- Shari -

 

"What is going on here?" (Peras)

"Ehm, not too much. I and this soldier had a personal dispute and Zeon here stepped in for me." (Shari)

"Sigh, I assume that Zeon would have a very good reason for doing so. We have to settle this. And by god, can anyone get him back up?!" (Peras)

 

His look now asks what we've done to Alec.

 

"I just shocked him a little. There should be no greater harm done." (Zeon)

"You-you're gonna pay for this, Zeon!" (Alec)

 

Well, it looks as if Alec gradually recovers.
I see no wounds, so Zeon might be right about no lasting effects.

 

"Mind your words, Alec. What happened here?" (Peras)

"I was just talking to that thing there when suddenly Zeon barged in and attacked me with his lightning." (Alec)

"Zeon?" (Peras)

"He offended the officer and hasn't shown any signs of stopping." (Zeon)

"Offended?" (Peras)

"He touched me rudely in an inappropriate way." (Shari)

 

Peras looks quite at a loss at this statement.
Sexual offenses against slimes are no everyday matter.

 

"Is this a joke? How can one even touch this thing in a wrong way? It's a goddamned slime!" (Alec)

"You're overstepping your boundaries, soldier. Mind your place, or I'll make you." (Peras)

"What is this monster even doing here?" (Alec)

"I requested her presence, so there should be no issue." (Peras)

"Could I ask what I shall do here?" (Shari)

"You're still in dire need of combat training. This time without any formal lining up. It's not like this would happen in a real battle." (Peras)

"Wait, without any safety measures?" (Shari)

"Yes sure, you can take a stone. But I guess there are more than enough measures in effect. We're only using blunt weapons and you can keep your uniform on. You can cushion a hit like this, right?" (Peras)

"I think so." (Shari)

 

It should work out.
With the fabric in the way and my impact-absorbing body and even the core shell, a normal hit shouldn't get through.

 

"It seems you have to settle something, so I will appoint Alec as your opponent." (Peras)

"What!?" (Alec)

 

His face clearly screams: You can't be serious!

 

"Alec is one of our most skilled individuals. Since your style focuses on weapon usage I don't think we need to adjust the practice. You will just fight each other like you would any opponent. And I don't think I need to point out that deadly violence and acid are prohibited. Understood?" (Peras)

"Absolutely." (Shari)

 

A smile spreads on my face.
I don't even bother to contain it in my designated mouth area.

 

"Sir!" (Alec)

"Yes? Do you want to state a reason why you should be allowed to skip training, soldier? Scared of a mock battle?" (Peras)

"Ahem. This... Isn't this too informal? We don't even have a judge." (Alec)

"I didn't know that sparring matches have to be formal. As far as I know this is only about how you fare against your opponent." (Peras)

 

And get rekt by me!

 

"Oh, I've heard that he didn't make a too great impression against Liqu. So maybe he is afraid? Why don't we reduce the difficulty a bit? I won't even change my shape. There should be no issue to show off your skill with that much, right?" (Shari)

 

I might be a little too full of myself but the idea to batter this guy up while he can't do shit against me with his blunt attacks is too tempting.
We each get a training shortsword.
The problem is that I can only take it with my glove.
I really have to train towards an unsuspicious fighting style where I won't get exposed as a monster.
Yet like this, I lack the traction to hold my weapon.
Also, my strength is certainly behind what this guy is capable of.
I can only go for whipping moves and hope that those will have any impact.
The third issue is that I'd have to keep my head behind the mask and like this lack visual input.
For the sake of getting back at that guy, I won't bother with the mask here but in a real combat situation, I have also to deal with this.

 

"Now start. And I don't want to see any shameful behavior." (Peras)

 

I concentrate on that piece of metal in my hand, trying to get a proper hold of it.
It's less grabbing and more winding the glove as many times around as I can afford before I would lose the connection to the slime inside.
The tension may stress the durability of the fabric but I have to neglect this right now.

My opponent makes the first move, starting with a sprint, then a jump, followed by an overhead slash.
My thought on this is that he believes he needs some impact to have any effect on me with his attacks.
Also, I need just a split-second to realize that this jump is only with possible enhanced abilities.
Yet they're not too developed.
I guess someone else would be impressed by such a flashy move.
To his dismay, it's physiologically impossible for me to get caught up like this.
I have high-speed processing.
I grip my weapon a little tighter, step in a rotating motion to the side, and use the momentum to slash into the trajectory of his strike.

