Chapter 42: Assaulting the Core
Facing an enemy that had lost most of its mobility, Gauss did not hold back.
He was preparing to use the stun effect of his newly acquired title, "Slime Hunter."
The ability should be used when needed, and besides, if not using this effect on Slime now, then when?
Drawing out the rapier, facing the Slime in front of him.
As his thoughts flowed, the recently acquired deterrence effect against Slime was mastered instinctively, as if it was second nature. Within moments, he knew how to unleash the deterrence on Slime.
His eyes narrowed, concentration gathered.
As he focused, an invisible aura rapidly spread from his surroundings.
"Buzz—"
The deterrence aura spread out three meters, and the 3 Slimes affected along the way almost simultaneously jerked violently, their bodies suddenly seemed to be paused.
"Swish!"
The rapier was thrust almost at the same time the deterrence force field was released!
Fully focused, Gauss saw the world in his eyes gradually slow down.
Covered with a layer of protective oil in advance, the rapier’s blade reflected the first light of dawn, piercing the outermost slime layer.
A flash of cold light!
There was no rough resistance like stabbing into a goblin’s flesh, the body of the Slime was very soft.
"Pu-tss!"
Apart from some undigested debris slightly obstructing the blade, there was no resistance at all!
The rapier’s tip without hesitation precisely struck the target, mercilessly piercing the core of the Slime that was immobilized due to the deterrence aura.
"Splash, splash!"
Dead!
In the blink of an eye, the Slime died efficiently!
The dead Slime melted again, leaving behind a puddle of foul-smelling slime.
"Slime killed * 1"
"Total monster kills: 29"
Gauss glanced at the rapier and saw the condensed Slime Gel hanging on the blade, quickly shaking his arm with force to fling the gel away.
Although the protective oil was applied in advance, for the sake of the rapier’s lifespan, he had to reduce the time it stayed inside the Slime to avoid acidic corrosion on the blade.
He glanced at the puddle of stinky water before him.
He subconsciously appreciated the effect of the deterrence.
Pretty effective.
Although it was only 0.5-1 second, if handled properly, killing Slime could save quite a bit of effort.
Like just now, the moment he used the deterrence, the Slime lost any chance to resist entirely.
Furthermore, if he killed more Slimes in the future, the title would upgrade, and then, ordinary Slimes would be immobilized for not just one second, but possibly several seconds, or might even faint or die under his threat.
He turned his head to look around, noticing that Doyle had already engaged more Slimes, his expression immediately became solemn.
"We need to kill quickly! If we’re late, they’ll all be killed."
On the battlefield, others were also rapidly killing Slimes.
Doyle and Levin attracted the Slimes’ attacks at the front, Gauss was sweeping them from the outside, and the ranged team provided support.
The Night Owl Squad’s slaughter of Slimes ended in just a few minutes thanks to their clear division of labor.
Real battles do not involve many situations of evenly matched strength.
Unlike duels, when there is a disparity in power, battles often do not exceed ten minutes.
In fact, after killing most of the Slimes head-on, the Slime group had already shattered and lost the will to fight.
Even if they tried to escape, they couldn’t avoid the double encirclement of frontal longswords and unseen arrows.
Slimes retreated one after another, reducing to mere gel fragments.
It wasn’t until the pursuit of the two or three "deserters" on the outskirts that everyone spent a little more time.
They finally completed the thorough extermination of 25 Slimes.
Their commission this time required the elimination of this group of Slimes, and they definitely aimed to kill as many as possible.
Each Slime is equivalent to a hopping Silver Coin, and bottom adventurers all do tasks for money.
Of course, they wouldn’t let Silver Coins slip away.
After the battle ended.
It was the Priest Daphne’s turn to start working.
Although the three responsible for melee had done protective work, with layers of protection from wooden shields and gloves, they still inevitably got contaminated with a little corrosive acid during the battle.
Especially Levin and Doyle suffered relatively severe corrosive damage.
"Hiss ooh ooh ooh—"
Doyle kept sucking in cold air, making strange cries from his mouth.
"Hang in there, Doyle." Daphne, holding the wooden staff, crouched beside him.
As she concentrated and cast the Life Maintenance Technique, magic power from the wooden staff transmitted fluctuations, with a cluster of light green energy enveloping the reddened skin.
Life Maintenance Technique can slow down the deterioration of the injury, and with the effect of the spell, the simple skin burning and itching were immediately suppressed.
After casting the spell, she quickly took out the ointment she had prepared in advance and applied it to Doyle’s wound.
"It should completely subside in about half a day."
"Thank you, Daphne, it’s great to have you."
"Uh... no need to be so polite. Oh right, Captain, let me help heal you."
