them as well. When you find the slime, we'll feast on berries and continue searching for flowers."

"Alright, I'll find one quickly; I'm starving!"

Like a certain blue hedgehog, Nozomi disappeared into the bushes after having stored both the berries and the flower inside her. This girl does anything for food.

I gathered as many berries as I could, estimating around fifty. It won't be enough, but when Nozomi returns, I'll be able to carry more. I plucked a few leaves from trees and laid them on the ground as makeshift plates, so I wouldn't leave the berries on the ground. I began to search the area for any flowers while waiting for Nozomi to return. I managed to find two before Nozomi came back, looking very pleased.

"Master, I did it!" Nozomi jumped happily, now looking exactly like a blue slime, except for her eye color, and the marking on the top of her head was gone. "I also found three flowers; we're on a roll!"

"Very well, little one. I found these two, so we have six now. I've also collected a good amount of berries, although I'm not sure if it'll be enough for both of us."

"As long as we satisfy our appetites, it's plenty. Oh, and good news, maintaining the appearance of a blue slime only consumes one MP per second, so I can keep this form forever."

"Perfect, one less thing to worry about. Now, let's eat; we've earned it."

"Yes!"

Nozomi stored both magical flowers, returning to her normal form. She needs to regenerate MP; we never know when we might be attacked by another rat army. We began to eat the berries we had gathered; Nozomi started with the ones she had stored earlier. Judging by the expression on her face, she seemed to enjoy them very much. It's normal; I liked them too. We didn't take long to finish all the berries. It was enough to satisfy my hunger, and Nozomi also seemed content. We continued our search for magical flowers, going deeper into the area. After about fifteen minutes of walking, and having found only one flower, something caught our attention.

"Brother, behind you!" We could hear the voice of a young girl, sounding distressed.

"I know, you be careful too!" The voice of a young boy, energetic but somewhat tired, was also audible.

Both of them were fighting, probably against some giant rats.

"Master," Nozomi looked at me, "should we approach them?"

She's probably worried about them, and I'm interested in gaining experience, so we really have nothing to lose by getting closer to see if they need help. Plus, we're fully healed in terms of HP and MP, so we can fight again.

"Sure, transform into a blue slime, and don't speak; we can communicate through telepathy."

"Okay."

We approached the location following their shouts. A dozen rats had surrounded two young redheads. An 18-year-old boy dressed in what looked like high-quality regular clothes—a white shirt and a black jacket—carrying a long sword, his long hair tied in a ponytail. There was also a girl of the same age, dressed in an orange robe, holding a wooden staff, her long hair reaching below her knees, and using a strand to cover one eye. She seemed exhausted.

"Brother, I'm out of MP; we should retreat."

"We're surrounded; we can't escape from them. I'll try to make an opening, but I can't promise anything."

The boy was skilled with the sword; he managed to block the rat attacks and land a few strikes. However, doing this while defending his sister would be challenging, and the rats exploited that. While two of them distracted the boy, two others went after the sister, and the boy couldn't react in time to help her.

"'Offensive Boost' "Defensive Boost" Quickly, and don't use your blood spells; attack only physically."

"Understood, Master!"

Before the rats could touch the girl, both Nozomi and I charged at them, taking advantage of their mid-jump position. I managed to stab one in the jugular and cut its throat. Nozomi's powerful strike pushed the other rat back, and it fell to the ground on its back. Before it could get up, I lunged at it, stabbing the dagger into its trachea. The rat stopped moving shortly after.

"Thank you." The girl said, relieved, thinking she was about to die.

"It's too soon to thank me; we have to kill them before they call for more allies."

"It's easy for you to say!" The boy finished off one of the rats and was barely defending himself against another.

"Nozomi, protect the girl; don't let them touch her."

Nozomi nodded in response, and the girl was surprised to see Nozomi, but she didn't seem to mind.

Truth be told, the battle was easier than when it was just Nozomi and me. There were only seven enemies this time, thankfully, they didn't call for reinforcements. While the boy distracted them, I dealt fatal blows to the rats. Since some of them were trying to attack the girl, Nozomi successfully repelled their attempts, making it less challenging. The redhead occasionally cast magical spells, alternating between fireballs and ice shards. We didn't take long to finish them all, and we didn't even need Nozomi's power. It was also a test to see how well I could fight without relying on Nozomi. As I was cleaning my dagger by shaking it, both young individuals approached.

"Thank you so much for helping us." The girl bowed, and the boy imitated her.

"Yeah, we would have been in serious trouble without you. We owe you one."

"It's nothing; anyone would have done the same. You're lucky those rats didn't call for reinforcements; this place could be infested with them in a matter of seconds."

