My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger

Liam clenched his fists inside the energy cell.

From there, he could observe the entire battlefield.

The gigantic worm had submerged beneath the sea of sand again after destroying Don Rouch’s golden spear. Millie had retreated several meters, while Amber and the rest of the melee hunters prepared for the next attack.

Evan and the other ranged hunters were still suspended above Wayne’s energy platforms.

But there was something that kept bothering Liam.

The eyes. There were too many of them.

Every time a hunter attacked, several of the monster’s eyes turned in their direction.

When Millie used her Taunt, the eyes watched her movements.

When Evan fired an arrow, other eyes followed its trajectory.

And whenever Wayne moved a platform, Liam could see some of the worm’s eyes shift toward it.

’It’s watching.’

The sea of sand trembled again.

Liam narrowed his eyes as he noticed a small elevation several meters away from Amber.

"Amber, move!"

Amber reacted immediately. She jumped to the side just as the worm’s jaws emerged from beneath the sand.

BOOOOM!

A huge amount of sand shot into the sky.

Amber narrowly avoided the fangs.

Liam watched the monster.

It hadn’t attacked where Amber was.

It had attacked where she had been a few seconds earlier.

’That wasn’t a coincidence.’

The worm closed its jaws and submerged again.

Liam stepped closer to the walls of his cell.

"Sub-Captain Wayne!"

The sub-captain turned his head.

"What?"

"That monster is learning!"

Wayne frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"It’s watching our positions! Its eyes aren’t just for seeing. It’s memorizing our patterns!"

Wayne didn’t respond.

Liam continued speaking rapidly.

"First, it ignored Millie’s Taunt. Then it destroyed Don Rouch’s spear. And now it attacked exactly where Amber was before she moved."

Amber heard that and looked toward Liam.

"Are you saying it’s predicting our movements?"

"Yes!"

Liam pointed toward the energy platforms.

"And it’s learning from them too!"

Wayne looked at his own platforms.

"My platforms?"

"All the ranged hunters are attacking from practically fixed positions! The boss can see them from any angle thanks to all those eyes!"

Evan’s eyes widened.

"Now that you mention it..."

An arrow grazed one of the monster’s eyes.

The worm immediately turned.

Not toward Evan, but toward the platform.

"It’s watching where I am."

Liam smiled.

"Exactly."

Wayne remained silent for a few seconds before raising a hand.

The energy platforms disappeared.

"All ranged hunters, get ready!"

Evan and the others were startled.

A new platform appeared behind Don Rouch. Then another above Amber, another to the left, and another much higher up.

Their positions began changing constantly.

Wayne moved the platforms over and over, preventing the hunters from remaining in the same place for too long.

"Now!"

The ranged hunters fired. A rain of arrows and projectiles descended from completely different positions.

The worm emerged from the sea of sand.

Its eyes moved rapidly.

It seemed to be searching for the hunters.

But this time, it couldn’t find a pattern.

The monster tried to attack Evan, but the platform disappeared, and Evan appeared ten meters higher.

The fangs pierced through empty space.

"It worked!"

Evan shouted.

Don Rouch smiled.

"The rookie was right."

Wayne didn’t respond, but his gaze toward Liam had changed slightly.

He no longer seemed to be looking at a simple rookie.

Liam smiled.

’I knew it.’

"Wayne!"

"What?"

"Now let me out!"

Wayne looked at him.

"What can you contribute?"

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"I already told you."

He looked down, where a small green gelatinous mass was moving across the sand.

"Lydia."

The small slime raised one of her tentacles.

Wayne narrowed his eyes.

"Her?"

Liam nodded.

"She can change the battlefield."

Wayne watched Lydia for several seconds.

Finally, he closed his fingers, and the cell disappeared.

"Fine."

Liam blinked.

"Seriously?"

"You have a few minutes."

Wayne looked back toward the worm.

"Prove that you can actually help."

Liam smiled.

"I will."

He jumped from the platform.

Lydia immediately stretched out and caught his legs before he could fall too quickly.

"Thanks."

[Lydia: See? I’m very useful, honey.]

Liam laughed.

"I know."

Lydia returned to her small gelatinous form and began to split.

Six small green masses appeared across the sand.

