Chapter 9

While hunting the green slimes, the hidden condition to trigger the HEFB required the player's level to be 6~7 or below. Although level 5 players could also defeat the slimes, they weren't efficient and wasted a lot of time. That's why level 6 and 7 players were set as the standard to hunt the slimes more effectively. This was set according to the system, thus it became one of the conditions to trigger the HEFB.

However, the required number of slimes to be defeated differed according to the level of the player. The requirement to clear the hidden condition for a level 6 player or below was—hunting 55 slimes in a period of 60 minutes. Meanwhile, the requirement for a level 7 player was to hunt 65 slimes under the same period. 

According to the standard level set for clearing the hidden condition by the system, the amount of experience provided by clearing the hidden condition was just enough for the player to level up once. That was—1100 experience points required for a level 6 player to reach level 7. Or 1300 experience points for a level 7 player to reach level 8.

Even though Grid had cleared the hidden condition before reaching the standard level set by the system, he already had most of the knowledge of Satisfy in advance due to his memories—that also included the knowledge about the level system of Satisfy.

This was the reason why Grid was sure that the requirement to clear the hidden condition was to be of a certain level or below and hunt a specific number of beginner monsters. Moreover, for the standard level player who cleared a hidden condition, the amount of experience points acquired from hunting those monsters was just enough to raise their level by 1.

As the observational ability of the current Grid was exceptional, he had already inferred most requirements needed to trigger an HEFB from 2 of his past trials correctly and knew 3rd one would be triggered the moment he took down the 55th slime. That's what happened...

The hidden field boss and its 3 minions spawned out of nowhere.

The 3 black slimes lunged at Grid immediately after spawning. Similar to the previous events, the minions attacked first. 

The three completely black blobs 1.5 feet in diameter attacked Grid with a speed 3 times that of a normal green slime.

However, as the slimes usually had low base movement speed, the current speed of black slimes didn't pose much threat to the Grid. Even though their speed wasn't much of a concern to Grid, he still avoided them since their corrosive ability was enhanced compared to a normal green slime. 

Moreover, they also had the ability to cause a 'Lesser Poisoning' state to the target with a certain probability—an ability that green slimes didn't possess and could prove fatal to any beginner once they fell into such a state of debuff. 

'Hmm... None of them are translucent and I can't see their mana cores. It would have been very tricky to defeat them if not for the slash skills I have acquired in advance.'

Additionally, they were very resistant to physical damage and completely black in color which resulted in them becoming a hard target for anyone who only knew how to deal physical damage. 

Since Grid had just used an attack skill and didn't have sufficient mana to use another, he avoided them with the footwork of Link and attacked just after with the movement of Chop to play out a normal vertical slash.

Thaak! 

However, as the location of black slime's mana core was unknown to Grid and couldn't be targeted intentionally, the attack resulted in low damage with no occurrence of a critical hit.

While avoiding the hugs of 2 other black slimes, Grid played out two more strikes to target them.

Thaak! 

... 

Thaak! 

This resulted in no critical hit occurrence and low damage again.

In the meantime, the hidden field boss known as the platinum slime also attacked Grid. Not with its sluggish body but with a fast bullet made of poisoned water. Poison Bullet—a small pellet made of poisoned water that could cause the target to fall into a state of 'Lesser Poisoning' once hit by the skill. 

Shaak!

'Huh? A range attack by a beginner monster, that's unheard of. Interestingly, the S.A. Group actually created this near-impossible-to-clear event for the beginning players. That's so like them.'

Even to Grid, who had been paying close attention to the boss monster while fighting against the 3 black slimes with normal attacks, such a thing was unheard of. But even so, with his experience and control, he was able to avoid the bullet.

'This skill of platinum slime should have a cooldown time so I shouldn't be attacked in a few seconds again. Even if it doesn't, I can avoid it with the level of my attention but this would prolong the fight. Hmm... I can't also use my previous tactics to cripple the black slimes. So I should finish them first one by one before taking down the boss so they don't interfere in the last fight.'

The slimes were immune to the 'fracture' effect, unlike the rabbits and deer. This was the reason why Grid's previous strategy wouldn't work against them. That's why he decided to finish them one by one.

In the meantime, the mana required for using a slash skill was recovered and Grid used the skill.

"Vertical Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

The black slime had 3 times the health of green slime. Even though slimes were weak to energy damage and a critical hit did occur, the black slime wasn't killed right away. Only around 60% of its health bar was erased by Grid's Vertical Slash. 

Thaak! 

Grid then started hitting the 2nd black slime with the normal attacks while avoiding their corrosive attacks in the form of an embrace. As his mana recovered to the limit, he used the Horizontal Slash skill to finish the first black slime he had targeted previously. 

"Horizontal Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

[You have defeated a Black Slime.]

[You have acquired 15 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Elite Slime's Core.]

