Chapter 14: New monster, new town

While the duke's forces were dealing with demonic monsters at their camp, inside the forest a group of men covered in black and red clothes surrounded a girl, nay, a humanoid monster with black wings and tiny black horns on her forehead. She was covered in bleeding wounds, her hands chained to the ground. Around her was a magic circle drawn in blood of one of the men whose corpse was lying nearby. The magic circle was glowing with dark red color, giving the entire place an eerie look. The chains bound her to the circle in both body and soul, making it impossible for her to die, even if she lost all her blood. These chains were made by combining Sealing stones —a type of Sorcerous stone— with Asterite, a metal with light blue color that held power to seal Evil.

„Soon, my brothers, we will clean this world of that detestable duke and his dirty blooded family!"

„Oooohh!"

„And we shall take our rightful place among the kingdom's elite!!"

„OOoooooohh!!'' The men were cheering, completely ignoring the darkness that was spreading around them.

„What a shameful display this is…" a girl's voice cut through the dark forest.

„WHO GOES THERE?!!!" the boss of the men shouted and soon, a girl completely dressed in white which under the light of the Blue moon made her look eerily pale. Her long white hairs were braided in a single long plait. Her eyes shone with crimson light, marking her as an Albino.

„Weaklings such as you don't even deserve to know his name," The girl smiled victoriously.

„An elvish trash got here and is spouting such ridiculous shit… Balor! Kill her!" The boss muttered and flames erupted near his legs. A giant muscular body in humanoid shape with horns on the side of its Ox-like head appeared from the dark flames, there was no doubt about the true nature of the sudden visitor. This monster was a resident of the Nether plane, a demon of flames, Balor.

In that moment a single arrow whizzed through the air and stabbed Balor right into its shoulder. The arrow's tip was coated in liquid the duo just recently procured, the Nigredo. Balor screamed in pain as its body started to turn black and liquidized. Balor died before he even knew what hit him.

„Ew, that's nasty… Well, at least I know what it does to organic material…" a man dressed in similarly dark clothes, yet distinctly different from the Black-Red men came out of the shadows of the forest. His eyes were glowing blue, just like the moon. „<Shadow bind>"

The boy binded the men in dark clothes and their boss without even blinking. These binds even absorb their magic powers and feed them to the caster, making him able to cast the spell longer.

„Who the hell are you?!"

„I have no need to tell you. All you need to do for me is die," his voice was as cold as his eyes as he passed the tied up men, „From the looks of it, the girl is the core of that demon summoning so taking her out would be the most ideal, but…"

„When you see someone suffer, you just want to help them, right?" the white haired girl smiled.

„Heheh, you know me so well… Let's get those shackles off first… they seem to absorb her magic power in order to strenghten the binding… her mana seems to prefer dark magic so— <Purification! >"

The boy used high leveled magic to clean all the build up of dark magic in the shackles, making them fall apart in the process, as if they were made from sand. The magic circle shattered because of it too.

The girl who was forced to sit in an unnatural position this long fell to the ground, but the boy caught her before she could land. „Easy now, I will stop the bleeding for now, <High Heal>" the wounds on the girl's arms, legs and the rest of her body disappeared, her breathing was still ragged, but not as much as it was before.

„I will call everyone here, <Fireworks >" the white haired girl shot a small fireball towards the sky and when it got high enough, it exploded into a beautiful flower of flames.

„Good work. I'm almost done healing her," said the boy as he Casted another healing spell on the girl

„Who is she anyway?"

„She's a monster known as Fallen. An angel that can use dark magic instead of light and healing magic. This one however has [Demon summoning] and [General] skills too."

„Is she dangerous?"

„Most definitely."

„But that won't stop you from keeping her, right?"

„Yep. If something like that was what stopped me, I would never tame the goblin trio or our vampire maid."

„You… are… monsters…!" the boss of the hooded men fainted due to lack of magic power.

„If I am a monster, then you are vermin waiting to be crushed," the boy looked closely at the boss and his men from above as if to showcase the difference in power, „But you are too weak for me to crush you personally, so I will let the duke and his family do the crushing instead."

