With the slimes being available, the people of the town would venture out to the forest and hunt them down.
Although slimes are essentially monsters, their strength is low enough that even those who live a normal life can kill them with ease.
Nine is currently moving towards the north gate, where a flat plain is, there, tens of people hunting slimes to earn a bit of money.
Leaving the walls, Nine spotted the people he would normally see inside the town, wielding long-range weapons targeting the slime core.
"Hey!" A voice called out to Nine. Looking towards where the voice came from, Nine spotted the pretty Nun lady from his first quest, sitting on the ground.
Moving towards her, he said: "Yes?"
"You're gonna hunt slimes again right?" The Nun said, pointing at the bag of salt in his hand. "Hey, can I have some of those? I'll pay for it."
"Sorry, I don't sell this. Even if I sold it to you, you won't be able to use it against the slimes here." Nine answered, rejecting the offer.
"Why? Don't I just need to splash that on the slimes, and they die?" She asked.
"Yeah, no. This isn't that simple." Nine answered. He wanted to explain how this method works, but knowing that if he did, people might copy it.
Looking in the direction she was facing, Nine spotted multiple children around the ages of 5-7 hunting down slimes.
"Wait!" Nine exclaimed. "Are you watching over those kids?" He asked, pointing at the children.
"That's right. Every year, one of the four authorities would supervise the younglings of the town to hunt down slimes. Last year, it was the local government's duty; this year, it's the temple's responsibility. So I'm currently watching these children hunt, so I'm asking to buy that slime killing salt of yours, to make these children level up."
Although the system is available for the natives of this world at birth, their level-up function is limited to one level per year.
For one to continue level up without the, one level per year limit, they need to be at least 14 years old, a point where their body can endure the sudden change in their physical abilities.
After all, putting the strength of a full-grown man into a child would put them in danger rather than help them. So in order to make sure the children won't be put into harm, the system made these restrictions.
"Hmm." Understanding her duty, Nine wanted to help her. But even if he gave them the salt he had, it would be useless to them since they cannot command the rune infused with it.
"Sorry, I can't really help you with this. But after I hunt down some slime on my own, I'll help you with this." Nine said, saying goodbye to her and moving further away to the wall of the town.
"I see, stay safe out there!" The nun yelled out. Knowing that the further you are from the walls of the town, the stronger the slimes are.
Leaving her, Nine moves further than anyone else does, wanting to catch larger slime. After ten minutes of walking, Nine spotted some blue slime around the size of a soccer ball, looking at them hopping towards him, he muttered:
"Weak." Kicking them away from him, before moving once again.
----
"This should be far enough." Nine whispered, after moving another ten minutes straight. This time, slimes within the area are around a meter or two, while their cores are the size of a marble.
Taking a breathing break, Nine scoops out a tablespoon of salt from the bag, then places the bag of salt into the empty slot of his bracelet.
Locking his eyes on the two-meter-sized blue slime in his sight, he charged towards it. Seeing a human running towards itself, the slime began to hop, up and down, ready to hammer down Nine.
"Haha, is this slime trying to fight back?" Nine questions, seeing the slime reaction to him. "Sorry, but I'm not here to fight, I'm here to earn money!"
Nine muttered, stopping his movement, a meter away from the hopping slime, then throwing away the salt in his hand. Raising his right hand, middle and index fingers towards the sky, Nine commanded the rune to take effect.
With the command taking effect, the slime's body lit up with a root-like look, all over its body. With the rune of shock activating, the entire body of the slime was electrocuted, killing it, leaving the core on the ground.
Picking it up, Nine smiled, seeing how his method is still working great. Putting the core in the last slot of his bracelet, he took out another tablespoon of salt inside the slot, and started moving towards another slime.
Before he knew it, he had started moving nonstop, all over the place splashing the slime with his salt, killing them without a trace of struggle. Leaving only a bit of salt, that did not latch on to the slime, he threw it out.
Nine only stopped this when this happened:
[Your Stamina stat has increased.]
"Oh! That's rare." Within all this time, Nine understands that increasing one stat without leveling up is hard. In his time within the library, he learns that the average physical stats one should have are around 15 points.
While an athlete, from his understanding would have around 20-23 points in their physical stats. And for every ten levels you reach, you can increase your stats through exercise up to 20 points.
Since Nine is still in the mid rank 1, he has already reached the limit of his physical stats increased by training, making this situation rare.
"Hooooo." Nine let out a long breath. "This should be enough now. Since a meter-sized slime gives around 3 silver coins per core, while 2-3 meter-sized slimes give 5-8 silver coins."
Having killed more than 15 slimes so far, who have a size of one to four meters at best, Nine decided to go back to the town and sell them to the guild.
"Money isn't a problem to me now. With the amount of money I earn from my herb-collecting quest, and even receiving help from Marie."
Because Nine didn't miss a single day with the collection of herbs, he had earned enough profits from them, and with Marie providing help, he didn't need to worry about his financial needs.
While moving along the path towards the town, Nine spotted a trail marked left by a slime. Seeing this, he smiled. In his hunting all this time, he learn that there are two types of slimes.
One that hops and one that crawls like a normal snail. The slime he had killed so far is type one, so this trail marks that he's staring at a type two slime.
"The area around it is rugged, like a boulder decided to move to another place... Around 3 meters wide, it should be around 4-6 meters in height....." Nine quiet up for a bit, before laughing.
"Haha, a rare slime, not just a blue one but might even be one with a skill. It might even be an Elemental slime."
Seeing the rare opportunity before him, Nine decided to go back later and follow the slime that made this trail. Leaving the pathway back to the town, Nine entered the forest.
Ready to fight against this slime. Moving within the forest, Nine spotted some fallen trees left by the slime he's chasing. "..... Should I..... Go back?"
He questions, seeing the fallen trees. Moving up on a tiny rocky hill, Nine wondered if this was the right decision.
Thinking about it, he decided to go back, since even right now, he still doesn't have a weapon on him, except for the salt he has.
Going back to the fallen trees path, Nine felt a great amount of wind nearing him, squatting down, and looking back.
He found the hill he was on a moment ago moving with the sides of it stretched out like a tentacle, with the trees to his left gone.
Looking at the moving hill and the devastation to his left, Nine screamed:
"That hill was the slime!?"
*****
End of chapter 21.