(Walson)

Today was the day that the children were going to explore the mountains.

Funny, this reminded me of the field trips I had back when I was a kid on Earth.

Oh wait, I’m a kid NOW… Never mind.

The young [Fighters] and [Mages] gathered around the clearing, listening to Maany and Father Marbon’s last-minute lecture.

Apparently Father Marbon did a ‘live-demonstration’ of slime extermination, killing it while all of the kids were watching.

RIP Slime.

“Our objective for today is to explore the flatter parts of the mountains and scour for any low-level monsters for you to kill. Please bring back any [Slime Cores] and [Slimeballs] you acquire as proof of completing this exercise.” Father Marbon said.

As I said, the trip was all about killing slimes.

Speaking of which, there is a LV34 slime inside the deeper parts of the mountains. It’s really big, and even Arkon the gigantic phantasmal wolf doesn’t like to mess around with the slime.

Despite the fact that its level was higher than Arkon’s, the phantasmal wolf has far more superior stats. Comparing the levels is not really a good comparison of strength.

Personally I think the slime would lose to Arkon since he is much stronger in terms of stats.

I have observed the big slime for a while, and came to the conclusion that it does not like to actively hunt other creatures. It prefers to simply devour rocks and trees, and occasionally perform some water magic, but that’s about it.

One could almost say that the big slime was peaceful, except it’s clearly stronger than the majority of the monster population in the mountain.

Even though fire is weak to water, pitting the slime and the phantasmal wolf against each other would still be rather silly.

Wolves always hunt with purpose, such as hunting for food, or eliminating threats to their territories. But nothing will be accomplished by hunting a slime. So Arkon leaves it alone since it serves no purpose to fight it.

“… There have also been sightings about magical beasts wandering in the area, aggressive wolves in particular. Please proceed with caution, and it will be a test of your teamwork if you ever meet them.” Father Marbon continued.

Ah, seems like they are talking about the lone wolves or the wanderers of the pack.

Arkon has his underlings tightly under his control, and they rarely ever wander out of the deeper parts of the mountains.

So this leaves two possibilities: either they are the elderly who wanted to ‘die in peace’ after no longer being able to contribute to the pack, or they are the rash and hot blooded youth that went exploring on their own.

“… Walson, not nervous?” Grace sat right next to me on the grass, sounding slightly anxious.

“You know I’ve been inside the deeper parts of the mountains, I spend a lot of time there as well. This is nothing really.” I responded.

Plus I have my trusty [Mini-map]. I will be informed in advance, be it weaklings or strong threats.

Though… I suppose only Arkon and the big slime would count as threats. In this region at least.

I stealthily snaked my hands and squeezed Grace’s hand, trying to comfort and reassure her.

Ah, the soft and delicate texture of her small hands!

“… Walson, meanie.” Grace blushed cutely, but didn’t retract her hands or show any signs of rejection from my action.

Uaaah~ how cute…

“… And that will be all. One last thing before we all let you run loose!” Father Marbon gave a look towards Maany.

Maany took up the cue and stepped forward.

“Everyone please gather up here and take an [Alarm Crystal] before you go. If you ever find yourself in danger, pour mana into it to activate it just like we mentioned in our previous lessons. Has anyone forgotten how to use them?” The children started to crowd around her.

Just as Grace and I were going towards her, Mitty passed us by.

Mitty is older than us by three years, which puts him at thirteen years old right now. He was already bratty back then, and his brattiness is even more pronounced as he aged.

He also became one of Grace’s not-so-secret admirers. He’s been looking for trouble a lot more often now.

… But he is only LV7. He uses impractically long spell chants, and has absolutely zero combat experience.

I can wipe the floor with him.

“No matter what you did, to force Grace to do as you say, I will save her someday.” He said to us, then proceeded towards Maany to take an [Alarm Crystal].

… I have the strong urge to kick his ass right now.

You know YOU were the one that bullied Grace years before, right!? What do you think you’re doing, trying to act like a nice guy when you really aren’t!?

And what is with that nonsensical declaration? Did he read that off of some theater script? What a drama queen!

I really ought to sneakily punish you somehow… No wait, I shouldn’t bother wasting my time on him.

There are lots of things I want to do today, we’re heading towards the secret base after everything is done.

#Melon, is everything ready?# I activated the telepathic link.

#Yes Master. Everything is waiting ready for you.#

#… You get to live in a secret base. Jealous…# Grace said through the telepathic link.

Oh right, I am going to introduce them to each other today. Hopefully no fights will occur between them.