My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger

The clock struck ten.

Liam was sitting beside Lydia, Emily, and Chuck in one of the many rows of the enormous hall on the second basement level of the Ace of Spades headquarters.

The place looked like an amphitheater.

Hundreds of seats descended toward a huge stage, where a gigantic screen occupied practically the entire back wall. Several lights illuminated the platform while various guild employees finished preparing the last details.

And people were still arriving.

Liam looked toward the entrances of the hall.

Every few seconds, a new group of hunters appeared.

’How many of them are there?’

He had no idea, but what caught his attention the most wasn’t the number, but the variety.

There were young people who had probably only recently become hunters, as well as men and women who, judging by their appearances, seemed to have been around since the Great Awakening first took place in this world.

’How long have they been hunters?’

Liam looked at a completely gray-haired man sitting a few rows ahead.

Then at a young woman who looked to be just over twenty.

Then at another enormous man whose arm was covered in scars.

’How strong are they?’

The question kept repeating in his head.

They had spent the entire last month training.

They had completed several dungeons.

Lydia had evolved.

He had considerably improved his abilities.

But that didn’t mean they were special.

At least, he still didn’t know if they were.

Liam turned his head.

Lydia was sitting beside him, looking around the enormous hall.

Her expression was different from usual.

She looked intimidated.

Her eyes wandered across the rows of hunters, weapons, armor, and unfamiliar faces.

Liam knew her too well. He could tell she was nervous.

He reached out and placed a hand on her thigh.

Lydia lowered her gaze before looking at him.

Liam smiled.

"Don’t worry, darling. Everything is going to be fine."

Lydia remained silent for a moment.

Then she smiled.

"I know."

She took Liam’s hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

"Thank you."

Chuck, sitting on the other side of Emily, looked around with a smile.

"I see a lot of familiar faces."

Emily nodded.

"Me too."

The muscular woman raised a hand and discreetly pointed toward one of the sections of the amphitheater.

"See that man?"

Liam followed the direction of her finger.

A man who appeared to be in his forties was sitting alone. He had a long gray beard and an extremely serious expression. He seemed completely isolated from everyone else.

"That’s the famous mercenary hunter, Robert Hanks."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"You know him?"

"Not personally."

Emily crossed her arms.

"He’s a solo hunter. He makes a living charging Gold-rank hunters or lower from other guilds to accompany them on dungeon raids."

Chuck whistled.

"He must make pretty good money."

"Probably."

Emily looked at Hanks again.

"He uses the prestige of being an Emerald-rank hunter and belonging to the Ace of Spades to attract clients."

Liam looked at the man.

"Then why is he here?"

Emily shrugged.

"I imagine he wants to join a squad."

A voice behind them interrupted.

"This must be Mr. Hanks’ third consecutive year participating in the Squad Selection."

Chuck slowly turned his head.

A man sitting behind Emily was smiling calmly.

Chuck narrowed his eyes at him.

"Do you always butt into other people’s conversations?"

The man raised both hands.

"Sorry, sorry."

He smiled.

"I didn’t mean to bother you."

Emily looked at him.

"And who are you?"

"Roy Wheeler. Nice to meet you."

The man pointed at himself.

"I’m an Emerald-rank hunter from the Ouroboros Guild."

Liam and Lydia exchanged a glance.

Ouroboros.

The name alone was enough for both of them to immediately remember that conversation.

Margaret and the job offer.

Roy continued speaking.

"I’m here because I hope to earn a spot in the Ace of Spades."

Liam extended a hand.

"I’m Liam Davis. Nice to..."

"You must be Liam and Lydia Davis."

Liam stopped.

Roy smiled broadly.

"The rookies everyone’s been talking about."

Lydia blinked.

Roy then looked at Emily.

"And you’re Emily Green."

Emily raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?"

Roy pointed at her arms.

"Those muscles are pretty easy to recognize."

Emily burst out laughing.

"Good point."

Chuck looked at Roy.

"And how do you know who we are?"

Roy settled back into his seat.

"You could say I’m a great researcher when it comes to promising hunters."

Chuck frowned.

"Promising hunters?"

"Yes."

Roy nodded.

"I like learning about the abilities, histories, and achievements of those who could become big names."

Chuck crossed his arms.

"And did you come all the way here just to show off your fanboying over everyone else, or what?"

Roy let out a small laugh.

"I don’t mean to bother you."

Emily shook her head.

"Don’t mind him."

She pointed at Chuck.

"He’s just upset because you didn’t recognize him."

Chuck looked away.

"I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that."

Emily laughed.

Roy looked back at Liam and Lydia.

"I don’t know every hunter who’s here. Sorry about that. But if you want, I can tell you about the rest of the competition."

Liam felt slightly uncomfortable.

’The competition.’

He didn’t like the way that sounded.

He remembered James’ words.

’No matter how each hunter is evaluated individually, the goal is to become part of a squad.’

He also remembered what Amber had said.

This wasn’t a competition.

Liam shook his head.

"No need. I appreciate the offer."

Roy’s smile disappeared for just a moment.

"I understand."

Then he smiled again.

"I suppose you two have a pretty firm stance on that."

"Something like that."

Roy nodded.

"Fair enough."

Lydia watched Roy for a few seconds.

Then she communicated with Liam through the system chat.

[Lydia: Don’t you think it would be useful to know more about the others?]

Liam answered through his thoughts using his [Call] ability.

’Remember what James and Amber said.’

Lydia looked at him.

’This isn’t about competing.’

’Besides, there’s something about this guy I don’t like.’

Lydia lowered her gaze slightly.

[Lydia: Why?]

’I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.’

Liam looked at Roy again.

’He seems way too interested in everyone else.’

Lydia immediately replied.

[Lydia: Yeah. I don’t get good vibes from him either.]

Liam gave a slight nod.

Roy was still smiling.

It was a smile that was a little too friendly.

Before they could continue their conversation, the general murmur began to die down.

One after another, the hunters fell silent.

The stage lights changed.

The workers quickly left the platform.

Then a voice echoed through the speakers.

"Testing..."

The sound reverberated throughout the amphitheater.

"Testing..."

Everyone looked up.

A man stood in the center of the stage.

Dark suit.

Perfectly styled hair.

A microphone in one hand.

Liam immediately recognized him.

Wayne.

The Ace of Spades’ vice-captain looked out at the enormous audience.

"Good."

He paused briefly.

"Now it works."

Some of the hunters laughed.

Wayne remained serious.

"First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming."

His voice echoed clearly throughout the hall.

"I also want to apologize for the delay. We had a few issues with the organization, but we can finally begin."

Liam felt Lydia squeeze his hand.

The conference was about to begin.

Wayne looked toward the giant screen behind him.

"So, if everyone is ready..."

The lights in the hall partially went out.

The screen began to light up.

"...let’s talk about the Squad Selection."