6 Hunting time

When I regained consciousness, I realized that nothing seemed to have changed. I felt a bit weird since, up to this point, I had not fallen asleep even once. Because I had no way of keeping track of the time, I couldn’t know how long I had been unconscious. Judging by the sun, I assumed I had been unconscious for about a day.

‘I really don’t feel any different. Well, let’s take a look. Status!’

Status:

Name: Peter Gravel

Kind: Magic stone | Race: -

HP: 15/15 | MP: 30/30 | Mana well: 0/200

Level: 1 | Experience: 0/300

Stats:

Vitality: 0 | Strength: 0 | Agility: 0

Intellect: 10 | Magic power: 20

Abilities: Mana cannon: 1 Mana control: 1 Roll: 1

Special abilities: Help: 2 Mana well: 1 Parasitize: 1

Titles: Inner aggressor Thinking stone Wandering stone: 1

————————————————

‘Yes, I evolved, but… I am still a stupid fucking stone!’

I anxiously opened my status and thoroughly reviewed it. My kind was different… Yes, I changed from a common stone to a magical one… but no matter how magical a stone I became, I was still a fucking stone. Would I ever evolve into something that was not a stone? Probably not...

‘And just like that, my hope is shattered…’

Both my HP and MP increased a bit, and I could see that there was some new information that wasn’t there before, like the level, and that mana well thing, in addition to the new skills I had learned during my skirmish with the slime. I immediately asked Helpy for details on these new skills

‘That parasitize skill sounds sketchy, I wonder what is it all about… Helpy, tell me about those two special abilities.’

[Parasitize: Allows the user to slowly drain HP and MP from any target it comes into contact with. If the target loses consciousness or becomes unable to move on its own , the user will be able to control the target.]

‘Am I some kind of brain-eating alien?! Anyway… it doesn’t sound bad at all… unpleasant, maybe, but useful.’

For some reason, I pictured myself being inside a kidney.

‘I think I have an idea why I learned this skill… but what about the other one?’

A message did pop up when I learned parasitize, but I remembered nothing about the mana well. It was probably a special ability obtained through evolution.

[Mana well: Allows to store extra MP for later use. Capacity: 200 points per level.]

‘Oh! I like this. I guess It’s a kind-specific ability. Well, both skills seem to be quite useful. Let’s see, let’s see.’

I started testing the mana well by transferring fifteen mana points to it. It was easy, I could store mana points at will just by thinking about it. With this skill I could always have an extra supply of mana I could pull out of my sleeve in an emergency. Basically, it was like having a mana battery, the only difference being that it did not recharge by itself like the MP.

‘It may sound stupid, but its without a doubt the most useful skill I have acquiered by far. I must remember to keep it topped off at all times. Alsp, I should make leveling this up a priority. There is no doubt that I will be relying on it very often.’

I wanted to have a look at the parasitize skill next. The core of the slime was partially broken, and as a result, it had completely stopped moving and seemed to be dead. However, upon inspecting it, I realized that it was still alive. And most importantly, it had its HP and MP intact. Breaking it’s core hadn’t killed it, but it seemed to have left it brain dead… not that I knew whether it had a brain in the first place…

‘Anyway, let’s see if I can control this thing… Dance for me you stupid slime!’

I activated the parasitize skill and actually managed to seize control of the slime. It was a bit tricky to control, probably because of the anatomical difference between a person and a living mucus, but I got used to it relatively easily. In the end I found myself fooling around with the skill, warping and wagging the slime like an idiot.

‘That’s it. Bounce, bounce, ea, ea, up, down, up, to the side.’

I was having the time of my life… until I suddenly lost control of the slime.

‘Not this again… Status!’

I checked my status again, and realized that my mana points had been depleted.

‘Of course, controlling a target also consumes mana. Weeeeeeell, at least it consumes a lot less than the Roll skill. I just got a good mount… but I need more mana, much more mana… Mana, I want mana… manaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Helpy, how do I increase my mana?’

