"Do you think he can kill the Slime in a single attack like before? That Slime was in a dormant position, but this one is constantly moving and jiggling," Shaun asked.
"I am not sure if the first one was a fluke, but I believe Max is capable of killing the Slime," the chubby Healer girl stated, currently in a state of great agitation.
"Shut up, Jeannie. You are a Healer; you have no opinion on combat skills," the other Elementalist scolded. Upon getting yelled at, Jeannie simply lowered her head.
"Let us see. If he were to miss killing the giant Slime, Anne will definitely get hurt, or even get crushed underneath it," the guy spoke again.
"Let us maintain our ready positions," the Shield Warrior stated as he peeked at the Titan Slime. He observed the positions of both Anne and Max as well. Anne had already climbed the midsection of the rocky hill, while Max was situated opposite the hill, lying on an elevated rock that served as a good spot to fire an arrow.
A couple of moments later, Anne reached the height of the Slime and quickly moved toward the front so that the monster could notice her. Seeing this, Max knelt down on the rock, nocked an arrow on his bowstring, and drew it back, waiting for Anne to attack and catch the Slime's attention.
Anne positioned herself, drew her arrow aiming down at the Slime's head, and fired.
Swish!
The arrow quickly traveled the short distance and perfectly lodged into the top of the Slime. However, unbeknownst to the monster, another two arrows had also lodged into its side. Max's plan was to use Anne's arrow as a decoy. When two attacks landed at the exact same time, monsters possessing lower intelligence found it highly difficult to detect both. They would ignore the attack outside their field of vision and focus entirely on the enemy situated right in front of them.
Exploiting this weakness, Max had sent two arrows in quick succession from the side at the exact same time Anne's arrow lodged into the top of the Slime. A third arrow was about to strike the nock of the second arrow and push the first arrow deeper into the Living Core.
However, in the meantime, right before the third arrow could lodge itself, the Slime noticed its aggressor. Something extended from its round, slimy body and whipped toward Anne's location, sending rock fragments and Anne flying through the air. Max's eyes widened; just as he had suspected, the Mutated Titan Slime possessed a Skill to extend its body and attack.
However, while the Slime concentrated entirely on Anne, the third arrow accomplished its task. It lodged perfectly into the second arrow, driving the first directly into the Living Core and destroying it along the way. With its Core destroyed, the Mutated Slime wiggled crazily. As cracks formed across its body, it eventually turned into nothingness.
[E-Rank Mutated Boss Titan Slime killed. Received 400 EXP + 100 EXP Bonus for First Kill.]
Max merely took a glance and did not dwell on the Kill Message. Since Anne had been viciously attacked, he swiftly dashed toward the direction where she had fallen from the rocky hill.
Before he could even reach the location, the other party members had already gathered, and Jeannie was already healing Anne's wounds. Scanning her body, Max noticed a few wounds resulting from the fall. However, the most severe injury was her ankle, which was broken. Fortunately, the brunt of the attack had landed on the rock beneath her feet. Her left ankle had been caught and snapped; aside from that, the other wounds had merely happened from the fall.
"Jeannie, heal her ankle first," Shaun shouted at the Healer as she healed the surface wounds.
Jeannie, who was in a state of great restlessness, simply yelled back at Shaun. "I do not possess a Skill to heal a broken ankle. I can only heal the surface wounds. Are you happy now?"
Jeannie suddenly began to cry, feeling she was entirely incapable of healing her own party member.
"Let us just exit the Dungeon and have the teachers heal her," Shaun stated after seeing Jeannie start to cry.
"That is unnecessary; make way. Jeannie, do not cry. It is highly normal for a first-year student to be incapable of healing a broken ankle. Just do not blame yourself; you will learn to heal it in no time." Seeing the chubby girl crying pitifully, Max offered a few encouraging words.
"Let me try to heal her," Max stated as he knelt down and inspected Anne's ankle. "How do you feel, Anne?"
"I am okay. I am using Mana to reduce the pain. If my Mana gets used up, then there will be pain," Anne stated while simply laying there.
"Do not worry, I will fix your ankle," Max declared as he placed his palm directly above Anne's ankle and activated.
