Claire wondered if she was hallucinating at the sight of a sli charging with incredible force.
'A sli?'
A sli had suddenly appeared.
After all, slis were known as the weakest monsters.
-Grrrrr!
Claire wasn’t the only one surprised by the sudden appearance of the sli.
The three Gluttony Bears, whose numbers had increased, stared blankly at the direction where the Howling Fox had been sent flying.
But they quickly refocused and bared their teeth at the sli threateningly.
The sli that had just appeared was nothing more than a nuisance interfering with their hunt.
-Graaaaah!
Whoosh!
The Gluttony Bear at the front swung its forepaw at the sli.
Boing!
The sli easily dodged the Gluttony Bear’s forepaw.
There was no way the sli could be hit by an attack slower than Paulen’s sword swings or Troll’s magic blasts.
One of the viewers watching both first-person and third-person perspectives comnted.
▶ Those dumb bears are done for.
Boing!
Thwack!
Right after dodging, the sli unleashed a bounce tackle that struck the Gluttony Bear’s jaw.
The bear’s jawbone shattered instantly, and the force of the tackle sent the massive Gluttony Bear sprawling backward.
As the sli’s body continued to soar upward with the remaining montum of the tackle,
Pop!
It extended a tentacle to wrap around the body of the Gluttony Bear on its right.
Pulling its body toward the tentacle, the sli changed direction and clung to a tree.
Rippp!
Boing!
Using the tree as a platform, the sli launched another bounce tackle at the ensnared Gluttony Bear.
With the added force and tension, the tree visibly dented as the sli pushed off.
Thwack!
Another Gluttony Bear was killed instantly without even letting out a final cry.
And just as the sli was about to finish off the last Gluttony Bear,
-Graahh!
The remaining Gluttony Bear turned and fled.
Even for monsters with low intelligence, the scene they had just witnessed instinctively triggered fear.
[Noblesse Fire]▶ Haha, look at it run.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Squishy, you’ve really gotten strong compared to before.
[Just Slam First] ▶ Isn’t it all thanks to teaching you body slam so well?
▶ Nope~ It’s thanks to the human and Troll~.
▶ You think just learning body slam makes you strong?
[Just Slam First]▶ Take that back! That comnt...!!!
[Squishy Queen]▶ Hmph! Creatures like that are nothing when caught by my kin’s tentacles!
▶ Why not go finish off the one that ran away?
▶ More importantly, we should focus on the new content, human.
▶ We can’t resist new content, hahaha.
To the viewers, a new encounter between a human and a sli was as exciting as new content.
Leaving the fleeing Gluttony Bear alone, the sli approached Claire, who was still leaning against a tree.
Boing! Boing!
"Ugh...!"
Claire tensed and tried to stand up.
Even though it was a sli, it had just taken down a Gluttony Bear in one blow.
In other words, a single attack from this sli was stronger than her full-power punch.
It was clear that it possessed at least B-rank strength, so fighting it now would be a losing battle.
Even though the Howling Fox and Gluttony Bears had been defeated, she couldn’t assu she was safe.
Judging by how it had suddenly appeared and defeated the monsters, the sli seed aggressive.
'I need to run.'
Claire was ready to get up and flee.
But her body was too weakened to even stand properly.
Continuous fighting had prevented her from properly tending to her wounds, and blood was still flowing from the cuts on her shoulder and leg.
Even if she managed to stand, she wouldn’t be able to move far.
anwhile,
'She’s hurt!'
The sli was shocked to see Claire bleeding and started to worry.
'She can’t be hurt! No bleeding!'
Having visited the clinic multiple tis with Alia, the sli understood that humans must not bleed.
'Must stop it!'
Pop!
Stretch!
The sli extended another tentacle toward Claire.
'No!'
Thinking the sli was attacking with its tentacle, Claire tried to flee.
But faster than she could react, the sli’s tentacle wrapped around her bleeding right shoulder and left leg.
“Ugh!"
Claire groaned in pain as the tentacles coiled around her.
She expected the sli to lift her and slam her to the ground or charge her with another body slam.
But several seconds passed, and the scenario she imagined didn’t happen.
'What’s going on?'
Still on high alert, Claire watched the sli.
The sli simply remained still, holding her shoulder and leg with its tentacles.
Even after a minute, it hadn’t let go or moved.
At this point, Claire accepted that the sli didn’t intend to attack her.
However, she still couldn’t figure out what it was trying to do.
"Hah, hah... what are you doing?"
Still not fully recovered, Claire spoke to the sli between labored breaths, though she quickly felt foolish for doing so.
'A monster won’t understand words.'
But the sli did understand.
'Stop the bleeding!'
Boing!
Responding in its mind, the sli bounced in place.
“Ugh?!"
Startled by the sli’s sudden movent, Claire tensed up instinctively.
▶ Hahaha.
▶ Look at her freak out, hahaha.
[Squishy Queen]▶ My kin is showing rcy! Such an insolent human!
▶ Haha, told you it wouldn’t understand, hahaha.
▶ Look at that furry tail standing on end, hahaha.
