Bang!
A deafening explosion echoed through the forest, and a bright red number floated above the Forest Wolf's head:
"Critical Hit!"
"-57!"
Lily's eyes widened in shock at the sudden damage number. She had never seen such an absurdly high output before—especially from a slime.
The explosive Slime Goo had triggered a critical hit, doubling the damage.
But what made it even crazier was that the attack had struck the Forest Wolf's head—a system-designated weak spot. Weak spot damage stacked with the critical hit multiplier, resulting in a whopping triple damage!
The Forest Wolf, with only 50 HP, was instantly obliterated, leaving 7 points of overkill damage.
[Congratulations! You've killed a Forest Wolf and earned 10 EXP.]
[You've gained 10 Evolution Points.]
[Level Up! You've reached Level 2. HP +10, Attack +1, Defense +1.]
Ethan's eyes gleamed with excitement. He hadn't expected this—he could gain experience points like a player and even level up!
What thrilled him even more was the Evolution Points. He could use them to enhance himself, while Enhancement Points could upgrade his weaponry. The combination of EXP, Evolution Points, and Enhancement Points created a perfect growth system!
Sure, the stat boosts from leveling up weren't huge right now, but Ethan knew this was just the early game. As his level increased, the stat gains would multiply, and his growth would become exponential.
And the craziest part? He wasn't even a player—he was a summoned creature. Yet his growth potential was already far beyond what most players could achieve!
"Splat!"
Another blob of explosive Slime Goo flew through the air. This time, it didn't trigger a critical hit or land on a weak spot, but it still dealt "-20" damage, wiping out nearly half of another Forest Wolf's HP.
Lily stared at the scene, completely dumbfounded. She couldn't hold back her exclamation:
"Oh my god, this slime is insane!"
Her other summoned slimes were attacking too, but their damage was laughable:
"-1."
"-2."
"-1."
Compared to Ethan's damage, they were utterly pathetic.
Lily couldn't even bear to look at them. The slimes she had summoned were so weak they were basically cannon fodder.
But Ethan? He was rewriting everything she thought she knew about slimes.
"Is this slime… mutated?"
The thought popped into Lily's head. She had been playing Dark Scrolls for a while now, and she had never seen a slime this powerful.
57 damage. That was leagues beyond what most warrior players could deal at this stage of the game—easily ten times more!
Her gaze shifted back to the Slime Goo Ethan had thrown. Her eyes were filled with confusion and awe.
"This stuff… it's definitely not normal Slime Goo."
Determined to figure out what was going on, Lily immediately opened the game's forums to search for answers.
Dark Scrolls, a global sensation, had only recently launched, but the forums were already flooded with tens of thousands of posts. Lily scrolled through them for a while, but she couldn't find anything useful.
All she saw were vague posts like, "In Dark Scrolls, anything is possible!"—which was basically just meaningless fluff.
"That's not helpful at all!" Lily groaned, closing the forums in frustration. But deep down, she already had her answer: It wasn't just any ordinary slime.
It wasn't just the insane power of his Slime Goo. It was the way he fought—it was nothing like a typical summoned creature.
Lily watched Ethan's attack patterns closely. She noticed that when he targeted the Forest Wolves, he always aimed for their heads.
The head was a weak spot, and hitting it dealt bonus damage.
But what really blew her mind was Ethan's accuracy.
Normal slimes could barely hit their target once in ten tries when throwing Slime Goo. But Ethan? He hit more than half the time. This wasn't luck—it was skill.
"This guy… he actually has combat instincts!"
Just as Lily was still reeling from shock, Ethan launched another attack.
"-42!"
"Boom!"
[Congratulations! You've gained 10 Evolution Points.]
[Congratulations! You've gained 10 EXP.]
[Level Up! You've reached Level 3. HP +10, Attack +1, Defense +1.]
Another Forest Wolf fell to Ethan's critical hit. This was the tenth Forest Wolf he had killed, and with it, his level had risen to 3.
But Ethan didn't continue fighting. Instead, he slowly retreated. Around him, the cannon-fodder slimes that had been fighting alongside him were all gone. Some had been torn apart by the Forest Wolves, while others had simply disintegrated as their summoning time expired.
Ethan noticed something peculiar—he hadn't disintegrated like the others. This confirmed what he had suspected: he was no longer bound by the limitations of a typical summoned creature. He had become an independent entity.
But his retreat wasn't just because his "teammates" had been wiped out.
"Too slow…"
Ethan frowned, realizing a glaring weakness in his combat style.
While his Explosive Slime Goo packed a serious punch, his attack speed was painfully slow.
It took him a full three seconds to throw a single blob of Slime Goo.
In the heat of battle, that kind of delay was maddening.
Earlier, Ethan had been able to easily take down the Forest Wolves because the cannon-fodder slimes had drawn their attention. He had stayed safely behind them, using the high damage of his Explosive Slime Goo to pick off enemies with precision.
But now, the situation had completely changed.
All of DerpyKitty's summoned slimes had been wiped out. Some had been torn apart by the Forest Wolves' sharp fangs, while others had simply dissolved as their summoning timers ran out.
Without those "meat shields," Ethan knew it wasn't worth the risk to take on the Forest Wolves alone.
"My defense is way too low," Ethan thought to himself.
He was well aware of his strengths and weaknesses. While his attack power was impressive, his body was fragile. If he got surrounded by a pack of Forest Wolves, he wouldn't even have a chance to escape.
Stopping his attacks, Ethan decisively retreated to a safe area to reassess his strategy.
"Now's not the time to act tough."
Ethan glanced down at his jelly-like body, feeling a twinge of frustration.
Sure, his Explosive Slime Goo gave him a huge advantage in battle, but he couldn't ignore the glaring flaws in his build. His attack speed and defense were critical weaknesses.
Every time he threw a blob of Slime Goo, it took a full three seconds to prepare. In a fast-paced fight, that kind of delay was a death sentence.
And his defense? Practically nonexistent. If an enemy got close, he'd be done for.
"I have to get stronger." Ethan's gaze hardened with determination.
He knew he couldn't always rely on cannon-fodder slimes to cover for him. If he wanted to survive in this dangerous world, he needed to improve himself.
Opening his status panel, Ethan began to look for ways to address his weaknesses through evolution.
Name: Ethan
Level: 3
Race: Common Slime (Player: DerpyKitty)
HP: 120
MP: 0
Attack: 4 (+15 from Explosive Slime Goo)
Defense: 3
Weapon: Explosive Slime Goo (Uncommon)
Evolution Points: 100
Enhancement Points: 20
When Ethan saw the "Evolution Points: 100" line, his eyes lit up with excitement.
"I've finally saved up enough Evolution Points!" His heart raced as a wave of anticipation washed over him.
"It's time to evolve…"