Chapter 11: CH. 11 | Another Rookie Adventurer

He looked ahead and saw several slimes standing right in front of him. As Theo took them in, two things came to mind.

First, his Authority Quest. He still had a task waiting to be completed, one that offered 50exp and 100authexp as rewards. Second, the skill he’d picked up, the Extraction Skill.

Right before charging back into attack, Theo used the brief moment he had to pull up his system panel, focusing on the Authority Quest.

[2nd Authority Quest:]

[Objective: Use the Foresight Skill against a monster for more than 5 seconds]

[Reward: 50exp || 100 authexp]

[Status: Incomplete]

From that panel, Theo could see that the objective of the second authority quest was to use his foresight ability against a monster. He needed to keep it active for more than five seconds.

Theo could just use it right now to peek five seconds into the future. But that wouldn’t be all that useful if there wasn’t much meaningful movement from the slimes.

He decided to bait them by rushing closer. The moment he saw an aggressive reaction from the slimes, Theo acted immediately.

[Authority of Mystic Eyes Triggered!]

[Foresight Skill Activated!]

Theo shut his eyes briefly, then opened them again less than two seconds later.

His eyes took in a world turned gray, the real bodies and future images of the slimes both visible at once, along with a duration panel counting down as he kept the skill running.

He watched the future images move forward, charging at Theo with body slam attacks. Not just one, but three slimes leaping toward him at once.

[Future Observation Duration: 00:00:00:05]

Theo realized five seconds wasn’t giving him the full picture. He needed to see further ahead, past the five second mark.

His decision paid off. Among the three slimes attacking him, there was another slime that hadn’t reacted at all. That one could become Theo’s target while he dodged the other three.

[Future Observation Duration: 00:00:00:09]

Once he felt he’d seen enough, Theo closed his eyes for a longer stretch, deactivating his foresight skill. When he opened them again, the world’s colors returned to normal, and he found himself back at the starting point.

Theo remembered exactly how the three slimes would attack. He moved fast, running toward the other slime that hadn’t reacted yet.

The plan worked! He slipped past the three slimes with ease and drove his sword deep into the bubbling body of the target slime, striking the slime core at its center.

The slime core shattered, and the monster’s body collapsed and turned to liquid, soaking into the grass of the savanna.

In response to Theo’s kill, another notification panel appeared. It seemed like this panel would keep popping up with every monster he took down.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed a monster]

[Type: Water Slime (F-Rank)]

[Reward: +10exp]

[EXP: 70/150] [+10exp]

He stood over the puddle left behind by the slime. He reached his hand out toward the spot where it had died. It was time for Theo to try out his extraction skill.

A blue light flared to life in Theo’s palm, followed immediately by a system panel confirming the skill had activated successfully.

[Skill Extraction Activated]

[You performed a Deep Extraction and successfully obtained an item]

[Reward: 1x Slime Acid Bubble]

A slime acid bubble? What’s that?

The item appeared in Theo’s hand like a small water balloon. When he shook it, the liquid inside sloshed around visibly.

The moment the word acid crossed his mind, he figured this balloon might actually be some kind of weapon he could use against them. To test it, he threw the thing forward.

The slime acid bubble landed on a nearby slime. The monster’s body dissolved instantly on contact with the acidic liquid inside.

Oh... so I can use this thing to kill them too?

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed a monster]

[Type: Water Slime (F-Rank)]

[Reward: +10exp]

[EXP: 80/150] [+10exp]

Same amount of exp either way, guess I just need to keep killing them!

Theo raised his sword again and pushed forward, slashing, stabbing, and taking them down one after another while staying careful.

He could technically keep using the foresight skill, but he decided against it.

Not just because the skill cost him lifespan, but because the monsters he was fighting weren’t exactly complex, with no unpredictable attack patterns to worry about.

Burning through the foresight skill over and over just to fight weak slimes like these struck Theo as one of the dumbest moves he could make.

After about three hours of nonstop fighting, Theo finally cut down the last slime he needed to level up. He also used the extraction skill again, hoping for a better loot item.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed a monster]

[Type: Water Slime (F-Rank)]

[Reward: +10exp]

[EXP: 150/150] [+10exp]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up]

[Name: Theo]

[Class: -]

[Level: 2] [↑1]

[EXP: 0/300]

[Attribute Points: 10] [+10]

Theo’s body briefly glowed blue before the light faded away completely. As far as he could tell, that was a simple sign that he’d successfully leveled up.

Hitting level 2 also came with ten new attribute points, which he could put toward boosting a few key stats that mattered most for him.

Once that was done, Theo used his extraction skill again to attempt another deep extraction. A system panel appeared, clearly showing what kind of loot item he’d picked up.

Once again, he got another slime acid bubble, same as before. The item had already proven it could kill slimes, though he had no idea yet whether it would work on tougher monsters.

Fighting them nonstop until midday was enough to wear him out. Better to take a short break before getting back to hunting.

He turned and spotted a fairly tall tree nearby, one that could work as a resting spot without having to head all the way back into the city.

He climbed up using his hands and feet, and once he reached a thick branch, he settled in and leaned back against the trunk. Using the downtime to his advantage, Theo decided to start allocating his attribute points.

His personal system panel opened up, displaying his five attributes, all sitting at the default value of 10.

Since he didn’t have a more specific class to build around, Theo chose to allocate his points based on what he actually needed right now.

To make killing them easier, I should probably put these points into STR and CON. STR for raw power, CON for stamina.

[Attribute Points successfully allocated]

[STR: 15 || AGI: 10 || MAG: 10 || CON: 15 || DEX: 10]

This should be enough for now. I’ll keep hunting them after this.

"Look! There’s a slime."

Theo’s attention snapped away. He opened his eyes and looked off into the distance, spotting two people entering the water slime area and engaging the monsters, a man and a woman.

Based on the weapons they carried, Theo could take a good guess at their classes. The man looked like a knight, and the woman looked like a mage.

"I’ll help you level up, Thalia!"

"Thanks, Denis!"

They worked together against the monsters, though Denis’s share of the damage was noticeably smaller compared to Thalia’s.

Out of every monster they killed, Thalia always seemed to land the final blow.

Maybe they’re siblings, that would explain why he’s so willing to help her out.

Killing slimes came easy to them. Within a matter of minutes, they’d taken down far more slimes than Theo had managed on his own.

It was probably thanks to Denis’s higher level, along with plenty of experience hunting slimes over time.

They eventually paused for a moment. Theo heard that Thalia had just leveled up, and Denis suggested they take shelter under that same tree.

They’re coming here?

Before Theo could get away, they were already right there. Thalia sat down, leaning against the trunk, while Denis stood watch to keep the slimes at bay.

Theo panicked, his foot slipped off the branch, and he lost his balance and fell out of the tree.

He hit the ground and winced in pain, and when Theo opened his eyes, he found Thalia standing right beside him, her face frozen in shock.

"Ugh."

Thalia jumped up and immediately raised her wand, pointing it forward, "W-Who are you?!"