The Switcheroo

After a bit of experimenting, Manco found out that to be able to reform into one Slime, a piece had to be at least as large as his fist. Any smaller than that and it would simply dissolve.

Armed with that knowledge (and his daggers), he began the process of dismantling the two Necrotic Slimes.

These particular slimes only had a few attacks. The first one was a body tackle and the second was a corrosive spray. The third and most often used attack was forming several limbs out of their body matter and using them to strike at close range.

He goaded the slimes into attacking him with their 'limbs', hacked off those limbs and cut them down into fist-sized chunks. After the chunks turned into small slimes, he killed them off by firing either mana bolts or a mana blast through his gun.

Slimes, being mindless creatures, only alternated between several attack patterns, which Manco exploited without mercy.

After fifteen minutes, the slimes were half as big as they were before, and the counter for unlocking the second milestone read '… Progress 4925/5000.'

'If I keep this up, I'll definitely unlock the second milestone just by killing these two,' he thought while drinking a health potion. He had been using himself as bait to force the slimes to attack at close range and willingly took damage to get a good hit in.

Thankfully, the forests' no daytime predators showed up in the area, driven away by the stench of dead creatures. This eliminated complications and allowed him to fully concentrate on the two slimes.

As a Mana Blast wiped out the last pack of small Necrotic Slimes, a notification popped up.

〔Milestone unlocking requirement #2: 100% complete〕

〔First milestone reached 〕

〔Second form can now be unlocked. 〕

〔Weapon damage, range, and durability will increase. In addition, more attacks can be executed 〕

〔Unlock second form?〕

'Yes,' He grinned. This is it! Now it would be time to…

〔WARNING!!! The unlocking process can last up to 3 hours. 〕

〔During that period the weapon cannot be used. Proceed?〕

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Are you kidding me?" Manco cursed out loud.

He had never seen a legacy weapon needing a countdown to unlock milestones. Usually, when the requirement was completed, it would immediately transform into the next form, without any more hassle. Then again, nothing about this gun had conformed to the norm. He would have to grit his teeth and bear with it.

Grouchily, he selected 'Cancel.' It looked like he had to do this in the safety of the village.

Sighing, Manco set out to harvest the slain creatures. During the night, he had killed no less than three hundred creatures and leveled up twice, reaching level 25 and hitting the first level cap. Mana Bolt had leveled up to 26 and so did his crossbow mastery. All things considered, the night hunt had been a success.

While waiting for the harvesting progress bar to fill up, Manco updated his to-do list.

His most pressing concern, namely the weapon's durability, had almost been solved. After he returned to Mistwood village and unlocked the second form, it would be increased. The 'Soul tethered' effect meant that it would teleport back to Gwyndham's place when he died. Though it was still a huge inconvenience, his death wouldn't put an end to his build.

He turned to the next thing on his agenda: finding a way to change the gun's bound location. Mistwood village was a nice, secluded place, but it was unsuitable as a long term solution. The first reason was that it is extremely remote and isolated. Everytime he died, he would have to travel vast distances to retrieve the gun, which would be a significant time drain. He needed to find another location that was more central and not to inconvenience to travel to and from while remaining relatively inconspicuous.

The second reason was that this village might not last long. Under the influence of the dark forces in Haufaria, the Death Forest would eventually expand outward. After several years, the area around Mistwood village would be destroyed and overtaken by nature. He wasn't sure if the spawn point would be affected, but he didn't want to wait and find out.

Regardless of the reason, he would have to change the bound location. From the look of it, meeting Tarathiel the Elven queen in the capital seemed like the next logical step. However, he wasn't too sure if the queen would agree to help him, and whether he was ready to do whatever she asked of him in return. He filed the task under his long-term goal.

The next immediate goal was to travel to a city. To continue leveling up, he would have to finish an advancement quest, which was only issued in cities.

His other short-term goal was to prepare for the Christmas tournament, which would come in about two months. Preparations would include leveling up and finding gears. The hardest part, getting the gun, was already behind him, and he expected the next part would be relatively easier.

His musing was interrupted by a notification telling him the last creature had been harvested.