***

After the ducal family arrived, I received an earful for running away like that from Lena and Laina, the men were silent as they did not want to get caught up in the verbal onslaught. In the end we were allowed to go back to our tent to rest so I did just that. The Fallen girl rested in my tent, as we were now responsible for her, too. Though, Lena insisted on giving her a change of clothes first, which I agreed to for obvious reasons. I mean, her clothes are pretty ripped and bloodied.

„Um, Lena, could I ask you for a favor?"

„Whatever do you need from me?"

„This black liquid came from the Dark slime and is apparently an alchemy component. I would like to know what kind of liquid the Light Slime would make."

„But would it be safe to take it out of the dimension home?"

„If I enter it with the barrel and place it in it there, it should be no problem."

„Okay, I will call Edgar here right away."

I prepared one new barrel and waited for their arrival.

Once they returned, I hopped in Edgar's dimension home with Lena and was surprised by the size of Edgar's Dimension home. Forget room, this is a freaking castle size!!

However, I could not lose time over this so I had Lena to quickly fetch the Light slime and close it in the barrel.

„Should I take the healing slime too?"

„I would usually say yes, but I have their liquid in stock, so there is no need for that."

„Oh? And what effect does it have?"

„It's like a healing potion in games. It closes wounds and restores blood and Physical and Magical prowess."

„Isn't that a little bit of a cheat item?"

„It certainly is."

We chatted freely as no one could hear us here and exited the Dimension home. I guess we can only show our hidden self in places with no one else around… I wish I could tell Blanche, but it could be hard to bring up. The gods allowed me to speak of it, but I guess it would not be wise until we are a bit older. Yeah, let's go with that.

I set the barrel next to the Golden Slime's barrel and waited for the liquid to come out, which didn't take long. The liquid was white like milk and almost watery.

Albedo

Liquid produced by Light slime during the Blue moon. It can cause things to be purified. It's also an alchemical component.

„So I was right. It is Albedo just as I thought it would."

„Albedo? Like in the alchemy?" Lena asked me from beside me.

„Yeah. Now I have both Nigredo from Dark slime and Albedo from Light slime. I wonder how I will get the remaining two."

„Two? Isn't it a three stage process?"

„It's a little known, but there is a stage called Citrinitas meaning yellowness and it stands for Soul Light, or Solar Light. Rubedo is the final stage and it stands for redness and perfection."

„Um… what are you two talking about, my lady?" Edgar asked as he was confused about what we were talking about.

„We are talking about the Philosopher's stone," Lena said flatly.

„Philo— What?! You mean those old legends?!"

„I will talk about it with father and mother later, we don't have everything we need for making it."

„yeah, the materials won't be easy to get. We only have the two liquids. Just putting them together won't be enough."

„Some kind of conductor, hm? Maybe some monster parts would do?"

„It's possible, but we can't be sure. I will look through alchemy books in the royal capital and the Royal library. I hope father will be helpfull with that," Lana answered Blanche's question and added her tidbit.

„I will call them right away!" Edgar ran out of the tent as fast as his short, old legs let him.

Not even two minutes later the entire Ducal family swarmed in our tent. I made them some chairs and explained everything to them.

„This is a serious matter. Edgar, do not speak of this to anyone else."

„Understood, my lord. I shall take this secret to my grave," Edgar bowed politely to Henry.

„Once we get to the capital, I will get my brother to help us access the more restricted knowledge. Arito, I never thought you would come up with a way to create a real Philosopher stone."

„Well, this is not even half of the needed ingredients. As I said, we would need the remaining two liquids and a conductor."

„Yes, but still… a real philosopher stone, the most precious material for alchemy said to grant immortality and turn anything into gold…"

„It seems interesting to study, but I'm almost sure there will be some kind of price to pay in order to obtain it," Laina added.

„Indeed. Let's keep the components we know of as a secret. If it was known that Arito can easily make them he would never be freed from nobles knocking on his doors. Not to mention that some more unruly nobles would even try to kidnap you and have you work for them like a slave…"

„I don't really want that," I smiled bitterly, „Oh, what about those attackers? Did you get some information out of them?"

„Sadly, they are quite tight-lipped," Henry said with a sad look, „If they continue like this, we might be forced to use more extreme methods. Though, we get a slight picture thanks to informations you gave us."

„You mean torture?" I ignored the later part and Kalvig nodded in the back.

„Then, would it be possible for me to have a quick chat with them?"

