Chapter 15: Fulfilling the Quest
Marcus Manfred headed out toward the location written on the parchnt.
The southern road ran along the outer edge of Berm. Once he passed the gate, the noise of the city faded behind him. The sounds of rchants and wagon wheels were replaced by wind moving through tall grass and the distant lowing of cattle.
The road beneath his boots shifted from stone to packed dirt.
Fields stretched on both sides. Wooden fences divided long strips of farmland. A few farrs worked in the distance, bent over rows of crops while oxen pulled simple plows through dark soil.
Marcus kept walking.
He pulled the quest parchnt from his pocket and glanced at it again.
South pasture drainage ditch.
He lifted his eyes and scanned the land ahead.
The terrain gradually sloped downward. Rainwater from the higher fields had gathered into a shallow drainage channel that cut across the pasture before running toward a small creek.
That had to be it.
As he approached, he slowed his pace.
Sothing moved in the ditch.
It was a thick jelly sliding across mud. He stopped fifteen ters away from it and looked carefully.
It was a sli.
They were about the size of a small bucket. Semi-transparent bodies wobbled as they crawled across the wet ground. Their shapes changed constantly as their mass flowed forward.
Inside each one, a small darker sphere floated near the center.
The core.
Marcus counted quietly.
"One... two... three..."
He crouched slightly and leaned forward to get a better angle.
"Four... five... six..."
One more shape shifted beneath the muddy water.
"Seven."
So the report was accurate.
Seven slis.
The creatures did not seem to notice him yet. They simply drifted through the ditch, occasionally bumping into rocks or pieces of wood left from the pasture fence.
One of them pressed against a broken tool handle lying half buried in the mud.
The wood darkened slowly where the sli touched it.
Marcus watched for a mont.
So the dissolving part was true.
Good to know.
He straightened and looked around the field.
No farrs nearby. The closest ones were working at least two hundred ters away.
Now, what weapons should he use? Would a gun work against sli? That’s what he wanted to find out.
He pulled out his M4 Carbine from his inventory and aid.
The rifle settled against his shoulder out of habit. His finger rested along the trigger guard while he studied the slis again.
They were still drifting slowly through the drainage ditch, unaware of him.
Marcus adjusted the sight.
The reticle lined up with the darker sphere floating inside the nearest sli.
"If the core is the vital part..." he muttered quietly.
Then a normal round should work.
He squeezed the trigger.
Pop.
The shot echoed lightly across the open field.
The bullet punched through the sli’s body.
For a mont the gelatinous mass rippled violently, like water struck by a stone. The structure collapsed inward and spilled across the mud.
A small dark object dropped to the ground.
The core.
Marcus lowered the rifle slightly and watched.
The sli’s outer body had dissolved into a thin liquid that slowly soaked into the ditch.
Only the core remained.
"Okay," he said quietly. "That works."
The remaining slis reacted.
Their bodies quivered as if sensing the sudden disturbance. Two of them began sliding slowly toward the remains of the destroyed sli.
Marcus raised the rifle again.
He adjusted his footing and steadied his aim.
Another squeeze.
Pop.
The second sli burst apart just like the first. The gelatinous body collapsed, leaving another core behind in the mud.
Marcus shifted to the next target without hesitation.
The third shot followed a second later.
Pop.
Another ripple. Another collapse.
Three cores now lay scattered along the ditch.
The remaining slis began moving faster.
Not aggressive.
But drawn toward the sa direction, as if the disturbance had triggered sothing in their simple bodies.
Marcus watched one of them slide over the remains of the first sli.
The gelatinous mass absorbed so of the leftover liquid.
The body grew slightly larger.
"Right," he said under his breath. "They can rge."
He stepped a little closer to the ditch but kept several ters of distance from the edge.
The next shot rang out.
Pop.
The fourth sli collapsed instantly.
Another core rolled slightly through the mud before stopping against a small rock.
Marcus paused and scanned the ditch again.
Three left.
He had already reached the minimum required cores.
But leaving the rest would be sloppy.
The guild would likely post another request tomorrow if he walked away now.
He lined up the sight again.
The fifth sli was already sliding toward one of the fallen cores.
Marcus fired.
Pop.
The body collapsed mid-motion.
Core number five dropped beside the others.
He shifted slightly and fired again.
Pop.
Six.
The last sli remained partially subrged in the muddy water.
It seed slower than the others, its body thicker and darker near the center.
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
Then he fired one last ti.
Pop.
The bullet punched through the core.
The sli collapsed instantly.
Silence returned to the pasture.
Marcus lowered the rifle and looked at the ditch.
Seven collapsed bodies slowly dissolving into the mud.
Seven dark cores scattered across the ground.
He slung the rifle and stepped closer to the edge.
He crouched and picked up the first core.
It was about the size of a small marble. He stowed it in a small pouch.
Then he moved along the ditch, collecting the others one by one.
By the ti he finished, seven cores sat inside the pouch.
He wiped his fingers against the grass and stood up.
"Quest done...that was easy."
Still, this is not the adventurer he had envisioned himself to be taking. Like the ogre had more thrill than killing a low-level monster.
Well, he couldn’t complain about it since he knew what he signed up for. Adventurers always start at the bottom.
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