Chapter 8: Are slimes mindless?

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Morris was feeling uneasy. Like he was watched. He had felt the very same way back in his first dungeon. There had been slimes, too. And they had proven that they were stronger than the adventurer's handbook hinted at.

He chanced a look at Leander. The blonde was relaxed, using his staff as a walking stick. Honestly, Morris was surprised that Leander hadn't asked him for a break.

When Morris had first seen his partner, he had looked rather down. The crowd that was mocking him was not helping, either. So, Morris decided to go and try to cheer him up. For no other reason but because he had always rooted for the underdogs of this world.

Then, Leander had listened to him with an open mind and had taken his advice into consideration, rather than taking him for a simple meathead and ignoring him.

The people who looked beneath Morris's looks, both when he had been a scrawny stick of a boy and now that he was twice the size of most people, were few and far between. And Morris knew to cherish each one.

Then, Leander had told him that he was a healer. No one wanted to take Morris in their party, despite his rank. He was too reckless, they all said. For, surely, it had been his fault that Yolk had gotten a chunk of his hand bitten off.

It didn't help that their party hadn't had a tank. Just him, Yolk and another rogue. They had been overconfident. With high ranks right off the bat. Reality still hit them like a speeding buffalo.

The other rogue had quit being an adventurer and, last Morris had seen him, his hands still shook. Yolk had also gone home to his village. Shamed and not being able to swallow his pride and admit that he had been bested by slimes.

But Morris had dreamed his entire life that he was going to go around on adventures. He had been on the lookout for another person to party with.

Sure, he had seen Leander's name on the board, but his rank had turned him away. But then, he had gotten to know the healer. To see how determined he was and how he was willing to work for the life he wanted.

"Did you hear that?" Leander's question broke Morris out of his musings. He looked around and saw bubbles rising from the waste.

"Do you think there could be a gas leak down here?" Morris pulled his scarf over his nose, just in case.

He noticed that Leander had not pulled down his mask the entire time. Which was smart of him. For all Morris knew, he had already inhaled something that could damage his organs, or something.

"No but look. The border of the dungeon grounds is right ahead," Leander pointed at the border of the dungeon ground, which was a shimmering green light, and they both quickened their steps.

Just as they were about to get out of the dungeon grounds, a big hand made up of slime crashed into the ground before them.

"Honestly, what did it need the hamsters for when it had this next door?" Morris yelled as they both watched a slime golem get out of the water. It was full of glistening jewels, and they were ordered so that they could protect the golem's weak spots.

"We have to run," Leander made a barrier and wrapped it around the two of them. Then, he used another spell slot to freeze the golem in the wastewater. "This won't hold it for long."

"We can't let this thing rampage in the city," Morris unsheathed his axe and leaped into the water. It reached up to his knees and he promised himself that, if he got out of here alive, he would take a five-hour-long bath.

"This thing is above even your rank," Leander tried to talk Morris out of it, but the berserker brought his axe to the golem's stomach. Only for the slime to rearrange the gems in time so that they could be what the axe met.

"You are supposed to be mindless," Morris accompanied each word with a hit to the stomach, aiming for different spots.

"Try the eyes," Leander could see, even from behind his barrier, that the eyes were glowing. In the adventurer's handbook, it was written that if it glows, it was what kept the mob alive.

Morris looked up at the glowing, narrowed, blue orbs, and grinned.

"Say your prayers, slime. For you are dead sludge," Leander winced at the corny battle cry, and used his last spell slot to raise Morris up to the level of the eyes of the slime.

It was hard for the blonde to keep the ginger afloat, and so, he began to pour his own mana inside the staff. With a battle cry, Morris brought his axe down on one of the eyes, and then dragged it across the golem's face to the other. The golem gave out a pained wail and fell down. A pile of glittering gems, the only thing left behind.

The axe warrior was lowered down on the pile, and then he heard a thud.

Morris turned to see what had happened and saw Leander face first on the ground. He cursed and got away from the jewels and to his partner's side.

"Leander? Buddy, are you ok?" Leander groaned, and he let go of the staff he was clutching.

"Mana overuse," he managed to murmur, as Morris looked down on him. Then, without even sparing the mountain of gems a second glance, he slung Leander over his shoulder and picked up the healer's staff.

They had earned a lot. Enough to get checked up at a clinic and get some mana replenishing potions. The guild could have the rest of the gems. Morris was not leaving his partner behind.

With a lot of heaving, Morris made it up a flight of stairs and out of the sewer. He saw the familiar faucet and poster and grinned. The adventure had begun here, and it had ended here. It seemed only fitting.