It didn't take long for Ryan to finally find the next slime. Still, after learning several skills and allocating the status points into dexterity, his skill with the bow increased to the point where he could hit the slimes' cores even when they were thirty meters away from him. Half of the body still was covered by darkness. Also, after killing the eighth slime, Ryan received several pleasant surprises.
You obtained one coin.
Congratulations! The skill Archery has leveled up.
Archery Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2
Effect: Increases damage when using bows by one percent per level.
You obtained 01 status point.
Congratulations! The skill Concentration has leveled up.
Concentration Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2
Effect: Increases passively dexterity by one point per level.
You obtained 01 status point.
Congratulations! The skill Eagle Eyes has leveled up.
Effect: Increases the range of long-range weapons by one percent per level.
Eagle Eyes Lv 1 ➞ Lv 2
You obtained 01 status point.
"Mmm… that was fast," Ryan said, surprised. "I didn't think those skills would level up so fast against slimes."
Ryan couldn't feel himself more skilled or stronger. For the time being, only one- or two-level ups wouldn't make him notice any difference. He was aware of it, but Ryan was quite satisfied and excited about it. For someone like him, see his physical attributes and skills through numbers was quite exciting… Ryan felt like he had returned to his teenage years when he discovered MMORPGs. Even though those were a massive time-sink, for someone like Ryan, who had a vivid imagination, playing games was like a true adventure.
"Here I go again, getting ahead of myself and getting excited…" Ryan shook his head to calm down. "You can see the status screen, Ryan. You can learn skills and see your attributes growing, but people are dying out there… you shouldn't feel like that knowing that fellow humans are dying at this very moment."
For the better and for the worse, Ryan had a wild imagination. He could easily imagine the dozens of dragons he saw previously destroying a big city in like minutes. Still, Ryan couldn't afford to worry about others all that much. He was just a civilian, after all. It was the government's job to protect the citizens, not his.
After trying to convince himself by thinking of a half-assed excuse, Ryan began to walk again. Despite the fact that the dungeon just appeared less than twenty minutes ago, the place looked really old. Except for the parts the slimes used to move, everything else was covered in dust. If Ryan didn't know the truth, he would think while looking at that place that the dungeon had been there for decades.
"Just what the hell is going on…" Ryan muttered.
Moving along and just accepting everything as fast as possible would make Ryan adapt faster, but for how long would he be able to move on without knowing what was just happening to Earth. The planet had suffered many transformations along with the history, but Ryan couldn't believe that was just another ordinary event. Humans now could use magic, after all… unless that happened over the course of several thousand years, it was impossible to think that was a natural event.
Once again, those thoughts disappeared from Ryan's mind when he heard the sound of a slime approaching. He still couldn't see the creature by judging by the noise the creature was making. It wasn't that far. Ryan aimed and tried to look for the creature using his flashlight, but much to his surprise, the noise suddenly stopped, and after that, Ryan saw a small ball of fire appearing and then growing.
"Shit!" Ryan muttered and then shot.
Even though Ryan was in a hurry and got caught by surprise, he still hit the monster's core. However, not in time to stop the Fireball from being shoot. The magic projectile had a human head size, and even though it wasn't as fast as his arrows, it still was much faster than Ryan. He tried to throw himself on his left side, but his right shoulder still got slightly hit by the Fireball.
You obtained one coin.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Fire Resistance.
Effect: Decreases the damage caused by all fire-type attacks by one point.
You obtained 01 status point.
"Ugh… damn," Ryan moaned in annoyance while he was getting up. "Just a scratch took twenty percent of my health… maybe if my health drops to zero, I won't die but just fall unconscious. That being said, fall unconscious in the middle of a dungeon while I'm alone still is a death sentence."
Conveniently enough, that wave of energy spreading through his body appeared again, and then suddenly, the pain in his shoulder and ear decreased. Ryan checked both of them and confirmed that they were almost back to normal… However, he suddenly began to feel very hungry.
"Are you for real?" Ryan asked, astonished. "How can humans recover this fast? Mmm… maybe now that our bodies can use mana, we became more efficient or perhaps can process food faster and obtain energy to heal some wounds… perhaps that is why I'm feeling hungry all of a sudden."
Given that his stomach was bothering him quite a bit and he couldn't afford to lose concentration in enemy territory, Ryan decided to use the next one hundred seconds to eat something. It wasn't time to complain, but he felt like something warm would reinvigorate him more than some cookies.
"I miss Mom's beef chili…" Ryan said and then sighed.
It has been a long while since Ryan had a meal with his parents. Even though he had the weekends, the last year in college wasn't easy, so he had to skip a lot of Sunday reunions. It couldn't be helped given the situation, but now Ryan felt like he just wasted his time trying to focus on his future… he would never see his parents again, and it was clear that he wouldn't be able to become a PE teacher, for more than a few years.