Baldric, I got us a nice side job removing monsters from a farm, you interested in joining? This farmer said he gets tired of snails and slime creatures eating his crops at night, so me and Foley are going to be guards, Zad says.
Sure I'll join, Kilian is going around looking for information on his brother this evening.
As the sun starts to set they make it to the crop fields on the outskirts of town.
Well this is it then. The area is too large to overview at once, so we should do some patrolling.
I haven't fought any slimes in ages. I used to practise fighting water and earth slimes as a kid. Only the small ones of course.
Similar for me, Baldric says. We used to fight ice slimes in their caves. Compared to other slimes they are stronger though, they are very resistant to piercing and slash damage, you had to crush them, because they were so hard of course.
I guess everyone fought slimes then. I also practised on earth slimes in the desert.
Look over there, there's already some slimes. In the distance a green opaque blob of slime with a small sprout sticking out of its head is hopping its way forward.
They look kind of cute, but they're pests and they have to be removed. Sorry little slimes, Zad runs at one of the slimes and cuts in two. It pops into chunks of slime and ceases to be alive.
Foley shoots the rest from a distance. This is good target practice but I had hoped they'd be a little more challenging.
Young slimes are weak everywhere. But they are numerous and they can be a nuisance.
Over there guys, it's a giant snail. Baldric points at a snail in the distance, about 1.5 lengths tall with a large shell on its back.
Foley fires some arrows but the snail retreats into its shell, which he can't pierce.
Damn, I can't hit it.
Zad walks over and tries to stab it with its daggers in its bottom opening but the snail has retreated so far into its shell that he can't reach it.
I'll take care of this one guys, Baldric smashes his into the shell, breaking it open. Then Zad stabs the exposed snail. There's slimy goo everywhere. Gross.
Oh great, more slimes, a whole horde of them. Some are stronger, look at that big one, it must be their leader or something!
Foley fires a volley arrows at one of the stronger, cone shaped slimes. But it absorbs most of the arrows.
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You have to kill the plant on its head, then you will defeat them! Zad yells.
Look at these guys! Zad is getting attacked by 4 weak slimes. They smash into him, but their blows are so weak they don't do anything. Then he slices all four of them with one strike.
Very nice. Look at this! Baldric uses his fists to pop the slimes in one blow.
Look over there guys, it's a big one! It must be their leader! I bet if we get rid of it they'll stop eating those poor farmers' crops.
Foley fires some arrows at the plants on its topside but it easily tanks them.
Then he runs over and tries to climb on it but he is swallowed instead. He tries to slash around with his knives to free himself, but the jelly like insides of the slime are hard to push through with any force.
Baldric, throw me on top of it, I'll deal with this! Baldric extends his arm and pushes Zad on top of the large slime. He starts hacking away at the plants, cutting the heads off. Baldric uses his shield like a large shovel to remove chunks of slime to free Foley.
Wow thanks guys, that was close. I guess these large slimes aren't to be underestimated.
Lets head back to the farmer and tell him we took care of his problem already.
After a while they make it back to their inn where everyone else has already made it.
Look at this, we got a nice reward for helping that farmer. 60 gold pieces and a sack filled with fruits and vegetables.
That's not bad at all for such a short amount of work, Amaru says. Was it difficult?
Not really, most of the monsters were easy to kill, except this one larger slime that swallowed Foley whole. We had to get him out quickly.
I actually received another request. Amaru holds up a paper poster.
I spoke with a man earlier, a refugee from the nearby village of Eanverness. He told me that a Daemon war-mage approached their village and set it ablaze, killing many. Even though it was just a peaceful farmers village. He managed to escape the fires and flee but he said the Daemon is likely still around. He calls himself Sassarak, I figure we should do something since we're here anyway, we're trained fighters, we could stop him and turn him into the authorities.
Sounds like a difficult task then, if he's out there slaughtering entire towns, I don't see what we can do, Alina says.
We already defeated that elemental mage earlier, he knew 4 different kinds of magic, and he wasn't that difficult, Amaru replies.
We shouldn't mess with him, I've heard of him. Sassarak is extremely powerful, he's one of the most powerful mages in the Arcana kingdom, he's basically an arch-mage. And he's extremely cruel and childish, you can't really predict what he does next, Mona replies, with a look of seriousness on her face.
How do we know you're not just trying to defend your superiors, you Arcana mages stick out for each other don't you? Foley says.
That's ridiculous! I'd love to defeat him if we could.
Yeah Foley you're just being paranoid at this point, you're not making any sense.
But Foley remains wary. He's heard stories of Arcana spies ratting out entire towns to get them killed.
I think we can do it, Kilian says. If he's just alone we could easily outnumber him, the way I see it he can't handle all of us at once, especially if we can surprise him.
After we take care of that we should head all the way to the west of the Sanoran desert, I spoke with a man who said he saw my brother. He was heading to the former allied kingdoms, to infiltrate the Arcana empire and assassinate the king. He was travelling with a group of 5. No wonder he hasn't made any contact anymore, there's no messengers operating from there.