Chapter 14C: Pepper Ridge Farm
Rows upon rows of neatly arranged fruit trees swayed gently in the breeze. The ground was littered with fallen leaves, and the sight of rotten fallen fruit was everywhere. It was a sharp contrast between the ground and the canopy above.
“Jedidiah said that the slimes usually clean the ground of fallen fruits…It would seem that the slimes haven’t been doing their job.”
Alex said to her friends as they carefully tread upon the bed of leaves and fruit. The smell of vegetation combined with a slightly sour smell lingered in the air. After around half an hour, the edge of the orchard can be spotted. White fences lined the edge. Off into the distance were more rolling hills of green pastures.
“This is strange,” Ruri questioned, “How come we didn’t see a single slime on our way here.”
It was indeed puzzling. Considering Farmer Jedidiah’s worries and the sheer number of slimes they had to dispose of for their quest, not seeing a single slime during their walk straight through the orchard was very strange.
“Let’s head back,” Alex said as she looked up at the sky.
The sun was already getting close to setting. They perhaps only had about an hour of light left. On the way through the orchard, they didn’t see anything that would light up the place. It will be a dark and dangerous place with rampaging slimes around.
Instead of being on alert, Alex and her friends relaxed on the journey back. Suddenly, a shadowed landed in front of them.
A bright orange blob that swashed and swirled. Its innards were clear orange gelatin while a small black dot could be seen in the center.
It was an orange slime. And it was the size of a grown man.
“Holy crap!” Kurt yelled as he immediately got on the offensive. His military training allowed him to be prepared in case of a surprise attack.
He stood in front of his friends with his weapon in hand.
The slime didn’t immediately lunge at them though. It swayed back and forth curiously as it ‘observed’ the intruders. It was obviously smarter than it looked.
Suddenly, the sound of wet liquid splashing could be heard behind the group. Nell looked back and saw a blue slime fall from one of the trees. It was a two-pronged attack!
“Damn, get into formation!” Alex snapped.
She soon realized why they didn’t see any slimes along the way. They were far too wary. Their wariness prevented the slimes from approaching. Now that they have relaxed, the slimes attacked.
The four teens all stood back to back with their weapons trained on the two slimes.
Suddenly, the orange slime sent out a thick orange tentacle. Kurt swung his pole and tried to knock away the tentacle. The gelatinous thing just crumbled upon impact and splashed onto the ground. Instead of vanishing, the scattered tentacle pieces slowly crawled back into the orange slime’s body.
“It can regenerate lost body mass!” Kurt suddenly shouted.
Alex nodded.
Nell quickly summoned a mushroom. Thanks to the forest ground, the mushroom man spawned looked more robust than her usual creations. Its white mycelium had a healthy glow to it, and the cap on its head was a distinct loamy brown.
The mushroom ran recklessly at the blue slime while Alex and everyone else focused their attention on the orange one.
The blue slime morphed into a large sheet and attempted to engulf the mushroom man. The mushroom put on a splendid struggle. Soon, the mushroom and the blue slime was locked in combat on the forest ground, both refusing to be eaten by the other.
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Alex summoned two shadow boas and tried to bind the slime. But due to its gelatinous form, the shadow snakes had nothing to bind. The skill returned an error message to her.
“Shit, this doesn’t work either,” Kurt said as he quickly bludgeoned the slime with his pole. It only left a dent which reformed immediately.
“It’s like a non-Newtonian fluid. If you apply pressure, it will become more solid,” Ruri said with his vast knowledge and memory.
“How do we kill it?” Alex quickly asked. She was more of a practical thinker rather than a methodical one.
“We can either freeze it which will allow our physical attacks to work, or use heat,” Ruri quickly answered. He began to form a layer of ice around Kurt’s weapon. Since he only needed to use one point of condensation, the mana and focus required were minimal.
Kurt nodded and waited for the ice to finish forming.
Alex kept the slime’s attention by summoning shadow boas. Although they cannot bind, the sight of them still attracted the slime’s attention.
