“Gosh darn it, Tabitha! What kind of trouble did ya get into now?!” Tabitha shouted at herself while running away. After all, when she was only four minor attacks away from getting killed, what else was she supposed to do? She had no idea how to fight! And all she had was a glorified, pointy stick! Would that even be effective against a monster made out of slime?!

She looked behind herself and saw the slime closing in on her. While it might have been slow whenever it was sliming its way over the ground, it was capable of serious speed and distance closing whenever it jumped.

“Think, Tabitha, think! Do ya really wanna be somebody who dies to the first monster they find?! Even little kids playin’ their first RPGs don’t do that!”

If it was just a dream, she would have had no problem flinging herself at the monster in a fight for the life… because it wouldn’t matter if she died or not.

But she was fairly certain something was going on that was more than just a dream.

Maybe she went crazy? Could she have finally snapped after dealing with customers all day, resulting in her being taken away to some asylum for the insane? Was she actually wrapped up in a tight jacket, slamming her head against a padded wall at the moment?

It was definitely a possibility. But even if that was a possibility, it didn’t change the fact that she believed her life was in danger.

Her panic grew to the point where she couldn’t even shout at herself anymore. All she could think about was finding safety.

That was when she remembered what her grandfather said to her as a child.

“Listen, my little sun. There will be times in life when you’re afraid. There will be moments where you want nothing more than to run away and find somebody to save you. Now, if you’re in a burnin’ building without a fire extinguisher and there are firefighters outside, you should probably run away to them. But otherwise, there will be times when you’re the only one who can save yourself. There will be times when nobody else will help you. It’s those moments where you’re forced to make a choice that define who you are. So, the next time those boys mess with you, are you goin’ to run away and cry, or are you goin’ to punch them in their faces to put them in their place? Because I would punch them myself if I could, but then I’d get locked up and wouldn’t be able to spend time with my little sun anymore. So unless you want to only see me on the other side of the glass, you’re gonna have to handle this one yourself.”

There was nobody to save her but herself.

Tabitha took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down, just like that one time when she accidentally set her kitchen on fire. If she could force herself to relax and push away her adrenaline to use a fire extinguisher, she could force herself to deal with the weakest monster of any RPG.

It always waits a little before jumpin’ again, she thought, watching the slime over her shoulder. Maybe it can’t jump right after it just did. If that’s how it works, I’ve got to strike right after it jumps.

Purposely slowing down to help the slime gain distance, Tabitha waited for it to lunge at her again and stepped to the side to avoid its surprisingly sharp horn. The slime ended up landing in front of her, a bit to the side, and was in the process of turning around to face her again when she thrust the tip of her spear into its body. The spear went straight through its center and stabbed into the ground beneath it… and did nothing.

“I knew that wouldn’t work!” Tabitha shouted while pulling her spear back.

Only, the slime was stuck around her spear. When she lifted her spear up, she lifted the slime with it.

The slime pointed its horn at her, looking like it was about to lunge from the spear straight into her head.

But Tabitha had an idea. If there was one thing she never ran out of once she was calm, it was ideas.

With the slime staying on her spear, she swung her spear as hard as she could into the tree next to them. She swung it like a baseball bat, making sure that the slime hit the tree with as much force as she could manage.

The slime ended up splattering all over the tree with chunks of its mass flying in every direction, some of which landed on her freckled cheek. As for the remaining slime that didn’t get splattered away, it slowly dripped off of the spear to form a thick puddle on the ground below with the slime’s horn somehow staying intact at the top of the puddle.

“Did… did I do it?” Tabitha asked. “Maybe I should stomp on it for good meas—”

System Menu

Level 2 Jellyhorn Slime Defeated

+3 Experience

Total Apprentice Experience: 3/25

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Rookie Monster Hunter

Awarded for defeating your first Monster.

Reward: Bestiary Unlocked

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Rookie Variant Hunter

Awarded for defeating a rare Variant-type of any species.

Reward: 5 Luck

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Rookie Achievement Hunter

Awarded for acquiring 5 total Achievements!

Reward: 5 Attribute Points

Information on Jellyhorn Slimes has been added to your Bestiary.

“Huh. Guess I don’t need to step on it after all. More importantly… I did it. I did it! Hah! Take that, ya slime! I told ya that I’d kill ya if ya tried anythin’ funny! Don’t even think about messin’ with me in your next life!” Tabitha shouted at the slime’s horn while dramatically pointing down at it. An almost sinister grin spread across her face right after. “Heh, heh, heh… now then. The natural cycle of life with setups like this means that it’s time for ya to become my craftin’ material.”

