Garett woke up early after a long night.

[All statuses have been restored due to sleeping]

Well, to say the least, the entire party had stayed up pretty late talking to each other.

Both Samantha and Ashley had opened up to the group more than before, and to each other. While there was a sense of rivalry between them due to their very harshly opposing views and positions in life, there was an odd balance that came with this, and so even though they would likely have been complete enemies would they have met in the real world, being thrown into this situation forced them to look past their differences in ideology and work together.

For their own self interest of course.

That was the one thing that was in common among this odd group. Self interest.

While it is true that they all wished to help the innocent, or at the very least not cause harm to them, they also knew very well the harshness of the world.

Every single person in this group knew that while they would not harm the innocent of their own will or doing, they would cast the innocent aside in a second if it meant self preservation- that is, if the choice was between saving the innocent and saving themselves.

They were not heroes, and they held no delusions in trying to imagine themselves becoming such figures. They held no intention to go around proclaiming their deeds and names to others. 

Trevor slowly got up as well, and took a look at the sleeping girls.

"Ah, it seems we have two options here."

When Trevor said this, almost comically, the system sent a message.

[Option 1: Wait patiently like a decent human being and don't disturb the girls in their sleep]

[Option 2: Get those lazy ass women up and working. We don't have all day, you know.]

Trevor and Garett grinned at each other as they unanimously chose option 2.

Garett went over to Ashley and Trevor went over to Samantha.

They both started violently shaking their respective sleeping person.

"OI!!! GET UP!!!! Every hour you spend sleeping is an hour you could be spending playing video games!!"

"RISE AND SHINE!!! If you don't get up then you won't have time to get yourself ready and looking good for today!!"

They both taunted the woman in the way they expected them to react to.

"Video games!?" Ashley jolted up.

"Agh! I have bedhead!! I need a shower too! When are you gonna figure out how to craft indoor plumbing?" Samantha quickly got up as well, and asked Garett a question.

"And I'm going to need heated water as well as soaps and shampoos, as well as..."

Her hair was a mess but it was nowhere even close to as bad as Ashley's hair, which was sticking in every possible direction, from every possible angle and location. A birds nest wouldn't even begin to describe it. It was more like a series of tentacles that were wriggling about.

Samantha continued to list all the things she needed for about 20 minutes.

By the time Samantha had finished, Ashley wasn't the only person who looked like a ghost when they exited the hut,

The elder slime was up early as well. He seemed to be well and ready to lead the party to wherever they needed to go.

"Good morning, my lords! Do you all wish to be guided to the alchemy lab?"

"That would be great", Garett replied.

The elder led the party down the village, they made a few turns and twists around the small hut until they came upon a small building that was made of brick. It was not your average hut, but it was not very large- only about the same size as the largest hut in the village, where the party had slept.

When they entered, it was an interesting sight for sure.

There were jars of all types of gelatin lined up on shelves. There was a large brick kiln on one side of the room, that took up half of the building's volume. The building was shaped like a cube, so it was in the shape of a rectangular prism.

There was also a table with some test tubes, measuring devices, and alchemical stations set up. They were similar to the device Garett had found but more complex and larger.

Garett had to take a chemistry lab for general education, so he more or less knew what to do with these things. It was time to experiment!

First he would have Iotar teach him how to do alchemy though.

Iotar was in the center of the room, tinkering with some fluids.

"Ah! My lord's! I see that you have come to my humble station to assist in the production of potions?"

"If we can be of assistance and improve the economic output of the village that we are located in, it will benefit us. Do not think we are doing this out of any form of kindness. Quite the opposite actually. It is likely our arrival will cause some setbacks in production at first until we get the hang of things."

Trevor casually ran his mouth off with an analysis of the situation.

"At any rate, it is an honor to work with you all! I will engrave this session into my heart, and I am sure that not only you all, but I as well will learn much throughout it!"

Man. this guy sure seemed giddy.

Was it because he, like the other slimes, believed that Garett and his party were some sort of heroes who were actually going to save their race from the stronger monsters?

Garett didn't want to be held to those expectations, but he put those thoughts aside for now.

