The town of Gruel
!
The ground was paved with large stone bricks, and the surrounding buildings were in the style of medieval Europe.
Anno asked passersby for directions until he arrived at the market.
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A row of stalls sold various things.
There were fruit stalls, household goods stalls, and vendors pushing carts.
Contrary to his expectations of being crowded, most of the stalls had few customers.
A few customers strolled along the streets, while the bored stall owners chatted to pass the time.
Anno walked around for a while and found a merchant dozing off on his cart.
After waking him up, Anno took the animal tooth out of his pocket.
The merchant, wearing glasses, examined the animal tooth for a while and said to Anno, "Oh, this is a gray wolf's tooth! If you think one silver coin is reasonable, you can sell it to me. Of course, you can sell it to other merchants as well. But I don't think anyone will offer more than one silver coin!" "
One silver coin!" Anno was stunned.
Just one tooth, worth one silver coin!
The merchant explained, "Gray wolf teeth are needed to make talismans!"
Anno didn't know what talismans were, but he still sold the tooth.
Putting the silver coin in his pocket, Anno asked for directions to the blacksmith's shop and went there.
Undoubtedly, he needed to buy weapons and then go out to hunt monsters to earn money.
Not only to accumulate monster souls, but also to raise money to heal his left hand.
Moreover, becoming a professional and learning skills also cost money, at least several silver coins!
Without money, even in this other world, it's difficult to move an inch.
Arriving at the blacksmith's shop, Anno let out a soft breath and went inside.
Behind the shop counter, a burly figure was examining the shop with a dagger in hand.
Hearing Anno enter, the figure put down the dagger and emerged from the shadows.
As Anno had expected, the blacksmith's owner was a massive, imposing man.
John, nearly 1.9 meters tall, was almost forty.
His arms were bulging with muscles, and his face was full of menacing features.
From a distance, he looked like a bear, quite intimidating.
His unkempt beard, combined with his bald head and small eyes, could frighten even a naked child.
"What do you want to buy?"
Old John's voice boomed, startling Anno.
"I...I'll take a look first!" Anno swallowed hard, speaking cautiously.
Old John ignored Anno.
Anno walked to the display wall and found it filled with farm tools.
There were also daggers and short knives, but all were short weapons.
The only long weapon was a longsword hanging at the very top!
It was 1.2 meters long, with a hilt about 20 centimeters.
The sword, forged from fine steel, gleamed with a cold light!
Anno's eyes lit up as he pointed at the longsword and asked, "How much is this?"
Old John glanced at Anno.
Because his trench coat had been lost in the battle, and his short-sleeved shirt was torn in several places, covering his left hand, Anno looked quite disheveled.
"Fine steel longsword, 15 silver coins, no bargaining!"
Hearing this price, the light in Anno's eyes faded.
15 silver coins!
That's too expensive!
A little embarrassed, Anno gave the weapon shop owner a smile and asked, "What weapons does your shop sell for less than 1 silver coin?"
Old John pointed to several clubs laid out on the ground and gestured with his chin, "Iron weapons start at several silver coins, and these clubs made from century-old wood are 50 copper coins each!"
Looking at the clubs, each over a meter long, on the ground, Anno grinned.
The prices here are too high!
And what can you even do with those big clubs?
"While it's not very useful against some powerful monsters, it's still manageable against slimes!" Old John said when Anno asked.
"Slimes? Where are slimes?" Anno perked up immediately upon hearing about slimes.
The goblins in the forest were too strong, and there were so many of them.
Even with a steel longsword, Anno felt it was very dangerous.
Now that he heard about slimes, of course he wanted to go and bully them!
Seeing Anno's excitement, Old John poured cold water on his enthusiasm.
"There are many slimes on the grasslands outside the town. But slimes are not easy to deal with; you can easily get seriously injured if you're not careful!"
Old John then told Anno about slimes.
Slimes are very common monsters on the grasslands.
These things can be killed with just a hard hit with a wooden stick.
He buys the slime skins he gets for 1 copper coin each!
Don't think slimes are easy to deal with; otherwise, they wouldn't be rampant on the grasslands outside the town.
Slimes can spray corrosive acid!
Getting hit by it can be troublesome.
