Swish!
Under the sharp sound of slicing air, half of a heavy blade together with half a palm flew into the air.
Yellowish-green corrosive gas still clung to the clean-cut edges of the blade and palm, continuing to dissolve them.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
With a roar blending rage and agony, the four-armed ape demon lunged at Zoe once more, its bloodshot eyes gleaming with a crimson light.
[Corrosive Gas Slash] was powerful, but each use drained all the corrosive gas in his body. It required time to recharge and couldn't be used consecutively.
However, having already ruined one of the four-armed ape demon's blades, Zoe seized the opportunity to dodge the single blade it swung now.
Zoe could have taken this chance to leap onto the four-armed ape demon's body and begin a relentless, clinging wrap.
But the fire attacks still made him somewhat wary. To be safe, he decided to wait until his corrosive gas was fully recharged before engaging in close-quarters combat.
Glaring at the dodging Zoe, the four-armed ape demon furiously hurled the broken blade at him.
Zoe rolled to the side, his slimy body moving with unbelievable agility.
Within his body, dense bubbles churned constantly, rapidly generating corrosive gas.
However, Zoe's [Agility] was only 9, his lowest stat. While he could dodge in close quarters using his combat experience, he was clearly outmatched in a chase by the massive yet nimble four-armed ape demon.
The four-armed ape demon closed the distance with massive strides, spitting a stream of scorching fire to cut off Zoe's path of retreat.
Taking advantage of the opening, the large decapitator blade hacked straight down at his head.
“Acid Severing Wave!”
Seeing this, Zoe spat out a thin, high-pressure jet of acid, directly dissolving and severing the incoming decapitator blade.
Although powerful, this attack drained 100 of Zoe's Mana.
At the same time, he activated [Tackle] to leap onto the four-armed ape demon's body. Activating [Devour], his body spread out like slime, beginning to digest and corrode it.
The four-armed ape demon flailed its four arms, trying to rip Zoe off its body.
But it was like trying to grab handfuls of flowing water; it was completely useless.
Roaring in rage, the four-armed ape demon opened its maw, unleashing scorching flames that engulfed both Zoe and itself.
A burning heat swept through Zoe's entire body.
However, his extensive practice with [Dragon Flame] had already significantly increased Zoe's [Elemental Resistance].
Currently, he was only slightly weaker to elemental attacks than a normal monster, far from the fragile state he had been in before.
Enduring the fiery assault, he activated [High-speed Regeneration], rapidly healing his body.
Meanwhile, a bulb of slime swelled on the four-armed ape demon's shoulder, gathering all the fully charged corrosive gas from Zoe's body.
“Corrosive Gas Slash!”
A fully charged, 120-Mana Corrosive Gas Slash sliced directly at the four-armed ape demon's neck from point-blank range.
Fur and flesh were instantly dissolved and sliced open by the Corrosive Gas Slash, cleanly severing the spine through the gap.
The ape's head soared into the air, accompanied by a fountain of blood, before landing on the ground and rolling several times.
The flames burning Zoe also dissipated with the death of the four-armed ape demon.
[You have slain a four-armed ape demon Lv.20. Experience +20.]
“It really was a Lv.20 four-armed ape demon.”
Zoe hopped off the four-armed ape demon's carcass.
Now, he could roughly estimate a monster's level simply by the Mana radiating from its body.
Previously, he could only use Mana to gauge whether an opponent was a Low-tier Monster or a Mid-tier Monster.
Zoe cleaned up the scene and dragged the four-armed ape demon's carcass into the cave.
Along with it, he also dragged in the giant python carcass.
Although the python was several times larger than the four-armed ape demon, its Mana quality was clearly inferior.
“With this much meat, I can hole up in my nest and grind my level again.”
Zoe stacked his food reserves and took a proper look around his new home.
Near the cave entrance stood a primitive furnace made of clay and stone.
Standing about five meters high, the towering furnace had no bellows, and beside it lay piles of firewood and unrefined iron ore.
To Zoe, who had been a blacksmith's adopted son in his previous life, this furnace was almost painful to look at.