〔Harvesting "Giant Wolf Spider" complete. Items added to inventory〕

〔Average Spider Silk x 1〕

〔Tattered Spider Silk x 1〕

〔Spider Fangs x 2〕

〔Spider Meat x 5〕

〔Spider Eggs x 3〕

〔Medium Spider Venom (vial) x1 〕

〔Mild Spider Venom (vial) x2〕

〔Diluted Digestive Enzyme (vial) x2〕

"Nice!" He said, admiring the long list of drops.

It had taken him more than an hour to clean the area of the animal corpses. The gained parts were more varied and potent: magic-infused fangs and claws, poison and venom of various types, rare and durable and scales and pelts, etc. Like before, aside from the body parts, he found an eclectic mix of items: small tools, jewelry, and personal effects. One of them was a wooden ring that gave +50 max mana and +5% to mana regen, which he slipped on his finger.

After sweeping the area one more time, he began walking back to Mistwood Village.

The trip back was uneventful and he was not in any real danger. However, Manco couldn't help feeling uneasy. Having something so close to his grasp yet could slip away at a moment's notice always made him feel this way. Every time he heard a strange sound or something flitted by his peripheral vision, he found himself tensing up.

After two long hours, he stood inside the walls of Mistwood village.

'Haven't' felt this way in a long time,' he said with a chuckle.

Opening his inventory, he highlighted The Collector and selected the option to unlock its second form. After reading the warning again and confirming his choices, he was greeted with a progress bar.

> Time remaining: 02:59:51

> Current task: Adding Hidden Agendas

> Next task: Adjusting Bell Curves

Shaking his head at the nonsensical messages, Manco headed towards the tavern. He intended to log out now and check back in three hours.

'Let's see... Clean up, go grocery shopping,' Mahn Li went over his real-world to do list: 'make lunch and dinner, then...' his thought was interrupted when he saw someone standing at the tavern's entrance.

It was Cordelia.

During the two days they did not meet, she had apparently done quite well for herself. Her level was now 12, which was quite good for a soloing newbie. She had ditched the flowery shirt and long dress and was now clad in leather armor, though she still kept the feathery head ornament. She had a knife in the thigh scabbard and a bow strung over her back.

"Hey!" she said when she saw him approaching.

"Hmm!" he nodded: "Not bad!"

"Yeah, thank you! For helping me..." She said, biting her lips. Eventually, she exhaled, looked into his eyes and said: "I hate to ask you this but... could you travel with me to the neighboring village?"

"Which one?"

"It's called Broken Hill. Here's the coordinate," as she spoke, she sent the village's coordinate to him, which integrated itself onto his map.

Surveying the map, he saw that the place was about twenty kilometers south of Mistwood Village, easily within walking distance. However, parts of the way there were through dense forests or treacherous marshland, making the journey a daunting one for a newbie. Speaking of which, what business does she have at this place?

At his questioning look, Cordelia explained: "I'm trying to find my friends. They gave me the coordinate of Mistwood village. When I spawned here, I didn't see anyone..."

"...I contacted them and they said I entered the wrong coordinates. I could have sworn I put in the exact ones they gave me. Then they told me they were in another village south of here. They said they were busy in a quest, so they would come and get me later. Or I could come to them..."

"...So that's what I did in my first days. I tried to level up and find a party that would travel to Broken Hill..."

"Wait," Manco interrupted, "How many days has it been since you've got here?"

"Uh... about four days?"

"What kind of quest is taking them so long? Why aren't they here to pick you up yet?"

"They didn't tell me!" she said, frustration evident in her voice: "And yesterday they told me they've gotten an important timed quest, so they had no time to come get me, and that I have to go to them!"

"...I've gotten used to Misty Woods, but I couldn't handle the mobs in the forest to the south. I could only travel about two kilometers before I died..." She concluded and looked at him hopefully.

He wanted to say no and let her sort things out by herself. However, his guts told him there was more to this story. Cordelia's friends seemed to have picked Broken Hill on purpose. Also, they seem to be doing awfully well for a bunch of new players. Chained quests for multiple users right in a starting village?

"I was meaning to ask you this, but... why did you guys decide to spawn there? No offense, but both Broken Hill or Mistwood Village are hardly suitable for beginners."

"Beginners?" She looked at him in puzzlement: "Oh, right. I never told you, did I? We played the game during Beta."