Unfazed by what the slime woman had just done, White narrowed his eyes and spoke.

"...You... You're the only one I can't figure out in this wretched place. What exactly are you?"

"Hihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi~ A companionnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion! A companion-"

The slime woman trembled, as she continued to laugh uncontrollably and repeated the same words again and again.

Realizing that she wasn't intending on making a move nor converse normally, Soma became slightly on edge.

Mostly furious, because her Master's gracious question was ignored.

"-This thing...!!!"

Soma drew the Sword of Bloodwell and prepared to enter her battle stance.

But White, who was beside Soma, stopped her with a light hand gesture.

"No, I don't think you've recovered from your mana problem just yet right? Even if there is the existence of natural mana recovery, I don't think that's enough. You've been looking for me all these while, so you're still probably running on your last reserves right now."

"Yes, but-"

"...I assume you've engaged in battle earlier with her, judging from those tears that weren't there the last time I saw you... If she can stand toe to toe with your ridiculous stats, she's not an easy opponent for you without your Sword Skills."

Soma had once again understood how fast her Master's mind worked. He had even taken the opportunity of the inactivity of a potential threat to explain his plans calmly.

Aahhhhnnn~ Such is my amazing Master~ Such deduction~, such skill~ I'm falling more and more in lov-

"Stop spacing out. We don't know when she'll recover from that... Looks like a very monster-like reaction like Ru'Ah...

So I'm going to confirm something with you. How close to a level up are you?"

"Auuu... e-errr... I'm Level 87 at the moment... And my experience requirement is still around half a hundred million short..."

"Ahh... and how much does an average elf in this village fetch you? You've killed some earlier didn't you?"

""?!""

Arglav and Karna were beginning to unfreeze from White's intimidation, since he wasn't directing his focus on them anymore.

They panicked when they heard that.

It was clear what White was intending to do.

"I don't really know, I've never actually che-"

"-Check now."

"Nnnnn!!! O-okay...!!!"

Soma immediately called out her Status Window, and slid open the hidden menu that displayed her experience requirement.

Current Experience Accumulated ; LV87 41,330,381 Experience Required ; LV 88 [88,000,000] 46,669,619

She remembered her previous amount, so she made a quick subtraction and came to a conclusion.

"If my calculations don't fail me, it's around 8,000 for each of that elf dispatched to kill me. I believe they're the stronger ones in this place as well, so if the rest are weak stragglers, I don't think it cuts it for a level up.

...Say Master, you knew about the Level Up mechanic too?"

"Mnn... Please be silent, I'm thinking..."

"!!! Y-yes Mas-master...!!!"

"Alright I got it. One last question. How much mana do you get from gaining a level? Does it restore to full?"

"T-technically speaking yes, but since the drugworm inside my body apparently prevents any form of growth of my own mana capacity and stockpiles them inside itself at a faster rate, my individual mana capacity is 1 s-"

"-Get to the point. She's not going to stay like that forever."

"Y-hhyes!"

The slime woman was seemingly beginning to say something else repeatedly, and she was slowly moving towards the two.

"U-usually whenever someone levels up, their health and mana bars are restored to full. But I've noticed mine only increased by 500. I think, it's probably because this 'level system' has a cap. It probably has something like a multiplier on your original max mana capacity by 500. So since my individual maximum mana capacity is 1, that's the extent of mana I get from a level up..."

"...That's unfortunate, but we'll still go with this method for now to get your mana back."

"...M-master, you've noticed...? As... as expected... You have an extremely tactical mind, Master..."

"Stop. It's creepy how you suck up to me all the time.

...It's really just a guess, but since you're saying something like that, it's probably right on the mark. Something like the Sword of Bloodwell sucking up blood, I had thought about the implications of it as well...

Such as the possibility of mana existing within the blood. Since mana is contained within bodies, it should have a similar way of moving and circulating around it.

If that's the case, your Demonic Blade, is more overpowered than I thought. ...Gaining overwhelming power from the foes it slays, and a nice bonus of a mana drain effect... Will it be enough, woman?"

"But if I do that, y-"

"I'll figure it out, you're not a babysitter. She at least seems to take interest in me last time I saw her. I'll buy some time."

"... .................M-mnn....

...I'll... I'll trust you, Master..."

Soma sulked, but she understood that she could not defeat the slime woman like this. She would have to place faith in her Master's ability to adapt to situations in battle...

...and the fact that he would not cheat on her.

The slime woman was insidiously moving towards them still. They were but a few metres apart from each other now.

"One last thing."

Just as Soma was about to diligently leave to perform a one-sided massacre on the weak elf villagers, White stopped her by grabbing hold of her right arm.

"H-hyaaa!!! M-master...?!"

"Use your Singular Skill Manipulation again. I'm pretty sure there's something called Mind Projection, a toggle skill which costs 30 SP. Learn that immediately, I'm going to transfer you the map of the village I've internalized inside my head."

"W-when did y-"

"Do it."

"!!! O-okay..."

Soma activated Singular Skill Manipulation without chant and delay, then she maneuvered the Skill Window once more and learnt Mind Projection.

Mind Projection

LV10

30 SP

[This ability when learnt, is activated when toggled.]

When toggled, target an individual to create a window for them to accept or decline the request for Mind Projection.

If the process has successfully completed, both individuals will be bound with a temporary contract of Mind Projection.

Both sides will now be able to request to view a selected image of each other's mind. [Request window rule applies]

While toggled, 10 MP is used every 10 seconds.

Mind Projection will be disabled when the user can no longer supply the required amount of MP.

In the case of inactivity after 1 day of given the window for a Mind Projection request or a Mind Image request, the individual will automatically accept the request.

"A-ah, I'm at 2 skill points now-"

"-Alright, I've internalized the image of the map. It should be fairly accurate since I've seen everything around with my own two eyes. I'm sending a reque-"

Blood Oath Activated.

Mind Projection has been successfully accepted by both parties.

"..."

"..."

"...I have things to say to you when I'm done... but go now. You should have the map already."

"...H-h-hy-yesss!!!"

Soma quickly scurried away towards the village square with her sword in her hands.

She disappeared from view shortly after.

This was when the two elves broke free from being immobilized.

"...!!! W-wait a minute...!!!"

They had been useless the entire time, but they could not watch as an intruder entered to kill their own kind.

Especially since the woman called Soma showed no empathy the entire time they had seen her fight to the death.

The two elves, Arglav and Karna, quickly chased after Soma's direction without looking back.

While they were shocked that White had suddenly awakened to an incredibly antagonistic nature who would command Soma to commit murder without batting an eyelid, they did not doubt that the situation had now changed.

He was originally a well-received guest of one of their leaders in the village... but that wasn't important anymore.

It was now a fact that they were clearly on unfriendly terms at this moment.

The threat of an extremely foreign White and the slime woman were not to be ignored, but the approaching danger of Soma held precedence.

When they were gone as well, only two people remained.

White did not stop them, and continued staring at the woman who was closing in on him.

He began to step back slowly.

"...Well then, now it's just you and me."