Now with that training finished, even though I wasn't particularly exhausted, I'd rather find some place to bunker down and relax while trying to grind skills, stats, and even levels. With that, I decided on heading out, wandering on the grassy plains.
Moments later, I found a small settlement on an empty path. All I could see were some houses and farm animals in stables and pens.
After making it to the center of the little village, seeing a decent amount of people walking busily while attending to their own business, I looked around for leads on places to stay. Luckily, there were a small number of shops decorating the streets—some weapon shops, clothes shops, and even luxury item shops.
Then I found it: a small building with a sign that said "The Harlot's Inn." After making my way in, I saw many tables and chairs decorating the floors. To my surprise, there weren't many people—it was pretty empty. Crazily enough, it was almost dark, which made little sense.
While walking up towards the front where they would serve food and drinks, before I could reach it, I heard a woman's voice from the back.
"Hey kid... You want a meal or a room? The meals are 9 copper and a room is 15 copper..."
She came out of the back, looking at me with a questioning gaze. She looked beautiful with auburn orange hair and sparkling emerald green eyes. She had a nice leather vest on with long brown sleeves and black leather pants with a pair of sturdy-looking boots.
"Hey... You alright?" she said as I spaced out, while still looking at me with a little more worry and her head tilted to the side.
"Oh, I'm alright," I said with a little nervousness in my voice as it was on the verge of cracking.
"Oh yes, I'm fine, it's just I'm a little short on money. Is there any chance I could maybe... work it off... or I could put it on a tab?"
"Hmm... I don't know... ah, why the hell not! You can stay for the night. It will be on your tab until you work it off or pay your bill. It's the first room on your right up the stairs," she said as she handed me a bronze key and pointed to a staircase that led upstairs.
"Well thank you so much, Miss...?"
"Oh, just call me Kalina, or Kali for short. I don't mind one bit. And what about you, kid?"
"Oh, you can call me Nami. That's just a nickname people like to call me by because of my strange surname..."
"Oh alright, you have a good night, Nami. I'll have a meal prepared for you in the morning."
"Thanks, Kali."
I said this as I walked up the stairs, the dark wood creaking under my feet every now and then. I made it into the room, with the door closing behind me. The room was a cozy space with a bed, white sheets, and a little nightstand with a magic crystal lamp.
I immediately slumped on the bed. It was already getting dark out now—I just had to gather myself and plan for tomorrow.
With that, I collected myself for a moment. It seems I have more than enough mana and mana regeneration to have some skills on at all times. I'll have to have Mana Shield and Mana Skin on while I'll need to practice other skills and make more of an effort on using Observe.
After that, I went to bed. Today was an unusual day and it was pretty taxing.
(More than a couple hours later...)
As the sun shone in through the window, painting the room in a vibrant yellow, I couldn't help but toss and turn in my bed.
"Ah crap, I might as well get up anyway... I can't complain though, that was some good sleep..."
So, I finished cleaning myself up, touching up my hair, and then decided on going downstairs. The creaky floorboards announced I was awake to anyone downstairs as I closed the wooden door and made my way down the stairs.
As I made it down, I saw Kali, and unlike yesterday when I didn't pay much attention, I saw her level and full name painted in a light holographic green above her head:
[ Lv13 Kalina Malory ]
She was wiping down the tables and chairs as the sun leapt through the windows onto the wooden floors, tables, and chairs. I decided to ask her for the meal she offered the other day.
"Hey Kali, could I have that meal you offered the other day?"
"Alright, I'll have it done in a little..." She said as she walked into the back, ready to whip up a quick meal. Just a couple moments later, she came out with her hands full.
As she laid the plate down, I saw what seemed to be the most mouthwatering steak I'd ever seen. I couldn't help but have my mouth water a little and my stomach rumble something fierce. The steak had a nice color and looked beautiful with a side of eggs, a little helping of salt and pepper, and a cup of what seemed to be milk laid to the side.
But the next moment, I heard a voice off to my side.
"Now you enjoy breakfast, but here—wear this next time you head out. I saw that you weren't wearing shoes the other day, must've been dissolved by slimes..." she said, pointing to a pair of older leather boots she had sat on the chair opposite to me.
"Oh my, thank you so much Kali! I can't thank you enough..." I said with a look of shock, though with a smile plastered on my face. The next words that left her mouth left me hysterical and a little out of it.
"Oh don't feel too bad, I added it to your tab! Heh, well, you enjoy your breakfast..." she said with a slight laugh at the end of her sentence while heading back toward the kitchen.
After she left, I decided on using Observe on the food and look at what popped up. a list of ingredient's that we're listed:
[ - A Cattle Deer Steak granting a Well-Fed Buff giving 5% boost to Health Regen for 1 Hour, A Cup of Cattle Milk and two green Lizard Eggs ]
With that, I finished up my meal, got the boots on—and I must say they felt nice. The sleek glossy leather boots seemed worn and torn but had great quality. So I put them on and decided to head out, leaving the plates and wooden cutlery at the front after cleaning up my table.
