The Clay Pot's Might

“Squelch... squelch...”

The slimes wriggled between the stone crevices, greedily absorbing every trace of nutrients. The mucus on their bodies dripped onto the ground, making sticky, squelching sounds.

“Squelch?”

Suddenly, the slimes turned in unison. Two adventurers, a man and a woman, appeared at the bend in the sewer.

Mucus gurgled out of the stone crevices, eventually condensing around a green spherical core to form an oval-shaped slime monster about sixty centimeters in diameter and forty centimeters in height.

A crossbow bolt drew a silver streak through the sewer, instantly embedding itself in the body of the leading slime. However, the bolt, which possessed enough power to pierce leather armor within five meters, was caught by the outer layer of mucus the moment it slid into the slime's body, losing all forward momentum.

The metal arrowhead sizzled. Although it didn't dissolve completely, the wooden shaft had already snapped.

Lynn shook his head. The slime's corrosiveness was slightly more potent than he had imagined.

“Squelch!”

Even now, the slimes didn't realize what was happening. Driven by their biological instinct to feed, they immediately wriggled and leaped toward the two newly appeared lumps of “food.”

“Fall back! Lead them to a narrow spot!”

Lynn grabbed Lupa, who was about to charge straight ahead, only to find that this girl's strength was actually greater than his own—so much so that he couldn't budge her at all.

Fortunately, Lupa was very obedient, immediately raising her shield and retreating step by step.

The area where the slime pack was located was nearly three meters wide. Lynn worried they might be flanked here.

But as long as they retreated to the narrow passage behind them, which could barely fit three people side by side, the slimes would only be able to attack them from the front.

Moreover, a narrow space was perfect for his “alchemical items” to show their power.

The two quickly retreated, with the slimes hot on their heels.

The refracted light illuminated the dim passage.

The sound of running water gradually faded; they had already retreated into a passage where the current was not as swift.

The slimes' meager intelligence was not enough to understand the concept of a “trap.” They squirmed and stretched, merging into a mass as they squeezed into the narrow passage.

Meanwhile, the cunning and insidious human had already set a deadly trap here.

One slime was slightly faster than its kin, overtaking them to catch up to the adventurers first.

The gel ball leaped high into the air, lunging toward Lynn and Lupa.

This was the slime's customary method of attack.

If it knocked them down and entangled them, they would immediately be surrounded by the other slimes, eventually becoming a part of their bodies.

But the adventurers, of course, would not let them approach so easily.

Lupa's movements were even faster than Lynn's. She raised her shield first and took the initiative to strike before the slime could even get close. The metal tower shield, weighing dozens of jin, did not seem clumsy in her hands at all. Driven by sheer brute force, she rammed it straight into the slime.

The collision between the two sounded like a balloon popping. The slime ball was swept aside by the overwhelming force, rolling across the ground. After rolling a few times, the slime's body seemed unable to withstand the force. It suddenly burst apart, splattering onto the ground and turning into several puddles of mucus.

The green core rolled a few times and fell into the undercurrent of the sewer beside them, making Lynn, who had just wound his hand crossbow and hadn't had time to deliver the finishing blow, sigh inwardly at the missed opportunity.

Slimes were clearly not that fragile. As the green core fell into the gutter, the scattered mucus from its body also wriggled and rolled down after it. Within a few seconds, a fully formed mass of mucus floated up from the water's surface and crawled back onto the ground.

Seeing that her attack hadn't had the desired effect on the slime, Lupa looked a bit nervous, her grip tightening on the tower shield.

Lynn gently pressed the girl's shoulder. “Don't worry. Look closely.”

Perhaps reassured by Lynn's relaxed tone, Lupa's tense body relaxed slightly.

Looking closely, the re-formed slime seemed slightly smaller than before, and even its movements were a bit sluggish.

This meant that even if the core wasn't damaged, simply dispersing the slime's body with brute force a few more times could completely kill the monster.

Lynn said softly, “Hold the front.”

With that, he unhooked a clay pot slightly larger than a fist from his belt and weighed it in his hand.

The solid particles inside the pot collided, making a rustling sound.

To maximize the item's effectiveness, it was best for it to burst inside the slime's body. For this reason, Lynn had specially packaged it in a clay pot.

Lynn sneered inwardly. He rolled the clay pot toward the slime with a low toss to prevent it from cracking upon hitting the ground.

Lupa looked at Lynn's actions with a puzzled expression, but she still planted her tower shield on the ground to block the slime's attacks for him.

Soon, the clay pot rolled right in front of the slime.

The slimes wriggled and absorbed the clay pot into their bodies. Under the constriction and squeezing of the mucus, several cracks immediately appeared on the pot.

They didn't care what Lynn had thrown. For this kind of monster, there was no such thing as being a picky eater.

As long as it was moving, they would accept it all.

If they couldn't digest it, they could always just spit it out.

But soon, they wouldn't think that way anymore.

Lynn raised his already-wound seventy-pound hand crossbow, aiming at the clay pot floating and swaying inside the slime's body.

Safety off.

Fire!

Lynn thought to himself, though it was a pity no one in this world understood his humor.

He pulled the trigger, and the bolt flew out.

Although Lynn's marksmanship was not expert, hitting a target as large as a slime within five meters was still very easy.

However, hitting the clay pot itself was quite difficult.

The bolt entered the body but didn't hit the clay pot at all, missing it by a mile.

Lynn felt a bit embarrassed, but fortunately, the effect he wanted had already been achieved.

The slime, writhing in pain, thrashed even more violently.

In the process, the clay pot was completely crushed with a loud crack.

The caustic potash and quicklime stored inside were instantly released, splattering entirely into the slime's body.

The moment the quicklime touched the slime's plump, juicy, gelatinous body, it immediately absorbed a massive amount of moisture from the mucus.

Upon absorbing the body fluids, the caustic potash turned into a strong alkaline solution, beginning to corrode the slime's acidic, gelatinous body.

In an instant, not only were the slime's body fluids heavily absorbed by the alkaline solids, but the high temperature of several hundred degrees generated by the chemical reaction also began to boil its insides.

The gel ball now resembled a pot of boiling water. Bubbles constantly welled up on its body, and the white steam from evaporation filled the entire sewer passage.

Standing nearby, Lupa was dumbfounded.

No, she had just seen Lynn throw a clay pot at the slimes with her own eyes. That thing was definitely not a spell.

Lupa had never expected that the first time she plucked up the courage to invite someone to adventure with her, she would end up recruiting a teammate who was suspected to be a noble.

I heard human nobles are very proud. If he finds out my identity, will he get angry at me...?

Lupa began to worry and fret to herself.