When the knockback effect "threw" me back and I ended up being targeted by the green slimes' attacks, because they were coming only from the left side, I managed to protect that side of my face with my arm (even though I'd slapped it with), preventing the acid attacks from reaching my eyes, or, God forbid, my ear.
Besides protecting Lumi, this is important, too. If I had let anything happen to him, Mari would definitely have turned me into Snitch fertilizer. And honestly, I think she would have done that.
The damage was as bad as I expected.
"Uuuhhgg"
[-2 HP]
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 5
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 4
SP: 15 (-6)
AP: 8
HP: 21/50
MP: 32/35
Condition: Moderate acid burn (-1 HP every 7 seconds), mild poisoning (-1 HP every 15 seconds)
Str: 9
Def: 8
Agi: 10 (+1)
Int: 8 (+3)
Mag: 5 (+2)
Res: 4
• Unique Ability: Resistance
.....]
Not as bad as It could have been, but still bad.
'If I had found these slimes without leveling up, I would have already died, wouldn't I?'
What a morbid thought, but it also goes to show that what you expect to be weak isn't always necessarily so.
*Krroo kooo?!!* (What to do now?!!)
Pulling Lumi out of my jacket/coat, I stood up and looked at the mess in front of us.
To the right, a wall of translucent slimes was burning, releasing a nauseating smell of burnt plastic and rubber, with a faint hint of something citrusy, which was strangely inviting.
To the left, more green slimes were emerging from hiding places near trees and from within the stream itself, slowly moving toward us. Always spraying small jets of acid, we were thankfully out of range, even if only just.
And directly ahead, several white slimes, along with a few green ones, were also advancing slowly. Most of them, being huddled together in a semicircle, were either directly obliterated by the [shadow ball] or thrown back at the beginning of the "bridge."
Essentially, they would be in perfect firing line.
"Alright, you two, ready to send these walking jellies to the other side?"
*Koo?*
*Awwnnn?*
They didn't understand anything I meant, it seems.
"Basically, we're going to attack everyone at once— Wait, no! Lumi and I will attack together, continuously. During this time, you prepare the biggest jet of fire you can. Do you think you can do that in less than a minute, Impeto?"
*Krrroo kooo!* (You got it!)
*Woof Woof!*
They understood that perfectly.
Gathering mana again, I prepared another [shadow ball], this time emphasizing explosive power and speed, which meant the time to form the ball was about 4 seconds. Unfortunately, that was enough time for the green slimes to get close enough for the jets of acid to reach my legs, albeit sparsely.
'Tsk, annoying little things.'
*Woof!*
*Floush*
'Uuuuuugggghhhh, too bright!'
[-2 HP]
Fortunately, unlike my attacks, Lumi's seem to have a shorter cooldown, but they also end up dealing me a little damage. At least this gave me the time I needed to finish my attack.
"[Shadow Ball]"
With the small explosion sending the slimes flying, I now had more time to continue throwing the balls more calmly, and without the jets to distract me, I took one of the rats from the item box and drank some of its blood to recover HP and MP.
After about 40 seconds of this, and I with a rat in my mouth the hole time. Impeto was finally about to launch his attack, so I decided to deliver one last, stronger blow. Gathering more mana than before, I prepared a special shadow ball for these gelatinous headaches.
"[Shadow Ball]!!"
*Auuu!!!*
At the same time I launched my attack at the slimes on the bridge, in a haduken pose (I swear I tried, but I couldn't resist), Lumi also launched his largest "shiny ball" attack toward the green slimes.
Both attacks hit the slimes right in the middle of their "formation," causing a strike effect for both of us, although I believe my attack did more damage, not to mention Lumi's attack, which dealt a small amount of damage to me.
[-3 HP]
"Seriously?! That was just the flash effect of his glowing balls. If he had thrown them at me…Uurrgg"
While [shadow balls] cause a small explosion that pushes opponents back, Lumi's 'glow balls' cause a smaller explosion but with a flash effect that blinds enemies. Apparently, even eyeless enemies like slimes, forcing them to stop for a few moments.
But his attack doesn't just have a flash effect that makes up for its lack of raw power. After the balls explode, they also release a golden glitter, similar but different from the one he used before. This glitter causes a kind of burning sensation when it lands on the enemy, making it a continuous damage attack.
How would that make sense for something that theoretically should be light?
No idea, it's apocalypse magic, so I'll leave it at that.
With the slimes on the bridge being pushed back and the slimes in the stream experiencing a traffic jam, we bought enough time for Impeto to launch his attack.
*Krrrrooo-kkkooooo!!!!*
A merciless torrent of flames was sent toward all the slimes, strong enough to almost reach the beginning of the bridge, catching most of the slimes on it, as well as more of the green slimes. It even set at least two trees on fire.
Impeto continued the attack for a full 10 seconds, slowlly zigzagging his neck to ensure he caught as many slimes as possible, including the clear ones that were still burning.
In the midst of the fire, I thought I heard several soft pops in a row, followed by a strange smell that always had a hint of citrus, but other than that, nothing major.
When the attack finally stopped, the entire ground in front of us was scorched, with some parts of the asphalt bubbling, two trees burning fiercely, and a patch of grass reduced to ash. And in the midst of it all, several tiny glowing dots were scattered across the ground, smaller than a penny, and next to some of them were small puddles of different-colored slime.
I know we have to be quick, and we've already lost someone here minutes counting the "watch" time and the fight itself, although looking back, I don't think it was that long. But considering the work they put in, I think it's only fair to just see what the slime loot was like.
And apparently I wasn't the only one. Impeto and Lumi also approached some slime puddles and started sniffing them. I let them do their thing and continued my "analysis."
Arriving near the nearest puddle, apparently of green slime, I bent down and using my [obsidian claws] grabbed the small magic stone from the middle of the goo.
'Where did that come from if they were completely transparent or at least opaque?. I'm sure there wasn't any darker spot or anything like that in classic slimes, and yet they still have a magical core?. Even if it's tiny?'
I thought, stirring the goo with my black claw.
I expected a *shhhh* noise and pain when my claws touched the goo, but no. I felt nothing but a slight sting in my claws. Was it because my claws were obsidian and not chitin like nails, or the goo wasn't acidic unlike the slimes?.
Another point to check later.
'Hmm, but overall this loot doesn't seem very useful.'
If the slimes dropped after defeat were acidic like them, collecting them would be difficult. And even if they weren't, if they were just a slime on the ground, picking them up would be annoying.
'Unless the item box had an auto-collection function... It doesn't, does it?'
Before I could test this idea, I heard several goblin 'gigis' in the distance, approaching quickly. The problem wasn't just goblins; I also heard several wolf howls and even the muffled, shuffling sound of zombies coming from various places and approaching alarmingly quickly, even the zombies.
"Okay, you two, we have to go."
I called out, but they didn't hear me. They were too engrossed in the puddles and the mini magic stones, which were indeed smaller than a penny, to hear me. The sound of the approaching monsters grew closer and closer, approaching too quickly for my liking.
'How can they be coming so fast? We didn't even make that much noise.'
Aside from Impeto's final cackle, we were pretty quiet until the sounds were no louder than when someone speaks a little louder outside a house. And yet, a group of several monsters was coming toward us?
'These creatures' behavior is a pain.'
That was the only thing I could conclude from this.