Meanwhile, behind them, Nell and the mushroom man were trying their best to limit the blue slime’s movements. Compared to the orange slime who attack with only tentacles, the blue slime can freely shape its body into different forms. At first, it was just a sheet of gelatin that tried to envelop the mushroom man. Once the mushroom dodged and tried to punch it, the slime changed shape into a thin rod. The punch missed completely. The slime then coiled around the mushroom’s arms and began to constrict. A clear smoke can be seen rising up from the arm as the slime secreted digestive juices. The mushroom man quickly severed its arm at Nell’s command.
The slime quickly consumed the arm, leaving not a single visible piece of it left. Nell was at a loss. The mushroom man required mana to regenerate limbs. Thankfully, she didn’t go all out and use all her mana on her summon. She had enough to repair the limb, but she hesitated. Looking at the situation at hand, if she were to regrow the limb all willy-nilly, it would just be eaten by the slime again. It will be better to scout out its capabilities and try to find a method of attack that works before repairing the mushroom man. After all, it’s not like her summon bleeds.
Meanwhile, back with the fight with the orange slime. Kurt was dodging orange tentacles left and right as he approached the slime. Alex provided support with her wrist crossbow. She aimed carefully at the nucleus of the slime. Thankfully, her approach was correct as the orange slime had to shift its tentacles to focus on blocking the crossbow bolts.
After Ruri casted the spell, he began to observe the slime and to note down any characteristics that could be of use. He counted that the slime had a limit of four tentacles. One of them was tied down by Alex while the other three were trying to hit Kurt.
Ruri knew he had to attract the attention of one of the tentacles as well. With three on Kurt, he couldn’t get close enough to freeze the slime’s main body.
Ruri began to form another ball of condensation in front of him. This time, he used fire. It was something he never got used to. Casting ice spells was like a walk in the park for him, but to use fire was like trying to balance a bucket of water on his head. The focus required was a lot greater. Soon, a thin needle of fire appeared. Ruri controlled it to shoot at the slime.
Thankfully, the slime had to use one of its tentacles to block the flame needle. This brisk moment where Kurt was barred by only two tentacles gave him the chance to go in. He dashed toward after dodging the remaining two tentacles. With an overhead slam, he dunked the tip of the pole on the slime’s main body. The slime couldn’t move while its tentacles were overstretched and were hit. The ice quickly spread as its body became solid. Its movement slowed down as well. The tentacles that were too far from its main body froze over and detached. The solidified pieces no longer crawled back to the slime’s main body.
“Wait!” Alex quickly said before Kurt could land the finishing blow, “Let's take this one back so we can find out what’s wrong with them.”
Kurt nodded and took out a jar from his backpack. He chipped pieces off the slime’s body until it fits snuggly into the jar. Once the jar was sealed, he quickly placed it back into his pack and turned around to fight the second battle.
Now that Nell’s friends joined the battle, the blue slime was in a predicament. Its hunting partner was captured, and surely it will be next.
It took the chance to quickly slip away from the group. Kurt and Nell wanted to give chase, but Ruri and Alex stopped them.
“Wait, don’t go after it,” They both said in unison.
“Why?” Nell said dissatisfied. She wanted revenge for her mushroom’s eaten limbs.
“It might lead us to a place with more than two slimes. We can barely handle two, what if there were three, or more?”
Nell frowned but agreed. Kurt nodded as well.
The rest of the journey back to the barn was uneventful.
The sky was a deep purple by the time they finally got back. Thankfully, they made it back to safety before the sun’s light completely vanished.
Farmer Jedidiah was waiting for them with a smile. Once he saw the orange slime in the jar, his grin grew wider.
“Good job! I knew you guys were the real deal!” He laughed as he mocked the slime in the jar, “One slime down is one less bugger to worry about!”
Alex assumed from his words that the slimes were limited and did not reproduce.
Jedidiah prepared dinner as Alex and her friends settled down in the barn. Several lumps of hay will be their bed for the night. It was a good thing they didn’t need to sleep long in the ARK world. Tomorrow, their hunt continues.