Chapter 8: True Potential
Looking for a wild beast in the ruined old sector of Suran City wasn’t that difficult. Because of the abandoned settlement, overflowed rifts were common here. However, most were only D to B-Rank wild beasts.
Since the catastrophic incident years ago, no rift stronger than that had appeared in the area. One popular theory suggested that rifts siphoned energy from their immediate surroundings when they spawned. Once the local energy was completely drained, another high-level rift was unlikely to open.
The moment they arrived at a dilapidated wet market, Terrence confidently called for the blue blob resting near his feet. The creature happily obeyed his command, bouncing eagerly.
Clara, on the other hand, grew more impatient by the second.
’What am I even doing?’ she thought, crossing her arms as she stared at him. ’Why did I actually believe Terrence had a beast for sale? This is Terrence—the notorious trash of the Lee Family! Who even knows what shady methods he used to get that S-Rank beast he commands? And now he claims he’s selling beasts for contracts?’
Terrence picked up on her intense suspicion immediately. It was written all over her face. Still, as desperate as he was to progress his current mission, he needed to get this done.
’I can’t wait to unlock that vampire butler,’ Terrence thought, his eyes lighting up with hidden excitement. ’Once I secure another S-Rank, I will set up a proper shop and sell beasts full-time. This system is incredible!’
Clara cleared her throat, breaking his train of thought.
"So, what’s the actual plan here? There’s an Ugly Obsidian Bear lurking a short distance away." She paused, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
"By the way, what kind of beast is that slime anyway? As far as I know, slimes are just useless blobs of jelly. Nothing more."
"First off, thanks for the snack bar you gave me earlier," Terrence replied casually. "I was starving, and there’s definitely nothing edible in these ruins."
He then squinted toward the distance, spotting the giant, black-furred beast with massive muscles and protruding yellow fangs. "To answer your question... I don’t fully know what this little guy can do yet either. That’s why I brought you along to test it."
"Are you serious?!" Clara’s eyes widened in sudden panic.
She took a half-step back, though she quickly tried to calm her racing heart.
’Wait... I don’t need to panic about an Ugly Bear retaliating. Even if this slime fails, Terrence still has an S-Rank beast standing by.’
Terrence squatted down and gently patted the Guard Slime. While he had his own doubts about its practical ability, he already knew a key secret that Clara didn’t: this was an official A-Rank beast.
If anyone needed to trust the creature’s potential, it was him.
Without giving a complex tactical breakdown, Terrence simply offered a basic command. "Go kill that beast."
The Guard Slime instantly formed a tiny, gelatinous arm and gave him a crisp salute.
[Description unlocked!]
’Finally!’ Terrence thought.
He hadn’t realized the system had a delayed entry window for the Guard Slime’s full profile. But just as he prepared to tap the glowing screen in his mind, a sharp shockwave exploded right beside his boots!
Terrence instinctively stepped back as a cloud of fine dust kicked up around his knees.
Before their eyes, the gelatinous blue body of the Guard Slime shifted violently.
It generated a dense, metallic-looking helmet over its upper mass and materialized a sharp, solid spear directly from its own body structure.
[Guard Slimes are A-Rank Beasts capable of altering their physical shape at will and adopting the density of any material required to protect their master.]
The system description was already late—because the battle was over before it even officially began.
THUD!
The massive Ugly Obsidian Bear collapsed face-first onto the cracked concrete, completely lifeless!
The attack had been so impossibly precise and fast that the surrounding ruined structures weren’t even scratched. There was no collateral damage, no long exchange of blows, and no chaotic struggle. Just a single, instant execution.
"What... what was that?" Clara stared at the fallen monster, her eyes expanding like saucers.
Her jaw hung open in total disbelief, and her knees felt weak from the sudden shock. This defied everything known about low-tier creatures. Was that really just a slime?
A wave of overwhelming questions flooded her mind, but as she looked at the tiny, helmeted blue blob returning to Terrence’s side, only one single thought took complete control over her emotions.
"I want that slime!" she blurted out.
[Congratulations! You have secured your first potential transaction!]
[Progress: 1/100]
Terrence snapped out of his own thoughts as the system notification cleared. He turned to Clara with a calm, businesslike expression. "So... you want to buy it?"
"Of course I do!" Clara shouted, stepping closer. "Don’t you dare sell it to anyone else!"
"Relax, I’ll sell it to you," Terrence said, waving a hand dismissively. "It’s not like this is the only one I have anyway."
Clara’s brows furrowed in complete confusion. She felt like her hearing was playing tricks on her. "Wait... you have more than one of these?!"
"Yeah," Terrence nodded plainly. "In fact, my goal is to open a full beast shop and sell creatures just like this one."
"If you have more, then sell them all to me!" Clara demanded without hesitation.
Terrence chuckled softly, looking her up and down. "Hmm... can you actually afford that? I don’t doubt you can scrape together enough credits for one, but I have a shockingly high number of slimes in stock. Besides, remember your current budget? You’re currently just a member of the Alpha Squad—a fake elite unit created purely for city propaganda."
Clara clenched her fists tightly at her sides, her face turning slightly red.
"I know my current standing!" she snapped, before raising her chin stubbornly. "I might not be able to buy an entire army of them on my own salary right now, but my sister definitely can. You know who my sister is, right?"
Terrence froze for a fraction of a second, his heart skipping a beat as the realization hit him.
He had temporarily forgotten her background. Clara wasn’t just a regular squad operative placed in a propaganda team; she was a direct daughter of one of the most prominent, high-ranking families in Nara City. More importantly, her elder sister was the feared Lady Commander of the First Company in Nara City.