Garden Of The Abyss

...This is actually kind of bad. Even if it's the weakest species of monster...physical attacks are practically useless, he thought.

Fixing his stance, he lowered his body slightly as he fixed his hands in a more spear-like way. It was something that seldom saw the light of day, but he found the perfect opportunity to use it.

Luckily, I've come prepared! Fai taught me "Anti-Slime Martial Arts", that's a martial arts savant for you, he thought.

As the blue slime jumped towards him with a squishy hop up, he countered with a swift chop to the side of its bulbous, non uniform shape.

"Hi-yah!" He gave his best impression of a seasoned martial artist.

Hitting it sharply, it bounced against the wall like a pinball, launching from the right wall to the left, then smacking against the ground a few times.

"...That was kind of over-the-top," he sighed.

Looking at it, there wasn't a single change to its translucent, gelatinous form as it simply began to slide towards him again like a slug.

Wait, he thought, nothing happened?! My anti-slime chop didn't do a damn thing! Was Fai just messing with me?!

He could imagine the childlike giggles of the hazel-haired Outlander in his mind as he gritted his teeth. With his only win condition snatched from beneath his feet, the snail-like crawl of the blue slime now felt ominous.

Think, think! How can I get rid of it without resorting to magic? He asked himself.

Running imaginary numbers through his head, searching his NEET mind for whatever information of slimes he knew from fantasy games and shows--he found nothing.

However, it was the squeak of the sole of his foot sliding against the water that spawned a light bulb of revelation above his head as he looked down.

...A slime is normally extremely adhesive, right? Then how did I easily fling it away from my leg a minute ago? He questioned.

There was really only one, foreign concept that existed on his body--water. It was as if every neuron in his brain lit up--as if every vein in his body surged with triumphant energy.

Slimes must be weak to water, somehow!--It likely latched onto my leg because it couldn't move within the water...that means--right, it makes sense now! It came in through the faucet! He surmised.

Looking at the silver faucet that sat below the aquatic rune, he felt enlightened by this deduction.

...I'm a modern day Detective Canon, he chuckled.

A villainous laugh bellowed as he looked towards the ceiling, leaning back slightly as he soaked in his newfound path to victory, laughing at the slime as it blindly neared its own demise.

It's checkmate, my gelatinous rival, he smiled.

He abandoned any prior stances as he waited for it to draw near--already predicting the obvious patterns belonging to the creature devoid of any tangible intellect.

Come, slime! Let's end this feud, once and for all! He thought.

--Hearing the wishes of his heart, the slime compressed itself down against the floor before jumping towards him with a spring-like hop.

Just as it flung towards him, he caught it dead to rights, allowing his fingers to dig into its gelatinous form. It clenched tightly around his hand, squeezing with an unexpected pressure that caused him to wince.

"In you go…!"

He roared out before dunking the bulbous, blue fiend into the steaming water inhabiting the tub. The moment it was engulfed in the holds of the indifferent sea that was the revered bath he worshipped, the squeezing ceased.

Its slimy essence bubbled up, becoming bloated with a fog as it was held beneath the steaming water.

Come on, fizzle out, you sticky bastard! He wished.

As expected, the slime's formless body loosened from his hand--being swept up by the tub that was as lethal as a roaring ocean to the defenseless creature.

It took a few minutes, but he watched it with a keen eye as it dissolved within the bath water.

"Phew…" He claimed victory with a breath of relief.

Even so, he couldn't look at the once alluring bath the same way with the prospect of faucet-slimes being an existing threat.

"...I guess that's it for me," he sighed.

No one will know of the tale of the faucet slime; I'm bringing this one with me to the grave, he resolved.

As he turned around to grab his clothes, he found that a new set of garments were already neatly placed on the countertop.

"Was this here before…? Am I going crazy or something? Well, that's always been a possibility…"

With a wry chuckle, he slid the pale-gray tunic over his chest; a nice fit, and as soft as could be. Although the underpants were a bit tight on the crotch region, he made do as he slid the silky, bedtime trousers over each leg.

