The Slime

When Otto surveyed the area he was sure he had seen more than a few people, the surprisingly large group that wasn't all completely one party just disappeared. There weren't any people alongside the road and the massive amount of blue dots had disappeared with only two left.

He wasn't sure where the two were as he couldn't see anyone on the lake. Upon inspecting the actual lake he concluded that there was nobody under the lake either, leaving him to question where the two people were.

"Are you looking for the two people stuck under the lake?" Ater asked him, "The lake is a slime, depending on what the slime eats, it could have anything between an illusion property to a property that makes them look like a brick. They're slimes, Otto."

Otto didn't bother to respond before he lifted some remainder of the slime on land. It looked like normal jelly if not for a small inconspicuous twitching near the edges of it.

"How are slimes made?" Otto asked, "They look like jelly." Ater made a disgusted noise as he accidentally stepped on one. They were clear, much like the water, with a slight bluish greenish tint to it. The slime didn't seem to be connected to the whole body in any way, "Ater?"

"They're made from mana, a byproduct of over-exhaustion of mana," Ater explained, "Mana is like air, or rather it's weaved into it. When someone like Hai-rong casts a spell, or when you blast a bullet, you leave behind raw mana particles."

"Raw mana isn't the same as mana that has been weaved into the air and hence they can't mix. They don't become a compound. Raw mana resides near the ground as it's slightly heavier and so eventually it'll join together and become a slime. If there are enough slimes, they can become huge slime. And so on."

"That is interesting," Adrian said, "So, this slime comes from Otto and Hai-rong using too much ma-na?" Ater nodded, "So what happens when slime dies?" Ater shrugged.

"Slimes die and the mana becomes broken into small enough pieces that it can assimilate itself into the air," Ater continued to explain, "Most people don't have a rooted mana source, unlike all players. This includes some monsters and animals. They have to borrow from mana in the air and transfer it into raw mana, for humans from this place, it means mana potions, mana enriched food, and mana rituals. Some animals can make mana on their own."

"So whenever we use spells, we release mana? Then what if everyone just didn't use mana?" Hai-rong asked, "If we all use mana, won't it just make raw mana and cause an increase in monsters?" Ater nodded.

"Monster hunting is profitable, someone could possibly make millions of Den'gi just from hunting a decade of slimes. And slimes are usually easy to defeat," Ater explains, "Den'gi the standard money we use, most people just call it gold though. Because it looks like gold, but it isn't really gold."

"So Den'gi is the currency here?" Otto replied, "Then what about the army, I'm sure soldiers are strong? Why don't they start killing slimes and stuff if it's so profitable? Wouldn't it make more sense?" Ater laughed at Otto's response before he padded the lake, it shivered a little bit in response.

"Because, soldiers aren't that strong, they're usually normal people who have gone through training - Which doesn't increase levels. Usually, the max level a soldier from working in a group is around 10, and it's important to not forget that they are really weak, with only 100 strength at first," Ater muttered the last bit, "Really fucking weak."

"Then, say, if someone is strong enough to kill monsters," Otto began, "Then would they kill monsters for a living? What if there are monsters that attack people?" Ater shook his head and ignored Otto, "Hey, Ater... Seriously, answer us. You're our guide, our helper, the only person who knows anything."

"Then the point of being lazy is to not say anything and I am lazy," Ater replied sluggishly, "We've been walking around this lake for long enough. Where's the person you were trying to find?" Otto glanced at the clear lake, the two blue dots were right in the middle of it, but he couldn't see anything through the slime.

"I think they might be in the slime," Hai-rong said, "Right, Otto? That's why you didn't say anything, you were trying to figure out if there was some way to go into the water," Otto nodded and before throwing a rock at the still lake, it fell like a rock in the water.

If not for the slight bend of light off that made the lake look more spherical than it should be, "If someone's inside the slime and is still alive, they must have strong skill. You were aiming for the skill, right?"

