My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger

The group began descending the mountain at full speed.

Liam was at the front alongside Emily and Carol, while Chuck and Jordan followed a few meters behind. The two female hunters who had been rescued during the confrontation with Robert Hanks ran alongside the rest of the group, still somewhat confused by how quickly everything had changed.

From that height, they could see a large portion of the simulated dungeon.

The forest stretched out before them.

But it was no longer peaceful.

Explosions of different colors lit up the trees.

BOOM!

A column of smoke rose above the canopy.

Then came a roar so powerful that it made the ground beneath the mountain tremble slightly.

Liam narrowed his eyes.

A gigantic figure could be seen among the trees.

It was impossible to determine exactly what it was. They could barely make out an enormous silhouette towering above the forest.

Emily pointed toward another explosion.

"Look! The other aspirants are already ahead!"

Carol watched the flashes.

"Maybe that bastard Robert Hanks is there too."

Liam shook his head slightly.

"I don’t know."

Another explosion shook the forest.

"But if the others are already fighting the boss, we need to get there as quickly as possible."

Then he looked at his wife.

"Lydia, can you get us down there?"

The small green slime resting on his shoulder moved slightly.

[Lydia: Sure.]

Her body began to expand.

Within seconds, Lydia covered Liam and the rest of the group with her gelatinous body, forming a huge green sphere.

Some of the hunters barely had time to react.

"What is she doing?"

"Are we going to fall?!"

Liam barely managed to respond.

"Hold on to whatever you can."

The sphere began to roll.

And then...

It jumped off the edge of the mountain.

"AAAAAAAH!"

The screams mixed with laughter.

The sphere descended the slope at an absurd speed, bouncing off rocks and making enormous leaps across the terrain.

Chuck was laughing his head off.

"This is incredible!"

Jordan seemed to be enjoying it too.

"Again!"

Carol, on the other hand, had her eyes completely shut.

"I don’t understand how you two can enjoy this."

Chuck burst into another fit of laughter.

"Because it’s fun!"

"This is a horrible way to travel!"

Jordan laughed.

Liam had to hold on tightly as the sphere bounced again.

’I’m definitely going to have to talk to Lydia about finding a less dangerous way to travel.’

Still, when he looked around, he couldn’t help but smile.

His wife was doing everything she could to help them.

And that was enough.

◇◆◇

The sphere finally reached the foot of the mountain.

BOOOOM!

Lydia’s body completely absorbed the impact.

Everyone remained suspended inside the gelatinous mass for a moment before the sphere began returning to its normal shape.

Lydia immediately sent a message.

[Lydia: Is everyone okay?]

Liam looked around.

The hunters were scattered across the ground, some sitting while others lay flat on their backs.

Chuck gave a thumbs-up.

"I’m perfect."

Jordan was opening another bag of chips.

Carol looked at him incredulously.

"Something is definitely wrong with you."

Liam let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, we’re all fine."

Then he looked at Lydia.

"What about you?"

[Lydia: I can still hold on for the rest of the Selection.]

[Lydia: But changing forms and using so many abilities back-to-back is tiring me out a little.]

Liam frowned.

"Then return to your normal size."

[Lydia: Are you sure?]

"Yes. I don’t want you exhausting yourself now. There’s still a lot of the Selection left."

Lydia seemed to accept his words.

[Lydia: Okay.]

Her enormous body began to shrink.

The hunters were released one after another until Lydia finally returned to being a small green slime that settled onto Liam’s shoulder.

One of the hunters watched the process.

"Why didn’t she take us directly to the boss?"

Another nodded.

"Yeah. It would’ve been much faster."

Emily immediately turned her head.

"Hey."

The two men fell silent.

"Don’t be disrespectful. Lydia has already done enough by helping you down that mountain."

Emily pointed toward the forest.

"Now move. If we keep wasting time, the other groups are going to defeat the boss before we get there."

Liam raised a hand.

"Sorry."

The hunters looked at him.

"It’s not that Lydia doesn’t want to help us. I just don’t want her to exhaust herself right now."

Liam looked at the small slime on his shoulder.

"There’s still a lot of the Selection left, and we don’t know what’s waiting for us after this trial."

The hunter who had asked the question lowered his head.

"You’re right. I’m sorry."

Liam smiled.

"It’s fine."

Jordan cracked his knuckles.

"So, what are we waiting for?"

Chuck popped a bubble of gum.

"Let’s go."

The group began running directly toward the forest.

◇◆◇

The trees rushed past on both sides.

As they got closer, the sounds of battle grew louder.

Explosions.

Roars.

Impacts.

Screams.

Liam heard a scream coming from deeper within the forest.

"AAAAAH!"

Something enormous crashed through several trees.

A hunter was sent flying through the air and landed among the branches.

Emily gritted her teeth.

"Looks like it’s taking them down easily."

Another roar made the leaves tremble.

The group continued forward.

There were more and more signs of the battle.

Trees ripped from the ground.

Huge craters in the earth.

Shattered rocks.

Some hunters were lying defeated among the vegetation.

Others were running in the opposite direction.

"It’s too strong!"

"We can’t get close!"

"Stay away!"

Liam felt a chill.

’What kind of monster can do this to so many aspirants?’

Finally, they passed through one last line of trees and saw it.

A gigantic humanoid figure towered before them.

It was even larger than they had imagined from the mountain.

Its body easily stood several times the height of a man. Its skin was brown, rough, and cracked, with a texture reminiscent of the trunk of an ancient tree.

Its arms were enormous.

Its hands looked capable of crushing a person with ease.

And there was no hair on its head.

Instead, leaves grew from it.

Green, red, yellow, and orange leaves spread out like a massive natural crown.

Every movement of the giant made the ground tremble.

BOOM.

One of its legs slammed onto the ground.

Several hunters stepped backward.

Liam swallowed.

"Pix... can you identify what kind of boss that is?"

A message appeared before his eyes.

[Analyzing...]

Liam waited.

The message changed.

[The creature appears to possess characteristics corresponding to the level of an A-Rank dungeon boss.]

Liam’s eyes widened.

’’A-Rank...?’’

Another message appeared.

[However, I cannot determine its exact species.]

Liam looked at the giant again.

The creature slowly raised its head.

[Provisional Classification: "Ancient Forest Giant".]

’Ancient Forest Giant? Is this a joke?’