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"Ah, such a peaceful resource collection. How nice," Derek sighed after harvesting another exposed chunk of metal ores and throwing them to the team’s inventory.

"I’m guessing that resource collection is more challenging at higher levels?" Ren asked as he too threw more ore chunks in the inventory.

"Challenging isn’t the proper term," Derek thought for a bit before replying. "Competition is more like it."

"Goblins and orcs are a bit smarter than slimes. At the very least, they know how to make crude tools and stuff. They build lairs, homes, and traps."

"When we go to their lairs, we have to check for traps or patrols; those are going to be more frequent because those monsters will harvest resources too," Derek stated.

"And the situation will only get increasingly more complicated on higher stages, so much so that resources won’t be this free anymore," Jules chimed in on the side as he shattered another exposed block of ores.

Kaycee and Jen didn’t join them; they were watching the surroundings. Jen stated that this was no task for ladies, so it’s they who have to do it.

Ren thought that she was just being lazy, but he stayed silent. It’s no big deal anyway.

The Elite Slime hasn’t spawned yet, and the party has pretty much covered half of the area just collecting resources. They’ve killed slimes who got in the way, but far from enough to clear the first requirement.

They’d go on a killing spree later; for now, their priority is to collect as many resources as they could while they still have plenty of time.

They were given six hours, by the way, to clear this dungeon. Ren thought that it was too generous. But then he remembered that the monsters were supposed to be tougher now that he’s with a party. The Elite Slime would be tougher too.

The dungeon was probably estimating that they would be injured and would need to retreat and recover; that’s why they’ve been given so much time. Plus, there’s also the time needed for resource collection.

As such, his first dungeon exploration had been relatively uneventful this time. Aside from them noticing some rare resources scattered about, there’s not much excitement so far.

And so, the path continued to cover the area. Kaycee had long since recovered from the side effects of her bloodline ability. She could use it again, now.

"Alright, Kaycee. Check the area again, please and thank you," Derek asked.

Kaycee nodded and once again used her bloodline ability.

This time, Ren was closely watching.

He saw Kaycee’s doe-like eyes start shimmering with soft silver sparkles. It’s as if a whole galaxy were reflected on them.

Ren saw Kaycee enter a trance-like state; she stood still as if some invisible hand seized control over her body and forced her to turn completely still.

It happened fast, and soon Kaycee was able to move again.

"I’ve spotted two; both are at the southwest. Practically moving as a pair," she stated.

Ren noticed that Kaycee’s face paled for a bit and her presence began to weaken. The soft silver sparkles on her eyes faded already, and her originally clear and doe-like eyes became dull and almost empty.

It’s the side effect of using that ability. Her eyesight has gone bad now. Ren could guess that she probably wouldn’t be able to see anything farther than 5 meters away from her.

Jen is by her side immediately, ready to catch her if she feels too weak to walk.

"There’s also a Slime Lord sleeping dormant at the center of the area," Kaycee reported. "It’s unguarded; we can probably set up an ambush if you like, but I’ll leave that decision to you."

Ren blinked. He’s pretty sure that Kaycee was referring to him for that last part.

She’s saying that it’s up to Ren’s decision if he’d like the party to hunt that Slime Lord or not.

The Slime Lord was not included in the requirements to clear this stage; everybody knows that. There’s no need to fight it at all.

Besides, Kaycee said that it’s sleeping, not roaming. So long as they stay away at the center of the area, they can avoid confronting that thing entirely. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

They don’t have to fight it, really. It’s an optional boss, if you will.

"Well?" Ren felt Derek’s arm touching his shoulder. "Do you want to hunt it or not? It’s up to you."

Ren blinked again. He wasn’t expecting that Derek would actually let him choose instead of deciding for the team on his own.

This made him pause to think.

"I...kind of want to hunt it," he admitted. "There’s a good chance that Stage 5’s going to make us hunt a Slime Lord anyway. I want to learn how to deal with it now to prepare for that."

"But only if you guys are alright with that, of course." Ren then turned to Derek and said, "If you think it’s risky, forget about it. I don’t want us to fail our first team exploration, especially when it could be avoided."

Ren wasn’t trying to be selfish; he wants to be reasonable with the team the same way they’ve been considerate to him so far.

Sure, it’s completely logical to him that they should hunt the lord so that he could get some experience in dealing with one, especially since Stage 5 will almost certainly add it to the requirements.

But he also knows that this party already knows how to hunt a Slime Lord; they could probably take one down without needing his help.

However, that wasn’t the point. Plus, that would isolate Ren, so it’s not ideal. But he’s not against it really.

"Okay, we hunt it, then." Derek easily agreed. "You’ve got the right idea, anyway."

And just like that, the decision was made. Nobody voiced out their disagreement; it didn’t even look like they’ve got any. They just accepted the decision as is.

"We’re going after the Slime Lord first, though, before the elites," Derek stated before taking out his daggers to polish them. "The Elite Slimes move as a pair. We can’t just kill one without needing to kill the other since it’ll chase us down."

"If we killed both, we’re not going to have enough time to deal with the Slime Lord, so we will kill that first before the elites."

Again, nobody disagreed. This was the most sensible option, the right one, too.

And since the party pretty much gathered all the exposed resources already, plus more. They didn’t waste time. They began moving towards the center of the area to see the Slime Lord itself.

After about 15 minutes of running, they arrived within sight of the Slime Lord.

Just as Kaycee said, it was asleep.

It looked like a small hill made entirely out of jelly. Its body was a bit loose, like it was melting under the direct glare of sunlight. But that’s just because it’s sleeping. Its hold over its gelatinous body was more relaxed in this state.

It’s even blowing out bubbles as it snores.

Despite its body being loose, Ren could see its density. Its core was nowhere to be seen. It’s hidden somewhere deep into that vat of jelly and probably very small, making it difficult to spot.

"How are we starting this fight?" Ren asked.

"Explosively," Derek replied.

He then took out an explosive barrel from his knapsack, causing the corner of Ren’s eye to twitch.

With quiet steps, Derek closed in like a ghost to the slumbering Slime Lord.

He took out five explosive barrels. Five. And placed them close to each other on the backside of the sleeping slime. He even added some additional things in there, ones that Ren failed to recognize aside from the fact that they should react to the explosion that the barrels will cause.

Once he’s done with his setup, Derek returns to them. Then, he looked at Kaycee and nodded.

Kaycee sighed and touched one of her quivers. She pulled out an arrow with a bright red blunt arrowhead. Something about it reminded Ren of a matchstick.

Kaycee swung it to the ground, which caused sparks to light up and set fire to the arrowhead.

"Oh! It is a matchstick!" Ren couldn’t help but point out.

Jen snorted in amusement. Kaycee rolled her eyes but didn’t say a word. She then loaded the arrow to her bow and took aim.

A breath later, she released it. The arrow took flight and landed precisely at the middle barrel. It set the lid on fire, and shortly after, everything exploded.

Boom!!

The sound of the explosion could’ve been heard from miles away. The aftershock should travel that far too.

Ren was gobsmacked as he stared at the small mushroom cloud rising to the sky. He also saw how the slime lord’s body writhed in agony as it tried to shake off the fire out of its body.

Oh, it’s fully awake now. There’s no way it could’ve stayed asleep next to that kind of explosion.

"How much explosive stuff was in those barrels, anyway?" He couldn’t help but ask his party leader.

Derek tilted his head innocently and replied, "A barrel’s full, duh!? Why?"

Ren’s lips twitch after hearing that.

"Nothing; forget I asked."