[40 experience has been acquired.]

'One finished, two remaining.'

Grid went on to target the 2nd black slime again with the normal attacks, following the previous strategy and avoiding their attacks. 

Thaak! 

...

Thaak! 

...

After 40 seconds of using the Horizontal Slash, the mana required for using another skill was recovered completely. Immediately, Grid used the skill that wasn't on cooldown duration, the Vertical Slash.

"Vertical Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

[The 'Cutting' effect is activated.] 

[Extra damage equal to 150% of your physical attack power is dealt to the target.]

[You have defeated a Black Slime.]

[You have acquired 15 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Elite Slime's Core.]

[40 experience has been acquired.]

'Nice. This made things easier. Now only the 3rd one is left, then it would be the boss fight at last.'

Only one strike of Grid's skill was needed this time to erase the 80% remaining health bar of the 2nd black slime, just because the 'Cutting' effect attached to the skill activated. 

This was the first time the Cutting effect activated, not because the probability of its activation was low, but only because the targets Grid was facing earlier couldn't even bear a strike from his skills and died immediately. 

Grid then shifted his target to the 3rd black slime, the last minion left on the battlefield. He kept on using the normal attacks until he recovered sufficient mana to use another skill while avoiding all the attacks in the meantime as well.

Thaak!

During the period he was fighting the black slimes, he was constantly attacked by the platinum slime several times either with the Poison Bullet or with poisonous embrace. He didn't let any of those touch him since it meant a certain death.

He recovered full mana just after 40 seconds of using the attack skill previously. He utilized the recovered mana immediately and activated the Horizontal Slash. 

"Horizontal Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

[You have defeated a Black Slime.]

[You have acquired 15 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Elite Slime's Core.]

[40 experience has been acquired.]

This time, Grid hit the mana core of black slime unknowingly, resulting in its immediate demise with over 90% of its health points being deleted instantly.

'Hahaha... Amazing! Now only the boss is left.'

Finally, Grid was ready to take down the hidden field boss.

The boss monster looked like a platinum blob of 3 feet in diameter. Being similar to a black slime, it wasn't translucent at all. It was 'extremely' resistant to the physical damage. It had 5 times the speed and 10 times the health of a green slime. Additionally, It had abilities such as the 'enhanced poisonous corrosive effect' and Poison Bullet that could corrode rapidly and make any beginner fall into the 'Lesser Poisoning' state just with a touch. Both of these abilities were fatal to beginners.

Since the base movement speed of slimes was abysmal, the S.A. Group had designed the hidden field boss and its minions to be fatal even with one touch just to compensate them for the lack of movement speed. Including the 'extreme resistance against the physical attacks' to the platinum slime made the situation even worse.

It was a near-impossible scenario to be cleared. The situation was so extreme that it wasn't wrong to say that the HEFB related to slimes was the hardest.

Yet it wasn't much of a concern for Grid, who had beyond-godly control to avoid all the fatal attacks and skills that dealt energy damage which the slimes were weak against. He was the only nemesis of such monsters currently.

However, before the confrontation took place between Grid and the platinum slime, the boss entered the Berserk state due to all of its minions being eliminated. 

[Platinum Slime has fallen into the 'Berserk' state!]

[While in the Berserk state, the Platinum Slime's magic attack power, movement speed, and resource consumption are increased by a large amount but the skill casting time and defense are decreased.]

After seeing the situation, Grid decided to play it safe. Normally, the Berserk state of the bosses represented their desperation to finish the fight swiftly. The resources exhausted by the bosses during the battle were enormous. The power of their attacks was also very high compared to before.

This was the reason why Grid ceased his normal attacks, maintained a safe distance to be able to avoid the attacks correctly, and only focused on using the attack skills at the correct point of time whenever his mana recovered completely.

"Vertical Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

Since the platinum slime was weak against the energy damage, almost all the attacks with his skills caused the critical hits to occur.

... 

"Horizontal Slash!"

Shaak!

[Critical hit!]

[The 'Cutting' effect is activated.] 

[Extra damage equal to 150% of your physical attack power is dealt to the target.]

[The 'Bisect' effect is activated.] 

[Extra damage equal to 800% of your physical attack power is dealt to the target.]

[You have defeated the Platinum Slime.]

[You have acquired 50 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Platinum Slime's Core.]

[You have acquired the Beginner's Deluxe Armor.]

[200 experience has been acquired.]

Grid took down the platinum slime in just under 4 minutes. Even though he had used the skills only 5 times during the battle, as the defense of the boss was decreased and Bisect got activated, the resulting scenario was an early demise of the boss monster.

Just then, unexpectedly to Grid, other notification windows popped up again, showing the effect of the 'passive ability correction' that Morpheus had applied to Grid... 

[Your proficiency in swordsmanship has increased by a large amount!]

[The level of Sword Mastery skill has risen.]

