Crrck!

I watched impatiently as the slime hardened its shell. The longer it takes to transform, the colder my sword will be. Ideally, it should finish as soon as possible so that I can still kill it in one hit.

As the mists of slime dust started thickening and its spikes became visible, I knew that it was the perfect time to strike.

I strode through the grass and swung my heating sword to it. Before it could jump, my sword had already hit its shell. I watched as the cracks melted into slime, giving much way for my sword to slice through the creature.

Its insides started boiling from the heat; its spikes dropped down to the ground and melted like ice, becoming one with the ground. Slime fluid burst out as the crackling pops of the slime's body fought through itself. A hiss filled the mists with the slime's silent cry for help.

In just that fraction of a second, the slime was no more. Its body had melted into the ground, a contrast to the first one I killed, which blew up and spewed slime juice everywhere. The circle worked wonders; my sword didn't even get stuck in the slime's body. By the end, even the blade cleaned itself as the liquids evaporated from the heat.

All that was left for me was the slime's crystal, lying on the ground drowned in melted slime. I felt grossed out when picking it up. The gooey gluey fluid had covered the whole crystal. I couldn't clean it off with just my hands, and I couldn't use water either since the crystal dissolved in water. I had to put the gross slime drop into my pocket. My pocket feels so wet and uncomfortable now.

On the bright side, the magic circle method worked! I didn't even need to find a chance to strike; it never had a chance. Seems like I didn't even need the crystal's buff for safety; there was no danger to begin with. Sure, the crystal is covered in gross slime, but that's in exchange for not having a bleeding shoulder.

But by the end of it, I felt a freezing sting on my hand. When I looked at the sword, there was ice all over it, covering it in pure white frozen air. What the hell is this? I couldn't hold the sword any longer; the handle had also started freezing.

Everything around me started becoming colder. Each breath I took became stinging cold, and each breath I let out can be seen in the clear air. I shivered in the extreme cold and stood away from the sword. I could see the grass surrounding it turn white as snow.

"Why is my sword cold?"

『Players call it Flash Freeze. When you kill an enhanced slime in one strike, the weapon you used to strike will be frozen down until it becomes as brittle as glass. For your sword, the brittle temperature is below 0 C or 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is worth mentioning that cold radiates very quickly in this game. That's why you should keep away from anything that looks cold』

"Geez. The slimes have passive skills? I didn't know that."

『As a player, you find fun in discovering things by yourself, do you not?』

"You really do talk like an alien, huh?"

『I'm trying my best』

Nothing I can do with a sword that cold. But there's no point in standing around waiting for my sword to heat up.

I took my shield and placed it on the ground. Using my fingers, I traced a rough circle on the ground. Then, I placed a finger in the center and walked around the circle as I pulled it close. I did it 3 more times to create a fairly drawn spiral.

The sword had become a bit more manageable. It wasn't at atmosphere temperature, but at least I could handle it without getting any frostbite. I threw the sword into the circle and watched as it cast itself.

The sword glowed once more with red hot vigour. The grasses caught on fire just at the mere sight of the sword. My shield helped in containing the fire before it spread through the whole field.

Once it had cooled down a bit, I took it in my hand and found more slimes to kill.

----

This was the game loop for as long as I was doing the quest.

I would find a stray slime, then cast ameliorate on it. Once it was done transforming, I quickly stabbed the slime, melting it into oblivion. Then, collect the gross crystal while trying to get as much goo off it as possible.

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Since I'd always get them with one strike, my sword would always freeze after each slime. It only took a few seconds for it to heat up though, so I'd always use the time to make a new circle. Sometimes the rushed circle looked bad, but Celeste always confirmed the effectiveness of the circles whenever I had the doubt. I guess the game has a very lenient detection system.

My sword would always glow red hot, and I'd always have to put out the fire. It was exhausting work, but I made incredible progress on my quest. With the pace I was at, I would be done in no time.

On my seventh slime, I did try to barely pierce its skin with my sword. But it still melted away into nothing like all of the other slimes, freezing my sword in the process. There was practically no way to kill the slimes without freezing my sword. I accepted that fact and moved on with the next slime, continuing the loop as always.

I didn't even need to eat any crystals. No wasting quest items this time!

----

By now, 9 crystals have already been collected in my pocket. I just needed one more crystal to finish the quest.