“Furry.”
It was the nickna monsters used to refer to beastkin, just like how they called humans "ningen" and elves "kanpun."
'Why did it jump? Is it preparing to attack?'
Claire still couldn’t figure out the sli’s intentions.
At that mont,
'It’s done!'
The sli confird through its tentacle that the bleeding from Claire’s wounds had stopped and withdrew its tentacles.
Not knowing why the sli had retracted its tentacles, Claire instinctively looked at the areas where they had been.
'The bleeding stopped. And the blood is gone too.'
Not only had the bleeding stopped, but even the blood that had stained her skin had been cleaned away.
The sli had simply wrapped her wounds and stayed still.
Now that the tentacles were gone, the wounds were no longer bleeding.
Even soone as hostile toward monsters as Claire could guess the sli’s intention.
"Did you... stop the bleeding?"
'Yes!'
Boing!
'Did it just answer ?'
The sli’s perfectly tid bounce made it seem like it had understood her words.
Claire slowly got to her feet.
Even though the wounds still hurt, she held back the pain.
At least she had regained enough strength to stand, but she continued to keep her guard up as she looked down at the sli.
The sli didn’t realize that Claire was wary of it.
In fact, the sli was focused on sothing else entirely.
'Leg! It’s shaking! Still hurts!'
It believed that Claire, who was injured, needed more help.
Inside the sli’s mind, Claire had now been categorized as soone to protect.
At that mont—
-Kiheeeeng!
-Kahaaang!
"Howling Foxes."
A pack of four Howling Foxes, drawn by the scent of blood, revealed themselves.
Boing!
'Go away!'
The sli turned and approached the Howling Foxes.
The Howling Foxes saw a barely standing human, a bouncing sli, and the bodies of fallen Howling Foxes and Gluttony Bears scattered about.
They assud the human was the one who had defeated the other monsters.
The approaching sli was dismissed as just a sli.
So as the Howling Foxes bared their teeth and leapt toward Claire—
'Go away!'
Boing!
Stretch!
The sli struck the leaping Howling Fox’s jaw with a bounce tackle while simultaneously extending its tentacles to the sides.
Wham!
The tentacles shot out and struck the faces of the two flanking Howling Foxes at the exact sa mont.
One was knocked out instantly, flying through the air.
The other one rolled on the ground, dragging another Fox with it, and lost consciousness.
Thanks to training with Paulen, the sli’s tentacle strikes were now extrely powerful even with just an extension.
'Again.'
Claire had doubted it the first ti, but seeing it twice now, there was no mistake.
'Is it really... trying to protect ?'
An idea that would never have crossed her mind before was now starting to form.
-Kiheeet...
One of the Howling Foxes that had been thrown still hadn’t lost consciousness and shakily got to its feet.
Raising its head and opening its mouth, it was about to call out.
It was a scene Claire had seen many tis before.
It was trying to howl to summon its pack.
The mont she realized this, Claire mustered all her remaining strength and sprinted toward the Howling Fox.
"Haahh!"
Thwack!
-Kiheeuk!
Before it could let out a sound, Claire’s punch ended its life.
Blocking the howl, Claire let out a sigh of relief.
But at the sa ti, her strength drained away, and her consciousness began to fade.
"Ah..."
Her body had barely recovered enough to stand, and forcing it to move had taken its toll.
Thud!
Claire collapsed unconscious.
***
Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing!
"Mmm..."
Regaining consciousness, Claire felt a soft sensation beneath her.
'Soft... soft?'
Sensing sothing strange, Claire quickly sat up and was t with an unbelievable sight.
Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing!
"???"
She was on top of a wide, soft platform.
The platform was bouncing as it moved.
Not only that, it was skillfully dodging trees and obstacles along the way.
Strangely enough, despite the bouncing, Claire barely felt any vibrations.
Startled, Claire rolled off the soft platform.
Landing with a practiced roll, she looked at what had been carrying her.
"A sli?"
It was the sli.
Its tentacle had spread wide and transford into a platform to carry Claire.
'What is that?'
It was a sight completely beyond Claire’s understanding.
The sli’s bounce tackles and wrapping tentacles were one thing, but this was sothing entirely different.
She had never imagined that the tentacles could transform like that.
Still in disbelief, Claire rubbed her eyes and checked again.
anwhile, the sli noticed Claire had woken up and approached her, bouncing.
'Don’t move yet! You need to rest!'
It leaned its body forward slightly to make it easier for Claire to climb back on.
"Are you telling to ride you?"
'Yes!'
The sli bounced in place.
She still didn’t fully understand what was going on.
Her body hadn’t fully recovered.
And for so unknown reason, this sli had saved her from the monsters.
'First, I need to regain my strength.'
Deciding to observe the situation for now, Claire climbed back onto the sli’s tentacle platform.
Boing! Boing!
The sli continued bouncing through the forest.
Then, as she glanced at the scenery around her, Claire spoke.
"We’re going the wrong way from the village."
'Wrong way!'
Hearing Claire’s words, the sli imdiately changed direction, leaving Claire stunned.
'It understood !?'
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