"First, I have to complete this daily quest," Jake muttered as he looked at the daily quest.
"Hmm, should I get my friends? Of course, it's my first time entering a gate. Anything could happen, and I am not some protagonist who will be saved at the end," Jake muttered and then came out of the house.
"Jake, where are you going? It's already evening," his mom's voice came as he went out of the house.
"Don't worry, Mom. I will return before dinner," Jake said as he ran away, knowing his mother wouldn't definitely let him go.
"This kid" Sera sighed standing at the door looking at running Jake.
"Don't worry; he's already an adult now. Maybe he has gone to play with his friends," Reynold came to her and consoled her.
Smack
"It's all your fault," Sera said as she smacked Reynold's head.
"How is it my fault?" Reynold sheepishly said, rubbing his head.
Smack
"If I say it's your fault, then it's your fault!" Sera shouted at him and returned to her room.
Reynold, rubbing his head, muttered, "Is she still angry about me carrying her back home?"
-----------------------------------
Jake arrived at the park and saw Mark practicing there. If anyone of them trains the most, it's Mark. Reaching near him, Jake said, "Mark, you're still training, as expected of you."
Mark stopped and looked at Jake, asking, "How are you here today?"
"I've got something interesting," Jake replied and showed him the Gate key, which was actually a round stone with runic markings on it.
"Is this the Gate key?" Mark exclaimed upon seeing it in Jake's hand.
"How did you get it?" Mark asked, looking at Jake.
"Remember how we were taking out the cores of the E-rank beasts we slayed yesterday? I found it in the Drill Mole's stomach," Jake said, sharing the lie he had prepared.
"You are quite lucky, but if Drill Mole had it, it means it's also an E-rank gate key," Mark looked at Jake and said.
"I know, that's why. How about we go inside? If we are lucky, we may find something great in there," Jake proposed.
"Something great? Whom are you kidding? E-rank to C-rank gates don't have any treasure in them," Mark remarked, looking at Jake skeptically.
"I was talking about ores or something similar. I have learned about blacksmithing, and I was planning to make us some weapons before Master Tom takes us to the Academy," Jake said calmly, not minding the weird looks Mark had been giving him.
"Hmm, we can indeed find ores in there," Mark nodded upon hearing Jake.
"Okay, then let's call the others," Jake said.
"Hmm, I will go and call them. You should also return and get your weapon," Mark stopped and then pointed at his right hand, where he usually held his chained dagger.
"It's okay, I don't need it. It's only E-rank after all," Jake said.
But Mark still stopped him and said, "We should always be prepared. Have you already forgotten this teaching?"
Jake sighed, looking at Mark's serious face, and then reluctantly nodded.
Jake started returning to his home. On his way, he asked Nexus, "Nexus, why didn't you add an inventory to my system?"
[I forgot], Nexus replied.
Jake sighed and said " It's okay it's also my fault, now add it in next upgrade"
[Hmm, I will do that] Nexus remarked.
Jake then returned home and took his Chained dagger but as he was going to stealthily leave the house, he found his Mom standing at the door. "Hey Mom, you shouldn't stand up for long, it's not good for you and baby" Jake said trying to change the topic but all he received was his ears getting twisted. "Ow ow Mom , it's hurts" Jake cried as his Mom twisted his ears. "You ran away earlier and now you are coming back to retrieve your weapon, tell me what's going on" Sear asked angerily.
"Nothing Mom, just we are going to spar....Arhhhh" "Jake speak the truth" Jake tried to lie but his ears got twisted more. Jake then nodded and showed her the gate key, Sera took the gate key and looked at it carefully then returned him back, " It's only Slime gate key huh, make sure to return before dinner."
Sera said and allowed him to go.
Jake nodded and hugged her and then left the room and sprinted to park.
"This kid.." Sera sighed, she wanted to stop him from entering the gate but she also knows he will sneak in one way or another.
"Don't worry as you said it's onl..... Smack " Reynold came near her tried to console her but once again got smacked.
Looking at Sera's back he mumbled, 'I should avoid her until her anger subsides'.
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Jake reached the park and saw Jimmy, Emily, and Mark already there.
"You're late," Mark said as Jake came near them.
