Chapter 3: Summer Program | 3.2 Slime Hunting
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Suddenly, she noticed something to her left, and greatly shocked, she tumbled over landing on her right side.
“Oh! You finally noticed me.” The boy she had met earlier said, “I didn’t want to interrupt your mana training, so I tried to stay quiet.”
Iris didn’t understand why he had entered the slime mana realm. ‘Why was he here? Wasn’t he working outside?’ Sitting up, she glared at him and asked, “Why are you here? Did you follow me?”
“Of course.” He admitted it without hesitation. Seeing her surprised and confused reaction, he quickly explained, “I’m the summer monitor.”
Noticing that Iris still didn't understand, he elaborated, “I’m going to be a senior student when school starts, so I was asked to help monitor the mana realms over the summer. The school doesn’t want the younger students getting hurt while training, so I’m supposed to follow them inside and monitor.”
Finally understanding the situation, Iris no longer glared at him. Pushing away her embarrassment at not noticing him the entire time, she introduced herself, and he returned the introduction, “I’m Nick. My father is Coach Russell. He is a coach here and designated substitute teacher in emergencies.”
Given his introduction, Iris nodded. ‘In that case, it makes sense that the school would ask him to be a monitor.’ Nick and his father, Coach Russell, didn’t incite any particular memories. 'We must not have crossed paths often if I don't remember him.'
Nick asked, “What are you going to do now? Keep training your magic or hunt slimes?”
‘Hm. I got my mana sense. Now, what should I do?’ Glancing towards the field, the tall grass moved a little in areas where slimes crawled around. “I think I’ll hunt, but what about you?”
“If you don’t need any help or instruction, I’ll just stay here near the entrance… If it’s alright with you, can I use your towel and work while you hunt?” Iris nodded and left her things behind. Walking through the tall grass, she looked for movement and focused her senses.
Slowly kicking the grass in her path, Iris searched for concentrated mana. That would be the slimes. They weren’t fast, and she quickly sensed one close nearby. ‘Mana sense feels like how I imagined a snake’s heat sense would feel.’ Sweeping the tall grass aside with her arm, she looked down at a slime. It had a small mana stone. ‘My first monster… or is Lexi technically my first monster?’
One of the rare monster exceptions, slimes spawn with a tiny mana stone, and then, they slowly develop it into a mana core. Plus, after being defeated, their bodies also evaporate, unlike most monsters. Despite being a weak monster, they were considered a unique monster race given their special properties and various evolutions.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Only hesitating for a moment, Iris stepped forward and stomped the slime, crushing it beneath her foot. Its body quickly evaporated leaving behind a tiny mana stone. Collecting her prize, she continued to hunt slimes throughout the mana realm, and after filling her pockets with mana stones, she decided to return to Nick.
Approaching their spot, she transferred her prizes from her pockets into her backpack. ‘Lexi, go ahead and try to eat these.’ Silently giving her familiar the go-ahead, Iris turned toward Nick. Surrounded by paper and books, he wrote in a notebook. Iris didn’t bother him and started her second slime hunt after passing along the mana stones.
Feeling her bracelet vibrate, Iris checked, and her mother messaged saying she was on her way. It would be noon soon. ‘I should prepare to leave.’ Ending her fifth slime hunt, Iris grabbed her things and informed Nick about the situation. He nodded and packed up as well. Seeing him smile, Iris asked, “Did you get a lot done while I was hunting slimes?”
“Yeah. Seniors have to prepare a large essay in their final year, so I’m trying to get ahead in my research.” He explained. Surprised, her eyes went wide for a moment, but quickly referencing her memories, she realized he was right. ‘Ugh, a major essay. Well, at least, I won't have to worry about that until my 5th school year…’ However, Iris felt something was off in her memory.
‘Did I not do an essay?’ She couldn’t remember. It didn’t help that a headache was emerging because she was looking too far into her future memories. Seeing Iris frown, Nick asked if she was okay. She quickly fixed her expression and responded that she was ‘fine’ and ‘to not worry’. They left the slime mana realm together.
"What if another student comes?" Iris asked.
Nick shook his head, "They won't... probably. Most students reached their grade level requirement in the first month of summer." Entering a gazebo, Nick set up his materials and continued his research. Curiosity satisfied, Iris waved goodbye and went to the front office.
Her mother quickly arrived to pick her up. “How was your first day?” Not wanting to worry her mother, Iris talked more about the school tour and facilities while only briefly mentioning defeating slimes. Listening to her daughter talk, Casey was relieved and commented, “It sounds like you had a good day.”
After getting home, Iris, her mother, and her brothers had lunch together. They also asked about school, so she repeated herself going over the different school facilities. They were very interested in the different labs and classrooms. Iris used her memories to fill in the information she was telling them.
Retreating to her room after lunch, Iris brought Lexi out of her backpack. “How are you?” Glancing inside the backpack, she saw there weren’t any mana stones. “Did you eat everything?”
Giving a cute little hop, Lexi responded, ‘I did! I ate everything. I can form a mana core now, but I need your permission. Afterward, I will have a status page and level, but it will cost a portion of your mana.’
Iris’s eyes widened in surprise, and she asked for more details. ‘For each level, I will consume 100 mana from you, but if our familiar bond is strengthened, then the required mana will decrease.’ Taking in the new information, Iris decided to check her status first before deciding whether to let Lexi for a mana core.
* Status Page (Iris Neil, 10, F.)
* Magic Level: 2 (200 Mana | 200 / 200)
* Magic: Neutral Affinity | Book Mimic Trait
* Senses: [Mana Lv. 1], [Book Lv. 1]
* Skills: [Magic Writing Lv. 1], [Familiar, Lexi Lv. 2], [Mind Library Lv. 7]