Nathan waited by the front lobby with all his gear. He was hesitant to bring his spear, afraid he would be forced to kill slimes as well. In the end, he felt he would rather have it and not need it, than the other way around.

Brawn was already there when Nathan walked out, and the two made idle chatter while they waited on the other three members of the team.

“I thought you were a healer. Why the spear?”

Nathan rolled it in his hands, not knowing what to do with it while he waited. “It was a gift before I joined. I don’t want to kill or even hurt people unless absolutely necessary. I know why you all do it, but I can’t stomach the actions of doing it myself. It’s a ‘just in case’ measure. I doubt I will really use it.”

“Spear is a good weapon for anyone not trained to fight in combat. It’s reach and piercing power allows for even a novice to land proper hits. It doubles as a walking stick. I’ve seen many mages have the tips of their staves be pointed and metal to double as a spear.” Brawn seemed to not be worried by Nathan’s lack of blood thirst.

“I suppose you are right, I do have the [Spear Mastery] skill, but again, it’s just to help, plus I was told I needed a weapon skill to survive here.”

“That person is smart and wise. You should practice with it more often. You don’t need to fight to level it up. Go find a tutor when we get back. He or she will ensure you know that.” Nathan thought about it for a moment, before the others came strolling in.

Kira was covered in dark clothes that covered the brighter parts of her fur. On her hips were two daggers that looked ornate.

Parker had a quiver full of arrows and a bow that had a soft glow to it. He wore a mix of leather and chain armor. Most notably was a small stick on his right hip.

Ko’Nu was the only one who wore the same items as when Nathan met him yesterday. His purple and red robes hung loosely over his scales. He had a small fire that hovered over his left shoulder. It was similar to the same one Nathan saw his first time in Twin Oaks City.

“What’s the fire there Ko’Nu?” Nathan asked.

“Oh you haven't seen a summon before? It’s a minor fire elemental. He can shoot out small flames at enemies. It also doubles as a light source in dark areas. This one has to feed him fuel or he will flicker out.”

“I’ve seen one before my first time here in the city. I just didn’t know that’s what an elemental looked like. Can you make him any bigger?”

Ko’Nu shook his head. “This one can summon bigger ones, but it drains this one's mana. Last night this little fell was summoned, so this one’s Mana would be completely full today. This one hopes you did the same.”

“None of my spells last that long sadly. It would be cool to have a little pet to heal you.”

Parker made a face. “There are no healing summons, none that you could cast. How do you not know this?”

“Easy Parker.” Brawn said sternly. “Don’t judge him for his lack of knowledge. You were there once before.”

Parker scoffed. “Yea, when I was four.”

Nathan had no wish to argue with a companion. Especially when they are going to be fighting. So he kept his mouth shut. “I might be a little slow with my healing in the future. A couple good wacks might set him straight.” Nathan thought to himself while doing his best to not smile.

Their mission was simple. Kill some slimes, and get paid. If they had any parts that were salvageable, then Kira or Ko’Nu would take care of it. Hopefully Nathan could get his first payment and start making some real money!

Nathan’s role was the easiest. Don’t get hit, and heal anybody that calls out or looks like they need any. When everyone was below half Mana and/or stamina, they would take a break and rest. Nathan was ordered to never go below a third of his mana. Both for the return trip as well as for emergencies.

The trip to where they would be killing slimes was three hours away near a river. “So, why are the Slimes there? Can’t we just kill them all and ensure no more pop up?” Nathan asked.

“Not exactly.” Ko’Nu started to explain. “The river actually flows right near a Dungeon with Slimes as one of it’s main enemies. It is interesting because a few will leave the Dungeon and get swept away by the water. We are going to a spot where the water slows down to practically no movement. It’s there that most if not all Slimes that get swept away get out of the water.”

“Ko’Nu is right.” Brawn said. “If we wanted to stop the Slimes entirely we would need to destroy the Dungeon Core. That in itself is something rarely done.”

“Why? Is it a dangerous thing to do?” Nathan asked.

Parker sighed in annoyance. “Do you not think further ahead? We use the slimes to gain Experience. We use Experience to get more levels. More levels means more skills. More skills means we get stronger. The stronger you are, the more power you hold over others. If nobody can improve, then everyone would just be the same unawakened nobodies. A horrible life.”

