The next morning, she taught her wards how to work the washing machine and dishwasher. They were both ecstatic, but Oras did try keep his expression more subdued. He had to be the serious one after all. Muffling her giggles, she left the goblins to their own devices and marched her pets out the door. Today was going to be the day. As the common room was now too small to fit everyone, they held the daily meeting out the front of the building. Nearly a thousand people had come from other buildings and homes as well, just to listen to the old stationmaster plan. She, Martin, Margaret, Jason and Jasmine all stood behind him in a line. They had put together a few dozen milk crates as a makeshift platform to give them all a bit of height over the large crowd. Coming to the end of the speech Larry said “Alright, you all know what to do, now let’s get out there and do it.”
There was a loud cheer from the people gathered and there was a sense of comradery as they all set out together. After most of the crowd had dispersed, Rose noticed Larry frowning. “Hey Larry, what’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Aaah, it’s just the overzealous new kid you guys brought back with you on the first day. His name is Kaito and he’s a real show off. I took him on the mission to the shopping centre yesterday and he nearly got others injured several times. The Nexus has rewarded him quite a few times due to his achievements of killing lots of challengers, but it’s all gone to his head. With the rewards he got I can kind of understand why. A short-range teleport ability, a [BLOODLINE] that gives him night and thermal vision, and skill that gives him a conjurable void cloak that let’s attacks pass right through him. He doesn’t think about the party around him and just does his own thing. I’ve decided to assign him as our first lone fighter… but he’s still just a kid. I’m worried.”
Rose didn’t think the seventeen-year-old was quite a kid anymore, but she supposed it was a different story from Larry’s perspective. “I understand where you’re coming from” Martin said “but we’ve got bigger problems to worry about and the kid seems capable enough. He is [LEVEL 9] after all.”
Larry just gave a nod and then they headed off to join the rest of their teams.
Reports were going out every ten minutes now. Not because anything bad was happening but because safe zones kept being created and more people kept joining all the different tribes. There were teams on either side of their suburbs exploring further and further into the surrounding region. More people meant even more reports. Just five more blocks towards the core and then they will have completely cleared Stafford. “This first block we’re coming up to has already been mostly cleared but its not a safe zone yet. There should be only one or two monsters left but the ‘Terminators’ have already moved on. According to them ‘the measly experience left wasn’t worth it’ so they were ‘moving on to greener pastures’.”
The other four members of the party shared his disgusted look as he relayed the information. “Since its only a couple of monsters, we’ll split up to search. Emily, Neil and I will take the left side. Rose and Fred, take the right.”
Sounding off in acknowledgement, members left for their assigned sides. Fred took the first house, so Rose and her pets headed for the second. Just as she stepped onto the front lawn Rose heard a cry from the other end of the street. Frying pan at the ready Rose turned to look. What. The. Heck. Was. That? A seven-metre-tall green slime with tentacles moved almost silently through the neighbourhood. A human figure lying a metre or so away from it tried to get back up but was promptly slammed back on the ground by a tentacle. Hard. That had looked and sounded like it hurt. Rose knew the figure wouldn’t last much longer. She needed to help. Calling for her wolfhound pack to follow, Zen jumped up onto her back as she ran.
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Needing to understand the circumstances Rose analysed the tags.
Humanoid – [HUMAN] – [LEVEL 9]
Monster – [GRAND ANOMOLY SLIME] – [LEVEL 15] – [REGIONAL BOSS]
Well shit. What? She could swear. If this wasn’t the time to fucking swear then when was it? The figure trying to stand back up once again was probably Kaito. She had to get in and then somehow get him out of the slime’s reach. This was going to be tough.
“Toby, distract” she called hoping he would understand her intent. After a huff at her, the [ALPHA BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] turned and gave a deep ‘woof’ to his pack. Then they ran ahead and actually followed her directions. There were more than ten tentacles though. Hopefully if they just distracted the nearby ones, it would be enough. While dashing in, she recalled that she could just ask for help. In her panic she had completely forgotten. Sending a quick message to Martin, Rose once again focused on her goal. Reaching for the teen she thought she might make it when a tentacle grabbed her around the waist. Well crap. Thinking fast the young lady decided that instead of trying to run away she would run towards the base of the tentacle and hold on, then it wouldn’t be able to throw her around. Surprisingly her stupid plan worked at first, but it was in the end a stupid plan. The slime had so much trouble trying to pull her off it that it ended up absorbing her instead.
Everything burned. This had been a very bad idea. What had she been thinking? Rose tried to think as the acid surrounding her slowly made her skin go red. Trying to get back out only resulted in her hitting a solid membrane. Crap! Think, think, think. How do you escape slimes? Once consumed she had never seen anything exit a slime. How do you kill a slime? Well, she usually slapped them with her frying pan, but this one was so bi- Wait a minute. Slimes didn’t die because they were splattered. They died when their cores broke. The core! She had to find the core and destroy it. Swimming around with difficulty Rose swung her pan and wok around her in an effort to find what she could not see. Opening her eyes now would likely make her blind. Her skin felt like it was on fire now. Would she make it? CLINK. Her wok had knocked against something! Reaching around she grasped what she assumed to be a baseball sized core in her hand. Laying the key to her freedom in the frying pan which she now held the right way up, Rose swung the bottom of her wok into the pan as hard as she could. CRACK. The acid slime fell away from her as she hit the ground.
*DING*
Monster – [GRAND ANOMOLY SLIME] – [LEVEL 15] – [REGIONAL BOSS] has been slain.
You have gained a vast amount of [EXPERIENCE] for your level
*DING*
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 2.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 3.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 4.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 5.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 6.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 7.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 8.
For landing the killing blow on the [REGIONAL BOSS] of your [REGION] during the [TUTORIAL] you have been awarded extra experience
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 9.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 10.
18 Attribute points have been distributed according to the natural inclinations of your race.
You have 9 Skill points and 18 Attribute point to distribute manually.