2 The 'System'
"It sure has been a while. I have dissolved most of the beast but I am still 'hungry'. The only part left is the heart but I do not know where it is."
"Although I would say that I am smart, I am in fact not familiar with the biology of never before seen creatures. Not gonna lie I am surprised I haven't puked yet. The inside of this beast is disgusting."
After two more hours of dissolving Mizuki finally stumbled upon something resembling a heart.
Dissolving a part of it a silver-like crystal that seemed to be filled with the energy that was flowing around the air fell out of the heart.
"This looks strangely appetizing."
Mizuki approached the silver crystal and tried to appraise it with the help of the system.
A notification appeared.
[The mana crystal of a never before seen race.]
[Holds a vast amount of mana. When absorbed is guaranteed to receive the skill of the monster.]
"Skill huh. That reminds me. I haven't tried to appraise myself."
[Name: Mizuki
Race: Slime
Title: None
Lv: 1
Class: None
Hp: 500/500
Mp: 1250/1250
STR: 15
VIT: 10
INT:25
AGI: 20
DEX: 10
DEF: 5
AP: 0
Element Affinity: None
Skills: [Dissolve] [Gain] [Synthesize] [Inspect] [Absurd HP Recovery] [Absurd MP Recovery] [High Magic Resistance] [High Physical Resistance]]
"I had all these skills and I didn't even know?"
Being a little angry at herself, Mizuki calmed down slightly after a minute.
"Well, at least I know now. Better late than never."
[Dissolve - Dissolves matter at an extremely fast pace. The stronger the matter the longer it will take to dissolve. Extra option of storing the dissolved matter in a different space.]
[Gain - Chance to gain the properties of the dissolved matter.]
[Synthesize - Fuse and unfuse objects of the same type. MP used is based on item type and rarity.]
[Inspect - Gain knowledge on items and beings. Maximum information gained from beings is limited to their name, race, class, HP and MP.]
[Absurd HP Recovery - Property of [Max Herb]. Regain 1% of HP every second.]
[Absurd MP Recovery - Property of [Max Herb]. Regain 1% of MP every second.]
[High Magic Resistance - Property of [Orichalcum]. Gain a 20% reduction in magical damage received.]
[High Physical Resistance - Property of [Orichalcum]. Gain a 20% reduction in physical damage received.]
"Lv 1 and I already have some really good skills. What I really like is the regeneration type skills of [Max Herb]. But where did I get that anyway?"
"All I remember dissolving is some grass and rocks near here and I really doubt that grass is rare on this planet."
Not knowing how many people would strangle her for that comment. Mizuki closed in on the Mana Crystal and ate it.
Suddenly multiple notifications popped up in front of her.
[Mana Crystal absorbed.]
[Due to the properties of the crystal an extra evolution option will become available.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Skill [Gain] activated. Received extra skill [Humanoid Transformation].]
After gaining everything she could, Mizuki dissolved the rest of the beast. And checked her new skill.
[Humanoid Transformation - Transform from your current form to a humanoid one. Allows acquiring of humanoid specific special skills.
Cost: 5% MP]
"A humanoid form? Well, I am not that used to my slime form so I might as well use it now."
[Humanoid Transformation failed - Monsters may gain a humanoid form in tier 2 at the earliest with the exception of monsters born with a humanoid form.]
"Goddammit. I need to reach tier 2? What even is that?"
[Tier 2 can be acquired by reaching Lv 20 and getting your first class up.]
"Oh, so you answer questions? Then tell me something. How did I end up here?"
Silence. The system did not answer.
"Che. Fine, be like that."
"I guess I'll try to reach Lv 20. I have a goal for now. The way I levelled up last time was eating that mana crystal that I found in the heart of that monster."
"There aren't any monsters around here so I'll go into the forest. But before that."
"I haven't tried the extra option of my [Dissolve] skill and there is plenty of grass and rocks to test it out on here."
After dissolving every piece of [Orichalcum] and every stem of [Max Herb] grass Mizuki slimed her way towards the forest while checking her status after the level-ups.
[Name: Mizuki
Race: Slime
Title: None
Lv: 6
Class: None
Hp: 750/750
Mp: 1750/1750
STR: 15
VIT: 10 - 15
INT:25 - 35
AGI: 20 - 25
DEX: 10 - 15
DEF: 5
AP: 25 - 0
Element Affinity: None
Skills: [Dissolve] [Gain] [Synthesize] [Inspect] [Absurd HP Recovery] [Absurd MP Recovery] [High Magic Resistance] [High Physical Resistance] [Humanoid Transformation]]
After distributing her available AP which she had guessed stood for Attribute Points into her VIT, INT, AGI and DEX she felt invigorated.
"It seems that HP and MP aren't the only things increasing due to the Attribute Points. My mind is much clearer and faster."
