"Oh, Kell, you retur- why are you covered in slimes," Ian asked, the blonde was drenched with slime juice.
"I don't want to talk about it," he exclaimed. "On the bright side, I bought the shield," he took out the wooden shield, a huge smile plastered on his face.
"Good for you then. But, are you sure you are not too tired for tomorrow? If you are, we can take some less strenuous commissions," Ian asked worriedly. After all, it seemed Kell had partaken in a battle today.
"No need, I will rest for the day, and tomorrow I will be good as new," Kell exclaimed, flashing his signature smile.
"Alright, but first, Heal," Ian cast Heal on Kell, and the spell actually removed the slime. As for Kell, he let out a sigh of relief as his wounds began to recover quickly.
"At least you will not feel bad tomorrow. Now sleep, Heal only cure wounds and injuries, it did nothing for your stamina," Ian reminded the former jock before he pulled his blanket and began to slumber.
Kell gave him a sheepish smile, not the genius could see it. He did the same thing, sleep claiming him soon.
-x-
"So, what commissions are we going to take today," Kell asked the genius. After all, he is the brawn while Ian is the brain of their duo.
"Hhmmm, let up the difficulty. We already knew we could handle some slimes if the number was reasonably small at least. So, we should take the monsters that above a slime in strength, goblins," Ian told Kell.
"Okay, anything else?" Kell asked.
"Because of how dangerous a goblin subjugation can be, we should only take that, as well as some gathering commissions, at least until we are used to handling the goblins," Ian explained.
"Alright then, it will be awesome,"
-x-
"Absolutely not," the receptionist shut them down immediately.
"Why?!" Kell whined. While Ian did not follow his friend's action, his twitching brows tell that he was displeased by the receptionist.
"Sorry, it is in the rule," the receptionist told them, "At least the unofficial guidelines for newbie adventurers,"
"Unofficial guidelines?" the two parroted.
"Yes. There had been many casualties in newbie adventurers, E-rank adventurers essentially, whenever they took the goblin subjugation quests.
Most of the E-rank adventurers had been adventurers less than a week before they were killed by the goblins. So, to avoid casualties in newbie adventurers, the guild decided to create these unofficial rules, but it is more of a guideline.
Only after a week, and after successfully completing two subjugation commissions, will the adventurers be allowed to take on the goblin subjugation commissions.
Even still, those who were allowed to take the commissions still died from time to time, but at least it was not as bad as when adventurers who had been adventurers for literally a day were allowed to take on a goblin.
To be honest, the guild wanted to make the grace period for subjugating goblins longer but they did not have a really good reason why a high-tier E-rank commission should not be taken by the newbies while the other high-tier E-rank commissions are allowed," the receptionist explained.
"Understood. But are there any dangerous monsters or beasts, at least more dangerous than Horned Roabbits or Slimes?" Ian asked.
"Hhmph, unfortunately, there are no dangerous creatures, besides goblins, in the E-rank. Apologize but it is the rule. We don't want any cocky adventurers to die so soon," the receptionist told them.
In the end, the two have to make do with a slime subjugation commission and some hinting and gathering commissions.
-x-
"Why can the goblins kill so many newbies anyway? Aren't they supposed to be weak, at least compared to regular people," Kell asked as they traveled through the woods in search of some Blue Mushroom.
"Probably because of its intelligence," Ian told him, scanning the area for the mushroom as they spoke.
"Really?" Kell exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, while their intelligence cannot be compared to ordinary people, the concept of making traps, working together to kill a more powerful foe, and running away when the going gets tough is not new to them.
Likely, many adventurers were killed when they fell into some traps or were ambushed as they entered the goblin's nest," Ian explained.
"I see. So the Adventurer Guild wants the newbie like us to gain more experience before taking such a foe, " Kell guessed.
"That is what I thought as well," Ian agreed with the guess.
Soon, they found the pod of slime, the numbers this time twice as much as the previous pod.
Without saying a word, Ian jumped behind Kell, aiming his Arcane Shot. Unfortunately, the only way he could learn spells is by reading a spell book but those are rare, at least in the town.
Apparently, the Adventure Guild has some but it could only be rented. The town also has a shop selling it, as well as other items a magic user needs but it is too expensive for them.
Thankfully, he has his system. The store of his system sold spell books. Unfortunately, it requires points, one he did not have. The quest tab is the only way for them to get point but it is still loading, at least from what the screen show.
If he had to guess, the system is assessing what kind of quest to give to them. Even the Achievement Quest is still in a loading phase, even if it is unlikely for them to do it unless for good reasons.
So, he had to make do with Heal, Shield, and Arcane Shot. Thankfully, he has a moving shield called Kell that was able to tank the slime attack.
He took shot after shot at the creatures, killing them easily as they died in one shot. Kell also did not have any problem whatsoever, slaughtering the creatures with ease.
It did not take them long before they finished the pod, Kell killing the last one. After they finished the pod, Ian checked Kell's body for any injuries.
When it was confirmed he did not have any injuries, he let out a relieved sigh. After all, he used a lot of Arcane Shot in the previous fight.
However, he still could feel he still has plenty of mana left in his tank. He was not sure of the real reason. Maybe his reserve is larger than normal, maybe Arcane Shot did not use that much mana.
Whatever it is, he wished to know as it would allow him to determine ways to reduce his mana usage.
Ian was about to tell Kell they going to call it a day, they already finished their other commissions when a scream tore through the air.