Ten xp points for one plant slime.

  That was a tough sell for the work it took to defeat one slime here. I smiled at the result, regardless. The rock slime was some forty meters away from me. The fire slimes were twice as close.

  An old book floated in front of me. Light emanated from the corners and gaps of the book. Running towards the rock slime, I grabbed the book and open it.

  I saw the picture of a baby.

  I wondered if monsters counted as vulnerable. I threw the golden goose at the rock slime. A damage of [-2] popped up. This rock slime was pretty durable, but slow. I pressed [no]. I pressed forward. I retrieved the gallon of gasoline from the ground. I ran from the fire slimes.

  The page turned over on its own.

  I kicked the next plant slime on my path. [-4] damage showed above its head. This seemed to have startled the slime.

  I pressed [No]. The Covenant of the Wise Fool came up.

  I accepted this covenant’s first term.

  This sounded vague.

  I looked at my linen tunic. A black-and-white badge was now emblasoned on it. It was a Yin and Yang symbol, with a warrior holding a sword from the white side, and a shrouded figure holding a sickle from the other.

  Wasn’t it just another warrior covenant in disguise?

  I kicked the plant slime around like a ball. It lost twenty more points. I thought of that as weird, then realized the plant slime had taken some fall damage. I gave the plant slime another kick. It crunched like cabbage. The plant slime dried up. It became brown. I ran away from it.

  After a while, it exploded.

  I ran up to the next shrub and hitched it from under the ground. The slime screamed with horror. My ears stung with pain. I lost ten health points. ‘Alright, so this one is a proverbial mandrake’, I thought.

  It had a pudgy face. Its eyes were hollowed. It had a blotch of a nose. Its face looked more like that of an animal, like that of a feline cub. It was a baby-like face. The creature oscillated its body. I was not sure what it was up to. I prepared to throw the mandrake slime away. Upon my forward swing, the mandrake slime latched its face upon my arm.

  I felt the tension in my arm pull me forward. The knife chinked in my right pocket. I steadied my feet. I lowered and dropped the gallon. I pulled on the slime’s body, but found it to be sticky. That was one cheeky mandrake. I had nothing against babies – at least human babies and some selections.

  Upon pulling, I incurred twenty damage. 92.6/200 flashed in front of my eyes. My captive arm’s skin was hot and burned when it came into contact with air. This guy was like a sponge. Tendrils stretched out from within the slime, wrapping around my left arm. After three seconds, little pebble-like objects hanging from the tendrils popped.

  It sounded like tiny explosions.

  I felt like I had firecrackers about my arm. Consecutive damage of [-7] ripped at my health. 30.6/200 displayed. I punched the mandrake slime, dealing a damage of [3.5]. I retrieved my fist, feeling it sting. I was glad hitting anywhere but the face did not cause burn damage.

  I grabbed the mandrake again, and pulled at it. When I dropped my hold with the right arm, the mandrake inched inward. I held its grass-hair again, with my right arm. I wrestled free my left palm. I had 33.2/200 health points. I tore off the upper sleeve of my tunic and grabbed the top of the mandrake’s body with my left hand.

  I tore the slime off, incurring [-15] damage.

  I kept my left arm slightly lowered, wide away from my body. I rotated and threw the mandrake slime at the fire slimes. Thankfully, it was light. It flowed stoutly. The mandrake slime skidded across the ground, and hits the fire slimes. The leaves at the top of its head burned off.

  I could not see the damage the throw did. I lifted the gallon and backtracked.

  The lead fire slime kept on course. The second fire slime blasted the mandrake slime, and turned to the lead fire slime. The mandrake slime flamed up. Shortly after, the flames simmered. The mandrake slime appeared scorched.

  The mandrake jumped a few times, and stuck to the ground. I approached with caution. I thought I could see the mandrake sink. I jogged forward, leaving the gallon behind. Confirming my doubts, I broke into a sprint.

  The fire slimes threw bombs in my path. I avoided these. I got to the rock projectile I had used to kill the first plant slime. I lowered my body. My hands went to the ground and lifted the projectile. My feet carried me to the mandrake slime.

  A quarter of its body was left a-surface. I threw the rock projectile upon the mandrake slime. [-3.5] popped up, but the mandrake slime was still alive. I threw the projectile again.

  This one’s self-destruction was instantaneous. I retreated from the corpse. The ground shortly imploded. It sounded like a cough – a subterranean cough.

  The result was churned up soil. I cupped some soil. I grabbed the rock projectile and I covered the distance between me and the fire slimes. I threw the soil over one fire slime and jumped back. I jumped again, aiming for my right.

  The attack was ineffective. The fire slimes blasted their furnace.

  I took aim at one fire slime. I threw the rock projectile.

  https://mega.nz/file/EM5iTCgC#CjWOR7E-ezLdMVxGL8x2yMnOiUM9kt05QyhVGBMVdm0