Chapter 14—Evade
[ Race: Slime ★
Class: N/A
Traits: Eternal Mastery, Viscous Body, Amorphous Being.
Titles: N/A.
Level: 2
Strength: G-
Endurance: G
Will: G+
Wisdom: G-
Dexterity: G
Perception: G-
Agility: G+
Vitality: G+ ]
'Nice—back to G+,' Slime#47 grinned under the black sun… then frowned. 'Wait, that's it? No stat boost? What kind of scam level-up is this?'
He questioned the expert dubiously, "Elder, why didn't my stats increasewhen…" He couldn't complete his sentence as the old slime grinned and cut him short.
"Level-ups boost stats—but only when you're stats lag," Elder Slime said, sounding like an old teacher explaining algebra for the tenth time.
"Lag?" the young slime muttered; he didn't comprehend.
"There are twopaths to increase levels—one is killing, and the other is through trainingstats. Killing is simple—just killing, whereas the other path is to train all the stats, and once aura or mana reserves increase, you level up," Elder Slime explained seriously.
"So, one means level-up pulls stats, and the other means stats pull level," the young slime simplifiedfor confirmation, glancing at Elder Slime.
"Yes, you got it," Elder Slime nodded in appreciation.
"So, which is better?" the young slime asked, wanting to find the best path for his growth.
"Neitheris good. In slaughter, your level-up increases stats, but only to the minimum extent. In the other path, you raise stats by training, but it gets tougher the higher the stats are." He said seriously, then smiled, "However, leveling up decreases the difficulty of raising stats, so the best way is…" He paused, expecting the young slime to answer.
Which Slime#47 did, "To first level up and then raise stats through training."
"Yes, the universalmethod. Leveling up just by improving stats is tougher than leveling first and then raising stats." The old slime sighed, glancing at the grassy field.
'Damnit, I can only level up by raising stats,' the young slime scowled, glancing at the wooden fences like a prisonerstuck in jail.
------
The black sun had set, and the moon rose up...
Under the crimson rays of blood-red moons, the young slime and old slime wobbled in front of the training area.
"Since you have mastered Acid Fist, let's start movementskill," Elder Slime said seriously, piling up small rocks from the field.
"What are those rocksfor?" the young slime asked, wondering what they had to do with movement skill.
"It's simple—just dodgethe rocks." Elder Slime grinned way too happily and—whoosh!—flung one straight at him.
Smack!
"Ow—what the hell!" He bounced up, wobbling like stabbed jelly.
"Now, evade them, child." Elder Slime's grin widened as he—whoosh! whoosh!—threw rocks one by one, aiming at Slime#47.
------
Slime#47 turned red from blue as no part of him was left unharmed. However, he had a smile on his jelly face, glancing at the shimmering panel in his vision.
[ Ding!
You have acquired the skill 'Evade {Common}' ]
He tapped on it for more information.
[ —Skills—
—Evade Lv.1 {Common}
—Proficiency: 1/100
—Increases agility by 10%
—Increases concentration, allowing the user to dodge attacks
Note: Skill efficiency depends on aura input; more aura can increase effects. ]
"Looks like you finally got it," Elder Slime said, noticing the happy young slime.
"Yes, let's continue training," the youngling said excitedly, newly motivated by the notification.
Whoosh!—Whoosh!
[ Ding! Evade proficiency +1 ]
[ Ding! Evade proficiency +1 ]
[ Ding! Evade proficiency +1 ]
[ Ding! Evade proficiency +1 ]
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After three days...
The black sun was at its peak. Dark rays illuminatedthe world.
Slime#47 perspired blue sweat as—Whoosh!—he evaded another rock.
Whoosh!—Whoosh!—He rolled on the ground, leapt up, dodging five rocks in a row with full focus.
Whoosh!—Whoosh!Elder Slime threw two rocks at once, one in each hand.
Wob!—Wob!The youngling leapt up to evade them.
'It's hot,' the young slime mused, pausing in place as Elder Slime ran out of rocks.
[ Ding! Evade levelled up to Lv.3 ]
[ —Skills—
—Evade Lv.3 {Common}
—Proficiency 1/100
—Increases agility by 100%
—Increases concentration, allowing the user to dodge attacks
Note: Skill efficiency depends on aura; more aura input can increase effects. ]
Evade had evolved up twotimes—quickly, thanks to the young slime's request for faster results.
Elder Slime playfully agreed, surprising the youngling. He'd later realized why—he had to dodge two or more rocks at once. Before, the old slime threw one rock, but now two at once, allowing Slime#47 to progress at insane speed.
'Old Slime's got methods, alright… painful ones,' he muttered, rubbing his sore jelly with a groan.
Wob!—Splash!—The young slime leapt into the trough, splashing water everywhere.
'Ah, so relaxing,' He sank into the trough, water cooling the heat in his jelly blob.
Splash!—Elder Slime jumped into the water as well.
------
In the evening, the black sun began setting, leaving a faint crimson hue behind.
'It's too hot,' the young slime mused, wobbling out of the water. He asked Elder Slime, fearing it might be dangerous, "Is this kind of summer dangerousfor slimes?"
Old Slime replied nonchalantly, "We'll be fine as long as slimes drinkenough water. By the way, summer is just beginning—you haven't even felt the actual heat yet."
'You're kidding—this is only the start of summer?' He wobbled in disbelief, already feeling half-melted.
Wob!—Wob!—They wobbled back to the language training area.
"Th-… this … humaa…n lang-… guage … m-my name is … Slime Forty… Seven," he stammered, vowels stretching like his jelly body.
"Good, you just have to work on pronunciation; then you're done with Herica," Elder Slime grinned at the young one's progress.
"But Elder, what is the language that humans in our farm are speaking?" Young Slime asked. He still couldn't understand them and had figured out they weren't speaking Herica.
"It's Lithya, the third common human tongue," Old Slime answered. He was troubled about whether to teach that language to the young slime.
He felt that if Slime#47 understood those farm humans, he might lash out at them in anger.
After a few moments of thought, he decided to go with the flow.
One day, the young slime would eventually understand the nature of humans.
End of the chapter. ________________________________________________________________________