The Mighty Little Blue

Even though the tavern was in a remote location, it was quite crowded inside.

At first glance, it looked no different from any ordinary tavern... The rough-hewn wooden hall was packed with all sorts of adventurers and travelers, the air thick with the rich aroma of ale and the tempting smell of sizzling meat.

In the center of the hall, a large space had been cleared, where a platform about half a man's height had been built. It wasn’t very big—maybe seven or eight square meters.

Right now, two slimes were hopping around on the stage, dodging nimbly and slamming into each other.

The rules were simple: the first one knocked off the platform or rendered unable to move lost.

A crowd surrounded the stage, occasionally bursting into cheers or sighs of frustration—clearly, they had placed bets on the slimes.

Three beautiful girls caught many people's attention as soon as they walked in, and before long, a few young men who fancied themselves charming gathered around.

"Scram," Luo Lun said bluntly, driving them off with just a glare.

As the leader of the Blood Alliance's assassins, Luo Lun's killing intent was the real deal. Those clueless guys who wanted to hit on them suddenly felt a spine-chilling coldness and slunk away without even daring to say a word.

Liyana looked around, then, with a smile, held Little Lan in her arms and struck up a conversation with a tall, burly man with a thick beard near the stage.

A moment later, Liyana returned to Mo Lini and Luo Lun.

"I've already signed Little Lan up," Liyana said smugly. "It'll be its turn to fight soon enough."

"I told him to give Little Lan the toughest opponent!" she added proudly. "This will be Little Lan's breakout match."

"Bo bo bo—" Little Lan bounced on Liyana's shoulder, looking incredibly confident.

"Ha..." Mo Lini and Liyana exchanged a glance, as if they could see each other's doubt and a hint of worry.

Neither of them was sure what would happen when they left things to Liyana.

...

The match Liyana had arranged for Little Lan started soon.

A clear bell rang out over the stage.

"Next up: the slime 'Little Lan,' owned by the elf lady Liyana, versus Mr. Anri's 'Juggernaut'!" the announcer declared loudly.

"Is that really a slime?"

Luo Lun pointed at the slime on the other side.

"Uh..." Mo Lini hesitated. "I think so?"

Normal slimes, like Little Lan, were only about the size of a ball... But this opponent of Little Lan's was practically as big as a water tank.

"Roooaar—" the giant slime across from them let out a strange roar.

"That thing's even changed its sounds!" Liyana shouted while pointing at the massive blob. "That's not a slime, is it? Can slimes even get that big?"

"Heh, my Juggernaut eats over a dozen magic stones every day!" The slime's owner was a potbellied, middle-aged man with a pair of curled mustaches—fitting well with his slime's image.

In his eyes, this match was just a formality: "Go, Juggernaut! I didn't expect our opponent this time to be such a little thing... Squish it into a slime pancake!"

"No suspense in this match, right?"

"That tiny thing can't possibly win with that size difference."

"I bet ten gold coins on Juggernaut—basically free money."

The audience whispered among themselves, with hardly anyone favoring Little Lan.

"Did anyone bet on that little thing? If it pulls off an upset, that'd be a big win," someone joked.

"Hah, how could it? Say, why don't you place the bet yourself then?"

"Whoever wants to can go ahead—count me out."

"I'll bet!" Liyana raised her hand indignantly, slapping a bag of gold coins on the table. "Little Lan can definitely win!"

The tavern erupted into chatter. The people around exchanged glances before breaking into a roar of laughter.

"There's really a fool that dumb..."

"How can it fight with such a huge gap? Miss elf, use your head... Isn't that just throwing money away?"

"That Juggernaut is Mr. Anri's most prized slime—in Oligondo, no other slime can beat it..."

"I believe in Little Lan!" Liyana retorted, looking defiant.

Of course, deep down, Liyana was already overjoyed.

Only they truly knew Little Lan's real strength.

On the stage, the giant slime, after a brief moment of gathering its strength, charged at Little Lan, using its massive bulk to barrel forward.

Of course, being a slime, it didn't have much brain—it only knew this simplest, crudest way of attacking.

"Bo bo bo—"

Little Lan showed no fear. It nimbly dodged, easily evading the attack.

For a while, Little Lan was hopping all over the stage, taking no damage at all, while Juggernaut almost tumbled off the platform from the momentum, drawing gasps from the crowd.

The audience below watched in amazement.

"This little guy's got skills."

"It's pretty good at dodging—we underestimated it."

But someone retorted: "Dodging alone won't matter. With Juggernaut's size, even if it just stays put, that tiny thing couldn't budge it, right? Only hiding won't win the match."

As if understanding what the audience was saying, Little Lan unveiled its own weapon.

Suddenly, Little Lan stopped in the middle of the stage and shrank slightly. To everyone's surprise, a slender blue tendril slowly extended from its body, gradually forming a tiny sword shape.

The small blue appendage swung a few times, as if flourishing it in a sword move.

Seeing this, the audience laughed even harder: "What is that thing?"

"This slime is so funny... Does it know how to use a sword?"

"A slime that knows swordsmanship—never seen that before... Hahaha..."

The tiny sword looked like a toothpick next to Juggernaut.

Juggernaut charged, and from Little Lan's perspective, it was like a wall falling over.

Little Lan raised the sword above its head seriously, then delivered an incredibly precise downward slash.

"Bo!"

Boom—

A powerful gust of sword wind roared out. Juggernaut's massive body was sent flying off the stage, crashing heavily into a table and overturning it.

The tavern fell into dead silence. Everyone froze, staring dumbstruck at the little figure slowly retracting its sword-like tendril on the stage.

"What did that slime just do?" someone murmured.

"I... I don't know?"

"So... did it win?"

Everyone's understanding was thoroughly turned upside down by that unremarkable blue slime.

In the deafening silence, Liyana burst into cheers.

"Haha! We're rich!"