Chapter 5 - Slimebusting

Dragging his silver blade behind him, Sol crept up on the slime. (Meaningless, given it wasn’t likely the slow-moving thing would escape anyway.) As soon as he was in range, he thrust the blade down, stabbing through its gooey flesh as if there were nothing there at all. It pierced the slime instantly, but the attack carried yet more power, cracking the ground beneath it as the tip struck through the monster and directly into the earth. After making contact, he slashed, straight down the middle, severing the slime perfectly in half, all the while leaving an impressive gash in the dense earth.

A few feet away, Luna had found her own target. She raised her staff to the sky, power crackling in the air. Sparks danced up the birch pillar and formed around the gem, forging a blinding blue bolt around it. With a swing, it was all released, a huge shimmering orb of pure mana. It flew toward the slime with a great speed despite its size, warping the air around it as it flew. It struck the slime dead-centre, atomizing it into a veritable mist of green goop.

The two looked proudly at Clint, doing their best dramatic poses to show off. They only managed to look ridiculous to him. Even more so when the slimes they had struck down reformed. The split slime simply slurped back together with ease, and the shattered slime quickly mashed its broken pieces together around the still intact core.

“Gah! Missed again!” Sol groaned. He made another attempt. The same cycle. Stab then slash.

Luna, embarrassed, hid under her sleeve as she made another incantation, forming yet another blast from her staff.

Clint could hardly believe his eyes. Sol’s earth-shattering strength and Luna’s magic would have broken his perception of reality a mere day ago. The twins were truly incredible in terms of what they were capable of. The issue was, they were just… Bad.

Their natural talents were so immense that their skill levels simply weren’t able to catch up. Clint raised a hand, putting a stop to the twins’ attempts and earning himself two pairs of sparkling, excited eyes staring him down.

“You two plain stink at this.” He maligned, earning a disappointed jaw drop from the twins.

“That’s it? That’s your advice?” Sol’s red eyes dared to pop out of his head.

“So blunt…” Luna muttered, headdress drooping over her face.

“It's just basic stuff you’re gettin’ wrong.” Clint shrugged. “Why’re you stabbing and then cuttin’? Just find your spot and cut.” He suggested to Sol. It seemed to unlock something in his brain, such simple advice, so obvious, but it was the first time he had ever become aware of such a blind spot.

“N’ you.” Luna popped up from beneath her headdress. “Why’re ya hitting ‘em so damn hard?” The same effect for Luna, it all began to make sense. “All ya need to do is hit that little core thing, you don’t need to blow ‘em up.”

“I was trying, it’s just channelling mana is actually really hard for me. I have so much that-” Luna began, twiddling fingers nervously, trying not to sound unappreciative.

“Just use the stick then.” Clint replied bluntly.

Luna’s face dropped in hue to a ghastly pale. “This is dreamwood staff, it’s not just a stick! It’s a powerful relic crafted by elven sages!” she protested, only to be silenced by her brother cupping her mouth.

“All we have to do is just reign it and- Ow!” Luna bit his fingers, forcing his grip to release. “Be precise? That’s all?” Sol barely acknowledged what Luna did, they were siblings, he had dealt with worse.

Clint nodded as if to say “Obviously”.

The sun bobbed overhead, descending gradually. The day was already late after all the morning’s excitement, with Clint’s arrival, the hellhound’s death, the drinks at the bar and finally his acceptance of this grand quest. Clint felt like he had already lived a lifetime in the last few hours.

Finally, at least for a moment, there was peace. He watched the sun as it made its wandering journey westward. It was much like himself, though he’d never shone so brightly. He was always huddled in dampening leather and coated in the dust of the deserts he called home. That suited him just fine. He could never be the kind of person Sol and Luna expected him to be. The hero. The one to stand above all and cast their light onto those beneath. The ground was his domain, amongst the beasts and the dirt, that fit him much better.

The first embers of sunset began to band the horizon. In the blink of an eye, the day was close to its end. And in all that time…

The twins had only killed a handful of slimes.

The frustration painted their faces in sharp, but subtle strokes. Luna gripped her staff tight, leaning her head against it, as if using it as a focal point to directly channel her negative thoughts. Her brow was so furrowed it seemed like she may just blow it up with her mind. Sol sat on the floor, running a hand through his hair as he stared upward.

There was something so clearly wrong with the two. It was obvious to Clint. He didn’t know much about this world, nor adventuring, and he especially couldn’t comprehend their stats, but it was apparent that the two were somehow defective. Faulty products. Blessed with immense strength and magical prowess, but somehow doomed to never use their abilities successfully. It was tragic, but not his problem.

