After gaining a fair amount of distance, Lutini just remembered it had a skill that might save its life.
Turning around, it took a look at the mob and began to activate its skill, "Lecture". While lecturing, anyone who is listening to it will be drowned in large amounts of information and be forced to process all these information. Without wisdom and high intelligence, one will not be able to withstand the attack and will either feel drowsy, lethargic and eventually giving in to sleep or feel a tremendous amount of stress, which will result in headaches and depression. However, those with high intelligence will not experience all these side effects. Instead, they grow smarter. Since the mob effect made all the slimes dumb, Lutini figured out this useless skill might work for once!
As the mob listened to the lecture, majority of the mobs fainted. A quarter of them went berserk and begin to knock their heads against each other. It was an epic scene.
However, 5 slimes were unaffected and surprisingly gotten slightly smarter! It turned out these 5 slimes were not the original natives of the village, but were captured and forced to conform to their way of living. They really regretted eating the spirit heart grass. If they were not ignorant, they would not have eaten the herb that bind their heart and soul to the villagers. The more affection the villagers feel for them, especially the chieftains, the harder for them to break free from the group. As long as the villagers recognise them to be peers, the 5 slimes had no choice but to stay. Luckily, the villagers were no longer sane at this point, allowing the 5 slimes to gain momentary freedom.
Peer pressure and herd mentality is truly a scary way to brainwash slimes! The 5 slimes began to bouncing after Lutini. Lutini kept bouncing away from them while lecturing at them but their intelligent points increased instead.
Realising that the skill was not working, Lutini decided to focus on escaping. Bouncing across the streams and off the heads and backs of mysterious creatures it had never ever encountered in its lifetime. It finally spotted a crevice amongst a tree and decided to hide and bide its time to escape.
But the 5 slimes were no fools, with their increased intellect they were able to figure out Lutini's trajectory and possible hiding areas. They figured the slime could not be hiding in the stream, nor transform itself into a non living thing to camouflage itself because fellow slimes will be able to notice the subtle difference in colour, smell and shape. With their acute observation skill, they were able to deduct that Lutini had escaped into the woods.
"I think he went this way", Maia said looking at the patches of trampled grass. "Great! Let's follow the trail!" Legend said. The group nodded with unison.
The five slimes stopped in front of a withered tree.. shivers creeped up the back of their spineless jelly back.
"Why would he hide in here?" A spectacled slime asked, perplexed.
"Beats me, maybe he's new and ignorant? Or has really good protective skills?" Maia analysed.
"So who's going in? Do you think we can reach him?" the slime with a tuft of jello hair asked.
"Mala should go since he came up with the idea! Haha!" Jim with the rainbow hairband shouted excitedly.
"Haha, Mala you should go. You're the bravest." Maia added oil to the the fiery conversation.
"Ya, ya! You should go!" Jim chimed in excitedly, hoping to watch a good show.
"I think no one should go, the tree looks diseased. There's probably something or someone leeching its life force." Perry said softly under its breath but no one heard him except for legend. The rest of the gang was too busy discussing who should do the necessary.
"No one is going anywhere, we'll just camp here and take turns keeping watch. One of you who is good in surveying can check if the hole in the tree leads to anywhere. The rest be vigilant and avoid the mob. You guys drank the antidote for the grass already? If not you all better drink up, i don't want anyone going crazy later." Commanded Legend.
"Yes Sir!" The five shouted, "Bottoms up! Drink~ Up~!" The five slimes proceeded to finish up the 5 vials of antidote.