Another day, another hunt. The only difference was our efficiency; having grown accustomed to the combat, we were taking the Trents down much faster than on our first day.
Initially, we had planned to spend a week out here—possibly two if the collection went poorly—but given our progress, we decided to finish the hunt by tomorrow at the latest and head back to Gimul.
"Ha!"
I split a Trent’s face from crown to jaw with a single, fluid strike. Pivoting to the one on its right, I carved upward from the bottom left, cleaving it in two. As a third Trent swung a branch toward me, I ducked beneath the heavy limb and lopped it off from the side.
I couldn't help but notice that when you sliced them like that, the severed pieces looked exactly like discarded wooden masks.
I shook the trivial thought from my head and finished off the three monsters, scanning the area to confirm the immediate vicinity was clear.
"You've really gotten the hang of these things, Ryoma-nya," Miya remarked.
"Given your mastery of the blade, it is only natural you would adapt so quickly, de gozaru," Asagi added.
"There isn't a single wasted movement," Welanna noted.
"Thank you. My grandfather thoroughly beat martial arts into me, so I have a fair amount of confidence in my forms."
Even though we were in dangerous territory, I had enough composure to chat lightly. Letting one's guard down was dangerous, but being wound too tight was its own kind of problem. This felt like a good balance.
However, as we pushed deeper into the woods, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.
I focused my Mana Perception.
"Raypin-san."
"Umu. There is quite a large number of them... Unfortunately, I cannot grasp the full extent from here, de aru. Asagi."
"The Elder Trent is likely just ahead," Asagi said firmly. "We shall proceed while securing an escape route. If the situation proves impossible, we withdraw to the guild with whatever intel we have."
We moved forward, every sense on high alert.
"Ha!!" "Nya!!" "—!" "Ei!" "Wind Cutter!"
A massive swarm of Trents blocked our path. They had noticed us and were crawling forward with sluggish, purposeful intent. Their numbers were so overwhelming that we were all forced into the fray simultaneously.
The women targeted the faces with their hand axes and hatchets, while Asagi used his tachi to cleave through their trunks with single, powerful strikes. Raypin supported the front line with magic. I focused on the rear, picking off any Trents attempting to circle around and flank us.
There seemed to be no end to them. The only saving grace was that individually, they weren't particularly strong. Furthermore, because these Trents were in motion, they hadn't firmly rooted themselves. When we killed them, they collapsed entirely, which kept our lines of sight clear.
"We're holding for now, but there's no end to them!" Silia shouted over the din of battle.
No one replied, but the silent agreement among the party was palpable.
"As far as my Mana Perception can tell, nearly every tree in this area is a Trent!" Raypin called out. "We proceed as if we are clear-cutting a forest, de aru!"
"Don't overextend yourselves!" Asagi barked. "There is no shame in a tactical retreat!"
"We know!"
"Better a living coward than a dead hero, right?"
Despite the grim reality of the numbers, the party didn't seem panicked. These were A-Rank and B-Rank veterans; they handled the pressure with practiced ease, moving from one kill to the next without hesitation.
I needed to focus on my role. The number of Trents pressing in on my side was increasing.
I sheathed my katana and commanded the Big Metal Slime acting as my scabbard to undergo Separation.
"Mu?! What are you planning, de aru?" Raypin asked, glancing back.
"I'm going to pick up the pace!"
A hundred Metal Slimes pooled at my feet. I scooped up two of them and gave a mental command. They shifted instantly, their bodies elongating and hardening into throwing axes.
I bolstered my body with Qi and let them fly.
The two axes traced perfect arcs through the air, burying themselves deep into the foreheads of two approaching Trents. They went down instantly. I didn't stop, turning the next pair of slimes into axes and hurlng them with rhythmic precision. One after another, a hail of silver axes flew into the forest.
Through the experience of the last few days, I had realized that a Trent’s mana was distributed unevenly. While it flowed through the entire tree, there was a single point of high concentration: the "face."
