“My Mana is completely insufficient.”
Zoe got a headache as he watched his Mana rapidly drain due to [High-speed Regeneration (C-grade)].
Leveling up had only increased his maximum Mana cap by five points, which was nowhere near enough.
At the same time, the Mana consumption made him feel hungry once again.
He turned around, lunged at the tusk boar's corpse, and began to feed and digest.
Eating unhurriedly this time, Zoe discovered that his Mana recovery speed seemed to have increased.
[Skill: Digest Lv.1 (D-grade) proficiency +1]
“Does [Digest] not only have a corrosive effect, but also accelerate Mana recovery?”
As Zoe digested the wild boar, he closely observed his total Mana.
Recovering one point of Mana every thirty seconds.
The recovery speed had increased fourfold!
Keeping an eye on his total Mana, Zoe suddenly discovered an even more astonishing fact.
His total Mana had actually risen from 110 to 111!
“[Digest] can actually increase my maximum Mana as well!”
“Could it be... that I digested the target's mana during the feeding process?”
The quality and quantity of the tusk boar's mana were clearly far superior to those of an ordinary goblin.
After all, tusk boars could indeed channel wind magic through their tusks.
In other words, by preying on high-mana individuals, he could even digest their mana and convert it into his own.
Zoe patiently began to digest the tusk boar while also taking the opportunity to examine his surroundings.
He was surrounded by hard rock walls covered in ivy-like vines, with an exit sloping upward.
Looking further inside, there was only pitch-black darkness, suggesting the cavern extended even deeper.
That boar had rampaged blindly through the forest, and he had no idea where it had brought him.
This cavern must have been hidden behind a thick curtain of vines, which was probably why the boar, with its obstructed vision, failed to notice it and fell in.
“It's quite well-hidden. Maybe I can use it as a temporary lair.”
“But I need to clear out any potential dangers first.”
By the time Zoe's Mana was fully restored and his body completely regenerated, he had only eaten a quarter of the tusk boar's corpse.
Next, Zoe inspected his immediate surroundings.
The cave was clean and odorless, with no traces of fur, scales, or droppings.
Confirming there were no signs of other monsters living here, Zoe finally ventured deeper into the cave to explore.
The cave's interior layout wasn't complicated, nor was it particularly deep, so Zoe quickly reached its innermost depths.
He even found a small puddle in one corner of the cave, beneath a rock wall that continuously dripped water.
“An ideal hiding spot!”
Zoe bounced along, dragging the wild boar deeper into the cave.
Looking at more than half of the boar left, Zoe couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.
If he let it rot, would it affect his ability to digest mana?
But he couldn't eat any more right now...
If only he could find a way to make it fit!
Zoe looked at his skill list.
To him, levels weren't the most important thing, nor were his various attributes.
The most important things to him were his skills—the rare skills of a High Slime.
Fully mastered skills wouldn't disappear when this life ended; instead, they could be carried over to his next reincarnation.
Compared to raising his level, it was far more crucial to raise his skill proficiency so he could bring as many skills as possible into his next life.
Zoe once again activated his skill, [Dragon Flame].
In an instant, his Mana bar plummeted. Zoe hastily cut off his Mana supply, having consumed only twenty points of Mana to create a tiny spark of Dragon Flame about the size of a fingernail.
Then, Zoe used the Dragon Flame to set himself on fire.
Instantly, the familiar pain of his death in his previous life coursed through his body once more.
Compared to his near-invincible physical resistance, Zoe's elemental resistance was mediocre at best.
[High-speed Regeneration] activated, healing Zoe's body while his Mana rapidly drained.
[High-speed Regeneration (C-grade) proficiency +1, +1...]
[Elemental Resistance (F-grade) proficiency +1...]
Zoe endured the agony until the Dragon Flame on his body sputtered out, leaving him with only 41 points of Mana.
The proficiency of [High-speed Regeneration] had increased by twelve points, while [Elemental Resistance] went up by three.