Getting it on your hands and feet is fine; a little herbal medicine and ten days to two weeks of rest will do the trick. But
if it gets on your face, it could easily cause disfigurement!
Moreover, slimes are social creatures; angering one will attract a whole horde.
Ordinary people without armor wouldn't dare mess with these things and would simply avoid them.
A slime's attack range is less than three meters, so farmers can avoid injury as long as they're careful and keep their distance.
It's dangerous, but killing it only yields 1 copper coin.
Plus, slimes usually just eat dirt and grass on the grasslands and rarely attack people.
So nobody bothers with these round, dumpling-like monsters living on the grasslands.
Only during harvest season will the mayor try to hire low-level mercenary groups to deal with these slimes that damage crops.
After listening to Old John's words, Anno fell into deep thought, but ultimately decided to go to the grasslands to find slimes to level up with.
After all, these are already the weakest monsters; one hit is enough to kill them!
However, Anno was intrigued by the mention of "mercenaries" from Old John.
"Excuse me, do you mean the adventurers in the Adventurers' Guild?"
The old priest had mentioned yesterday that professionals could join mercenaries, something Anno had forgotten to ask.
When it comes to other worlds, the most distinctive feature is undoubtedly the adventurers.
Adventurers, harboring various dreams, slay monsters, earn gold, level up, and ultimately fight the Demon King!
Anno is currently struggling even against goblins, so he certainly wouldn't be fighting the Demon King.
But the Adventurers' Guild offers numerous quests, some high-difficulty, some low-difficulty!
Before heading out to fight monsters, he should check if there are any quests available.
However, to Anno's disappointment, Old John's answer was that this world doesn't have an Adventurers' Guild, nor does it have the profession of adventurer.
The only connection is with mercenaries.
Mercenaries accept commissions and receive rewards.
In terms of their methods, mercenaries seem similar to adventurers.
But in reality, the two are vastly different.
First, a mercenary group is a professional organization. One must first become a professional and pass the mercenary group's examination to join and take on missions with the group.
Second, mercenary groups offer high rewards for missions—after
all, they have to support so many people. Ordinary people won't post missions unless it's something serious.
This is why no mercenary group stays in Gruul Town.
Here, practically no one posts missions; a mercenary group would starve to death sooner or later!
In contrast, adventurers have a relatively leisurely profession.
They work alone.
From slaying dragons and demons to cleaning rats in the sewers, they'll do it all! They
might die on a mission at any time.
But this doesn't affect others.
Except for close friends, no one cares about an adventurer's life or death.
Of course, adventurers can also form adventurer parties!
The significance of adventurer parties is similar to that of mercenary groups.
But the problem is, because of the existence of mercenary groups, there are no adventurer guilds in this world, and no adventurers or adventurer parties to deal with the slimes in the grasslands outside the town or the goblins in the forest!
Unless these goblins multiply to the point of attacking villages and towns, plundering food and women, and threatening the safety of Gruul Town,
only then will the mayor send someone with a commission to Val'kam to hire a mercenary group to resolve the situation.
In short,
Anno's idea of becoming an adventurer and earning money through quests is off the table.
But then he thought, since there's no adventurers' guild in this other world, he can start the first one.
Although he currently lacks money and strength
, with the [Spirit of Sacrifice], these things will come.
Once the adventurers' guild is established, Anno can earn money effortlessly!
"I've decided, I'm going to start an adventurers' guild in this other world!"
On
the grassland outside the town of Gruul,
a young man wearing a tattered short-sleeved shirt and carrying a meter-long wooden club in his right hand was squatting behind a rock.
