--

Derek did say that they planned on clearing both stage 4 and 5 today, and he planned on doing just that.

For their second run of the day, they’re going to stage 5.

After a brief rest to restore the state of their gear to the most optimal condition and to replenish their necessities, the party was on the move again.

Not long after that, they were standing before the first archstone again.

"Ready, guys?" Derek asked the team.

Nobody said a word, but they all nodded anyway. Once he received his reply, Derek didn’t hesitate and took all of them to stage 5.

In a blink of an eye, they were there.

They once again found themselves spawning in the middle of a small forest with a straight path out. This will be one of their safe zones in this stage.

"Alright, Kaycee. We’ll rely on you again," Derek asked.

Kaycee didn’t say a word; she just silently used her bloodline ability again.

It’s the party’s protocol at this point, Ren thinks. Kaycee will use her bloodline ability as soon as they arrive to save the team some time with their exploration.

She could see the whole map, and it seems that she’s used to this arrangement by now. Sure, her eyesight will go bad after using the ability, but it only takes a minute or two for her to recover. By the time they reach their first resource node, she’ll have already recovered from it, so it’s no big deal.

"The Slime Boss is at the center; there’s a Slime Lord and a couple dozen ordinary slimes nearby, but not too close to the boss; it could be pulled. There are elites at the quadrants. Our work area’s 70 kilometers."

"No other visible mutations, or anything of immediate concern, either. There’s a lot of exposed resources, though. Higher than normal."

Kaycee’s scan was really helpful. It saves the path so much time. Sure, it spoils the surprise, but this is a dungeon. Surprises here could be deadly, so being spoiled was better.

Ren checked the requirements to clear stage 5 while he was at it.

[Kill 0/300 Ordinary Slimes]

[Kill 0/4 Elite Slimes]

[Kill 0/2 Slime Lords]

[Kill 0/1 Slime Boss]

The time limit was eight hours this time. Since he’s in a party, everything was doubled. If he went here solo, he would have four hours to kill 150 ordinary slimes, two elite slimes, one slime lord, and possibly a slime boss, too.

It would’ve been impossible for Ren to clear it on his own, though. The elites, he could handle 1v1, but the slime lord and slime boss? That’s troublesome. Ren’s not strong enough for that.

Fortunately, he’s not here alone.

"Alright team, tools out. We gather resources first, prioritizing the quadrants and the elites roaming in them. Once we’re done with the collection and the elites, we’ll deal with the Slime Lord. After that, the Slime Boss, and last would be the ordinary slimes."

It’s the standard operation, then. It’s plain, straightforward, and boring, but it works well, so there’s no need to fix it.

Kaycee informed them that their spawn point was located northeast, which will be their first quadrant. There should be an elite nearby and in other quadrants, northwest, southeast, and southwest, too.

The plan was to gather resources and deal with the elite slimes in each quadrant, and that’s what they did.

Kaycee was right; the exposed resources are far more abundant this time. More than usual.

’This hints at a motherlode close to the surface,’ Ren thought to himself. ’Or maybe not. I can’t tell.’

’Digging takes too much time. We do have eight hours, but it’s more trouble than its worth.’

Even if it was, indeed, a motherlode, it’s of common resources. We’d spend hours gathering so many for only a couple extra thousands of credits. Not worth the effort at all.’

It’d be a different story if it were a mithril motherlode, or something of the same quality, of course. But minerals and ores like that, especially motherlodes of that quality, are almost impossible to find in beginner-level dungeons like this.’

’It’s probably why Derek hadn’t said a word. It’s a waste of effort. It’s better to gather all the exposed resources and clear the dungeon fast.’

Although dungeons appearing with higher amounts of exposed resources were rare, it’s not ’that’ rare. It happens pretty often, actually. Especially in beginner-level dungeons.

But because they’re beginner-level dungeons, the resources are pretty cheap and common. It’s just a couple extra thousand credits. Sure, this could hint at a motherlode, but it’s not worth digging for those, not in these levels at least.

The party gathered resources as they went. Stopping from time to time to crouch down and pick up exposed herbs, fruits, plants, flowers, etc. They’d also pick exposed ores and minerals when they came across some.

Some slimes tried to compete with them, but they were dealt with in a blink of an eye.

Pretty soon, they met their first elite slime. Just as planned, they put away their tools and killed the elite pretty fast. They then resumed their gathering after that.

Once the northwest quadrant was cleared of resources and the elite, they moved northeast to do the same.

Just like this, the party went full circle.

They cleared the elites and resources available on quadrants. They stayed away from the center zone to avoid the lord and the boss.

By the time they’d returned to their spawn point, though, they were surprised to see that the second Slime Lord had spawned in the same location.

Wordlessly, the party charged. They each have their own tasks and way to contribute to the fight. Since this Slime Lord was awake, they didn’t have the chance to use explosive barrels.

But like Derek said, the fight went on relatively the same; the team worked together to discover where the core usually roams, and once it was found, killing the slime lord became easy.

After Ren’s first experience, he learned a lot. That’s why this time, Ren’s coordination with the team became even smoother.

Overall, it took them less time to deal with this slime lord compared to the first one.

While their touch was still hot and their chakras running smoothly, the team rushed to the other slime lord and dealt with that one too.

It’s a spontaneous decision from Derek, but one that nobody disagreed with. The team were on fire; their coordination was smooth and almost instinctive. Ren slotted into them like he had been there since the start.

Honestly, it’s impressive. He didn’t hold them back; he didn’t need to be taught twice. He just...gets it, and he does his own thing without causing the rhythm to collapse.

Even Jules was having an easy time in the front line because of Ren’s considerate actions.

After taking down the other slime lord, that’s when Derek called for a short break.

They returned to their safe zone, their spawn point, to eat and catch their breath for a bit. The team’s atmosphere was chill and relaxed. Something that even Jen couldn’t deny.

This level of teamwork was something that could only be found in teams that have been together for years, yet even with the newly joined Ren, it became possible.

’Travis would be proud,’ Derek thought to himself as he looked at the team. ’Sir Justin would be relieved too. I should probably tell him soon to mend his relationship with our team, even just for a bit.’

With teamwork this smooth and a team atmosphere this good, Sir Justin shouldn’t think about abandoning them anymore, right?

Anyway...

With the elites’ and lords’ requirements done, the only ones left are the boss and the ordinary slimes.

Once the team has been watered, fed, and recovered. They geared up and went out of the safe zone again; this time, their target was the Slime Boss.

The Slime Boss was even bigger than the Slime Lords. It has a darker color compared to other slimes, and it looks like it uses two ordinary slimes to serve as its eyes.

It’s kind of bizzare actually, but that’s as far as the difference goes.

The Slime Boss was awake, so explosive barrels were not an option. But it’s fine.

It’s a bit more difficult to see and expose the core of the slime boss. Mostly because the viscosity of its flesh was denser compared to Slime Lords.

But it’s just more effort, one that the team doesn’t lack in any way, shape, or form.

So, slowly but surely, through trial and error, they managed to expose the core. When they got to the part, the rest became easy.

And although the core of the slime boss was bigger and contained more energy, making it more difficult to destroy, the team destroyed it in the end.

Actually, it was Ren who shattered it with a fully loaded punch. But it’s no big deal for him. It’s the team who made it possible for him to do so.

Once the slime boss was dead, the most difficult part passed. The team slaughtered ordinary slimes and cleared stage 5 with plenty of time left.

The slimes were done; next on Ren’s chopping block were the goblins.