Alexander scurried back to his cave, attempting to process the events that had just transpired. Those titan-like beasts had just gone into battle like it was a completely normal day for them! How many of them are there in the forest anyway? Would they attack a defenseless slime?! Alexander had many questions, but he knew that the only way to stay safe in this dangerous forest was to gather enough strength to be able to rival those fearsome beasts.
Right now, Alexander needed strength quickly and safely. The best way to do that was to grind his skills. Basically, if he practiced the skills over and over again, the skills would level up, making him significantly stronger.
First up, his increased energy absorption skill and his elemental affinity skill needed to be improved. These two were his main forms of attack since he used mostly mana to fight. To level them up, all he had to do was use them over and over again. He conjured his fire lance, creating the spearlike-shape and setting it on fire. He then dispersed the mana into the air. That took about 3 MP, so he also cast a fireball and dispersed that as well. Performing these two spells completely drained all of the mana from his core.
Now that his mana was at zero, Alexander used the increased mana absorption skill to replenish his mana which took about one and a quarter hours. Since he had all of his mana back, he could cast the two spells again and repeat this same process over and over again until his skills leveled up. Behold the beauty of calculated grinding!
After repeating this process four times over, night began to descend. The mana in the cave and the roots of the tree embedded in its wall slowly drained out the rest of their mana and the world darkened. Fortunately, Alexander was a slime with mana sense and he had no need for light. He could easily make out the surroundings in his cave from the tiny bit of excess mana that was stored in the dirt and roots around him. So, he continued to grind his skills well into the night.
At around midnight, Alexander got the notification he had been waiting for.
[Elemental affinity has leveled up: 2 -> 3]
Awesome! He must have had some extra experience in elemental affinity from killing those vampire rabbits! With the level up, he would now have better mana control and a new element!
Well, it was not time to get lax with his training after one simple skill level up. He needed to be confident enough to easily kill one of the thick-skinned lizards before he was to venture back out into the dark forest.
Now that he had obtained level 3 in elemental affinity, he had access to the earth element. Alexander reasoned that it would be favorable to practice the earth element instead of fire, just to get the hang of it. At the moment, he could only use a simple earth movement skill, which allowed one to relocate a few pounds of dirt.
After grinding the two skills for 5 more rounds, it was finally morning. The sun had broken the horizon over the scorched treetops left from the day before, and the battle cries of small monsters echoed across the forest. After the hours of grinding the earth move spell, his small cave had transformed into a respectable dwelling, complete with a bed and some chairs. Just then, Alexander got a notification from the system:
[Increased Energy Absorption has leveled up: 1 -> 2]
"Finally!" Alexander cried in his mind. Grinding these two skills had taken longer than he had ever anticipated, but he would press on. If there was one thing that could be his specialty, it would be hard work. Nothing could stand in the way of his lofty goals, and he would continue to push through any challenge that was thrown his way because of his hard work. Hard work was the one thing in which he would never truly be beaten.
Although Alexander was exhausted, he had to continue. This was a matter of life and death, not just gaining strength. He still had many skills that needed to be grinded.
Wait a moment… He just remembered that he still had three stat points left to spend! He opened up his status window and looked through all of his stats. He thought for a while and finally decided. He clicked the screen and added all of the points into luck. This was his educated choice because luck had saved him so many times in the past, and probably even when he had no idea. Luck was the only option.
[Luck stat has reached 25. Luck stat has reached maximum capacity for current evolution.]
Very interesting. So 25 was the max for his stat points right now, but he had no idea how or when he would be able to evolve.
[Congratulations, user 'Alexander.' You are the first user in batch # 23 to have achieved the maximum in a stat.]
What?! Batch!? Did this mean that there were other earthlings sent to Isedor that also had the system? That means he would have to work even harder to conquer the other system users!
[Calculating reward… due to your high luck stat, you have been granted the rare skill 'Growth.' You are now able to increase stat points through practice.]
This was an absurd amount of information to process all at once. A growth skill? Meaning that he is able to increase his stats through practice and not just stat points? If so, that skill is overpowered! In theory, if Alexander used the increased energy absorption skill, he would gain stats intelligence, therefore increasing his mana capacity! Also, the system said that growth is a rare skill. That means that it must be of higher standing than the special skills in the skill store. The highest go for a hefty sum of 20 stat points, so this new growth skill costs over 20 stat points!
Instantly, Alexander started to try it. He used increased energy absorption to draw mana into his core, but this time he continued to draw it in, pushing the mana against the confines of the core. After about an hour of pushing, his hard work bore fruit.
[Int stat has increased by 1]
Awesome! It really worked! His mana capacity was now at 5.5 and he felt his core had slightly expanded. If he continued to work hard, he could probably become as powerful as the lion and crow in due time!
Alright, now it was time to put his hard work to the test. Elemental affinity and increased energy absorption were not the only skills he owned. Alexander also had to level his other skills, such as roll and squish.
For the next three entire days, Alexander didn't get a wink of sleep. He was completely and utterly focused on the simple task of getting stronger. As he toiled endlessly, Alexander could faintly hear the wise voice of the system rattling off his accomplishments in the back of his mind but he paid no heed. He did every kind of training that he could think of. He trained his strength, agility, int, and skills. Unfortunately, he did not know how to train wisdom, so it was still at its base stat of 5.
By the end of the third day, Alexander's body could not take it anymore. He had been leveling up both his physical stats and skills for days without any breaks. His body was shutting down, it needed to sleep.
"Bucephalus, open status," Alexander rasped, on the edge of collapse.
[Name: Alexander
Species: Lesser Slime Lv. 1 (80/100)
Body:
Toughness: 5
Strength: 3
Agility: 7
Int: 16
Wis: 5
Luck: 25
HP: 5/5
Mana: 0/8
Stat Points: 0
Skills:
Increased Energy Absorption- 3
Gluttony- 2
Growth- 1
Elemental Affinity- 3
Roll- 3
Squish- 3
Dig- 4
Mana Sense- 3
Farsense- 2
Vibration sense- 2]
Alexander's battle prowess had increased significantly since the beginning of the three days. He had graduated from his earlier meek self, unable to fight measly lizards. Throughout the three days, Alexander had rigorously trained both his physical stats and physical skills, and now, even without using mana, he could hold his own against an infant vampire rabbit.
Alexander knew his body needed to rest, and, satisfied with the results of his training, fell into the darkness of the dream world.