Faced with an enemy that had lost most of its ability to move, Gauss showed no mercy.
He was even planning to use the intimidating effect of his newly acquired title, Slime Hunter.
If he had an ability, he ought to use it. Besides, this effect specifically targeted slimes. If he didn't use it now, when would he?
He drew his rapier and faced the slime before him.
His thoughts turned, and the newly acquired slime-specific intimidation took hold as if it were instinct. In a mere breath, he knew exactly how to intimidate a slime.
His eyes narrowed, and he focused.
As he concentrated, an invisible aura rapidly spread outward from his body.
"Bzzzz—"
The intimidating aura spread three meters. The three slimes caught in its path all jerked at almost the same time, their bodies suddenly freezing as if someone had pressed pause.
"Shhk!"
Released almost simultaneously with the intimidating field, his rapier thrust forward!
As he focused, the world in Gauss's eyes slowed bit by bit.
The rapier, which had been coated with protective oil beforehand, reflected the rising sunlight as its blade pierced the slime's outer layer of mucus.
A flash of cold steel!
There was none of the coarse resistance he'd felt when stabbing into a goblin's flesh. The slime's body was soft.
"Pshk!"
Aside from a few partially undigested bits of debris that slightly impeded the blade, there was no resistance at all!
The rapier's tip struck its target with unerring precision. The slime core, paralyzed by the intimidating aura, was mercilessly pierced.
"Splatter!"
Dead!
In the blink of an eye, the slime died cleanly!
The dead slime melted once more, leaving behind a pool of foul-smelling slime.
"Slime Slime killed *1"
"Monster Kill Count: 29"
Gauss glanced at his rapier and saw a clump of concentrated Slime Gel clinging to the blade. He quickly swung his arm, flinging it away.
Though he'd applied protective oil beforehand, he still needed to minimize how long the rapier remained inside a slime to prolong its lifespan and prevent the acid from corroding the blade.
He glanced at the foul puddle before him.
He couldn't help reflecting on how effective intimidation was.
Pretty handy.
Even if it only lasted 0.5 to 1 second, used well, it could save him quite a bit of effort when killing slimes.
Just like before: the moment he used intimidation, the slime lost any chance to fight back.
And if he killed more and more slimes, his title would eventually level up. Perhaps later, an ordinary slime would be immobilized for more than a second—maybe even several seconds. They might even faint or die outright under his intimidation.
He turned to look around and saw Doyle engaging another group of slimes. His expression immediately grew serious.
"We need to kill them fast! There won't be any left if we wait!"
Across the battlefield, the others were also killing slimes at a rapid pace.
Doyle and Leven drew the slimes' attacks from the front, Gauss swept through them from the flanks, and the ranged group provided support.
The Night Owl Squad worked together with such clear division of labor that their slaughter of the slimes was over in just a few minutes.
Real battles weren't always evenly matched.
Unlike drawn-out back-and-forth exchanges, fights between opponents of different strengths rarely lasted more than ten minutes.
In fact, after most of the slimes had been killed head-on, the group had already scattered and lost the will to fight.
But even when they fled, they couldn't escape the combined pursuit of swords from the front and arrows from behind.
The slimes retreated step by step, only to keep turning into piles of gelatinous fragments.
The group only spent a little extra time chasing the two or three "stragglers" on the outskirts.
In the end, they completely wiped out all 25 slimes.
Their commission had been to exterminate this group of slimes, so they'd naturally tried to kill as many as possible.
Every slime was like a bouncing silver coin. What low-level adventurer didn't take jobs for the money?
Of course, they weren't going to let those coins get away for nothing.
After the battle ended,
it was time for the Cleric, Daphne, to get to work.
Although the three who'd fought in close combat had taken precautions, with wooden shields, outer garments, and gloves protecting them layer upon layer, they'd still inevitably gotten some corrosive acid on themselves during the fight.
Leven and Doyle had suffered the worst of it.
"Hiss, owww—"
Doyle kept sucking in breaths and making strange noises.
"Bear with it, Doyle." Daphne crouched beside him, holding her wooden staff.
As she focused and cast Life Sustaining Technique, magic rippled from her staff, and a ball of pale green energy wrapped around his reddened skin.
Life Sustaining Technique could slow the worsening of an injury. The spell immediately subdued the simple burning and itching on his skin.
After casting it, she quickly took out some ointment she'd prepared in advance and applied it to Doyle's wounds.
"It should be completely gone in about half a day."
"Thank you, Daphne. It's great having you around."
"Uh, you don't have to thank me so much. Oh, right, Captain, let me treat your wounds too."