Feeling as fresh as he's felt in recent memory, he left the bathroom with a beaming smile--though that confidence was immediately tested by the existence of the young woman on the bed.

"Did you have a nice bath? It sounded...eventful."

"Something like that," he answered.

The room was kept alight by a set of fragrant candles atop each stand present in the room, giving a calm, relaxing atmosphere that also lended itself to a promiscuous nature when just occupied by two members of opposing genders.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, he found his way back to his naturally decided side of the bed.

"...Excuse me," he said politely.

He lowered himself onto the lavish bed befit for royalty, finding his limbs stiff with anxiety, yet jittery with excitement from the situation.

It wasn't any different for her, a blush remained on her soft cheeks, though she didn't avert her gaze as they locked eyes.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He broke the ice.

"Mhm...being able to stay in a place like this; it's been so long…" She replied, smiling gently.

Perhaps it was the flowery fragrance of the colorful flowers that sat in the voice, maybe the nostalgic, warm scent of oak that emitted from the candles, or the mixture of both--but the mood settled his thumping heart as he was able to relax.

Looking at her as her deeply blue irises twinkled between an azure and a depth of the faraway ocean, he was enamored by her beauty.

It wasn't the first time, or the last--it was practically anytime he saw her that his heart fluttered like so, but in this particular moment, she was a radiant star.

"...Beautiful," the word escaped his lips naturally.

Though it was an accident that it left his lips, he didn't regret saying it; that acceptance didn't dissuade a light blush from filling his cheeks, however.

"Ren…" Iris softly spoke.

As they stared at each other a moment more with their hearts athump, an unexpected knock on the closed door to the bedroom pulled them out of the serene trance they found themselves in.

Ren quickly sat up, holding an intense blush as he was now realizing just what sort of situation he was just in.

"Who's knocking at this time? Do you think something is wrong?" Iris asked in a whisper.

"...It's probably just Jae-Seong or something; I imagine he's the type prone to breaking things. Maybe he got into a fight," Ren sighed.

Getting up, he begrudgingly made his way to the door--swearing against whoever it was interrupting his precious time.

I swear, if it's some dumb crap...he thought.

Squeezing the door handle, he swung it open, prepared to be face-to-face with one of his companions, ready to throw whatever quips necessary.

But, the face of a companion it was not; still familiar, but unexpected as he had to look down to properly make eye contact with the nightly visitor.

There wasn't any possible way to mistake the body length, blue hair of the meek girl who stood no higher than his waist.

It's the girl I caught in the library. What's she doing here? He thought.

"Urr...hello, Sir," she greeted him meekly.

"It's Ren," he introduced himself with a smile.

It seemed to take a herculean effort for her to raise her eyes to him, looking up at him with her unique, blue hexagonal irises.

She's a demon alright; no mistaking those eyes, he deduced.

"...I'm Rimira," she responded.

"Nice to meet you," he smiled, "is there something you needed?"

Though as he asked her this question, he noticed she held something in her arms--it was a book, tucked close to her chest as she didn't seem to use her hands to hold it, perhaps since they were tucked under her oversized sleeves.

"I...I wanted to thank you," she answered, "please...take this."

She promptly placed the black-cloaked book into his hands as her pale cheeks were flustered with a violet tinge.

"What's it--"

Before he could so much as ask what it was, she already scurried off without a single word. Confused, he closed the door before returning to the room, gazing down at the mysterious book.

"What's that?" Iris asked, sitting up on the bed.

"No clue," he replied, "I guess it's her way of thanking me...but why this?"

Sitting down on the sizable bed directly by the azure-haired girl, he placed the rather hefty book down as they both stared at it.

"It kind of smells…" He scrunched his nose.

"I didn't want to say anything, but it's sort of creepy…" She added.

They were hesitant about the gloomy, unappealing book, but at the same time--it was that unorthodox, dreadful appearance that made it that much more appealing in contrast.