As thoughts raced through Michael's mind, he raised his gun, aiming at the distant acid slime.
Michael quietly activated his skill.
"{Basic Shot}."
Immediately, he felt an instinctive awareness—his grip was wrong, his aim was off, his posture needed adjusting.
Step by step, Michael made each correction, guided by the skill's influence, while keeping his focus on the unaware slime in the distance.
Despite the skill's assistance, it took Michael about 20 seconds to make these adjustments. He could still 'sense' more room for improvement—a result of his low {Mastery} of {Basic Shot}. With higher {Mastery}, aiming and shooting would feel like second nature; he'd be faster, more precise, without needing to think.
The miraculous effect of his skill left Michael speechless. For the first time, handling a gun felt natural.
'Though the skill hints I could improve even further, this is already leagues beyond my earlier fumbling. All I need is to raise my skill's proficiency and {Mastery}!'
'No wonder the Federation wants Awakeners. We really are like cheats—quick power-ups, instantly mastering skills that should take years to learn. As a Necromancer, if I were an Archer, wouldn't I already be a sharpshooter? How can ordinary people compete with this?'
'Sure, both are powerful, but the teachers were really wrong to say Awakeners and Cultivators were equal. It's not surprising, though, since the world barely understands these two professions in the first place.'
'Is this a deliberate concealment by the Federation, or is there a bigger picture here?'
Despite the whirlwind of thoughts, Michael's focus never wavered from the acid slime.
As soon as he locked onto the monster with a steady aim, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
A soft sound echoed through the long hall.
The gunshot wasn't loud, thanks to the silencer.
Pui!
Unlike his first encounter with an acid slime, where he missed every shot, this time Michael's first bullet struck true. It didn't kill the slime, but the hole close to its core showed it was a near hit.
'{Basic Shot} is so powerful!' Michael praised in his mind as he began to retreat.
Though close, the shot hadn't reached the core, and now the slime was aware of him.
'No eyes or ears, yet it still senses… truly a freak of nature,' Michael thought, revealing his dislike for slimes.
'But it's slow.'
Even though monsters didn't have attribute points, Michael expected the level 7 acid slime to be stronger. However, aside from the intensity and range of its acid attacks, its speed was barely different from the last one.
'If it's this slow, then there's nothing to fear.'
This didn't mean Michael would be reckless.
Despite his increasing confidence, Michael knew little about slimes and their potential abilities.
However, seeing the slime's slow pace, Michael figuredhe could potentially finish it off with his refined spear from the Supers Association store.
But Michael decided against it.
For now, the slime couldn't reach him, while he could still land shots from a safe distance.
With this strategy, he could continue levelling up until his bullets ran out or his gun became ineffective. Then, he'd consider close combat.
After circling around, following his previous path back to the room he'd first arrived in—avoiding unexplored areas to prevent running into more monsters—Michael finally managed to bring down the acid slime.
[You killed a Common★★ LV 7 Acid Slime]
[You've gained 103 Experience Points]
[You killed a monster five levels higher than your own, earning a 6x experience multiplier]
[You've gained 618 Experience Points]
[Level Up!]
[You have levelled up to Level 3!]
[Level Up!]
[You have levelled up to Level 4!]
---
[You've levelled up to Level 4 Human!]
[You've gained 0.4 stat points in Strength, Agility, and Constitution. You've gained 1.0 stat points in Intelligence.]
[You have gained 4 Attribute points!]
[You've levelled up to Level 4 Necromancer Apprentice!]
[You've gained 0.2 stat points in Strength and Constitution, 0.6 stat points in Agility, and 1.0 stat points in Intelligence.]
[You have gained 8 Attribute points!]