The vermite waking sooner meant that Adam was at the mine earlier despite slowing the pace to allow Cae and Trey to keep up with him. Ti and Rai had also adjusted to the new time, meaning they were up sparring when Adam returned. He introduced the two groups to each other before leaving Trey to collect ore in the mine, entrance area. Though Cae might initially be a liability in the upper mine bringing him along would be the best way to level the vermite and he should be able to hold his own against the level 3 spiders already.

The larger group made the opening area even easier to clear than before. Ignoring both the side tunnels Adam created two torches to leave at the entrance before a third was summoned to carry and light the way. Ti had activated her newly acquired stealth skill and had snuck ahead to scout the way. They found her waiting at the first branch and Adam waited with Rai and Cae as she quickly checked the side tunnel. It was only a minute before Ti returned and signalled that there were two level 4 spiders in the tunnel and little else other than some ore. Not wanting to leave creatures to clear on the way out of the mine Adam and the two staff wielders finished off the spiders as Ti continued scouting up the main tunnel.

The next side tunnel led to a more involved fight. Ti had discovered another spider nest with six level three spiders and a Queen Spider who was level five. Adam and Ti took advantage of the two defensive staff wielders. Rai used his new skill to defend against the queen while Cae held off several of the level three spiders meaning Ti could dart behind to take them out one by one with her dagger. Adam managed three of the lower level spiders himself, using the new split skill available with his spear and mixing firelance and waterbolt attacks in as well. This combination of attacks against the Queen meant that they made short work of a group of enemies that would easily of overwhelmed Adam were he fighting alone.

While they took a brief rest to recover from the fight Adam checked his notifications.

Notifications: Your party killed Cave Spider L3 x7. You gain 9 exp. Ti and Rai gain 35 exp. Cae gains 52 exp. Your party killed Cave Spider L4 x4. You gain 20 exp. Ti and Rai gain 30 exp. Cae gains 50 exp. Your party killed Queen Spider L5. You gain 14 exp. Ti and Rai gain 17 exp. Cae gains 22 exp. Ti and Rai gain a total of 82 exp each. Cae gains 124 exp. You gain 57 exp. Cae is now Level 4.

As he had hoped, Cae had gained enough exp to level up. Since he was prepared and was watching for the change Adam noticed the subtle difference to the mana around Cae as he levelled. For a brief moment the air around Cae seemed thinner; as if something had been sucked out of it and towards the vermite. Then Cae himself glowed in Adam's vision; not with a light that was normally seen by the naked eye but on a different spectrum. The only way he could describe it was like when looking at an object on an infra-red camera. It was the first time Adam had really experienced a full awareness of his ability to visualise or sense mana outside his body.

The distraction of interpreting this sensation meant that the vermite had an opportunity to chatter to each other and as Adam listened he learnt a little more about the levelling process.

"You strong, like Rai. Use on vitality and vigor." Came Ti's advice.

"But regen also good. Recovery and fortitude good." Said Rai. "Fortitude best."

"Also skills good. Perseverence good for later." Said Ti, who had placed several points in this area in preparation for her stealth skill.

"Only seven points." Replied Cae sat down to think through his options. Adam waited as the vermite seemed to be counting out what he was using before making up his mind. "Done." He smiled as he stood, brushing down the dirt from his trousers.

Ti and Rai nodded; having finished collecting the ore from the room were ready to leave as well. Ti headed out first, resuming her scouting position. Since. the others did not ask, Adam wasn't sure whether the vermite would find it rude if he checked with Cae how he allocated the points. Instead he just checked for updates on his follower page.

Follower: Cae Cae 3 HP 36/40; stamina 36/52; MP 0/0; SP 3/3 Staff Wielder n/a 49 Level 4. HP +2; Stamina +2; SP +1

That presumably left two points that had gone into either recovery or fortitude. Adam nodded at the sensible choices and led the rest of the group to follow Ti.

Since clearing the nest and the Queen Spider the group had only encountered slimes further down the tunnel. They had used the same tactics as previously but the addition of Adam's spear meant that they were much more efficient than before with only a few points of HP each lost to acid splashes. Three slimes had been dispatched in this manner. Their next challenge had been a group of three slimes who had bunched together in a wider part of the tunnel. Adam and Cae paired off to work together as Ti and Rai did the same. Using a pincer approach in two groups they were able to manage the three slimes much better than when ambushed the night before.

The main difference in the fighting was Adam's more aggressive style and reach with his spear. This combination and the fourth member of their party meant that even though one of the slimes was level 6 they still defeated the group with relative ease. Another lone level six slime met a similar fate as they travelled deeper down the tunnel. At 94% completion Adam was confident they would complete the exploration quest tonight; a day ahead of his previous estimate. That was until a worried looking Ti returned from her scouting.

"Big room. Big slimes." She said, holding her arms out to indicate that the slimes were around twice the size of those they had previously encountered. "Also small slimes," She gestured that these were only the size of a melon, about a third of the size of the previous slimes. "Many small slimes." She clarified, holding up all of the fingers on her hands.

"How many Ti?" Adam asked and used the link to clarify the details. There were two of the large slimes and seventeen of the smaller ones that Ti had seen. Given the size of the room and that the big ones might have hidden a couple of the smaller slimes he realised this might be a slight underestimate.

"Show me." He said to Ti, passing the torch to Rai and telling the other vermite to wait where they were.

Adam hadn't really tested the improved vision that the scout class gave him before. As they moved out of the torchlight he could still pick out the walls and floor of the tunnel as well as the silhouette of Ti as she moved along in front of him. With Discern attuned to slimes he was aware before she stopped that they were close to the room with the slimes.

