Chapter 18 Suspicions

After absorbing the spirit crystal, Michael didn't feel any immediate changes. 

It was when he checked his status to see his talent, he was finally able to see one.

—

[Talent: Infinite Evolution]

Evolution Points: 3

—

'The Evolution points increased?' Michael's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

There was still a bit more than an hour left since his Awakening yesterday, meaning the daily evolution points would arrive soon, bringing his total to four.

'Though I guess it's a good thing that the evolution points are increasing, but why haven't I felt any changes yet? Do these points need to accumulate to a certain level before I can use my talent?' Michael speculated.

He also had another suspicion about his talent.

'Maybe my talent is linked to my class for activation. From what I read on the forum, that's a common issue. Perhaps I need an undead summon first before I can use my talent'.

Michael sighed as he thought about it. 

He wanted an undead summon too.

But unless he encountered another easy monster like the slime in this building—which he didn't think was likely—he couldn't do much. 

For now, he would just have to go with the flow.

'Maybe the Supers Association forum has a solution. I'll make sure to research it after I'm done here.'

Even though he had used the precious spirit crystal and still couldn't use his talent, Michael tried not to feel bad about it. 

At least he had gained something in return, even if it wasn't usable yet.

Shifting his focus away from his talent, Michael turned to the other "loot" from the acid slime's "corpse."

It was the slime's core.

The core was scattered a bit on the ground, likely from the shot that killed it.

'I don't know if this is worth anything, but I'll take it just in case.'

Not willing to throw anything potentially valuable away, Michael gathered the acid slime's core, which was about the size of a ping pong ball, and placed it into his Mark of Origin.

Afterward, he retraced his steps back to where he first encountered the slime, following the trail it had left behind. 

Michael did this to gather the bullet casings he had dropped while trying to distance himself from the slime's acid shots.

Unfortunately, some bullets had been destroyed by the acid slime during the chase, though a few managed to survive intact.

Of course, just because the casings were damaged didn't mean Michael was letting go of the intact bullets inside. 

Every bullet was worth money, and he wasn't about to be generous and leave them to nature.

After gathering all the casings he had dropped, Michael returned to scanning his surroundings.

'At first, I wasn't sure, but after so many turns, I think this place might be a dormitory or at least a place where a large number of people once lived, judging by the large rooms and structure of the building.'

Michael was still unsure, as he had only explored a small part of the building and couldn't make an accurate guess yet.

'Let's keep exploring and see if there are any more monsters in this building. Hopefully, they'll be slimes—preferably nothing too freakish.'

It wasn't that Michael was afraid of other types of monsters.

His experience told him that slimes were the only creatures he could handle in his current state. Only rabbits could come close.

Had he been closer to civilization, he might have even received a quest to hunt such creatures, however, his starting point was far from any village or town, unlike some new Awakeners.

As for why he felt sure about only being able to handle slimes now was because of his combat prowess. 

There was a reason guns became useless to Awakeners after a while. 

The forums didn't explain it clearly, only hinting that monster skin grew thicker or that they developed skills making projectiles like bullets ineffective. 

However, after raising some of his stats, particularly his constitution, Michael started to understand a little.

[Strength: 1.6]

[Agility: 4.9]

[Constitution: 3.4]

[Intelligence: 5.5]

[Attribute Points: 1]

With nearly four times the constitution of an average human, Michael's enhanced constitution affected his health, endurance, and resistance to both physical and elemental damage, as well as environmental factors. 

He suspected that even a bullet shot at him might not cause serious harm.

He might not even bleed due to the increased toughness of his skin.

Just as a lighter wouldn't harm an average person, with his constitution now three times that of a typical human, Michael had reason to believe he'd be much harder to kill with ordinary weapons.

If this was true for him, then what about monsters?

Though attribute points gave Awakeners a substantial, almost "unfair" advantage, just like a cheat , making them stronger than most monsters at the same level, there were still higher-level monsters that demanded caution. 

Some of these could have a constitution equal to or even greater than his, depending on their species, monster rank, and number of stars.

Compared to those stronger monsters, creatures with relatively weak bodies—like acid slimes—were indeed the safer opponents for a newbie like him.

Michael didn't dwell on these thoughts for long.

Shortly after moving through the large building he suspected had once been a residential area, he encountered his second monster.

However, he was conflicted by the sight in front of him.

'Should I be happy or not?'

[Acid Slime Lv. 7]

[Rank: Common★★]

A harmless-looking slime that shoots acid.