CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51—AURA MASTERY!

Chapter 51—Aura Mastery!

Elder Slime spread out the map and pointed. "We have to avoid this place."

Everyone peeked in. It was just five kilometers away from them.

’A skull mark... and some weird scribble,’ Slime#47 mused, tilting his body. With that mark, he knew it meant death or something very dangerous.

"Why?" Little Slime asked doubtfully.

"This area houses a C-rank monster—Rock Fist Mandrill. If we even breathe near it, we’re dead," Elder Slime said flatly.

’C‑rank? Monsters are also divided like adventurers, it seems...’ Young Slime mused and asked, "So the monster I killed was?"

"It’s E‑rank," Elder Slime answered.

’Same as... that slime farm owner...’ Slime#47 thought.

"Elder... monsters and demons... what’s the real difference?" Cow#1 asked, ears trembling.

"Monsters are demons too," Elder Slime said with a sideways glance. "Any animal or plant that gains intelligence can be called a demon. But human scholars are picky—they call most of them ’monsters’ and reserve the word ’demon’ only for those who wield dark or demonic magic. For ordinary humans...and for us? All monsters are demons. Simple."

’I see...’ Young Slime asked, "Demonic magic... is it different from dark magic?"

"Demonic magic is a kind of dark magic. In simple terms, it’s bloodline magic passed down from ancestors. Many are inherited, but they can also be learned. Every monster can learn them—even humans," Elder Slime said, glancing at Little Slime, whose eyes were sparkling.

"Do slimes have demonic magic?" Slime#47 asked, wanting to learn them and get stronger.

’Wait...my Eternal Mastery could carry them to the next loop,’ he mused with a grin, finding a new way to get stronger from each loop.

"Yes, they do..." Elder Slime replied.

"Teach me, teach me!" Little Slime jumped in before he could finish.

"Later..." Elder Slime dismissed them.

Soon, they set off again.

------

Five days slipped by as they progressed eighty‑one kilometers—little better than the goal they’d set.

Little Slime glanced nervously around the road; Mama Slime stayed focused, Bull#1 was stern with battle intent, Cow#1 was trembling, and Elder Slime was calm while all they rode cattle. While slime#47 was sleeping on Bull#1.

In the past five days, they had come across many demons—from kind ones who let them go without even glancing at them, to some who just wanted to fight the red slime, to bloodthirsty ones who wanted to kill them all. Young Slime battled those and allowed everyone to travel safely.

Thousands of slimes were troublesome at first as they made a lot of noise by playing around, but they listened to slime#47’s order, and made the journey smooth as they stopped bouncing randomly. And marched like a trained army. Because of that, Mama Slime eventually stopped paying close attention to them.

"Ahh," Young Slime opened his eyes to the black sun, which had risen to its peak.

He then Wob!—bounced from Bull#1 to a nearby cow, then to another, then to a bull, that carried the wooden drum that held water.

He popped the lid and—Whoosh!—dove straight in.

His body absorbed the water. ’Finally... something cold,’ he sighed internally, a lot of red sweat dripped from the brutal heat earlier. Drinking cool water helped him.

Wob!He then leapt onto a bull that was near Elder Slime, who was riding on a cow.

"Elder... techniques. Mana, aura—teach me now," he said, barely holding back his impatience. He could only learn them as demonic magic couldn’t be mastered while riding a cattle and travelling.

He’d asked Old Slime to teach him techniques before, but due to repeated fights, he’d been exhausted and had to sleep, unable to train.

Finally, he had enough energy for one day, so he was excited.

"Yup. You can increase stats and your aura and mana reserves with them," Elder Slime said. Wob!—he bounced to the crate from one bull to another and picked up a few aura crystals.

Wob!—he returned to his original position.

"Here. Absorb them with your Meditation skill. You will gain a new skill," he said, explaining the mechanics.

Little Slime and the others listened closely; that would be helpful for them as well. They didn’t train now, as they had to keep an eye on their surroundings while Slime#47 trained.

"So... that’s it. In the state of meditation, pull aura from the crystal and fuse it into your own aura," Young Slime muttered, nodding sharply.

"Let’s start." He entered the state of meditation by closing his eyes.

The bumps on the road—Thud!—Thud!—

couldn’t break his focus. He’d been tortured by Elder Slime in will training; these road bumps were nothing compared to that. ’At least that Will training helped me,’ he thought with a grin.

He held the stripeless aura crystal in his tiny palms.

He focused his concentration on it and sensed a strong, heavy power inside. ’No doubt it’s aura.’

He hadn’t forgotten that Aura was very heavy, mountain‑like. It had required tremendous effort to pull when he first sensed it.

He pulled a wisp of aura from the aura crystal into his body.

He felt his body getting heavy when it entered, but he tried to fuse it with his own aura reserves.

His body wobbled as his concentration increased; slime sweat formed on his forehead.

His aura clashed with the foreign one, shaking his whole jelly body.

It rejected him again, ripping itself apart from his own aura. He had to force it again. It collided... but separated again.

He repeated it almost a hundred times, and then finally that wisp of aura fused with his own aura.

Then he heard a Ding! and opened his eyes.

A new notification flashed in front of his vision.

[ Ding! You have acquired the skill Aura Meditation Lv.1 {Uncommon} ]

[ —Skills—

—Aura Meditation {Uncommon} Lv.1—

—Proficiency: 1/100

—Absorb aura from aura crystals to increase aura reserves

—Gives a slight boost in absorbing aura

—Helps in the recovery of the aura reserves

—Can recover from injuries by actively healing.

—Recovery Speed +300%

—Note: The user can force himself to absorb more aura, but pain increases and can cause harm to the body!

—Note: The user can input more aura to heal injuries faster! ]

’Not bad...’ Red Slime grinned. After a long time, he’d gained a new skill. He’d felt long, despite being only five days.

Not training for five days was too much for someone addicted to training.

[ Ding! You have gained Aura Mastery! ]

’Aura Mastery?... Great. Another torture route to get stronger.’ His grin widened—then died instantly as he remembered how hellish training those masteries was.

His other masteries were still stuck at 1/100 and 2/100 proficiency in Tier one, respectively.

"So, you got it?" Elder Slime asked, breaking his thoughts.

"Yes, I did..." Young Slime replied. "I also got Aura Mastery," he added.

"Okay... not bad. Your talent is good," Old Slime praised, with a satisfied nod, "For ordinary people, it would normally take five aura skills, along with Aura Meditation."

"Five..?" Slime#47 asked, glancing at him.

"First, aura meditation is required to get aura mastery along with some aura skills, but it depends on individual talent," Elder slime answered, and with a grin, he continued, "Some talented people can unlock aura mastery with just one aura skill and aura meditation."

"What?" Young slime exclaimed.

End of the Chapter.