In a sense, the face was the heart of the Trent, the organ that circulated mana through its body. If that point was pierced, the mana hemorrhaged out, and the monster died instantly. It was remarkably similar to how blood worked in a human.
With Mana Perception, I could "see" the flow of mana, making it easy to pinpoint the exact center of the target. I could pick them off from well outside their reach.
Since I wasn't using spells, I didn't have to worry about mana depletion, and the Qi-reinforcement kept my muscles from tiring. Honestly, it made the job much easier.
Furthermore, unlike normal throwing weapons, these were slimes. Once they hit their mark, they simply hopped back to me on their own. I didn't have to worry about running out of ammo or wasting time retrieving them.
Sometimes the Trents tried to swat the slimes out of the air as they returned, but their movements were so slow that it only served to make them better targets for the next throw. It had ceased to be a battle and turned into a repetitive chore.
As for the Metal Slimes, they were perfectly fine. A wooden branch was no threat to a solid lump of enchanted metal.
With my side cleared, the rest of the party decimated the front line. Before long, the swarm was gone, leaving behind a cleared square littered with fallen timber.
"We managed to weather that, at least... but it is still quite bizarre, de aru," Raypin muttered.
"What is?" I asked.
"First, the sheer quantity of Trents. I have never seen a swarm of this magnitude. And this location... while Trents are trees transformed by mana, I have never heard of an entire forest turning at once. And finally... look at that."
Raypin pointed toward the horizon. A gargantuan tree stood in the distance, radiating a staggering amount of mana.
"Is that the Elder Trent?"
"I believe so... though I have seen many in my time, I have never seen one of such immense size or power. Furthermore, it is curious that it has not moved to attack us."
Miya approached, her ears twitching. "Maybe it hasn't noticed us, nya?"
"Impossible. We have slaughtered its kin by the hundreds. It might be staying back because it perceives us as a threat, but if that were the case, it is strange that it hasn't fled, de aru."
"Perhaps it can't move?" I suggested.
"That is a reasonable assumption, but there is no precedent for it. I have never heard of an Elder Trent that neither hunts nor flees, de aru."
"Leaving it alone is too dangerous," Asagi decided. "We either kill it or gather enough intel to warn others. Raypin, Ryoma, how are your reserves?"
"I am fine, de aru."
"I'm perfectly fine too. I hardly used any magic."
"Now that you mention it, that was quite a display," Asagi said with a grin. "I never expected to see slimes used as throwing axes. Well then, we shall rest briefly and then move to engage the Elder Trent."
While we took a short break, the party crowded around me, curious about the slime weapons. Silia, who usually used a bow, was particularly inquisitive.
"Ryoma-kun, those weapons... they really are just slimes?"
"Yes. You saw the Huge Scavenger Slime before, right? These are just Metal Slimes and Iron Slimes. They're a collective of many individuals. My preferred weapon is a katana, but since they're hard to find in this country, I had to get creative."
"A creative solution indeed, de gozaru," Asagi said. "But they were axes just a moment ago."
"Yes. They utilize the slimes' natural ability to deform and the metallic composition of these specific species to act as variable weapons. I consulted with a weapon shop owner named Tigger-san recently."
He had been fascinated by the concept. We had discussed how, if they could change shape, they could become any tool for any situation. Under his supervision, I had taught the slimes various weapon forms.
"He gave me his seal of approval on the katanas and knives right away, but he said my form with the axes was still a bit 'naive,'" I admitted with a sheepish laugh.
"And that hail of axes was the result? It must have been an ordeal to train so many of them," Raypin noted.
"Actually, they seem to share experiences. Once I taught the forms to the Big Slime version, the individual slimes remembered it even after they separated. It wasn't that much trouble."
Beyond the transformation, Big Slimes and higher possessed Enlargement and Reduction skills, meaning they could shift from a one-handed dagger to a massive, heavy greatsword in seconds. They even "repaired" their own edges if they got chipped.
"As a weapon, that's almost terrifying," Mizeria whispered.
"No need for replacements, and it saves a fortune," Welanna added.