How was firewood supposed to melt iron ore? It required charcoal at the very least. Without bellows, would the temperature even get high enough? Let alone an anvil, there didn't even seem to be any molds here.
Yet, despite such crude conditions, the four-armed ape demon had actually managed to forge two massive decapitator blades.
Though they looked as rough as slag, their strength indeed met the requirements of functional equipment.
It must have been the four-armed ape demon's fire magic that compensated for the furnace's deficiencies, allowing the temperature to reach the threshold required for forging.
Fire truly dictated the results of forging. Magical flames made it much easier to craft high-quality weapons compared to using mere coal.
Legendary blacksmiths from lore and myths were said to forge arms and equipment using coal made from the branches and roots of the World Tree, or fuel sources like Dragon Flame and Hellfire.
Zoe then ventured deeper into the cave.
This cave was significantly deeper than his previous one. Its interior was marked by signs of excavation and exposed mineral veins.
“It feels like a waste not to make use of so much ore.”
Zoe tried picking up a piece of iron ore from the ground, swallowing it to begin digesting it.
Slimes had no sense of taste, so Zoe couldn't tell if it was delicious or not.
The iron ore was quickly digested, leaving behind only some fine iron powder that proved difficult to dissolve.
Zoe spat out the iron powder.
“Is this... purification?”
[You have unlocked the skill: Refining Lv.1 (F-grade).]
“That actually counts as a skill?”
Though it wasn't very useful right now, it might come in handy for future reincarnations.
F-grade skills were easy to level up, so Zoe didn't mind practicing it in his spare time.
Next, Zoe dragged the carcasses to the deepest part of the cave and began his usual training against the surrounding iron-rich rocks.
Raising his skill proficiency was becoming increasingly difficult; he couldn't afford to slack off for even a moment.
By now, Zoe could withstand an 80-Mana [Dragon Flame], and the healing speed of [High-speed Regeneration] had also grown faster.
Having reached Lv.3, [Digest] allowed him to consume food and recover Mana much quicker, greatly boosting his overall training efficiency.
Furthermore, at Lv.3, the occasional increase to his maximum Mana from digesting food had risen from 2 points to 3.
Even the proficiency of his prestigious B-grade skill, [Dragon Flame], had increased to 3 points.
A single cast of [Dragon Flame] consumed 800 of Zoe's Mana.
In exchange for such a high cost, its temperature and destructive power were staggering.
Zoe never expected to fully max out the proficiency of [Dragon Flame]; it just wasn't realistic. Since he could select one skill from his previous life during each reincarnation, he could simply choose [Dragon Flame] again when the time came.
...
The price of high-efficiency training was an equally staggering consumption of food.
In just five days, the two high-quality chunks of provisions were completely eaten up by Zoe.
In exchange, his level rose to Lv.17, and [Refining Lv.1] advanced to [Refining Lv.2].
Along with a 180-point increase to his maximum Mana.
Zoe's maximum Mana had now risen to 1,110.
Zoe had no choice but to head out and hunt once more.
Fortunately, there were many welcoming neighbors around his new home. Zoe barely spent any time outside before spotting a lovely Land Dragon.
The Land Dragon was larger than a rhinoceros, possessed a thick and powerful lizard-like tail, and was covered in a thick, hard carapace. Its build was somewhat reminiscent of a triceratops.
Furthermore, Land Dragons could cast earth magic, occupying a similar ecological niche to four-armed ape demons.
“This should feed me for about three days.”
Zoe didn't launch a sneak attack, opting for a frontal clash instead.
Fighting fair and square with everything on the line was more conducive to gaining Experience.
“Roar—”
The Land Dragon let out a low rumble of a roar, lowering its head and locking its gaze onto the slime before it.
It could sense the immense Mana swirling within the slime.
This was a dangerous foe; it had to go all out.
Stamping its front hooves violently, a succession of sharp earth spikes erupted from the shattered ground, rapidly surging toward Zoe.
“Roar!!”
Along with the deafening roar...
The Land Dragon locked its amber eyes on Zoe, lowered its head, and charged wildly, as if to plow through the earth and Zoe alike.
Rate on N.U.