"Yeah," Otto continued to stare at where the blue dot was resting, "They must have some skill to combat whatever environment they're in. It'd be useful, also there are two people alive. I'm not sure how, but I'd rather not have someone else die." The lake was shimmering, not too unlike water, but still bizarre. A hand stuck itself out of the water and suddenly time seemed to stop.

"H-Hilfe!" A small, childish voice rang, "H-H-Hilfe!" A small hand stuck out of slime water as the area around it froze. Everyone turned to it and Hai-rong immediately blew freezing air over the area around the opening, creating a small path from the lake bank to the small hole that was made.

The slime immediately tried to cling to it, slowly melting it with warmer water from its core, but Hai-rong kept pushing freezing air onto the parts that were melting, making sure to avoid the entire area. Ater immediately ran across the bridge as Otto shot larger globs of slime that could interfere.

The globs were light blue and would climb onto the bridge, only to be knocked off by Otto or frozen by Hai-rong. It tried to aim for Otto and Hai-rong, but Adrian ran forward to slice through it.

A particularly large wave of slime started to form as it tried to wrap itself around the bridge, attempting to melt it. Hai-rong's arms were starting to shake as the tips of her fingers started feeling cold, the cold air reaching nearly everywhere.

[Langsam Slime

Level 5

HP: 5000

MP: 1000

S: 200

AG: 550

DEX: 950

RR: 150HP/sec

Skills: Condensation, Temperature control, Straw, Partial Possession, Mimicry]

Otto could see the slime and its stats, he knew that they could defeat it, but not in everyone's current state, it wasn't strong when it came to long-distance attacks. They needed a strong defence and more long-distance fighters.

"There are two people here!" Ater yelled as he pulled up someone with dark skin and what looked like bleached hair. He stepped out of the cavern he made and ran over to Adrian. Someone else with brown hair and brown eyes was pulled out, barely able to move around as Ater helped them quickly hobble across.

[Player #1012: Ade Schwartz

Level 1

HP: 1000/1500

M: 100/900

S: 200

AG: 300

DEX: 250

RR: 150HP/min

Skills: Snezhnyy Prizrak, Scatter, Index, Call, Restart

Class: Summoner]

Otto read as he glanced over at the younger person, who looks too young. His hair eventually returned back to a brownish tone as he flopped down on the ground in exhaustion. He burbled some language that sounded suspiciously like German as the other person shivered.

The other one, an older man who looked about in his thirties seemed to die at every step. He was thin, concerningly and he looked to be starving.

"It's mana exhaustion," Hai-rong said, "He's probably used it all up. I started to feel dizzy and sick as I ran low. I'm still dizzy." Hai-rong's mana had somewhat replenished itself, but it was getting depleted again, her voice wavering.

Ater set the other on the ground and glanced at the slime, frowning before he turned back into a cat.

"Danke," The boy said, his voice never really reaching anyone. He walked around to Ater and stayed near him. He wasn't small for someone who seemed ten, but he didn't seem old enough to commit a crime either. Although there was the possibility of, no one was willing to bet anything on it.

"How did kid come? Only criminal come here," Adrian asked out loud, "It is... strange, ciudat*." Ade stood up and shook hands with Ater and Otto as he walked over to the other man, whose eyes were drooping down. He didn't seem to be any more awake. Hai-rong knew that they all needed supplies by that point.

"Die roten Blumen, die wir bekommen mussten. Nehmen Sie sie. Du wirst sie brauchen.*" The boy said in German, "Es gibt genug fur zehn Personen,*" The boy stayed near Ater, who immediately stiffened as he walked around.

It was similar to having a dog follow a literal cat, with Ater trying to avoid him at all costs. His hair eventually faded back into a dark colour, but his steps left a trail of frost behind them.

"A-rigato," The tired older man said as he looked over at Ade. He had eyes that looked dreary, a small nose and a thin mouth. His hair was messy and brown, with some tufts sticking out. Eyebags under his eyes as he pursed his mouth, making it even thinner.

