Hey guys, Iam back (for now). I had a lot of midterms and projects due to this month but Ive completed a decent chunk of them. I still have one more midterm, 2 small projects and 2 large projects due this month but they are spaced out quite evenly so Ill probably have a chance at some point to write another chapter. Anyways enjoy !

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Logging in, Shar could see Esla perched up in a nearby tree sleeping quietly. Glad that nothing went wrong while he was gone, he proceeded to wake her up, who quickly climbed down from her previous location. Handing Esla some of the rabbit meat that they had collected yesterday, Shar went ahead and cooked himself a moderate sized portion. Eating his meal, he couldn’t help but wish that they had something else to eat. Although the meat tasted just fine, all their meals during journey consisted of cooked rabbit meat and after eating it for several days, he had gotten quite sick of the taste. Seeing that there was nothing that he could about it right now, he put the thought aside, focusing on the more important matters. Looking at his map, he could see that he was still quite far from his destination, the den of Black Striped Salamanders where Gared had lost his watch. According to the map, he was only half way there despite the nonstop traveling. Regretting the fact that he did not own a mount of some sort, Shar put it on his list of things to obtain once he arrived back at the village. Getting back up slowly, he gathered the willpower needed in order to keep going. Despite his solemn mood, Esla seemed to be completely unaffected, still quite happy and chipper as she bounded ahead of him, examining small plants and other miscellaneous items along the way.

Aside from the occasional horned rabbit, Esla and Shar kept travelling forward unhindered. Upon reaching a small clearing, Shar got Esla to set up a couple defensive webs in their near vicinity while he got dinner prepared. As he was starting up the fire, he saw Esla running towards him. Although she ran around quite frequently, he could see that she was slightly agitated, indicating that she was in a rush. Wondering what was going on, Shar got up and ran over to her. Tugging at his pants, Esla pulled him in the direction she wanted. Quickly following in her steps, Shar slowed down as Esla began to walk cautiously before coming to a stop near the edge of another clearing. Moving as quietly as possible, Shar made his way over to her before looking into the clearing

Peeking over, he could see the five figures off into the distance. Looking a bit closer, he could see that one of the figures stood out from the rest. While four of them were a light brown color and resembled overly large dogs, the last individual resembled a Green Slime; however, instead of the regular light green color, the slime bore a dark red hue and was almost three times as large as a regular Green Slime.

Despite not knowing what was really going on, Shar could clearly see that the red slime and the dog like creatures were not on friendly terms. Spreading out, the creatures began to circle around the slime in an attempt to surround it. Realizing that it was in a perilous situation, the slime lashed out at one of the nearby creatures with a whip like appendage that extended from its main body. Although the attack caught the creature off guard, the rest of the creatures seemed unfazed and merely took the opportunity to attack. Growing a second whip like appendage, the slime lashed back and forth, fending off most of the attacks. Though the battle looked to be quite close, Shar could see that the slime had to focus most of its efforts on defending and while the dog like creatures had not yet managed to get in a clean hit, the small cuts and wounds would gradually build up and wear down the slime before it was eventually finished off.

Although Shar could not help but feel pity for the slime, he was hesitant to help. In the end the slime was creature that he most likely would have fought himself if not for the current situation. However, despite his reluctance he found no downsides in joining the fight. Examining the creatures, he saw that the dog like creatures were level 15 Wild Dogs while the slime appeared to be a level 21 Carnivorous Slime. Although the enemies were quite high leveled, he was confident that with Esla’s help he could take out both parties if necessary since both were most likely to be wounded and tired.

Realize that it was at a severe disadvantage, the slime lashed out furiously at one of the creatures in attempt to break free from the encirclement; however, this only caused the rest of Wild Dogs to attack even more viciously. Due to the slime neglecting its defense for a short period of time, it suffered several deep wounds and looked quite damaged, its whip like appendages no longer moving as fluidly as it was at the start of the battle. A few seconds later, one of the slimes appendages slowly retracted back into its body, leaving it with only one. Seeing that the opponent had lost one of its weapons, the dog like creatures started to attack more furiously not even bothering to defend any incoming attacks. Eventually the slime suffered one cut after another and just like previously, its other appendage retracted back into it body.

Determining that the moment was right, Shar jumped out from behind the undergrowth and dashed towards the group of creatures. At the same time, Esla came out of her stealth, jumping onto one of the creatures before proceeding to slash it viciously with her sharp claws. Howling from intense pain, the dog like creature thrashed wildly in an attempt to dislodge Esla; however, she held on tight refusing to let go. Although this left Esla in quite a vulernable position, Shar charged fearlessly, distracting the remaining Were-dogs and providing Esla with enough time to finish off the already wounded dog. Now that only three dogs remained, Shar was confident in their capability to win as long as the slime or another creature did not interfere. Looking to the side where the slime was positioned, Shar could see that it was not in any condition to fight. Large gashes could be found littered over its large frame and it appeared to be on the brink of death.

Determining that the slime was no longer a threat, Shar focused his efforts in getting rid of the remaining Wild Dogs. Running forward, he grabbed the attention of two of the dogs, leaving the last one to Esla. Despite his level being slightly higher, Shar found it difficult to fight the two dogs due to their high level of teamwork and coordination. Although he fought defensively, he found that his health was depleting steadily. Despite the fact that the dogs did not possess great strength, they attacked quickly and moved swiftly, making them difficult opponents; in addition, their attacks would often apply the bleeding status, which slowly drained him of his health and accounted for most of their damage.

Only having a 1/3 of his health left, Shar prepared to use a potion. Although he preferred to not use them since they were quite costly, it was much better then suffering the death penalty. However, just as he was about to pull out a potion, Esla suddenly appeared behind one of the Wild Dogs, before stabbing her claw deep into its neck. Momentarily distracted by Esla’s sudden appearance, the other dog let down it guard, giving Shar a chance to attack. With its teammate being incapacitated by Esla, the lone Wild Dog had no chance of beating Shar. Without its partner, the single Wild Dog was forced to be on the defensive but was quickly taken down by Shar’s powerful swings. Looting the bodies, Shar debated about what he should do with the slime. Although it had yet to cause him any harm, it was not that much different from the other slimes that he normally killed for loot and exp. However, he felt that it was kind of a pity to get rid of it since he had already put in the effort to save the creature.

Deciding to make the choice later, Shar ordered Esla to tie up the slime with her web. Seeing that the job was done, he checked to make sure the bindings were on tightly. Once that was completed, Shar closely examined the slime:

[Description]

An uncommon species of slimes found in warm tropical areas around the continent. Although most slimes prefer to eat vegetation, the Carnivorous Slime’s diet consists solely of meat. Due to their eating habits, Carnivorous Slime’s are often found attacking small villages or farms for sustenance; in addition, they possess the ability to produce numerous whip-like appendages from its main body, allowing them to attack in various ways. The Carnivorous Slime is also resistant to blunt attacks and can regenerate it health quite quickly, making them quite hard to kill.

Poking the slime lightly to see if it was responsive, Shar was surprised at how squishy the slime was. Putting needless thoughts aside, he proceeded to drag the slime back to their makeshift base. Arriving there, Shar felt quite exhausted and although he was quite tempted to use the slime as a pillow, he managed to restrain himself before falling asleep on the soft grass.