After a flurry of activity,
Leven and Doyle's skin injuries were quickly taken care of. Only then did Daphne turn to Gauss, who looked perfectly calm.
"Gauss, are you hurt? I saw you killed quite a few slimes too."
Though Gauss didn't seem to be in pain, he'd still fought slimes at close range. Daphne hurried over to check on him.
"I'm fine. Don't waste your magic on me." Gauss waved a hand. "Including the ones I killed with spells, I think I took down nine slimes."
Aside from a little mental fatigue from using Intimidation several times, he had no injuries.
"Nine!" Doyle and Leven both turned to look at him.
Doyle in particular looked visibly disappointed. He'd only killed five slimes himself.
Had Gauss already become the team's main offensive force?
Was that the difference between a Warrior and a Mage?
Off to the side, while the others tended their wounds and chatted, Oliver and Meva diligently gathered the spoils, picking up the gelatinous fragments scattered across the ground and placing them in a bag.
In the end, they returned with a small bundle packed full of Slime Gel fragments of various sizes.
These were formed when a slime's core was punctured and the body condensed. A complete piece of Slime Gel was about the size of an egg and very elastic.
Most of the collected gel was in fragments, though a few pieces were relatively intact.
Fortunately, the fresh fragments could be pieced together. Once they had roughly one full portion, they could submit it as material.
"Twenty-five slimes in total. The kill reward is 60 copper coins each, and the recovery reward is 30 copper coins per slime. That makes 22 silver coins and 50 copper coins altogether."
Meva calculated the earnings from the job.
Slimes couldn't equip weapons, and the junk they swallowed was badly corroded, so it was difficult to find any worthwhile spoils.
Each person would get just under four silver coins.
Fortunately, the job had been close to town. Aside from Leven and Doyle suffering minor acid burns, the overall danger hadn't been too high. Completing it smoothly made it a pretty good commission.
Beneath the shade of a tree, the group rested close together. After counting their pay, they wore satisfied smiles.
Accept a commission, get into a fight, hone their skills, collect the reward, rest, gear up, and take another commission.
Low-level adventurers could only keep their heads down and work hard in this cycle, slowly growing stronger in hopes that one day they might receive guidance along the Professional Path.
Of course, no one knew when that day would come.
It might be tomorrow, or it might never come at all.
Gauss sat beneath the tree too, maintaining his rapier as he studied the Adventurer's Handbook and began to think.
"Monster Kill Count: 32" "Magic Missile Level 2 (8/20)"
These were the improvements he'd gained from the battle.
He'd killed nine slimes in total. Five had fallen to Magic Missile, while the remaining four had been swiftly killed with his rapier, combining Intimidation with a rudimentary version of Bullet Time.
At this rate, he'd only need to complete roughly two more jobs to reach 50 kills and gain the next milestone upgrade.
Magic Missile was also almost halfway to Level 2.
He had to admit, the results were encouraging.
And killing monsters this way was hardly dangerous. The party's front line, Leven and Doyle, usually took the brunt of the first wave of attacks. He only needed to work alongside them from the flanks and finish off the enemies.
Of course, he'd also done his job very well. As the team's main offensive force, he'd killed nearly 40 percent of the enemies in the battle, without relying on any "easy kills."
Even the strictest person couldn't fault his contribution to the team.
But that wasn't what Gauss cared about. During the fight, he'd suddenly realized what he was lacking.
He had no effective way to deal with groups. Although two Magic Missiles had taken out five slimes, making it look as if he had an area attack,
that had only been a trick. In reality, Magic Missile was still a single-target attack.
He might need to learn an area-of-effect spell, or make Magic Missile more versatile.
If Magic Missile didn't travel in a straight line, but could turn in midair, could its piercing power let him kill several enemies with a single attack?
And against an enemy with an impenetrable shield, a missile that could turn might be able to bypass the defenses and strike a weaker vital point.
Gauss pondered the idea. He could already influence the missile's trajectory a little, but he was still a long way from being able to control it over a wider range.
Of course, it was only a theory. He had no idea whether it was feasible or if he could make it work.
It also raised the question of efficiency. Maybe by the time he learned other, more advanced spells, he still wouldn't have mastered that kind of control over the missile.
Aside from practicing skills and killing 50 monsters, he also needed to collect five kinds of low-level monsters as soon as possible.
He didn't know what ability he'd draw then, but surely it would make him stronger.
As he went over everything in his mind,
Gauss suddenly felt busy. His goals and tentative plans seemed to be piling up.
But then he smiled.
After all, it was a happy problem. If other low-level adventurers had the chance to be this "busy," they'd probably wake up laughing.
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