With no signs of any larger slime nearby, Edart began to venture through the plains. With his rusty sword in hand, he was ready to face the smaller slimes.
Walking crouched and trying not to make any noise, he began to approach a blue slime. It was a small slime, barely reaching level 7.
Since Edart had already reached level 20 and had hunted many slimes, he didn't think he would have any trouble with it.
— "Just a little more and you'll be mine." Edart whispered.
Slowly, he approached the slime, as quietly as he could. When he was 5 meters away, the slime's body trembled all over. Edart stopped at the same moment so as not to attract attention.
The slime, which was eating calmly, suddenly had a feeling that its life was in danger. Stopping eating, it raised its face and looked around for any danger.
Seeing the slime acting strangely, Edart didn't wait any longer and ran towards the slime.
The slime that was looking for where that feeling of danger was coming from finally found something strange, unfortunately for him, a sword was already cutting his gelatinous body in two.
— "I don't know how this slime noticed me, I have to be more careful."
Wasting no more time, Edart used collection on the slime's body, soon a bluish core appeared on the ground. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.
— "Very well, where's the next one?"
— ["Further south there are two more slimes, they are the closest ones."] Eris replied.
Edart quickly set off in that direction. It didn't take long for him to spot the slimes. This time, he would do something different. Activating his 'Camouflage' skill, Edart began to approach.
He hadn't used this skill before, because he wanted to save mana, however, the slime managed to notice him somehow, having no other choice and not wanting to take any risks, he began to use the skill.
The two green slimes were calmly eating their delicious grass, unaware that danger was approaching them.
With his ability active, Edart did everything he could to avoid being noticed, however, once again, when he was only a few meters away, the slimes somehow realized that something was wrong.
— "Shit, what did I do wrong?" Edart still didn't understand how he had been detected by the slimes.
Not wanting to lose the advantage of the first strike, he launched himself at the slimes.
He launched a diagonal attack, starting from his upper left and ending on the lower right. Hitting the slime precisely, the sword cut the first slime in two, along with its core.
— "I still have another one." Edart said as he felt the core being split inside the slime.
— ["Watch out!"] Eris shouted.
Edart immediately threw himself forward, somersaulted, and stood up. With Eris's warning, he knew an attack was coming. Without hesitation, he moved to avoid the attack coming from the other green slime.
Turning his body to the last enemy, he saw something that surprised him.
His next opponent had decided to abandon his fight and was jumping away.
Shaking his stupor, Edart ran after the fleeing slime and struck downward with his sword. The sword pierced the slime's body and penetrated the earth.
Edart was careful not to hit the slime's core, because the more he got, the better it would be.
— ["You killed a 'Blue Slime (Level: 6).'"].
— ["You gained 15 XP"].
— ["'Sword Handling' is level 3"].
Edart ignored the first messages, that amount of experience points didn't seem to make any difference anymore. However, the last message was something he was pleased to see.
Taking his sword out of the slime, he struck horizontally and then slashed diagonally.
— "It's amazing how each level of this skill makes sword handling easier." Whenever he gained a level in a 'Sword Handling skill', he was fascinated by how his technique improved, it was as if he had been training for several days in a row.
Edart only discovered this skill last night, while checking his status. Apparently, he had acquired it during the ambush, since there were dozens of messages, he ended up not realizing it.
— ["Skill: 'Sword Handling (Common) (Level: 3)'"].
— ["Description: Continuous use of the sword has improved your knowledge of this weapon. With each new level, your knowledge and mastery of swords increases.
This skill increases your dexterity as it levels up. Dexterity +1."]
Leaving that aside, Edart focuses on the problem in front of him. Looking at the dead slime, he says.
— "How are these slimes able to detect me? Before, it was so easy to get close with the 'Camouflage' skill active." Edart stared at the slime, thinking about it.
— ["I don't think they're able to detect you."] Eris commented.
— "What do you mean by that?" Edart asked, curious about her comment.
— Instead of her answering, a message appeared in his vision.
— ["Description: By carrying out a senseless massacre against these poor slimes, you managed to generate a deep fear of death in their cores. Whenever a slime sees you, it will see death in person and, in an attempt to survive, it will run as far away from you as possible."]
— "Do you think the title I obtained is affecting the slimes?"
— ["In a way, yes. I think it might work in a similar way to the curse of the abyss. Only, instead of activating it when you see a being from the abyss, you emanate something that triggers fear in the slimes."]
— ["So, regardless of how hidden you are, as soon as the slimes get close, they will feel that something is wrong. Like a sixth sense for them."]
After thinking a little about what she said, he said:
— "I see, that could be it. If you use 'Mana Perception', can you see something different in me?" Edart asked curiously.
— ["I've checked several times, but I've never seen anything different."]
— "I see. What you said makes sense, like those auras in games and books of those who have killed many beings. It keeps exuding and those around you can feel it. Maybe there is a way to hide it."
A silence took over the place while the two thought of ways to deal with this, until Edart broke it.
— "Ahhhhhh, since the rules have changed, let's change our way of playing."
Not wasting any more time, Edart used 'Collect' on the slime and saved the slime's core with the other one.
— ["What are you going to do, Edart!?"] Eris asked worriedly about what he was doing.
— "Since there's no point in going slowly and sneaking in anymore, it's time to go all out."
Not waiting for an answer, Edart began to run at a trot towards the next opponent. Eris knew he was right, if they continued with the previous strategy, a lot of time would be lost and, since he was stronger, there was room for error. Without delay, she spoke.
— ["There are two slimes further to the left."]
Hearing this, Edart adjusted his trajectory, already prepared for the next fight.
…
(AN: I will make the next chapter only for the battles that happen here.)
…
— " Arffff…. Fuuuuuu…" Edart was tired, besides running all the time after slimes. His last battle demanded more of him.
In his hand was the reason for such effort. A core that was almost empty, but revealed a small shade of red.
It was a bit risky to fight against a fire slime, but in the end it was worth it, with this core he could increase his attack power.
— "It was a good day, it's time to go back, we still have things to collect."
— ["You were too bold. We could have suffered severe damage."] Eris complained to him.
— "But in the end everything turned out fine, there's nothing to worry about." Saying that, he stood up and went to his backpack.
Before heading back, Edart wanted to go after more 'Silver Moon', he wanted to try making potions and needed some seedlings for other tests he had in mind.
Taking one last look at the plain, he set off for home. Little did he know that this would be the last time he would see these slimes for a long time.