Anno glanced at his information panel. Name: Anno. Race: Human Level: 1 Experience: 20/100 Class: None
Magic : 10/10 Skills: None Talent: Spirit Keeper! After a night's rest, his magic was fully restored. In front of him, a bluish-green jelly-like creature was eating grass. There were many other jelly-like creatures nearby, sometimes rolling around, sometimes jumping half a meter high and hopping around. Hopping made them run faster. "These are slimes!" Anno stared at the ball of flesh in front of him for a while; it looked similar to the slimes he remembered. Unlike goblins, Anno could see information about slimes. Race: Slime; Level: 1 ; HP : 10/10; MP: 60/60; Skills: [Devour], [Perception], [Acid Spray]. There were some slightly larger slimes in the distance, but Anno couldn't see their information. Anno guessed that he could only see information about monsters lower than himself. Anything he couldn't see was higher level than him! Having figured this out, Anno decided to target the level 1 slime first. "This beginner monster in the game can actually cause trouble for ordinary people!" After the blacksmith's reminder, Anno no longer underestimated slimes. Anything called a monster ultimately poses a threat to humans. Gripping his wooden stick tightly, Anno kept his eyes fixed on the slime in front of him. He was waiting for the slime to approach. However, what Anno didn't know was that slimes didn't have eyes; they sensed the surrounding creatures through their meager magical power. When Anno was three meters away from the slime, the slime sensed a creature in that direction. This distance was now within the slime's warning and attack range. "Pfft!" A jet of water shot out from the slime's body, landing in an arc near Anno. "Sizzle sizzle sizzle..." The acid made a corrosive sound the moment it touched the stone. "Holy crap!" Anno, hiding behind the stone, was startled. He didn't even know how he had been exposed. Luckily, he had hidden behind a stone for safety. If he had been lying flat on the grass waiting for the slime to spray, he would definitely have been seriously injured and sent back to town. However, after a brief moment of surprise, Anno climbed out from behind the stone, brandishing his club and charging towards the slime. The weapon shopkeeper had said that after the slime sprayed once, it would take at least ten seconds before it could spray again. This was the perfect opportunity for Anno to kill the slime. But who knew that after spraying, the slime would turn around and jump away into the distance. There were hordes of slimes there! If one got past it, Anno wouldn't have a chance. "Little cutie, sneezes~!" Anno leaped into the air, slamming his club down on the hopping slime below. *Thud!* The slime, the size of a vegetable basket, was smashed to pieces, splattering an unknown liquid everywhere. Then, a white object floated up from the dead slime and merged into Anno's body. [Harvested Slime Soul x1] His experience points on his attribute panel increased by 5! "Only 5 experience points for one slime!" Anno exclaimed, surprised. He had gained 70 experience points from killing a goblin yesterday. However, remembering the goblins' fighting power, Anno decided it was better to stick to farming slimes. "Chirp!" "Chirp!" Nearby slimes spotted Anno, chirping as they hopped towards him. Some of the closer slimes even launched an [Acid Spray] at Anno from several meters away. "Get out of here!" Anno scrambled back behind the rock, startled. Realizing the slimes were chasing him, he hastily retreated several hundred meters. Only after leaving the grassland and reaching the main road did Anno, panting, lean against a rock to rest. "They really hold grudges!" Anno hadn't expected the slimes to catch up. But that didn't matter anymore. Anno raised his right hand, looking at a tattered slime skin, and chuckled. When he harvested slime souls, Anno already knew how to summon slimes.
All it takes is sacrificing a slime skin and a slime soul to summon a slime to fight for you.
A slime skin can be sold for 1 copper coin.
But Anno didn't hesitate to sacrifice the slime skin and soul, summoning a slime.
Just kidding, it's only 1 copper coin!
Using a summoned slime to kill other slimes, isn't that better?
After glancing around and finding no one, Anno spread the slime skin flat on the ground and released the slime soul.
The next moment, a slime the same size as before appeared.
As soon as the slime appeared, it immediately began to gnaw on the soil.
After swallowing the soil, Anno could clearly see the soil particles.
He could even see the soil decompose and disappear with the naked eye.
Anno, who controlled this slime, understood that this was the slime's passive skill [Devour].
It could digest soil, grass, and even stones!
That's right!
The slime digests things through a passive skill, so the slime inside its body is not corrosive.
The slime also has a passive skill, [Perception].
It's not very useful; it's basically the slime's eyes.
As for its active skill, it only has one:
[Acid Spray]!
It can spray acid up to three meters away.
It reloads every ten seconds, and can fire a maximum of six times!
Unfortunately,
although [Acid Spray] only consumes 10 mana points, the slime's total mana is only 60.
After its mana is depleted, it takes at least an hour to regenerate.
"It's so short-lived!"
