'Besides civilizations like Aurora, which are connected to the Land of Origin through Awakeners, there are also native civilizations. This building seems to be a remnant of the past, now abandoned,' Michael observed.
After leaving the dark room where he first appeared, he found himself in a wide corridor that was dimly lit, saved only by holes in the distant ceiling.
If the roof weren't so far out of reach, he would've tried breaking out rather than wandering around as he was now.
Thanks to the ventilation provided by the holes in the ceiling, Michael's movements did not cause an echo.
As he moved further, Michael also identified the source of the foul odour filling the air.
'Slimes.'
These magical creatures looked like harmless, solidified liquid, but they were far from it, secreting acid with a stench just as terrible. Slimes moved by "crawling" and could "hop" to attack.
The foul smell he'd encountered came from a slime trail left outside the room he'd started in.
Michael wasn't sure if the same slime was nearby, but after a while of exploring this vast, seemingly empty building, he encountered one.
[Acid Slime Lv. 4]
[Rank: Common★★]
A harmless-looking slime that shoots acid.
'Devious enough,' he thought.
Slimes happened to be one of the creatures Michael had read about in a forum post titled 'Common Monsters in the Land of Origin' while waiting for his delivery. Interestingly, the post's author was the same person behind 'Tips for New Awakeners' —a Level 5 member of the Supers Association.
Michael wasn't sure what being a Level 5 member meant, but he thought it sounded impressive.
In 'Common Monsters in the Land of Origin,' creatures like slimes and goblins were described with pictures attached, so even before using {Detect} on the Acid Slime, Michael already knew what it was. What he hadn't expected was for something like the Acid Slime to exist. It looked vastly different from the cute, blue slime he'd seen in the post, but since the Awakener had mentioned there were many slime variants, he wasn't too surprised in the end.
'A two-star common-rank monster. Guess that says a lot about its freakish nature.'
Michael didn't know if it was the Acid Slime's slightly grotesque appearance, the terrible stench, or its ability to shoot acid that bothered him most.
In the Land of Origin, there were seven known ranks for monsters, from low to high: Common, Rare, Extraordinary, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, and Demigod. Each rank had three mini-grades called stars—like one-star Common, two-star Common, two-star Rare, and so on.
Both monsters and items followed this ranking system. For items, the stars indicated efficiency and quality, while for monsters, they represented potential. Every star in a monster's rank allowed up to seven levels, so a two-star common-rank Acid Slime, like the one in front of Michael, could potentially reach level 14.
'A rank 1, level 4 slime that shoots acid. Sure enough, this slime is too freakish. Whatever happened to being just cute, huh?'
Though Michael's thoughts seemed scattered, he was actually weighing whether to confront the Acid Slime or retreat. Although the slime was over three levels above him, slimes were considered some of the weakest monsters, making them relatively easy to kill if one prepared well.
Michael hadn't forgotten his main goal, shared by all Awakeners entering the Land of Origin—to get stronger, and the quickest way to do that was levelling up.
And as a necromancer, he'd eventually need undead summons, so he would have to kill something, or he'd be a "fake" necromancer at the end of the day.
Levelling up allowed for custom stat allocation, which meant Michael could technically build himself like a warrior, but ignoring his class's strengths would make him mediocre. There was no reset button for Awakeners who carelessly wasted their potential.
'Too bad slimes don't leave a body behind, or I could've finally used my class skills to revive something.'
Of course, he wasn't entirely serious; even if the slime did leave a body, he wouldn't be eager to contract such a smelly creature unless he was desperate.
In a way, encountering a slime first wasn't bad news. Any other monster might have been a significant challenge, while slimes, especially Acid Slimes, were known for their slow movement. Still, he couldn't let his guard down—a leather armour alone wouldn't be enough to protect him from an acid shot.
After a moment's thought, Michael finally decided to see if he could turn this Acid Slime into experience points—or end up as its food.
'Let's do this!'
Suppressing the urge to take a deep breath to steady his nerves, he rushed out from his hiding spot and began firing at the football-sized green monster about 10 metres away.
Ptui!
Bang!
Ptui!
Bang!
Ptui!
Bang!
"…."
Three shots, and he missed every one.
The Acid Slime finally seemed to notice him, "turning" to "look" at him, vibrating in a way that seemed almost angry—or so Michael thought.
He hadn't expected his aim to be this poor, even at a distance of 10 metres. Sure, the slime's small size made it a tricky target, but why were his bullets missing entirely? Michael wanted to blame the recoil, but his enhanced Awakener body made that excuse weak.
'My aim is truly terrible,' he thought, frowning. He readied himself to shoot again, but before he could, the slime fired a jet of acid straight at him.
"Shit!" Michael dodged hurriedly, but a drop of acid managed to hit his unarmored arm.
"Ahhh!" He stifled a scream as a burning pain shot through him. In that moment, he realised he'd heavily underestimated the Acid Slime.
But there was no time to dwell on the pain. The slime launched another acid shot, which Michael dodged successfully this time—but his confidence was wavering.
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled to ignore the searing pain in his arm, his left hand now useless as he aimed with just his right. The second attack had finally angered him. Accuracy be damned—he started shooting wildly in the slime's direction.
Ptui!
Bang!
Ptui!
Bang!
Ptui!
Ptui!
Ptui!
Most shots missed, but his burst of frustration began to inflict some damage, even if only a little.
Soon, all thirty bullets in Michael's gun were exhausted.
As he fled from the acid slime, now slightly smaller but still hopping after him, he followed the marks he'd made with his dagger on several walls to avoid getting lost in the vast, abandoned building. He tried to reload, but the pain in his left arm made it difficult, causing him to drop several clips.
The worst part was that the slime's hopping speed was only slightly slower than his own, keeping him within its attack range. Though his leather armour protected his back and legs, he could still feel the heat closing in.
After several failed attempts, Michael finally managed to reload and resumed a frantic shooting spree at the slime. This process repeated a few more times until, with a lucky shot, he damaged the core inside the slime, finally killing it.
---
[You killed a Common★★ LV 4 Acid Slime]
[You've gained 45 Experience Points]
[You killed a monster three levels higher than your own, earning a 4x experience multiplier]
[You've gained 180 Experience Points]
[Level Up!]
[You have levelled up to Level 2!]
[You have learned the skill {Basic Shot}!]
---
"Ahhh!"
On his first day in the Land of Origin, Michael had almost been taken down by one of the weakest monsters—a slime.