“Oh crap.” Sol muttered. “Oh crap!” He repeated, shouting now.

“What?” Luna pulled her face away from the staff, hair framing her face like some sort of ghoul.

“The adventurer’s exam! We’ve gotta get the hero his stat card!” Sol leapt up, grabbing his sword out of the ground and rushing away. Luna followed swiftly after, quick feet catching her up to him with ease. Clint trailed behind, content to be late or to not arrive at all.

The adventurer’s guild was a lively place, a hub for all the excitement of the adventuring lifestyle. Parties being formed for the first time, friendships being forged in the afterglow of combat and big payouts from rewarding quests being celebrated. It buzzed with life in every corner, constant movement and chatter rolling through wherever you went.

In this kind of environment, Clint was horribly out of place. Not only his alien clothing, but his stiff, on-guard demeanour made him a total outlier. He drew a few eyes as he made his way to the front desk.

The clerk was an elf, though her appearance was a stark contrast to what was typical of her species. Instead of fair skin, she was tanned. In place of pale blonde hair, she had a dirty brownish-blonde. She eschewed the formal flowing robes that were often the fashion for elves, instead wearing cropped, form fitting casualwear.

Clint stepped up to her. “Sorry, we’re pretty much closed.” She dismissed, not even looking at him.

“Aw come on. All he needs is a stat card.” Sol took a place next to Clint and flashed the elf a smile, a powerful opening silo in his charm offensive.

“Prince Sol, what brings you here? You’ve never handed in a quest before!” the clerk fawned, hands scrambling for a stat card which she promptly handed off to Clint. She was now unconcerned entirely with him and his alien appearance, instead enraptured by the royalty in front of her.

Sol leaned in closer, firing the second shot. “Now, I know it’s nearly sundown, and you’d never normally do this, but…We’re just getting our friend here set up. You wouldn’t mind explaining the basics, would you? And I mean, the basics, just assume that he knows absolutely nothing. Like he’s a kid! Could you do that for me, Miss…?” He left her a gap to introduce herself, a trick he had learned to easily build a rapport. As a prince he knew well how to lead a conversation to get what he wanted.

“E-Erine! A-and of course!” the elf stumbled, quickly launching into an explanation of the stat card. Clint looked down at it. It was strange to see it blank, just a normal piece of paper with none of the life Luna’s copy had. He didn’t fully listen to the explanation, something about magical ink that can react to your thoughts. When she moved on to the numbers, Clint decided to tune in again.

“Your stats determine your class, they define you and what you’re good at. For example- Prince Sol, could I have the honour of…” Sol obliged, passing her the card. She clung to it for a moment, devouring the information before showing it to Clint.

“Class: Swordsman”

“Fortitude: 165

Physical Power: 300

Swiftness: 90

Precision: 40

Intelligence: 65

Mental Processing: 100

Magical Aptitude: 90

Mana Cap: 150”

“As you can see, Prince Sol’s physical stats are… Impressive.” She gulped, staring up at him admiringly. “And for these exceptional talents he was given the swordsman class after passing the adventurer’s exam.” She glanced back at Clint. “You’re uh, gonna take that too, right?”

“Damn right he is!” Sol grinned, making an attempt at a big pat on the back for Clint. Once again, the cowboy deftly evaded his attempt at friendship with a large step, earning another twitch in Sol’s smile.

“I am obligated to warn you though.” The clerk insisted, dryly reading off a memorised script. “The adventurer’s exam is as dangerous as it is comprehensive. It’s designed to test if you’re ready for real life or death situations, so it itself is a life or death situation. Are you able to go through with that?”

He didn’t reply to the woman, just looked through her with his piercing yellow eyes. He was ready, of course. He lived every day on the edge, today was no different.

“W-well then, if you’re all prepared…” Erine muttered, attention finally drawn away from Sol by the sheer intensity Clint gave off. She disappeared around the back, reappearing to open a large door that lay just beside the front desk.

Sol and Luna jittered with excitement as the huge door opened. They knew the exam well, even for adventurers of their exceptional stats, the exam had been a welcome challenge. They were endlessly eager to see just how their ‘hero’ would conquer such a thing.

The heavy door scraped as the clerk used all her might to shove it open, light began to pour past her, almost consuming her form as she revealed the grounds. Fire, ice, swinging vines and towering trees; Darkened brushes that surely contained beasts unknown and dangers untold. This was the adventurer’s exam.

Around the room all eyes were now on Clint, all a-flash with memories of their own time there, some quivered, some stood tall, but all were excited to see just what fate awaited the cowboy.

Clint Morgans alone stood calm. 

Current Party: Clint Morgans, Sol Dragoneart, Luna Dragoneart