Anno said, but inwardly he was incredibly envious.
Even setting aside the slime's active skill, its mere 60 mana points made Anno somewhat jealous.
Anno only had a pitiful 10 mana points, which were already zero after summoning the slime.
Blue Boy is really troublesome; it takes at least half an hour to regenerate!
However, the slime's body is really soft; it feels so comfortable to touch.
Anno toyed with the summoned slime for a while, placed it at his feet, lunged sideways, pointed his right hand at the grassland he had just been on, and shouted in a melodramatic voice, "Slime, I choose you!"
"Chirp chirp!"
"Biu~"
The summoned slime obediently jumped into the air and fired a shot forward.
Upon seeing this, Anno immediately jumped up and cursed, "Damn it, there are only six bullets, and you wasted one!"
To prevent the slime from firing randomly, Anno immediately used his willpower to control it and stop using [Acid Spray].
Afterwards, the two of them returned to the grassland and launched an attack on the wild slimes.
After about three minutes, Anno sneaked back to the grassland with his summoned slime.
The rock he had used to hide behind was now surrounded by slimes.
"Strange, isn't this rock a little smaller than before?"
Anno grinned, looking at the rock from afar.
These slimes really do eat all the time! "
Little
Slime, it's time to show your worth!" Anno patted the slime beside him and whispered, "Go!"
"Chirp!"
The slime Anno called Little Slime chirped and hopped towards the group of slimes.
Slimes, being mindless creatures, had no way of knowing that this hopping slime wasn't one of them.
Little Slime arrived without any hindrance next to a slime rolling around on the grass.
The nearest slime to this one was at least five meters away, perfect for a stealthy kill.
"Little Slime, fire!"
Anno excitedly gave the order from afar.
"Biu~"
A spray of acid hit the playful slime.
Faced with an acid attack from its own kind, the slime's fragile body couldn't withstand it, and a hole was instantly corroded in it.
From Anno's perspective, the hit slime was bleeding, losing two drops of health per second!
Anno, watching from a distance, saw that the attacked slime seemed to have shrunk, but because it was hidden in the grass, its vision was obscured, and Anno couldn't tell the exact situation.
Just as Anno was about to sneak over to check, it suddenly occurred to it that since it could control summoned creatures, could it also have the slime's vision?
With this thought, Anno immediately tried it out.
When Anno connected with Little Slime using its will, it suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
Two or three seconds later, the dizziness subsided.
But Anno found that it couldn't open its eyes.
No, not that it couldn't open its eyes.
"He's blind now.
" "I think I've taken over Mum's body. I can sense the surrounding terrain and creatures."
Anno experienced this new perspective.
In his perception, everything around him was clearly visible, as if scanned by an X-ray.
Ahead of him was a slime that was constantly shrinking.
It was the one Mum had attacked with acid.
As the slime's slime drained, leaving only a slime skin, Anno saw a white substance appear above the corpse and float away into the distance.
His experience points also increased by 5.
"Done!"
Overjoyed, Anno immediately withdrew from Mum's body and returned to his own.
[Gained Slime Soul x1]
Slimes are much weaker than goblins in combat.
However, the current slime is usable!
Once he reaches a higher level, Anno plans to clear out the goblins in the forest.
He hasn't forgotten the scene of the goblins dragging away the woman.
Anno didn't immediately rush over to collect the slime skin, but instead ordered Mum to continue attacking the surrounding level 1 slimes.
[Gained 1 Slime Soul, Experience Points +5].
[Gained 1 Slime Soul, Experience Points +5].
...
In less than two minutes, Little Mu ran out of magic power, killed five slimes, and cleared a small area.
"I could have killed six!"
Anno, who was secretly collecting slime skins, was still thinking about the bullet Little Mu had wasted earlier.
The five slimes gave Anno 25 experience points. With the previous 25 experience points, he only needed to kill 10 more slimes to level up.
Anno remembered that [Spirit Offering] could learn monster skills by consuming monster souls.
However, when Anno wanted to learn [Acid Spray], he found that it required consuming 100 slime souls.
"A hundred slimes, huh!"
Anno glanced at the grassland in front of him and gripped the club in his hand.