“Didn’t bother me in my life.” Nathan replied. “Besides, if the slimes are that big of an issue, and people don’t want the core destroyed, why not build a wall?

Parker groaned in annoyance. “Listen Nathan. If it was that easy don’t you think it could have already been done? I thought healers had high Intelligence.”

“You say that, but where I am from, the same was thought. People assume someone else already thought of it, or have plans to fix something, but the opposite was true. God damn potholes.”

“What is a Pothole?” Ko’Nu asked, wanting to know about a new thing. “Is it a hole created by a creature from your country that are sentient and living pots?”

Nathan didn’t know how to answer that. “Uhh, no. It’s just a hole in a road caused by no maintenance and heavy traffic.”

“Ahh, that makes much more sense. But why call it a ‘pothole’ instead of a ‘road hole’?”

Nathan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe because it is shaped and hollow like a kitchen pot?”

“Oooo, that’s a good point.” Ko’Nu pulled out a notepad and started to make some notes.

Soon, Kira appeared in front of them all from seemingly nowhere. “Good news and bad. There are slimes, but there is an over abundance. This mission obviously hasn’t been taken in days maybe even a week.”

“That isn’t bad news, that’s great news!” Brawn seemed excited. “More Experience! More ways for us to improve! Come, let us go faster and start to thin the herd.” Brawn started increasing his pace, leading everyone forward.

Nathan had no clue what to expect. Originally he expected slimes to be little blocks of jelly. What he did not expect was dog sized blobs with a face.

The slimes range in colors from a dark green to an almost teal color. Inside each of them Nathan could see random junk. Sticks, leaves, random pebbles, and a couple had a fish or three floating in their bodies.

“Alrighty Nathan, here is a good lesson. How do you think we kill the slimes?” Brawn asked.

“Stab them till they die like anything else? But I don’t think they have blood do they?”

“Stabbing and cutting is the exact opposite of what you want to do with a slime. But yes, they have no blood or similar fluid in their bodies. These are a magical construct to best explain it. Held together by their cores.” Brawn pointed at the most see through of the slimes.

“You can see it in that one, just behind it’s left eye.” It was less an eye, and more a thicker part of the slime that mimicked the appearance of an eye.

“The rock?” Nathan asked.

“It does look like a rock, but notice the shape. It’s a perfect sphere.”

Nathan looked at the slime, and when it turned it’s head to the side, he could easily see it. “Yea I see it now. So do you all just just destroy it’s core?”

“Correct, but they are useful in crafting to many people, so another option is to just remove it somehow. But don’t touch a slime, their flesh is acidic. We have no requests for cores today, so we will just be killing them and collecting their flesh.”

“So it’s a battery source. They work like robots. Remove the battery, the robot can’t do anything.” Nathan thought to himself.

“How are the cores made?” Nathan asked.

Ko’Nu decided then to show off his knowledge. “The Dungeons make them when the monsters are created. There are records of a few mages who made them, but they are all extremely powerful masters of their magic. Hence why it is just easier to just repurpose them.”

“Ahh, that makes sense.” Nathan said.

Brawn pointed to a slime closest to the group. “We will start with that one. Parker, mind leading the charge?”

The Elf smirked and readied his bow. “One shot, one kill.”

“If you miss, you owe us dinner.” Kira said, pulling out her weapons.

“Same rules? As always?” Peter asked.

“Let’s up the ante. Loser doesn't get a [Cleanse] from the new guy.” Kira suggested.

Parker accepted and shot the first slime. His arrow whistled through the air, and once it entered the slime, Nathan saw it shatter the core of the slime. The slime stopped moving and seemed to have started to melt.

“One.” Parker said, drawing his bow to take out another one.

Ko’Nu had a wicked green glow in his eyes as he started to chant. Two green balls of fire appeared in his hands. He threw them both at a slime taking it out. “One.”

Brawn shook his head. “Fine, Nathan you want in on this?” He asked looking back at their Healer. Kira was already gone from view and appeared behind another slime stabbing down into the it’s flesh, trying to pierce the core.

“I rather not fight at all. Wait, do I still get experience if I don’t fight, but heal you guys?” Nathan watched as Brawn unsheathed his giant sword.