Unfortunately, there were no more stray slimes around me. They're all gone from all of my grinding. They had all respawned in their puddle, meaning that the only way I could get more crystals is either by waiting for slimes to stray for their spawn or to get close to the slimes.

That's not a problem, though. I can always just ameliorate one slime. The rest can just be killed easily with my sword. It's a good thing the normal slimes don't freeze my sword.

I walked closer to the puddle and reached a pack of slimes. Since my sword was still hot, I didn't bother using it to purge the normal slimes. It'd cool my sword down to normal temperature and make it useless for fighting. So, I winged it and cast ameliorate on one of them.

"Ameliorate!"

Crrck!

…

Crrck!Crrck!*Crrck!*Crrck*

"Hm?"

Why is there so much… cracking noise?

I looked around me.

…

"!!"

A bunch of slimes had stopped in their tracks, convulsing. All of them covered themselves with hard shells that cracked continuously as they transformed.

All the slimes around me had started transforming!

"What the—! I cast Ameliorate on one of you! Why are you all transforming!" I shouted. All the cracking made me panic for my own safety as I backed away from the slimes.

『Forgive me』

"What?!"

『I should've told you sooner. But any creature that hears a player's Ameliorate will become enhanced. It is not so much a single-cast spell; it's more of an incantation. All of these transforming slimes heard your Ameliorate and are now being enhanced』

"Why didn't you tell me before!?"

『Transforming slimes do not have the Flash Freeze passive skill. You can still take advantage of the situation』

This was no time to complain; there must be around 7 slimes around me. I should act quickly before I get ganked by them.

I dashed through the grass and gave hell to the transforming slimes. One by one, I sliced through without mercy in the name of self-preservation. I can't let a couple of slimes kill me on my second day in the game.

Try as I might, but as I sliced each slime, I saw their shells start to harden. After the third slime, their spikes had already developed. I was barely able to kill the fourth slime in the nick of time. But by then, my sword had gone cold, and the slimes had become active.

Three slimes started bouncing their way towards me with much intimidation. As I touched my blade, I realized it had gone cold; using it is no good. I had to make a circle on the spot before they started attacking.

I quickly placed my shield on the ground and marked a circle on the ground.

CrackShh*

I hear them bouncing closer with every second. But I focused on making the spiral as quickly as I could.

One line, two lines, three lines, and the fourth.

『Watch out!』

A shadow cast over me. One of the slimes has started accelerating down onto the ground. There was no time; I can't throw my sword into the circle.

I dodged the slime at the last second.

Thwack!

It was so close. My circle was done; I just needed to throw in my sword. In hindsight, I could've thrown it, and it'll still cast the spell. Even if the sword snapped from the slime's smash, I still would've had something hot enough to throw at the other slimes.

But now, it's all ruined. The slime definitely broke the circle. I had to act fast and make another one before the other slimes reached me.

Bwoaamm

"??!"

The circle? But there's nothing casting it. Why did it just glow?

『Take a closer look』

As I looked back at it, I suddenly realized what had just happened.

"It cast on the slime?"

The slime floated slowly above the circle. The circle's glow covered the whole slime as its shell and spikes started melting away onto the grass. As the glow ceased, the slime dropped onto the ground and became liquid. The circle had just killed the slime directly. It even dropped a crystal.

『No time to waste; a slime's preparing to jump on you』

I suddenly had a brilliant idea.

I placed my shield down and traced another circle. Consecutively, I drew a rough set of 4 spiral lines. As I heard the air rushing down on me, I quickly tumbled my way out of the shadow.

Thwack!

…

Bwoaamm

Just as I thought, I didn't need to do anything after. Since they're going to fall directly on me, they're always going to be on the circle afterwards.

I watched as the slime melted down into a simple crystal. This was all too easy for me. This game's logic is really doing the job for me.

I drew one more circle as the final slime jumped on me.

The last slime was as dumb as the rest. It trapped itself in my magic circle just like the others. I watched it silently convulse in front of me. It was just like watching butter melt, very satisfying.

I went over to each broken circle and picked up the dropped crystals. Though I went in with the goal of 10, I've obtained a little more than that by accident. As an added bonus, my sword's not frozen after all of that. "Nice job."

It seems like what you lack in fighting, you make up for in outsmarting』

"Heh, I know, right?"