A few days passed, and Mud and Ricky were finally starting to nail

  down their “gutter gig.” Ricky had become surprisingly efficient,

  bringing back useful trinkets… most of the time.

  But even with their

  system in place, the ‘mountain of gold’ Mud had envisioned was

  still just a molehill. Between the extortionate cost of inn stays and

  his hefty appetite, their savings had hit a plateau of fifteen

  hundred gold. Nowhere near the funds to hire a mercenary crew.

  Mud stood by the

  familiar alley grate, tapping his foot. He was starting to feel a

  gnawing worry for the little guy. Out of all the runs they’d

  attempted so far, this one was stretching dangerously long.

  He squinted up at

  the sun hanging over the humble buildings of Horizon City. By his

  estimation, Ricky had been beneath the streets for over an hour.

  Mud nearly jumped

  out of his skin at the sound of a sharp, piercing squeal from beneath

  the grate. Ricky exploded through the gap at a frantic sprint that

  was cut short as he crashed face first into the cobblestones. He hit

  the ground hard, the treasure he had been carrying, a smooth, useless

  stone, clattered away into the shadows.

  He wasn’t alone.

  A thick, grayish

  mass of muddy goo was anchored to the rat’s hindquarters. It looked

  sickening, like a living puddle of vomit, pulsating with a slow,

  unquenchable hunger. It had already swallowed most of Ricky’s back

  legs and was beginning its ascent up his spine. Its translucent

  surface stretching thin as it tried to drag its prey back toward the

  sewer.

  “Ricky!”

  Mud let out a

  strangled scream, his heavy frame lurching forward with a speed he

  didn’t even know he possessed. He grabbed the little rat by his

  shoulders, his fingers sinking into the coarse fur. He pulled as hard

  as he dared, trying not to hurt his friend, but the goo didn’t give

  an ounce.

  Ricky let out a

  pained shriek as Mud’s weight met with the slime’s suction. It

  was like liquid rubber, stretching nearly a foot from the stone grate

  as he tried to pull the rat free.

  With one final,

  desperate heave, the slime was yanked completely through the stone

  grate. It landed on the cobblestones with a wet, heavy splat, still

  refusing to relinquish its hold on Ricky. Now that it was out of the

  shadows of the sewer, Mud could see the full, nauseating scale of the

  thing. A bulbous, translucent mass of sludge rippling with the

  undigested debris of the city’s bowels.

  Mud’s heart beat

  manically against his ribs. He clawed at the air, summoning his menu

  with a shaky swipe. His eyes darted across the interface, searching

  for a weapon he didn’t have.

  Biscuits.

  It was all he had.

  In one fluid, panicked motion, he manifested the last four savory

  biscuits from his inventory and dumped them onto the street inches

  from the pulsating creature.

  The effect was

  instantaneous. The slime’s surface rippled as it sensed the new

  food source. The grayish goo began to flow toward the biscuits, its

  grip on Ricky slackening as it prioritized the easier meal.

  Mud was violently

  jolted as a whirlwind of cold steel and long, sun-bleached hair

  shoved past him. He stumbled back, his unbalanced bulk nearly

  toppling him as the air itself seemed to wrinkle with the force of

  her passage.

  She didn’t just

  cut the slime; she moved through it. Her blade was a silver arc, so

  fast it was nearly invisible. The sludge exploded, arcing through the

  air to splatter against the alley wall in a grim, stinking mural.

  In a final,

  brilliant flash of white light, the slime dissolved into digital

  dust. She had erased the threat with a single, effortless slice.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Mud’s jaw hung

  open, his breath coming in shallow, ragged hitches. The panic of the

  attack was now turning into a different kind of ache. It was a sharp,

  bitter twinge of jealousy. He looked at his own trembling, doughy

  hands and then at her, a living masterpiece of efficiency and grace.

  She was playing a completely different game than he was.

  [Bestiary

  Unlocked: Slime]

  

  A

  small notification shimmered in his periphery. Apparently, the system

  had deemed his biscuits as a valid assist. Both he and Ricky were

  awarded a trickle of experience points, enough to push them almost a

  quarter of the way toward level 2. It

  was the first victory he’d had in this world,

  and he felt like the kid who got a participation trophy for last

  place.

  “Uhh… thanks.” Mud ran a trembling hand over his face with a

  sigh. He avoided her eyes, awkwardly tugging at his stained tunic and

  trying to rearrange himself into something resembling dignity.

  The girl didn’t return the greeting. Her gaze was cold and

  calculating.

  “Why

  aren’t you leveling up?” she asked. Her voice was soft but sharp,

  like a knife coated in silk

  as it cut through the damp air of the alley. “Everyone else is

  fighting to reach the next island and you’re messing

  around in the gutter.”

  She looked down at the smear of slime gore on the cobbles, her lip

  curling in a grimace of disdain.

  “I’m

  not…” Mud’s cheeks burned, a hot cocktail of embarrassment and

  irritation rising in his chest. “I’m making

  money. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve managed to

  pull in fifteen hundred gold this week.”

