Piper blinked her eyes several times, still trying to process what Ophelia had just said. While she’d never seen a real monster before—called aspect beasts in this world—Alfred had made it clear she should run for her life if she ever stumbled across one.

  Most of them originated from tears in the veil between the realms. Sometimes, only a small creature like an ooze would escape. Other times, an entire army of monsters would march forth.

  “Are you crazy?” Piper blurted out. If she let Ophelia get hurt by an aspect beast, she’d get blamed for sure. And then she might get kicked off the farm. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

  “I’m going with or without you.” Ophelia raised her chin defiantly. “Once I kill the ooze, I’m almost guaranteed to get a combat class at my awakening. If you were my friend, you’d help me.”

  “You know I’m your friend,” she replied earnestly, “but it’s a monster. Your dad always says that they’re dangerous. What if we get into trouble? Plus, we don’t have any weapons.”

  Ophelia grinned and slid a knife out of her pouch. “I borrowed this from my mom. Anyway, it’s an ooze. I bet a newborn sheep could beat it. If we can’t kill it, then we’ll just walk away. It’s not like it could catch us.”

  Piper twirled a strand of hair around her finger, thinking furiously about what she should do. If she told Ophelia’s parents, then it would almost certainly ruin their friendship. And it had been so long since she’d had a real friend—not just some other kid she happened to be sharing a hospital room with. But then again, if she let Ophelia get hurt, her parents might never forgive her.

  Which meant the only solution was to go along and keep her friend safe. Ophelia was probably right anyway. What could an ooze do to them? It would be like fighting a bowl of Jello. There was a reason most anime shows started with the heroes fighting oozes. They were completely harmless.

  Plus, deep down, she really wanted to see a monster. What other amazing things existed in this world? Were there dragons? Ogres? Goblins? She would love to see a dragon.

  Piper realized with a start that Ophelia was staring at her with raised eyebrows. She’d gotten so lost in her own thoughts that she’d forgotten to reply. With a smile, she said, “Let’s go find the ooze.”

  Ophelia punched Piper on the shoulder lightly, a big grin plastered on her face. “Maybe you’ll become a warrior like me. We could become famous heroes that the bards sing about. Could you imagine?”

  The thought of being a hero was intoxicating. She could travel the land with Ophelia, defeating every powerful monster they came across. Everyone would love and respect them.

  As Piper was dreaming about being an adventurer, her friend had spun on her heel and headed up into the foothills. After a second, she belatedly hurried after Ophelia, trying to catch up.

  The young girl followed a narrow game trail, the path winding through the rocky terrain. Above them, the forest canopy grew denser until it blocked out the sunlight, leaving them navigating a realm lost in perpetual twilight.

  As they tromped through the forest, the trees slowly transitioned from broadleaf to conifers. The ground became carpeted with brown pine needles, with little growing among the roots.

  Ophelia stopped and held up a finger to her lips as a sign to be quiet. She then crept forward, avoiding the deadwood and stunted bushes. As she walked, she drew her dagger and fell into a fighting stance.

  Piper did her best to move silently like Ophelia, but the needles kept crunching under her boots. Every sound made her wince. Someday, she’d have to get Alfred to teach her some bushcraft. He moved like a wraith through the forest when he was hunting game.

  Without warning, Ophelia stopped, nearly making Piper run into her, and then pointed at a clearing among the trees. Situated at the center was an ooze.

  Piper’s eyes widened at the sight of the monster. It wasn’t just an ooze—it was the king of the oozes. The creature was nearly the size of a cow. In what world could they kill this thing? She doubted they could even hurt it.

  To make matters worse, the monster had recently slain a boar and was busy digesting it. The beast’s body was slowly dissolving inside of the ooze, revealing bones and muscles under the skin. The sight of it nearly made her gag.

  As she stared at the dead boar, she suddenly had a terrible vision of the same thing happening to them. This was nothing like the tiny oozes so common in anime. This thing could probably kill them without breaking a sweat.

  What was I thinking agreeing to help Ophelia?

  Piper grabbed Ophelia’s arm and vigorously shook her head. They needed to get out of here and tell Alfred. He could go fetch some men from the village and kill this aspect beast. This was way out of their league.

