'Slimes are weak' this statement was completely wrong, a horrible representation of reality that can get newbies killed.
You can indeed sleep in the middle of a slime swarm and you will be okay. That is only true if you didn't attack them first! Slimes don't attack first!
Slimes aren't weak, they are slow! If a slime was attacking you, It's possible to just run away, the monster won't even waste the energy to follow you.
Cain has reached the outskirts of the city, It was called Furberg, a city well known for its wheat farms and bread!
Out in the distance, he spotted a group of three blue slimes. It was time for him to revise his strategy.
He filled his pocket with stones, They are going to be his weapon instead of his sword.
Looking at the slimes, the system gave him their information.
'Works as intended!' he thought as he looked at the slimes stats.
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<Name:...><Race: Blue Slime>
<HP: 10>
<Strength: 6><Dexterity: 14><Constitution: 2>
<Intelligence: 2><Wisdom: 12><Charisma: 2>
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<Name:...><Race: Blue Slime>
<HP: 7>
<Strength: 6><Dexterity: 14><Constitution: 2>
<Intelligence: 2><Wisdom: 12><Charisma: 2>
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<Name:...><Race: Blue Slime>
<HP: 6>
<Strength: 6><Dexterity: 14><Constitution: 2>
<Intelligence: 2><Wisdom: 12><Charisma: 2>
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To Cain, they all looked the same, just blue blobs of goo with a core at the middle. Slimes multiply by division, this explained why they have the same stats but different HP
Cain tightly held one of the stones in his hand, concentrating hard on it. [Enchanting] He used his magic on the stone.
Aiming a bit, he threw it at the slimes. The moment the stone left his hands it glowed bright red and burst into flames. What he used was fire enchantment, Consuming just 2 MP It lit an object on fire for a short period of time. That short time was all he needed to hit a slime with it! <MP: 142/144>
<HP:8/10> he has dealt a bit of damage to the big one. As they were hit, the slimes started slithering toward Cain.
Twf! The slimes started spitting acid at Cain. They were slow and stupid, Cain managed to stay safe by just jogging around them in circles.
At the moment they stopped spitting, Cain threw another stone at them, he managed to hit the big one again! <MP: 140/144>
<HP:4/10> This time his attack did more damage.
Without wasting time he launched another two stones. <MP: 136/144>
<HP: 0/10> <+5 Exp> The big slime died giving Cain some Exp.
<HP: 2/6> The second stone hit the middle sized slime, dealing massive amount of damage.
As they were losing, the slimes instinctively started to run away. With their speed, there was no way to get away from a kid let alone Cain.
"Why are your running?" Cain yelled at them as he threw more stones.
<MP: 134/144>
<HP: 5/6> The stone barely scratched the slime as he was running away. Cain quickly followed with another stone.
<MP: 132/144>
<HP: 2/6> The slime survived the second stone, "You little...!" Cain yelled as he kept throwing.
<MP: 130/144>, <MP: 128/144>, <MP: 126/144>
After three more stones, The slimes were all dead, <+10 Exp>, Cain then collected the three cores.
The normal way slimes are killed is by stabbing the core, this will instantly kill them. This method was simple and easy, even a kid could do it with a stick! There was one drawback, this method destroyed the core.
The permanent quest said that the reward was one copper coin per 5 kills, it meant kills by the normal method!
Slimes are almost immune to physical damage, just like water, you can't cut it with a sword! Magic on the other hand was effective, with it, killing a slime without destroying the core was possible.
As most people hunting slimes are either poor starter adventurers who had no easy way to learn magic, or farmers who just cared about clearing the pests. Using magic to hunt slime was almost never talked about.
'Slimes are weak! Just stab the core with a twig and they are dead!' This was what the guild thought new adventurers.
Now for Cain's interest in them, an intact slime core can be sold to the guild for 1 copper coin! This meant instead of 1 copper coin per 5 kills, he will be paid 1 per each kill if he brought the cores!
To be fair, his method was highly inefficient. In his past life, when he started he only had 9 MP. In this fight he has consumed 18 MP, double what he should have! Adding the fact that normal magic costs more than 2 MP to cast, usually about 5~6 MP per low-level spells.
His [Enchanting] consumed so little as it just created a short lived fire effect on the stone!
To do what he did now, another person might have to spend more than 36 MP, an amount that newbies who are interested in slimes doesn't have!
This was his strategy, abusing his large pool of MP to gain the most possible money in one day!
"Let's keep going until I ran out of MP!" Cain screamed to encourage himself, in the next moment a thought came to his mind.
'If I ran out of MP, I would pass out, that isn't a good idea!' If someone's MP dropped to 0, they will lose consciousness!
****
By the end of the day, Cain has collected a total of 24 core. This has left him with very little MP.
<MP: 7/144>
It was almost dusk so he hurried back to the guild to sell the core, on his way, he thought of a lie to tell them about how he hunted the slimes.
"Mary! Are you still here?" Cain asked as he saw Mary behind the desk.
"Yeah, I was about to leave!" She replied.
The guild has 2 groups of workers, those who work at night and those who works at day! Mary had a day shift and as it was dusk, night group are about to take her place!
"I did take the slime quest, could you please confirm my kills?" Cain asked, he was expecting her to tell him to wait for the night group as she was about to leave.
"Why not? Put the destroyed cores on the table over there, I will count them!" She said as she was wearing gloves so she can handle the cores.
"Mary...well..how do I say it?" Cain hesitated for a moment, Mary looked at him with a puzzled face. "They are intact!" He said as he showed her the cores.
"You didn't do this alone, did you?" She asked, not believing what she just saw!
Cain then told his lie, It was a one that the guild had no way of confirming it's validity.
When he was out hunting the slimes, an adventurer who was passing by saw him. That adventurer proceeded to scold him about his bad posture and how he was handling the sword!
After just a few minutes, they ended hunting slimes together, Cain drawing their attention while the adventurer slew them with magic.
The adventurer than gave all the core they gathered to Cain as he had no use to them.
"Mary you told me to do my first quest in a party! It was really helpful to have someone guide me!" Cain showed appreciation to taking quest in a party instead of solo.
"Well, I guess that it!"Mary said with an exhausted face, she has finished inspecting and counting the cores.
Indeed all 24 cores were is good condition, a resource that the alchemy guild would definitely buy.
"Here's your payment, 2 silver coins, and 4 copper coins!" She said as she handed him the money, Cain looked happy as he had gained almost double what he needed!
Now to look for an inn, I need to sleep to recover my MP!