Chapter 24: CH. 24 | Practice Together

The two of them decided to follow after them. According to what Lily had said, she and her party had already failed three guild missions in a row.

He had no idea whether they’d managed to grab a new mission since then, but one of the party members had mentioned needing to go hunting.

Right! That alone was more than enough proof that Lily’s party wasn’t running a guild mission at all, but heading out for a solo hunt instead.

Honestly, that lined up with exactly what Theo and Thalia had planned too.

Maybe the two of them could hunt in the same spot as Lily’s party, keeping an eye on what was actually going on with them along the way.

They walked out through the city’s west gate, with Theo following behind.

The distance between the two parties wasn’t too close, but still well within a comfortable line of sight. Even so, he noticed Lily trailing at the very back, as if she’d been shut out by the rest of them.

What’s actually going on here? Why don’t they seem close with Lily at all?

His eyes followed them into a wide open savanna, filled with Watery Slimes. Theo and Thalia stopped walking, their focus locked on the scene ahead.

"Should we hunt slimes while we keep an eye on them?"

"The other level 1 danger zones are pretty far from here."

"That’s fine, we’ll just hunt slimes on the other side of this savanna," Theo said quietly.

The two of them walked into the grassland and settled on the opposite side of an oak tree standing in the field. Thalia immediately downed a mana potion, restoring most of her mana.

"So, what now? Are we training?" Thalia asked, one hand resting on her hip.

Theo turned and nodded. His focus stayed fixed on Thalia, since he needed her magic attack to complete his Authority Quest. Did Thalia know anything about that quest? Not a single thing.

Standing at a good distance apart, Thalia raised her wand and pointed it forward. A red magic rune formed, launching a medium sized fireball straight at Theo.

Theo gripped his sword and drew it out with force. He’d always admired the mage class, but given his current situation, it made a lot more sense for Theo to fight like a knight instead.

[Authority of Mystic Eyes Triggered!]

[Foresight Skill Activated!]

[Future Observation Duration: 00:00:00:05]

Without even closing his eyes, Theo could now activate his Foresight Skill freely. He watched the world gradually shift into gray, the shadow image of the fireball’s future path already aimed straight at him.

Theo wasn’t sure whether his strength could shatter the fireball outright, but dodging seemed like the smarter move.

That was because the Authority Quest objective only required Theo to predict a magic attack using the Foresight Skill, not block it.

The attack’s trajectory was fixed and easy to read, hardly threatening at all. He started deactivating his skill, the color returned to the world around him.

Exactly as he’d observed, Theo leapt swiftly to the side, dodging Thalia’s fireball attack cleanly. Thalia broke into a smile.

"My power’s gotten stronger," Thalia said.

"That’s probably thanks to that high quality wand of yours," Theo answered, "It seems like the wand absorbs mana and makes your spell casting more efficient."

The explosion from the fireball startled the watery slimes nearby. Feeling threatened, they immediately turned to look toward Theo, and Theo and Thalia both looked right back at them.

A total of twelve watery slimes started bouncing toward the two of them. Theo readied his sword.

"Twelve Watery Slimes," Theo said, "I’ll take six, you get the rest."

"Got it. I’ll get ready."

Theo swung his sword to the side, then leapt forward fast, spinning the blade in a sweeping arc almost like a dance.

He slashed and stabbed through their bodies, their fragile defenses making them easy to take down.

In under five minutes, he’d finished them off. A total of six watery slimes burst apart, dissolving into puddles of water.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed a monster]

[Type: Watery Slime (F-Rank)]

[Count: 6]

[Reward: +60exp]

[EXP: 290/400] [+60exp]

Theo stretched his hand out, blue light activating along with his skill. He was doing it, of course, to collect items from their remains.

[Skill Extraction Activated]

[You performed a Deep Extraction and successfully obtained an item]

[Reward: 4x Bubble Acid Slime]

Theo watched four bubble acid slimes materialize, hovering above his hand. When he looked back up, the remaining six slimes had grown more aggressive, bouncing straight toward him.

"You can start now, Thalia!"

He turned and ran a good distance away, back toward where Thalia stood. She looked fully ready with her spell, unleashing a fireball straight ahead.

Theo had to dodge her fireball attack more than once, since its path kept coming dangerously close to hitting him instead, "Wait! I’m not a slime!"

"Get out of the way, then!" Thalia ordered.

The young man finally reached her side, dropping down to sit, legs stretched out, staring ahead into the distance.

Thalia’s fireball attack was an AoE type, meaning any enemy caught within the blast area would take the hit.

"Magic attacks really do make everything easier," Theo said.

"Against them, sure. But I’m weak if they close in on me," Thalia explained.

"Makes sense," Theo answered, "Mages have always been a ranged combat class from the start."

The Authority Quest system panel suddenly appeared in front of Theo, right as he was waiting for Thalia to clear out the rest of the slimes.

[3rd Authority Quest:]

[Objective: Use the Foresight Skill to predict a magic attack once (1/1)]

[Reward: 50exp || 100 authexp]

[Status: Completed!]

[EXP: 340/400] [+50exp]

[Auth EXP: 300/500] [+100authexp]

Exactly as instructed, the third Authority Quest had been completed thanks to Thalia’s help. Within minutes, Thalia collapsed to her knees on the grass, exhausted.

Theo dismissed the system panel and looked forward, the grass singed but the flames quickly dying out, and more importantly, every slime gone without a trace, leaving behind only a cooldown circle.

"Your mana’s not completely drained, right?" Theo asked.

"Just a little left, but I already prepared—"

"What? You ran out of mana, damn it?!" someone shouted.

Theo and Thalia both spun their heads around instinctively, spotting Lily’s party resting near a tree nearby. But what caught their attention right away was a man harshly scolding Lily.

From his posture and condition, it was obvious the man was injured, and it was clear that Lily’s job as a priest was to heal their wounds.

"I’m out of mana potions. I also haven’t eaten yet."

"Could I get some food first? Then I’ll heal all of you!"

One of the women walked toward Lily, and without warning, she slapped Lily hard across the face, sending the pink haired girl sprawling to the ground.

Her cheek turned red, and her eyes welled up with tears. For a brief moment, her gaze met Theo’s, her eyes seeming to plead silently for help.

Theo was absolutely furious. He shot up to his feet, pointing straight at them and shouting, "HEY!"

Theo’s shout caught their attention immediately. Their party leader turned and pointed back at Theo, "Who the hell are you? I noticed you’ve been following us all the way from the city."

"Do you have business with me?!" he demanded, arrogant.

Theo drew his sword again and started walking toward them, "I don’t have any business with a coward like you. I’m here for her!"

"If none of you can bother taking care of her, then I will, damn it!"