Adam was stopped by the scale of the room in front of him as they reached the entrance. Like the cave with the bats there was a gentle glow coming from stalagmites and stalactites but rather than coming from a mushroom it came from small crystals embedded into the rocks. Beneath and between the natural formations was a mass of slimes centred around two that were taller than Adam. These large slimes gave off a similar glow to the rocks around them lighting the multitude of small slimes gathered around them.

Using Discern while focused on the large slime revealed Great Slime - Level 7 and the small slimes around were simply Slime - Level 3. At his final count Adam found there were over thirty of the creatures in the room; almost double that Ti had noticed. Behind the group of slimes was a darker area that Adam realised was a continuation of the tunnel and meaning that despite being able to see the entire room his exploration task was only at 99%. He noticed alongside there was now a new quest showing.

Quests: Quests Complete? Exp Explore Mountain, slope 1% 100 Explore Mine, upper 99% 100 Explore underwater cliff 94% 100 Gain basic control of all five elemental manas 69% 400 Kill eighteen bats in the forest cave 61% 180 Kill the two Great Slimes in the Mine, upper 0% 260

On the downside this meant finishing the exploration would mean defeating the slimes first. The upside being that at least there was an additional reward for doing so.

With twenty-eight smaller slimes and the two larger Adam held little hope that they could defeat the entire group with his current party. The location reminding him of the cave with the bats gave him an idea though. Perhaps he could slowly take down the smaller slimes at the edge of the group without alerting the others and making the numbers more even - like he had with the sleeping bats. He picked out a solitary smaller slime at the edge of the group and signalled to Ti what he had planned. Activating stealth Adam crept near to the slime and used a stalagmite to hide himself from the main group. Once in position he leant back before shifting his weight forward onto his front foot and directing the energy through his arm down along his spear to hit the slime with the maximum effort possible.

The slime burst like a punctured balloon with his attack. It's sudden stillness telling Adam he had managed to kill it straight away. Unlike with the bats, on the death of the lone slime the entire group seemed to redirect their focus towards him. While the slimes did not have eyes Adam could feel the intensity as they searched in his direction. It took one of the larger Great Slimes to pick out the intruder. Adam sensed as his stealth skill was overpowered and his location revealed. Suddenly, from the hushed quiet as they searched, a cacophony of noise came as the slimes rushed to circle his location.

Not taking any chances Adam and Ti fled the chamber; followed closely by the Great Slime that had detected him and ten of the smaller slimes. In retrospect it had been pretty stupid to go up against a clearly superior group without a plan of escape. They were instead running down the tunnel with a group of slimes at their heels.

Rai and Cae worked out what was happening quick enough to grab the torch and maintain a short distance in front of Adam who was deliberately running slower so he did not leave Ti behind. With little to lose Adam summoned a couple of torches that he threw behind him in the hope they would slow their pursuers, unfortunately the slimes just ignored this distraction and carried on.

Halfway back to the central area leading to the entrance of the mine Adam's group had outpaced the Great Slime but as the vermite tired the smaller level 3 slimes were gaining on them slightly. Adam knew he was the fastest in the group so shouted for the others to go on ahead as he turned to stall the enemy and give the others some time to get up out of this level of the mine.

He stabbed and swung his spear at the slimes as they tried to swarm and overwhelm him. One burst as he pierced it with the end of his spear, slowing him enough that another rammed his shoulder causing a burst of pain. It was a one sided fight though; with Adam in charge the difference in levels showing itself. It was only as he saw the Great Slime catching them up that Adam turned to race back to the rest of his party.

They repeated this pattern twice more before the group arrived at the sandy room which led to the entrance of the mine. Cae and Rai had already started their climb as Adam fended off the smaller slimes helped by Ti. They were down to three in number now but this was enough to stall Adam and Ti to allow the Great Slime time to arrive.

Adam lunged in with his spear to knock away the last of the smaller slimes as Ti slashed it with her dagger. Then he took the opportunity to grab Ti by her jerkin and launch her as hard as he could up the opening to give her a headstart in her climb. She squeaked in irritation, not wanting Adam to fight the Great Slime alone but he knew the level and size difference meant that she would be little help.

The next part of the fight devolved into Adam dodging, rolling and lunging to avoid the Great Slime. While it had been slower to cover the distance to the room it was quicker and more instinctive in its attacks. A mistimed dodge led to a second injury to his shoulder and stopped Adam from making the occasional stab with his spear due to only being able to attack one handed. With his main weapon out of action Adam was left trying to find alternative ways to distract the slime to allow him to escape. He turned to magic. The firelance and waterbolt did nothing noticeable to damage the slime so Adam turned to his other options.

He found that a kick powered with air mana successfully pushed the slime back, giving him more room and time to think. With a similar principle in mind he switched to metal mana and focused on the glinting metal inside the slime to push the slime away once again. He found that he could indeed repel the slime; pushing them back from one another for as long as he could retain the flow of mana. As Adam was the lighter of the two, he was pushed back but could choose in which direction by altering the aim of his arm.

While he had been confident that the slime could not climb out up into the next area of the mine Adam had been lacking the means to escape without letting the slime attack him. He now saw an opportunity as the slime was unable to get within three feet if he activated metal mana. Adam used air mana to kick away the slime and then boost himself up to help start his climb. He then waited rather than climbing for the inevitable attack. As the slime attacked Adam used metal mana on the ores inside the Great Slime to help push himself up further into the safe zone.

Once out of the slime's reach Adam was right that it had no way to climb the rocky walls that led up to the entrance of the mine. He made it to the top with only moments to spare as he saw that the fight had not only drained most of his stamina but taken him up to midnight where his regeneration would stop. No way to stop himself Adam took the only option open to him and decided to lie down before he passed out rather than fall flat from standing.