"I am the only one here who should have the ability to craft things. These other guys can just be assistants with moving of materials or something."

"Don't write me off as useless so quickly!", Samantha demanded.

Trevor and Ashley didn't fall to the taunt, and they both laughed quietly.

"What's so funny!?"

"Nothing"

Samantha stated daggers at Trevor.

Trevor sighed and put his fingers to his temples. "Sigh.. Well, you are kind of cute when you get aggravated so easily like that."

"Wha-"

Samantha's blue skin turned a much lighter shade. Was this her form of blushing?

"At any rate, please teach me anything you know Iotar. I currently have a blueprint for a lesser healing potion, and some materials for it, but is there anything you think I should know or try before giving that a go?"

Iotar began thinking.

"Actually, that's just perfect. The lesser potions are the easiest to make, and while we slimes have an abundance of gel, the gel material isn't available to anyone but us. Needless to say, aside from what we produce in this village, mid tier and greater tier potions are essentially nonexistent. Unless of course, one kills monstrous slimes, but who would carry around jars to collect the gel? Unless you knew much about alchemical procedures and deliberately went out in search of the gel, it would be rare for one to bother with mid tier and greater tier potions."

"Why is it that nobody tries to research potions of mid and greater tiers?"

"To put it bluntly, they are considered unnecessary by higher beings like demons and dragons. They all have their own magic that far surpasses the effects that even the greatest of potions could produce, so they do not bother with such trivial things. That being said, potions are useful because anyone can use them, regardless of talent or ability, so humans and lesser monsters find them to be a staple."

"I see."

"Do you wish to try to make a lesser healing potion then? You have the materials, right?"

"I do"

"Perfect."

Iotar went over to a pile of equipment and pulled out what looked like an IV bag.

"We can extract the blood of a magician using this, and compress it using..."

He also found a machine that looked like a piston connected to a mechanical system.

"This!"

Ashley stepped forward.

"I'll make sure not to take too much blood from you"

"Ok..."

She quietly obeyed as the needle was stuck into one of her veins. The blood flowed out and into the bag until it was full. It was not extremely large, so the blood loss wasn't extremely bad.

300 mL of blood was collected into the bag.

Enough for 30 potions! This was great, but Ashley might be woozy after this.

Garett grabbed a chair for her and she sat down, as if she was drunk.

"eeeeeeee..."

"Did we take too much!?" Garett asked.

"eeeeeeee"

"She looks like she isn't even here anymore!!"

"Wheeee... Brrrttt!!!"

Ashley was waving her arms around in the air, and doing raspberries with her mouth. It was almost like she had become a little kid.

Garett waved his hand in front of Ashley's face, worried.

"Ah she should be fine. Just give her some time to come back.", Trevor stated.

"In the meantime lets get to these experiments."

Trevor took the bag of blood, impatiently, and began to load the compressor up with blood, before starting the machine. The piston slowly moved down like a hydraulic pump, and something odd happened.

The blood, which was previously red, started becoming clearer and clearer. All of a sudden it began to sparkle, and finished off as a shining blue substance.

Here was the weirdest part.

The final volume that the piston compressed it to was about half the original volume.

In the real world, blood is mostly made of water. Water is commonly known to be incompressible- that is to say, no matter how much pressure is applied to water, the volume will not change significantly while it is in a liquid state.

Clearly there were some other properties taking effect here.

Was it because the blood had mana infused into it, and this mana was compressible?

Garett asked this to Iotar, who seemed to be very surprised.

"I'm amazed that you could figure out something so complicated on your own! As expected of the ones we have chosen to lead us."

Iotar then poured the concentrate liquid mana, which was now only 150 mL, into a containment jar.

He pulled out a mortar and pestle- actually 3 of them.

"You all may now grind up the herbs you wish to use for the healing potions."

And so, Garett distributed his 8 wild ferns that he had collected among the four of them, including Iotar, and they all got to grinding.

[Dexterity roll on Players: Samantha, Garett, Trevor]

[Player Garett. Minimum Roll needed: 99. Roll: 78]

[Player Trevor. Minimum Roll needed: 93. Roll: 100]

[Player Samantha. Minimum Roll needed: 98. Roll: 44]

The mortar and pestle that Samantha and Garett were holding smashed into pieces as soon as they placed the herbs in them and tried to grind them.