 

"Clank"

 

Damnit!
I thought I had him but he readjusted the swing in my direction.
Usually, I could block this as I only tried to deflect the strike from the side.
But even though he changed the trajectory mid-swing the impact is unnaturally hard.
My weapon clashes so hard away that I almost lose it and I can barely dodge the oncoming sword.
And I'm totally stunned when the sword impacts the ground and shatters it, throwing debris in all directions.
However, me being stunned takes due to high-speed processing less than a split-second.
I cannot let it stay at this and rush towards him, aiming for the side of his stomach.
He can see it coming and crudely slashes in the way of my strike.
The impact is again far too hard and throws my weapon out of my glove.

Think Shari!
Don't let it end here!

I use the opening and deliver a punch with as much compressed slime in my other arm as I can muster.

 

"Squish"

 

Not too hard of an impact, but enough to confuse him, so I can jump towards my weapon to retrieve it.

 

"Damned fiend! Should that have hurt?" (Alec)

"Not necessarily. I have time." (Shari)

 

While saying that, I adjust my grip as my sword isn't lying very secure in my glove.

 

"Be careful! Alec specializes in strength enhancement." (Zeon)

 

Thanks for the information.
Though it's a bit late.
Round two is starting now.

Unfortunately, my opponent is now more careful so I am not able to take advantage of any openings.
That is to say, I'm no professional fighter in the first place.
I only have a keen eye for the obvious and the advantage of a body that can't dislocate its limbs through brazen strikes.

The first strike of my enemy comes.
Then the second, the third.
Each of them hard enough to make me lose hold of my sword if I would take them directly.
I planned to counterattack as soon he neglects his defense even a little bit to manage a good hit on my body.

Yet he doesn't.
Instead, he isn't even aiming for me.
He just slashes from the widest range he can afford at my weapon.
I need a split second to break this down before I realize what he's doing.

Asshole!

He wants to disarm me after he noticed my weak grasp on my sword.
And sadly he's close to succeeding with this tactic.
No other choice then.
I need to play this aggressively.

I move my weapon out of the way of his next attack and prepare a strike at his stupid, grinning face.
Naturally, he can predict this and counters the attack.
My sword flies out of my glove behind me.
But that doesn't keep me from again punching him with my other glove full-force in the face.
Yet it's not doing much damage.
Without knuckles, it's only a wet piece of leather that slaps him.
But this time I could prepare beforehand.
So the force behind is considerable and enough to make him stumble backward.

I dash to my weapon and try to take it back up but his sword grazes my side and leaves a gash in the fabric where slime drips out.
My opponent recovered faster than I predicted and is directly behind me.
I won't be able to turn around in time.
So instead I concentrate on my right leg and let the boot fly into his stomach.

 

"Ummph!" (Alec)

 

As before, I lack the necessary sturdiness behind the strike.
But different from the glove my boots are extra durable to keep up with my walking routine and like this hard enough to have a bit of an impact.
I'd still wish I had leg muscles because he gets over it faster than I would prefer.
Rather instantaneous another slash separates boot and leg from my body.

My position isn't the best.
He's already at it to prepare another strike and I'm really worried if he cares to avoid hitting my core.
All I can do now is throw everything I have into the fray.

 

• Slime dash!

 

I make my whole body dash in his direction.
I couldn't manage to get a proper hold of the weapon.
However, there's this instinct.
It makes me want to get on top of him.
I use the speed to grapple him and make use of my body's unnatural abilities in moving every part of my matter to circle around his body.
My clothing shifts weirdly with all the violent movement beneath the surface.
But it works to get above him.
Before my weight completely sets in to push him down, something I won't comment on any further, I also raise my arm and throw it into his stupid face.

 

"Wham"

 

"There you've got it!" (Shari)

 

As anticipated he can't handle all my mass curled with my legs around him.
Together with the violent shifting of my weight on top of him, this is enough to make him lose his footing and go down.
I make especially sure that most of my mass lands on the arm with which he wields his sword.
While sitting on his chest, I have now both of my hands free.
And can massage some manners into this piece of shit!

 

"Whack"

"Whack"

"Whack"

 

Occasionally he tries to strike back with his other hand, but while his strikes are extremely hard and stir my surface quite hard I don't think I have to mention how ineffective they are against me.
So I can proceed unhindered.

 

"Whack"

"Whack"

"Whack"

 

"Officer!!!" (Peras)

 

Guess I can't punch him as much as I'd like.

