Chapter 46: Mochi’s True Power

Am I... going to die here?

More arrows flew toward him.

One of them shot straight at his chest.

Qiu Nuoya saw it coming.

He knew he should dodge. Yet terror rooted him to the spot.

At that very moment, Mochi trembled violently inside his arms.

The little slime shook over and over before its body suddenly lost its shape and slipped from Qiu Nuoya’s grasp.

"Mochi!?"

[ Everyone! ]

[ Here we go! ]

[ Ready... ]

[ Boom!! ]

Everything happened in an instant.

The moment Mochi fell from his arms, its body expanded at an astonishing speed.

A massive and elastic wall of slime suddenly rose in front of Qiu Nuoya.

The goblins’ arrows buried themselves deep into Mochi’s body. But instead of piercing through it, each arrow fizzled away with a soft sizzling sound and dissolving inside the slime until nothing remained.

What was happening?

Was Mochi hurt?

As Qiu Nuoya desperately tried to understand the situation, the cheerful voices echoed inside his head once again.

[ One more time! ]

[ Here we go! ]

[ Ready... ]

[ Boom!! ]

The moment they shouted, "Boom!!" the gigantic slime sprang into the air.

An instant later, it crashed down directly on top of the goblins.

Its enormous body gave them no chance to escape.

The goblins were crushed beneath its weight all at once.

That was surprisingly brutal.

Because the slime’s body was translucent, Qiu Nuoya could clearly see the goblins’ mangled bodies flattened beneath it.

Before he could recover from the shock, the giant slime absorbed the crushed goblin corpses into its body and dissolving them one after another.

Something was wrong.

Were slimes really supposed to be this powerful?

Weren’t they supposed to be the weakest monsters of all?

The remaining goblins let out shrill panicked screeches and scattered in every direction.

Qiu Nuoya had been standing there in stunned silence, but he quickly came back to his senses and looked deeper into the cave.

At this rate... He could make it!

[ Okaaay! ]

[ Time to eat lots! ]

Was that... eating?

Then again, Mochi always digested the grass in the meadow the same way.

If it could eat grass, perhaps it could eat meat as well.

It really had quite the appetite.

Qiu Nuoya suddenly felt a little worried about what he would have to feed Mochi in the future.

Still, this was hardly the time to think about something like that.

He hurried deeper into the cave.

Mochi’s body seemed capable of stretching and shrinking freely.

Whenever an enemy appeared, it simply flattened them beneath its enormous body.

Whenever they needed to move, it shrank slightly and bounced along happily behind Qiu Nuoya.

Who was it that said a slime was a useless familiar?

Everyone had underestimated them far too much.

The deeper they went into the cave, the more humid the air became.

A foul stench, like rotting flesh, filled the passage, making every breath increasingly unpleasant.

"S... Someone..."

A faint and hoarse voice reached Qiu Nuoya’s ears.

When he following the sound, he arrived at a crude but sturdy cage made from thick wooden stakes driven deep into the ground.

Inside were several women in tattered clothing, their bodies covered in dirt and bruises.

As Qiu Nuoya approached them, they huddled together in the back of the cage and screamed in terror.

"No! Stay away! Please, don’t come any closer!"

"Please calm down! I’m here to rescue you!"

The moment they realized the voice outside belonged to a human, the women rushed toward the bars, desperately reaching out for help. But when they finally saw him in the dim light, they froze.

"A child..."

The hope that had briefly appeared on their faces vanished and replaced by despair as they sank to the ground.

"Why... why didn’t anyone else come?"

"It’s hopeless. A child can’t possibly break this cage."

The women began crying again, their despair growing even heavier.

Qiu Nuoya looked over the cage.

There was no obvious door.

Instead, thick wooden stakes had simply been driven into the ground with narrow gaps between them, just small enough to keep anyone from squeezing through.

Whoever had built it clearly possessed tremendous physical strength, but very little intelligence.

At the same time, its crude construction made it incredibly sturdy.

Only its creator could likely enter or leave it with ease.

Ordinary goblins were said to be simple minded creatures that attacked women the moment they saw them.

Although the women’s clothes were torn and filthy, it seemed the worst had not yet happened.

"How did you even get this far?" one of the women asked. "There were so many goblins outside."

"I was captured by the goblins too," Qiu Nuoya replied. "But I’m going to save you."

"You can’t!" another woman cried. "That cage won’t budge no matter what we do! Please, go find an adult!"

It was understandable that they did not see him as someone they could rely on. But to Qiu Nuoya, this was only a wooden cage.

He was fairly certain he could do something about it.

"Everyone, please step back."

"Huh?"

"Wind Cutter!"

After confirming that the women had hurried backward in surprise, Qiu Nuoya cast wind magic toward the cage.

Wind Cutter created a blade of wind like a razor sharp gust, so he was certain it would be able to cut through wood.

However, the spell was not quite powerful enough.

Although deep cuts appeared on the wooden stakes, they were not completely severed.

Damn it.

Wasn’t his magic supposed to be overpowered?

Then Qiu Nuoya suddenly realized something.

No.

His true cheat ability was not elemental magic.

It was non elemental magic.

But non elemental magic?

What kind of technique could cut through wood?

There was no time to think.

Qiu Nuoya imagined coating his entire body in magic power before concentrating all of it into his arm.

His body was the blade.

He could cut through this cage.

Without any real proof, he swung his arm sideways.

Just as he had imagined, the thick wooden stake was sliced cleanly in two.

The women stared at him in shock.