Trevor on the other hand, along with Iotar, ground his herbs with such ease that he looked to be doing it better than even the professional.

"Ah! My wares! Ah!! I meant to say, please don't worry about it, my lord's! I can replace those without any cost!"

Samantha and Garett were both somewhat depressed that Trevor had succeeded so easily.

They both knew that it was due to a random roll, but a 100? Seriously? How lucky could one get?

They both cleaned up the shards, which by the way had contaminated the herbs so they were no longer appropriate for medicinal use, and threw them away.

When Trevor had finished mixing the herbs, Iotar collected and measured 10 mL of Ashley's blood.

"As you should already know, the recipe for a lesser healing potion is 2 wild ferns, of course grounded up, and 10 mL of concentrated mana. Once the potion has been crafted, it must be heated in the kiln for the reactions to occur. Garett, if you wish to practice then you should be the one to craft this."

As such, Garett stepped forward. There was no roll this time, and he poured the CLM (Note: This stands for concentrated liquid mana) into the test tube along with the ground herbs, and mixed them. A message appeared to Garett.

[Do you wish to craft the item: Lesser healing Potion?]

[Yes]

And with that, the materials were mixed and became a green fluid.

After this, Iotar placed the test tube into the kiln.

"Firing the kiln is difficult. There are many things that must be taken into account. The first thing is that the temperature can be controlled based on the fuel used and the layering of bricks between the potion and the firepit."

There were a number of compartments for the kiln. On the very bottom was where wood or coal would be placed, and as the layers went up there were markings that stated different temperatures based on different types of fuel for each layer. Of course, the higher the layer, the lower the temperature, as the higher layers were further away from where the fuel would be burnt.

"For this potion, we need only 500 K temperature, which is not much hotter than your average cooking."

For the wood fuel, the layers went from 1000 K to 200 K with 100 K intervals, from top to bottom.

He placed the potion in the 500 K bin.

"The difficult thing is that there is so much heat produced from a firing that we cannot actually be inside the building while firing is occurring. It is also crucial to measure out the fuel so that the potions are heated for the correct amount of time. Potions can be effected by four things. The materials used, the ratios of the materials, the firing temperature, and the firing time. If you change up any single one of these, you will end up with a completely different potion."

This all seemed pretty complicated, but Trevor and Garett understood.

Samantha was completely lost though.

"Do you wish to try some other potions before we fire anything?"

"Yes, that was about all I know from recipes, but do you think experimenting would yield any results?"

The system answered him before Iotar could.

[Any potions created through experimentation will be available for blueprinting of recipe]

Hoho! This meant that experimentation would increase Garett's arsenal of things he could make. Even if something failed, he could just try new stuff so long as he had the materials. This village was pretty abundant on slime gel, so he would have no issues for a bit. Of course, he couldn't tax the slimes too hard like the lizardmen had, but a few experiments here or there wouldn't hurt. Maybe.

"Well then, lets get to it!"

----

Smash!

Boom!

Crash!

Fizz!

Failure after failure, Iotar seemed to be desperately hiding his frustration as the demons who the slime people had begged to become their leader's destroyed the equipment in his lab.

"..."

The only craftsman was Garett, and so he was the only one who actually had the ability to craft stuff, but even the everyday tasks performed by the other members seemed to end in failure.

Why?

What was the reason for their incompetence in even the simplest of tasks?

Was this the reason why such an odd group was traveling together? Was this why they were outcasts from their own lands?

No. Surely they were all simply unskilled in craftsmanship. Either way, after seeing their display of kindness, Iotar was moved. He had seen ruthless killers undergo a change of heart with his very eyes, and he was willing to lend his help to them if they were willing to protect and assist the slime village against the other tribes.

After many tries and failures, they were able to produce a few experimental potions that were ready for firing.

They had used all of their herbs, and none of them resulted in anything successful. They had also run the reserves of slime gel dry.

If these people continued to work in the lab then even the small amount of potions the village did produce will be reduced significantly.

