Surveillance Day 6, Pest Extermination -Chapter 8-

The slime was once again in the Eaglith Woods. It was a place the creature knew well, seeing how it has spent most of its life here. However, that period of time is just a few days, in reality, it had spent little actual time in the large place. Even if it could see, the slime wouldn't have a clue where in the place it was in.

Those who did know the place well were the Elf and Dwarf. As lower-rank adventurers - ranked currently copper - the Eaglith Woods were where they did most of their hunting. As stated before, it's a popular spot for adventurers, especially since the monsters repopulated so quickly. The place required constant extermination so that these monsters did not spread into the nearby villages and the Town of Licrom. Considering this, Adventures were a necessary asset, and if not for them, many places would crumble at the threat of monster kind. Of course, there were always knights protecting larger cities and towns, but in villages and the sort, they were not allowed such a luxury.

"Hm... Alfin, I forgot to tell ya. There's somethin' strange happening I noticed yesterday." The Dwarf spoke out in his heavy accent.

"Oh? Do you mean in the forest? True, it seems like there's a slightly lower concentration of mana than normal, but it fluctuates anyways." The Elf responded.

"Mm," the Dwarf let out a noise of affirmation, continuing, "But, it's not just that. The monsters 'ave been agitated as of late, They attack even more mindless than usual! The monsters 'ere are known for being at least a bit more passive than others, but for some reason, they're just like the normal ones! Maybe even a bit worse."

Another reason for the Eaglith Woods being a popular spot for adventures, the annual calmness of the monsters. Of course, they still attacked almost anything they see, but seem to keep a distance, only attacking what they're sure they can deal with.

Most likely cause of this: The magic of one of the ancient ones, specifically, the one located in the dungeon formerly nearby. Its long-range calming spell no longer is in effect, and the only remnants of its mana are here, upon the slime's soul.

... Why?

"Ah, that is strange. Still..." the elf thought to himself for a moment, "hey, perhaps this slime has something to do with this all? The timing can't just be coincidental!"

"Eh? What'd that thing 'ave to do with the monsters going mad? It's just a little slime!" While continuing to walk, the Dwarf had a confused yet skeptical look on his face.

"Oh, for goodness sake Dralof, this slime hasn't attacked me once! It's like a dog or cat, and even then, it's more passive! I've read book after book, not once in history has a monster ever been like this without being tamed! It could have killed me in my sleep, and just look at it now, it's asleep!"

The slime was indeed in a state of unconscious, sitting upon the Elf's shoulder.

"Ya make a good point... yeah, the thing does just look like 'n adorable creature. If not for the fact it's a slime, it could be confused for a common animal. Are we sure it's not tamed?" The Dwarf seemed to suddenly become serious, looking at the Elf with narrowed eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

"Yes, Dralof. We went through this. I used appraisal on it, it said it wasn't tamed."

"Oh, you did? Heh heh, I completely forgot about that! Well, we'll have to find out more about it as we go! We're here to level it up, no?" And instantly, the Dwarf was back to his more jovial self.

The Elf let out a light-hearted sigh, "you're really something else, Dralof. Yes, we should get to that. The Goblins have recently been repopulating quickly, right? We should focus on them, today."

"I'll take that as a compliment! Yes, there's been 'n increase in their numbers, it was noticeable yesterday. I must have killed at least fifty! Quite the profit, I must say."

"Ah, then that will be--"

The Dwarf quickly cut him off, raising his hand slightly in the air as they both came to a halt. This surprised the slime, awaking it. The Dwarf seemed to suddenly be on heavy guard, his character seeming to change on a dime.

"Stay quiet..." The dwarf whispered, "there's someone or something near... as you know, my sense of touch is what I've focused on training. I can't tell exactly what it is... but the vibrations in the ground should signify it either being a couple of two-legged creatures, or a single four-legged one."

