"Then we’ll have to look for other members for our guild," Lohan commented as he digested the body of old Gribbit.
Lisa was a little out of breath, having expended a lot of Spiritual Energy to kill those dozens of frogs that ambushed them, responding in a still cold voice. "Yes, we’ll have to raise our selection criteria..."
Lisa, or rather Isabella behind Lisa, was very disappointed in herself.
This was the biggest mistake she had made in judging people in recent years.
Perhaps because she had entered a much lighter and more pleasant environment when she met Halon, with him showing that he didn’t care so much about her identity, nor that she was just an aggregate of benefits that the Vance surname would bring along, her guard was down a little.
Even more so after meeting Aeliana and the other elves in Thalendor, who treated her as a slightly unusual monster, obviously with some value for what she had already shown, but still far from the value that everyone tried to extract from the Vances.
Looking at the Slime, who was also a little out of breath as he digested the disgusting body of that filthy toad, Lisa couldn’t help but compare.
Halon would obviously have many more reasons to try to deceive, or even use the advantages she had at her disposal. And for the potential he had shown so far, she would admit that he deserved those advantages she had to offer, but at no point did he ask for anything or even hint that he wanted anything from her.
All the while, Halon had only treated Lisa as a partner in the game, acting as he saw fit, not actively trying to flatter her, but still listening to her opinions, following instructions he considered correct, and also giving instructions he thought he had thought through better than she had.
The balanced relationship the two were developing was something she never imagined she could receive.
And compared to those frogs who tried to stab her in the back at the first opportunity, the discrepancy between the two became even greater!
"Yes, haha, we’ll definitely have to raise our selection criteria." Halon replied with a laugh, totally unconcerned about it.
Even though he had been betrayed, he didn’t seem to care that he had almost invited snakes into the nest they were developing.
’But come to think of it... it makes sense. He has seen that guilds are valued and that large corporations are doing their utmost to produce successful guilds, but he doesn’t know why, nor how these guilds would demonstrate value corresponding to the investment they are making... much less how important the guild we are setting up will be for me and my future in the Vance Group. She thought worriedly.
Even though they hadn’t talked much in the last few days, or deepened their relationship by talking about life in the real world, every day Isabella felt that this strange Slime from the Lower Zone was someone who was proving to be more and more trustworthy.
But then her thoughts cooled again. With a warning like those damn frogs, she forced herself to return to rationality and see things clearly.
Although Halon was very important, and every day proved to be more essential to the success of her plan, they had only known each other for a short time, and even though everything seemed to be going well, she had to focus on the present and leave those daydreams for later.
Meanwhile, Lohan was exactly as Isabella had imagined.
He was thoroughly enjoying this frog feast.
Sure, it was a good thing he couldn’t taste anything, because just the appearance of these creatures’ rotten flesh looked terrible.
But on the other hand, while the bodies of the smaller frogs were quickly digested by his two little clones, showing that they had no useful evolution or enough biomass for him, Gribbit’s body was very good!
By digesting the old man’s head, Lohan absorbed his memories and understood what had happened.
Basically, these frogs were a village of tricksters who used the poison of these Swamp Slugs to set traps around the area to capture enemies.
With the powerful paralyzing effect that this poison brought, any enemy that came into contact with it would fall motionless to the ground in a few minutes, becoming easy prey to be devoured by the small tadpoles and slugs, thus increasing the vicious cycle they caused.
Unfortunately, a Level 4 Kobold was caught in one of these traps, and to avenge their fallen leader, the rest of the Kobold gang followed the scent of their dead leader to the frog village and decimated these creatures.
It was at that moment that Lohan and Lisa arrived, saving these frogs from the death that awaited them, but because of the greed of these creatures, they became the new executioners of this village.
From the old man’s memories, Lohan realized that there were still younger frogs in the village, but those young frogs were not even conscious enough to speak, only knowing how to follow Gribbit’s orders and do what they were told.
Not even the mating of these poor creatures was by their own choice, only staying with the females that Gribbit had already used and no longer wanted.
Seeing no need to return to the village and carry out a "Young Master"-style massacre, Lohan continued to digest these frogs, and although he did not receive any new skills, he was satisfied with the level he received in an evolution he already had.
[Magic Core Lv 6 → Lv 7] - 48.54 Bio - Total Mana: 24.07 → 26.47
Even though it wasn’t a big evolution, it was still a good advance that saved Lohan 37.34 Biomass.
Unfortunately, the other frogs were very weak, yielding only Biomass and a single level in another evolution.
[Membrane Reinforcement Lv 11 → Lv 12]
It wasn’t as useful as something new to his repertoire, but it was still something that would help his development.
And looking at the Swamp Slugs on the ground, Lohan felt that this was the real treasure, probably capable of yielding him a new evolution focused on poison?!