I soon found out why.

  The vile nutrient broth had triggered Slime Resonance. I could’ve drunk this before the fight and been partially protected. Now I had to endure three minutes of agony.

  A pseudopod whipped toward me. I rolled behind a boulder just in time, heart pounding. Acid splashed around it. “Observe the sacred application of environmental advantage!” I shouted, trying not to gag on the broth.

  I rolled behind a boulder as the Slime King groped blindly past. It moved left; I moved left around the boulder. We were running in circles now.

  “And what is this lesson about, Ser?” Anabeth called out.

  I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to groan. I couldn’t handle another sloppy pseudopod hit, not when one mistake might be my last. The problem: I needed a distraction.

  Hold on. I’m too fatigued for Ceralis to twist my words again. Maybe I could convince her to…

  And dragging Anabeth fully into the slime’s path was unthinkable. Chivalry had a line, and I had no desire to cross it.

  But a little… persuasion? That I could manage.

  “Lady Anabeth!” I called, forcing my voice to sound confident, even jovial. “Might I request your esteemed attention for a brief inspection?”

  “Come again?” She asked.

  “You see,” I continued, voice strained but smooth, “I have discovered a peculiar anomaly in the creature’s spatial patterning. Its adherence to geometry is fascinating! Truly, a marvel! But I am but a humble knight—my eyes are limited by perspective alone. Surely a scholar of your stature would notice subtleties I cannot?”

  I peeked out and immediately almost got hit by a spit, forcing me to roll back behind the boulder. It missed me by a hair again.

  “Yes! Observe from this scholarly vantage point!” I shouted. “Step closer, Lady Anabeth! One step! Just one! Your perspective is critical to fully appreciate the geometric intricacies of the Slime King’s pseudopodal distribution!”

  I knew she would obey curiosity and training instinct. Scholars, after all, couldn’t resist a chance to observe the mechanics of a phenomenon up close, especially when a knight made such an impassioned plea. My voice trembled only slightly, but enough to make it sound urgent, academic, and very much a matter of her pride.

  The Slime King slowed. Anabeth had probably stepped forward and caused the creature to be momentarily distracted. Perfect.

  I waited for the slime’s attention to shift toward Anabeth.

  Now.

  I pushed off the boulder. “Observe!” I shouted, voice echoing through Ceralis’ amplification, “the extraordinary curvature of the pseudopodal arcs! Note how the distal segment follows a parabolic sweep before decelerating! The distribution is not random, but astonishingly geometric!”

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  The tip of my blade found the weak point, and I drove it home.

  “Yes!” I gasped through the helm, heart pounding. “Behold! The intersection of calculus and combat! Observe the symmetry!”

  I was already bracing to retreat, to let the Slimebane cooldown run, when I heard her delighted voice, “You were right, Ser! Its distal segment really does decelerate as it arcs! And the spacing... it’s almost precise!”

  She was actually... nerding out. About slime pseudopods.

  “Math was a compulsory subject in the Knighthood!” I said. “Just before Chivalric Conduct and Combat Geometry. Truly rigorous.”

  The Slime King’s massive pseudopod swung toward her as we talked.

  No! I was supposed to protect her, not watch the creature close in like she was bait.

  But then she raised a floating bulwark, deflecting the pseudopod effortlessly.

  I gaped, momentarily frozen. Her eyes sparkled behind the helm, and she gestured with a delicate sweep of her hand. “Notice the angle of the strike—ah! Its center of mass shifts ever so slightly as—”

  The Slime King wobbled, indignant and unbalanced, creating loud sloshing noises.

  Anabeth frowned. She conjured a stone out of thin air and lobbed it at the slime.

  “Really! Such rude behavior,” she said, sounding scandalized. “Talking while I’m talking. How disrespectful! Anyway, I do wish I could study more closely how its viscosity adapts under stress. Look at that recoil!”

  Did she just deal 16 HP while throwing a rock at the slime?

  The cooldown on Slimebane had finally ticked down. I rolled forward while the creature was still distracted. Then I struck, not bothering to aim for the weak point this time.

  The acrid, metallic-vinegar scent filled the air as the creature shuddered, gurgled, and then collapsed into a massive, quivering puddle across the cavern floor.

  I got it! At exactly 0, no less! This was all part of the plan!

  The slime puddle quivered violently, then with a wet, sloppy plop, a glob of the acidic ooze splashed up and hit me square in the ankle.

  This too was a part of the plan.

  Then the slime dissolved into nothingness. With the creature now slain, I was eager to find out my reward.

  I’d become stronger just from clearing one slime dungeon? Splendid. Ceralis really was a gift from the Saints after all.

  After another second, Ceralis showed me the loot.

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