My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger
Chapter 24: The Trial for Emerald Rank

Chapter 24: The Trial for Emerald Rank

Liam took a deep breath.

Before him, the enormous stone gate stood wide open.

Beyond it...

There was only darkness.

No torches.

No windows.

Not a single ray of light.

Even so, he took the first step.

His shoe crossed the threshold.

A blue window immediately appeared before his eyes.

[You have entered an E-Rank Dungeon.]

Liam smiled faintly.

"Finally... this system says something that’s actually true."

Lydia gave a little hop from his shoulder.

[Lydia: That’s progress.]

[Lydia: After calling a dragon an insect, I wasn’t expecting much from it.]

Liam laughed.

"Neither was I."

The massive stone gate began closing behind them.

The grinding sound of stone echoed throughout the corridor.

When the last sliver of light disappeared...

They were left in complete darkness.

◇◆◇

The passage seemed endless.

Liam walked slowly, keeping one hand against the wall to guide himself.

The air was cold and damp.

Every step echoed softly.

He had no idea how long they had been walking.

A message appeared before his eyes.

[Lydia: Liam.]

"Yes?"

[Lydia: I don’t understand why it’s so dark in here.]

Liam looked around, although calling it "looking" was an exaggeration.

He couldn’t see anything at all.

"Maybe it’s meant to keep us from getting our bearings."

[Lydia: That’s a terrible idea.]

[Lydia: If I had my own eyes, I wouldn’t be able to see anything either.]

"Well..."

Liam smiled.

"Right now, neither can I."

They continued forward.

Then...

A light appeared in the distance.

At first, it was only a faint glow.

But with every step, it grew brighter until it resembled a doorway made of light.

Beyond it...

There was daylight.

Lydia reacted first.

[Lydia: It has to be that way!]

Liam nodded.

"Then let’s hurry."

He broke into a run.

His footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

The light grew brighter and brighter.

Until finally...

He passed through it.

◇◆◇

"Ah...!"

Liam raised an arm to shield his eyes.

The light was blinding.

After spending so long in complete darkness, the sudden brightness overwhelmed him.

It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust.

When he finally opened them again...

The small stone doorway behind him closed on its own.

A tremendous boom shook the entire mountain.

Liam quickly turned around.

"Looks like there’s no going back..."

He looked around.

They were standing inside a vast open cavern.

But that cavern had been carved into the side of a colossal mountain.

To one side lay a bottomless cliff.

Below...

There was nothing but dense white clouds.

The ground was impossible to see.

It felt as though they were walking above the sky itself.

The wind howled around them.

Clouds drifted lazily around the mountainside.

Liam took a deep breath.

"Looks like we’re really inside now."

Just then...

The radio on his belt crackled.

"Liam? Can you hear me?"

It was Instructor James.

Liam picked up the radio and pressed the side button.

"I hear you perfectly."

James replied immediately.

"Excellent. Everything indicates the sensors are functioning properly. We’ll be monitoring you the entire time."

Liam smiled.

"Don’t worry. Everything’s going well so far."

Another voice replaced James’s.

"Liam!"

It was Millie.

"I know you two can do this."

Liam couldn’t help smiling.

"Thank you for believing in us."

"Don’t make me come in there to rescue you."

He laughed.

"We’ll do our best to avoid that."

He clipped the radio back onto his belt.

◇◆◇

Liam studied the path ahead.

There were only two directions.

One descended along the mountainside.

The other climbed upward along a fairly wide trail.

He rubbed his chin.

"What should we do?"

Lydia answered almost immediately.

[Lydia: I’d go up.]

"Why?"

[Lydia: If this is a mountain...]

[Lydia: It wouldn’t make much sense to go down.]

Liam looked back at the ascending trail.

She was right.

Besides...

The tower they had seen from outside also stretched toward the sky.

"You’ve convinced me."

He started climbing uphill.

To his surprise...

The path wasn’t natural.

It was far too well built.

Wide.

Relatively flat.

Almost as if someone had constructed a road wrapping around the entire mountain.

"I wasn’t expecting this."

[Lydia: Neither was I.]

[Lydia: I thought we’d have to climb.]

Liam glanced at the stone pavement.

"Thankfully not."

"I’m already terrible enough at exercising."

They continued upward.

The wind grew stronger with every step.

The clouds drifted so close that it sometimes felt like they could reach out and touch them.

Everything was eerily peaceful.

Until...

A message appeared before Liam.

[Danger Detection Activated.]

Liam’s eyes widened.

"Lydia..."

But he never finished.

A deafening crash shook the entire mountain.

CRAAAAACK!

He looked up.

Dozens of enormous boulders were tumbling down the mountainside...

Straight toward them.

"Watch out!"

There was no time to run.

Nowhere to hide.

Liam felt his heart stop.

But Lydia reacted first.

The little slime leaped high into the air.

Plop.

Her body rapidly expanded.

Growing into a gigantic gelatinous net.

The boulders slammed into her.

The mountain trembled.

Dust completely engulfed the trail.

Liam threw both arms over his face.

He couldn’t see anything.

All he could hear was the relentless pounding of rock striking gelatin.

Then...

"Lydia."

There was no answer.

The dust still filled the air.

"Lydia."

His voice was far more worried this time.

"Are you okay?"

No reply.

Liam stepped forward.

He still couldn’t see a thing.

Then a blue window appeared.

[Your Slime has consumed Unique Mineral.]

Before he could process it...

Another notification appeared.

[Your Slime has learned "Rock Throw."]

Liam blinked.

"...Rock Throw?"

He couldn’t help laughing.

"That skill..."

He shook his head.

’It reminds me so much of that monster-catching game I used to play when I was a kid.’

A small green sphere shot out of the dust cloud.

It bounced twice across the ground.

Plop.

Plop.

Then landed on Liam’s shoulder.

[Lydia: I got lost!]

Liam burst into laughter.

"What?"

[Lydia: With all that dust...]

[Lydia: Since I don’t have eyes...]

[Lydia: I couldn’t tell where you were.]

He gently patted her gelatinous body.

"If it weren’t for you... I would’ve been crushed."

The little slime bounced proudly.

[Lydia: I told you I’d protect you.]

Liam looked back at where the massive boulders had been.

Only a few tiny fragments remained scattered across the path.

Everything else...

Had disappeared inside Lydia.

He rubbed his forehead.

"How ironic..."

[Lydia: What is?]

"We survived an S-Rank Dungeon. We even defeated a dragon."

He looked again at the stone fragments covering the road.

"And we almost got crushed by a bunch of ordinary rocks in an E-Rank Dungeon."

Lydia was silent for a few seconds.

Then she replied.

[Lydia: Well...]

[Lydia: At least now I can throw them.]

Liam laughed again.

"That’s true too."

The wind howled once more.

He looked toward the summit.

The top of the mountain was still far away.

He couldn’t make out any buildings.

No monsters.

No exit.

Just an endless road winding upward through the clouds.

Liam took a deep breath.

"We have no idea how much farther we have to go."

He clipped the radio back onto his belt, adjusted the holster holding the pistol the guild had lent him, and looked at his little slime wife.

"Let’s keep climbing."

Lydia gave an excited little hop.

[Lydia: Let’s go!]

Smiling, Liam resumed the climb.

Unaware that far higher up the mountain...

A pair of eyes silently watched his every step.