Master Of None

Midnight was glaring at a patch of trees ahead of them. There was the scent of rot and decay in the air causing all of them to want to cover their noses. The worst part was that they could see the black rot on the trees in front of them. It looked like Midnight had gone around using decaying breath flames for hours and hours. 

"Somerhing tells me this is the work of the slimes we are after." Gil was slow to approach the area since the smell of rot was so bad. He prodded that the bark of the tree with an arrow and found that it just flaked off existing in the inside of the rotting wood. The black decay had eaten in to the very core of the tree. 

"I can see why people are unhappy with this. These slimes are doing a lot of damage to the very lifeblood of the forest. The elven kingdom must be furious. They literally have lived here forever." One look at Remey told all of them that she was just as unhappy to see this. In her mind she could only imagine how many life saving herbs could have been killed or brought to extinction by this decay. 

"I might jot be an expert, but from my friends at the cathedral, I have learned some things about purification magic. I do not believe that it would be able to deal with this level of decay. The only solution would be to let the infected trees die or to cut off the decaying part." 

Su knew that purification magic was rare to begin with. She had heard that it was usually used to cleanse something of a curse or a living creature from poisons or even to enhance the quality of materials by removing disruptive mana. 

"I think so too, this is very advanced and powerful. Remey, what are your thoughts? Could those antidote potions resist this in any way?" Walker was worried that the potions Remey and the old master alchemist had made might be too weak to protect them if they toughed the slime or had a head on collision in battle. 

"Pfft, who do you think we are? We used some of the pure water and even some other special herbs to make sure they were of the highest quality. It may take multiple treatments but if you get that decay on you and wrap soaked bandages on it, then it just might protect you from the decay damage and cure you." She thought for a moment. "The worst case I would say go to the cathedral for healing anyways. 

Midnight looked to be suffering in the scene of the decay. Her nose was much stronger than theirs and she could not deal with the smell. Come on let's see if we can follow the path of decay." Now that Walker had seen the full extent of the purple limes decay quality he wanted to formulate so,e new pans. 

He was happy that the slime obviously did not just decay and break things down in an instant. Instead it took time, meaning that the party would be able to safely reach other if they were hurt. The sooner they would use the antidote potion the less damage, if any, there would be. Walker made sure it was always on his mind to pull one out. 

"Just stay vigilant, some slimes have been known to shoot acid or other fluids from their bodies. These might not since it looks like they had to be in long term contact to cause this decay. But I would rather be safe than sorry." Walker's final warning was one he said a few times and the party knew he was worrying over it. 

With that, the party started to follow the trail of decay. They could still find the tracks of goblins and even some of the grey haired spider silk here and there. This area seemed to be heavily traveled by many monsters. Remey was stopping to look at the remains of the young growth, her grimace getting worse and worse with every minute. 

Gil was mirroring her unhappiness, he had been hunting in forests many times with his father and he had been taught to respect nature. His goal as a hunter had always been to take what they needed to survive and prosper. If he had tried to take too much his father was always there explaining why it could hurt the forest and that it was or was not necessary. 

Su did not have the same experiences and understanding of the forest that her party members did, however, she had started to learn through gardening that a lot of effort could go in to one single seedling. For a forest to grow it was a massive accomplishment for nature. The way a single tree was cut could change how the entire forest grew, even the smallest detail could make a life or death difference. 

These things were driving the party as they noticed that the black decay was getting more intense. They could smell the rot much more strongly, this made Midnight look very agitated and unhappy. She may have a skill that made her flame breath cause decay, but this was something her body was able to produce and not harmful to her. The rot that was caused by the slimes was different, it was rotting things still alive and causing a lot of damage. There was no way Midnight nose could get used to it, especially since she upgraded to dragon champion. Her body was much more sensitive and growing to be stronger, her sense of smell was only one thing that had improved. 

The more the party proceeded closer to the heavy decay the more they started to notice signs of struggle. There were grey hairs from the spiders on the ground. It looked like they had been broken or cut off in some ways. There were even remaining pieces of legs here or there. "We are getting close to something, I can hear some fighting." 

Gil gave a warning and the party all crouched to try and travel unnoticed. "Midnight, use your skill and sneak around. Don't get in to the fight unless we give a call." Walker wanted to set up to ambush any monsters that they were about to come in to contact with if possible. 

Su took a slight lead as they went through the trees. There were bits of purple slime scattered on the ground as the battle they were approaching had progressed. Gil pointed them out so they would not step on them and possibly alert the monsters ahead. What drew their attention was the small skinny green body of a pointed eared creature. 

The decay on the body made it hard to see the finer details but it was obvious that this was the remains of a goblin slain by the slimes. They were battling each other for some reason, Walker figured that it was because this was considered the territory of the goblins and they did not like any other monster encroaching on it. 

The party saw a grey blur as a spider jumped from a tree towards the ground. The next thing they saw was a round purple blob that seemed to ripple as it rolled forwards. The sickly purple color it had made it look unnatural and poisonous. The battle the two were having in the small clearing ahead was not the only battle. 

There were about five other monsters battling slimes as well. These slimes which were the same size as a ten year old child seemed to have the advantage due to the fact that they couldn't be killed unless their core was destroyed. The goblins that appeared to be working with the grey spiders were trying their best to thrust sharp sticks and stones in to the slimes to break their cores. 

"Do you see a goblin riding a grey haired spider over there…?" Gil was staring at a goblin using a very large grey haired spider as a mount. It looked like they had somehow paired up while fighting and their strategy was working. The spider would move around the slime and allow the goblin to stab with its pointed stick. The pair took out a slime faster than the rest of the goblins and spiders that were struggling. 

"I know that they are usually enemies competing for prey in the forest. But it looks like the threat of the slimes somehow brought them together. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I prefer the natural order of the forest over the invasion of the slimes. What would you guys say to help the goblins and spiders out for now?" Walker's idea sounded like a mad man had just spoken. Not a single adventurer would say they wanted to help monsters let alone goblins which were known to hate other sentient races. 

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