[Either through leveling or by acquiring certain abilities.]

‘Leveling up… Right, I can do that now… Good! I’ll go get some leveling done! … But first I must wait for my mana to replenish… Unless…’

I checked the status of the slime again. If I remembered correctly, it’s level was quite high, and its MP was 81… I imaginarily smirked at the slime. I had just got myself a free mana refill.

‘This slime turned out to be much more useful than I first thought.’

I drained all of the slime’s mana and waited to check whether it would recharge over time like mine did. From what I could observe, it replenished one MP roughly every four seconds.

‘Mmmm… if I consume one mana point every ten seconds… I can control the slime for about five minutes with my current mana. If I add all the mana I have stored in my Mana Well to that, then I can control it for over half an hour.’

I replenished one mana point every six seconds or so, but natural recovery was halted while using the parasitize skill. Furthermore, I wasn’t able to drain MP from the slime while controlling it.

‘I have to raise the parasitize skill as well. Maybe the amount of mana drained increases with the level… Well, I don’t need to focus on it too much right now, it will probably level up naturally as I plan on using it non-stop.’

My mobility was still rather limited, but it had increased considerably. Furthermore, running out of mana would leave me in a very vulnerable position, so I had to remember to keep something in the reserve at all times in case there was an emergency. You always need to be prepared for the unexpected.

‘For a magic stone, who depends entirely on mana, I find my lack of mana disturbing… On the other hand, my level is pathetically low, but I already have a 200 point extra pool… The slime has 81 MP at level 13, so maybe it’s not so bad after all…’

Not so long ago I found it quite unpleasant to be trapped inside that blue snot. Now that I had control over it I was beginning to feel delighted by it.

‘Seems that instead of evolving into a magic stone I have turned into a slime…’

***

I waited for my mana well to replenish entirely, and then I was on my way once again. I was starting to get sick of this weed field, where everything kept running away from me, or rather, from the slime that was carrying me.

‘I need to find real monsters, not just ordinary animals. Let’s see, the most suitable place for it would be… a forest?’

In the distance I could spot an area where the vegetation was thicker. That seemed like the perfect spot to go hunting.

‘Perfect! Let’s go, you filthy mucus, full steam ahead.’

Maybe it would be a good idea to give the slime a name… or maybe not. Whereas Helpy could at least speak, this thing wasn’t even making a noise while crawling around. I could always do it in the future if I became attached to it.

It didn’t take me long to reach the entrance to the forest. In this area, the trees were somewhat close to each other, but as I got deeper into the forest, the vegetation became thicker and thicker, until suddenly I found myself in a gloomy, humid place. Don’t ask me how I know about the humid part, ok?

‘I was all fired up when I first came here, but… I am kind of getting cold feet now. After all, I’m only a measly level 1. I have managed to beat a slime whose level was higher than mine, but, was its level really all that high? Helpy, honey, enlighten me.’

[The level indicates the growth of a creature, not its actual power. Different types of monsters can have wild differences in power regardless of their level. A higher grade monster, even at level 1 can be much stronger than a lower grade level 20 monster.]

‘Well that’s just great… Since I am unable to check the stats of the monster, I will have to use the HP and MP as a reference.’

Anyway, I was already deep inside the forest. It was too late to turn tail and flee. If I came across anything dangerous… I would dump the slime and pretend to be a regular rock… hopefully it would be more effective than playing dead.

Apparently someone read my mind, since as soon as I was done sorting my thoughts, I started hearing the sound of something crawling on the forest floor.

‘Please, don’t be something dangerous… Let me kill you easily…’

I decided to follow the sound until all the way to its source. It was getting closer and closer, and it didn’t take long for me to come face to face with the culprit. It was a fucking bug, and a nasty one at that. It had huge jaws, big pitch black eyes and innumerable legs on a large segmented body...

‘Is this… a centipede?’