Chapter 24

What is this?!

Leon thought, caught off guard by the unexpected mode of attack.

The speed was no more than a basic stone throw, but the number and spread were what made it dangerous. Nine stones were fired at close range, and dodging or blocking all of them was impossible.

He had to prioritize. Leon’s eyes flicked rapidly, tracking their trajectories and evaluating the threat level of their impact points.

Three are headed for vital spots.

One to the philtrum, one to the throat, one to the groin. Whether it was on purpose or not, they were all aimed along the midline—making them difficult to avoid.

Blocking was the only option. Leon raised his sword and surged forward like a gust of wind. A single slash knocked aside all three stones with a loud

clang!

The best defense is a good offense. It was a cliché, but it was often true. Attacks that were impossible to block or dodge in place could often be avoided by moving forward.

Almost simultaneously, Leon clenched his teeth as the three of the remaining six stones struck squarely—two in the stomach, one in the left shoulder. A heavy jolt rippled into sharp pain.

The hit knocked the wind out of him—but he couldn’t afford to stop. There was no guarantee that was the Rock Slimes’ only volley. At the very least, he had to retreat to a distance beyond their firing range.

Leon backed off quickly and exhaled hard from the pain. The damage wasn’t severe. His bruised spots throbbed, but nothing serious enough to harm bone or organs.

I was too careless.

If Rock Slimes were just tough-skinned monsters, adventurers wouldn’t avoid them. Even if their cores were shielded by stones, their mobility had to suffer for it. So it made sense that they would sometimes eject stones to lighten their mass. He just hadn’t expected them to weaponize it.

Leon stopped about ten meters back. From this distance, he could easily dodge stone shots and observe their behavior more closely.

“They don’t fire from this range,

huh?

”

The Rock Slimes were clearly still aware of his presence, but they made no move to attack. Either they knew their effective range, or they didn’t want to waste their resources.

To them, those stones were both arrows and armor. Tossing them away haphazardly would be suicide. It also meant that that very property could be exploited. He could force them to expend their ammo until they ran out.

Painful as the stones were, he could deflect them with his sword. Once they ran out of stone shards, they would be easy prey.

That’s probably how the guards here do it.

Block with a shield, stab the exposed core with a spear. It was a safe and straightforward tactic.

However, while Leon acknowledged the validity of that approach, he had no intention of copying it. He wouldn’t grow by fighting that way. That was also why he hadn’t brought any weapons other than his sword.

Watching the Rock Slimes closely, Leon stepped forward again. He needed to confirm their attack range.

Nine meters... eight... seven...

Step by step, he crept closer. When he reached five meters, the slimes began to ripple again. They were forming launch channels to fire more stones. Leon immediately retreated, and the slimes stopped transforming. Five meters was the trigger distance.

There’s a delay between the start of the transformation and the actual launch. If I time it right, I might be able to squeeze in an attack or two.

He was right, but unless he could pierce their defenses, a pre-emptive strike wouldn’t mean much. He had to thread his blade between the swirling shards and strike the core.

And then a realization struck him.

Wait... do I have to cut at all?

To pierce through the unevenly arranged stones, a thrust would be far more effective than a slash. If he could use Rodrick’s Vision to catch the moment the shards scattered inside the slime’s body, and thrust his sword through the opening, he would be able to reach the core. The only issue was that the layout of the stones was always changing. Luckily, even that had a workaround.

“Crisis begets opportunity,

huh

...”

El-Cid answered his whisper, —Exactly. The moment a Rock Slime transforms to create a launch port, its internal flow freezes for a second. That’s your only window. With your current skill level, that’s the only time you’ll be able to hit the core.

Leon started to nod, then stopped. He realized why El-Cid had recommended this job.

“You thought this all through, didn’t you? From the moment we had the quest sheets laid out in front of us,” he asked, somewhat in awe at the foresight.

—Of course.

For Leon, this was a tough opponent. It was a foe that couldn’t be defeated without pushing every skill he had to its limit.

He’d need to use Vision to track the stone trajectories and the core of the Rock Slimes and use Footwork to dance across the slick, unsteady ground while dodging the projectiles. If either skill was lacking, he wouldn’t make it through.

Let’s do this.

Leon drew a long breath. Then, he kicked off and slid across the floor, erasing the five-meter gap in an instant and closing in on the slimes.

At the same moment, the three blobs shuddered. Their smooth surfaces burst with holes as the stones inside aligned toward him. Just before they fired—within that one second—Leon’s thrust struck like lightning.

With a

schlup!

The blade sank into the gelatinous mass. Splitting through the sticky goo, El-Cid’s point slipped through a gap between the shards of stone and found the core.

As soon as the tip made contact, the marble-sized core shattered, and the slime dissolved with a hiss. The ooze turned to liquid and poured out and the stone shards clattered to the ground.

Leon had landed the perfect hit.

Unfortunately, he had no time to celebrate. The other two were still active.

Seven shots this time. Unlike before, he was ready. Leon pivoted a half-step to the side and swung his sword—not the edge, but the flat of the blade, like a club.

A series of crisp sounds rang out as the stones ricocheted off. While they bounced away into the tunnel, Leon returned to stance and targeted the next slime.

