Chapter 54: Step 54 to Greatness: Don’t Go Around Recruiting People Without Thinking

After clearing the slimes, Sera reached level 6, and Mika was on the verge of getting to level 8. Overall, it was a nice improvement considering tomorrow they’d get ambushed by monsters.

It would also be the right time to test the slimes as well as earn some exp. With any luck, Adrian would find a marketplace of his own to buy things because right now he had over twelve thousand exp that had nowhere to go.

"Alright, let’s head back," he said after dumping some wolf remains in the pit.

As per his instructions, they didn’t kill all the slimes. After all, they did not know what prompted the slimes to evolve into such distinct paths.

If they desired a constant supply of healers and explosive slimes, and for that, they needed a breeding ground, the pit trap was perfect for it.

"Keep your eyes open for any beasts," he warned them.

Given that the monsters were set to attack them tomorrow, he thought they would have to be close to the settlement already. Or else it would be weird if they suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Fortunately, his worries were unfounded, and they reached the settlement without any problems. As soon as he did, he took the slimes and placed them inside the pen.

At first, the chickens looked afraid of the strange creatures. However, within moments, they got used to them and resumed eating grass seeds.

At the same time, the green slimes moved towards the burrows made after the expansion, and made them their new homes. Strangely enough, the red ones followed right behind without any incidents.

It was as if the animals and slimes had accepted each other’s presence.

"Huh... that’s convenient," Adrian chuckled, turning around.

He thought about creating a small puddle for the slimes and connecting with the pond. But first, he went to check the meat in the smokehouse.

It was his first time smoking meat, so he didn’t know how long he should do it for. Besides, chicken meat and wolf meat were different and had to be smoked for different times.

He ducked through the low-lying door and began coughing when the warm smoke hit him in the face.

"Fuck! Forgot to put off the fire before coming in." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Saying so, he rushed outside and did it. Unlike the last time, he didn’t rush in and waited for the smoke to dissipate before returning inside.

This time, along with the smokiness, he could also smell the savoury scent of the meat.

"Let’s check on the chicken strips first."

He took one strip off the hook and looked at it. The surfaces had already started turning a deep reddish-brown, and the texture felt firm when he gently pressed it.

He even tore a small piece off to check the insides. It was still raw, but Adrian nodded enthusiastically.

"Not bad," he mumbled. "The smoke is doing its job well. A few more hours and this should last us quite a while."

He adjusted the position of a couple of thicker wolf strips so they would smoke evenly, then stepped back and took one last look at the hanging meat before exiting the smokehouse and lighting the fire again.

Meanwhile, Rixxa had gathered the rest of the women near the new pond.

"Look at this!" she said excitedly, pointing at the large body of clear water. "The male made this while we were out and you were resting!"

"Truly... there is no limit to his blessings..." Nixa mumbled.

She remembered how taking in the male had been a compromise. Even though Rixxa said he was someone of divine origin, she felt a bit sceptical of the claim.

She turned around to look at the settlement and felt a familiar warmth in her chest. From a cave and a thatched hut, they had gone to living in a well-built house and soft beds.

They didn’t have to worry about food either, and they could catch a peaceful sleep without worrying about being attacked in the middle of the night.

[Tribe’s favorability towards you has increased.]

[Current favorability: 139/150 points]

[Current Standing: Honored Member]

Adrian saw the women gathered near the pond and looked up. There was still some time before sunset. Since they had a pond now, he wanted to go get some crabs he had seen near the stream.

Fishing is out of the question for now. We don’t have any rods and stuff for them. Catching crabs, however, is different.

However, before he could propose the idea, Sera came rushing towards him. He sent her a text asking why she was running around like that.

"Midas... she was attacked," she said, panting. "That’s why she couldn’t reply to the text and even sent her location along with a strange stone."

"Hold on, that’s too much info," he texted her. "Midas is a ’she’ for sure, and what’s that stone?"

Sera took out the glowing blue crystal from her inventory and handed it to Adrian. It just looked like a cool stone to him. Nothing special, but he knew if Midas had sent it, it had to be something good.

"Does it matter if Midas is a guy or a girl? We have to save them first!" Sera urged. "She said it is a teleportation stone that would lead us right to her shelter. I think it should work because she traded the crystal for a dry reed! Master, we have to help her!"

Adrian looked at Sera’s frantic self and frowned. She was too hasty in such matters.

What if Midas had joined some other group and this so-called teleportation stone was a trap?

What if they teleported, only to get ambushed?

What if the crystal wasn’t what Midas claimed to be and instead it was a marker that was revealing their location to Midas?

Adrian wasn’t the smartest, however, even he had enough brain cells to question the authenticity of Midas’s tale. But there was a simple way to confirm their sincerity.

"Send Midas a slave contract first," he instructed Sera via text. "Keep the clauses similar to yours. If Midas really wants help, they won’t mind giving us a little reassurance."

Adrian’s gaze then shifted on the crystal in his hands before continuing, "As for this, there’s an easy way to confirm what it truly is."

He tried reading its stats as he did with the cleaver. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get its information to pop up. Then again, he had another way to force execute the darn thing.

My dearest smarty-pants ancestor, can you help me out? I can’t seem to read this thing’s stats.

[...it is a teleportation crystal, like the girl said, boy. As for your cheeky remarks, four-eyes really wants to kick your ass right about now.]

Hehe... and where does it lead—

[Nope. He ain’t helping you anymore with that. You can figure it out yourself.]

Adrian just shrugged and returned to Sera, who was poking fingers into empty air, probably sending messages to Midas. Seconds later, a notification appeared before him.

[Player <Midas’ Middle Fingers> wants to sign an Enslavement Contract with you.]

Adrian looked at Sera, who just shrugged.

"Midas wanted to make her own enslavement contract to show sincerity," Sera said. "Um... you should go through the terms."

But that’s not why Adrian was staring at her.

Why did you send my contact info to Midas without consulting me before!?