SR: Silvatica Reimagined

The red slime slowed down but didnt stop until Hiro came and slashed it. Then it finally stopped moving. Dang this slime took three hits! 3 slimes nearby noticed the slime being defeated and turned red and came toward them. It was a good thing they were slow. “Slimes are a lot stronger than I thought. But we can do this!” Hiro said confidently.

It took them a while, a lot longer than they hoped, but they managed to defeat about 13 slimes all together. Hiro was panting and exhausted as he flopped down onto the ground. “That....was tough. But I think I got the hang of it now. How about you?” Hiro asked Jiayi. He was trying to stay positive and not make note of the fact that normally 13 slimes would be easy, even for newbs, but it took them at least and hour and a half to kill only 13. It was odd, the slimes began to mobilize and made it difficult for them to hit them, even though slimes were supposed to be mindless. Hiro hoped that other enemies wouldn’t be so difficult.

Hiro smiled back as he stood up. “I think that means we’re done for today. Lets head back, get cleaned up and get some food.” Hiro said. He was also getting worried but he wanted to be strong. This was a real world, so everything would be harder for them. But if they leveled up and got stronger, then things would work out. Speaking of which. “Oh lets check our status! I bet we leveled up.” Hiro said excitedly as he opened up his status. “I gained a level!” He said happily. His stats went up a tiny bit which made him happy.

What Jiayi just did gave Hiro an idea. But he would share it later. They decided that after they returned to the guild, reported their quest, ate and washed up that they would have a strategy meeting in their room. Once they finished Hiro started. “Ok. So here’s what we know so far. Even though there are a lot of similar things to the game system there are re many things different. The monsters are tougher than in the game, and they don’t seem to give out much experience. We barely leveled up from fighting them. Some good news though, it seems that we can gain experience by using our weapons even outside battle. You just pushed pass your level up limit when shooting that tree earlier right?” Hiro said.

Hiro smiled. “I agree. Even though this is a game world, dying would still suck for sure. So how about we do the other most basic of basics? Picking herbs? While we do, maybe we can figure out how we can level up some of our skills.” Hiro suggested. Herb picking was the scrubbiest of newbie quests. It didnt grant you much money and it was time consuming. But if they managed to gather enough, they wouldn’t have to worry about being beaten up, hopefully, and they also might find safer ways to level up. Once they got enough levels they could get their revenge on the slimes.

“Hehe alright! I like the sound of Master farmers!” Hiro said. In truth he was also not a fan of this method. In fact, he was having a bit of a inner turmoil about this whole situation. He could feel something bubbling up in his gut that things were not going to go well, but he didnt want to freak out Jiayi. He had to keep up the can do attitude until they showed results otherwise they might break down from the stress. “Ok. Lets rest up and go back at this refreshed tomorrow!” Hiro said.

[Feel free to start the next day.]

After having a somewhat troublesome rest the two of them woke up feeling more energized and ready to tackle the day. They ate their breakfast and headed back to the guild where they got the most newbish of quests: herb collecting. They could feel some people in the guild judging them but they didnt let it deter them as they made their way back to the outside the city. The herbs seemed to grow around the outer walls of the city so they didnt have to venture too far out into the unknown. THe rick was very low, but they were still told to watch out for any low rank monsters. After leveling up, Hiro was more confident that the two could at least handle some low level creatures. They found the spot where most herbs grew and could begin plucking. “This is strange. I guess this is how yard work is. I live in an apartment so Ive never had a yard before.” Hiro said as he yanked some herbs and tossed them in a basket they were provided.

Family's....gardens? As in more than one? Hiro didnt know much about Jiayi's personal life, so he was starting to think her family might be loaded. "There's no particular guide really. The job just said pick the herbs we see that are on the list." Hiro said as he moved to her side . "Be careful of these." Hiro said as he bent down and looked at the stinging nettle she grasped. He pulled out a little field guide book they had bought at the store the other day and searched through it. "Ok this one isnt poisonous. It will sting you but you'll be ok if we apply some balm." Hiro said. he stood up and looked at her hand. "Here you can use some of mine." Hiro said as he pulled out some balm. He was starting to get used to just talking to her normally, he realized.

They had got the supplies before they went to the office. With what little money they had from the slimes, they got the supplies. Hiro wasnt sure what she had spent hers on or if she was saving it, but he was glad he got to use what he had. There was a kind of awkward silence for a bit before Hiro spoke up. "Is your hand ok? I dont know how good the balm is without us being in the game."

Hiro was glad she was feeling better. "What happe...ow!" Hiro said as something stuck him while he was puling a weed. He looked down and saw a little bug that was quickly dashing away. "I got.. I..I...uh..."Hiro said as words began to escape him. He looked at Jiayi and...there were 3 of her? Uh oh. "I thhhhh....nk... poisoooonnn...." Hiro said as he tried to move towards Jiayi but instead face planted to the ground.

Hiro couldnt do anything as his body began to freeze up and his eye sight was getting more and more blurry. He vaguely heard her come back and then he felt something warm being rubbed onto his hand. A sharp shock began to run throughout his body as the freezing sensation began to disappear. His eye sight was returning to normal and he was slowly getting feeling in his body. “Th-thank you.” Hiro said. A little pop up appeared and he read it aloud. “I got a title: One that is poisoned. I now have a .0002% of negating any and all poisons.” Hiro said.

“Thank you. And it is kinda lame. But hey if I level it up it might be a really good title.” Hiro said trying to stay positive. He was starting to not feel all that optimistic but he persisted. “Y-Yeah. Knowing what plants and bugs wont kill us will be very useful.” Hiro said. Just then, their danger sense kicked in as they were alerted to enemies coming close. They were both level two at this point, so maybe they could handle the slimes a little better now. They should be the only thing around. “Lets be ready. I think we can do better than before.” Hiro said as he readied his weapon.

Hiro pulled out his katana and was ready to face the enemy. They could see wiggling out in a bush and out jumped one enemy. But it wasnt a slime. It was a wolf. "Is that...a dire wolf?" Hiro said. It looked like it. A dire wolf was basically one step up after you couldnt get much more experience from slmes. They werent very tough, but they were known to be fast and have a nasty bite. It looked at the two of them hungrily and let out a low growl.