Slime

The Lorraine Forest was especially tranquil in the early morning.

Some beasts that hunted at night returned to their caves before the sun rose, while many animals had yet to awaken.

Crimson sunlight spilled through the forest, and dew on the branches and leaves refracted it in every direction.

The morning mist was faint and hazy. Condensed droplets flowed along the veins of the leaves before slowly falling from their tips.

Reflected in a water droplet, the young man stood with his sword sheathed, shaking the blood from its blade.

Several Goblins lay before him. Most had died in their sleep. Only the last had been startled awake by the commotion, but before it could even open its eyes, its head had already been sent flying.

Not bad luck!

He had found four Goblins first thing in the morning.

Seeing that his Slash skill was only 1 proficiency point away from leveling up, Lin Mo was full of motivation.

He had gone to bed early last night. Before dawn, he had arrived at the Adventurer's Guild and selected a task.

As soon as the receptionist started work, he immediately accepted the task and headed for the Lorraine Forest.

After taking out his map and comparing it briefly, Lin Mo adjusted his direction and continued northwest.

This time, the task was a one-star task, which meant it was a Black Iron rank task.

The Adventurer's Guild had clear task rankings: three stars for Silver Rank, two stars for Bronze rank, and one star for Black Iron rank.

As for unranked tasks, most were odd jobs or relatively simple collection tasks, such as gathering Qingfen Grass.

Though there were a few special tasks that were difficult to rank, such as the search-and-rescue task issued by the owner of the Yori Merchant Guild for his daughter, unranked tasks were not counted toward an adventurer's record no matter what.

Raising one's adventurer rank required a certain number of completed tasks. Unranked tasks did not count, and since he had changed his equipment and grown stronger, Lin Mo chose a one-star task with the future in mind.

Slime Essence Collection

Task Number: E682

Type: Hunt/Material Collection

Client: Richard

Reward: 5 gold

Task Summary:

Enter the Lorraine Forest, find and kill 50 Slimes, and collect their core Slime Essence. Time limit: 7 days.

Slimes were low-level monsters. Their overall ecological niche was similar to that of Goblins, placing them at the bottom of the monster hierarchy. Unlike Goblins, which burned, killed, looted, and committed every evil imaginable, Slimes were far less numerous and relatively peaceful. They were not particularly aggressive, rarely attacked humans on their own, and invading towns was out of the question.

Yet adventurers remained quite enthusiastic about killing them.

The reason was simple. Unlike Goblins, which were useless apart from reeking from head to toe, a Slime's core—Slime Essence—was a fairly useful material.

This natural, non-toxic, harmless, highly concentrated essence possessed strong ductility and plasticity. It also had a remarkably unique texture, making it useful in basic alchemy, materials engineering, and the production of certain high-end niche foods.

Of course, the value of most goods depended on specific market demand. When nobody particularly needed it, this material generally sold for around 150 copper, equivalent to the current special reward for killing one and a half Goblins.

But when there was demand, temporary purchase prices doubled to 300 copper—three Silver Coins each.

This was because Slime Essence did not have a particularly long shelf life. Without special treatment, it could last only ten to fifteen days at most.

And if some wealthy lord needed it urgently, the price could rise dramatically again. For example, the task Lin Mo had accepted offered 5 gold for the essence from 50 Slimes, meaning each portion of Slime Essence was worth a full 10 Silver Coins!

But such tasks were not so easy to complete.

Precisely because Slime Essence had a limited shelf life, tasks of this kind often came with harsh time limits. Slimes were also less numerous than Goblins. Killing 50 Slimes within seven days might not be especially difficult in combat, but it depended heavily on luck. If one was unlucky, even an experienced veteran adventurer might fail to complete it.

If the task could not be completed, some employers might still buy the essence, but the price would not necessarily remain the same.

Monster Compendium of Lorraine Forest Outer Area

Slime Traits and Common Locations...11–14

"Unlike Goblins, which are also low-level monsters, Slimes cannot be found everywhere in the forest. The appearance and distribution of these creatures follow relatively stable patterns. If your task requires you to eliminate these little fellows and obtain their essence, you may want to try your luck in low-lying areas, swamps, and regions near rivers.

In such places, you will have a higher chance of encountering Slimes.

Also, if you intend to fight Slimes, make sure your weapon has been coated with a protective layer beforehand. When these small creatures are attacked, their bodies temporarily turn into a somewhat corrosive liquid. If you kill too many of them, your weapon may be damaged."

Thankfully, Lin Mo had looked up information on his opponent in advance when he decided to accept this task. Before coming to the forest, he had specifically visited Edgar's shop and spent 5 Silver Coins to apply a protective coating to the Wolfbone Sword.

A sword forged from monster bones might be harder and sharper than steel, but it was more easily damaged when faced with corrosive liquids.

So Lin Mo did not cut corners at all and directly chose the best protective coating available at Edgar's shop.

According to Edgar, there would be no risk of corrosion until he had killed more than 1,000 Slimes with this sword.

He cut off the Goblins' left ears and put them into his bag. These Goblins could only be considered an extra gain. Now, it was time to set out and find Slimes.

Lin Mo's luck was neither particularly good nor particularly bad. The search for Slimes was not especially smooth, but after spending over half an hour near a small river, he finally found his first target.

Lin Mo hid in the grass and observed the target before him.

Just as described in Monster Compendium of Lorraine Forest Outer Area, the Slime was very small, not even reaching his knee. It looked like a semi-elliptical sphere about the size of a washbasin.

It had no eyes or facial features, and it moved in a manner resembling wriggling. Under the increasingly bright sunlight, a ping-pong-ball-sized "orb" slowly floated within its body.

Calming his breath and focusing his mind, Lin Mo entered Stealth.

If he dealt with an opponent while in Stealth and used Slash, both skills would gain proficiency. But if he merely used Slash, only Slash would gain proficiency.

Moreover, as a state-type skill, Stealth did not consume additional stamina. Therefore, whenever circumstances allowed, Lin Mo would always enter Stealth before attacking.

The Slime did not notice the danger lurking in the shadows and continued approaching Lin Mo.

The next moment, a figure shot out at high speed. The sharp sword in his hand traced a perfect arc, splitting the Slime before him in two.

Stealth Proficiency +1

Slash Proficiency +1!