Chapter-01 · EP-024

Episode 24: Unusual Occurrence on the First Floor

There were clearly more slimes than usual. Was something abnormal happening?

"Iori, hold on a moment!"

I stopped Iori Takigawa, who was about to start defeating the slimes that were swarming out. I thought we needed to observe the situation a bit.

"What is it, Shirou?"

"Slimes are appearing in large numbers. There must be a reason. Before we practice Maika's skill, let's figure out what's happening. It might be too late if something happens first."

"I see, that's true. But still, they're just slimes. Maybe it's not something to worry about?"

That was true, as Iori said. Even if they were appearing in large numbers, they were still slimes. One hit was enough to defeat them. No matter how many swarmed out, we could just keep defeating them like a whack-a-mole game.

As I thought that while observing the slimes, I noticed they were gathering towards the puddles of water that Maika's magic had scattered earlier. Seeing that, I quickly reached a hypothesis.

"Could it be that these guys are attracted to the water?"

Did slimes, due to their cellular structure, perhaps prefer water? To replenish their body's moisture. There were no water sources on the first floor. Maybe they had a habit of gathering when they found such a precious source of moisture.

Even as I thought this, the number of slimes gathering was increasing.

"Maybe Shirou's right."

Iori looked at the swarm of slimes gathering around the water and agreed with my speculation.

So, Maika had scattered too much water while practicing her Water Magic, and the slimes were gathering because of it?

And at the same time, I realized something surprising.

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be far more efficient to lure slimes by scattering water like this than to search for and defeat them individually during normal exploration?"

"Certainly."

Iori nodded in understanding.

My excitement about enjoying the dungeon rose. This was a chance for everyone to level up.

"Alright! Iori, Yuno, let's defeat as many slimes as we can! If we're lucky, Heal Gems might drop! And Maika! Keep scattering the water!"

With my order, the game of whacking slimes—not moles—began.

Maika had used her Water Magic about ten times. Each time, she generated a massive amount of water, enough to fill a bathtub. She must have built up a huge amount of magical power.

At our feet, Magic Gems dropped by the defeated slimes were rolling around everywhere. That's because we prioritized defeating them over picking them up. I couldn't remember how many dozens we'd defeated, but the slimes showed no sign of stopping. Could they spawn indefinitely?

Just then, Iori noticed something and spoke to me.

"Shirou, don't those slimes look like they're absorbing water and getting bigger?"

I looked where Iori was pointing and saw slimes that were slightly larger than normal.

"A-are we okay?"

Maika asked, worried.

"I'll go check."

I went over to one of the larger slimes to check and struck it.

Like a normal slime, the slightly larger slime vanished with one hit, transforming into a Magic Gem.

"It seems okay. They're just slimes after all."

The three looked relieved at my answer.

I had never heard of slimes appearing in such large numbers. So there was no telling what might happen. Being cautious couldn't hurt.

Still, this was all thanks to Maika's enormous magical power. Even someone who could use Water Magic would probably only be able to shoot a few small water balls about the size of a baseball if they had average MP. There probably wasn't anyone else who could scatter this much water all over the ground.

But perhaps we should have been a bit more careful, not dismissing them as mere slimes.

"By the way, Maika, how's your MP control? Do you think you can produce a smaller water ball?"

"Ah, y-yeah. I'll try."

Saying that, Maika attempted to create a smaller water ball.

A mass of water floated in front of Maika. It wasn't the massive amount from before; it had shrunk to about the size of a basketball.

"You're getting much better at controlling it! Now try shooting it forward!"

"O-okay!"

Following my instruction, Maika launched the floating water ball.

It wasn't fast—maybe the speed of tossing a ball with both hands—but the water ball flew forward.

"I-I still have a long way to go…"

To be considered an offensive magic, she needed to be able to hit monsters with it and deal damage. At its current speed, it probably wouldn't do any damage.

"You've made amazing progress!"

Yuno cheered from the side.

It wasn't yet at the level of being called offensive magic, but it was a significant improvement from before.

"With a bit more effort, it might be usable as offensive magic!"

Hearing my words, Maika smiled bashfully.

"Shirou!"

Just then, Iori called my name in an urgent voice. I turned around and looked in the direction Iori was pointing. There, I saw a slime even larger than the ones before.

"What is that?"

As I watched, that slime rapidly absorbed water from a puddle on the ground. When the puddle disappeared, the slime's body had grown larger. Not content with just water, it even absorbed the normal slimes nearby, continuing to grow.

"Isn't this bad?"

Hearing Yuno's uneasy voice, a name for the creature before me came to mind.

"Huge Slime?"

The other three must have heard the name before.

"Isn't that the Floor Boss of the first floor?"

We had briefly covered the Huge Slime in class. A more detailed explanation would probably come in the latter half of the first semester. It was a boss monster called the Floor Boss, said to exist on each floor. The Huge Slime was the Floor Boss of the first floor. You encountered it by going to the Floor Boss's room, and by defeating it, the stairs leading to the second floor opened up.

"But this isn't the Floor Boss's room, right?"

Maika asked me fearfully.

That's right. This wasn't the Floor Boss's room. Without school permission, we weren't allowed to challenge the Floor Boss. And the Floor Boss didn't leave its room. If that was the case, this was the same species but wasn't the Floor Boss.

"I think because we scattered so much water, this individual absorbed that moisture and the weak slimes and evolved."

My guess was probably correct.

We had followed the school's instructions, but we had unintentionally encountered a monster that was the same as the Floor Boss.

Yuno, realizing the monster before us was a Huge Slime, spoke in a flustered voice.

"What should we do, Shirou? They said we shouldn't fight the Floor Boss until we reach level 2, right?"

Yes, that was something our homeroom teacher had repeatedly stressed. No matter how unsatisfied we were with just slimes, we weren't to enter the Floor Boss's room on our own. It was said you weren't allowed to fight the Huge Slime until you reached level 2.

But for us, that fact wasn't particularly a big problem.

"It's okay."

"Why is it okay?"

Yuno asked, seeing my confidence. Then I'll answer.

"Because I'm level 2!"