The Dwarf took his axe from off of his back, holding it in both of his hands. The Elf, on the other hand, quickly stuck the slime into his pocket, making sure it wouldn't be hurt during what would probably be a fight. After that, two books flew from his cloak, floating in the air beside him, one enchanted with a green glow, the other seemed to shine with a bright golden luminosity.

However, instead of the groans of two perhaps two goblins or the growls of a horned wolf, there seemed to be words in the common language approaching the three.

"Elizia... you really have to stop doing this. You could get hurt, or worse...

"I keep telling you, it's Eli! Ugh, and yet, here I am! Unhurt! Perfectly fine! Not a scratch on me because I'm perfectly capable of doing stuff just like you!"

"Sorry... Eli, you know the reason why..." the man from before stopped his speech, realizing the Dwarf and Elf's presence, "Oh, uh, hello."

"Looks like we were on guard for nothing..." The Elf mumbles this, the books flying back into his cloak, the glowing disappearing entirely.

The Dwarf let out a breath of air, putting his back axe back on his back, "to think I thought it was some vicious monster coming our way! It's always nice to see fellow adventurers! Or..."

The Warrior Dwarf took a better look at the two, "A silver ranked adventurer and a normal person? Quite the odd pairing!"

"Ah... that. She's my sister."

"Hi." The girl let out a slight smirk, one of knowing she would be able to stay.

"Eh? Oh! I see you've brought 'er here for some training, perhaps she too wants to work as 'n adventurer one day? Haha! What a great idea!" The Dwarf came to his own conclusions and proceeded to act them out as reality.

The Dwarf turned to the girl that went by Eli, speaking to her, "well, young miss, 'm sure you'll be a fine adventurer one day!"

"Oh, um, thank you?" The human girl seemed a tad confused, mostly in part of not expecting what the Dwarf would say.

"Ahem," The Elf spoke up, seeming to clear his throat, but really just wanted to get the attention of them, "we really have to go, we're quite busy. It was nice meeting the two of you, though, truly!"

"Oh! Right, we still 'aven't killed a single monster!"

"Ah. I'm sorry for keeping you here, even if it was not for long." The human named Vix apologized, but it seemed they would be together for a bit longer.

The Dwarf spoke once again, "It's really no problem! We'll just..." once again, in but an instance, the Dwarf became serious.

"... Be on guard. It seems we're surrounded."

And once again, just as before, the Dwarf and Elf readied their weapons, the axe and two books specifically. The human, Vix, unsheathed a common long sword, but one that was strangely a bit sharper at the end. The other human seemed flustered, surprised at everything that was happening.

"Elizi--" The man cleared his throat, "Eli, stay close to me, don't fight."

"Huh? H-hey! I can fight too! I'm not some weakling that stays on the sidelines!"

"Mm, I agree with the young miss! This should be good practice, especially with there being so many of them, we could use the help!" The Dwarf spoke his opinion.

"... Fine. Just... don't put yourself in danger."

"Yay!"

"Er, on that note, just how many monsters are we fighting? And just what are they?" The Scholar asked this question in a hurry, a reasonable one.

"Well, luckily for us... these pests're goblins."

"Wait, we're all worried over a few goblins?" The Human girl seemed even more confused.

"No, not exactly a small amount... fifty, or more." The Dwarf's estimate was correct, as a current 54 goblins were surrounding them, hiding around in the trees.

"No way..."

"Dralof, that's a bit worrying!"

"Are we... sure they're coming after us?" Vix posed this question, anxiety growing.

However, at that moment, an arrow flew towards the human named Eli, just nearly hitting her. However, incredibly swiftly, Vix's blade cut the arrow in two, protecting the girl.

"Guess that's their answer..."

While an intense and difficult fight was about to begin, the slime was oblivious to it all, being shaken around inside the pocket of the Elf.

"Then a true battle we shall have!" The Dwarf let out a vicious war cry, activating a certain skill, "Unbreaking Will!"