All of those other things that just popped up in the window in front of her could be saved for later. For now, all she cared about was seeing what she got out of her first ever battle.

First was the horn. She picked it up and poked her finger against its tip to test and see if it was still as sharp as it was before. It was.

Item Information

Name

Jelly Horn

The sweet horn from a Jellyhorn Slime. Despite being made of slime, the tip is incredibly sharp.

Rarity

A

Quality

67

Element

Water

Bonus Tags

[Sharp II]

[Rare]

[Sugary III]

System Menu

Congratulations, you have acquired a new Achievement!

Rare Collector

Awarded for acquiring an Item with the [Rare] tag.

Reward: 5 Luck

“Huh,” Tabitha said. “These achievements are comin’ pretty quickly. Looks like they like they really enjoy handin’ out those attributes, too. Anyways, Sharp and Sugary. Interestin’ combination. Oi, Menu, tell me what all these new tags do.”

System Menu

Sharp II

Deals 1.5x Damage when used for piercing or slashing attacks.

Rare

Has a chance to upgrade Tags into their rare versions when used as a Material.

Sugary III

Significantly increases sweetness when used as a Material.

“I ‘spose it could be used to either make a weapon or… a dessert. Interestin’. That Rare tag is especially interestin’. Well, let me just shove that in my pocket for now.”

Thankfully, she did, in fact, have pockets. It was truly a miracle for a woman’s pants to have pockets that were real. But, of course, they were not designed to be real pockets. The pockets of her jeans were originally fake pockets that she decided to cut open, take a couple of pouches, and then staple said pouches underneath her jeans lined up with the holes she cut into the fake openings. Because of that, her once-fake pockets served as real pockets.

The things women had to go through just to get some real pockets on Earth.

They were nice and deep pockets, too, since Tabitha made sure to use some sizable pouches for them. They were more than enough to hold the horn which, thankfully, sprung back to its original shape no matter how much she messed with it. She didn’t have to worry about squishing it and ruining it in her pocket. Instead, all she had to worry about was accidentally stabbing herself with it while walking.

Next came the slime itself.

She reached down to take a handful of the goopy slime and focused her attention on it.

Item Information

Name

Jellied Slime

The sweet jelly of a Jelly Slime.

Rarity

D

Quality

26

Element

Water

Bonus Tag

[Sugary I]

“I see, I see. Hmm. Alright,” Tabitha said before dropping the slime into her other pocket. “No idea what I’ll use ya for yet, but I ain’t gonna pass up any materials.” That was why she looked down at the rest of the slime puddle, scooped it up, and looked at it.

She figured that the rest of the slime might count as another item.

Only, nothing popped up.

“Oi, Menu. How come this ain’t showin’ up?” Tabitha asked.

System Menu

You are only able to acquire a set number of Items from Harvesting individual sources.

“Huh. So, if I take two items from somethin’ like one of these slimes, I ain’t allowed to get anythin’ else from it?”

System Menu

Correct.

“Well, ain’t that just about one of the most wasteful things I’ve ever done heard.” Looking down at the slime, she had an idea. “I might not get to use it as a craftin’ material, but it still exists, and it sounds like it tastes sweet.”

She looked to her left.

She looked to her right.

She dipped one of her other hand’s fingers into the slime, got a bit of it on the tip of her finger, and brought it up to her mouth to give it a taste.

A smile spread across her face again as soon as she realized just how sweet it was.

“This is pretty good!” Tabitha shouted. “Just need a bowl to put it in and a spoon to scoop it up with! Then again, it ain’t like I’ve ever been one to care about all them fancy manners. I’ll leave the silverware to the city folk.”

Scooping up the rest of the excess slime, holding it in a cup formed from her hands held together, she brought the slime up to her lips and drank it down directly.

There she was, Tabitha the country girl who resorted to working at a fast-food place in the city, standing in the middle of a forest consuming the flesh of her first enemy with rather vulgar sounds that would have gotten her kicked out of any fine dining restaurant.

If all of the monsters in the world tasted as good as the slime did, she couldn’t wait to get to hunting them all down and turning them into meals. And whatever parts of them weren’t edible could get turned into an assortment of other items.

“Alright,” Tabitha said, swiping her arm across her mouth. “Who’s next?”

Apparently, all it took to get over her fear of fighting was learning how delicious monsters were. Well, that and remembering that the more monsters she killed, the more crafting materials she’d get.

And on the topic of crafting, she already had an idea for how she wanted to use that horn she got.