Chương 20: The Slime Cleanup Quest

【Cave Contamination Cleanup】 Over the past half month, the quality of Blackstone Town's backup water supply has deteriorated significantly, accompanied by an unpleasant odor. After an initial investigation, it was confirmed that Slimes had appeared inside an abandoned cave along the underground river that supplied the backup water source. Their secretions were identified as the primary cause of the contamination.

To ensure the safety and health of Blackstone Town's residents, we are recruiting a reliable and efficient adventurer team to enter the abandoned cave and complete the following task. Quest Rank: Common. Quest Objective: Eliminate all Slimes within the abandoned cave and investigate the situation. Reward: Three silver coins per Slime eliminated. Slime Cores will serve as proof of completion. Association Note: The abandoned cave is dark and damp. Please make sure to prepare sufficient lighting equipment.

"Not bad. Let's take this one." Zelier nodded in agreement. Slimes weren't particularly dangerous, and he had also learned Illuminate, which could finally come in handy.

"By the way, is it just the two of us this time? Wouldn't that be a little risky?" Zelier suddenly remembered something.

"Then count me in." Another familiar voice came from behind. The half-elf ranger Vaelis had also happened to arrive at the Adventurer's Association. With a longbow strapped to his back, he still wore the same expression that clearly said don't bother me. However, Zelier acknowledged both Vaelis's strength and character. He was someone who looked cold on the outside but was kind at heart. Even with someone he disliked, like Grey, Vaelis would still provide treatment when necessary.

He wasn't the kind of person who would abandon someone to die.

"Then that makes three of us." Marcus pondered for a moment, looking between Zelier and Vaelis.

"Do we need another teammate?"

"Should be enough, right? Slimes aren't exactly dangerous. Getting more people would just mean splitting the reward further." Vaelis shrugged. Zelier agreed as well. After all, the danger level wasn't very high. And the fewer people there were, the more money each person would receive.

"Speaking of which, where's Grey? Have either of you seen him recently?"

"I saw him outside a tavern last night." Vaelis let out a cold snort. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"That guy's built like a damn bull. His chest and shoulder are wrapped in bandages, yet he's still full of energy. Even after getting injured like that, he still had time to go chase after his old flames."

"Grey can't sit still. Keeping him in bed would probably be worse than killing him." Marcus shook his head.

"Then it'll just be the three of us this time." A Lower-tier Warrior, Marcus. A Lower-tier Ranger, Vaelis. And an Apprentice Mage, Zelier. After confirming the team, Marcus went to the counter and accepted the quest. The group agreed to meet at the Blackstone Town checkpoint the following morning. After leaving the Adventurer's Association, Zelier began preparing for the mission.

Although he was a mage, until he reached the stage where he could casually throw out low-tier spells while keeping defensive magic active at all times, some basic equipment was still necessary. Otherwise, one careless mistake could cost him his life. Zelier still wasn't very familiar with Blackstone Town, but finding the blacksmith wasn't difficult. He only needed to follow the constant clang clang of hammer strikes. On a street not far from the Nightflower Inn, Zelier chose a blacksmith shop.

The place was completely open-air, resembling a stone cavern with only three walls. The intense scene inside was displayed without any attempt at concealment. Even standing at the entrance, Zelier could feel the scorching heat and the sharp scent of hot metal rushing toward him. Flames roared from the furnace, twisting the surrounding air with waves of heat. A shirtless man worked the bellows, sweat sliding down his muscular body, giving him a rough, primal sense of strength.

"I'm Brown, the owner." The man's hoarse voice rang out.

"Looking to buy equipment or order something custom-made?"

"Uh… I'm buying equipment." Zelier was slightly overwhelmed by the sheer atmosphere.

"All finished goods are in there. Pick whatever catches your eye and tell me. I'll take it down for you to try." Brown pointed toward the room on the right.

"Go ahead and look around." The room was divided into two sections. The front half displayed armor, while the back half contained weapons. Zelier's goal was simple: find a suitable piece of protective gear and buy a weapon he could use. As for armor, cloth armor was immediately ruled out. Its defensive capabilities were too poor, and considering he specialized in fire magic, he might even end up burning himself by accident. Chainmail was too expensive, and unnecessary.

He wasn't a frontline fighter who would be taking hits head-on. After some consideration, Zelier chose a studded leather cuirass. The main body was made from boiled leather treated with wax, reinforced with several iron plates riveted across its surface. It offered decent protection against slashing attacks. For his weapon, Zelier eventually selected a rapier. It was lightweight and easy to handle. Even without any formal swordsmanship training, he could use it comfortably.

Its main purpose was simply to deal with situations where casting magic wasn't necessary. The two pieces of equipment cost him eighty silver coins in total. Walking out of the blacksmith shop, Zelier looked at his increasingly empty pouch and sighed. He only had a dozen or so silver coins left. It felt like he hadn't even bought much. How had all his money disappeared so quickly? As expected, being a mage was truly an expensive profession.

The biggest expense over the past few days had been the ashwood wand base, which had cost him three gold coins outright. And that was only one part of a complete wand. Zelier sighed. Looks like I really need to work harder and take more quests. The next day at noon, Zelier arrived at the meeting point on time. Marcus and Vaelis were already waiting there. During their previous mission, Marcus's small round shield and battle-blade had been destroyed.

This time, he had replaced them with better equipment—a larger one-handed shield and a higher-quality blade. Vaelis, meanwhile, still maintained his usual setup: a curved sword at his waist and a bow on his back. With the team assembled, they set out toward the abandoned cave. According to the map provided with the quest, the destination wasn't far from town. They could reach it after roughly three or four hours of walking. If everything went smoothly, they might even return to Blackstone Town in time for dinner.

The journey passed without incident. After crossing a sparse woodland, Marcus finally spotted the outline of the abandoned cave.

"This should be the place." Marcus folded up the map. Ahead of them was a dark cave entrance, roughly three to four meters high and wide enough for several people to walk through side by side. The terrain wouldn't restrict their ability to fight. The rock walls outside the cave were covered in slippery, dark green moss, while the stone itself had a strange deep-red coloration. Vaelis crouched down and carefully examined the ground.

"What are you looking at?" Zelier crouched beside him.

"Slime residue." Vaelis pointed toward the glittering marks left on the ground.

"When Slimes move, they leave behind traces of their secretions. We can use these to roughly estimate how many of them are inside." Following Vaelis's guidance, Zelier also began observing carefully. There really was quite a lot of sticky liquid. And it continued deeper into the cave.