*>Inventory:*

*>Ranged+ Pellet: 28* 

 

As much as she wanted to, Jisha wasn't allowed to kill every mob she saw. She needed to preserve some ammo for the magma slime.

In her first life, Jisha recalled beta players complaining about how some of the same mobs in the full release were stronger for no reason. There was a good chance that this slime would actually have more than 300 HP. So, even though Vadium and Euphrates would also be dealing damage, she needed to preserve a good amount of ammo.

The worst-case scenario was that the slime was somehow way stronger and she would run out of ammo anyway.

*If that happens... I'll just have to figure something out.*

The good news was, kill-stealing from Vadium and Euphrates actually allowed her to save ammo. They would whittle the mobs down, and she would only need one shot to take them out. On top of this, she only targeted the ones that looked the most valuable.

*Quite a bountiful clearance sale here.*

XP was being sold for a third of its original price? Count her in!

*27... 26... Let's stop at 25.*

With 25 ammo left, she'd be able to deal up to 250 damage. With this number, Jisha was likely to remain safe.

When she stopped firing, the two in front of her were a bit confused. However, they weren't complaining. After all, they were free to grind without being stolen from!

After several more minutes of searching, they came across a clearing in the forest. This landscape was slightly different than the one they'd been walking through, so the trio was naturally curious.

This clearing was similar in appearance to the plains they'd seen in the very beginning of the game; lush green grass grew with several wildflowers sprinkled in the midst. However, there was one key difference Jisha immediately noticed.

Towards their right, smooth stone coated the ground.

*Extrusive igneous rock?*

Igneous rock was a type of rock that formed from "frozen" magma/lava. When magma or lava cooled near or above the surface, it was further reduced into a subtype known as "extrusive". Since the rock coated the ground and was glassy and "bubbly", it was likely a product of frozen lava.

Were they close to their target?

Jisha walked towards the stone-coated ground, and once she was 15 metron away, the answer revealed itself.

Slowly, the smooth stone began to crack. Like glass that was about to break, the crack crawled across the surface. A hint of red and orange shone through, and a small wave of heat washed over the three players.

Red-orange material oozed, and the cracks shattered to reveal what they'd been after this whole time. The mass of red-orange crawled out of its rocky pit. 

 

*>Name: Magma Slime*

*>Level: 5* 

 

Though it was called "slime", it wasn't neatly spherical and monochromatic like the green ones Jisha had encountered with Abandoned Snow. It was more like an amorphous solid that stretched and contracted however it pleased.

Its colors were spotty as well. Though most of its body was a red-orange like standard lava, bits and pieces of it were covered in gray rock.

And though it was only level 5, it was clear this mob was on a different level from everything else so far.

If they were an ordinary party, some communication was in order here. However, the two friends had remained silent this entire time.

*They're honestly terrible at this. Even Abandoned Snow would have found something suspicious by now.*

Jisha didn't know what they were going to do, but it was obvious they were about to do *something*.

Footsteps rustled in the grass behind her. She turned around to find Vadium attempting to sneak up on her.

*... Real smooth, guys.*

They were clearly found out, but Vadium attempted to nonchalantly waltz forward as if nothing happened.

"So... You got a plan?" he awkwardly asked as he... totally wasn't going to try anything strange.

Jisha was dumbfounded - this guy was even terrible at acting!

This entire time, the magma slime had been crawling towards them. It wasn't going to wait for a couple of players to finish a conversation.

She was looking away from it, but her ears still worked. At the low levels, monsters wouldn't silently attack. The magma slime emitted a *WHOOSH* that sounded like a gas fire starting. A small fireball shot directly towards them!

Jisha stepped to the side as the fireball passed her. And behind her...

"Whoa!" Euphrates exclaimed in surprise, and the lava sizzled as it brushed his arm.

*-17*

At the lower levels, stat increases per level were extremely small. So even though Euphrates and Vadium were level 3, their HP pool was only slightly higher than that of a level 1. In other words, the extremely indirect hit Euphrates suffered indicated that a singular direct hit would prove fatal.

"Yeah, here's the plan," Jisha said as she patted Vadium's shoulder. "Hold the front line as a melee, alright?"

 

---

 

*>Euphrates: You idiot!*

Euphrates' "plan" was immediately ruined. They were going to kill Fae Sol by pushing her into one of the monster's attacks. Ideally, he wanted to do it when her HP was already reduced. But when he felt the heat radiating from the magma slime, he concluded that simply touching it would deal massive damage. So, all Vadium had to do was walk up to her and push her. It was simple, yet he'd already screwed up.