The blobs shivered again in preparation for another volley. It seemed like they had no learning ability.

Leon struck again—but this time, he missed. Without panicking, he defended another wave of projectiles. Then, the third and fourth thrusts didn’t miss. As the final Rock Slime melted into a puddle, Leon let out the breath he’d been holding and lowered his sword.

“

Whew

...”

It was only three enemies, but he was thoroughly exhausted mostly from the mental strain rather than physical. His concentration had been so intense his head throbbed.

There was too much to observe with the Vision, and one slip in Footwork meant losing the timing for a strike. The time of less than a minute spent battling against these Rock Slimes was more taxing than hours against the Ratmen.

—Well? Good training, right?

“Cursed. Sword.”

—What now?!

While El-Cid wailed, Leon picked up a few of the shards on the ground. These were infused with the slime’s magic, and those closest to the core would serve as proof of the kill.

The Rock Slime Raid quest was only just beginning. Leon cleared the remains and continued deeper, following the lantern-lit shadows on the wall.

The second encounter came quickly.

—Five of them. That’s going to be rough.

El-Cid was right. Leon clicked his tongue, then raised the Holy Sword. If he could take out one by surprise, that would leave four. That was manageable.

The underground path was a straight corridor. There was nowhere to fall back, nowhere to maneuver. And what kind of Hero would retreat before a bunch of Rock Slimes?

Alright.

He focused. The sensation of the ground came through his boots. He had to suppress all recoil perfectly if he wanted to fool the slimes. They detected vibrations—so all he had to do was erase sound and impact. Rodrick’s Footwork made that possible.

A surprise thrust of the Holy Thrust had managed to drive straight through the core, melting down one of the Rock Slimes. The noise alerted the others, and their bodies began to ripple and tremble.

Leon took two steps back and counted their launch ports—fourteen. The distance he’d made was around four meters. Could he handle fourteen projectiles? He tensed up, sweat beading along his brow. Even the blood vessels in his eyes strained with effort.

The slimes didn’t give him too much time to think as they hurled fourteen stones flying toward him.

There was no obvious escape route. Suppressing his panic, Leon’s eyes darted. Four were aimed at vital points, five were harmlessly off-target, and the remaining five were ambiguous. Even with the increased number, having experienced this once already made a difference—Leon quickly calculated the optimal response.

Diagonal step, half-forward. Rotate my upper body...

he thought while moving.

If he waited until the thought was complete before acting, it would already be way too late.

Leon’s body stepped diagonally forward just half a pace—and more than half the stones sailed harmlessly past. Now, if he twisted his torso and made a single sweeping motion, he would only take two hits to the torso.

His torso, protected by leather armor, could take a stone or two. It was the perfect defense.

At least, that’s what he thought until his left foot, the one that had stepped forward, slid out from under him. He had made a critical mistake to focus too much on his upper body, which had caused him to lose precision in his Footwork. His stance broke, the center of gravity pitched forward—and three stones came right at him.

Dammit!

The two hits to his torso didn’t matter. What mattered was that one of the three that he was in direct line with was aimed between his eyes. If he lost consciousness, the shame of “Hero Defeated by Rock Slime” would haunt his name for ten thousand years.

With no clear way out in a moment of pure desperation, Leon’s body found its own answer.

“

H-huh

?!”

His left knee, the one that slipped, snapped up. Then with a movement that mimicked a lunge, an advanced stepping technique used for long-distance thrusts, he restored his broken balance, allowing his upper body to move freely again.

He twisted his head to dodge the shot. The stone missed by just a few strands of hair. Leon barely exhaled in relief when he instinctively thrust his sword through a Rock Slime’s core without even realizing it.

W-what just happened?

Two more stones slammed into his torso—but the impact was minor. Leon instinctively retreated a few steps, replaying what had just happened in his mind.

He knew he’d avoided the stone to the face by dropping into a lunge, but the follow-up—how that evasive movement flowed perfectly into a counter-thrust—that hadn’t been intentional. Even if he tried again, he probably couldn’t replicate it.

—I had a feeling you didn’t know what you were doing... but hey, a win’s a win. We take those.

“What the hell are you on about?”

El-Cid replied with a hint of annoyance, —That was Rodrick’s Footwork, level two.

“What...?”

—Balancing on flat ground, minimizing sound and vibration—that’s just the basics. If the ground is soft or uneven, you should be able to use that to your advantage. Ice, molten rocks—whatever the surface, you turn it into your strength. That’s the essence of Footwork.

Leon finally understood. The mistake of letting his left foot slip had led to an improvised reaction that ended up being better than his original plan. To be precise, the second level of Rodrick’s Footwork, the ability to turn even disadvantageous terrain into your ally.

This is better.

Realizing this during the battle, Leon’s stance shifted. He let go of his rigid posture and widened his stance so his balance could shift fluidly in any direction.

If the environment changed, one’s posture must change too. His rigid form had only worked well on solid ground, but in a place with low ceilings and damp floors, footwork had to adapt accordingly.

With a posture like a crouching beast, Leon’s eyes gleamed. Things were going to be different.