Unbreaking Will was an intrinsic skill belonging to all Dwarfs. It increased their strength by double for thirty seconds and does not actually require the yelling to activate. The Dwarf was seemingly one for theatrics. After the period it's activated runs out, it cannot be used for an hour.

The moment that it was activated, the Dwarf made a running dash towards the tree closest to him. With an inhuman amount of strength, he cut the tree right in two, along with the certain monster hiding behind it. Bone and all, the small goblin was cut cleanly in half.

However, the Dwarf's target wasn't that specific goblin, his plan was much more vast than that. For, in the tree, he was able to cut down, hid even more goblins in its twisting branches. These goblins, losing their footing and caught off guard, fell onto the ground around the Dwarf and Elf.

This is where those two's teamwork shined.

The Elf, not missing a beat, started casting a spell even before the goblins fell. The glowing green book from before's pages turned speedily, turning towards the Elf as it worked to conduct the mana from around them all.

"Wind Magic: Slicing Blasts!" He completed his chant in but a moment, with several quick bursts of wind, all the goblins which fell from the tree were swiftly decapitated. Somewhat gruesome, perhaps, but magic was always showing of the user's personality. Considering how quickly and painlessly he killed the monsters, he was a gentler person. As well, he made sure to not destroy the ears of the goblins, they were the current sign of one killing a goblin, and were usually used for charms.

"Whoa... real elven magic..." The human girl seemed to be amazed to see the Elf's magic but still maybe a bit nervous from the current situation.

"You two are... rather impressive, even if copper rank. It's especially impressive seeing our current situation. " The other human commented upon their skills.

"Heh, rank ain't everything, you know!"

"Hm... that might be somewhat true, but there's a reason for the usual difference in strength between ranks. Allow me to demonstrate why." The Human tried to come off as 'cool', but failed horribly, seemingly only strange and awkward instead, for, who really says things like that?

However, he readied his sword in a somewhat strange stance, taking a deep breath in. He closed his eyes for a moment and waited just for a few seconds. Right then, when the goblins were about to attack, to take advantage of his current weakness, he struck. Like that of a blur, his speed seemed to increase, yet nothing like that of skill or spell was activated. He almost danced around the surrounding trees, somehow knowing the exact locations of each striking each and every monster in their vicinity, killing each with swift strikes and thrusts of his blade.

While, an awe-inspiring attack, one which eradicated all but one of their enemies, at the end, when he was about to come to a stop, he tripped.

"..."

"..."

"Ahaha! You totally messed that up at the end!" While the Elf and Dwarf were completely at a loss for words, the human named Eli was simply in hysterics over his embarrassing display.

"It was just one small mistake..." The man went to stand up, but, as stated before, there was one goblin left. Usually, it would have run away, but due to the increased agitation among the monsters in the forest, it went for an all-or-nothing attack against the defenceless Vix.

It ran from its cover, - bush - and ran towards him in an effort to plunge a rudimentary dagger into his side.

Nobody had enough time to react, all but one who was already casting a simple spell.

"L-let spark bring forth a brilliant tame flame, Flame Burst!" She stuttered on the chant, but still, let forth a surprisingly powerful yet quickly cast spell.

The spell appeared directly on the last goblin, lighting it completely on fire, and turning it to ash in an instant, not even being able to make a noise. A completely gruesome sight.

"..."

"..."

"..."

And then, more confused silence.

"Dralof, I believe we've been completely destroyed in terms of ability."

"Mm, I hate to admit it, but you just might be right there."

After a bit more talking between the three, they eventually parted ways.

Afterwards, the Dwarf and Elf continued on, giving a few kills to the slime now and again (who was still completely oblivious to everything going on).

>You have levelled up! All Stat points increased.<

>You have levelled up! All Stat points increased.<

>You have levelled up! All Stat points increased.<

>You have levelled up! All Stat points increased.<

Concluding the day, the two returned to Licrom, heading to their respective homes. The Elf made some dinner for himself, did some more research on monsters, and went to sleep with the slime.

-Surveillance Day 5, | Second Half | Log End.-