Iotar did not want to tax the people of the village further, but he would have to do his best to collect more gel from everyone.

There were 12 slimes in the village.

2 of them- Iotar and the village chief- were green slimes who could produce healing gel. There was a single black slime, 2 purple slimes, 2 blue slimes, a yellow slime, an orange slime, a pink slime, a red slime, and a white slime.

Barely even one of each.

This was of course because the stronger monsters had taken advantage of the slimes, while at the same time not minding if they were attacked by humans. The humans did not see the slimes as useful either, as magic was viewed to be a form of heresy from the Vythguard Empire, who controlled the border.

Potions and alchemy of course were included.

Other nations such at the Ruthobold Kingdom and the Sultinate did not mind the use of magic, and even used court magicians and there was even a school for magical studies in the kingdom, however there was a long history throughout the Empire regarding the suspicion of magic, which culminated in it's tolerance through the reforms of the current Emperor- however this did not stop people from having prejudiced views towards it. 

Magic in the Empire was at one point viewed similarly to nuclear weapons in the modern world. Many still held this view to date. 

It was too dangerous to be used, and should be removed from the world.

As such, even if it was legalized, magic was not commonly used or practiced throughout the Empire. While this did lower the overall strength of the Empire, as the nation with the strongest military in the world, this was not too much of a setback. 

No country would be foolish enough to attack an entity as powerful as the Empire because if they did, even if they won, they would not escape unscathed.

Other countries might jump in and take them advantage of the resulting weakness of the fighting countries after such an event, and so for the time being, the four countries of the world were at a standstill as far as war and diplomacy went.

Furthermore, the Empire held control over the border. No human country would be foolish enough to attack and take over this responsibility, lest the monsters muster up a force and attack the weakened humans.

If there was one thing that stopped war among the humans, it was the threat of the monsters beyond the walls.

It could be said that the very presence of evil produced a side effect of peace. 

Back to the situation at hand.

Garett and his party had produced a few potions. By mixing a fluid of 40% blue gel and 60% green gel, he was able to create a turquoise fluid.

[Mid tier restorative elixir crafted successfully. Restores 20 HP and 10 MP. Blueprint added to library]

Garett's abilities as a craftsman were increasing.

He was able to make blueprints on his own, to design things he understood, but he was now also able to discover blueprints through experimentation. Once discovered, that recipe would be unlocked and recorded in a library of blueprints.

Basically, trial and error would allow him to know much more much quicker than if he sat there analyzing and thinking. Unless he had a particular wish, this was a better way for him to use his talents.

He also had combined the purple, black, and green gel to form an odd potion.

50% green, 30% purple, and 20% black.

[mid tier potion of rust removal: Keeps weapons sharpened and prevents wear when applied. Only works on metal weapons.]

So combining corrosion and acid with healing in this ratio led to something quite useful.

It was because the healing properties stopped the acid from corroding the metal itself, but allowed it to chip away at rust and imperfections.

Finally, they had created one more potion.

20% Red and 80% Pink gel.

[Mid tier potion of thermal energy. Causes a mid sized explosion and produces a huge amount of heat. Use with caution]

Even the system was warning them to be careful with this one.

Garett sometimes wondered if it was really a computer controlling this thing, or if there was a person sitting behind that computer playing with their lives like they were a mere game.

Iotar analyzed the potions, and after studying them each, put them on the correct shelves and grabbed some wood to start the fire.

"We had better clear out of here. I'm going to light the kiln, and it gets so hot that we slimes cannot be in the lab without starting to melt while the kiln is running."

With that, he grabbed a small amount of pink gel and very carefully lathered it over the wood.

He was going to use it to light the wood?

A very interesting application. It was no wonder these slimes were so advanced if they were creative enough to think of something like that.

Garett and the party exited the lab, and after placing the wood in the furnace, Iotar grabbed a rock from outside.

He threw the rock into the bottom part of the kiln where the wood was, and there was a small explosion.

Only large enough to light the wood on fire though, and the brick walls of the lab were not effected. He clearly had done this many times before.

Garett and the party simply walked away from the lab, which began to rattle as air exited from small holes.

