System, are you messing with me?

Ark 4 - Gathering Slimes

Shu Ning stopped in his traks and turned around to look at the other male. 'Spice_and_flowers' was gazing at him with huge puppydog eyes and a pout on the lips. The guys hair was completely disheaveled, giving him a pitiful look and clumbs of dirt were stuck to his attire. 

"Let me think.... hmmmm. No."

Shu Ning smiled haughtily at 'Spice_and_flowers' and then just left the flabbergasted male behind. With quick steps, so to not give the other any chance to catch up, he returned to the village. 

There he first dropped by the blacksmith's shop to give a short report about the swords quality. He had been really pleased with the weapon. It turned out to be really sturdy as it kept up with the constant fighting and thanks to the light metal, the exhaustion was kept to a minimum. Thanks to the aquamarine the brunt force of the creatures had also been dulled to a managable level, so he didn't have to constantly evade the attacks. 

Afterwards, Shu Ning walked around the marketplace for a bit and looked at all the gadgets the players and NPC's were selling. Most of them were useless junk though that they collected when they were still beginners and now trying to get rid of. Without success as it seemed. However, one of the stalls caught his attention. 

It was smaller than the rest and so almost invisible in the bustling around it. Behind the table stood an older male that was dressed like a soldier from medieval times. He was clad completely in metal and with every movement he did, his armor gave a sharp clanging sound. That was the only reason Shu Ning had noticed the stall. There was only one thing scattered across the table's surface. Green slime.

For the healer class this was an important item. It formed the base of many potions and so far, Shu Ning hadn't come across any monsters yet that dropped it. He walked over to the table and took out a few coins for the seller. A screen popped up in front of him, asking if he wanted to go on with the transaction. After agreeing and handing over the money, the slime dissapeared from the stall and reapeared in his inventory. 

"You seem to be really into collecting slime. Do you need it that badly?"

The seller lifted one of his eyebrows in question and started packing up his things. In no time the table was stored away and a blue arrow formed above their heads, signaling other adventureres that the space was free now.

"Yes. I need them for my class."

"What class are you?"

"Well..."

Shu Ning hesitated. It was never a good idea to just blurt out ones class. It could lead to a lot of trouble. Especially for a healer. So he just shrugged appologetically and the other male nodded in understanding.

"If you need more slime, then why not take on a quest?"

"I haven't found one yet. Do you know of any?"

"Yes. A few miles west of here there is a town. Well more a ruin thant anything else. The whole place is swarmed by blobbs of slime that respawn again as soon as you leave."

"Is it connected to a mission?"

"It is. In front of the gate you will find a young souldier - that's who I got this nice armor from - who will tell you the story of this village. I'll give you a short rundown. The king of the place liked animals a lot and let his subjects gather different tipes of monsters. They were thrown into very small cages and set up all around his castle. A bit like a privat zoo. One of the creatures was a... well... a winged deer. I forgott the name. It was an intelligent creature and managed to break out. In rage it cursed the people of the kingdom and they all turned into slimes. The only one who wasn't affected was the soldier, as he had gone to find more animals for his king. Now the guy is making sure that the slimes are being taken care of and don't cause any trouble. That's about it."