As I made my way through the Grassy Plains, I looked around for my first opponent. As the starter area, even a BAMBIE like me could fight an enemy there. I even saw several other adventurers, all who looked new judging from their gear and horrid line-ups, fighting slimes and giant bipedal lizards.

  Did that thing just breathe fire?

  There was no way in hell I’d be fighting one of those lizard things, so I set my mind on finding a slime. Slimes were basic enemies in every game you played like Legend of Zelda, Dragons Dogma, and even Final Fantasy. They were the joke monsters that were only a real danger if they ganged up on you—especially the ones in Dragons Dogma 2.

  The number of times I had died to those damned slimes, which were immune to physical attacks, while my stupid Pawns, which were my mages and sorcerers, cried about how I needed help without helping pissed me off. However, I watched the other adventurers slice the slimes down normally without magic, so I figured it best to take them on.

  From what I saw, the slimes had your average slime attacks. They jumped at you. Yeah, that was it. They had no crazy move sets like the lizard monsters I watched doing flips, twists, and dodges as they fought the adventurers.

  Man! I totally want to fight one right now! I thought as I saw several slimes that weren’t occupied by other parties. But…I can’t risk embarrassing myself.

  I still didn’t know how to fight effectively, nor did I know how much my stats would come into play with my damage output. I didn’t want anyone to possibly see a slime kicking my ass. If they did, my life as an adventurer would be ruined before it even started!

  They’d see me in town and say, ‘Hey, that’s the guy who got his ass handed to him by a slime.’ And then they’d laugh, and no one would ever want me in their party! Just the thought of that scared me. With that said, I needed to find a place that was away from the other adventurers where I could practice.

  “This should do it.” I looked around. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and the only enemies I saw were slimes. “Perfect!” I approached one of the slimes and popped a squat in front of it.

  It lazed about, its gelatin-like body jiggling as it moved like a snail. So cute! It seemed that slimes, despite being monsters, were docile creatures and would only attack if provoked.

  “Alright then.” I stood up and kicked the creature like a soccer ball, sending it into the air before it came back down with a plop. Its attention turned to me, and its body contorted and wiggled as it prepared to lunge. “Let’s get this party started!” I grabbed Rei behind my back and went to unsheathe her.

  Click.

  “Eh?” I looked behind me. Had I grabbed her wrong?

  Click. Click. Click.

  A sweat bead dripped down my face as I smiled awkwardly. I knew the slime was about to attack, and I needed to draw her to fight back.

  CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

  She refused to be unsheathed. That was when I remembered her words.

  “Just this once, I’ll let you draw me for free.”

  “Wait!” My voice cracked. “She was seri-HNGH!” I froze as the slime flew past my face at a murderous velocity.

  Maybe my luck was high because had I not turned my head to face it again, it would have smacked right into the side of it. And at that speed, I was sure it would have done some damage. Possibly even killed me with my current stats.

  “H-Hey!” I stuttered nervously as I turned to face it. “At least let me get ready!” It flung itself at me again, and I ducked under it.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Click. Click.

  Rei still refused to be drawn.

  You worthless bi-

  “Ahh!” I squeaked as she vibrated violently, forcing me to let go of her hilt. “What the hell! What was that for, you bi-AHHH!” Another vibration, only that time more violent. “You b-IIIIIIHHHHHHHHH! OKAY! OKAY! I’M SORRY! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD READ MY-EEEK!” I squealed as Rei vibrated again at an intensity that made me collapse.

  Just as I hit the ground, the slime flew past me.

  Wait…did she do that to save-

  “Ahhhhhh! Okay! I get it!” I had tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and say her vibration had saved me from the slimes attack, but it seemed that had only been a coincidence.

  I guess I have to find a way to kill it without R-

  “Eh?” A shadow covered me as the slime came down from above. “OOF!” I watched as my HP dropped from full to a sliver that I could hardly see as the slime slammed into my gut with the force of a truck, knocking the wind from my lungs.

  LUCK:

  You have survived with 1 HP

  That would have been a one-hit kill!?

  “Ah! R-Rimuru … W-Wait…” I gasped in pain as I rolled over to my stomach. I saw its gel-like body contort and morph from where it was in front of me, hinting that it was about to lunge again.

  I have to move! I rolled out of the way as it jumped up and slammed down again.

  “Ugh!” I nearly hurled as I rose to my feet. “Am I really this weak?” As if responding, Rei vibrated. “Shut up!” I barked. “This is all your fault anyw-AY!” I sidestepped as the slime attacked.

  Damnit! What do I do?

  I had no weapon to fight the slime, at least not one that would let me use it. That left me with one other option.

  I may look stupid, I took in a deep breath to steady my nerves as I raised my fists. But it’s all I can do.

  In order to survive in this world, I would have to improvise, adapt, and overcome. I would do whatever I needed to grow stronger, even if it meant fighting in ways I never wanted to. I mean, who the hell was I? Itadori Yuji? Why would I want to go around punching people when I had a legendary weapon?

  I watched the slime as it moved. The way its body twisted and contorted gave away how and when it was going to attack. It wasn’t a difficult enemy. In fact, I would hardly even call it that. If anything, it was practice.

  “If one hit from you can kill me,” I started, a large smile spreading across my face. “Then I just have to kick your ass without taking a hit.”

  As if reacting to my sudden cocky demeanor, the slime flung itself at me.

  “Ngh!” I quickly dodged around it.

  It’s so fast!

  I hadn’t taken my eyes off it, yet I had barely seen it. Was the gap between my stats and the slimes that significant, or was I just that pathetic? It hardly mattered because I had already decided I’d do whatever it took to win, even if it took all day to defeat it.

  Timing. I thought. I have to figure out its timing.

  I needed to figure out the spacing between the slimes attacks. How long did it take before it lunged? Was there a cool down or grace period before it could attack again? How long did it take for its attack to reach me? If I could figure those three things out, I could win.

  I watched it morph its body in preparation for another attack.