Elemental attacks were a slime's weakness, making it difficult to raise this proficiency.
Without pausing to rest, Zoe lunged at the tusk boar beside him and began to eat.
[Devour Lv.1 (D-grade) proficiency +1...]
[Digest Lv.1 (D-grade) proficiency +1...]
By the time Zoe had consumed another fifth of the remaining tusk boar, his Mana was completely full again.
Among them, [Devour]'s proficiency had increased by six points, and [Digest]'s by eleven.
His maximum Mana had also risen from 111 to 112.
“I can repeat this training four more times.”
Without resting, Zoe hopped over to an open space once more, conjured a tiny cluster of Dragon Flame to set himself on fire, and repeated the cycle.
...
With all five training sessions complete, Zoe's skill proficiencies were now as follows:
[Elemental Resistance Lv.1 (F-grade)] 14/100
[Devour Lv.1 (D-grade)] 34/100
[Digest Lv.1 (D-grade)] 61/100
[High-speed Regeneration Lv.1 (C-grade)] 74/100
[Mana] 117/117
Although he had used [Dragon Flame (B-grade)], its proficiency hadn't budged at all.
Aside from B-grade skills being notoriously difficult to level up, it was highly likely because Zoe had never fully cast [Dragon Flame] even once.
After all, the Mana consumption of [Dragon Flame] was terrifying. Zoe suspected that if he forced himself to use it completely, he would be sucked entirely dry.
This wasn't a skill a slime could possibly master in the first place; Zoe had only acquired it by exploiting a bug in his reincarnation.
The intense training had left Zoe's body thoroughly exhausted. The light shining into the cave entrance had also vanished, indicating that night had fallen.
He had completely devoured and digested the bloodstains inside the cave along with the blood-soaked soil and weeds, leaving only a faint metallic scent of blood in the air.
Nevertheless, as a precaution, Zoe carefully set up an early-warning trap at the cave entrance using vines and stones.
If anything tried to enter the cave, it would snag the vines and dislodge the stones, creating a loud noise.
Once he was sure the trap was properly set, Zoe squeezed himself into a crevice deep within the rock walls of the cave to rest.
He enjoyed a deep, restorative sleep until the next morning.
Having eaten his fill the previous day, Zoe still didn't feel hungry, but he still had no source of raw food for his future training.
Zoe crawled out of the cave, pushing past the surrounding vines.
He then began searching the vicinity of his cave for suitable hunting targets.
Clearing out threats starting from the cave's immediate surroundings would also effectively secure his new lair.
“More goblins?”
Instead of finding any ideal targets, Zoe spotted another patrol of goblins.
There was no doubt about it now; there was very likely a goblin nest near his cave.
Although goblins were weak, they possessed a sliver of intelligence compared to ordinary monsters, allowing them to hunt and move in groups.
Having such a goblin nest nearby indeed posed a threat to Zoe's safety.
Therefore, even if goblins offered little meat and minimal mana, they still had to be eliminated.
Slowly creeping toward the goblins, he assessed their numbers and composition.
There were four goblins in total: two ordinary goblins, a horn goblin, and a goblin archer.
These four goblins were relatively cautious, unlike the careless group from yesterday.
“Looks like they learned their lesson. Too bad it's completely futile before absolute stats!”
“Acid Bullet!”
Zoe locked onto the horn goblin and immediately launched his attack.
Compared to yesterday, Zoe was much more adept this time. He quickly brought down three of the goblins.
As for the incoming arrow, Zoe ignored it entirely.
The piercing damage of an arrow did negligible harm to Zoe's gelatinous form, and [High-speed Regeneration] healed it in the blink of an eye.
“Gaku!!”
The remaining goblin archer shrieked and bolted in panic.
Zoe quickly caught up, using his Acid Bullets and body slams to knock the goblin archer flat before starting his meal.
Rate on N.U.
