Magic Apprentice

"Hey, Kana, is this the place? It looks a little strange to me!" The young Mage walking in the middle of the party, dressed in mage robes, spoke with some uncertainty.

"Of course it is! I spent five Copper Coins finding out about this. With my brains, how could I possibly buy the wrong information? Hmph!" Beside the young Mage, Kana, an archer striding along on long legs, sounded displeased.

"All right, all right. Whatever you do, don't start arguing now, or this bounty will go up in smoke." On the other side, a handsome man carrying a "wooden stick" taller than a person mediated with practiced ease.

No sooner had he spoken than rustling came from around a nearby corner. Clearly, a Demonic Beast was already approaching them.

"Basic Illumination!"

With a low shout, Dean, the young Mage, cast his spell at once. In the blink of an eye, light shone overhead in the small cave.

Although it was only Basic Illumination, it was enough to reveal every corner of the cave.

"O-over there!" A soft, sweet voice rang out, but its owner had already charged forward.

The petite Yanxi took the front, bracing a one-handed shield only a little smaller than her whole body.

"Basic Defense!"

As soon as the words rang out, an earthen-yellow glow covered Yanxi, forming a protective film that hugged her body.

The "wooden stick" pointed at Yanxi, and the fading flare at its tip showed that the protective film had come from there.

"Ah! Th-thank you, Lamore," Yanxi thanked him softly.

That little expression of thanks made all three of them sigh, though they were used to Yanxi's delicate manner.

Yanxi was a warrior—a... frail female warrior. Nobody knew why such a delicate girl had chosen to become a warrior, let alone a sword-and-shield fighter who favored a defensive approach.

Lamore was a Priest, a handsome fellow with a trace of elven ancestry. Of course, both his human and elven bloodlines were quite ordinary.

Kana was an archer. Her archery was nothing outstanding, but on the whole, it was competent.

Dean was the party's Mage, except... he had been reduced entirely to a support role.

All four of them were only level one: a level-one warrior, a level-one Priest, a level-one archer, and a level-one Magic Apprentice.

They were far too weak. Strictly speaking, level one should never have existed as a rank, but to make it sound a little nicer, these apprentices had all been designated level one.

Among these two men and two women, Dean was the weakest—so weak that he could not even cast a fireball spell.

Dean had too little mana. Until he gained enough, he could only cast support spells such as Basic Illumination.

The rustling grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, everything fell silent. Then an earthen-yellow ball the size of a fist hopped out of the passage.

A Slime—a yellow Slime. Clearly, it was an Earth Element Slime.

"Dean, look! I told you I was right." Kana grinned triumphantly at the young Mage. "Quick, quick! This should be a fine-quality baby Slime. It'll fetch a good price."

Before she had even finished speaking, Kana began inching toward it.

But before Kana could get close, another yellow Slime, over half a person's height, appeared behind it.

"Uh, an adult Slime!" Kana stopped short, immediately backing up several steps as she watched it with a slightly solemn expression.

Just then, Yanxi moved in front of Kana with her one-handed shield.

Slimes were the weakest Magic Beasts, bar none.

That was not to say Slimes would always be the weakest, only that their starting point was far too low.

Of all Magic Beasts, only Slimes had no special abilities upon reaching adulthood. They did not even qualify as level-one Magic Beasts.

Yet Slimes were also the only Magic Beasts that came in every element: earth Slimes, water Slimes, fire Slimes, and all the rest.

By their reckoning, an ordinary, newly adult Slime of any element might not even be able to defeat a newly grown pet dog.

Among Magic Beasts, only Slimes could lose to ordinary animals. So, leaving aside their potential for growth and considering their starting point alone, Slimes were unquestionably the weakest Magic Beasts.

However, this Slime standing over half a person's height was not that weak.

It was clearly a round, soft Slime, yet its appearance gave all four of them a sense of solid weight.

This earth Slime must have absorbed a certain amount of earth element energy. Perhaps it had already grown enough to use magic.

All four shared that thought. In unison, Yanxi, Kana, and Lamore turned to Dean.

"I'm only a Level-One Magic Apprentice!" Dean spread his hands helplessly.

"Hehe, Dean, you Mages really aren't much use before level two, are you?" Kana covered her mouth and laughed.

None of the four feared an attack from the Slime. With Yanxi there, her little shield was enough to block it.

