❮ ‘Learning the ropes! – 2’ – Wander around in the forest and hunt the following monsters: 0/10 Goblins; 20/20 Angry wolves; 5/15 Poison-bite spiders; 3/5 Yellow slimes. ❯

And that was the quest they couldn’t fully accomplish last time. They thought they’d won. They didn’t. Hopefully, we would get it done with. I mean, I could always get it done on my own, but I wanted to respect my boys’ wishes.

This didn’t change that. Against the horde of goblins, last time, they believed they’d won, still. And going with that, that’s what kept us going forward right now. Going forward to the deeper ends of this wild, highly-concentrated-on-mana forest.

The Party sure was hesitant. It didn’t show on the outside, however. They kept it well hidden within themselves. Their hesitation was justified. If they feared for their lives, they just weren’t stupid. Still, I was with them, so that was that.

Just as per the plan, we proceeded deeper into the forests.

At some point within the forest, around the area we’d usually stop at and hunt, the leader stopped his feet and turned back. There, he addressed his team. This was only about the usual words of encouragement he’d usually give them.

“Blah blah blah, we’ve progressed well enough, blah blah blah…” and so on. “And remember, if the situation turns sour, we have to live. Progress can always be made later!”

End of the discourse. Speaking with words was great; speaking with swords even greater.

We proceeded on. Time went by. The forest sure was deep and dark. We had room to go, really. And cutting ourselves some bushy paths here and there, we dived deeper into the forest.

And that was weird now. Yeah, weird. You know, in this forest, that deep into it, usually, we saw monsters, already. Very weird, yup. Why weren’t the monsters showing up, hmm?

There was a reason for that.

And we proceeded still on, without deviating paths. Just as per the plan, the leader had explained, the deeper we get, the better the hunt shall be.

Weren’t my boys growing super-thick on confidence, now. And when the leader spoke again, every party member naively and discreetly pumped their fists in victory.

The man had just commented about how he and his friends still hadn’t bumped into any monsters so far. Fact was, they were getting strong. They already had, actually. It was quite a lot of strength they got. But this growing stronger didn’t stop.

And from their perspective, that was correct. For the past three days or so–they’d been really tough and firm. Any kind of foe that came their way was to be slain. Simply put, they were strong.

And results were results: the spineless monsters feared the proudly stomping monster-hunters.

“Yeah… I know I say that a lot,” Leader concluded. “But really, we got this, team.”

And the conclusion he’d reached was too well-welcomed by his crew.

The forest we trod in was funny enough. Sure, there were branches. ‘Cause there were trees, hm. Lots and lots of them. So lots and lots of branches. And bushes, too. Again, lots of them.

But the way that’s described only seems to make it tedious and complicated. The forest wasn’t that. No. Even with all the branches, trees, bushes, and every other kind of plant, navigation was possible here.

Scattered across the many ominously dark-green colors of the woods were many surprisingly handy natural paths. The task of navigating through all these oceans of bushes and plants actually was very much so possible as well as easy.

Still though. Fighting here? Not so possible, I reckon.

Well, there were those handy paths, but there also were many remarkably clear and clean areas. And so that was funny. Hearing from it, it wouldn’t seem to add up. But seeing it for real was convincing enough.

Those bits of wild forestland would make fighting and moving around easy. In a sense, it was even as if they were promoting and enjoying the fights. As if they looked for it.

Those bits of land were many. They were part of the forest.

Right now, we came out on a clear area. It was little but satisfying enough. And while it didn’t quite promote fighting around that much, it still did its best to make it possible.

Yeah, it did that. The excited damage dealer was the first to step in. The way he did enter the not-so-walled natural room was as if he allowed himself into it using some kind of invisible door, making himself slip in just right.

This was fun. The Party followed him. And I after them.

The spirit of fighting was indeed promoted down this lonely corner of the forest.

Boing!

Would you then look at this funny-funky-jelly-looking creature.

Boing, boing, boing!

The damage dealer brushed aside the branches that stood in his way. With a hand, they all were arranged out of the way. So leaving an opening behind himself, he entered the small round.

We were still in the wild woods. Trying to beat it, the forest.

So far, we’d encountered no prey whatsoever. So the Party really was strong, then, hmm? Yup, if any monster wouldn’t come facing them off after the long walk we’d undertaken throughout the woods, already; it only meant one thing.

When intelligent types of monsters avoid you, it means you’re stronger than them.

So factually, even though that may have been biased (spoiler alter: it was), the adventurers were strong.