"If I had more MP, I could have handled it." The girl tightly gripped her staff. "But we had just fought a couple of goblins, and I used up everything I had."

"You should manage your MP better, sister." The boy gave her a teasing smile, and she shot him a glare.

"And whose fault is that? Charging into a group of goblins without thinking isn't very clever. If it weren't for my spells, you would have been injured."

"I'm faster than those idiots; I wouldn't have been hurt. You don't trust me."

I think they've just forgotten about me; they've started a typical sibling argument. But now that I focus on them, they look the same, same hair color, same facial features, within reason, of course, same eye color. Are they twins?

"Master, shouldn't you do something?"

Nozomi is right.

"Guys, this isn't the place to fight."

Both of them stopped and looked at me.

"You're right, we're sorry." The girl lowered her head, and the boy followed suit.

"I'm Ray, could I know your names?"

"I'm Karen Laurean, nice to meet you." The girl bowed again, very polite.

"And I'm Kharel Laurean, pleasure to meet you." The boy also bowed, but not as refined as his sister.

The girl squatted down and started petting Nozomi's head; the slime seemed to enjoy it as she had a happy expression.

"Can I ask for the name of your little friend?"

"Her name is Nozomi, a little slime that's helped me survive in this world."

"I never thought I'd see a Monster Tamer with my own eyes; I thought no one chose that profession. Are you crazy or something?"

Karen elbowed him in the arm.

"That's no way to talk to someone who saved our lives." Kharel gave his sister a reproachful look, and Karen held Nozomi in her arms. "What brings you here? You seem like an adventurer."

I won't lose anything by telling them the truth.

"Exactly, I was doing a couple of missions in this area."

Both siblings looked at each other.

"What rank are you?" The boy asked me.

-F, I started yesterday.

Both siblings looked surprised.

"Being that strong and still only rank F?" Kharel seemed disappointed, but his sister elbowed him again.

"Remember, Dad said adventurers increase their rank by doing missions; it's not surprising for someone who started yesterday to still have a low rank." Karen played with Nozomi while talking to me; she had a sweet expression on her face.

"I know, I know." The boy reproached her and then turned his gaze to me. "You come from Fayen, right?"

"Yes." I answered straightforwardly.

The redhead's eyes lit up.

"Could you point us in the direction? We got lost." the boy asked happily

"Mainly because a certain idiot forgot to buy a map." said the girl with an angry tone

"You were the one responsible for that!"

And they've started arguing again; it's clear they're siblings. I faked a cough to get their attention.

"I have no problem guiding you to the city, but I still have one mission to finish."

"Then let us help you!" The boy said with conviction.

"Consider it payment for saving our lives and guiding us to the city." The girl bowed.

I can't refuse; with two more people, we'll find the remaining flowers much faster, and we'll handle battles much more easily.

"All right, I accept the offer. We need to find three magical flowers. Nozomi, can you summon one?"

Nozomi "spat out" one of the flowers; Karen took it with her hand and showed it to Kharel, whose eyes lit up immediately.

"We've seen quite a few of these!"

"Yes, near where we fought that group of goblins. They're not far from here."

Surprisingly, our mission will end earlier than expected. Without letting go of Nozomi, Karen started walking, her brother and I followed. As we walked, the siblings told me some things about themselves. They were on a journey to become adventurers, and along the way, they stumbled upon a village that needed help. A pack of wolves was killing all the livestock and destroying the crops, even attacking some people. The siblings tried to face them, but it was too much, so they decided to go to Fayen to find strong adventurers. However, they got lost on the way. Thanks to them, I've managed to understand the geography of the area a bit more. This tree-covered area gradually becomes denser, forming a forest that surrounds a mountain. The wolves' lair seems to be somewhere near that mountain. Sooner than I expected, Kharel had picked three magical flowers and was handing them to me. Had he beaten us to it? Time had flown by while chatting with Karen.

"With this, we're done, right?"

As soon as I took the flowers, the mission completion notification appeared.

"Exactly, thank you very much; you've saved me quite a bit of work."

I handed the flowers to Nozomi, and she stored them inside her. This didn't surprise the siblings; they had just seen her spit out a flower, so I didn't need to explain.

"So, can you take us to the city?"

Honestly, I don't understand why they're asking this from someone they've just met. Well, I saved their lives, but I could be planning to steal everything they have, or they could be planning to deceive me. Similarly, I could be trying to deceive them; with my strength, it would be easy to deal with them. Do they trust me just because I saved their lives? Or are they planning to deceive me later? I have nothing to lose by going along with their plan for now. If they attempt anything against my life, Nozomi could finish them without much effort. It's an advantage of hiding my strength. For now, I'll put on a smile and talk to them as usual.

"Of course, follow me."