  But Ophelia shook her arm off and continued toward the ooze. The girl had a determined look on her face she recognized all too well. There was no way her friend was going to be talked out of fighting the ooze. Still, she had to try.

  “What are you doing?” Piper whispered urgently. “That thing is huge. Look at what it did to the boar!”

  “I’m a better fighter than a pig,” Ophelia shot back. “Or don’t you believe in me?”

  “That thing is big enough to eat both of us!” she continued, her voice rising slightly. “How are we supposed to hurt it?”

  Her friend pointed her knife at the ooze, the weapon now looking woefully inadequate against such a massive creature. “It has a beast core inside its body. All we have to do is hit it and the monster dies. I’ve been practicing hitting small targets back home.”

  Piper stood there torn with indecision, watching as Ophelia drew closer to the monster. If she left, she’d never make it back in time to bring help. But if she stayed, she’d probably get gobbled down by the ooze as well. And the one thing she’d repeatedly told herself in this world was ‘don’t get eaten.’ Now she was going to fight a monster that all it did was eat.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Darn, darn, darn,” she muttered to herself as she scanned the forest floor for a weapon. After a second, her eyes locked onto a thick fallen branch. Hurrying over, she picked it up. The heavy weight in her grip felt reassuring, but every fibre of her being was still telling her to run.

  With the branch in hand, she followed Ophelia, hoping the girl had more of a plan than just ‘hit the core’. Maybe they could pelt the ooze with rocks and branches for a while to wear it down? Or maybe they could lure it into some sort of trap?

  Watching Ophelia charge forward, she quickly realized her friend didn’t have a plan. And she also realized that they were both in serious trouble.

  The blond-haired girl reached the ooze and slashed her knife across its side. The blade carved off a piece of the monster, and the goop splashed onto the ground. Where it struck pine needles, they quickly began to smoke. A second slash of the knife made the aspect beast recoil.

  Before Ophelia could strike a third time, a pseudopod burst out of the ooze and swung clumsily at the girl. The strike barely missed Ophelia, who danced back, her blade lashing out in reply. More goop flew off the monster, splattering across the forest floor.

  Piper’s mouth suddenly felt dry, and her heart hammered in her chest as she realized she had to fight the ooze. She wasn’t fearless like Ophelia. Her lifelong dream wasn’t to fight monsters. Worse, she had no idea what she could possibly do with only a stick for a weapon. But she had to try to help her friend.

  Letting out a battle cry, mostly to give herself some courage, she charged forward. She swung her makeshift club with all her might. But her blow passed harmlessly through the ooze; her stick reemerged blackened and smoking.

  She jumped back as a gooey limb swung at her, narrowly missing her face. A quick glance down at her smoldering stick made her realize that she really didn’t want to get hit. It would probably melt off her skin.

  Thankfully, Ophelia was holding her own. She watched as her friend darted in and slashed the monster with her dagger. Then she dodged the pseudopod counterattack before leaping back. Each attack was carving off tiny pieces of the ooze, but it would take forever to do any serious damage. And Piper still hadn’t seen the core her friend was talking about.

  Piper took another half-hearted swing at the ooze. This time, her weapon knocked off a chunk of slime from the monster. A single droplet landed on her arm and started to sizzle. She let out a yelp and tried to wipe it off. Which only spread the burning liquid onto her palm.

  “Are you alright?” Ophelia gasped, glancing over at Piper. Her eyes widened at the sight of Piper’s rapidly blackening skin. “We need—”

  Ophelia’s words were cut off as the ooze jettisoned the boar corpse and simultaneously launched itself forward; its pseudopod slammed straight into the girl’s face. Freed from the weight of its meal, it moved shockingly fast. Nothing made of goo should be able to move that fast.

  Ophelia let out a terrible scream and stumbled back, cradling her face with both hands. Curls of smoke rose between her fingers, and after a few staggering steps, she tripped over a root and fell on her back. As she did, the ooze surged forward.

  Without thinking, Piper rushed toward the monster. All the fear she’d been feeling disappeared and was replaced with the singular purpose of saving her friend. No matter what it took, she had to stop the slime from reaching Ophelia.