But finally, monsters. How refreshing was that. There were slimes. Yellow slimes out here. Bouncing off within that natural ring, jiggling their bodies like this and like that.

Boing, boing, boing!

The damage dealer called the slimes group Jiggly Tits Battalion and laughed at them, saying he regretted he had to slay them. There were a demi-dozen of the jelly-like creatures.

Boing, boing, boing, boing, boing!

And going about bouncing around, in a seemingly disorganized way, they all trod across their land together as a group.

They were sharp. And they started to bounce his way. As soon as I got there, I outdid the damage dealer and got even closer to them. Stars sparkled in my eyes. I got nearer to them, and really–

Boing, boing, boing!

I wanted to touch them.

“Step– Step back, Emerald!”

Not even a moment passed when I was pulled backward. The collar of my shirt tightened on my throat. I groaned a little, frowning. And bam, there I got behind my girl.

She scolded me right away. “Those can be dangerous!” she said. But no they can’t. Not against me. I was stronger than that. But all right. I didn’t retort and agreed to step back.

…Ring!

❮ Requirements have been met – generating a New Quest. ❯

What was that, now?

❮ ‘And what shall I do with these funny creatures…?’ Additional Quest has been obtained. ❯

❮ ‘And what shall I do…+’ Additional Quest – Head over to Princess Elina and obtain your quest. ❯

Hmm… Sure.

So this was the following of what I’d do afterward. Oftentimes, that happens. The System just felt like chiming in, all of a sudden, and brought me some juicy quest.

This is that.

From the time this ringing notification rang through my ears to the obtaining of this new quest, the outside world hadn’t paused. Only a few seconds had passed. Still, the adventurers had found themselves enough time to jump at the throats of my slime friends and attack them.

Well, slimes weren’t so strong at all. They were in fact kind of weak, to be honest. They didn’t last long. But well, they were just made that way.

Made to be either weak or strong based on potential only. They couldn’t be cunning and thoughtful like the cunning and dangerous humans.

Them being slimes, when you fought them, they just tried to jump at you, get you into their weird, semi-liquified, semi-solid, yellow mass; and eat you. Yes, eat you. Somehow, they did that.

I imagined I’d have turned pretty similar to such creatures if I hadn’t gotten the “Consciousness” Passive Skill.

But anyway, they were too slow; they just died.

They either possessed strength or not. The strong party of adventurers rejoiced after the quick fight was finished.

And it was time for the looting to take place now, eh? As usual, the damage dealer called me to him. Like I was some sort of wild animal, he made that repeated clicking sound with his tongue, calling me over.

My head swiveled towards him; then my body followed. I started toward him.

The other members of the Party reunited together. Leader, his priestess, his tank, and his sorceress all gathered in one place. They talked and dealt with what needed dealing with. They made decisions about what direction to take, when to stop going forward, evaluating the dangers–stuff like that.

But I got with my better. I got next to him. Looking down at me from above, he spoke to me. “So, kid. Remember how I showed you to handle those squishy freaks last time?”

I said no.

“No worries! Will make a show of it again.”

Next to us, about a meter away, lied the deflated bodies of the squishy freaks. I was surprised the damage dealer didn’t complain when I said I didn’t know how to handle that.

But he didn’t complain and got to do it by himself, showing me all over again what’s of value and what isn’t.

This was an art. The Art of Looting. I was supposed to learn that, remember? Porter of the team was my job, as I had nothing else to do.

And dismembering countless types of monsters, transporting all the pricey bits of them with me was about what was needed to do.

Quickly, we were finished here. My backpack was wide open. With the damage dealer, I shoved the merchandise down within the inventory. And that was it.

The Party departed again. Yet deeper in the woods. The observations the Party had made so far were to be made again, but out loud, summing up what was that they talked about minutes ago, adding about other pieces of obvious information to the whole equation, explaining yet another time the ‘why’ of the state of things.

It was the leader who spoke. And it was my time to make observations. This Party–it really depended way too much on him. By himself, this man seemed to be carrying everyone’s weight on his shoulders.

He was just like one strong bull going about pulling one hell of a big cart all by itself when that wasn’t how things were supposed to be. That bull had an entire party in its charge.

So it was too much. That was yet another thing I didn’t like about this group of people.

So I stepped up and got next to the lonely explaining leader at the front of the marching formation.

Interrupting him, I spoke in his stead and reiterated everything that needed reexplaining. There were three points. Knowing this made and the cheering speeches he always held between fights; I knew exactly what to say.