I spent the next several hours exploring and marking corridors and paths. I also discovered that if I focused my efforts on my path finding ability I could get a sense of what was around a corner. It was nothing more than a room or hallway but it was something. My skills had also slowed down considerably which I was not surprised about, identifying relied on looking at new objects. Path finding required that I keep exploring. Mana manipulation required that I well manipulate my mana. I did keep practicing my ability to move mana around my body but it was making the skill grow very slowly and I was not fully focused on it anyway.

I was starting to get hungry but as for water I found several more washroom and was able to keep my little flask filled. I was also starting to develop a picture of what this place looked like in my head. It was a simple grid layout of offices and corridors. I was even able to predict some of the layout by walking back to my original office using a different path. I got the sense that this place was not infinite, just very large.

I was still taking my time searching different offices and even a few document storage areas. I was very surprised when I discovered I could read what was written on the documents. It appeared to be an old office for some sort of large business’s archive maybe. I found contracts, ledgers, and notes written by individuals about specific contracts. I did find many reports which indicated monsters and bandits would attack shipping caravans. The list of different kinds of reports just kept growing. I never considered how much paperwork went into running a company, especially as computers and automation handled this kind of work.

I was pondering how life might be without a computer and I was a bit worried because of it. I was a software engineer and played video games as a hobby. I was not the bravest person and was unsure if I would be able to handle a monster or bandit. This place, this world seemed interesting but I also got the impression it could be very dangerous.

I was very much now letting my mind wander as nothing was around, this place was very clearly abandoned.

That's when the acrid smell hit my nose, I immediately stopped and looked around. I didn't see anything so I continued forward far more cautiously. At the next intersection I was greeted by my first monster. It appeared to be some sort of slime based thing, and the moment I looked around the corridor it shifted directions and started to crawl its way towards me. It didn't appear very fast so I threw out an Identify then quickly ducked back around.

Hungry Green Slime, small (level: 2)

It was relatively small as well, no bigger than a smallish dog, maybe slightly bigger than a terrier. I had several options here, I could easily outrun it, or I could fight it. Technically I could try to befriend it but that seemed like a really dumb idea.

I decided that I would try to fight this thing, if this was something like what was found in RPGs it should not be too difficult. My only concern was my club, I was unsure if damage types were a thing but an amorphous blob of acidic snot… bludgeoning damage might not be very effective against it.

As I turned around to face the creature I was in for my first surprise it was quite a bit faster than I expected. I had maybe 15 to 20 feet between myself and it. It also had what appeared to be a tentacle or pseudopod that was shifting around on the ground. It kind of reminded me of a dog following a trail.

“Are you tasting what I left behind?” I asked the mindless creature, or well I assumed mindless as I could not see a brain or anything.

I needed to probe its defenses, if it's pseudopod was stronger than me I would be in real trouble. I wish I had a longer club, this thing reminded me too much of a jellyfish. I flipped the end of the makeshift club around so that my sweat and skin cells might attract the creature towards that. Its pseudopod took the bait and wrapped itself around the chair leg. The grip was more firm than I anticipated but it would not knock me off balance. It tried to pull the club to its center of mass but I was able to shake it off. I was expecting this to be more difficult but so far physically it didn't seem to be too much of a threat.

It was just after that thought that I looked at the end of the club. It was charred black with some sort of acid.

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"Fuck me… if you even touched me I might lose that appendages." I said in shock.

I needed to switch tactics so I poured a mana into the chair leg, just a little less than the first time. I then threw the makeshift bomb at the slime. It didn't explode as soon as it hit the ground which was good, I was hoping the acid would cause the release of energy. The slime managed to fully envelope the now bomb before it went off. It was sort of like watching an explosion in slow motion. The slime’s tissue must have absorbed a good bit of the force. It did however squirm around whipping out more pseudopods in what I think was an attempt to ward off an attacker.

It seemed hurt but definitely not dead. I pulled out one of the extra light gems and stuffed energy into that until I could feel it vibrating. I then threw that at the slime but it missed. Instead it hit about a foot away from the creature and exploded with a very bright flash of light. I felt stone chips get blasted into my shins. I started to spin around to run but a sharp pain stabbed through my right shin and I tumbled. I managed to quickly get up before the slime got to me and I hobbled along in an attempt to get some distance.

I was able to get to one of the previous corridor and take a look back. The slime was moving much slower now but it still appeared to be chasing me. I then reached for my cell phone to get a better light out. That's when I noticed it was missing, looking back the slime was already pulling itself on top of it.

Seeing how fast the slimes acid had eaten through the wooden chair leg I knew it was already too late. About 7 seconds later the battery ruptured and the lithium battery reacted with the water and acid that made up the slime. The damn thing started to smoke and boil.

Ding!

Congratulations, you immolated ‘Hungry Green Slime’ Level 2 to a gooey mess! Bonus Exp was granted for roasting a monster above your level!

I was then presented with a new prompt right after that.

Ding!

For doing a Special Action in line with your Class, you have unlocked the skill: Mana Explosives.

Then another.

Ding!

Congratulations, your MacTinker class has reached level 1!

Stamina +5

Resilients +5

You have gained: One Class Point

“Fuck you world…. I can get my cell phone back instead?” I said. I was more directing that at myself however, I knew I should have been more careful with it.

I sat down for a moment, back resting against the corridor wall and pulled up my pants legs. It was mostly like fine gravel that was pressed into my skin, most of it very shallow. The one spot on my right leg that made me trip was a much flatter and sharper piece that was most of the way in the skin. The bleeding was more intense than I would have liked and I knew I needed to tend to it sooner rather than later.

The pain pulling the chip of stone out was not too bad but pressing around the wound to make sure nothing else was still inside really sucked. I then cleaned off the area with water first, then the stronger alcohol and the wound burned, it hurt far worse than pulling the stone chip out.I then used some of my cloth like paper as a bandage against the wound. It didn't take long for the bleeding to stop but my right leg was a bloody mess.

I walked over to the now smoldering Green Slime cellphone combo. The cellphone was half melted and almost unrecognizable due to the acid and heat. I let out a defeated sigh and focused on all the new notifications.

I got a kill yeah fine that was great, and I got a level that also seemed like a major plus. The most interesting was the Mana Explosives, I focused on that skill for a moment to bring up the window.

Mana Explosives

Rank F - 27%

The ability to create and use small mana infused explosive devices.

I was really hoping my ruptured cell phone battery did not count towards the ‘explosive’ portion of Mana Explosives. I took a look at my stats.

Health: 108/110

Stamina: 103/110

Mana: 47/105

So I learned two things, first my resources did not ‘refresh’ as part of the leveling process. That at least seemed to make some sense. Second and maybe more importantly, just two ‘bombs’ ate up quite a bit of mana. I could still feel that lack of mana in my body as well, it somewhat similar to being out of breath but in a different way.

As much as I wanted to explore the use of Mana Explosives I felt like that would be a waste of mana at the moment. I felt this was a good time to head back to my makeshift basecamp and develop a bit more of a plan.