Dual Cultivation

The match ended and the exhibition match was in full throttle. After Ryouma finished removing the sticky slimes from Roodman’s ogres, he quickly went back to his waiting room, and ate as he thought to himself.

(I thought it might be possible when I met him this morning… No, actually, I’ve thought of it ever since I won the preliminaries ¬– that as long as I keep winning I might end up meeting Matthew along the way, but… who would’ve thought I’d actually have to fight him in the finals. To be honest, I didn’t think he would be able to remain in the tournament for this long. He put on a lot of airs in the past, but he didn’t really give off a strong image… But then again, there’re also people who’re weak, but have strong magical beasts. And it’s a fact that Matthew got through all of his matches so far, so I might’ve been underestimating him…)

“Right! In the next match, I’ll have the slime I can show in public fight as hard as possible. The slime also has good compatibility with the opponent, so there should be no problem!” [Ryouma]

Around the time Ryouma resolved himself, the man at which that spear was aimed at was currently…

“Just one more win, just one more win and I’ll be able to recover.” [Matthew]

He was assigned a waiting room just as Ryouma was. After eating his meal, he quietly mumbled to himself, caressing his left shoulder with his right hand repeatedly as he sat on a chair. The image of him mumbling and caressing like that resembled nothing like a tamer guild branch’s guildmaster. Of course, he was actually only the big man in name and wasn’t actually the one in charge, but let’s just put that aside.

Besides, being on paper meant that he wasn’t actually that far off from the top seat. But what Ryouma doesn’t know is that Matthew had actually already received a notice of dismissal. One week later, Matthew would officially lose his position.

Matthew entered this tournament to gain fame and wealth. If he could attain the prestige of the magic beast tournament’s champion, his personal worth would increase. If so, then with enough luck, he might just be able to keep his status; it was the desperate hope of a man in dire straits. As for the alternative of turning over to a new leaf and starting anew, he did not think of it. In fact, he probably doesn’t even have anything else on mind except for chasing after his status.

Meanwhile, the finals were drawing ever closer.

The exhibition match and the deciding match of the third place left the spectators lifeless as they eagerly waited for the finals. Amongst the eager crowd, within the noble seats, was one of the groups cheering Ryouma: It was Elia and the others.

“It’s finally the final match!” [Kanan]

“It sure feels strange watching someone you know make it to the finals.” [Michelle]

“I didn’t do anything, yet I still feel so proud.” [Riera]

“But still… Who would’ve thought that Ryouma-han would actually make it to the finals with just his slimes? How frightening.” [Miyabi]

“It’s just as usual though.” [Elia]

“It is exactly as the Ojousama said, Ryouma-sama is always exceeding our expectations.” [Sebasu]

Sebasu-san who has visited Ryouma several times since parting three years ago and has personally seen his research and experiments that were either based on his previous life’s memories or things he’d thought up, heartily talked about Ryouma. The five girls wryly smiled when they heard Sebasu talk like that, but then suddenly, the trumpets sounded, and everyone’s attention were gathered onto the stage.

The resound of trumpets indicated the beginning of the finals. The extravagant, heroic performance lasted for a short 30 minutes. After which, the announcer spoke.

<<For our final match in this tournament, the first man to enter is none other than the very guild master of this town’s tamer guild branch, Matthew Ganteyn!!>>

At the announcer’s call, Matthew entered the arena with his magical beast from the entrance below Elia and the other’s seat.

He had 12 beasts all in all. 11 of which resembled the raptors inhabiting the Great Forest of Shurus. From a glance it didn’t look much different from a small carnivorous dinosaur, but its whole body was bigger than a raptor. Its jaws and legs were more developed and in between its claws were membranes, drawing its limbs, webbed. As for the last remaining beast, it was a giant over two-meters tall, possessing a rocklike carapace and shears, it was a giant crab.

When Ryouma saw Matthew going up the stage, he thought to himself, “Did he always have a name like that? Then again, I think he might have said something like that when we were registering…” Ryouma was more interested in Matthew’s family name than his magical beasts.

<<Participant Matthew’s magical beasts include 11 river raptors and 1 river crab. Can we get a quick explanation of these magical beasts?>>

<<Yes, of course. The River Raptor is a C Rank magical beast. It looks similar to the D Ranked, Raptor, but it has an air sac by its neck and webbed limbs. It’s a magical beast that can move even in water. It generally lives around large rivers. The river crab similarly also lives near large rivers, but in exchange for its lack of mobility, it possesses a hard carapace and a pair of strong claws. River Crabs that’ve lived for a long time can also use water magic.>>

<<Since it can use magic it must also be B Rank then.>>

After Matthew’s entrance ended, it was Ryouma’s turn to enter, but suddenly… The audience stiffened.

<<Oh?>>

What entered was not Ryouma, but a lone slime. Only, that slime was so big it filled the entrance, and it seemed like it had to forcefully push itself out just to get out. But what’s more is that not all of its body was out just yet. Of course, the spectators knew that that slime was Ryouma’s magical beast, but no one knew what kind of slime could possibly be so big that it would fill the entire entrance. No one, except for Ryouma’s friend, Sebasu.