"Wha-"

Vadium wanted to object, but what was he going to do now? Fae Sol had already retreated to the back line and was likely wary that they were up to something. They were going to have to find another way to get rid of her.

Meanwhile, the slime extended a part of itself, almost like it was generating an arm. And with this "arm", it swung itself towards its nearest target!

"Ugh..."

*-2*

Vadium dodged, but barely. Even though he didn't get hit, the heat from being so close to lava scraped a bit of HP off him.

*>Vadium: You gonna help me or what?*

Euphrates clicked his tongue in annoyance. Though they wanted to get rid of the XP leech, the magma slime was their priority. What sort of item would it drop? How much XP would it give? There was only one way to find out.

Hearth Ember was correct; the two of them might have a bit of trouble taking this thing out. Regrettably, Fae Sol's help was required. As much as it pained him, Euphrates forced himself to speak up.

"Alright, Fae, let's take this thing down......?"

She was gone.

Last time he saw her, she was right next to him. She'd disappeared in the brief moment he was focused on the slime's movements. Did she chicken out?

"Hey, keep your eyes on the target," a girl's voice called from above him.

Euphrates was bewildered to hear something from this direction. He turned around and looked up to find Fae Sol... sitting in a tree? How did she even get up there?

"... What are you doing? Let's take this thing out."

Euphrates was truly baffled as to why she would do this. Two players vs the magma slime was already a risky endeavor, yet Fae Sol wanted to kick back and relax?

"And what are *you* doing? Turn around!"

Euphrates had a gut feeling something was wrong, and he turned around to find a fireball right in his face! He tried to dodge, but it was too late.

*-88*

"Agh...!"

Pain in Synergy was drastically reduced, but extreme heat was one of the most painful things one could experience. Even though the attack didn't hurt, it was still extremely uncomfortable.

It was a miracle he hadn't died - his HP was in the single digits. Fortunately, they'd come prepared. Euphrates snagged a health potion from his inventory and chugged it as quickly as possible.

Slowly but surely, his HP regenerated to about a third.

Euphrates glared at Fae Sol, and she gave a small smile in return.

Frustration clouded his mind. He wanted to kill her this instant! However, he had to focus on the task at hand.

*>Hearth Ember: You guys found it?*

As a party, every member had access to everyone else's level and HP. Hearth Ember clearly saw the fluctuations in HP and accurately assumed that they'd located their target.

*>Fae Sol: Yeah, we did. We'll take it out, easy.*

What? Easy?? She was leaving them out to dry yet had the gall to say she had it easy?

Euphrates was speechless. All he could do was focus on dodging the fireballs that were coming at him. With this thing's damage, one more hit, and he was toast.

Focus! Focus! He couldn't let frustration throw him off the rails.

Vadium, on the other hand, was doing alright. He still hadn't been directly hit, but his HP was slowly whittling away. He'd seen how much damage a single attack did, so he was pushing himself to the limit just to dodge. The slime would not only swipe at him, but occasionally try to body slam him as well. The first time it used this move, Vadium was caught extremely off guard. It was a miracle he managed to dodge it.

Since he'd been fighting this entire time, Vadium got a handle on the slime's attack patterns. He was confident enough to hold his own for a while.

And since the fireball looked to be its only ranged attack, Euphrates quickly learned what he needed to do as well.

*-10*

*-2*

*-7*

*-7*

...

Little by little, they shaved away at the monster's HP. They got into a rhythm - since they were comfortable with its movements, the road ahead of them was smooth.

But... How long was this road?

*-5*

*-9*

*-8*

...

Neither of them knew how much HP they'd shaved off, nor did they know how much HP the boss had remaining. No matter how smooth of a road they walked, without an end in sight, they were bound to falter.

Vadium was the first to taste fatigue.

"Ah!"

His mind wandered for a brief moment: the wrong moment.

*-33*

The slime's swipe clipped his torso. He managed to avoid a direct hit, but even this was deadly since his HP was already being whittled down from the heat. Now, both of their HPs were under a third.

The hit was akin to a slap on his face - Vadium was wide awake. But how long would it be before the monotony lulled him again?

Euphrates was also experiencing this combination of boredom and fatigue. He didn't know how much longer they had, and something was definitely wrong.

