First Quest Part 3

"Does that feel better, Bisky-Chan?” Mahannana asked as she finishing scrubbing the crap out of the catgirl’s face. Bisky grimaced and tapped her cheeks. “I still feel the lingering residue, but it’s much better.” Mahannana stood up. “It’s probably going to take a while for that feeling to go away because of how sticky slimes are. But anything is better than having all that gunk on your face.” She laughed. “I wasn’t expecting one of the first medical spells I did to be removing biological material from such weak monsters!”

“We’re lucky that you had the equivalent of a first aid kit on hand.” Selena said with a hint of pride. Mahannana shrugged. “Well, the reason I wanted to learn healing magic is because I wanted to help people! Why wouldn’t I carry the ingredients with me so I can assist if anything happens? I have bandages, salves, and potions...all the basic stuff. I don’t know how to make them myself yet, but I know what they do and how to use them. I figured we were better off prepared.”

“That’s smart, Ma-Chan!” Selena praised her daughter. “But...where in the world are you keeping everything?" Mahannana lifted the sides of her slit skirt. There was a leather a pouch attached to each of her legs, as well as multiple small ones pinned to the hip and lower back areas inside her skirt. “I bought them with some of the money I had saved. They’re enchanted to be bigger on the inside. Makes it easy to carry everything you need.”

“You thought about this a lot!” Mahannana shrugged. “Well, I’ve been wanting to go questing for a while and I thought I’d have to convince you to let me, so I put time into planning. That’s part of why I’m so serious about my studies. I want to have the power and competence so I can do the things I want to do without making you worry.”

“Do you two think you’re ready?” Selena asked. “Yeah.” Bisky grumbled while Mahannana nodded. “Have we learned our lesson about jumping in without thinking?” Mahannana cringed, feeling embarrassed on Bisky’s behalf, while the girl crossed her arms and looked away. “I'll listen to you two. Don’t need to rub it in.” The three headed deeper into the cave.

“So... how does one end a slime?” Bisky asked, clearly in pain at having to swallow her pride. “You need to hit them with heavy force.” Selena explained as she led the way. “You can’t hesitate. For instance, since you have the enhanced strength of a beastman and your class should grant you skill in hand-to-hand combat, you’d probably be able to kill them by kicking them, but just stomping on them isn’t anywhere near enough force.” “If you don’t take them out in one hit, they’ll get more agile and figure out how to avoid your attacks. It’s nearly impossible to land multiple hits on a slime in the same sitting.” Mahannana added. “Personally, I think you’d be better off slashing them with those claws of yours. Oh, and the goo they release when they’re attacked, and their remains supposedly aren’t sticky the same way the residue from a living slime is,” she added, anticipating Bisky’s reluctance to use her bare hands on the slimes. Having access to the world's biggest library came in handy!

The women rounded another bend and were met by a dozen slimes congregating in an alcove. “Okay, let’s try this again! Ma-Chan, you want the honors?” Selena asked. Mahannana grinned at her mother. “I’ll do my best!” She summoned her staff and approached the slimes as her mother and Bisky took a few steps back.

Mahannana held her staff with one hand and pointed it at the slimes. The creatures hadn’t noticed the intruders. ‘Time to explode!’ A pink magic circle appeared under the slimes, who squeaked in confusion as it began to glow. With a massive flash of light, the slimes were vaporized before they could realize what had happened. Satisfied, Mahannana turned to her mother and Bisky. “Easy-peasey!” She grinned and tilted her head.

 “Wow, that’s amazing! Big sis is so strong!” Bisky cheered. “Not really.” Mahannana deflected as she rejoined the others. It’s basic. But I’m glad you like it!” “But you can’t do that to all of them!” Bisky pointed at the mage in accusation. “Or else we won’t have any slime to resell!” “I won’t!” Mahannana held her hands up in a gesture of innocence.

A purple slime hopped around the corner. “Can I?” Selena asked. “You got this, mama!” Mahannana encouraged her mother. ‘I wonder what mama is going to do? She’s always so calm and, even as a wolf, I haven’t seen her be aggressive once! She’s never studied combat, so how does she plan to handle this?’ Mahannana watched closely, anxious to learn something new from her mother’s performance.

Selena squared off with the slime, who seemed more confused by the giant wolf than anything. The two slowly orbited around each other, trying to read the other’s movement. Suddenly, Selena rushed at the slime and caught it in her mouth. ‘One swift blow to end it!’ She snapped her jaws shut on the slime with all the force she could muster. The creature exploded into a shower of goo. “Ooh, good one, Selena!” Bisky exclaimed as she ran forward to poke the goo with a stick.

“This is perfect! If we kill them like this, we’ll have plenty to sell!” Bisky used the stick to gather the slime’s remains as Mahannana unpinned one of her pouches and held it open. Selena whined and shook her head. “Are you okay mama?” The wolf spit a few times. “Egh...it feels gross!” Selena exclaimed, running her tongue over her gums. “It doesn’t have any taste, but that almost makes it worse with its texture.” “It’s not sticky like what Bisky got on her face?” Selena shook her head. “No, it’s not sticky at all. More chunky than anything.”

“Okay, if you’re good, then let's keep going.” Mahannana suggested as she reattached the pouch to her dress.

“Me next, me next!” Bisky jumped and waved her hand in the air. “I call dibs on the next one!”