„You can do something?"

„No! This is no place for a child to be! I know you slew quite a number of bandits, but this is a completely different matter!" Laina was completely against the idea.

„I just thought I would use a little magic, though…"

„Would it be dark magic?" Kalvig asked.

„Yes, that is correct. It's a spell I learned a few days before we met. It's called Terror."

„Eheh, that is quite a surprise… so you know such spells too?" Henry looked a little scared.

„Did something happen to you with this spell?"

„When he tried to cast it years ago he misfired and hit himself. It was quite the scene back in the academy," Laina said before Henry got a chance to explain himself.

„W-well, we met thanks to it, so I would call it a fortunate accident."

„Right?" Laina and Henry drifted into their own little world.

With that out of the way I asked if I could see them and was met with a big fat no. It seems they conscidered getting hit by Terror even harsher then torture. And I just casually used it on an adventurer… Well, I won't pressure them into letting me join, then.

After the night passed I collected all the slimes and returned the Light slime to Lena. Tonight I collected ten liters of Blue Liquor and about one hundred liters of the Cocoon slime liquid. With this, I should be able to make a lot of waterproof cloth. But really though, I would really like some Rubber slime or something like that, I would not be reliant on the Blue moon.

In the morning, I let out my slimes and let them eat the remnants of demonic monsters that attacked us the previous night. As it turns out, the demons have a lot of valuable parts that the knights worked on removing and we even gained our own share with Blanche. But still, Frog fiends' skin, Flameskulls's gems and Overeaters' fangs made for quite a haul. Especially given that we each killed at least a thousand.

„Oh wow, those slimes are really eating their fill, aren't they?" the dark elf captain said with a surprised look on her face.

„They indeed do. I had a problem with keeping them fed, but this turned out to be a good night."

„Right… hm? That slime is wiggling," the captain pointed at a group of Grime and Corpse slimes to the side of us.

„Ah, they are just splitting. Excuse me for a moment, I have to form contracts really quickly," I waved my hand and went to the slimes in question. At the end, my Grime slimes passed the 300 mark, cleaning slimes raised their numbers a little too, but what surprised me the most was the Dark slime that started splitting like crazy and in a little while I had from one slime sixteen.

„They split awfully fast, didn't they?" Laina asked, looking at all the dark slimes around me.

„I guess that's because Demons have a high amount of dark magic stored in their bodies… though, these Corpse slimes refuse to eat other types of meat so I believe they will evolve sooner or later."

„You can tell whether slime will evolve or not?"

„To an extent yes. When I feed my slimes the usual food and they are reluctant, it means they are about to evolve in some way. For example, my medicine slimes evolved from poison slimes. When I fed my slimes some medicine that was about to run out of its shelf-life or run out off it already, they never touched the poisonous plants ever again."

„Arito! We have an evolution here!" Blanche called me from a place where she was feeding two of my slimes that preffered leaf litter.

„Just as I expected," I smiled to myself and went over to the slimes. Thanks to my Magic detection skill I could pick up on the slime's spitting and inhaling magical power. Soon, their bodies started to turn from regular see through to vivid green color. The color of their bodies darkened until the core could not be seen. At this point in time, the absorption of magical energy intensified and small leaves started to appear all over the body.

Foliage Slime

Rare species of slime. Its core is completely covered with liquid that greatly enhances its growth. The leaves on its body can release aromatic air. Roughly forty centimeters in diameter. Photosynthesis 8, Split 6, Regenerate 6, Leaf scatter 4, Leaf cover 4, Absorb 3, Dissolve 3, Physical attack nullification 3

„So it is a Foliage slime this time… no wonder given these guys only ate leaves up until now. The liquid apparently enhances growth… I wonder if they use photosynthesis not just in their leaves but with their entire bodies… I guess they won't be eating leaves anymore… will their food consist of only sunlight and water? That would make them the easiest to keep of all my slimes…"

„When he starts to rattle like this, it's for the best to just leave him to his own devices. Just remind him of food when the time comes and it will be fine," Blanche explained to the rest.

„Does that happen a lot?" Lena asked.

„Usually only when he researches monsters."

„I can hear you, you know?" I smiled slightly bitterly and opened the dimension home, storing the slimes that were not splitting inside. „We don't have enough time so I will quickly make the rest of the contracts so we can head out. I've already fed everyone inside the dimension home so these guys are the last of the group."