"Maybe... once my mana reaches the upper end of level one, I'll be able to cast offensive spells." Dean was confident of that.

"Let's hope so!" Lamore blew at his silky long hair, which flowed even more gracefully than a woman's. "We'd better catch the baby Slime quickly. If it gets away, we'll have come here for nothing."

Lamore was a Priest. Whether he had offensive spells did not matter to him, at least not before level six.

Much like Yanxi, nobody knew why Lamore had chosen to become a Priest. With his elven blood, he really should have studied archery instead.

Still, the other three agreed with Lamore. The adult Slime had already begun retreating with the baby Slime.

Unless something unexpected happened, in thirty seconds... no, twenty seconds, both Slimes would make a clean getaway.

Unfortunately for them, Lamore had noticed! Although Yanxi had been watching Dean and Kana talk, she had also been keeping an eye on the Slime's movements.

At once, all four pairs of eyes fixed on the two Slimes, one large and one small.

The adult Slime seemed to realize it could not slip away unnoticed, so it moved in front of the baby.

"Basic Binding!"

As Dean's shout rang out, a purple-black binding circle instantly appeared beneath the baby Slime, although Slimes had no feet.

A binding circle that could normally restrain an adult Magic Beast for only a short while was now being used against a baby Slime. It could hardly have been easier.

"The rest is up to you!" Dean called, then scurried into a corner.

There was nothing else he could do. Basic Illumination and Basic Binding—just those two spells had consumed more than half Dean's mana.

Yanxi pushed forward with her one-handed shield, Kana unleashed a furious barrage from behind her, and Lamore cast support spells whenever an opening arose.

Ten minutes later, the adult Slime could hold out no longer. It abandoned the baby Slime and bolted into the passage.

Although Slimes were the weakest Magic Beasts, this one appeared to be an enhanced level-one Magic Beast. Even working together, the three had only barely managed to defeat it.

Still, that was enough. The baby Slime continued staring blankly in the direction the adult Slime had fled.

These two Slimes probably were not family. The adult had merely been sheltering another of its kind; otherwise, it would not have run off so readily.

As for the fist-sized baby Slime, Kana simply reached out and scooped it into her palms.

Naturally, the instant she touched it, Dean dispelled the binding circle.

The Slime had only a little gaping mouth, with two small eyes like black gemstones beneath its skin just above it.

Its whole body was somewhat translucent. They could even see their companions' blurry figures through it.

"Let's get out of here. This baby Slime will cover our living expenses for a week," Dean said. As a Magic Apprentice with only a little mana, he could hardly wait to leave this mine, even if they were only in its outer reaches.

The other three agreed. After all, dealing with the adult Slime had taken something out of them.

After returning to Brown Town and turning in the quest at the Adventurers' Guild, they still had to deliver the baby Slime.

Of course, they had already collected their payment: four silver coins, one each.

One silver coin equaled a hundred Copper Coins, and a single Copper Coin could buy two large meat buns. A hundred Copper Coins would let them live for a while without working.

Still, adventurers would certainly not settle for merely keeping themselves fed. Roughly once every three days, this four-person party would head out on a level-one quest.

And a level-one quest was worth at least one silver coin.

Kana "manhandled" the baby Slime. A growing Slime was especially soft, like a little ball filled with water, and very light as well.

Before long, the four arrived at a small farm outside town.

"Young ladies, young men, you seem quite capable! I only posted that quest yesterday, and you've already finished it today!" The farmer was an elderly man.

The four smiled a little sheepishly, then handed over the baby Slime.

In truth, they had accepted the quest yesterday, discussed it all evening, then set out early this morning to capture the baby Slime.

None of them would mention that, though. After all, the four of them had actually spent an entire evening discussing how to catch one baby Slime.

They handed over the trembling baby Slime. The old man carefully inspected the soft little thing and soon nodded in satisfaction.

Kana and the others breathed sighs of relief. Although the quest counted as completed regardless of the baby Slime's quality or appearance, knowing that their catch pleased their employer undoubtedly made these adventurers happier.

"A healthy, pretty little baby, too! Here, here, this is your reward. Keep it safe." Chuckling, the elderly farmer took out a small pouch and offered it to them.

As the party leader, Kana instantly shook off the exhaustion on her face and accepted the reward with a grin. This was extra payment.

(End of chapter)