Several Dwarves, who had just arrived in Elysium, were running away from the center of the Aspiration Plains.
They accidentally ventured too far while hunting horned rabbits and didn't notice that they had entered the territory of the Berserked Horned Rabbits, which were Rank 2 Monsters.
One of the Dwarves accidentally tripped over the ground while running away, making the Berserked Horned Rabbits lock onto his small body.
"No! Save me!" The Dwarf boy cried out in fear, but no one paid attention to him.
It was not that the other Dwarves didn't want to help him, but that there was nothing they could do. They were just beginners and they were already hard pressed fighting against Rank 1 Monsters, let alone Rank 2 Monsters, who were known for their speed and mobility.
The Dwarf boy watched in horror as one of the Berserked Horned Rabbits lunged at him with its sharp horn posed to impale his body.
He could only close his eyes and brace himself for the inevitable pain and death that would befall upon him shortly. However, it was at this moment when a metallic ring reached his ears.
When the Dwarf boy opened his eyes, he saw an adorable blonde Dwarf girl, colliding with the Horned Rabbit using her shield.
Time seemed to have stopped at that moment, as the boy looked at his savior with a flushed expression on his face.
"Smite!" Colette shouted as she smashed her mythical mace against the Berserked Horned Rabbit's body, making it take a few steps back.
Before the Dwarf boy could even thank his savior, Colette raised her mace and cried out to her teammates.
"Arrowhead Formation!" Colette ordered before charging at the enemies with Matty and Lux by her side.
There were Four Berserked Horned Rabbits, but the Goldenslayer Party was now more than capable of dealing with them after everything that they had been through.
"Diablo, take care of the fourth one," Lux ordered as he summoned his dependable Firstborn to battle.
Diablo appeared riding Airon, and the two Immediately entangled with the Berserked Horned Rabbit that was planning to attack the mages at the back of the formation.
Colette used her all-rounder abilities to fight the horned rabbit in front of her. Berserked Horned Rabbits were known for their bursts of speed, instead of their strength.
As long as they were stopped from gaining momentum when they started to sprint, their horned attacks were not much of a threat to the little Paladin whose mythical weapon, shield, and armor, could easily defend against its normal attacks.
Matty, on the other hand, was an expert in parrying. Now that he was wearing mythical armor, and wielding two mythical short swords, his counterattacks were deadlier than ever.
As for Lux… he was just like Colette, an all rounder. But, having a baby slime who was a battle junkie, who had no qualms firing a barrage of spells at her target in addition to copying her Papa's Doppelganger skill, was like a magical turret that spits random spells in a span of a few seconds, turning the Berserked Horned Rabbit in front of them into a punching bag.
Because of this, Andy, Axel, and Helen, focused on supporting Colette and Matty. Lux, Eiko, and Diablo obviously didn't need any support.
They even pitied the Berserked Horned Rabbits that were unlucky enough to be targeted by them.
"Eyah!" Eiko ordered Blackie and Whitey, making the Devil and Angel Slime use their combination attack called, Starfire Tempest, which allowed the two slimes to combine the power of Shadow and Holy into a single, concentrated beam of light.
A loud explosion ensued followed by a shriek of pain. A few seconds later the Berserked Horned Rabbit collapsed on the ground, with a charred, basketball-sized hole in its chest.
"Great job, Eiko."
"Pa!"
Lux then glanced at the others and found them almost finished with their respective targets as well. For the time being, the Half-Elf moved towards the Dwarf boy, whose eyes never left Colette.
The red-headed teenager didn't fail to notice the look of admiration in the boy's eyes which made him pray for his poor soul.
'Hah, Colette is such a sinful child,' Lux mused as he stared at the love-struck Dwarf boy who seemed to have fallen in love at first sight. 'It seems that Matty will have a lot of love rivals in the future. Colette is simply too good.'
Lux was looking forward to Matty's future hardships in trying to secure Colette's hand in marriage after their party moved to the Intermediate Town where Apostle Grade Solaians numbered in the thousands.
After all the Berserked Horned Rabbits had been dealt with, the party focused on collecting their Beast Cores, as well as storing the corpses inside their Enchanted Beast Rings.
Horned Rabbit Meat was a delicacy in Leaf Village, especially Rank 2 Horned Rabbits, fetching a good price in the market.
Lux didn't even need to bother taking the Beast Core of the Berserked Horned Rabbit that he had slain because his baby Slime would be the one who would deal with it. After the battle, Eiko jumped off his head and ordered Blackie and Whitey to retrieve the Beast Core from the Horned Rabbit's body, so that she could eat it.
Just as he expected, a series of notifications appeared in front of him after Eiko finished absorbing the Beast Core.
—--
Eiko has learned the skill Sprint
—--
Eiko activated the skill Mimicry [EX]!
– Target Lux Von Kaizer.
– Successfully copied Skill Evolution [EX]!
—--
< Skill Evolution [EX] detected a new Skill. >
Sprint will be upgraded into Mad Sprint once the requirements have been met.
< Mad Sprint >
– Increase speed by 100%
– Requirements to upgrade: Use Sprint 20x
– Progress ( 0 / 20 )
—--
Half a minute later, Lux chuckled as he watched his baby Slime run all over the place using her Sprint Skill, followed by Blackie and Whitey as if they were playing tag.
—--
"Are you alright?" Colette asked the Dwarf boy who had fallen on the ground with a smile on her face, making the poor Dwarf have a nosebleed.
"Y-Yes, I am fine," the Dwarf Boy replied as he tried to reach out for Colette's outstretched hand.
However, before he could even touch the rugged hands of his savior, a much rougher hand grabbed him and pulled him off the ground.
"Hi, my name is Matty," Matty said. "I am Colette's future fiance. Nice to meet you," Matty added in an intimidating tone, which made the Dwarf look at Colette with a heartbroken gaze.
Surprisingly, Colette didn't correct Matty's words because she didn't want to entangle herself with a stranger that she had just saved. It would be better to turn a blind eye to Matty's declaration than deal with a Dwarf who was looking at her with puppy eyes.
This was not the first time that this had happened, so she was already used to it.
As the Dwarf boy looked at Colette every ten steps he took away from her, Matty got annoyed so he used his body to block the Dwarf boy's vision, making the latter pout.
Lux just watched this funny scene with his arms crossed over his chest. He could already tell that in a few more years, Colette would grow up to become a very beautiful young lady, which would gather many suitors.
As for whether Matty would be able to win her heart or not, even Lux didn't know. All he wanted for his friends was to find happiness in life.
"Well then, let's go hunt a Carbuncle!" Colette declared as she summoned her Warg Mount.
After their night of celebration, the Dwarf children decided to stay for three more days before leaving for Intermediate Town.
Lux's promise had eased Colette's and the others' hearts, which made them look forward to seeing him again when he traveled to the Intermediate Towns, where they could once again continue their journey together.
