Maximum Intimidation Knight In a World Full of Mages-Chapter 20 : Observe the symmetry!

I soon found out why.
[STATUS EFFECT: Slime Resonance — Active]
Effect: -50% Damage Taken
Duration: 30 minutes
Note: Some consumables might give you Status Effects.
I blinked inside my helmet.
WHAT?
The vile, metallic-vinegar nightmare I had just gulped—the stupid
nutrient broth for cultivating slime
—had accidentally triggered this thing called
Slime Resonance
. A system-side quirk, probably a weird interaction with the Slime King or something akin to in.
I could barely breathe without laughing. This was
crazy
. I could’ve drunk this disgusting, tongue-numbing sludge at any point BEFORE the fight and been partially protected this whole time. Now I would have to go through three minutes of agony, or possibly even worse.
The pseudopod whipped toward me again, lazy, ungainly, yet still terrifying. I could feel the rhythm of the attack in my bones. I knew exactly where it would land. I
knew
it.
And I almost didn’t make it.
I rolled, barely sliding past the slime’s projectile just as it spattered against the cavern wall. The vile, vinegar nightmare still sloshed in my stomach. My arms shook.
I was fuming. I was furious. I should’ve drunk slime juice earlier! Why didn’t I know to drink slime juice earlier?
I didn’t try to rely on reflex; my DEX was a liability right now. I needed leverage, cover, space.
I stared at a boulder protruding close enough to me and pre-emptively rolled behind it. The next pseudopod swung. It slammed into the stone with a reverberating squelch, spraying acidic droplets across the walls.
“Behold!” I shouted through Ceralis’ booming voice. “The sacred application of environmental advantage! Observe the teaching of positioning!” Then I realized Ceralis didn’t change any of my words.
Finally, a moment to breathe. I pressed my back against the boulder, chest heaving. A good parry and I could reduce the next hit to three. I could just eat it then land a clean strike at its weak point. Risk acceptable . . .
Except no. The Slimebane cooldown was thirty seconds. If I take damage again within that next thirty seconds because I couldn’t retreat in time, I very much can get slain by a slime.
The Slime King lumbered around the boulder, stretching its pseudopods in every direction to catch me. The monster’s slow, sloppy movements created a predictable pattern. I slid around the boulder in a careful arc, hiding and peeking, letting the slime follow me in a lazy circle. It moved left; I moved left around the boulder. The slime’s bulk groped blindly, sliding past me with an almost comical lack of grace.
“And what is this lesson about, Ser?” Anabeth called out.
I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to groan. I couldn’t handle another sloppy pseudopod hit, not when one mistake might be my last. The problem: I needed a distraction.
Hold on. I’m too fatigued for Ceralis to twist my words again. Maybe I could convince her to . . .
And dragging Anabeth fully into the slime’s path was unthinkable. Chivalry had a line, and I had no desire to cross it.
But a little . . . persuasion? That I could manage.
“Lady Anabeth!” I called, forcing my voice to sound confident, even jovial. “Might I request your esteemed attention for a brief inspection?”
“Come again?” She asked.
“You see,” I continued, voice strained but smooth, “I have discovered a peculiar anomaly in the creature’s spatial patterning. Its adherence to geometry is fascinating! Truly, a marvel! But I am but a humble knight—my eyes are limited by perspective alone. Surely a scholar of your stature would notice subtleties I cannot?”
I peeked out and immediately almost got hit by a spit, forcing me to roll back behind the boulder. It missed me by a hair again.
“Yes! Observe from this—uh—scholarly vantage point!” I shouted, pitching my voice with the grandeur of a man narrating a tragedy while performing acrobatics. “Step closer, Lady Anabeth! One step! Just one! Your perspective is critical to fully appreciate the geometric intricacies of the Slime King’s pseudopodal distribution!”
I knew she would obey curiosity and training instinct. Scholars, after all, couldn’t resist a chance to observe the mechanics of a phenomenon up close, especially when a knight made such an impassioned plea. My voice trembled only slightly, but enough to make it sound urgent, academic, and very much a matter of her pride.
The Slime King slowed. Anabeth had probably stepped forward and caused the creature to be momentarily distracted. Perfect.
I waited, counting the microbeats between the Slime King’s sloppy pseudopods. The moment stretched, a thin ribbon of time where its attention wavered toward Anabeth.
Now.
I pushed off the boulder, hurling myself into motion. “Observe!” I shouted, voice echoing through Ceralis’ amplification, “the extraordinary curvature of the pseudopodal arcs! Note how the distal segment follows a parabolic sweep before decelerating! The distribution is not random, but astonishingly geometric!”
The tip of my blade found the weak point, and I drove it home.
[-40 HP]
Cavernous King Slime’s HP: 28/250
“Yes!” I gasped through the helm, heart pounding. “Behold! The intersection of calculus and combat! Observe the symmetry!”
I was already bracing to retreat, to let the Slimebane cooldown run, when I heard her delighted voice, “You were right, Ser! Its distal segment really does decelerate as it arcs! And the spacing . . . it’s almost precise!”
She was actually . . . nerding out. About slime pseudopods.
“Math was a compulsory subject in the Knighthood!” I said. “Just before
Chivalric Conduct and Combat Geometry
. Truly rigorous.”
The Slime King’s massive pseudopod swung toward her as we talked.
No!
I was supposed to protect her, not watch the creature close in like she was bait.
But then, with a calmness that made my blood churn with admiration and irritation in equal measure, she extended a hand. A small, floating stone bulwark sprang into existence before her, and the pseudopod slammed against it and rebounded effortlessly. She shifted, barely breaking her stride, and the bulwark followed her motion like it had a mind of its own. Her breathing was steady and unshaken.
I gaped, momentarily frozen. Her eyes sparkled behind the helm, and she gestured with a delicate sweep of her hand. “Notice the angle of the strike—ah! Its center of mass shifts ever so slightly as—”
The Slime King wobbled, indignant and unbalanced, creating loud sloshing noises.
Anabeth frowned. She conjured a stone out of thin air—this one with jagged edges—and lobbed it at the slime.
[-16 HP]
Cavernous King Slime’s HP: 12/250
“Really! Such rude behavior,” she said, sounding scandalized. “Talking while I’m talking. How disrespectful! Anyway, I do wish I could study more closely how its viscosity adapts under stress. Look at that recoil!”
Did she just deal 16 HP while throwing a rock at the slime?
The cooldown on Slimebane had finally ticked down. I rolled forward while the creature was still distracted. Then I struck, not bothering to aim for the weak point this time. My blade connected cleanly, slicing through its gelatinous bulk.
[-12 HP]
Cavernous King Slime’s HP: 0/250
The acrid, metallic-vinegar scent filled the air as the creature shuddered, gurgled, and then collapsed into a massive, quivering puddle across the cavern floor.
I got it! At exactly 0, no less! This was all part of the plan!
The slime puddle quivered violently, then with a wet, sloppy
plop
, a glob of the acidic ooze splashed up and hit me square in the ankle.
[-1 HP]
HP: 10/55
This too was a part of the plan.