"It's just a hundred, how can it be difficult for me!"
With that, he picked up the club and approached a lone slime.
...
In nearly half an hour, under Anno's cautious approach, he killed 7 slimes without taking any damage.
During this time, Little Mu's restored magic also allowed him to fire two more shots, killing 2 slimes.
Now, only one slime was needed for Anno to level up.
Since there were no lone slimes, Anno didn't dare to rush in himself and had to wait for Little Mu's magic to recover.
When Little Mu's magic reached 10/60, Anno immediately commanded it to charge into the slime swarm and use [Acid Spray] to kill a level 1 slime.
[Gained Slime Soul x1, Experience +5]
Anno eagerly opened his panel and glanced at the changes.
Name: Anno.
Race: Human.
Level: 2.
Experience: 0/200
Occupation: None
Magic Power: 10/20
Skills: None
Talent: Spirit Summoner!
"Waaaaah, my maximum magic power has finally increased!"
Anno was incredibly excited.
His maximum magic power hadn't increased when he leveled up from 0 to 1, and he was worried it wouldn't increase now either.
Thankfully, it increased by 10 points.
Not only that, Anno also felt a warm current surge through his body.
"I feel a little stronger!"
Anno gripped the wooden stick, feeling the changes in his body.
This was the positive feedback from leveling up.
Turning to look at the larger slime among the group of slimes in the distance, Anno saw new information.
Race: Slime
Level: 2
Health: 20/20
Magic Power: 100/100
Skills: [Devour] [Perception] [Acid Spray]
Health has doubled, and total magic power has increased by forty points, but it's still as fragile as ever.
Using the 10 restored magic power, he summoned another slime, and Anno found that Little Slime II's information had also become the same as the level 2 slime's panel.
"It seems my summoned creature's level is the same as mine, unaffected by the soul material."
Anno first sent Little Mu II to instantly kill a level 1 wild slime, only to find the experience points gained had dropped from 5 to 2!
The gains were significantly reduced!
To reach level 3, he needed to kill 100 level 1 slimes.
He then sent Little Mu II to spray acid at a wild level 2 slime, noticing that although the slime's health only dropped by 2 points, its skin was scorched by the acid, and its health continued to decrease!
Soon, it had lost all 20 health points.
[Gained Slime Soul x1, Experience +5].
"Does killing creatures of the same level always give 5 experience points?"
Anno pondered for a moment, then sent Little Mu I to the slime whose information he couldn't see.
Since the slime's skin would bleed to death after being scorched by the acid, why not directly attack level 3 or even higher slimes?
Killing enemies of a higher level should always give an experience bonus!
Thinking this, Anno ordered Little Mu 1 to unleash an [Acid Spray] on the slime whose information he couldn't view.
He thought things would go smoothly, but unexpectedly, the slime, which was probably level 3, suddenly jumped up just before the acid hit it.
As it landed, it flattened Little Mu 1!
"What?!"
Seeing this, Anno quickly told Little Mu 2 to stop and move away from the slime that appeared to be level 3.
"I didn't expect it would actually attack its own kind." Anno felt a pang of heartache.
Little Mu 1 was gone just like that.
Now behaving itself, Anno dared not provoke higher-level slimes anymore, so he sent Little Mu 2 to ambush level 2 slimes.
He himself, armed with a stick, only targeted lone level 1 and 2 slimes.
After
nearly two hours of grinding slimes, by noon, Anno's level had reached level 3.
Name: Anno.
Race: Human .
Level: 3.
Experience: 2/300.
Class: None.
Magic: 9/30.
Skills: None. Talent:
Spirit Summoner.
[Slime Souls x95]
The main problem was the scarcity of level 2 slimes; Anno had only killed ten.
The rest were level 1 slimes.
At this moment, Anno was accompanied by four hopping slimes, all at level 2.
Little Slime #2 had also died; while killing wild slimes, it was surrounded by nearby wild slimes and followed in Little Slime #1's footsteps.
These four slimes were summoned by Anno later.
"If it weren't for the fact that I only recover 10 mana every half hour, I would have a whole army of slimes by now!"
Anno sat behind a rock, counting his loot and slime skins.