He was by no means ugly, but he was not handsome nor pretty either. There wasn't anything that was too distinctive about him, just that he squinted sometimes and seemed unwilling to talk

"... " Hai-rong relaxed her arms and walked over to the man and in somewhat accented Chinese she said, "Ni hao." Ater laughed and helped the man up, as Otto jogged over to help.

His legs were wobbly and as he stood, he towered over Otto and Ater. Ater was slightly taller than Otto, with the Japanese man being the tallest. He walked a few steps before moving his hands to usher Ater and Otto away. He was just tired.

"Watashi no namae wa Takahashi Hiro desu*," Hiro frowned, "Takahashi Hiro." No one understood him, but they got his name, most likely. Otto was staring at him, while Ater was trying to swipe off Ade, with Hai-rong and Adrian sort of drifting across to the side. He wasn't completely sure where he was either, but upon looking at the cliff behind he became confused.

"He's speaking Japanese, Hai-rong," Otto said, "Chinese won't help. Ater can talk to him, we should get to the village before night. I'm not sure what these two are saying, but Ater is officially our translator." Ade gripped Ater's sleeve and tugged on it as he drew Ater's attention, he opened his inventory, which led to a couple of red flowers spilling out.

[Rode Kamelier - A red flower that can be lighted using raw mana. Usually found near cliffs]

"It's a rod camel-er," Otto tried to pronounce, "It's like a torch, but magical. I think they might be apart of some quest. If they weren't, I doubt whoever was here would go at such lengths to collect things." Hiro made a small 'ah' sound as he opened his inventory and brought out even more. Otto counted and found nearly 80 flowers in total, the bulk of it belonging to Hiro.

"Soreha `kuesuto' no koto desu,*" He said, "Watashitachi ni sorera o te ni ireru yōu ni tanonda murabito ga imashita. Rukasu." His hands moved around weakly and seemed to stumble around a bit with his words, but it could've been the language.

"He said, it's a quest item and that it was this villager called Lucas who told them to get them," Ater started, "And that we should stop wasting time and move the hell on before the slime thing comes again." With a suspecting look, Hai-rong started heading in the direction they came from.

Otto followed after he picked up the dozens and dozens of flowers, keeping close to Hiro, who stopped talking, preventing Otto from translating whatever it was he said. Adrian kept with Ater, who was still trying to shake Ade off, "We need to head to the village."

"You're our personal translator though," Otto replied, "Everything they say has to be translated. Of course, I can understand what they say after some time, but the others can't." He turned to Hiro and peered into his stats.

[Player #1643: Hiro Takahashi

Level 1

HP: 2000

M: 50/500

S: 100

AG: 400

DEX: 300

RR: 100HP/min

Skills: Matryoshka, Revive, Heal, Recover

Class: Healer]

"A healer?" Otto said, "At least now we don't have to worry about our health. He can heal us and Ater can translate for us. Isn't a Matryoshka some sort of weird Russian doll or something?" Ater blabbered something to Hiro, who nodded weakly and replied equally fast.

"It's a defence doll," Ater said, Hiro continued on, "It keeps... people inside... and keeps them safe. So like a room for healing and whatever. So if Otto was nearly dead, then he could go into the doll and heal himself using." Otto scowled and helped Hiro down a hill. The colour in his face came back and eventually he was walking fine again, with only a stagger.

"How fast does mana recover?" Otto asked, "Does it just come back in a second, or is it over time?"

"It doesn't come back all at once, but after a certain amount, the effects are dispelled," Hai-rong explained, "So if I had 25% of my mana left I might get dizzy, but if it's 50% then I'll be fine." Shooting some blob of white into a tree, Hai-rong's attack melted the tree as it collapsed. There was a gaping hole in the tree as the group slowly walked back to the village in the distance.