A busy moment.
The wounds on Levin and Doyle’s skin were quickly treated, and only then did Daphne turn to look at Gauss, who had a calm expression.
"Gauss, are you hurt? I saw you killed quite a few slimes too?"
Although Gauss didn’t seem to show signs of pain, he had nonetheless engaged in close combat with the slimes, so Daphne ran over to ask out of concern.
"I’m fine, no need to waste magic power on me." Gauss waved his hand. "As for the slimes, counting spells, I think I killed 9."
Except for a slight mental fatigue from repeated casting of shock spells, he had no injuries.
"9!" Doyle and Levin both looked over.
Especially Doyle, whose face showed obvious dejection, knowing that he had only killed 5 slimes.
Could it be that Gauss has already become the attack core of the team?
Is this the difference between a Warrior and a Mage?
In the distance, while the group was healing and chatting, Oliver and Medvedeva were diligently collecting the spoils, picking up slime gel fragments scattered on the ground and putting them into a bag.
In the end, they gathered a full small package of variously sized slime gel fragments.
This is the product formed after the slime’s core is pierced and condensed. A complete slime gel is about the size of an egg and is very elastic.
However, most of the collected gels were fragments, with only a few relatively complete ones.
Fortunately, these fresh gel fragments could be pieced together to form a complete unit, which could then be submitted as material.
"A total of 25 slimes, with a reward of 60 copper coins each for killing, and a recovery reward of 30 copper coins each, totaling 22 silver coins and 50 copper coins."
Medvedeva calculated the gains from this mission.
Slimes cannot equip weapons, and the miscellaneous items swallowed inside are also heavily corroded, making it hard to find decent spoils.
Each person could barely split earnings of less than 4 silver coins.
Fortunately, this mission was relatively close to town, and except for some minor burns sustained by Levin and the others, the overall danger level was not high, making the successful completion a rather good commission.
Under the tree shade, as everyone rested together, calculating the rewards, smiles of satisfaction appeared on their faces.
Accept commissions, engage in battles, hone skills, earn rewards, rest, arm oneself, and take on the next commission.
Bottom adventurers could only work hard in such cycles, slowly growing stronger, hoping one day to step onto the guiding path of professions.
Of course, no one knew when that day would come.
Perhaps tomorrow, or maybe never.
Gauss also sat under the tree, while maintaining his rapier and beginning to ponder over the Adventurer’s Handbook.
"Total monsters killed: 32"
"Magic Missile Level 2 (8/20)"
This was the improvement brought by the end of the battle.
He had killed a total of 9 slimes; besides 5 killed with magic missiles, the remaining 4 were swiftly taken down using the rapier in combination with the shock effect and low-effect bullet time.
If this efficiency continued, with roughly 2 more tasks executed, the kill count could reach 50, obtaining the next stage of enhancement.
The magic missile was also nearing halfway on its progression bar to Level 2.
It must be said, the efficiency was gratifying.
Moreover, by killing monsters this way, he encountered almost no danger, as the first wave of enemy attacks was usually taken by the team’s front-line, Levin and Doyle, while he just coordinated from the outside for sweeping and harvesting.
Of course, he fulfilled his role well, serving as a key offensive core for the team by taking down nearly 40% of the enemies in battle without resorting to "easy kills."
No one could fault his contribution to the team.
However, what Gauss was concerned about was not this, but the realization of his own shortcomings during the battle.
That was the lack of means for attacking groups, although two magic missiles solved 5 slimes, seeming like possessing the capability for group attacks.
But that was just a trick; in reality, magic missiles were still single-target attacks.
He might need to add a group attack spell skill, or let magic missiles become more flexible.
If the magic missile didn’t fly in a straight trajectory but could change course during flight, with its penetrating power, could it possibly kill multiple enemies in one attack?
Faced with enemies with impenetrable strong shields, the curving missile could also bypass defenses to hit the weaker vital points.
Gauss mused, in fact, he could slightly influence the missile’s trajectory, but achieving broader control was still far off.
Of course, this was just his own idea; whether it was feasible or could be realized, he wasn’t sure.
And there was also an efficiency issue; perhaps by the time he learned other more advanced spells, the missile might not achieve that effect at all?
Besides practicing skills, killing 50 monsters, he also needed to quickly collect 5 types of bottom-tier monsters.
Though unsure of what abilities would be drawn then, it should definitely enhance his combat power.
He kept mumbling in his mind.
Gauss suddenly felt very busy, with numerous goals and pending plans accumulating.
Yet he instantly broke into a smile.
After all, this was considered a happy worry; if other bottom-tier adventurers had the "busy" opportunities he had, they would probably laugh awake in their dreams.