Actually, there was no need to count; just looking at the slime souls was enough to tell there were 95.
But Anno was simply enjoying the thrill of counting money.
One slime skin sold for 1 copper coin.
That was 95 copper coins!
If it weren't for the fact that summoned slimes would simply dissipate upon death, leaving no skin behind, Anno could have earned two more copper coins.
The 95 slime skins stacked up were a good 20 centimeters high.
He took off his tattered short-sleeved shirt and wrapped the slime skins in it.
That way, no one would know what he was carrying.
Picking up the wooden stick, Anno thought he'd go back to town to sell the slime skins, have lunch, and continue his work in the afternoon.
Just as Anno was about to get up, he suddenly noticed a shadow under his feet growing larger and larger.
"Oh no!"
Alarmed, Anno immediately rolled forward.
The next instant, a huge sphere crashed down from the sky, creating a large crater in the ground.
Slimes 3 through 6 were instantly killed!
"Holy crap, that's huge!"
Anno, getting up from the ground, looked back and almost popped his eyes out.
A slime, about a meter in diameter, appeared, its upper body leaning backward, seemingly preparing to do something.
No information could be gleaned, but Anno estimated it was at least level 5!
"Damn it!"
Seeing its stance, Anno turned and ran.
The little slime made the same move as it prepared to spray acid.
"Pfft!"
The giant slime sprayed a large amount of acid at Anno.
If the little slime's firepower was a water gun,
then the giant slime's was a high-pressure hose.
Even from ten meters away, some acid still got on Anno's arm.
"Hiss~!"
Anno immediately winced in pain, quickly wiping the acid off with his shirt.
In just a short time, a palm-sized patch of skin on his arm had been corroded, revealing red flesh.
After spraying acid, the giant slime charged up again, preparing to leap.
Anno dared not stop; clutching his wooden stick and the slime's hide, he ran for his life.
Although the giant slime kept chasing, Anno's physique increased after leveling up to level 3, and his speed also increased.
Before long, Anno had left the giant slime far behind and reached the bridge in front of Gruul Town.
"Ouch, ouch!"
Feeling the corrosive wounds on his arm, Anno broke out in a cold sweat.
He ran nonstop to the blacksmith's shop, sold the slime hides to Old John, keeping only 3 slime hides for backup, and then ran frantically with the money to find the old priest for treatment.
Fortunately, he had sold the gray wolf tooth for 1 silver coin, and after deducting the cost of the wooden stick and breakfast, he still had 48 copper coins left.
Adding the 92 copper coins from selling the slime hides, Anno had 140 copper coins.
He gave the priest 120 copper coins, repaying the 20 copper coins he owed from yesterday, and shouted, "Quick, quick, heal me!"
The old priest didn't waste any words, waving his staff and chanting a spell.
"Phew!"
The light shone, and Anno felt the pain gradually subside, finally letting out a sigh of relief. The
pain was truly unbearable just now; even yesterday, when a goblin bit off his finger, it hurt just as much!
"You ran into a slime?" The old priest shook his head. "You haven't even chosen a profession, why did you go and mess with a slime?"
Anno was on the verge of tears.
Everything was fine until suddenly such a huge slime appeared.
There was such a large slime on the grassland outside the town; was it really okay not to get someone to get rid of it?
Even Anno was forced into this situation; he didn't believe an ordinary person could survive encountering a giant slime.
What Anno didn't know was that this giant slime was the leader of the slimes on the grassland outside the town.
Usually, it would sunbathe and nibble on the mud.
Today, it suddenly sensed that many small slimes had died, so it came out to check, and then it found Anno.
"What a loss!"
Not only did he not earn any copper coins, but he also lost eight copper coins to treat his injuries.
Anno finally understood why no one bothered to deal with the slimes that ordinary people could kill.
He spent the whole morning working and still lost money; if an ordinary person encountered a giant slime, they might not even bother coming back.
"Damn it!"
Anno got angrier and angrier.
He spent four copper coins to buy two loaves of black bread to fill his stomach and then set off again.
He didn't go to the blacksmith to upgrade his equipment.
Even a wooden shield cost one silver coin, which he couldn't afford!
...
On the grassland outside the town of Gruul.