Leaving the inn, the sun blinded me and the dirt road felt new to my feet with the boots on. After last night, I'd decided on what skills I should grind and also what skills I needed right now, so I headed out of town, making my way through the small amount of traffic the small town had in this early morning. Finally, I ended up in a small field a good bit away from the town to practice my skills.
I activated Mana Skin and Mana Shield. With that, I had lost 55MP and would lose 80MP every minute. I had 10MP left to spend while still being able to regenerate more than that every minute. With those skills active, I decided to do some endurance training, whether it's running or pushups.
Every now and then I would hear a notification, but I ignored it, trying my best not to be distracted. A couple of hours later, after switching from exercise, I switched to leveling up Meditation.
After only about 4 hours, thanks to the Gamer's Body, I hadn't felt much fatigue after having a good rest, whether meditating or even just taking a quick breather. Here's what my status looked like—luckily, I had even used Observe a good bit, whether it was on a stone or even a twig:
- Meditation Lv8
- Mana Skin Lv11
- Mana Shield Lv10
- Mana Manipulation Lv16
- Mana Enhanced Perception Lv13
- Observe Lv9
[ through intense Physical Exercise, You've gained 1 Strength Stat (5x) ]
[ Through Intense Cardio, You've gained 1 Agility (4x) ]
[ Through intense and Extreme Exercise, You've gained 1 Vitality (6x) ]
Wow, now this is pretty good growth. And with that, my skills had gotten more refined—at the very least the density and strength of Mana Skin as well as Mana Barrier we're comparable to the strongest Iron you could find or a weaker steel. Though with that, I had to test something: Dungeons.
I still remember the exact scene where Jihan from the manhwa made an instant dungeon, and even then, Instant Dungeon had so much potential, whether it's getting money from mobs you kill, item's dropped, to even ones with a time difference—they were frankly amazing and I needed it.
So with that, I tried mimicking what he did, sticking my hand in the air and just thinking of making an illusion barrier appear.
"Appear, Illusion Barrier!"
Next thing I knew, the world turned quiet. The birds no longer chirping, the cool breeze that would whistle in the wind was no longer there, and even the noise of crickets no longer echoed in some lone patches of grass. Then I saw a notification:
[ Through certain and specific action's, You've Acquired the Skill - ID Create'
[ ID Create - Used to create localized isolated instances in space known as instant dungeon's, Higher level's make stronger instant dungeon's...
Instant Dungeons Available:
Empty ID: No Monsters
Slime ID: Monsters - Slimes ]
And now… that's different, I thought looking over the list of Dungeon option's, but even then I wonder what the others will be. It must've changed due to this world, but I don't think it's something to worry about. Well, let's take a dive... After saying that, I exited the Empty Instant Dungeon. gaining the Skill', ID Escape.. and then I with a quick movement with my hand and made a slime dungeon..
Next thing I knew, the grassy plain was decorated with many colorful blobs jumping and bouncing all over the place. My hand bubbling with mana whirling to life with blue it was the perfect time to practice Magic Bolt, and I decided on leaving any of my defensive skills off.
I decided to get the attention of one of them, but before that, I used Observe while the little blue ball of slime bounced towards me:
[Blue Slime Lv2]
Name: N/A - Title: N/A - Class: N/A
Gender: N/A - Race: N/A - Age: 3 years - Experience to Next Level: 8.29%
Status: Healthy, Agitated, Hungry
Level: 2
HP: [150/150]
MP: [80/80]
Strength: [6]
Dexterity: [18]
Vitality: [5]
Intelligence: [3]
Wisdom: [1]
Luck: [2]
With that done, I got ready, bracing myself for an attack. Right when it was near my shoes, seemingly facing me, it bounced with a thwap! It hit my stomach and I heard a notification. With a sharp sting where the slime hit me, it latched on, spreading a goo that seeped into my clothes and onto my skin.
[ Through a Specific set of action's, You've Acquired the Skill - Physical Endurance ]
-40HP
-10HP
[ Through a Specific set of action's You've Acquired The Skill, - Absorption Resistance ]
[ Through a specific set of action's, You've Acquired The Skill - Acid Resistance ]
-10HP
After seeing the notification and feeling the slight pang's of pain that rang out every moment it was latched to me, I activated Mana Skin and it lost its grip and slid to the ground. As I backed away, I blasted it with an overcharged Mana Bolt.
[ Mana Bolt has gained a level ]
-75HP
The ground was torn up and the slime was clinging to life. With another overcharged bolt, I leveled up.
-75HP
[ You've gained a level ]
[ Mana Bolt has gained a level ]
[ Mana Bolt has gained a level ]
Yes! Now let's grind some levels. I'm not going to use the skill points for now—it's better to save them and grind stats while training and trying to come up with new skill's. With that, I'll start grinding...