"More than that, having a weapon that won't break gives you a completely different level of security," Silia said, looking at her bow. "Running out of ammo is always my biggest worry... this is practically cheating."
I chuckled at the women's exasperated praise. "Oh, by the way..."
I pulled a length of rope from my Item Box. "I think you'll find this interesting too. I spun this from the most resilient thread my Sticky Slimes are capable of producing."
"It's so thin, but it feels incredibly strong-nya," Miya said, tugging on it.
"Try cutting it with your axe, Mizeria-san."
"If you're sure... wait. What? It’s not cutting."
"Sturdy, right? Tigger-san is actually going to try making armor using this thread as a base."
"I have a feeling Ryoma is going to be covered head-to-toe in slimes someday-nya," Miya joked.
After our rest, we set out again. However, as we neared the Elder Trent, the Metal Slimes suddenly began to act up.
"Wait a moment."
"What's wrong?"
"The Metal Slimes... they're gripped by terror. They're shaking."
Through our contract, I could feel their fear. It was a profound, instinctual dread, as if they were facing a natural predator.
"Are they okay-nya?"
"I don't think they can fight in this state. I'm going to withdraw them."
"Do not force them, de aru," Raypin advised.
I returned the Metal Slimes to my Dimension Home, though it bothered me. Only the Metal Slimes were scared; the Iron Slimes seemed perfectly fine. Was there something about this Elder Trent that specifically targeted them? Regardless, I still had the Iron Slime katana, which was my best weapon anyway.
As we continued, the forest itself began to glitch.
"The tree on the left!"
"Nya!"
We were passing a seemingly normal tree. My Mana Perception had flagged it as inanimate just seconds ago, yet as we walked past, it surged with mana and transformed into a Trent instantly.
Miya finished it off before it could strike, but Raypin looked stunned.
"What is the meaning of this, de aru?"
"Raypin?"
"That tree was not a monster until the moment we reached it. It transformed instantaneously. Such a thing is biologically impossible, de aru!"
Normally, a tree becoming a Trent was a slow, agonizing process of mana saturation. This was something else. Even as we spoke, more trees nearby began to "awaken."
"Raypin-san!"
"I see it! They are being born one after another!"
"Well, this is a nasty surprise," Welanna growled.
"There was no way to predict this," Asagi said, drawing his blade.
The numbers were small enough that we weren't in immediate danger, but the phenomenon was deeply unsettling. I focused my Mana Perception on the earth beneath us. I felt a pulse of energy.
"Something's in the ground! Break Rock! Breeze!"
I shattered the soil and used a gust of wind to clear the debris. Exposed in the trench was a thick, pulsating tree root.
Raypin's eyes widened. "A root from the Elder Trent! It must be pumping mana directly through its root system to forcibly convert these trees! That explains the sudden surge in the population. To use its own roots for proxy ambushes... this is a remarkable discovery, de aru!"
"The research can wait until we're not being eaten!" Mizeria yelled.
"The only way to stop this is to kill the source," Asagi commanded. "We're about 500 meters out. We're closing the gap now! Ryoma, cover our rear! We'll handle the Elder Trent, just keep the small ones off our backs!"
"Understood!!"
The veterans moved with practiced lethality. Welanna, Miya, Mizeria, and Asagi led the charge, carving a path through the newly formed Trents. Raypin, Silia, and I followed close behind.
The Trents' slow movement worked against them, and they failed to halt our momentum. But as we drew closer, the Elder Trent itself finally struck.
We were still out of range of its branches, so it attacked from below. Thick, knotted roots erupted from the soil like lances. It was using Wood Attribute Magic to lash out and ensnare us.
Raypin neutralized several with Wind Cutters, and we hacked away at the ones that got too close, but the subterranean attacks were difficult to track.
"Pavement!"
I cast the same stabilization magic I used for construction. By compressing and hardening the soil into a solid sheet of stone-like earth, I could prevent the roots from burrowing up beneath our feet.
"I'll keep the ground solid! Go!"
"Much appreciated!"
With the ground stabilized, we made our final, desperate charge toward the heart of the forest.