Paladin of Shadows Chapter 9 (Patreon)

I discovered something about myself... I really didn't like fighting with this machete.

My fist covered in the hardened and knuckle-spiked slime of the Shadow Garden outfit smashed into a kobolds head. And as my fist punched four quarter-sized short holes into the kobolds head from my spikes.

I affirmed that feeling of not needing a cumbersome machete that got stuck in the bones and muscles of whatever I chopped it. Especially as I was quickly finding out that I preferred to use the Muay Thai that I learned in my previous life in conjunction with my healing skill and spell.

"Well. Delta and Zeta can teach you hand-to-hand combat I guess." Epsilon said with a wry smile seeing me flap my hands around to get the blood and gore off.

I smiled and then said with my face turning up in 'false' horror. "Oh... I think Delta will accidentally kill me, to be honest."

Epsilon's wry smile became plastic-like as she realized that it was an actual possibility but besides that she continued to advise me on using my newly found magical control in having used my healing spell to control the slime body suit I was wearing. "Now your slime body suit is super thin so you can't make weapons or anything beyond coating your hands like you are. Delta who does large conjurations and will make her weapons as slime weapons as dense and hard as possible can probably teach you better after Eta thickens your slime with more mass."

The blue-haired elf was good at teaching me the bare bones of controlling the slime body suit I was wearing as she obviously was the best out of everyone in Shadow Garden in controlling magical energy. As she was the only woman in Shadow Garden that didn't have a huge bust. And instead, she using her mastery of slime control basically created her own bust line to have the 'biggest' in Shadow Garden.

I nodded in understanding as I experimentally formed claws on my hand as I thought to myself. 'I much rather not get too attached to weapons I can't rely on... Danmachi has several skills and even development abilities that make unarmed combat more than viable so if I can just throw hands which will make me grow faster with my Falna than using some weapon like a sword or spear. Then I will become the Danmachi equilvalent of Baki or Tokito Ohma.'

The thought of pulling the crazy moves of Kengan Ashura in the dungeon though... That could be an entire style I could build myself around and could be done if I got the blessing of a war god or goddess!

"Alright! Let's keep going Epsilon, I want to deal with one more group before we head back." I spoke confidently with Epsilon nodding and following behind me skipping, no with her fake chest bouncing merrily with each step as she skipped beside me with joy.

A minute later as we turned down another hallway of the 2nd floor of the dungeon we were in, Epsilon asked me with some curiosity. "So Jake, you have a contract with Freya for a rejuvenation spell basically. Do you know what the next spell or skill you want?"

Before I could answer however, the walls of the dungeon loudly cracked with shards of rockery dropping to the ground as a small crowd of like ten goblins and kobolds broke through the walls with one of the kobolds having a darker color of fur than the other kobolds. 'An enhanced huh?' I thought.

I then spoke out. "Epsilon, please thin them out a bit. I want to fight that enhanced if thats-." But before I could speak the enhanced kobold rushed from the wall with only violence in its glowing red eyes.

Kobolds relied on two natural weapons they had in long curved claws and thick pointed canine teeth they had within their wolf heads. And as the enhanced kobold reached me I took a deep breath as I slapped aside it's rushed downward swipe of its clawed humanoid hands. And then with my hands covered in the thin yet hard slime of my body suit keeping my fingers together I tried to put a point in the hardened slime at my fingers.

And then I stabbed forward with the tips of my sharpened fingers acting like a spear as I stabbed my knife hand into the upper chest of the kobold.

'Fucking ribs.' I thought grimacing as my fingers hurt badly when my fingers barely pierced into the kobold's chest before I had to retreat from the other waving arms attempting to swat me across the face with its black claws.

And seeing the Kobold going for a debilitating wound like slashing me across the face I realized that sometimes I shouldn't go for immediately lethal wounds like trying to shove my hand through the Kobold's chest like I was aiming to. A hard lethal wound through force would put me in a bad position as a couple of gobins rushed towards me under under Epsilon's careful eye.

Reinforcing my hands more with my thin slime suit I swiped my hand across the goblin's face with my had that had it's fingers turned into knives and the goblins screamed as the sharp blades carved through their eyes as I quickly backpedaled and rolled out of the way as the enhanced Kobold tried to dive into me to get its teeth into my flesh.

I quickly got back to my feet and as the kobold came in for round 2 with another dive with its wide gaping maw reading to latch onto my flesh I kicked it the jaw with my boot-covered feet and as its head came up from my kick. I grabbed onto it by the back of the neck and then without any skill or finesse I just dropped down to the ground using all my weight to just smash the kobold head into the ground.

A harsh cracking noise rang out as I broke the kobold's jaw and as it writhed in pain, I finished it off by using my reinforced hand blades to rip the flesh from its neck making the kobolds dark blood splurt everywhere including over myself even as I tried to back up from the bloodspray.

"Good! The kobold was a bit weaker than you, but with its disregard for its own life it made a good opponent so that is a good last monster of the day Jake." Epsilon said happily for me succeeding in killing the monster without her needing to interfere besides making sure I wasn't overwhelmed by pure numbers.

I nodded with a smile crossing my face feeling some pride for killing an enhanced kobold with the only injury I had... It was something I only did to myself, but it was fine! I killed it without Epsilon doing anything like halfway crippling it or something.

"Let's head on home Epsilon. We need to reconvene with the rest and see what we have to work with in turns of funds." I spoke with Epsilon bouncing over and my lips twitched as she grabbed my arm and hugged it between her 'bountiful' breasts as she said happily.

"Then let us go. I imagine Alpha is probably getting annoyed with Delta going on a rampage in this dungeon filled with endless monsters anyway." She said happily with some obvious joy at how Alpha was having to deal with Delta being the overly happy murder puppy she was.