“So he’s bringing out that slime.” [Sebasu]

“It’s big… Very big…” [Elia]

“That’s the emperor scavenger slime.” [Sebasu]

“Isn’t that too big?” [Kanan]

The emperor scavenger slime is the combination of 10,000 slimes; its special trait is its overwhelming size. It’s a league bigger than the king variation, and even its nucleus has a diameter of 60 centimeters. Ryouma tried a lot of things, but despite all his effort, he couldn’t get the emperor scavenger slime smaller than a ball with a radius of 3m.

Moreover, today was a time to battle, so rather than make the slime small, Ryouma made it a little bigger. And because of that, it ended up filling the entrance. After the slime was finally able to get through, Ryouma appeared.

<<Participant Takebayashi has entered the stage! If you don’t think you can see him, look above the giant slime! That man riding is none other than Participant Takebayashi!!>>

Ryouma had ordered the slime to take care not to crush the official that signaled for him to enter, so Ryouma only went up after confirming the official’s safety. As for why he’s riding the slime, there’s not much reason behind it. He just thought it’d look good, so that’s what he did.

After entering, Ryouma ordered his slime, and the slime immediately depressed the part Ryouma was sitting on, throwing Ryouma high up through its elasticity. It was as if Ryouma had jumped on a trampoline. All eyes gathered on Ryouma. Some imagined Ryouma falling, giving rise to voices of shock and surprise, but–

“‘Telekinesis’” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma was falling, he casted ‘Telekinesis’ on himself to soften the fall, and he landed safely without even a sound.

<<What a gaudy entrance!>>

<<A spectacular landing that took advantage of the neutral magic ‘Telekinesis’. This seems to be the same technique taught by the dragon guild to its members to ensure safe descent when falling while in midflight. But putting that aside, what’s really worthy of attention is that giant slime. According to information we’ve just received, this slime is apparently known as the Emperor Scavenger Slime; a new variation.>>

<<A new variation! Another unusual sight! What kind of slime is it?>>

<<Unfortunately, I’m not privy to the details. After all, it is a new variation… However, as a magical beast its rank should be anywhere from C to B.>>

A normal slime is G Rank, a big slime is F, and a huge slime is E. Each size change increases their rank, so a king slime is D. Naturally, the 10,000 slime, emperor slime, despite not having been discovered before yet, would be a C Rank. If the slime is a higher type, then it would go up by another rank. No matter how favorable one ranks the slime, it would still stay within the B Rank, so it won’t go past the tournament limits.

<<So that’s how it is. Still, Participant Ryouma sure has brought out another interesting one, huh. I wonder just how exactly he is able to acquire all these.>>

<<As far as I know, he is the only one who’s been able to gather these many slimes. For him to go this far, I wonder just what exactly his purpose is. According to talks around town, Participant Takebayashi apparently has a cannonball rhino; a powerful B Ranked magical beast. Yet he has won all this time without relying on that cannonball rhino once.>>

The two commentators were filled with a mix of admiration and astonishment while Ryouma felt a bit shy as he quietly caressed his emperor scavenger slime’s big body.

This is off topic, but before Ryouma got 10,000 scavengers, he actually wondered whether to call the next slime after king, god. But because of the strong faith of the people of this world, a problem might occur if he were to do so, so the gods stopped Ryouma. Naturally, after finding out the possible repercussions, Ryouma thanked the gods.

Going back to the topic.

Ryouma and Matthew sent their respective slave demons forward. Matthew positioned his river crab right in front of him, beside which, he then positioned the 11 river raptors. After he finished positioning them, he looked up, and glared at Ryouma’s emperor scavenger slime as well as Ryouma who was hidden behind and had his eyes closed

The reason Ryouma’s eyes were closed was because the emperor scavenger slime was too big. Ryouma couldn’t see in front of him, so he decided to abandon his sight and just rely on his Magic Perception to ascertain the enemy’s position.

<<The two participants are ready. It feels like it’s been so long, but not much time has actually passed. Now, for the final match of this tournament… to whom will the goddess of victory smile? Final Match, start!!!>>

Immediately, the group of river raptors split into two groups of six and five as they surrounded the emperor scavenger slime. The river raptors ran in two circles, one inner that ran clockwise and another outer than ran counterclockwise. The river raptors ran like that without stopping once.

<<Looks like they’re already using it. This is the method a group of river raptors would use when hunting a single large prey. They surround their prey, confuse their eyes, and then attack from behind. River Raptors possess explosive leg strength which come from their activities underwater. When this method is coupled with that leg strength of theirs, even adventurers have no choice but to be beaten to death.>>

<<Frightening! What frightening power! But… doesn’t it seem like the river raptors are at a loss?>>

The river raptors are running around the slime, but they’re not attacking. As for Ryouma and the slime, they’re just waiting for the opponent to make a move. The scavengers’ fighting style focuses on the use throwing techniques, so it’s easier for it to fight when the aggressor is the enemy.

<<Aren’t the river raptors just being cautious? It might only be a slime, but it’s managed to get to the finals, so it must be strong. Moreover, the slime is also bigger, and it’s also a new variation, so there’re currently no information available regarding it. It wouldn’t be strange at all for Participant Matthew to send out an order like that.>>

<<So that’s how it is. And here I thought the river raptors were at a loss at what to do.>>

At the host’s joking words, laughter filled the arena. While commentator and spectators alike were laughing, the battle between the river raptors and the slime continued.