Chris groaned as he woke up, his throat painfully dry as his stomach growled in agony.
He wasn’t sure just how long he’d been stuck on this floor of the Dungeon, but it felt like at least a month had passed. He was sure that the only reason he was still alive was thanks to his Self-Regeneration Skill, but now it was feeling more like a curse than a boon. With a tired moan, he lifted himself wearily from the makeshift bed, staggering around his small living space as he looked at his piles of Magic Stones.
“Useless pieces of junk,” he muttered, “Can’t eat them, so what good are they?”
Shaking his head, he slapped his hollow cheeks, the sound almost haunting as he headed out of the circle of stone.
“Time to start the daily hunt,” he muttered to no one in particular, unconsciously pulling up his Status screen to check his Stats.
Name: Christopher Trevor Sanders
Level: 6
Experience: 3184/3200
Health: 300/300
Mana: 100/100
Stats:
Strength: 10
Vitality: 20
Dexterity: 10
Intellect: 20
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 5
Free Points: 0
Titles:
Leader, Explorer, Truly Ambitious, Mage, Giant Slayer, Survivor
Skills:
[Self-Regeneration lv 34]
[Air Magic lv 57]
[Studious Sage lv 1]
He noted that he was almost at level seven, sighing as he tried to figure out what to put his Free Points into, before giving up, his head too foggy to think right now. Instead, he would just do what he’d been doing for the last few weeks, and hunt. He quickly found his quarry, a lone Slime wandering around, Chris pulling a stone from his Slime Pouch and tossing it at the monster. The Slime reacted instantly, starting to ooze its way towards him as fast as it could. Chris just hummed quietly to himself as he started to back away, keeping an eye on the Slime as he made sure to stay just outside of its jumping range.
He led it like that for several minutes, before finding another Slime, repeating the process. It didn’t take long for the two to bump into each other, one absorbing the other and growing into a Great Slime. Chris picked up the pace as the new monster continued to chase him, leading it to a third Slime, which it quickly absorbed. He then had to run as the King Slime threw out its pseudopods at him, the young man ducking and weaving as he looked around for the final piece of the puzzle, spotting it quickly, another Great Slime. No sooner had the King Slime absorbed the Great Slime than it turned into an Emperor Slime, Chris skidding to a halt as the monster wobbled towards him rapidly.
“And now, the big finale,” he muttered, almost sounding bored as he gathered the magic in his palm, forming it into a long lance of swirling air, firing it at the monster without pause.
The Emperor Slime shook as the magic tore through it, exposing the core, Chris not hesitating as he charged forwards, thrusting his hand into the wide hole and ripping the stone free. The massive Slime collapsed almost instantly, Chris turning on his heel and hurling the core against a nearby stalagmite, shattering it, the monster falling still a moment later.
“And one down,” he muttered, barely paying attention to the chest that had appeared as he opened it, stuffing the contents into one of his Slime Pouches, “Let’s see how many I can get rid of today.”
------
It had been about a week since Chris had started farming the Emperor Slimes, now fully geared up in the equipment they dropped. It made him look like he was dressed up as a pantomime royal, complete with the poofy sleeves and crown, except in shiny bright greens instead of the typical colors, not that Chris really knew what those were. He shook his head at the errant thought, trying to clear the distraction as he peeked out at the Mother Slime from behind a stalagmite, a slight smile cracking his parched lips.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“Looks like I was right,” he whispered, noticing that the Mother Slime was definitely smaller than before, “You can only make so many Slimes before you start to run out of materials.”
His plan had been simple, if the Mother Slime was producing the other Slimes, then all he had to do was kill as many of them as possible each day to slowly deplete her resources. After a few days of doing so, it had become fairly easy to sweep the entire large cavern, luring every Slime he came across and turning them into Emperor Slimes, before dispatching them with a powerful blast of Air Magic. Today was the fourth day in a row that he’d managed to clear the entire floor of Slimes, even reaching level eight in the process. Nodding he opened his Status screen again.