 

"Fine." (Shari)

 

I look at my victim and am a little disappointed that my barrage only caused a reddened face.
I stand back up, swallow a little and spit out at him.
As utterly meaningless as it is to apply the same slime my body consists of.
But it's the gesture that counts.

While walking over to Peras I take a closer look at myself.
Maybe I overdid it a little.
My gloves are a mess with all the holes where slime squeezes through.
My clothes ripped in several places, which makes me realize that they might not be made to keep up with the sudden pressure my mass causes when I let it rush in the same direction.

 

"What did I say regarding shameful behavior?" (Peras)

 

Was what I did especially shameful?
I remember that I did something quite similar to the boys in my village when they became too obnoxious.
However, back then mum had almost the same disappointed look Peras has now.

 

"Not only were you acting like a savage, but you also had to display this lack of discipline and restraint to everyone around here. Just look at your uniform!" (Peras)

 

Okay, now the resemblance becomes uncanny.

 

"I'm very sorry. It wasn't completely intentional. I've let my emotions get the better of me. I'll mend my ways." (Shari)

 

That apology already worked back then.
Let's see if it's still effective.

 

"Well, I think we can at least be sure that this won't repeat." (Peras)

 

His gaze towards the gawkers shows me that none of them wishes to swap with my earlier offender.
He's fine by the way.
Maybe a bit shaken but I believe I broke no bones.
Yes, that was another allusion to my weight.

At least I've learned one lesson from this fight.
If I want to use my weapon I can't afford to block strikes.
I have to treat my blades like my own body and like this can't clash directly with my opponent.
Especially if I'm fighting in disguise and have to rely on my gloves.
Speaking of gloves.

 

"Sir, would it be possible to receive a new uniform? Especially a new pair of gloves? Sturdy ones would be appreciated." (Shari)

"I'll see what I can do. It can't be that an officer is walking around looking like this. However, it's going to be withdrawn from your payment. See it as a penalty for your short-sighted actions." (Peras)

 

I'm asking myself if I will at this rate ever see payment at all.

 

"Looking around it seems no one else is willing to fight you. Things being like this you can return to your quarter. However, no one shall believe that this was it. We're doing this from now on every day." (Peras)

 

I won't let him say this twice and am gone.
Inside my quarter I surprisingly find the book I asked to read.
Yet I never thought this would actually happen.
Books are so stupidly expensive that giving such a thing to me borders on pure madness.
However, for me this is great.
I have still one intact finger on my glove.
I can use this one to turn the pages.

Like this I, spend the rest of my day, only interrupted by Elara bringing me food.
It's as convenient as it's unfortunate that I didn't come very far because of my stupid learning disorder.
I had to read the same pages over and over again.
However, I might have gained some new insight.
Stuff like how negotiating is an act of balance and that aggressively pursuing your point can heavily backfire if the other party becomes stubborn because of it.
Yet also that it's important to show strength before the opponent takes advantage of you.
It always depends on the situation.

And then finally Liqu returned.

 

"Shari!!!" (Liqu)

 

Overbearing as always.

 

"Please tell me that the girl is alright." (Shari)

"Yes, yes. She looked fine the last time I saw her." (Liqu)

 

Liqu has the talent to phrase things in a way that I'm growing concerned.

 

"So no one complained? You did a good job?" (Shari)

 

Hard to believe when she was without supervision.
Especially not after what I went through.

 

"Yes, yes. I did really well!" (Liqu)

"So you didn't clash with another soldier who swore revenge?" (Shari)

"Oh, that. Nah, that was over really fast." (Liqu)

 

The way she says this I know that it won't be possible to berate her about this.

 

"Sigh!" (Shari)

 

Now she stays in front of me with a totally expectant look.

 

"And? And? Now? Can we now?" (Liqu)

"What now?" (Shari)

"Oh, come on. You said we could link." (Liqu)

 

Sigh. I promised.
And I always keep my word.
So there's no way around this.

 

"But as I said, restrain yourself! Just a shallow touch." (Shari)

Extremely unwilling I extend my hand toward her.
She can barely contain herself at what is going to happen any moment and kinda vibrates in anticipation.
My hand shakes as well since my thoughts about how much I want to pull it away oppose the movement.
Nonetheless, I push forward and eventually reach the surface of her body.
I feel the matter sinking in and suddenly Liqu clamps it with both of her hands inwards.
With this, I am now truly stuck.
A moment later an overwhelming amount of pictures and emotions rushes over me.
A recollection of Liqu's day.