โThe First Magical Beast Sighting, Not the First Villagerโฆ Or is it even a magical beast? Itโs just a slime.โ
After walking a bit further, I spotted something familiar from fantasy worldsโa slime.
It was about the size of a balloon, a transparent monster. It had no eyes or nose, but a blue stone-like object was faintly visible in the center.
โAccording to my appraisal, slimes are weak to physical impact. Not compatible with water magicโฆ Alright, letโs try hitting it with an axe.โ
I slowly approached and swung my hatchet down on the slime, which was leisurely digesting some grass. True to its reputation as the weakest monster, it burst with a single blow.
All that remained was the small blue stone it had inside.
โSo this is a magic stone. Wind attribute? Iโd have thought water, since itโs a slime.โ
According to the appraisal, this magic stone can be sold at the Adventurersโ Guild. It could also be used as a power source for magical tools, though I donโt have any of those.
โFor now, letโs convert it into points. Iโll store it in my item box and exchange it.โ
The purchase value displayed on the status board was 100 points. It seems a slimeโs magic stone is worth the same as a hundred stalks of Hime Shiba grass.
โIs that a lot or not? If 1 point equals 1 yen and a bottle of tea is 100P, it feelsโฆ underwhelming?โ
Well, pulling up a hundred stalks of grass is much more effort than hitting a slime with an axe. Plus, I earn experience points for leveling up.
โFor now, letโs keep aiming for the forest while hunting slimes to earn points bit by bit.โ
It seems the High Elf race has not only excellent eyesight but also keen hearing. I can sense far more presences than when I was human. As I walked, appraising things along the way, I encountered more slimes and a magical beast called a grass mouse.
The slimes hardly moved and didnโt attack, so they were easy to defeat. But the grass mouseโGlas Mouseโcame at me swiftly.
โHa!โ
However, with my new High Elf dynamic vision, I easily countered it. I swung my hatchet and neatly severed its neck.
Thanks to the blessing of the Creator God, a protective barrier automatically activates, so I should be able to repel attacks. But I want to get used to fighting.
Not wanting to touch the beastโs corpse with my bare hands, I took gloves from my item box and picked it up by the tail, storing it away. Afterward, I realized I hadnโt disassembled it.
Not wanting to bother taking it back out, I tapped to convert it into points, and a prompt appeared on the status board: โWould you like to disassemble the material?โ
โIt can disassemble it too? Thatโs helpful.โ
My grandfather on my motherโs side was a hunting enthusiast, so Iโve helped with disassembly a few times before. I can handle chickens, deer, rabbits, and boars, but I didnโt feel confident with magical beasts, so this is convenient. Even my experienced grandfather wouldโve had trouble disassembling out here in the middle of a plain with no equipment.
โIt automatically converted to materials. 10P for the skin, 40P for the meat, and 200P for the magic stone, for a total of 250P. More rewarding than slimes.โ
As long as I avoid its sharp front teeth, the 20-centimeter Glas Mouse is a decent magical beast. I happily converted it into points.
โBut, if it converted the meat, does that mean itโs edibleโฆ?โ
I do like game meat. Iโve eaten rabbit before, and I love deer and boar. But Iโve never had rat meat. I remember an old hunting buddy of my grandfatherโs bragging about eating nutria once. You sometimes see them by the riverโlarge rodents that used to be raised for their soft fur.
He joked about hitting one by the river and bringing it home.
โHe said it was wild-tasting but surprisingly goodโฆ Yeah, no, I couldnโt.โ
Remembering the sight of the Glas Mouse, I shudder. If I had no other food and was starving, maybe Iโd eat it out of desperation. But I still have enough provisions in my item box for four people for five days.
โEven if I ran out, I could get food from a summoning magic online store.โ
If I struggle with nutria meat, thereโs no way Iโm eating rat meat. Though if it were a magical beast like a boar or deer and the meat was tasty, thatโd be a different story.
โMy cousin, a fantasy fan, once said monster meat dishes look deliciousโฆโ
Orcs are like pork, and boars are like boar meat, right? He said his dream was to eat dragon steak.
Dragon meat, huh? I wonder if itโs like chicken or more like reptile meat.
โWell, for now, Iโll stick to the camping food I brought.โ
Until I actually try living in the Great Forest, I wonโt know what Iโll need, so I want to save as many points as I can.
As I got closer to the forest, the magical beasts grew larger and stronger. Some slimes even started using water magic, and instead of Glas Mouse, Horn Rabbits appeared. These were rabbit monsters with twisted horns on their foreheads. They had fluffy fur but fierce eyes and an aggressive temperament.
Their attacks were straightforward charges, so I could easily counter them with my hatchet.
โThe Horn Rabbitโs points arenโt bad either. 300P for the fur and meat each, 200P for the horn, and 400P for the magic stoneโa total of 1200P!โ
Getting my first four-digit points made me grin. Not bad. Maybe Iโll focus on rabbit hunting for a while.
โAnd this water-magic-using slimeโs magic stone is worth 1000P? Higher than normal slimes. Water magic stones must be in high demand.โ
With each magic stone worth 1000P, Iโll actively hunt these magic-using ones.
In this way, I continued hunting beasts, gathering herbs I appraised along the way, and steadily accumulating points as I walked across the plains. Eventually, before sunset, I decided to stop.
โLetโs camp here for tonight.โ
I hadnโt even made it halfway to my destination, but setting up camp after dark would be troublesome. I took everything out of my item box for now.