[Divine Miracle]
Currently, he possessed very little Mana remaining in his reserves. However, he had been working on this Skill for the past two days, learning a great deal about Mana Channeling in the process. If he were to expend all of his current Mana in the regular manner, the ankle might not heal fully. Once her own Mana was exhausted, the pain would persist, and she would even find it highly difficult to walk by herself.
Thus, he needed to utilize his remaining Mana properly in order to heal the ankle completely. He had to succeed; otherwise, the party might be forced to exit the Dungeon, which would subsequently place their party ranking at the very bottom. This would be disastrous for his plans. Not only him, but his entire party would be considered failures who were not even capable of fighting within an E-Rank Dungeon.
Focusing his consciousness, Max could see only a very few strands of Mana remaining on his spool. He had to use it meticulously; otherwise, he would have to spend another twenty minutes replenishing his Mana. By then, Anne's Mana would be fully depleted, and she would be forced to suffer in pain. Everything would ultimately lead to wasted time. He needed to finish this quickly in order to continue their hunt.
Max pinched the loose end of the thread, dragging it through his Mana path until it reached his palm. This was precisely where he usually struggled to succeed, feeling that he might require a lot of training. However, today was different. He meticulously opened a pore on his fingers, creating an opening just large enough to push the Mana thread through.
Max placed one hundred percent of his concentration upon this step. Soon, the Mana exited his fingers like incense smoke, beginning to permeate all over Anne's ankle. Shortly after, the unnatural angle of the ankle slowly reformed into a proper human ankle.
The change was entirely visible to the naked eye. The rest of the party also witnessed the ankle taking form and the broken bones healing. When the final strand of the thread was spent, the ankle was as good as new, just as it had been before it broke.
"Try to move your ankle," Max stated.
Anne slowly moved it back and forth. Feeling absolutely no pain, she slowly sat up and touched it with her hand to feel for any remaining pain, but the ankle was completely fresh and unbroken.
"It is completely healed. There is no pain," Anne exclaimed as she pushed her body up to stand, rotating her ankle before jumping. "Hahaha, the ankle healed completely! Thank you, Max. I was worried I would cause the expedition to end in failure for everyone. Now I can continue the hunt. Once again, thank you!"
"It is not a problem; it is merely a simple matter. Now, let us see exactly what the Slime dropped," Max stated casually as he walked toward the location where the Slime had been killed. The others followed him as well.
The first thing Max noticed was that the Core looked very different. He guessed this was due to the Mutated Boss title: [Mutated Titan Slime Core]. It would definitely earn a lot of points for their team. As for whom it belonged to individually, it should naturally go to Anne, since she had put her life on the line.
The next item that attracted him looked like a cubic crystal: [Living Slime Core].What the hell? Had he not shot it down and destroyed it? However, since it had dropped as loot, he was not going to complain about it.
Next was a [Titan Gel Membrane], a very good material for forging weapons. There were also a few more vials of slime-like substances, and finally, something good: [Stone Anchor], a Skill Book! What a lucky day for them. It was their very first day of the Dungeon Expedition, yet they had obtained a Skill Book from their second Boss monster.
Everyone felt shocked and surprised after seeing the Skill Book loot on their first day inside the Dungeon.
"It is a good skill for a Shield Warrior," Anne stated, looking at Peter, the Shield Warrior.
"Just keep everything; we will divide the loot at the end of the day," Peter stated after looking at the Skill Book. Although it was a tempting skill for his class, he simply could not blatantly ask for a skill that he had not even worked for. If he contributed more to the team, then he could take ownership of it deservingly.
"Do not worry about it. It is better to use the Skill Book now, as it will definitely be useful in the coming hunt instead of sitting inside the baggage," Max suggested, encouraging him to learn the skill since it would prove useful for today's hunt.
"Yes, Peter. With this skill, you can even tank Boss monsters and contribute even more, rather than letting the skill sit in my bag," Anne stated.
"I also thought the same," Shaun suggested.
"Okay. If you all think it will help the hunt, I will take ownership of the skill," Peter declared as he took the Skill Book and learned it instantly. With this skill, he could contribute more, which would ultimately cancel out his guilt of feeling undeserving.