Was the lab really going to be alright?

No point thinking about it. The slimes had clearly done this before. There was no need to worry.

After this, they walked through the town and to the hut where Claire was staying.

However... on their way there....

As they were walking through the streets, pumping their chests like the leaders of a village should, a purple slime jumped out in front of them.

It was a boy who seemed to be in his late teens.

He seemed to be very suspicious. He stared at Ashley in particular.

"I had a fever the other day so I wasn't able to come out to see the commotion... still, from my bed I could hear chaos. I heard buildings coming down, and monsters screaming about how they were going to take us over... and when I looked out my window..."

He bit his lip and forced himself to stop from crying.

"I saw Helen being squeezed to death by that... thing..."

He pointed a finger to Ashley.

Iotar quickly ran in front of the Antiheroes to stop Rithargus from what he was doing.

"RIthargus!! These people are the new lords of this village!!! After a display of their power, not only did they take mercy on our kind, but they also showed repentance for harming Helen! I saw this with my own eyes!! They are not like the other monsters who have tried to abuse us for so long! With them, we will surely be able to live in peace! Treat them with the respect they deserve!!"

Rithargus did not change his expression. He held a look of disgust and hatred toward Ashley.

Ashley seemed to be very distressed from the look of distrust she was receiving. This kid reminded her of those students who succeeded just because they could look good in front of others.

"Fuck you, kid. I won't hurt anyone innocent anymore, but now you've gone and looked at me like that..."

Garett stepped forward, in front of Ashley and stared bullets back at the kid.

"Iotar"

"Yes, my lord?", he said fearfully.

"I hope your opinion of us will not change after this, but you yourself have seen the disrespect he has towards us. If we, as the lords of this village were to ignore this, what would happen to our reputation? If it were to be found out that we couldn't even control a single slime from rebelling against us, we would be viewed as weaklings. Am I wrong?"

Samantha stepped forward as well.

"He is exactly right... not to mention..."

And they both then said in synchronization.

"This kid looked at our comrade with disgust."

Trevor then fixed his tie.

"Haha. It seems you finally are acting like a useful party member, useless woman."

"I know this is impudent of me, but I beg of you, antiheroes! Even if you teach him a lesson, could you spare his life!?" Iotar pleaded.

"I don't know if I can grant that request", Garett stated as he cast tactical analysis on the kid.

[Name] (Lvl 5)

Attack:  1-7 (Melee)

Physical Defense: 4

Magical Defense: 5

HP: 15/15

MP: 6/6

Special skills: Poison spit: Cost: 3 MP, Damage over time, 2 per second for a total of 2-5 seconds

Samantha smiled wickedly as she cast [Defensive Barrier] before the kid could move.

[Intelligence roll: 5]

[Player Samantha: MP: 22/30]

A barrier formed in a sphere around the kid.

He punched at the barrier but he pulled his fist back as he realized that his efforts were futile in trying to destroy it.

"You cowards! I knew it! You would go and hurt not only a child, but anyone who get's in your way! I will defeat you and rid this village of you all! And you, ghost bitch! I won't forgive you for what you did to Helen!!"

At this point, a number of slime people had exited their homes to see what was going on.

They saw the scene of Garett running at the barrier enclosed slime with his club drawn, and the look of a true demon on his face.

"Oh no..."

"Rithargus.. what have you done..."

"Foolish child... why would you go up against the ones who showed such kindness to this village?"

Garett smiled even more as he heard the comments of the bystanders.

His reputation would not be hurt if he killed this child. Not that he cared about how others thought of him.

After 5 seconds passed, and almost perfectly timed with his swing, the barrier disappeared.

Smack!

Smack!

Smack!

Garett flung his club at the boy many times because he knew that his own weak attack would not kill him so easily.

The boy was not extremely powerful, but he had more health than Garett could damage in 2 hits- even assuming he got maximum strength rolls. Before the boy was hit the first time, he used a skill.

[Acid Spit!]

And spit... not at Garett, but at Ashley.

"If I can just... oof! Rid that evil spirit of this world... ugh! Then maybe we will... ouch! Be able to survive!!"