“You do, but you get less if you don’t fight directly somehow. They are just little mindless creatures. We won’t need any healing this early.” Brawn pointed at one of the smaller slimes on it’s own.

“Try to fight that one at least. You need to get used to fighting to some capacity. I won’t force you, but I won’t let people on my team I can’t trust to get down to business if it’s needed.” Brawn stroded forward doing a single practice swing before he started to attack slimes with large sweeping attacks.

Nathan looked at the small lime green slime. It was between cat and dog sized. Barely coming up to his knee. Nathan kept imagining them as robots. No blood, brain, or heart. Nathan looked back at the others fighting together. He realized none of the slimes reacted to another one of it’s kind dying even if it was right next to them.

“I can try I guess.” Nathan said and started to walk to it.

“It’s easy, especially with that spear of yours.” Kira shouted. “Just keep your stamina at a decent amount. If you need to back off, do so. You won’t have to buy dinner if you lose, since you are here as a support and not a fighter. Think about the extra Experience you can earn.”

Nathan did like the idea of receiving extra Experience. If he leveled up, that would be an extra two skills. Something he really wanted.

“Sure, but don’t expect me to do much. If anyone needs healing, shout at me and I will run over.” Nathan started to scan the shrinking number of slimes for his first target.

“Just robots. They are fabricated, not real.” Nathan found a slime that came only to his knees in height. He readied his spear and slowly made his way to it.

Once he was within ten feet, the slime turned toward Nathan and let out a burping sound. Nathan winced and stepped back thinking it was going to attack him.

“Nathan don't be afraid, the damage is minor from these guys. Just ensure you don’t fall down or get swarmed by them.” Brawn encouraged as he swung his massive sword, using the flat part of the blade to smash a slime flat. “I am nearby if you need help.”

Nathan nodded and took two quick steps forward. He pushed his spear forward aiming for a rock that looked like the core. Once the spear pierced it’s flesh, Nathan felt resistance. The slime had moved, causing the spear to miss the core.

“Damn it.” Nathan started to pull his spear back out, noticed the front third of it was covered in goop. He made a mental note to clean it off soon to keep it safe and clean from the acid in the slime.

The slime started to move toward Nathan letting out more burps in anger. Nathan moved backwards in fear, but kept his spear pointed at the slime. It either didn’t notice or cared about the spear.

Nathan pushed it forward to try and scare the slime, but it still moved toward Nathan, only wanting to retaliate against a threat.

“These things are mindless. No care for themselves, following basic instinct to destroy.” That was enough for Nathan and he felt much better about killing the not living thing. He thrusted again with his spear, nicking the core causing the slime to shiver.

“Yes!” Nathan shouted in glee.

He pulled his spear back to attack again, but the slime shuddered and leapt forward toward Nathan. It stuck to his chest, and Nathan heard a hissing sound of acid burning through his shirt.

Nathan screamed from both fear and pain. Abandoning his spear, he tried to pick up the slime and throw it off himself. His hands were covered in the goo, causing him more pain.

“Nathan!” Brawn shouted. “God damn it. Kira help him.”

Nathan was on the ground on his back. The Catfolk was standing over him looking a mix of worry and pity. “Take your hands out so I don’t stab you.” Her voice was smooth and peaceful. Nathan felt compelled to remove his hands.

Kira slashed at an angle at the slime to not hit Nathan. She missed and a chunk of slime slid off him and reformed into another slime. “Bish.” She cursed in her native language.

“Heal yourself Nathan and get ready, this might hurt.” She said as she pulled out a small hammer.

Nathan once again felt compelled to do so and touched himself casting [Healing Touch]. She slammed the hammer down on the slime, destroying the core. Nathan had the wind knocked out of him, as both the force of the hammer and the broken bits of rock damaged him.

“Oof” Nathan mumbled as slime goo washed off of him.

“Quick get up and [Cleanse] yourself. Otherwise, that shit will eat through your clothes.”

Nathan did so, casting the spell for the first time since he acquired it. He could feel a wave of pressure pass from the top of his head, down to his feet. All dirt, grime, and slime goo fell to the ground around his feet. He felt amazingly clean. As if he bathed in the cleanest of water, with the purest of soap.

Kira sighed in relief. “Good deal. Focus up and don’t let it happen again. I understand you are new, but if you keep being scared like this, you are going to die.” She ran back to other slimes.