Taking a glance at her current Lv she 'smirked'.
"Only 14 levels to go."
She kept on sliming her way to the deeper parts of the forest.
...
It has been a few days. 4 to be exact.
Mizuki has stopped 'talking' and resorted to inner monologues to keep her sane. She was worried that the prey might hear her. What she did not know was that slimes can not speak so all that time she spent talking would actually be like a silent breeze to others.
'I have reached Lv 18 thanks to the neverending hunting. I still need 2 levels to reach tier 2. I should be able to do it today.'
On the first day, Mizuki was extremely lucky as she found a pack of sleeping wolves. [Inspect] told her that it was a pack of [Night Wolves].
[Night Wolves] usually hunt at night and use the daytime to sleep. They almost never wake up in the day as long as nothing stronger than them appears nearby their den.
What Mizuki did was first dissolve the entirety of the neck, starting with the vocal cords and then the heart.
No noise was made the entire time.
That pack boosted her level to 12.
The next three days Mizuki averaged 2 levels per day as there was nothing above her level in her current area.
She did not risk it and go deeper into the forest as she did not know if she was strong enough to survive.
Her current status was like this.
[Name: Mizuki
Race: Slime
Title: None
Lv: 18
Class: None
Hp: 1250/1250
Mp: 3250/3250
STR: 15 - 20
VIT: 15 - 25
INT: 35 - 65
AGI: 25 - 30
DEX: 15 - 25
DEF: 5 - 15
AP: 70 - 0
Element Affinity: None
Skills: [Dissolve] [Bloodline Infusion] [Synthesize] [Inspect] [Absurd HP Recovery] [Absurd MP Recovery] [High Magic Resistance] [High Physical Resistance] [Humanoid Transformation] [Assassination] [Slight Agility Increase]]
From the nonstop hunting, she had gained the skill [Assassination] as this was the way she killed most of her prey and the skill [Slight Agility Increase] from one of the [Night Wolves].
Apart from that her skill [Gain] seemed to have mutated.
[Bloodline Infusion - A mutated version of the rare skill [Gain]. Due to the constant consumption of blood, this skill has undergone an upgrade. Blood of any and all creatures can be absorbed and infused with the host. Increase chance to obtain innate and special skills from devoured enemies. Bloodline Infusion may slightly alter the appearance of humanoid forms.]
'Well, upgrades are always welcome. But I don't like the way this description talks about me being something like a vampire. The mana stone in the heart of the beasts is obviously surrounded by blood.'
As Mizuki was going her usual Hunting route she noticed the clang of metal and yelling from a side in the forest that she has not gone to yet.
Going in that direction out of pure curiosity she stumbled upon a group of humans fighting with swords and shields.
One of the humans was carrying a wooden staff and wearing a wizard hat.
'So is there magic in this world as well?' Thought Mizuki.
'It would not be that surprising considering the weird monsters around and the existence of skills.'
Watching the fight go on she noticed that the groups fighting seemed to be bandits and something similar to an adventuring party.
The adventurers' party was winning but then someone who seemed to be the bandit leader came from the back of the bandit group.
Mizuki used [Identify] on the two opposing sides to see who has the upper hand.
The adventuring party: Lv 8~10
The bandits: Lv 4~6
The bandit leader: Lv 15
Even though the adventuring party had a much larger Lv the bandit leader seemed extremely dangerous for some reason.
Even Mizuki who was 3 levels higher felt uneasy for some reason.
Mizuki then quickly realized that reason.
While the party member that seemed to be a wizard needed to chant some weird words to create a circle of runes to cast magic. The bandit leader was different.
He did not even need to lift a finger and suddenly the area around the adventurers was engulfed in flame. Mizuki would have widened her eyes if she had any. She didn't even notice a shift in mana.
It seemed like all he needed to do was think about it and it happened and yet all the attacks he threw at them were fire-based. Kind of like...
"[Pyrokinesis]? Is he something like an esper?"
The party of adventurers were almost wiped out except for the wizard.
The wizard was an older looking wizard with a mature face and even more mature features, at Lv 9 and at a height of around 170 cm.
Seeing as her party was mostly wiped out one of her party members that seemed to be an assassin said something to her.
No one heard what he said except the man himself and the woman who he said it.
Tears started falling down the woman's face as she started running.
She ran towards the forest. To be precise she ran straight to where Mizuki was watching the entire scene.
Screams of her party were heard as she covered her ears and eyes and kept running.
The man who she was talking to just before was now beheaded and burned to cinders.
Although this all seemed like a depressing sight that would foil anyone's mood. Mizuki was thinking about something completely different.
'I'll let that woman live. It's not like she is in my way. On the other hand.'
She gazed towards the bandit leader.
'I wonder. I can gain the abilities of monsters so..'
"Why not humans?"
