Magic Apprentice

"Hey, Kana, is this the place? Why does it look a little weird to me!" said the little Mage in the middle of the group, wearing a magic robe and looking a bit doubtful.

"It definitely isn't wrong. This is information I spent five Copper Coins to find out. With my IQ, how could I possibly buy the wrong information, humph!" Next to the little Mage, Kana the archer with her long legs was a little unhappy.

"All right, all right, you two better not start arguing at a time like this, otherwise this bounty hunt is going to be ruined." On the other side, the handsome man holding a "wooden stick" taller than a person mediated out of habit.

Just as his voice fell, some rustling sounds came from a nearby corner. Obviously, monsters were already approaching them.

"Basic Illumination!"

With a low shout, Dean the little Mage cast his magic at the very first moment, and in the blink of an eye, the upper part of this small cave lit up.

Although it was only a Basic Illumination, it was enough to see every corner of this cave clearly.

"Th... there!" A soft and sweet voice came, but she had already rushed forward.

The petite Yanxi rushed to the front, holding a one-handed shield that was only a circle smaller than her entire body.

"Basic Defense!"

As soon as her voice fell, an earthy-yellow halo covered Yanxi, turning into a close-fitting protective membrane.

The "wooden stick" pointed at Yanxi, and the disappearing tail flame at the tip of the "wooden stick" indicated that the protective membrane just now had been released from here.

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

However, it was just this one thank-you that made the three of them sigh, though they were all used to Yanxi's delicate appearance.

Yanxi was a warrior, a... delicate female warrior. No one knew why Yanxi, such a delicate girl, had chosen to become a female warrior, and a conservative shield-swordsperson at that.

Lamore was a Priest, a handsome guy with a small portion of elfin blood. Of course, regardless of human blood or elfin blood, both were very average.

Kana, an archer, whose archery skills could not be said to be very good, looked mediocre overall.

Dean, the Mage in the group, except that... Dean the Mage had completely been reduced to a support.

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

Too weak. Level one—it could be said that this rank shouldn't even exist in the first place, but to make it sound better, all these apprentices were defined as level one.

And among these two men and two women, Dean was the weakest, so weak that he couldn't even cast a single fireball.

Dean's magic power was too little. Without enough magic power, Dean could only cast support magic like Basic Illumination.

The rustling sound grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, the surroundings quieted down, and then a fist-sized earthy-yellow sphere jumped out from the passage.

A Slime, a yellow Slime. Obviously, this was an Earth Element Slime.

"Dean, look, I told you so." Kana smiled smugly at the little Mage. "Hurry, hurry, this should be a fine baby Slime, it can be exchanged for a good price."

Before she finished speaking, Kana crept forward bit by bit.

However, before Kana could even get close, another half-person-tall yellow Slime appeared behind the yellow Slime.

"Uh, an adult Slime!" Kana paused, immediately stepping back a few steps, and looked ahead with a slightly solemn expression.

At this moment, Yanxi held her one-handed shield and stopped in front of Kana.

A Slime—this was the weakest magical beast, without exception.

It wasn't that Slimes were forever the weakest, but that their starting point was too low.

Among all magical beasts, only Slimes had no special abilities whatsoever right after reaching adulthood; they couldn't even be considered level-one magical beasts.

However, Slimes were also the only magical beast type with all attributes: Earth Slimes, Water Slimes, Fire Slimes, they had them all.

Judging by it, an ordinary newly adult Slime of any attribute might not even be able to beat a newly adult domesticated puppy.

Among magical beasts, the only ones that couldn't beat ordinary animals were Slimes. Therefore, leaving aside the possibility of growth, solely speaking of the starting point, the Slime could be called the well-deserved weakest magical beast.

However, the half-person-tall Slime that appeared now was not that weak.

Clearly, it was a round and soft Slime, but this one looked to be giving the four of them a sense of solid texture.

The Earth Slime before them had presumably absorbed a certain amount of earth elements and perhaps had grown to the extent where it could use magic.

All four of them thought this, and simultaneously, Yanxi, Kana, and Lamore looked at Dean.

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

"Hee hee, Dean, you Mages really aren't of much use until level two!" Kana covered her mouth and smiled.

The four of them weren't afraid that the Slime would attack them, because with Yanxi around, that small shield was enough to block the Slime's attack.

"Maybe... I can cast attack magic when I raise my magic power to the late stage of level one." Dean had this confidence.