Name: Christopher Trevor Sanders
Level: 8
Experience: 22/12800
Health: 350/350
Mana: 100/100
Stats:
Strength: 10
Vitality: 25
Dexterity: 15
Intellect: 20
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 5
Free Points: 10
Titles:
Leader, Explorer, Truly Ambitious, Mage, Giant Slayer, Survivor
Skills:
[Self-Regeneration lv 47]
[Air Magic lv 73]
[Studious Sage lv 1]
His Self-Regeneration Skill was still levelling a constant rate, as it was basically all that was keeping him alive right now, and his Air Magic Skill had jumped up a multitude of levels due to how much he was using it. Of course, his Rank SSS Studious Sage Skill hadn’t budged at all, making Chris wonder if it would ever level up. He wasn’t even sure what the purpose of leveling up Skills was, the familiar cool sensation washing through his mind.
“Skills increase in Rank when they reach level one hundred,” he muttered, his tone sarcastic as he continued, quickly dropping all ten of his Free Points into Intellect, “Right, of course, why didn’t I think of that? Not like I’m half dead from starvation and dehydration and can’t think clearly to save my life.”
Grumbling to himself, he peeked around the rock again, watching as the Mother Slime shivered, a new Slime emerging from its mass a moment later.
“Showtime,” Chris grinned as he darted out from behind the rock, firing a small cone at the newly formed Slime, popping it in a single hit, “Time to show the fruits of my labors!”
Chris skidded to a stop as he held out both hands, a large spinning cone of air forming over each of his palms, before they shot towards the Mother Slime. The monster had no time to react as the dual cast spells slammed into it, Chris already charging straight towards her as he took a deep breath. The Mother Slime wobbled as he leapt at it, diving headfirst into the larger of the two holes he’d punched into its body.
Got you! He thought triumphantly as he reached for the large core, about the size of a soccer ball, before it shot away from him, going right to the edge of the monster’s mass, Chris just grinning, That’s what you think!
Closing his burning eyes for a moment, he exhaled, willing the breath to expand as much as possible. In seconds the Mother slime was inflated like a literal balloon, its body pressing into the stalactites hanging from the ceiling above. Chris scowled as the pointed rocks didn’t quite do their job, forcing more Mana into the already thin air around him, stretching the surface of the Slime bubble even thinner. Then, exactly what he’d been hoping for happened, and the Mother Slime bubble popped, splattering goo everywhere, the rocks around them hissing and smoking as the acidic substance burned into them.
Chris gasped for air as he fell to the ground, quickly scrambling to his feet as he hurriedly looked around for the core. He spotted it quickly, the glowing stone already pulling slime back around itself as he growled. He shot forwards, barely aware of the pain in his head as he gathered a swirling cone of air around his fist, driving it into the reforming Mother Slime, piercing easily through the thin layer of slime and shattering the core in an instant.
“Take that,” he chuckled, collapsing backwards as he laughed, staring up at the ceiling of the cavern in relief and elation, “Now I can finally go to the next floor and get some food.”
Rising to his feet, he staggered towards the large door, pausing only when he nearly tripped over the large gold-banded chest that had appeared in front of him. Shaking his head, he kicked it lightly, the chest clicking open a moment later, its lid lifting on its own as Chris glanced inside, not particularly interested in what it contained.
“What?” he muttered as he reached into the chest, lifting out the strange object in confusion, “Is this a weapon? What am I saying, of course it is, Floor Bosses have a higher chance of dropping powerful weapons than regular monsters, so that’s what this Superior Slime Mace is.”
Chris blinked as he realized he’d once again just gained knowledge, scowling as he cursed his stupid Skill for stealing his Experience in exchange for knowing useless trivia. Shaking his head, he reached back into the chest, lifting out the second item as he inspected it.
“A Carry-All-Bag?” he muttered, “So a magic satchel? I guess that’s useful.”
Slinging the satchel over his shoulder, Chris headed towards the large imposing door that the Mother Slime had been guarding, something gnawing at the back of his mind as he reached out to touch it. Shaking his head, he took another step forward, then stopped, looking back down at his new bag.
“Wait,” he muttered, “These things can hold a lot of stuff, right? So maybe I should go get at least some of the crap I’ve collected, just in case it turns out to be useful later.”
Chris looked up at the door again, the temptation of food on the other side making him want to open it right now, but the nagging feeling in the back of his mind making him turn away.
“This had better be worth it, brain,” he growled as he jogged back towards his camp, “It really had better.”