Wayne watched in surprise.

"She can do that?"

"And that’s not all."

Liam looked at the small slimes.

"Now we’re going to find out how far we can take it."

The six Lydias began moving in different directions.

One approached Amber.

Another went toward Don Rouch.

Another moved toward an empty area.

The others spread out around the battlefield.

Liam began receiving small indicators in his vision.

[Slime 1]

[Slime 2]

[Slime 3]

[Slime 4]

[Slime 5]

[Slime 6]

Each indicator showed the position of one of the copies.

Liam smiled.

’This could work.’

Although Lydia didn’t have eyes of her own, she was still connected to him.

And Liam could observe.

That meant he could use her copies as lookout points.

A small tremor appeared beneath one of them.

Liam saw it. A tiny elevation moved across the sand.

Then he received a message.

[Lydia: Honey, something is coming from the left.]

Liam immediately turned.

"Don Rouch!"

The jeweler looked toward him.

"What is it?"

"To your left!"

Don Rouch didn’t hesitate and jumped.

A second later, the worm emerged from beneath the sand right where he had been.

Its jaws snapped shut in midair.

Don Rouch landed on one of Wayne’s platforms.

"That was close."

Liam smiled.

"That wasn’t luck!"

Don Rouch looked at him.

"I know."

Wayne had also seen what happened.

His eyes turned toward the small slime on the sand.

"She detected it?"

"Yes."

The worm submerged again.

Liam watched the small ripples it left behind.

"Don’t spread out too far!"

The hunters began listening to him.

"When the sand rises slightly, it means it’s approaching! Don’t wait until you see it emerge!"

Millie raised her shield.

"And what should I do with my Taunt?"

Liam thought for a moment.

"Use it, but don’t use it twice from the same place!"

Millie smiled.

"Got it."

She jumped forward.

"HEY, WORM!"

The Taunt activated again, and the monster’s eyes turned toward her.

But this time, Millie immediately changed positions.

The worm emerged, but Millie was no longer there.

Don Rouch attacked from the opposite side with a new golden spear.

Amber appeared from above.

Evan fired from a platform Wayne had placed behind the monster.

The attacks struck almost simultaneously.

The worm shrieked, but several of its eyes shifted toward the new positions.

Liam noticed.

"It’s learning again."

Wayne looked toward him.

"Then what do we do?"

It was the first time Wayne had directly asked Liam what they should do.

Liam smiled.

"We keep changing."

The worm submerged again.

"Millie changes positions after every Taunt. The ranged hunters never fire twice from the same place. Amber and Don Rouch shouldn’t always attack together. And Wayne..."

Liam looked at the sub-captain.

"Move the platforms even when no one is attacking. Don’t let the boss figure out which positions are our real ones."

Wayne slowly nodded.

"Understood."

Liam felt a small surge of excitement in his chest.

’He’s listening to me.’

Not because he was stronger.

Not because he had a high rank.

Simply because he had proven that he could contribute something.

A new elevation appeared in the sand.

[Lydia: Honey.]

"Yes?"

[Lydia: Something is coming from behind you.]

Liam turned around.

"EVERYONE, DOWN!"

The hunters reacted.

The worm burst from the sand behind them, but this time, no one was caught off guard.

The attacks began raining down on it before it could close its jaws.

BOOM!

CLANG!

CRASH!

The monster recoiled, its countless eyes darting from side to side.

It looked confused.

Liam smiled.

The boss was learning, but so were they.

Wayne watched Liam from his platform.

His expression remained serious, but there was no longer any contempt in his eyes.

"This kid..."

Amber smiled when she saw him.

"I told you not to underestimate him."

Wayne lit another cigarette.

"I only said I’d give him a few minutes."

Amber laughed.

"And he’s already giving orders."

Wayne didn’t respond. He simply looked toward Liam.

"Let’s see how long this lasts."

Liam didn’t hear him.

He was too focused on watching the sea of sand.

A new ripple appeared.

Lydia sent another message.

[Lydia: Honey... I think it’s coming.]

Liam’s smile disappeared.

The sea of sand began rising in different places.

Liam tightened his grip on his pistol.

"Everyone, get ready!"

The battle was only just beginning.