Difficulties in Ranking

Saki waits for the slimes to attack, but soon realizes that they are waiting for her to act first. She took this opportunity to use her skills first in the turn. "Slash true against the bodies of gel!" Her body gains the strength to execute the skills and moves gracefully. 'Saki cuts Slime A and pierces its body!' 'Slime A takes 15 damage!'

Instead of bursting into a pile of sticky gels, Slime A was still alive. Saki gasped as she watched the slime regenerate itself equal to her damage. "F-fifteen damage?! The thrust alone should have been fifteen damage!" She yells in disbelief. "H-hey, what's going on here, Abby?!" She glanced over her shoulder and asked.

"I will explain to you properly later, and probably scold you as well" That was her response, enough to waver Saki's courage. Nevertheless, she decides to own up to her insistence and focus on the battle. She readies as she reads Slime A's attack. 'Slime Slam'. "Wait..." Saki re-reads the text, it was a skill, not a normal attack. She then guards herself with her sword and readies her feet to dodge the skill.

The slime jumps towards her, slamming against her. Saki's eyes went wide within the second of the slime jumping directly at her. "Ah...!" She yelped as she was sent to the ground, completely losing balance and lying on the ground. Lying down, she could only move her gaze toward the interface. 'Slime A slams itself into Saki!' 'Saki takes 18 damage!'

As she was reading the texts, another text came. Her eyes were filled with horror as she read a different skill 'Slime Crush', and her eyes darted up into the sky as Slime B jumped over her and slammed itself down at Saki's stomach. "Gh...ah!" Saki gasped sharply as she felt the air in her chest disappear instantly at the slime's attack. The toughened body of the slime was like a huge rock thrown down on her stomach, Saki could feel her consciousness about to fade.

She tried to stand up, but the pain in her stomach was immense and spread throughout her body, draining her of any strength. She could only gaze towards the interface. 'Slime B crushes the enemy with its body!' 'Saki takes 23 damage' 'Saki 9/50' Her eyes stayed on her health. She had nine remaining hp and was on the verge of incapacitation. Still, she should be able to stand up and fight, so why can't she stand? She thought to herself.

"O divine grace! Mend the soul of the warrior!" Suddenly, she heard Abigail casting a spell and a bright light from the skies enveloped her, giving her breath. She took a deep breath and sighed before standing up. Just like that, she was full of energy once again. She glanced over the interface as she returned her focus to the slimes. 'Abigail casts the light of healing on Saki!' 'Saki gains 1,450 hp!'

She gasped lightly at the health points recovered and made a quick glance over her shoulder to Abigail, who had a serious look, then turned back to the slimes. Her maximum health was only fifty, but the health she gained from Abigail's heal spell was over a thousand health points. It speaks a lot about the difference between Abigail's abilities and her own. Her gaze remains on the slimes' movements, but her mind is filled with suspicion.

It was now her turn. Her skill of combinations of her strikes wasn't effective this time, and it had her thinking again. Not wasting any more time, she used her skill once more. "Slash true against the bodies of gel!" She yells as she slices Slime A's body and pierces its blade at its body. She immediately pulled it out and attempted to swing at Slime A again, only to be bested by Slime B.

Saki let out a cry as Slime B slammed itself into her body, sending her to the ground once more. She managed to catch herself and prevent herself from falling hard. With both of her hands on the ground, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed one of the slimes missing. "Ah...!" She gasped as she looked up and saw Slime A above her. Without thinking, she rolled away to her side. Slime A hits the ground hard, sending gusts around it. "U-ugh..." Her breath was labored as she stared at the slime, knowing that she narrowly avoided that attack.

She quickly stood up and went back to her position in front of Abigail then readied her sword in defense. Saki knew she was not going anywhere with the battle, and could only hurt herself further, and burden Abigail with repeated healing. So she slowly backs away towards Abigail. "I'm... I'm done... Let's run!" Abigail nodded at her words and ran away. Saki sheaths her sword and turns around to run away and catch up to Abigail. The slimes struggled to hop and chase after the two and were left behind, ending the battle.

A few minutes later, they were able to distance themselves from the slimes, Saki received the notification of the battle ending. 'Saki runs away from the battle!'. She felt a bit discouraged but otherwise relieved that she was able to run away without problems. They both stopped and heaved to catch their breath. "Well... Did you have fun?" Abigail said between her breath. Her tone sounded sarcastic and a hint of annoyance. "That was no fun at all..." Saki wanted to tell what she truly felt and swallowed her pride.

Once they settled down, Abigail sat near a tree and leaned her back on it. She lightly pats the spot beside her, gesturing for Saki to sit at her side. Saki sighs deeply as she sits down next to her.

"Do you have an idea now?" Abigail spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "Yeah..." Saki replied with sincerity. "Any ranked monsters, even the lastest of the ranks, have significant differences with unranked ones. Do you understand?" Abigail asked with a tone of strictness, to which Saki nodded. "They have high stats suitable for a real combat. Something a mere villager, or in your case, a village militia, can't fight against. With numbers, sure, but alone? It's suicide" As Abigail explains, Saki's gaze falls to the ground next to her.

'A real combat' She thought. To Abigail's eyes, her previous victories weren't even real combat. This thought alone crushed her spirits and wavered her courage to continue the training. Saki moved her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. Her eyes narrow down to the point of closing as her gaze remains on the ground. Abigail was quick to notice. She can feel Saki's energy disappearing as seconds pass by. She sighed and said. "Saki, rank D monsters are the staple of the starting adventurers, so you won't be able to defeat any of the ranked monsters until you've finally become one, okay?" She reached for Saki's head and rubbed her head gently, her words were soft and tender, filled with underlying encouragement.

Just as quickly as her spirits get crushed, she quickly recovers as soon as she feels her soft touch and gentle words. She closed her eyes and savored her caring touch to heal her spirits. She slowly realized that she was starting to feel down about something she clearly understood from the beginning. She was still a villager and no adventurer. She had no way of defeating monsters at all. For as far as the villager class goes, she was already lucky enough to have the ability to defeat unranked slimes in her current state.

"Let's rest here for a while, Saki. I know you're getting tired, swinging around that sword of yours from the moment we stepped inside this forest" Abigail gently pulled Saki's head to her shoulder and rested her hand on the side of her head, pressing her head more. Saki blushed slightly at Abigail leading her head on her shoulder, wanting to burst out a reaction, but she quickly gave in to her fatigue and just closed her eyes to feel Abigail's warmth and the slight hint of security under her care.

Just like that, Saki rests her body for a while leaning on Abigail, who keeps her eyes on her with a smile on her face. Their surroundings were quiet and suitable for rest. The leaves on the ground provide them with comfort as they sit and lean on the tree. The breeze of the forest cools their worked-up bodies after escaping from the previous battle, and the proximity of the two provides a feeling of safety between them.