Because Anno had killed nearly a hundred slimes that morning, there were no slimes within a few hundred meters of the road.
To find slimes, he needed to venture deeper into the grassland.
"I only need five more slime souls to learn slime skills."
Anno observed his surroundings to prevent the giant slime from attacking him again, while keeping an eye on the souls he had accumulated.
All it takes is a hundred slime souls to learn slime skills.
Anno was quite looking forward to it.
After all, he was still a weakling, and he needed to learn more skills to improve his combat power!
"A lone level 2 slime spotted!" Anno's eyes narrowed as he spotted the target in a clump of grass.
The slime was almost blending into the grass, making it almost impossible to spot without careful observation.
"Summon!"
Anno took out a slime skin, sacrificed a soul, and summoned a slime.
"Little Slime No. 7, go!"
"Chirp!"
The level 3 Little Slime No. 7 immediately rolled to within two meters of the target and spat out a stream of acid!
The target was killed without any surprise. Anno glanced at the increasing number of slimes ahead and summoned two more.
His 30 points of mana were immediately depleted.
The three slimes hopped and skipped towards the target, beginning to earn slime souls for Anno.
[Gained 1 Slime Soul, Experience Points +2]
[Gained 1 Slime Soul, Experience Points +2]
[Gained 1 Slime Soul, Experience Points +5]
...
This time, Anno didn't attack the slime himself. He wanted to save his strength and energy to deal with the giant slime that might appear at any time.
"With my current strength, I'm definitely no match for the giant slime. But if I run away as soon as I see it, it won't be able to catch me!"
Thinking this, Anno observed the surrounding movements more carefully.
In less than five minutes, the three summoned slimes killed eight wild slimes.
The slime souls were finally collected to 100!
[Consume 100 slime souls to learn Devour?]
[Consume 100 slime souls to learn Basic Perception?]
[Consume 100 slime souls to learn Acid Spray?]
"It's here!"
Anno, who was lying in the grass, brightened up and immediately chose to learn [Acid Spray].
With a thought, 100 slime souls were depleted.
Anno felt as if he had been struck by electricity.
A tingling, numb sensation, almost like reaching the pinnacle of life.
It was like receiving a full-body massage.
No pain, just pure bliss and comfort.
This process lasted very short, only about three seconds.
When the tingling sensation subsided, Anno looked at his right hand.
It was as if it were etched into his DNA.
He could now use [Acid Spray]!
Since [Acid Spray] consumes 10 mana points, and Anno only had 2 mana points recovered, he couldn't use the skill at all.
Patiently waiting for his mana to recover to 10, Anno was eager to try out his first skill.
"You're the one!"
Anno fixed his gaze on a level 2 slime.
The slime was less than five meters away from Anno, and with a few quick steps, he was within three meters of its range.
Reaching his designated spot, Anno held out his right hand, palm facing the target, and raised it slightly.
"Acid Spray! Hit me!"
With a low murmur, a stream of acid suddenly shot from his right palm.
The acid landed in a parabola on the target's round body, corroding a hole in it.
Watching the target's body deflate, Anno couldn't help but smile.
"Haha, I finally learned the skill!"
Although Anno had killed many slimes with wooden sticks before, this was the first monster he had killed with a monster skill!
In terms of power, his [Acid Spray] was about the same as the slime's.
The only drawback was that it consumed too much mana.
Ten mana points per shot was less efficient than summoning a slime.
The summoned level 3 slime had 30 HP and 150 mana!
Race: Slime
Level: 3
HP: 30/30
Mana: 150/150
Skills: [Devour] [Perception] [Acid Spray]
This was much more cost-effective than using [Acid Spray] himself.
"However, the skill I learned can be used as long as I have mana. Unlike [Spirit Offering], which has prerequisites for activation!"
"I'll still summon slimes to fight from now on!"
Anno felt that summoning slimes was much more worthwhile than personally fighting the enemy.
After that, every half hour, when his mana recovered to ten points, Anno would summon a slime to assist in the battle.
Anno could only summon more slimes when there were five summoned slimes simultaneously.
Simply put, he currently only had five summoning slots!
But even with only five, these level 3 summoned slimes could easily hunt down level 1 and 2 slimes.
