A new skill!
It hurt so bad!
There was no time to celebrate. Zoe leapt off the shadow wolf and darted to the side, moving in a curved path to dodge the incoming attacks.
The shadow wolf, whose skull was all that remained intact after being corroded, collapsed to the ground, twitching violently.
[Killed Hera Shadow Wolf Lv.5, EXP +50]
[EXP bar filled. Level increased to Lv.6]
[Intelligence +1, Free Stat Point +1]
With his Mana draining rapidly, Zoe felt as though the 5 points of Mana granted by leveling up was like rain during a drought.
He quickly allocated his Free Stat Point to Constitution. Zoe currently had 94 points of Mana left.
No, 93 points.
He had to go on the offensive, trading injury for injury to strike fear into them.
“Acid Bullet!”
Zoe flattened his body to dodge a dark blade, firing off an Acid Bullet under the effect of Precision.
The shadow wolf had no intention of dodging. With its claw wrapped in dark magic, it slapped away the Acid Bullet.
Taking advantage of this moment, Zoe spat out the wolf corpse he was digesting to lighten his weight, charging straight ahead.
Right then, two more shadow wolves lunged out from either side of the first one, dark magic enveloping their claws like gauntlets.
It turned out the first wolf was just a decoy to lure him in!
If Zoe couldn't instantly kill it, its packmates would tear him to shreds in a split second.
But could Zoe one-shot it? Could he instantly corrode it to death? You think you can one-shot me?
“Dragon Flame!”
His remaining 90 points of Mana plummeted rapidly. Zoe spat out an orange-red stream of Dragon Flame, instantly setting three shadow wolves ablaze.
Their pitch-black fur acted like an accelerant, quickly allowing the Dragon Flame to engulf their entire bodies.
Zoe desperately cut off his Mana flow, but even so, a whopping 80 points of Mana was instantly drained from him.
Just as the information had stated, shadow wolves were weak to fire and light.
Three blazing, wolf-shaped torches shrieked as they ran around in a frenzy, illuminating the pitch-black shadows.
With the shadows dispelled, the remaining shadow wolves in the area had nowhere left to hide. Denied the protection of the dark, even the dark magic coating their bodies dimmed under the brilliant firelight.
Zoe didn't display the slightest hesitation despite his nearly depleted Mana. Instead, as if fighting for his life, he lunged without a second thought at a nearby dazed shadow wolf.
His gelatinous mass instantly enveloped the shadow wolf's head, corroding and digesting it with all his might.
At this sight, the remaining shadow wolves lost all will to fight, tucking their tails and fleeing into the depths of the forest.
Seeing this, Zoe breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his pitiful 8 points of Mana.
“I finally managed to scare them off.”
[Killed Hera Shadow Wolf Lv.5 x3, EXP +120]
[Killed Hera Shadow Wolf Lv.5 x1, EXP +40]
The three wolf-shaped torches collapsed to the ground, and the Dragon Flame gradually died out, leaving behind only three charred corpses.
Zoe didn't move an inch, focusing all his efforts on digesting the wolf corpse beneath him to restore his Mana.
Since shadow wolves could cast shadow magic, their corpses possessed decent magical quality, yielding excellent Mana recovery. They made for perfect training fuel.
As soon as his Mana had recovered halfway, Zoe began hauling the wolf corpses.
He also re-swallowed the wolf corpse he had spat out earlier. He worked efficiently, carrying the corpses while digesting them to recover his Mana.
After all, he was the one who spat it out, so he had no reason to feel disgusted by it.
He couldn't afford to let it go to waste.
In total, Zoe piled six and a half wolf corpses deep inside his cave.
This was the joy of a bountiful harvest—it was enough to feed him for several days.
Next came training.
Zoe realized that as a High Slime, his relentless, sticky, rogue-like style of combat was highly effective in one-on-one duels.
But when facing group attacks, it was far too rigid.
The same went for Acid Bullet; a physical projectile was easy to deal with for an opponent with quick reflexes.
Dragon Flame was incredibly powerful and unmatched at close range.
But in actual combat, it was difficult to control precisely, making it easy to accidentally drain himself dry in one go.
“If only I could develop new skills, just like how I unlocked [Precision] this time.”
In his previous life, through years of practice, he had unlocked two F-grade skills from [Sable-style Swordsmanship (E-grade)].
[Arc Slash] and [Horizontal Slash].
However, those two skills could only be mastered by the Swordsman class, so there was no way to replicate them now.
