Syl

Chapter 17: Target Practice

Waking up, the first thing on my mind was my mana condition, so I pulled up my status menu.

Name: -

Race: Slime (Blue) LV 8

Class: -

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

'So now it's overflowing? I wish I had looked at my status when I first unlocked mana, but after a full night's rest, I want to assume this is the highest it'll go...' I mumbled to myself as I did my usual morning routine.

Having conquered the guardian of the pond, I didn't have any immediate goals, so I just wanted to do some fishing and continue my training practice. My first plan was to use [Mana Reinforcement] until my status changed, and then I'd go fishing and see if it changed back. Also, my [Sub-Core] was still going at it, making a tendril, flexing it, then reabsorbing it and repeating. It must have looked bizarre and was reserving one of my precious few tendrils, but I felt it was worth it.

Heading towards the previous day's training area, I began swinging slime weapons infused with mana at trees again. Smack. Crash. Slam. Crack. I kept checking, but it didn't seem to be changing. I then dual-wielded rapiers and infused both, then went on my stabbing frenzy again. Finally, after committing far too much tree genocide, my status finally changed.

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'Great, let's go fishing now and see if this changes back.' I then looked around at the tree carnage surrounding me, 'Well... Let's clean this up first...' and started dissolving the fallen trees one by one.

The pond was pretty quiet today, with only a few deer drinking water and the giant bugs dipping into the water. I wanted to start trying to shoot at the bugs for target practice, and I was curious if they gave good experience and slime mass. However, I was worried about losing concentration on checking my mana status, so I'd fish for now and maybe [Slime Shot] some bugs later.

Fishing was quite soothing, and it was nice to have easy meals coming towards me rather than needing to chase after things myself. It was also entertaining to use various slime shapes, each with its own quirks and benefits when trying to catch fish. It was, however, a little concerning how everything seemed to find my slime tasty: humans, frogs, wolves, and even fish.

Thinking back to that wolf I killed by just pulling it inside my slime, I had an idea to create my greatest fishing tool yet, but I would need to borrow my [Sub-Core]. I dangled a large tendril deep into the pond, then sent my [Sub-Core] into it and transferred vision, and suddenly I was experiencing being underwater. Now, with vision, I would send out tiny slime spears to hook into the fish and drag them inside whenever they took a nibble.

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I even finally pushed my [Sub-Core] to the next level. The only issue was this was maybe too effective, and I'd soon depopulate the entire pond. I recalled my [Sub-Core] and [Pseudopod] and checked my status.

Mana: Overflowing

I was happy with the results and set my [Sub-Core] to operate and maintain [Mana Reinforcement] on my core. This way, I could see if the cost outweighed my regeneration while keeping my core reinforced for more defense, and if [Mana Circulation] gained experience by expending and regaining mana, then I'd be training three traits at once!

Now, I wanted to try shooting the bugs. At first, I tried shooting some pond water, but it couldn't reach a reasonable distance. I didn't want to risk losing my tusks, so I spent some time gathering rocks. My first few shots were terrible; the bugs were fast, my accuracy was pathetic, and the worst part was they weren't even actively trying to dodge my shots.

After much trial and error, I eventually hit one, which buzzed loudly and flew towards the direction the rock came from - towards me. It spotted me when it got close enough and proceeded to divebomb with its proboscis forward like a lance. I withdrew some slime mass, retreated my core to my rear, and actively turned on my [Acid Slime]. I tried firing my remaining rocks at it, but now it was actively dodging, and when my rock ammo ran out, I switched to water. The bug penetrated my slime with a wet plopping noise and promptly melted headfirst.

'Well... Not quite what I expected. I guess I can continue shooting at the rest without worry.'

I spent time gathering more rocks, and my mana status remained the same, which gave me the theory that reinforcing for defense used less mana. When I started shooting at the second bug, it caused a bad case of déjà vu by being a near-perfect replication of the previous scene.

But the third bug I hit first try, and while it was flying at me, I landed another rock, which didn't do much to stop its charge, and it died like the rest by melting in the slime. But when that second rock hit it, I received a surprise notification moments before the death notification.

I hurried through my status menu to pull up the new skill.

This skill adds minor accuracy corrections to attacks scaling with level.

This skill also assists in attempting to overcome the [Evasion] skill.>

'I like that. My shooting is pathetically bad, so I appreciate any assistance. Also good to know there's a skill for dodging... I really could use that too...' I thought to myself while memories of trying and failing to dodge the green slime's shots and the frog's tongue mocked me.

Before I called it a day, I decided to shoot at one more bug, and it was a noticeable improvement as I hit it first try and then two more times while it was charging to its doom.

They were good shooting practice but mediocre in the slime mass department, falling somewhere between a jackalope and a deer. While heading home, my mana status still hadn't changed, and I considered leaving it on while I slept.

I continued my evening practice with [Slime Shape] while checking my mana status, and eventually, it finally changed again.

Mana: Flooding

I decided it was worth the risk to leave it on overnight. I eventually stopped my practice and went to bed, disappointed it didn't reach the breakthrough I felt was so close. I settled down again for a peaceful sleep, listening to the rustling wind and distant howls.