Directing Slimes Today

A silver arc flashed, accompanied by a faint tearing sound.

"Pfft!"

The tip of the blade precisely sliced into the blue-green cap of the Glow Mushroom Person. Its small legs thrashed for a moment before going still.

Kelvin smoothly withdrew his curved blade and blew on it.

"See that? Little sweetheart Ella, old brother Bloom, this is the skill of a veteran adventurer!"

"The Visaji's eyesight combined with a Ranger's precision, dealing with these 'cute glowing ones' is a piece of cake."

He cocked his chin proudly, his golden curls still striking in the dim light.

Ella ignored her captain's performance entirely. She was crouched nearby, carefully digging up a peculiar plant growing by a rotten tree root with a small wooden shovel.

"It's a Water Bellflower!"

She looked up, her chubby baby face full of surprise.

"The book says it only grows near magic nodes and is a top-grade ingredient for making Sobering Potions. It seems the magic environment here is even more active than described in the book."

Bloom, however, was very supportive, grinning widely and giving a thumbs-up.

"Ha, as expected of the captain, that strike had great momentum!"

This simple praise made Kelvin immensely pleased, his vanity thoroughly satisfied.

He waved his hand grandly, "Let's go, press on! 'Miracle' Yano's treasure awaits us!"

The group continued to trek through the damp forest.

Kelvin led the way, his mood seemingly lightened by Bloom's praise and the novel plants Ella occasionally discovered.

The moss underfoot was soft as carpet, and sunlight dappled through the canopy, making everything seem... overly peaceful.

"Tsk, this Swamp Forest isn't as terrifying as the rumors make it out to be."

"What slumbering monsters, what pervasive miasma... I think it's all made up by cowards to scare people."

He casually pushed aside hanging vines with his curved blade, muttering to himself, even having the leisure to hum a Visaji tune.

Just then, a Digger Beetle the size of a fist was slowly crawling out from a pile of fallen leaves by his feet, making a rustling sound.

"What's this little rock lump? Get lost."

Kelvin didn't even look closely, kicking the beetle away with a single foot.

"Whoosh--thump!"

The unlucky beetle arced through the air, hitting the trunk of a large tree with a dull thud. It then fell into the thick leaf litter, legs in the air, wriggling dizzily.

Kelvin let out a scoff and continued walking without a care.

He glanced back at his teammates. Ella was carefully placing the freshly gathered Water Bellflower into a small cloth bag, her eyes focused and serious. Bloom, like a mobile fortress, scanned their rear vigilantly.

Looking at these two "greenhorns" who believed in him implicitly, Kelvin felt an inexplicable ripple in his heart, a distant sense of familiarity.

It was the edge of a forest like this, and there were three people... a captain who bragged just as much, a young companion who was a bit timid but had determined eyes, and a self who was just as ignorant and naive...

And then came the Bear Goblin that roared and charged out from the shadows! The captain's terrified, contorted face, and his unhesitating turn to flee, disappearing into the dense woods...

Leaving only a despairing self and the young companion who was smashed into a bloody mess by the Bear Goblin's great club.

The relaxed expression on Kelvin's face instantly froze, a barely perceptible shadow flickering across his eyes.

Heh, adventure?

Bullshit friendship and glory!

Survive, get the money, that's what matters.

He had understood that after that incident; one had to be cold-blooded, only focusing on valuable things!

What was wrong with being greedy for profit? It was better than dying obscurely!

He forcefully shook his head, as if trying to shake off the unpleasant memory along with the softness that shouldn't be in his heart.

"Look ahead!"

Ella's surprised voice broke the brief silence.

Passing through an unusually dense curtain of vines, a small clearing appeared before them.

In the center of the clearing stood several sections of broken low walls, built from a dark brown stone, exuding an ancient and mysterious atmosphere.

"Ruins! They're really ruins!"

Kelvin's eyes lit up instantly, as if he saw treasure chests overflowing with gold coins.

"I knew 'Miracle' Yano wouldn't lie. Come on, let's go in and take a look!"

He eagerly led the charge, his boots nearly slipping on the wet moss.

Ella walked to the low wall and extended her fair fingers, gently brushing away the moss covering it, carefully feeling the texture of the wall.

"Huh? Captain Kelvin... these bricks... why do they look a bit new?"

Kelvin, who was excitedly searching among a pile of collapsed stones, waved dismissively without looking back, "Don't worry about it."

"Ah, don't worry about the details, the important thing is there's treasure! Quickly, find where the treasure chest is!"

He was completely immersed in the fantasy of striking it rich, ignoring the keen observation skills of the mage apprentice.

While the rookie team of three was lost in the joy of exploring the ruins, unbeknownst to them, in the dim swamp, a pair of round eyes were staring intently at them.

That plump, round body... it was none other than the Slime Lord of this swamp.

Miscalculation, I forgot to weather the newly built wall, Chen Yu thought.

Next time, I must remember to plaster it thickly with mud and vines beforehand... and add some bird droppings. Then no adventurer would dare touch it.

"Looks like they're about to encounter the boss I meticulously prepared."

Chen Yu looked towards the depths of the ruins, where muffled growls could be faintly heard.

That was the actor he had taken some effort to capture a few days ago—a foul-tempered Corrupted Jackal.

In the ruins, Bloom, unlike Kelvin who was rummaging through the debris, habitually scanned the ground. Beneath a pile of half-buried dead leaves, he discovered some unusual droppings.

"Captain, there's wolf scat here, and... it's fresh. It smells rotten, something's not right."

"Wolf scat?!"

Kelvin, who was trying to move a large stone, froze upon hearing this, cold sweat instantly breaking out.

A jackal?! And a corrupted one?!

These Bronze Tier pests usually moved in packs, were swift and cunning, and held grudges fiercely!

The members of his rookie team were all just recruits, not even official adventurers. They could barely handle a one-on-one fight with a Bronze Tier monster.

If they were targeted by a pack of Corrupted Jackals, in these complex ruins, they wouldn't be able to escape!

Ella also nervously tightened her grip on her staff, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Kelvin forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart and motioned for the other two to be silent.

He crouched low, cautiously moving forward along the direction Bloom pointed, using the cover of broken walls. Ella and Bloom followed closely behind.

In the deepest part of the ruins, behind a relatively intact arched doorway, a Corrupted Jackal was indeed lurking.

It was about a size larger than a normal wild wolf, its fur dirty and matted, with multiple festering sores. It was restlessly pawing the ground with its claws.

And not far behind it, half-buried in the dirt, was a seemingly rotten wooden chest that, in Kelvin's eyes, was radiating a tempting "treasure glow."

The three held their breath and observed for a while. Ella even risked peeking out half her head to confirm carefully.

"There's... only one?"

"And it looks injured, moving a bit slowly."

Ella whispered in a voice barely audible, filled with disbelief and surprise.

"One?"

Kelvin's eyes instantly lit up with greed.