“Could I replicate them if I used wind magic instead...?”
“But I don't know wind magic.”
Zoe pondered for a moment before an idea came to him.
He tried manipulating the corrosive acid inside his body, causing it to boil.
He then gathered the boiling corrosive gas and attempted to expel it the same way he did with Acid Bullet.
The first attempt failed. Mana -1.
Zoe was not discouraged.
Whether learning or creating a new skill, every success was built on continuous practice.
A second attempt, a third...
Zoe failed repeatedly, but under the effect of his talent [Apprentice (D-grade)], he quickly grasped the trick.
He spat out a mouthful of corrosive gas in one breath.
The corrosive gas hit the stone wall with a sizzle, dissolving a thin layer of rock.
“The expelled gas is too scattered. I need to condense it into a single cluster.”
Zoe began to manipulate it with finer control, but he just couldn't get the hang of it.
After some thought, Zoe decided to take a different approach.
He altered his training regimen, practicing acid spraying instead.
Whenever his Mana was depleted, he would feed on the wolf corpses to recover, while simultaneously studying [Sable-style Swordsmanship].
Soon, his training time exceeded two hours, triggering his talent [Diligence Compensates for Lack of Talent (E-grade)].
And so, he trained all the way into the dead of night.
[Skill: Precision (E-grade) Proficiency +1]
[Skill: Spray Lv.1 (F-grade, Beginner) Proficiency +1. Proficiency maxed, upgraded to Spray Lv.2 (F-grade, Mastered)]
[Skill: Acid Lv.1 (E-grade, Beginner) Proficiency +1. Proficiency maxed, upgraded to Acid Lv.2 (E-grade, Mastered)]
[Skill: Spray Lv.2 (F-grade, Mastered) has influenced your body. Mana +3]
[Skill: Acid Lv.2 (E-grade, Mastered) has influenced your body. Mana +5]
With the skill rank-up, Zoe's technique in spitting acid improved by leaps and bounds.
The expelled acid could now change into various shapes: acid streams, Acid Bullets, and acid buckshots.
Stopping his acid spitting, Zoe began to condense the corrosive gas within his body.
By now, he had mastered the method of condensing corrosive gas; his body no longer bubbled incessantly like boiling water as it had at the beginning.
This time, the corrosive gas Zoe spat out condensed into a single sphere, shooting toward the stone wall.
With a sizzle, a small pit was corroded into the stone wall.
Its offensive capability fell far short of actual acid, but it was already a massive step forward for his self-developed skill.
Zoe then recalled the [Arc Slash] and [Horizontal Slash] he had mastered in his previous life, and began trying to replicate them using the corrosive gas.
“Puh!”
With a soft puffing sound, a wobbly, blade-shaped puff of gas was expelled.
“No, it's just a hollow imitation.”
Zoe analyzed his mistakes and continued trying.
Meanwhile, his proficiency in [Spray (F-grade)] continued to accumulate.
The lower a skill's rank, the easier it was to raise its proficiency.
Zoe didn't dare to rest. Since the effect of [Diligence Compensates for Lack of Talent] was still active, taking a break would mean having to spend another two hours to trigger it again.
He practiced from night until dawn, feeding on the wolf corpses to restore his Mana whenever it ran dry.
Even while eating the wolf corpses, Zoe didn't dare to take a break. He carefully contemplated the [Sable-style Swordsmanship], terrified of interrupting the active state of [Diligence Compensates for Lack of Talent].
By the time noon arrived, Zoe stood facing the stone wall, which was now riddled with corrosion marks.
“Corrosive Gas Slash!”
In that instant, Zoe felt as though he had swung an invisible sword. His swordsmanship experience from his past life and his gas-spitting experience in this life fused seamlessly.
As if unleashing nineteen years of swordsmanship experience accumulated from his past life, he spat out the gathered corrosive gas.
The [Arc Slash] and [Horizontal Slash] that he had unlocked and mastered in his previous life were both integrated into this single strike.
In an instant, 60 points of Mana were drained from him.
In its place, a crescent-shaped blade of gas flew forward.
With a sharp whistling sound, the blade of gas slammed heavily against the stone wall. The forces of corrosion and sword qi erupted simultaneously, carving a deep, sharp fissure into the rock.
The fissure was covered with pitted, uneven corrosion marks.
Lingering atop the corroded stone was a dense, clinging mist of corrosive gas that continued to dissolve the rock.
[You have successfully unlocked the skill: Corrosive Gas Slash Lv.1 (D-grade)]
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