  Her

  mask of indifference momentarily cracked. An acute, reflexive bark

  slipped out, as though he had told some ridiculous joke.

  “Fifteen hundred? You could make that in an hour outside the gates

  just farming trash mobs.” Her amusement began to morph back into

  that cold stare.

  “Why do you even care?” His voice grew heated, the humiliation

  finally melted away under a blaze of anger. “Look, lady, I

  appreciate the assist, but I’m not breaking any laws and I’m

  definitely not in your way. So just… let it go.”

  As he spoke, he focused on Ricky. He used the corner of his tunic to

  gently scrub the gray, foul-smelling gore off the rat’s fur. Ricky

  just lay there, his chest heaving in total exhaustion, occasionally

  letting out a faint, weary chitter.

  The girl didn’t react to his outburst refusing to even acknowledge

  his anger. Her eyes were fixed on Ricky. “What’s with the rat?”

  she asked, “Is he a pet or something?”

  “He’s not a pet,” Mud said, his voice tightening as he cradled

  Ricky against his chest. The rat was a warm, solid weight in his

  arms, still shivering uncontrollably. “I summoned him. He’s my

  partner.”

  For the first time the girl’s demeanor shifted, replaced by

  genuine shock. “A Summoner? Those are very rare.” She appraised

  him again, as if wondering if maybe she had made a mistake the first

  time. “And useful… usually. But you don’t normally see them

  here around Horizon City. The talent doesn’t typically trigger for

  Travelers until they’re a far higher level, and requires a lot of

  mana.”

   Ricky must have

  been an incredibly weak summon, Mud thought, I could probably

  summon the rat ten to times without going

  through

  Ignoring the girl’s scrutiny, Mud swiped his fingers through the

  air to open the new [Bestiary]

   [Monster Entry: Slime]Type:Ectoplasmic Scavenger.

  Behavior:Feeds on small animals and organic refuse.

  Danger Level:Very Low. Capture Requirement:

  Mud stared at the text. Something it despises? He looked back at the

  alleyway, where the remains of the slime’s previous ‘meal’

  still smeared the stones. It seemed like the creature was more than

  happy to ingest just about anything. What could a living pile of

  vomit possibly despise?

  He’d have to think on the slime puzzle later. Right now, he had a

  different kind of mystery standing right in front of him.

  “You sure seem to know a lot for someone that is also in a

  starting zone,” he said. Trying to defend himself against the

  aggressive stranger.

  “So would you, if you actually talked to anyone other than the

  rat,” she replied, offering a dismissive shrug. “I’m already

  level 4. A few more levels and I’ll be ready to take a shot at the

  island’s boss and move on. Besides, just because it’s a starter

  zone doesn’t mean higher-level travelers never pass through.”

  “I’m not great at talking to other people.” Mud looked away

  from her, shifting his weight as if trying to make himself appear

  smaller. “Most people just write me off because of my weight

  anyway. I’ve learned it’s easier to just take care of myself and

  keep my head down, you know?”

  “Those sound like the words of a man that plans to spend the rest

  of eternity in Horizon,” she said, her voice laced with sharp,

  clinical sarcasm. “I’m heading out tomorrow after a specific

  item, and the experience will be great for a beginner level player.

  Meet me at the front gates tomorrow at noon, and I’ll show you the

  ropes.”

  She made a stiff, almost rehearsed attempt at a smile and held out

  her hand. “And if you can prove you aren’t a total waste of

  space, I might even take you with me to challenge the Island Boss.”

  Mud stared at her hand for a moment before tentatively reaching out.

  His palm was broad and damp, his shaky hand completely engulfing her

  small, delicate one.

  “Name’s Mud,” he muttered, avoiding her eyes.

  “Mud…” She shook her head, looking as though she wanted to

  comment on the absurdity of his name, but caught herself. “I’m

  Layhla. Don’t forget it.”

  “I’m warning you now, I’m horrid in combat,” Mud said,

  offering an apologetic shrug that made his shoulders roll.

  “Really? Could have fooled me,” Layhla replied dryly. She pulled

  her hand from his grasp and immediately wiped it off on her tunic.

  “Meet me at the North Gate tomorrow as the noon bells chime, don’t

  be late.”

  Mud nodded, taking a deep breath to settle the riot of nerves in his

  stomach. He watched her turn to leave, a million doubts racing

  through his mind and the only certainty was that he would probably

  end up gored by the Boar again tomorrow.

  “Hey!” he called out as she reached the end of the alley. “If

  a man wanted to find more of those slime monsters… where would he

  go?”

  Layhla paused, looking back at him bewildered. “I hear they have

  to deal with a lot of them over on the west side of town, the sewers

  aren’t as well maintained on that side of the city. But why would

  anyone want to find one of those on purpose?”

  Mud didn’t answer. He just gave a noncommittal wave goodbye and

  headed in the opposite direction.