As Matthew strode to the dungeon, the place of his most recent death, he felt a renewed sense of vigor.
[When Sarah isn't here, I feel like I will be able to let loose a little more, ya know? I just can't cause destruction around her 'cause she'll get upset…]
Matthew was wasting no time, as he walked, he thought about how he would approach it this time…
[Okay, I need to make a weapon out of my hand…so an unarmed attack on a slime…I guess it could be beneficial to test my "mana macros" because they feel slightly different right now. Ope…well here we are!]
As Matthew looked at the new guards and nodded to them, he stepped past the dungeon gates.
The younger of the two new guards whispered to the other, "Hey, isn't that the kid from the rumors. His name and level are the same…"
The other guard had a surprised look on his face as he didn't inspect him…"I mean, I didn't [Appraise] or [Identify] but the kid definitely seems like the one from the story. Do you think it is even possible to kill a slime horde at Lv. 1?"
The other guard looked at him and chuckled then said, "No, it is definitely exaggerated, the kid is still Lvl. 1…my friends told me it would mean he ran into a slime horde on the first level of the dungeon which is nearly impossible…"
As the guard stopped, the other one continued, "Unless he was the first to enter after the giant spike!"
"Ah damn, what an unlucky dude…" said the younger guard with his words full of pity.
"-yeah, but how did he survive…" said the other guard solemnly staring at him.
As the guards made their chit-chat, Matthew was getting ready to enter the dungeon. He looked at the portal and stuck his hand inside, only taking himself.
~Whoosh~
As Matthew felt the familiar unease from entering the dungeon, he set his eyes on his first prize, but he needs to test out his attack before "hand".
[Alright, annnnd!]
As he activated his varied [Mana Strike] he noticed that it was not fully forming a point on his closed fist…
[Well, shoot…this is the same mana structure as the advanced [Drill-Punch]. Why wouldn't it be working?]
Matthew then tried it again with his hand in another position, this time his hand was in a "knife-point" form. It is a technique that military instructors are very fond of because it is perfect for striking throats…
When he reactivated it, he noticed that his hand was being coated in layers and not all at once, it was conforming to his will overtime and not instantaneously like "normal". It would still be fast enough to be used mid-punch but it was noticeably different from the regular [Mana Strike].
Matthew then looked at the [Lvl.1 Slime] in front of him with (40 HP).
He walked up with his altered form and began his casual attack from the slime's left-side. When the slime registered his slow and sloppy attack it began to bounce, and at that moment Matthew shifted his body and moved to the other side of the slime's "front."
As he moved, the slime kept his standard attack pattern and was hit by a hand filled with mana.
The rubber-like flesh of the slime was perforated as a wound channel was being opened, then the acidic innards began to slowly flow out.
(-24 HP!) (Mana Strike-Spear Hand - (+7 damage to an unarmed strike.))
Matthew checked his mana and saw that it was down from the one experimentation and from the single attack. The new attack actually took more mana as it was condensing it on a smaller place, leaving Matthew with a total of 30 MP left (20-[Mana Strike] and 30-[Mana Strike-Spear Hand]).
Most people would be sweating with the amount of mental exhaustion required to make mana bend to your will like this, but Matthew was just fine. He had play tested everything with his employees and partners but ever since that fell through, it had just been him and he had excelled at playing at the highest-level, summoning meteors, smashing cities on command…and to him, a small manipulation was honestly nothing.
As the slime realized that it was hit, it began to run away. This left Matthew incredibly confused at it ran towards the portal.
[What the hell is it doing?] Thought Matthew as he watched the slime attempt to flee from combat…
He began to walk up towards it and noticed that it was profusely leaking fluid.
[DID I GIVE A SLIME A BLEED??????]
Just as Matthew thought that, he noticed the slime begin to die and watched its body breakdown.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!" Shouted Matty, looking at his hand for something that would explain what the hell just happened.
[Slimes shouldn't be able to get most debuffs…they have no eyes, no limbs, no blood, no nervous system, and definitely no brain…
How the hell?
It shouldn't even be possible with the "new update" after 4,000 years.]
"SLIMES ARE NOT…WHAT? AH.." Matthew was about to rage to the heavens when he noticed that his heart felt strange.
[What the hell? What is this tightness?]
Matthew began walking around and looking for any enemies but couldn't find any.
[Ah, fuck…] Matthew collapsed to his knees, still feeling a sense of doom. He knew something bad was going to happen.
"SARAH! WHERE IS SARAH!" Shouted Matthew into the dungeon.
He then turned back and ran outside, nearly freaking out the guards…
"WHERE IS SARAH?"
"What? Who? HEY, KID!" The guard was confused and still talking about this youngster when he came back out of the portal and began to shake him by the shirt.
"KID! LET GO, NOBODY IS HURT!" The guard was trying to resolve the issue as he could visibly see what was wrong with the kid.
"STEVE, A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Shouted the man.
As the man named "Steve" restrained Matthew by grabbing his back, he was able to see him start crying.
[What the hell? WHAT WAS THAT FEELING?! FUCK THAT FEELING!] Matthew sat, trying to figure out what was going on with him…he needed to get back to Sarah so she could help him, she was really smart about health, surely she would know what was wrong…