"Mom asked me..." Jake then recounted what happened.
"So it's a Slime gate key, lame. I thought we'd get to fight some cool beasts, but Slimes? The weakest, boring," Jimmy said.
"It's better; we can use it as a practice ground for us," Emily said.
Jake then told them to get ready and poured his Mana into the Gate key. The Gate key started shining, and a ray came out of it, striking the space in front of them. A swirling portal appeared.
"Let's go, Jimmy first; his sword can easily counter any ambush. Then Mark, me, and Emily," Jake instructed each of them, and then they entered the gate in the same order.
Entering the gate, they found themselves in an open grassland. "It's an open grassland this time," Mark said as he surveyed the surroundings.
"Emily, scout the area," Jake said, and Emily closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them.
"This place is 1 km in diameter, and there are a total of 61 slimes here. One of them is quite big, probably the leader."
Jake and the others nodded, and then Jake asked, "Are there any caves or something where we can mine ores?"
Emily shook her head and said, "There is no such structure, but near the boss, there is a large pile of rocks maybe. Slimes have collected the rocks that they can't digest there."
"Darn," Jake sighed upon hearing Emily.
"No, maybe those rocks are ores. Don't you all remember slimes usually have purified Mana ores as waste products?" Mark said.
"hmm, that's true, Okay let's split and take care of smaller ones and then we will meet at boss location " Jake nodded and then instructed.
Jimmy, Emily, and Mark nodded, and then all of them ran in opposite directions.
Jake ran towards the boss's direction, keeping an eye out for the slimes. Soon, he found one munching on nearby grass.
Jake came near it and looked at the slime. Instead of one cute round ball, he found a viscous liquid mixed with dirt, moving around and digesting the grass or herb. Jake then used his eyes on the herb the slime was munching on:
[ Name: Barbadensis Grass
Rank: uncommon
Description: A medicinal grass used in low-level healing potions ]
"No wonder it's only munching on it," Jake thought and then used his Inferno Forge to incinerate it.
[Host killed an E-rank slime and gained 2 exp]
"Oh, now it's working," Jake said, looking at the notification. Previously, he didn't receive any exp for killing the Drill Mole.
[Previously, you weren't E-rank,] Nexus commented.
"I see," Jake nodded and then started massacring all the slimes he encountered on his way. Some tried to attack him, but their attacks were simple tackles. With their speed, a newly awakened kid could easily dodge them, and Jake, being equivalent to a D-ranker, had no trouble.
Jimmy continued to kill the slimes with small lightning bolts, Mark used Frost Blaze bullets, and Emily sliced them with wind blades. All of them applied their core energies to create various elemental attacks, a skill they developed through their experience with Runes, which included manipulating energies.
After 10 minutes, they heard Emily's voice saying, "Now it's only the boss remaining," and they made their way towards the boss.
Arriving there, they saw a pile of grass near a 2-meter big Slime. Unlike the other transparent slimes, this one was gray in color.
"Those grasses are healing herbs that can be processed into low-level health potions," Mark exclaimed, seeing the pile of Barbadensis Grass. Mark, already learning Alchemy from Tom, had some knowledge about various herbs.
"Quickly, let's kill it and take those herbs. I even see some Eucalyptus plants that can be used for low-level anti-poison potions," Mark said and created a ball of Frost Blaze, hurling it at the big slime.
The big Slime saw the fireball coming at him and moved sideways to dodge it.
"Huh? It dodged," Mark thought out loud.
Jimmy looked at the big slime and then hurled a lightning bolt at it. This time, instead of dodging, the big slime suddenly created a water wall in front of it. The lightning bolt collided with the water wall and dissolved.
"It's different from a normal, brainless slime," Emily muttered while taking out her bow.
Jake nodded, knowing just how different it was from a normal slime due to his Akashic Eyes.
[Name: Elite Slime
Rank: D-
Core: Abyssal
Attribute: Decay Water
HP: 1000
Abyssal Energy: 500
Strength: 60
Agility: 70
Intelligence: 30
Vitality: 20
-Skills: Jump(Common), Water wall(Uncommon), Decay gun(Rare), Rolling(Common)
Description: A variant of slime due to acquiring Abyssal core]