For about half an hour I continued making contracts with new slimes and once that was done, I sent them back into my dimension home and helped everyone take apart the camp before resuming the journey. Originally we were supposed to resume our march early in the morning, but due to the number of monster corpses, we headed out after cleaning them all which took until lunch. Thanks to this, we arrived at the town we were supposed to right before nightfall.

„So this is Aula, the Great city on Alvian river?" Blanche asked, looking out of the window of the carriage.

„Yep. This is where the Blue-Tailed lizards appear in big numbers every year."

We were going over a hill so we looked at the town from above. It was built on the bank of the river and there were three bridges over it. There was also a moat leading water to a series of small lakes on the other side where people get fish at the start of the autumn. On this side of the river, on the other hand were some mines where you could find magic stones and magic crystals. Also, in the city was an enormous number of workers who specialized in sculpting and smithing. From what Laina said, around sixty percent of all wands and staves used by magicians in the kingdom were made in this city. The wood for them was brought from Macedia and here they crafted the finished products with Magic crystals mined here.

„There are a lot of dwarves in this city, so I believe that if you open a liquor store here, you won't have trouble selling it at all."

„Yes, that may be so, but given that it would be hard to procure grains and fruits I need to feed the slimes in order to get supply of the liquor, I can't see myself opening a store anytime soon."

„Hmm… that is a tough one…" Henry thought for a little, „Oh, I know! What about you setting up a farm? I saw that those magic lamps in your cave were handmade, right? Maybe you could use the old mines to set it up. With your earth magic you can make the place as hollow as you need too."

„That offer sounds interesting, but I feel bad about getting so much from you all… you already took us from the forest to the city and helped us register with the guilds…"

„Well, I'm not offering it to you without any interest of my own… let's say, the Blue Liquor. Could you share some of it with us on regular basis?"

„Oh, my. Oh, my~ I haven't realized it took your heart so thoroughly, dear," Laina smiled next to her husband.

„But it's true that the Blue liquor is enjoyable and delicious. It's easy to drink and it feels like happiness spreads through your body when you drink it," Henretta gave quite a lengthy praise.

„To think that even my sister, who finds all kinds of alcohol barbaric, would sing praises to the Blue Liquor…" Lena looked at her sister with wide eyes.

I guess my experiment farm was indoors too… but the scale this time would be much greater, I would need to hire people to help me run it, and I wouldn't be able to continue my adventures… Well, the most important thing is to be self-sufficient and have enough money so I could live an easy life with Blanche no matter what the future holds for us.

„Okay, I will share some with you," I nodded to Henry's request.

„My Lord, there is a horse rider speeding towards the city from the abandoned mine," our coachman said through the window he opened.

„Is something suspicious about him?" Henry asked right away as if he instantly forgot what we were talking about.

„I wouldn't say suspicious, but he has the uniform of a town officer."

„Can we catch up to him?"

„Easily, my lord," the coachman said and yelled at the horse monsters that were pulling the carriage.

Like Henretta's Nightmare, these two horse monsters had enormous power and hardly ever tired thanks to their body strengthening Null magic. Their name was Grey Sleipnirs, like The Sleipnir, they excel at dark magic and have eight legs.

The two horse monster started running full strength and quickly closed the distance. Maybe thanks to our great numbers, the man on horse noticed us and stopped his horse, readying himself for our arrival.

Once we met up, he instantly knelt before the doors of the carriage and Henry alone walked out, but was quickly accompanied by two of his guards.

„It's great to see you again, lord Nomille," the man kneeling before Henry said, his voice clear and quite melodious.

„Mazen, what are you doing here?"

„I'm returning from investigation of the closed mines. I found out that there is a dungeon forming. It may open in a few days."

„A dungeon?! If it still hasn't opened yet, then it will only have three floors at most. Monsters will be of rank C or B at best too… Let's set up a defensive line around the place you discovered and wait until the dungeon opens. Once that happens, we will investigate it personally and decide whether to call for adventurers or not."

„Understood sir! I shall contact my superiors in town hall and tell them everything."

„I'm counting on you Mazen. Let's continue together in the city!"

„Sir!" The soldiers saluted and we continued to the city at a higher speed.