  She swung her club in a wide arc, the stick tearing off a chunk from the ooze. It barely acknowledged her strike, continuing to glide toward her friend lying on the ground.

  As Piper recovered from her wild swing, she spotted something gleaming inside of the monster. Was that the mana core? The object looked vaguely like a crystal, with jagged points jutting out from its surface.

  If Ophelia was right, and she broke the core, then the monster would die. But how could she hit it? The core was suspended nearly half a meter inside the acidic ooze, and as she watched, it continually darted around. Was that a defensive strategy?

  Her mind raced as she tried to think of a plan to kill the creature. Meanwhile, the monster kept oozing toward Ophelia, completely ignoring her. It must think that Ophelia was easier prey. Not that it was wrong. So far, none of Piper’s attacks had even fazed it.

  She reached down and scooped up a rock from the soil and hurled it at the ooze. The projectile splashed harmlessly into the monster. Trying another approach, she shouted and waved her arms at the creature, trying to get its attention. But it continued to ignore her.

  With a deep breath, Piper jumped directly in its path. If it wanted to get to Ophelia, who was still writhing on the ground, it would have to go through her. She gripped her club with both hands as she licked her lips nervously. Was she really doing this?

  I’m so going to die.

  The monster reared up in front of her, the core darting around inside of it. At its full height, it was far taller than her—even taller than Alfred. She fought down her rising sense of dread and kept her eye on the core. She’d only have one chance at this, and she had to make it count.

  As the ooze crashed down over Piper like a wave, she swung her club at the core. Immediately, the rough gemstone shifted in response, but her attack had only been a feint. Every day she’d spent hours training herself to use her tail—the tip now hardened and armored—and it shot into the ooze like a spear.

  She screamed as the ooze burned through her dress and then sloshed around her feet. Agony washed over her, but she’d spent every day of her previous life living with pain. This was nothing compared to what she’d endured in the past. Her tail continued forward, smashing into the core with incredible force.

  The gem shattered on impact.

  The ooze shuddered once, and then its body lost all cohesion, splashing her with another wave of corrosive fluids. This time, she had to grit her teeth as the pain threatened to overwhelm her. However, she managed to push through as a notification appeared in her vision.

  Congratulations! You have slain a level 10 Caustic Sludge.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level aspect beast.

  Piper blinked rapidly as she read the notification. Even in her pain-addled mind, she was surprised at how closely it resembled a message from a video game. Shaking her head, she limped over to Ophelia. Her friend had stopped screaming at some point during the fight.

  Fearing the worst, she reached down to check for a pulse. She knew exactly where to place her fingers, as her doctors had shown her numerous times how to do it to herself in the past. She almost collapsed with relief when she felt a steady pulse on her friend’s neck.

  Only then did she take the time to examine Ophelia’s injuries. One side of her friend’s face was horribly burned, while somehow the other side was almost untouched. She knew her own injuries were most likely as bad, if not worse, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at them.

  She shook Ophelia gently, hoping to wake her up. When her friend didn’t rouse, she reached down and with great effort scooped up the smaller girl. She staggered under the weight, but she had to get her back to her mom. Ethel would know what to do.

  Ignoring the searing agony that each step brought, Piper turned and headed back toward the farm. The rocky paths were difficult at the best of times, but with burned legs, and Ophelia’s dead weight, she nearly stumbled with every step.

  After a short distance, a fog descended over her mind, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Her stomach churned, and she nearly lost her breakfast. It was all she could do to keep placing one foot in front of the other. Her muscles screamed in protest, her wounds throbbed with pain, but she had to keep going.

  Piper kept moving, pushing herself to her limit and then beyond. About halfway down the hill, she had to shift Ophelia to her shoulder. The new position made Piper wobble dangerously, but her arm muscles couldn’t hold the weight any longer.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, their home finally came into view. She stumbled out of the woods and collapsed onto her knees. As she did, she gently lowered Ophelia to the ground. Her last sight was Alfred racing toward them with a horrified expression on his face. Then she toppled to the side, and the darkness claimed her.