Dan genuinely didn’t know how to feel about this.
On one hand, he was relieved. He had finally encountered other humans who spoke the same language as him and seemed to know one or two things.
This was a massive stroke of luck. Or so he thought.
’They’re idiots.’
From his brief observations, the group didn’t seem to have an ounce of coordination. Their attacks carried considerable weight and power, but they were overall sloppy and lacked any real finesse.
The spear wielder repeatedly overextended his attacks, leaving himself wide open and while the archer’s aim wasn’t terrible, but her timing was questionable at best. Lastly, the attacks of the large man, who seemed to be the Group Leader, were undeniably powerful, but they were so wide and predictable that any remotely intelligent opponent should have been able to exploit the openings.
Worse yet, the three occasionally got in each other’s way and sent complaints towards each other.
Complete amateurs!
Dan couldn’t help but wonder how these guys were still alive.
Several possibilities came to mind.
For one, it was possible that these three weren’t actually acquainted with one another. Mercenaries usually worked with whoever was available, after all, and a temporary party assembled for a single expedition wouldn’t necessarily have the coordination of a group that had fought together for years.
Then again, they seemed pretty familiar with each other.
They joked around constantly, and none of them seemed particularly uncomfortable fighting alongside the others. So that probably wasn’t it.
Another possibility was that the monsters in this area were simply too weak to pose a serious threat which seemed considerably more plausible. Their movements might have been sloppy, but their physical abilities were clearly beyond those of ordinary humans. For example, a single thrust from the spearman was strong enough to split a jackel apart, the archer could fire multiple arrows in the blink of an eye with frightening accuracy to boot, and the hammer wielder could crush several enemies with a single swing.
Maybe their overall raw power was more than compensated for their lack of coordination.
Or perhaps they were simply lucky.
Luck could carry someone surprisingly far, especially in a world where the one could be rewarded for doing something as simple as killing one or two creatures with a bone. Still, none of those explanations fully satisfied him.
There was something else he had noticed. Despite their terrible coordination or clash in personalities, they didn’t seem particularly worried. Not even when a jackal came dangerously close to tearing into one of them.
’It means they’ve probably been doing this for a while.’
Upon reaching that conclusion, Dan was tempted to come out from his hiding place after they were done with their business but was conflicted.
How was he supposed to explain his situation?
Naturally, telling them "I woke up in another world with no idea how I got here" was out of the question.
Even if they believed him, it would only raise more questions.
Where was he from? Why didn’t he know anything about the world? Why was he alone? He wouldn’t be able to answer all these questions, and couldn’t afford to attract unnecessary attention before he understood the situation. On the other hand, remaining alone wasn’t exactly a brilliant strategy either.
He had already learned that this forest contained creatures capable of killing him with ease. He had survived the Jade Serpent and Horned Wolf purely because of circumstance.
If he encountered another monster of similar strength without having somewhere to hide, Dan didn’t like his chances and how low they were.
’I’ll just have to be careful about what I reveal.’
Dan waited until the three finished dealing with the remaining jackals.
One by one, the creatures fell beneath their attacks. Eventually, the last jackal collapsed with an ugly howl.
"Phew. What the heck? That took longer than it should have."
"Whose fault was that? You nearly stabbed me twice!"
"So you’re complaining, huh. Speaking of which, are you secretly in love with my ass? Because I was wondering why you kept firing arrows at it!"
"W-what?! Of course not! I was aiming for the jackals, not you!"
"Then why did three of your arrows come dangerously close to my butt?"
"Because you kept moving into my line of fire!"
"Now, that isn’t my fault, is it?"
The spearman and archer immediately resumed arguing, with the latter waving her arms around in exasperation.
...Come to think about it, something like that did happen. He couldn’t help but recall the woman’s arrows repeatedly whizzing past the spearman during the battle. At the time, he’d initially assumed she simply had terrible aim. Apparently, there was more to the story.
Silently observing the two for a moment, the large man let out a weary sigh before finally speaking.
"Can you two stop bickering and focus? We didn’t come here to mess around. Start extracting the Soul Cores from the carcasses so we can be on our way. The sooner, the better."
The other two immediately fell silent. Though they didn’t forget to glare at each other.
However, Dan was focused on something else.
’Soul Cores?’
That was a term he’d never heard before. And judging from the way the large man had said it, they were apparently something worth extracting from the corpses of monsters.
’Are they some kind of loot?’
That would certainly explain why they hadn’t simply left the bodies behind. Dan quietly observed as the spearmn crouched beside one of the jackals and pulled a small knife from his waist.
"Right, right. We almost forgot."
"How could you forget? That’s the entire reason we came here."
"I didn’t forget."
"You literally said we should head back."
"I said we should head back after extracting them."
"You said—"
"Just shut up and work."
The large man’s voice cut through their argument.
Clicking his tongue, and swallowing whatever he was about to say, the spearman grumbled something under his breath and drove the knife into the jackal’s chest, cutting it open.
After making a precise incision, he carefully pushed his hand into the creature’s chest cavity.
A moment later, something faintly glowing emerged from within. It was a small, irregular object roughly the size of a walnut. A pale, translucent glow erupted from within its dark surface.
"Got one."
"Is it intact?"
"Of course. I only aimed at the vital spots apart from the core."
"Good. Put it with the others."
Dan stared at the object from behind the tree, his curiosity rapidly turning into genuine interest.
’That’s a Soul Core?’
It didn’t look like anything he’d encountered before.
What value did it hold?
Under normal circumstances, he would have simply waited until they left the immediate vicinity before investigating the matter himself. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance.
’No better time than the present!’
Tired of waiting any longer, Dan decided it was time to come out in the open and raise his hands.
However, before he could step out, something beat him to it.
Rattle–! Rattle–!
The bushes suddenly began to shake.
Stunned, Dan froze over. So did the three travelers.
The spearman immediately grabbed his weapon and lowered his stance, while the archer nocked an arrow and aimed toward the rustling foliage. Even the large man tightened his grip around the handle of his massive hammer.
The carefree atmosphere from moments ago vanished in an instant.
Something was approaching.
’Another monster?!’
Of all the possible times for something to appear, why now?
Everyone, whether it was the stalking Dan or the three adventurers, waited in tense silence. The bushes rustled once more. Then, in the next moment, the unknown silhouette finally revealed itself.
’...Eh?’
Dan blinked a couple of times in dumfoundment.
Judging by the stunned expressions on the other three, they were probably in the same state of shock as him.
Because sitting in the middle of the clearing was a translucent mass of wobbling jelly. It was roughly the size of a small dog, with a faint bluish tint and a vaguely spherical shape.
It lacked visible eyes, mouth, limbs, or anything that remotely resembled a recognizable facial feature.
It simply sat there, wobbling.
Boing–! Boing–!
The strange creature bounced twice in place, its gelatinous body rippling with every impact.
...Their mysterious intruder turned out to be a Slime!