Chapter 25: Slimes (3)

August 1 Year 1,000 of the Mystic Calendar

A whole day has passed since the trainees were sent into the realms occupied by monsters. In just a whole day, the five energy cores of both Keon and Nath were fully filled

This was credited to Mady and Gabe's help. If the two were just by themselves they won't easily fill their cores. But with Mady and Gabe's help, they had the ability to fight multiple Level 3 Slimes at the same time

Their fighting skills also continuously improve as the danger they are facing is real. They won't get any form of help from other people and they can only rely upon themselves. That changes their mentality causing them to hone their fighting skills for survival

Fortunately, with Kreon's help, they can avoid a large group of monsters. Their journey might have been full of danger but the danger already lessened

With the increase of their fighting skills, fighting slimes became easier as they already found some weaknesses

The trouble-inducing slimes are undoubtedly the Level 3 ones but they have simple attack patterns. They will only use their tentacles to shoot elemental attacks

As long as the tentacles were dealt with, killing the slimes became almost as easy as killing chickens. Of course, to suppress the slimes' tentacles, a considerable amount of strength was needed. Among the four, only Mady and Gabe can do that

Currently, they are fighting four Level 3 slimes as the weaker ones were already killed

Mady covered the tentacles of two wind slimes with fire to prevent them from being able to attack while Gabe did the same to the two earth slimes

With the four slimes preoccupied with Gabe and Mady's binding, the other two Mystics dragged their tired bodies to kill them

Keon pushed himself and despite already feeling some mental fatigue, he still created three cards. One of them turned metallic gray in color and the other two turned blue

Raging flashes of electricity coated the sharp metal to increase its power. No matter what, the slimes are still Level 3 Creatures, it wouldn't be easy for Keon to kill them without using a huge amount of his mystic energy

The sharp metal coated with electricity traveled fast in the air and penetrated the body of the wind slime trying to break free from Mady's binding

Puchi

The metal powered by electricity penetrated the slime's body despite the hard resistance and accurately hits the slime's core. After the core was destroyed, the slime's body turned into another gooey puddle

On the other side, Nath puts all of his strength into his arm and he stabs one of the earth slimes with his sword. The earth slime has higher defense and Nath was forced to move away and just like the previous times, his sword exploded and destroyed the slime's core

With only two of the slimes remaining, Mady removed her fire from the wind slime just to be replaced by Gabe's water ropes that prevented the slimes from doing anything

Mady poured mystic energy into her fire lotus and two crimson rays appeared. If Keon and Nath's attack can barely destroy the slimes' cores, Mady was different

The two rays of fire left a gaping hole in the slime's body and her fire even continued for some distance from the slimes before dissipating

Two more gooey puddles appeared and all the slimes are finally dead. Mady used the energy core to absorb all the mystic energy from the slimes' bodies. The energy was just enough to fill one Level 3 Core

It can't be helped, Level 3 cores can store up to a hundred cubic meters of mystic energy. The battle consumed a great deal amount of the slimes' energy and not to mention, slimes have a lower amount of energy than most creatures

"Let's move away from here first before resting" Keon suggested. All the slimes are now dead but who knows if the fight attracted more slimes. It would be better if they run away immediately since they already used a considerable amount of energy

They didn't plan on returning back to the perimeter of the fortress anymore as they found out that it would take a huge amount of their remaining time

Resting in an area far from the fortress was riskier but the risk is part of Hunter's life, they need to get used to it

The four runs for some time before they simply sat in the grassy ground to rest

"With the rate, we are hunting slimes we might not make it with our remaining time. Should we take more risk and attack larger slime groups?" Keon suggested although he was also a bit apprehensive about his own suggestion

They didn't dare fight the slime groups that have too large of a number before because of the danger. Although every fight didn't last long yet because of the slimes' numbers, they always need to rest after. Not to mention, finding suitable slime groups to fight took a long time

The slimes were just too condensed. Meeting a group of ten is already considered as lucky. Most of the slime groups have 15 members with 5 or 6 Level 3 included

The slimes have weak individual strength but that trait of them also became the reason why it was easier for them to reach Level 3

Aside from the five energy cores minimum requirement, Keon also wants to fill more cores. Their supervisor gave them twenty each and there might be rewards that will be given to the ones that we're able to fill more cores. Keon was eyeing those possible rewards and he decided to take a risk

Keeping his life intact is the most important thing for Keon but he also needs to harden himself. He is still aware of his risk appetite. Even if there are twenty slimes that will attack them, they still have a chance to win if Gabe and Mady use all of their powers

From Keon's plan, they only focused on attracting the aggro of the Level 3 Slimes, and dodge their attacks. This was to preserve strength in case a dangerous situation appeared. But if they are willing, they can let Mady and Gabe use more power to fight the slimes

Keon thought that they will at least consider his suggestion for some time but the three actually immediately agreed

"Are you sure? Don't you want to think things first?" Keon asked and the three shook their heads making Keon feel uncomfortable. It feels like the three were just waiting for him to suggest risking more

"Is there something you are not telling me?" Keon asked with a creased forehead and he turned to look at Nath. If he wants an answer, Nath is the easiest one to persuade

As expected, Nath scratches the back of his head before speaking. "I-I know this realm is pretty dangerous but I actually want to fight in a well ... more thrilling way. With your plans, we avoided most dangers b-but the fights were too boring. I certainly grow in just a day but I felt like it was not enough" Nath said truthfully and Keon was surprised at that

Well, Nath isn't entirely wrong. Keon really focuses on safety and only suggested taking more risks after seeing the rate at which they are filling their cores

"As for these two, I don't know but I felt like they also want to take more risks" Nath continued and Keon looks at the other two

"More risk, more rewards" Gabe simply said and Keon sighs at that. Who would have thought that he will actually affect his teammates negatively because of too much cautiousness

"Okay then, we will fight larger slime groups from now on" Keon said. He might be the one that focuses on planning things but he also needs to take his comrades' feelings into consideration

Keon focuses on resting and he didn't notice the unknown glint in the eyes of Mady and Gabe after he accepted to take more risk

The four rested for some time before they continued on their way. This time, they chose to fight a group of twenty slimes

Since the other three looks as if they want to let loose, Keon didn't make any plans. He let them fight whatever monsters they want just warning them that if the situation turned too bad, they will immediately retreat

Looking at the group of slimes varying in size, Keon decided to use a sword this time. It was still his mystic form that is only as strong as normal swords

However, with the buff from his cards, he will save more mystic energy while killing the slimes

Keon sticks a card in his body that coated him with a layer of wind that increases his movement speed. Two more cards went into his sword and they coated it with fire and electricity to increase the sword's lethality

Since the plan is to have a thrilling fight then it would be better if Keon engages in close combat since it will also help his cultivation. It wouldn't be long before the barrier to the next rank fully loosened up. Who knows, this fight might even become too dangerous that it will push Keon too much to the point that he doesn't have a choice but to ascend to the next rank