[The level of Vertical Slash skill has risen.]

[The level of Horizontal Slash skill has risen.]

'Amazing! Perhaps no one will be able to catch up to me in terms of swordsmanship in the beginning of the game.'

Grid's Sword Mastery and slash skills reached level 3 and level 2, respectively, at the same time. All his swordsmanship-related skills were growing very rapidly. 

The amount of proficiency required to level up most other skills was way lesser when compared to mastery skills of the same type. However, this didn't seem to be the case with Grid as his Sword Mastery grew faster than his slash skills. This was even after considering that his sword techniques were growing at an insane pace. 

This was due to the reason that Sword Mastery accumulated proficiency even when basic attacks were used, not only skills. 

Why were Grid's sword techniques growing rapidly—was because of two factors. The first was obviously due to the passive ability correction applied to Grid by Morpheus. The second factor was that the proficiency accumulated by all his basic slash attacks contributed to the growth of his slash skills. 

'Since there is no green slime present for now, let's check out the descriptions of the main items I have acquired.'

[Platinum Slime's Core]

[A unique slime's mana core. It contains a mysterious magic power and is only available to players who have cleared a 'hidden event'. 

Helps in the recovery of mana at an extreme pace and increases Intelligence stat by a certain amount permanently. 

* 300 mana points are recovered instantly after it is absorbed completely. 

★ Depending on the user's luck, Intelligence is increased by 5~10 points permanently after it is absorbed completely. 

★ ??? 

Caution: There is a certain probability of falling into the 'Lesser Poisoning' state when absorbed without being boiled properly.

Conditions of Use: Grid

Weight: 0.1.]

"Tch! How infuriating!"

Grid clicked his tongue just after taking a glance at the description of Platinum Slime's Core. 

Although the Platinum Slime's Core was still a unique-rated elixir-type item, it was unlike the previous two items of the same type which Grid acquired from earlier hidden events.

The two types of animal meats of unique monsters that Grid had acquired earlier provided stat points based on how well the meat was cooked. However, this wasn't the case with the Platinum Slime's Core. The latest consumable type item provided stats points based on the luck of the user.

To Grid, it felt like S.A. Group was messing with him knowingly for a moment because of how bad his luck was, to say the least.

However, he knew as well this wasn't correct. The S.A. didn't know most things about him properly. The only reason why he acted like this was because he knew his bad luck was beyond limits most of the time.

Then he looked again at the description to see the portion he had left...

'Hoh... Does this item have a hidden feature as well? Tch! Too bad I don't have any appraisal skills currently. Perhaps S.A. Group isn't as bad as I thought in the beginning? Maybe they included the hidden feature based on the difficulty of clearing this hidden event?'

Grid, who came to know that there might be an unknown benefit provided by the item, calmed down and stopped clicking his tongue at the S.A. Group.

'Hmm... They also added that nasty debuff state just to waste the user's time for boiling the item. What should I do now? Since I don't have cooking equipment currently, should I wait until I get them to boil the item...? That sounds like a waste of time since it wouldn't increase my luck anyway... Hmm...'

Just then, another idea struck Grid...

'Hehehe... I forgot about the Meditation skill. Since I have Meditation skill at the mastered level, I can easily overcome the 'Lesser Poisoning' state by going into the deep meditative state. But before that, let's see the armor's description and equip it.'

[Beginner's Deluxe Armor]

[Rating: Epic

Durability: 50/50 | Defense: 35

* 50% reduction in damage received from physical attacks by the enemies under level 40. However, the amount of damage received is doubled when hit by an energy attribute attack. 

A very durable armor with a high defense made from the soft body of platinum slime through a mysterious crafting technique for the capable beginner who cleared a hidden event.

It is highly resistant to physical damage but with a clear limit. However, as it is very weak against energy damage, the user is recommended to use the armor with caution when facing enemies who deal with energy damage. 

It is a part of Beginner's Deluxe Set. A bonus effect will be applied when all 4 items are collected and equipped simultaneously.

Conditions of Use: Grid

Weight: 50.]

'Although it's better compared to the armors of the same rating and level range, it has a big flaw. Anyway, there wouldn't be many enemies who can deal energy damage in the beginning of the game, so that should be all right for now. As for the magicians, they aren't of much concern currently.'

Despite the armor's flaw, Grid knew it was a nice item. Additionally, he was capable of defending himself in most cases in the beginning even if he didn't have the armor right now. 

"Equip the Beginner's Deluxe Armor!"

[You have equipped the Beginner's Deluxe Armor.]

'Now, let's retreat to the safe location and then absorb the Platinum Slime's Core.'

Grid retreated to a safe location after that. 

*** 

Grid arrived at the safe location where he had roasted the Silver Rabbit's Meat previously just in a few minutes to absorb the Platinum Slime's Core completely...