"Let's hope so!" Lamore blew on his compliant long hair, which was more flowing than a woman's, and said, "We'd better hurry and capture the baby Slime. If we let it run away, our trip today will have been in vain."

Lamore was a Priest; whether attack spells existed for him or not didn't matter, at least not before level six.

Similar to Yanxi, no one knew why Lamore chose the Priest profession. It could be said that Lamore, possessing elfin blood, should have gone to study archery instead.

However, the three of them thought Lamore was right. That adult Slime had already begun to retreat, bringing the baby Slime with it.

If nothing unexpected happened, in thirty seconds... no, twenty seconds, the two Slimes could slip away.

However, who told Lamore to notice it! Although Yanxi was watching Dean and Kana talk, she had also been keeping an eye on the Slimes' movements.

Suddenly, four pairs of eyes all looked at the one large and one small Slime.

The adult Slime also seemed to know that it was impossible to escape quietly, so it stood in front.

"Basic Binding!"

As Dean finished shouting, a purple-black binding formation instantly appeared beneath the baby Slime's feet, even though Slimes did not have feet.

The binding formation, which could originally only bind an adult magical beast for a short time, was now used to deal with a baby Slime, making it as simple as could be.

"Leave the rest to you!" Dean said, then bolted away into a corner in a flash.

There was no help for it, as a Basic Illumination plus a Basic Binding—two spells—had directly consumed more than half of Dean's mana.

Yanxi stepped forward holding a one-handed shield, Kana went wild dealing damage from behind, and Lamore also seized the opportunity to cast support magic.

Ten minutes later, the adult Slime could no longer hold out, and leaving the baby Slime behind, it bolted straight into the passage.

Although Slimes were the weakest magical beasts, this one also looked like a reinforced tier-one magical beast, and the three of them combined could only barely defeat it.

However, this was already enough, and the baby Slime still looked blankly at the direction the adult Slime had escaped in.

These two Slimes should not be a family, but merely a relationship of protection among the same race, otherwise the adult Slime would not have run away so simply.

As for the baby Slime that was only the size of a fist, Kana directly reached out and cupped it in the palm of her hand.

Naturally, the moment they made contact, the binding formation dissipated under Dean's control.

The Slime only had a small grinning mouth, and above the small mouth, two small black-gem-like eyes were beneath its skin.

Moreover, the entire Slime was somewhat translucent, and one could even see a companion's blurry body through the Slime's body.

"Let's leave quickly, this baby Slime is enough for us to live on for a week," Dean said. As a Magic Apprentice with only a small amount of mana, he couldn't wait to leave this mine, even though this was only the outer ring of the mine.

The other three also agreed, as dealing with the adult Slime still took a bit of a toll.

Returning to Brown Town and submitting the quest at the Adventurers' Guild, they still had to deliver the baby Slime.

Of course, the reward had already been collected—four Silver Coins, one for each person.

One Silver Coin was equal to one hundred Copper Coins, and one Copper Coin could buy two large meat buns, so one hundred Copper Coins were enough for them to live for a period without working.

However, adventurers certainly wouldn't be content with just food and clothing; basically every three days, this four-person party would go out to take on a tier-one quest.

And a tier-one quest was worth at least one Silver Coin.

Kana "mauled" the baby Slime. The Slime, still in its growth period, was exceptionally soft, just like a small ball filled with water, and it was also very light in weight.

Before long, the four of you came to the small farm outside the town.

"Little girls and young men, you look quite capable. The quest was only posted yesterday, and it's already completed today!" The farm owner was an old grandfather.

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

In fact, the four of them had accepted the quest yesterday, then discussed it for a whole night, setting off early the next morning to capture the baby Slime.

However, no one would say it out of loud, because after all, the four of them had actually discussed catching a single baby Slime for a whole night.

Handing over the shivering baby Slime, the old grandfather specially sized up this soft little creature, and nodded with satisfaction after a moment.

Kana and the others also breathed a sigh of relief. Although regardless of the baby Slime's aptitude and appearance, they had still completed the quest, the fact that the baby they captured could satisfy the employer undoubtedly made these adventurers even happier.

"It's still a healthy and cute little baby. Come, come, come, this is your reward, put it away properly." The old farm grandfather cheerfully pulled out a small pouch and handed it over.

As the team leader, Kana instantly swept away her exhausted expression and smilingly accepted the reward, which could be considered extra pay.