Seeing his 'Fireball' spell gain more power, Edart saw a growing need to acquire more cores, they could give him a great advantage in his upcoming adventures.
However, he was still afraid of returning to the plain. Worried about another mass attack by the slimes. Luckily, he somehow managed to survive that.
Edart looked at the forest in the distance, lost in thought, trying to decide whether or not he should go to the 'Slimy Plain'.
Minutes passed and Edart was still undecided about what to do. Noticing this, Eris began to speak.
— ["What are you thinking so much about?"] Eris asked.
— "Ah!, nothing important, I was just trying to decide if we should go to the plain…"
Edart was taken aback by her voice, however, he quickly recovered. Eris, who was listening to what he was saying, already guessed where he was going, so she finished her speech.
— ["And you're worried about another slime ambush, I'm sure, aren't I?"]
Like an open book, Eris managed to figure out what was going on in his head. When she realized that she knew what he was thinking, a pang of shame filled her body.
— "Well… that's right." He admitted and lowered his head, to prevent Eris from seeing his face red with embarrassment.
Since she had no body and was in his body, doing that didn't make sense. When he remembered that, he felt even more embarrassed. Luckily, Eris interrupted the silence that was growing between them.
— ["I think it wouldn't be a problem to go near the plain and see how the slime activity is. If there are few on the edge of the plain, I think it wouldn't be a problem for us to hunt some of them."]
— "As long as we don't go too far, I don't think there will be any problem," Edart agreed, feeling more confident.
— ["You also want to catch some 'Silver Moon' to do some tests, even if we can't fight the slimes, the trip won't be in vain."]
Eris kept giving him reasons to leave the hut. She didn't want him to stagnate and not get stronger.
— "Yes, you're right." Without waiting any longer, he entered the hut and prepared his things to leave.
…
Edart's first stop was the apple orchard. His stock in the house was running low, it was time to replenish it.
— "Every time I come here, there are more ripe apples. At this rate, many of them will spoil before I can eat them."
— ["If you create a… what do you say…"] She soon remembered what she wanted to say.
— ["… oh yes. If you create a refrigerator. Wouldn't it be possible to make apples last longer?"]
Although she has access to his memories, there are many years of information, which ends up taking time to process. Imagine a physical file, where every moment you lived is on a sheet of paper, how many sheets would there be?
— "Yes, that would increase the storage time of apples, but I don't think I can recreate that with my skills. Besides, we don't have electricity here, nor do I know what gas is used for the refrigeration system."
Thinking about the convenience of having a refrigerator to preserve food, Edart was really tempted to have one here, however, he faced the reality, which was that he didn't have the ability to recreate that, not at the moment.
— ["No, you're thinking too much, isn't the concept just to lower the temperature of the food? We don't need all that technology. We just need to lower the temperature of the apples."]
Listening to what Eris said, Edart began to understand what she wanted. He wouldn't need to create an engine and a temperature control system. In this world of magic, he only needed one thing.
— "A core, an ice element core, would be enough to freeze things." Edart said with a smile. It was as if he had received a divine revelation.
— ["Exactly!"] Eris said.
She realized that Edart still thought as if he were in his old world. In this new world, there were different rules that he needed to adapt to, and magic was one of them.
There were many things that the slime cores would make their lives easier. For example. Treated water in your home . How much work is needed to have treated water in your tap.
From installing the pipes to treating the water, a great deal of energy is spent. However, in this new world, just a small water core from a slime can provide infinite water. Which you can take wherever you want.
Gradually, Edart began to open his mind to these new possibilities.
Feeling more motivated to go after the slime, Edart quickly picked some apples and set off for his next stop.
…
Arriving at the next location, Edart observed the plant in front of him for a few seconds. He didn't know why, but plants that had large amounts of mana exuded a liveliness and exuberance that he hadn't seen on earth.
Looking inside the 'Azulis Chalice', he saw the familiar clear liquid with a slight bluish tint.
—"It would be good if I could take this plant home, then I would have a mana potion factory just a step away from me."
Edart didn't know if the plant would survive being transplanted, and even if it did, there was no guarantee that production would continue. He would do some testing before working with this plant.
Wasting no more time, Edart rummaged through his backpack for a test tube he had taken from the lab. He uncorked it and slowly poured the plant liquid into the tube. Once he was done, he closed the tube with the cork again and used the identify.
— ["Name: Mana Concentrate."]
— ["Description: A concentrated mana liquid, capable of regenerating 20 mana points directly. Created from the plant 'Azulis Chalice'."]
— "I just hope this mana doesn't dissipate now that I've removed the liquid from the flower."
Edart wasn't sure if it would work, this being another one of his tests.
Having finished his work here as well, he left without delay.
…
Slime Plain.
Edart was crouched beside a bush, trying to stay hidden as he observed the plain in front of him.
— "This is different, there are slimes of different colors, which I've never seen before."
He had been hiding here for a while, observing the changes that had happened on the plain in front of him.
Several slimes of different colors had appeared, among them, the new colors that Edart saw and classified were:
Black, possibly from the dark element related to darkness or necromancy, what it was for sure Edart did not know.
Silver and gold. They were classified as metallic, and could be silver and gold, although he did not confirm.
Orange. Edart couldn't relate this color to anything, trying to find out what element it was, he wanted to attract the attention of this slime. However, at the same time, he gave up on the idea. It was too risky to do that.
— "This size, why are these slimes so big?"
— ["Maybe they're from the most central region."] Eris suggested, trying to give him an answer.
— "Maybe, but why would they come to the edge of the plain?" That was another question on his mind.
His idea of getting more cores seemed to be falling apart so fast that he couldn't do anything. Edart wouldn't try his luck against these slimes that were twice as big as the previous ones. He couldn't even imagine what levels they were at.
Not having much to do, he stood still in the same place, observing and trying to understand the new dynamics of the plain.
The small slimes continued to do the same as always. They jumped around and devoured the grass they jumped on.
The bigger slimes were different, they just jumped around and they all followed the same route, as if they were walking on a road.
— "That can't be it!" Edart said. They realized something.
— ["What?"] Eris asked curiously.
— "These slimes, they're acting like soldiers, patrolling a specific area. But that doesn't make sense unless they've created a society."
— "So they're protecting an area from an enemy. That's the area I've been working in…" He didn't continue the sentence.
— ["So they're looking for you. Maybe, but I don't know if the slimes could get that far."] Eris continued.
Edart wasn't sure, but he couldn't think of anything else.
— "I think we'd better go back, we won't get anything from here."
— ["Why don't we take a look somewhere else? Maybe those bigger slimes are only around here."] Eris said.
Having no reason to disagree, Edart started walking along the border between the plain and the forest. After walking for 30 minutes, he stopped and started observing the slimes again. For the next few minutes, Edart spent some time looking for slimes that weren't the size that was usually found here.
— "I need binoculars or some ability to see further." He complained quietly, rubbing his eyes.
— "Eris, do you see any larger slimes nearby?"
— ["No, only small slimes."]
— "It was worth walking a little further. Keep an eye out and let me know if anything comes up."
Seeing no problem, Edart left his backpack behind and prepared to go after some slimes. He couldn't wait to get his hands on more cores.