150 points of mana could sustain them firing [Acid Spray] 15 times consecutively.
Including the time spent searching for targets, they could kill about 60 wild slimes in about twenty minutes!
However, slimes only regenerate one point of mana per minute, and once their mana is depleted, they need to rest for two and a half hours to fully recover.
During the mana regeneration period, Anno would only attack if a slime was alone; otherwise, he would remain hidden in the grass.
He didn't want to get injured again and waste his afternoon's harvest.
Fortunately, the giant slime didn't appear all afternoon.
By evening, Anno had collected 214 slime hides!
A large area of the grassland had been slaughtered by Anno, making it much emptier.
"Chirp!" "Chirp!"
The five summoned slimes, having exhausted their magic power, now surrounded Anno.
"Well done!"
Anno picked up the slime skins from the ground, touched each summoned slime, and then put them away.
This was an ability Anno had discovered this afternoon; as long as the summoned creatures hadn't died in battle, they could be stored in a place similar to a summoned creature space.
Anno was now preparing to return to town and certainly couldn't take a bunch of slimes back with him, so he naturally put them away.
"I already have 214 slime souls?"
Anno looked at his soul reserves. He had consumed 100 slime souls to learn the [Low-Level Perception] skill for slimes.
At this moment, Anno's stats changed once again.
Name: Anno.
Race: Human.
Level: 3.
Experience: 281/300.
Class: None.
Magic Power: 30/30
Skills: [Low-Level Perception] [Acid Spray]
Talent: [Spirit Sacrifice]
[Slime Souls x114]
At Anno's current level, killing a level 1 slime only yields 1 experience point, and a level 2 slime yields 2 experience points.
While a level 3 slime yields 5 experience points and is easier to kill, the key issue is that level 3 slimes are rare on the grasslands; Anno barely encountered any all afternoon.
Despite killing quite a few slimes that afternoon, his level still hadn't broken through to level 4!
Having learned the new skill, Anno immediately tried it out.
However, the slime's passive skill became an active skill after Anno learned it.
"Low-Level Perception, activate!"
Closing his eyes, an invisible magical force spread outwards from him.
The surrounding environment immediately appeared in Anno's mind.
Grass, stones, crawling insects—all appeared in grayish-white.
Just like the scene Anno 'saw' when he took over Little Mu No. 1's body.
The only pity was that the range was only three meters in radius!
"Damn, at this close range, do I even need to use perception?"
Anno was a little annoyed.
But upon closer thought, how strong could a slime's skill be?
However, the cost of [Low-Level Perception] wasn't high; it only consumed 1 drop of magic power and lasted for ten seconds.
"Just 19 more experience points, and I can reach level four by tomorrow morning."
Anno, carrying a thick stack of slime hides, headed towards Gruul Town.
He easily found his way to the blacksmith's shop, left 5 slime hides, and sold the remaining 209 to Old John.
Old John's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw so many slime hides.
He thought he had already reached his limit by selling so many in the morning.
He didn't expect to double that amount in the afternoon!
Moreover, when Anno came in the morning, his arm had clearly been hit by the slime's acid and was injured. But
in the afternoon, he wasn't injured at all.
"What a little monster! Could I have misjudged him? Is this kid actually a professional? But his body doesn't look like that of a trained professional!"
Old John muttered as he took out two silver coins and nine copper coins for Anno.
"Kid, I still have to remind you,"
Old John suddenly said as Anno was about to leave. "There's a Slime King deep in the grasslands! Even low-level professionals would be in mortal danger if they encountered that guy. If you run into him, remember to run for your life!"
"A Slime King?" Anno thought Old John was referring to the giant slime he'd encountered that morning and quickly asked, "Have any professionals fought the Slime King before?"
Old John was silent for a moment before slowly nodding and saying, "Two years ago, slimes were rampant, destroying many crops and frequently appearing on the roads.
The townspeople pooled their money to have the mayor hire a mercenary group from Valkam to deal with the slimes.
This mercenary group thought the slimes weren't a threat, so they sent a level 5 warrior to handle it.
The first two days went smoothly, but then the Slime King appeared, and the level 5 warrior was no match for him. He was eventually eaten by the Slime King!"