After receiving her quest from master alchemist Albion, Maria ran to the east gate and headed to the slow snail area mentioned in the quest details.
[Slow Snail - Level 3]
She held her dagger and approached a slow snail. She thrust her dagger, but the shell of the snail resisted.
[Fail.]
"Oh well, I don't have active skills yet. This is called freestyle! Charge!!!"
[Fail.]
[Fail.]
No matter how she attacked the snail, she couldn't do any damage. "What the heck? Is this crystal dagger fake?" Her hand holding the hilt of the dagger was starting to get blisters. "And I am getting the damage instead of the snail? What kind of bullshit is this?"
It was a good thing she set the sensitivity to normal. Otherwise, the blisters would really hurt her. The normal mode was 30% sensation of the original sensation if you would experience it in real life. The high was 50% and the low was just 10%. You could also override it, but who would like that? Nobody would want to get hurt in the game unless you were a masochist.
Maria sat in a distance to recover. She looked at the slow snail and analyzed its structure. The shell was too sturdy almost indestructible. It would be a perfect material for armors and shields. Better not damage it. "Oh well, I couldn't even damage it anyway. If I am going to attack, I need to do it on the exposed skin. Although it might squirt that sticky liquid to her. W-wait. That sticky liquid, could that be the slime serum? If it so, I can also get the serum without killing the snail."
[Ting.]
[Your Insight leveled up.]
"Sweet." She stood up after recovering. The blisters on her hand were gone. She planned her attack. She focused on the neck part of the snail since it was the exposed part while trying hard to avoid the sticky liquid. After killing the first slow snail, she was full of slime. "Ew!"
She could not avoid it because it was close combat. When the snail spitted on her, her vitality decreased. It was the slow snail's counterattack. But the slime serum was also contained in that spit. So, Maria was optimistic. She needed to endure the damage in able for her to scoop the slime serum. The slime serum had a faint glow while the rest was just pure slime. "I need a shower after this."
[Slime Serum: 3/10]
"Let me store the shell in my inventory. Wait--why it is not letting me store it? Is my inventory broken? No, that couldn't be. I can store the quest drops, even the bound equipment. Does it mean if it is not bound, I can't store it?" Maria cursed under her breath. "What kind of a scam is this?!!!" She decided to finish collecting her quest items first, then she would decide later. She might just drag the shells to town even if they were heavy so she could sell them.
She was able to kill six slow snails before she completed the quest drop. The other slow snail didn't squirt any slime serum. On the other hand, she leveled up, so no need for her to sit down to recover. Her HP gauge became full after levelling up.
"Wait...where are the other shells here? Don't tell me they disappear after some time? That-" She felt too regretful. She was thinking of dragging the shells to town. But it would be problematic to drag them because they were too heavy. Maybe that was the reason the snails became slow? she thought. These snails were not small, they were as big as an average size dog. She started to head back to town feeling a little bit disappointed about the shells when she noticed a concealed pond. The water was so clear she could see the pebbles on the bottom of the pond. Suddenly, she had a bright idea. She dove into the pond and instantly felt refreshed. "Ah, slime begone!" she said happily. She was contentedly swimming in the pond when she felt something bit her. "Aaargh!!!!"
[You received a critical hit. HP -20]
"WTF? That's too much! What was it that gave me this huge damage?" She quickly equipped her crystal dagger and checked for movements in the water. She found a big ripple in the water. "Oh my gosh! Is there an invisible monster here?" she shouted.
She swung her silver dagger violently and she hit something. The monster appeared in front of her. "Check stats."
[The Great Hidden Fish - level ??]
"Oh shoot! I can't see the level. It would probably be strong. Can I kill it? Think! Think! Think, Maria!" She tried to swim away but she was more sinking than moving, consequently due to panic. The monster was also approaching her. "I only have two items in my inventory, the stinky balm, and the quest item slime serum. If I use the stinky balm, it might not work since I am in the water. How about it I use the slime serum? However, they are quests items so they may also not work." The monster fish attacked her again.
[You received damage. HP -10]
"Oh, I only have 15 HP left. This is frustrating, I don't even have an HP recovery potion!" She took the slime serum vial out of desperation and threw the contents in the mouth of the monster fish.
[Ting.]
[Your Wisdom leveled up]
She noticed that the monster fish became a bit sluggish in its movements. Blumock attacked the fish. Her crystal dagger slashed the monster fish and gave it huge damage. "Yay! It's working!" She threw two more slime serum in its mouth and the monster fish became as slow as the snails she killed earlier.
She attacked relentlessly, but her HP also decreased because of fatigue. When she hit the final blow, her HP was down to 1.
[You killed the Great Hidden Fish]
[You leveled up.]
[You leveled up.]
"Yes! Oh my gosh, I am so lucky!" She became thrilled to gain two levels but noticed something that made her a little confused. "Wait-- why is my HP still the same? It didn't fill the HP gauge when I leveled up. This game is a scam! I don't have a freaking HP recovery potion!" Maria saw something was coming out of the monster fish's mouth, so she became curious. "Oh! A key!" She took it and examined it. "Not just a golden key, but the golden key with a double-heart ornament! Yay! Lucky! Lucky! Lucky! So, you were the one who took it. Thief!" She pointed to the dead monster fish and accused it of being a thief. She put the key in her inventory and when the monster fish vanished, a scroll appeared. "Huh? What's this?" Blumock reached out for the scroll.
[Ting.]
[You acquired a learning scroll.]
She put it in her inventory as well and swam so she can get out of the water. But she felt too tired.
[You died.]
[Level decreased by 1.]
[Returning to town in 5...4...3...2...1]
"Aaaaaarghhh!!!!!! Damn you, Peter!!!!"