[Rithargus: HP: 13/15]

[Rithargus: HP: 12/15]

[Rithargus: HP: 11/15]

The ball of poison flew at Ashley, and hit her square on in the chest, burning her.

"Agh!!"

[Player Ashley is poisoned]

[Player Ashley: HP: 18/20]

[Player Ashley: HP: 16/20]

[Player Ashley: HP: 14/20]

[Player Ashley: HP: 12/20]

[Player Ashley: HP: 10/20]

"Why you little..."

Garett had a look of hatred in his eyes now.

Before, he had not actually planned on killing the kid. But now was different. This kid before had looked down on Ashley, which he could not forgive, but he would have allowed the kid to get off with just a beating... but now...

[Heal!]

[Rolling for intelligence: 7]

[Heal!]

[Rolling for Intelligence: 1]

Samantha seemed to respond quickly and heal Ashley.

[Player Ashley: HP: 17/20]

[Player Ashley: HP: 18/20]

[Player Samantha: MP: 12/30]

But Garett was fuming. He continued to smack the kid with his club.

Smack!

[Rithargus: HP: 4/15]

When the kid's HP had become so low, Garett was about to hit him again, but Trevor grabbed Garett from behind.

"What are you-!? This kid used poison on her! Let me finish him off!!"

"I understand that. And it kills me to be doing this too... but think about the benefits for a second of keeping this kid alive..."

Garett shook off Trevor, and Rithargus, who was now on the ground, panting, purple goo everywhere. He was still staring at Ashley with hatred.

Ashley stared back, considering everything.

She walked up to the kid, who barely had any energy left to move.

[Poison spit!]

[Player Ashley: Dexterity roll: 3]

She didn't dodge the acid, but she was able to at least tilt to the side so it didn't completely engulf her.

[Player Ashley HP: 16/20]

[Player Ashley HP: 14/20]

[Rithargus MP: 0/6]

Ashley brushed off some of the goo from her transparent skin.

"You know, I don't really care about getting dirty. I don't really care how I look in front of other people. But it's kinda nasty when a kid keeps spitting on me like that."

Ashley floated over to Rithargus, who now could not do anything to her. He was out of mana, and unable to stop her from doing as she pleased.

While Rithargus was composed of purple slime- that is to say, acidic slime, his mana had been run dry. It was magical energy which gave slime gel their respective properties, and so if Ashley had wrapped around him before he had used up his mana, she would have been damaged by coming into contact with the poison. Right now however, things were different. It was as if he was a mere blob of jello, completely harmless and unable to fight back. 

She coiled around him just as she had done for the child and squeezed tightly.

His insides- not that he had any as a slime- felt like they were going to pop out.

This was different from when she squeezed the child to scare her. She was angry at this kid for looking at her with disgust.

[Sadist perk has gone into effect due to an attack on a defenseless person]

[Rithargus HP: 3/15]

"Hey kid..." she whispered.

"You should think a little more before you speak."

She let him go, and he began to breathe and pant heavily.

Trevor and Garett had been wrestling with each other the entire time, but Trevor managed to let Ashley do what she wanted.

It seemed that even in her own anger, she had made the decision to spare the kid.

"I'm not going to give you another chance. I am feeling merciful today because it was my mistake to hurt that girl... but do not think that means I will always let you go like this..."

And with that, they walked off.

The rest were gathered outside at this point, all watching with shock and awe.

Rithargus punched the ground as the antiheroes walked away in victory.

"Damn it!! I couldn't even protect Helen!"

Trevor stopped, and looked back on him.

"Kid"

"What do you want, monster?"

"Perhaps you should ask Helen yourself what happened yesterday. We may be ruthless, and we will not hesitate to kill anyone who stands in our way- child or adult, man or woman, monster or human, just or unjust. But we are no longer ones who will harm the innocent for no reason."

The kid looked up at Trevor, confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

Trevor flashed an evil smile, one that only a businessman could produce.

"What kind of rulers would we be if we did not do what is best for our own people? Come into our flock, and we will show you what it means to be our allies. Stay outside of our influence, and we will show you why you were wrong to make enemies of us."