It is Shadows

The journey began, and just as we were about to climb over the mountain that separated the area of tree stumps and actual trees, a bizarre gulping noise came from the side.

"H— huh?!" All of us started glaring towards the side; I could see from the corner of my eye that Arial was completely indifferent to it. "Don't worry, you guys," calmly he stated.

Right after that, a shadowy blob jumped out. "Shadow Slime, Level 1, huh," said Xter with mild relief taking over his face.

Huh, I can neither see a name nor the level of the creature—is it because I don't have a System?

The slime wasn't attacking us—it was staring at us with slight glittering and shadow particles coming from it.

"These docile slimes surround all of the Im City walls because of the magic we deploy—it's a byproduct of immense Shadow Magic concentrated around the walls." "Shadow magic… I've never heard of this," I claimed. Arial consequently glanced at me and stated, "such information is generally kept between Players; there's no need for civilians to involve themselves in the affairs of their guardians."

Xter then mischievously glanced at Arial and said, "hey Leader, can I try killing it?" Hearing that made my stomach fire up in immense heat for just a brief second—him taking initiative made me feel strangely inferior.

"I want to try killing one too," I declared, not wanting to fall behind. "Sure—we'll see a bunch of them for the next couple of days, so you might as well feast up while you can."

I wonder what happens if I kill monsters without having a System…

Then from a corner of my eye, I could see Arial take a quick peek at me that spelled concern rather than anything re-affirming. "Is anything wrong, Arial?" He looked at me again, and nonchalantly, "no—why'd you ask?" "No reason, never mind." Strange.

Afterwards, Xter started holding his right hand on the right side—his shadow began glitching out like it's a video-game, then shadow particles showed up along with a small shadow scythe. I want that shit! Why couldn't it be me?! 

Subsequently, he leaned down in the form of starting a race. "Three… two… and… one!!" Jumped forward with ridiculous speed, slashing the slime and consequently instantly killing it!!

"Good one, Xter," said Arial. "That's impressive," Ella followed up. Meanwhile he just smirked and then had the shadow scythe disperse; his abilities truly are flashy, aren't they—what's there to even be envious about?

Roughly an hour later, we ran into two more shadow slimes. "Oh— oooh!! Look!!" Everyone looked forward to the slimes; Arial subsequently glanced at Xter and stated, "Xter, you got a kill last time, so let's have Dantes and Ella take these two, alright?" Xter looked at him smugly. "Sure."

Ella anxiously asked, "I— I'll have to kill one too? But how do I even cast spells?" Good question—Arial blabbed about teaching us how Systems and whatnot work, but didn't even tell her how to use magic.

"Don't worry, Ella, I didn't tell you how to do it because I thought it's better to have you try it against actual monsters—it's not complicated or difficult." Her mild frustration received mild relief, but anxiety still didn't completely run away. "Sure, that's fair I guess… so… uhh…" Arial then entertained her question before she even asked it, "open up your System and take out your Wand—your spell section will automatically have spells you can cast afterwards."

This whole System is slightly bizarre—it's as if Magic and the System itself is given to us by the Association rather than it coming from our own natural capacities. Or, I guess, you could say the Association is providing us tools to use our magic… so, are Systems also like magic tools, just weapons of convenience that enhance our performance?

"I— I see… yes, I do see…" paused… "...three spells."

I guess she's a bit upset about Arial's approach, is that why she's talking like this?

"After you select one, hold your Magic Wand, focus, and imagine the spell materializing—do that and the System will abide by your wishes." She quit looking at Arial and began glaring at the Slime while holding her wand; anxiety was starting to garner yet again, but it died as quickly as it started appearing again.

"Ooohhh!! It's showing up!!" A ball of shadows appeared, burning like a fire made out of black!!

"Good job! Now launch it through imagination as well." She slightly moved the wand back and then forward—the shadow flame launched at the slime and it instantly got killed without a trace.

"Well done, Ella—it's as simple as that!" "Woooo!! Yay!!" Obviously, she got all excited after that… who wouldn't…

"I guess it's my turn now, huh…" Ella, thanks to her newfound confidence, proceeded to give me her cheers. "You can do it, Dantes!! It's not as hard as it looks!!" Easier said than done—I don't even have a System like y'all. "Thanks, thanks."

I unsheathed the blade and began holding it… really is a light blade—is the MANA infused into it making it like that? It's like holding a kitchen knife… Its weight gave me slight confidence, so I marched forward and slashed the slime—cut it in half and it began dispersing.

"Oh, wow…" In relief, I let out. "I guess I can do it too, then…" Arial smiled. "Of course you can, what did you expect?" Ella also jumped in, "great, Dantes! I knew you could do it!!"

As we continued walking for the day, we ended up killing a bunch more slimes on the way—Ella ended up trying the other spells, whereas Xter and I simply slashed them up without much difference in how we do it.

"Hey you two, are you like… I don't know… getting XP or something from killing them?" Thinking it was a normal question, Xter arrogantly giggled at me. "What's so funny, huh?" Arial then answered for him, "there's no such thing, Dantes, the only thing you get from killing monsters is a monster-library entry, along with the number of monster kills you have going up." Confused, I stated, "but I heard people have levelled up before, even multiple levels, was that just a lie then?"

Arial then materialized a small dart out of shadows and threw it at a slime, killing the slime and also cutting a tree behind it in half. "Did you hear it online?" He hit the bull's eye. "Y— yeah… I did…" "Don't believe the stuff you hear online, ever—what you can access on the internet is strictly limited to the city you're in, and our city is rather infamous for people that bring in strange or even downright superstitious rumors." I felt foolish—not only did I raise an ignorant question, but also didn't even know about the internet thing.

We set up a camp soon after—Arial told us what to do while he did nothing but stare at the stars. The first night outside the Im City…