The giant toads advanced across the plain in great leaps, making the ground tremble with every impact. THUD! THUD! THUD!
The first enemies to appear. And I say it that way because many more would soon join them.
All thanks to the pendant Mitsurugi was wearing, which served to attract monsters. One of the many exotic items from Wiz's shop — which was already saying a lot.
That's right. The duel with the swordmaster consisted of a competition to see who could defeat the most enemies.
If you ask me, considering that the Destroyer would arrive at the city tomorrow, I would have preferred to save my strength for the great battle — where nothing less than the fate of Axel would be at stake.
But well, since I was already in this situation, I suppose I might as well take advantage of it to gain a few extra levels.
Besides, there was no way I could refuse this duel. No matter that my opponent was the most powerful adventurer in all of Axel — surpassed only by Kazuma Satou, who had apparently managed to defeat him in a duel they had not long ago.
What I'm about to say may sound stupid and even childish. But knowing that, the mere idea that Aqua might see me as a coward bothered me.
And speaking of the goddess, the moment she saw the enormous amphibians appear on the horizon, she began running as fast as her legs would allow, until she reached a tree and hid behind it.
"Ah! It seems they're already here!" Kyouya Mitsurugi exclaimed. His blue armor shone majestically under the clear sky. It was a truly beautiful day. The rays of the radiant sun seemed to dance on the blade of Gram, the cursed sword. "I can't wait to see what you're capable of, Kaizer!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," I said in a voice completely lacking enthusiasm.
Well, at least the duel doesn't consist of having to face Mitsurugi directly.
I measured the distance between the toads and myself, and the moment one of them (one with a somewhat bluish color) entered my attack range, I gripped Kronos's hilt tightly and charged at it like a rocket.
Upon noticing my presence, the creature moved one enormous, black, viscous eye, then shot its tongue at me with the clear intention of wrapping me up. So, in the middle of my charge, I danced to the side and delivered a vertical slash across its enormous belly.
One down.
My second opponent was a little smaller than the first, so I assumed it must have been a relatively young specimen.
It tried to surprise me from behind, but thanks to my recently learned skill called "Divine Sense," I was able to anticipate its attack and dispose of it with ease.
Divine Sense is a skill unique to the paladin class. Similar to an Enemy Detection, but much more enhanced. Not only does it alert me to enemy attacks, but in the case of undead or demons, I can perceive their presence as long as they are within a 100-meter radius.
In total I managed to defeat two giant toads. Not very impressive considering that Mitsurugi, who was fighting not far from where I was, had managed to kill three of them.
"This victory is for you, my lady!" the swordmaster declared, raising his fist in Aqua's direction.
However, the woman in question seemed to be very distracted reading a magazine, reclining on a lounge chair with her long, sexy legs stretched out.
"Oh, that's very considerate of you, Katsuragi," she said. "Just make sure to keep those things away from me, okay?"
"K-Katsuragi…?"
Poor guy.
"Hey, don't get distracted," I told him. "What the hell are those things?"
Some viscous masses with deformed, translucent bodies were advancing toward us at high speed.
And it seemed they came in several colors. Red… blue… green… No way! Are those…?
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed with excitement. "I can't believe it! They're slimes!"
Mitsurugi let out a bitter little smile.
"You look enthusiastic, Kaizer."
"How could I not be? They're slimes! Slimes!"
Slimes were the most common type of enemy in RPGs. And this was the first time I had encountered one since arriving in this world.
"Damn, I didn't think the pendant would attract a group of creatures this dangerous," a worried Mitsurugi observed.
"What are you talking about? Slimes are the weakest enemies in role-playing games."
I wasn't understanding Mitsurugi. Being a reincarnated from Japan like me, there was no way he didn't know RPGs. Who hasn't played a Dragon Quest at some point? Or a Final Fantasy. Or Lufia 2 if we were getting really picky.
"Kaizer… you don't seem to understand the situation. Things don't work the same way here as they do in our original world."
"Yeah, I know that very well," I told him, remembering how vegetables arrived on my plate still alive and how I had to chase them around with a fork every time I wanted to eat a damn salad.
"In this world, slimes are considered one of the most deadly classes of monster that can exist."
"Huh?"
"I think we're in trouble," the experienced adventurer continued, gripping the hilt of his cursed sword tightly.
I can't believe it. Is he playing a joke on me? Deadly enemies? Slimes? Is he serious?
I know — this is probably a tactic to scare me so he can finish off all the slimes by himself and win the duel.
"KAIZER! HERE THEY COME!"
"Huh?"
Suddenly one of the slimes shot toward me, dragging its body. A gelatinous, slippery mass that moved at impossible speeds.
Two more joined it. Three. Four more slimes.
And then, when I had it right in front of me, what had previously looked like a small mass barely larger than a basketball suddenly increased in size while revealing a set of fierce, razor-sharp teeth.
"GRRRRAAAAAAAH!"
A terrifying roar, worthy of a vermin straight out of hell, shook the entire plain.
IT WAS TRUE! THIS IS HOW SLIMES ARE IN THIS WORLD?! WHAT A SHITTY WORLD!
With no other options, Mitsurugi and I raised our weapons and charged against the army of slimes.
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