*>Vadium: Wasn't this thing only supposed to have around 300 HP?*

They had hit this thing over 30 times, right? Probably? Neither of them kept track. All of their recent actions coalesced into a single unmemorable blur. How much time had passed? It was only a little bit, right? Or was it longer?

*>Euphrates: Damn, we can't keep this up for much longer.*

"Fae Sol, dammit! Help us!"

They didn't have the luxury to kill her anymore. It still pained him to ask for help from someone they were planning on getting rid of, but they were out of options.

But... he didn't receive a response.

What the hell was she doing? He couldn't look back as the monster glowed brighter and began launching attacks at an increased rate.

*>Vadium: What? Why does this thing have a second phase???*

Something was clearly wrong with the information they received. It was only supposed to have around 300 HP. It was supposed to be a 'rare monster', not a true 'boss'. Yet, this monster had a second phase. Had they been tricked?

*>Euphrates: Hearth Ember, you scammed us!*

Euphrates vented his frustrations in the party chat.

*>Hearth Ember: What do you mean?*

*>Vadium: We've definitely dealt over 300 damage at this point, but we've only entered its second phase.*

*>Hearth Ember: Second phase?? What?*

*>Euphrates: Ahhhh don't 'what' me!! We're really gonna die out here!*

*>Hearth Ember: I'm serious... in the beta, it only had 300 HP as a rare monster.*

*>Fae Sol: And you assumed it was going to be the same as the beta?*

...

Euphrates was about to reach his breaking point. Not only was Fae Sol not helping them, but she was taunting them as she watched...

But this was a good thing. If the two managed to take the slime out without Fae Sol, she wouldn't receive any of the monster's XP; they'd achieve their goal of a two-way XP split without needing to kill her. He hoped the end was near. He just needed a sign, no matter how small! Please!

But... his hopes were immediately dashed.

"Ah?"

He ran out of ammo.

How? He was sure he'd purchased extra! But maybe Vadium could hold out until the end...?

A snapping sound rattled Vadium's hands. His weapon was destroyed.

Euphrates ran out of ammo. Vadium ran out of durability. And the slime was still alive and well.

Without their weapons, how could they fight?

*>Euphrates: ... Retreat.*

*>Vadium: Thanks, genius.*

Vadium didn't need to be told what to do. He turned tail and ran. But before he could get very far...

*-72*

The slime emitted a flamethrower-like attack. It wasn't close-range like the swipes and body slams, and it wasn't long-range like a fireball. It caught him off guard - it was the first time they were seeing this mid-range attack... and it would likely be the last.

The red flames consumed Vadius as he, just like the many monsters they'd confronted thus far, dissipated into a pool of white light.

"Dammit...!"

Euphrates booked it as well. There was nothing to accomplish here anymore. The best case scenario now was escaping without getting hit again!

He ran to take cover behind the nearest tree. But before he reached it, the slime emitted the telltale sound of a fireball being launched. This was expected - the fireball was its long-ranged attack. He turned around to dodge it, but it was launched much faster than the ones beforehand!

He was reliving his previous mistake, but he wasn't going to die like this!

He used all of his focus - mind and body - to push himself out of the way. And...

*-22*

Yes! He did it! He was alive! Once again, his HP was in the single digits. Yet, he was alive. Now, all he had to do was make it back to the Evon Hamlet to recover.

He was home free. If he saw Hearth Ember again, he and Vlad were going to give her a piece of their-

*-10*

Huh?

His vision turned grayscale. What did he get hit by? He looked around to locate the culprit.

If you died in Synergy, you had to wait out a death timer before you could respawn. During this time, you could only remain in the spot you died as a spirit. You could not interact with the world, but you could still observe it.

In the low levels, the death timer was so short that it was practically irrelevant. In fact, Euphrates was already free to respawn. But he wanted to know what killed him!

He turned around. And when he saw it, he felt dumb. It should have been obvious. Why did he have to see it to believe it?

Fae Sol was hanging from a tree branch upside down. Her whimsical green eyes pierced his soul.

They were planning on eliminating her and taking the rewards for themselves, but the tables had turned. She mockingly smiled as if to say, "What the hell were you guys thinking?" She jumped to the ground, and with a smooth parkour roll, she mitigated all fall damage.

She didn't look back.

Euphrates sighed. Did they bring this upon themselves, or could they have come up with a better plan? He wasn't sure, but what was done was done. The only thing he could hope for now was that Fae Sol would die and they would stumble across the slime again.

Regretfully, Euphrates chose to respawn back at Evon.