The lights appeared before Carlos could even take a proper breath.
There were twice as many of them this time, spread all across the clearing until almost every gap between the trees glowed blue.
Carlos tightened his grip on the spear.
His body had recovered a lot after the potion, but it hadn’t forgotten the beating from the first wave. Every time he moved his shoulder, a dull pain reminded him of the twenty slimes he had barely defeated.
And now there were forty.
"No. I am not going to die," Carlos corrected himself.
The lights disappeared.
Forty Blue Slimes landed on the grass at the same time.
Carlos immediately ran behind the thickest tree he could find.
A second later, the sound of water exploding against wood echoed from every direction.
POP! POP! POP!
The tree shook from the number of projectiles hitting it.
Carlos kept his back against the trunk and looked at his health.
HP - 290/360
The recovery potion was still healing him, but the effect was slowing down.
’I can’t repeat what I did before.’
Even if each attack only dealt a little damage, forty slimes could shoot far more than his body could endure. Running into the middle of them wouldn’t be tenacity.
It would just be suicide.
Carlos peeked around the side of the tree for less than a second.
Projectiles flew toward his face immediately, and he pulled back.
But that single second was enough.
The slimes weren’t approaching him from only one direction. Some of them were moving around the tree from the left while the others came from the right.
"You all getting smarter or something?" Carlos muttered.
The slimes didn’t answer him, as expected, but another volley of water slammed into the trunk.
Carlos looked up.
The tree had many low branches. The first one was only slightly higher than his head.
He placed the spear between his teeth, jumped, and grabbed the branch with both hands. Pain shot through his left shoulder, but he pulled himself up anyway.
One branch became two, and within a few seconds, Carlos was several meters above the ground.
The slimes gathered below him.
Some of them stretched their bodies upward and fired.
Carlos tilted his head away from one projectile, but another struck his ribs.
"UGH!"
His grip almost slipped.
He wrapped one leg around the branch and held on until the pain passed. When he looked down again, a grin spread across his face.
The slimes had crowded together to get closer to him.
"Let’s see what the outcome is this time."
Carlos stood on the branch with one hand braced against the trunk.
Then he jumped.
His entire body came crashing down with the spear pointed straight below him.
The stone tip pierced the center of one slime and struck the core directly.
The core shattered.
[Water Slime eliminated]
Before the other slimes could move away, Carlos swung the spear in a wide arc. Three bodies burst apart and covered the grass with blue jelly.
Water projectiles struck his back, arms, and chest.
He ignored them and ran.
Carlos reached the next tree with his teeth clenched and took cover behind it.
HP - 263/360
Remaining Water Slimes - 39/40
"One," Carlos muttered between heavy breaths.
Only one had died, but he had understood something important.
He didn’t need to burst every slime and pull out every core like before. If he hit the bead directly with enough force to crack it, the slime would die instantly.
The problem was hitting a tiny bead inside a moving body while forty of them were shooting at him.
’So I just have to do it thirty-nine more times.’
Carlos climbed another tree.
He repeated the same attack, but this time the slimes moved the moment he jumped. His spear missed the core and sank into the jelly instead.
The slime hardened around it.
Carlos pulled, but the entire slime came up with the spearhead.
Six projectiles struck him at the same time.
The air left his lungs, and he dropped to one knee.
More slimes turned toward him.
Carlos let go of the spear and rolled behind the tree just as the ground where he had been kneeling exploded with water.
"My spear..."
The slime was still wrapped around the weapon, and more slimes slowly gathered around it.
It was the only weapon Cosmic could make.
It was also the only reason Carlos had made it this far.
He could leave it behind and climb another tree.
That was the safest option.
Carlos looked at the spear again.
"No."
He picked up a stone from the ground.
The moment the nearby slimes finished shooting, Carlos sprinted out of cover.
Three of them blocked his path.
He kicked the first slime with all his strength. Its body flattened and wrapped around his leg, but Carlos kept moving and dragged it along with him.
A projectile struck his forehead.
His vision went white for a moment.
He stumbled, planted one hand on the ground, and forced himself forward before the next attack came.
"GIVE IT BACK!"
Carlos slammed the stone into the slime holding the spear.
Once.
Twice.
On the third hit, the stone smashed into the core.
[Water Slime eliminated]
The jelly immediately lost its shape, and Carlos ripped the spear free.
He turned around and stabbed the slime attached to his leg.
The first strike missed.
The second made a crack appear across the core.
The third shattered it.
[Water Slime eliminated]
Another projectile struck his cheek, but Carlos was already swinging the spear toward the three closest slimes.
He didn’t try to kill them.
He only burst their bodies apart so they couldn’t shoot.
Then he sprinted back toward the trees.
HP - 211/360
Remaining Water Slimes - 37/40
Carlos touched his forehead.
There was blood on his fingers.
The second wave was different.
Their attacks were stronger.
Their aim was better.
And they were reacting to his movements.
If he kept fighting like this, he would run out of health before killing even half of them.
Then a projectile curved around the tree.