1.03

Sprawled on the sofa, Eric shook with pain. According to his status page his health points were rising once again. Therefore, he hoped that upon reaching the full 80 he would be healed. It only took 20 seconds for his health points to heal back up but of course it felt a lot longer. The, now healed, skin was hairless and a pale pink white. He also looked decidedly odd without a sleeve on his lower right arm. Sigh.

Okay, time to plan. How can someone without magic slay a slime. He could crush it of course. Topple a wardrobe onto it. The core unlike the rest of the slime is solid so either it gets crushed or gets knocked out of the slime. That seems unfeasible though. Perhaps if he gets something more suited to swatting he could knock the core out its body. The slime wasn’t big after all. (Kind of cute to be honest) Not big… yet, he reaffirmed. Decided Eric went to look through his kitchen utensils. The spatula was useless, at the moment, so he left it by the baked beans pile. While he was there he grabbed 1 of the 2 spears. Might be able to strike the core with it if it gets close enough. Pots, pans, spoons, forks…. Maybe his largest pan? May as well try it. Not as if he was getting much use out of it. Okay! Spear and pan at the ready! Off to see the slime.

Upon arrival in the apartment he instantly noticed the wooden box sitting in the center of the room. Pretty much right where the slime had been. When he made his tactical (?) retreat. How to do this. The wardrobe idea is probably more feasible now that it was stuck in the same place. Eric decided against it though. He would have to learn to deal with difficult enemies in the future. Can’t always expect to be fighting those pathetic thralls. Eric ended up using the spear to lift the lid of the chest. It was a bit of a challenge but after several annoying failures the spear got the necessary bit of fulcrum needed. The lid lift and the slime leaped. Eric ready (this time) took several steps to the left and smacked the slime in passing. He felt the impact between the pan and the core. The slime was knocked several meters away with a splat. How do you kill it if knocking the core simply moves the slime? Scooping the core out? Although painful he could reach in and grab it if its close to the surface. That idea was shot down pretty quickly. He stood there quietly for a moment. Taking slow cautious steps away from the slime. It will have to be a scooping motion with the pan. It took three tries. Eric would step towards the slime. If the core was close to the surface he would attempt to scoop it out. If not he would take a few steps back. On the third attempt at scooping  the core simply (and anticlimactically) popped out. Flying across the room. The slime simply deflated and turned into a disgusting puddle of goo. Eric was pleased. He grabbed a towel that was hanging on the oven and wrapped the core in it. Got to get that loot! Happy he travelled back to the apartment curious to see what his experience rewards would be. Seated on the sofa.

Ding!

Victory!

You have slain: Blue Mimic Slime (chest) level 5

Experience Received: 90

 Loot Received:

 Slime Core (Rank E)

Interesting it was level 5, pity I never leveled up. Hmm I wonder how much I need to level up to 3. The status menu doesn’t show it. Eric thought back to the opponents he had faced and the rewards. Hmmm, he reached level one after receiving 100 experience points. 2x 50 wasn’t it ?

Does that mean that it simply adds one hundred experience to the needed experience every level? Eric thought back with confusion. It seems likely. Doesn’t that just seem too easy? Eric sighed. Doesn’t matter, keep fighting and leveling whenever it decides to level me, not much he can do about it.

Healed and maybe a little bored Eric ate then began to search the other apartments. This would entail a lot of kicking. He had watched movies and seen it happen but even with the benefit of some extra strength it was still difficult. Boringly, the apartments were empty of enemies. But, he was now free to loot them.

There really wasn’t that much to loot. The apartment block was owned by mostly affluent people. Affluent people tend to buy food fresh. Therefore, a lot of the food had gone off. Of course, there were plenty of bottles of beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks. The necessities. There also several longer lasting foods in tins. Whether it be soup, tuna or beans. He ended up with about 7 days of rations. Mostly disgusting rations unless he was willing to build a fire in his apartment to cook it. Sigh. There were of course a selection of knives to choose from. He grabbed them all.

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In bed after dinner he recapped. It was a successful day as far as Eric was concerned. He could sleep easier now the level was clear. Tomorrow Eric planned to clear the top floor. That way when he eventually made his way downstairs he wouldn’t have to watch his back. Tomorrow would be dangerous but he could potentially meet another survivor. Eric drifted off to sleep.

Eric was set to clear the apartment blocks top floor. What he truly hoped for was to access the roof. His windows were too small and didn’t truly give a view of the surrounding area. The roof hopefully would.

Eric hesitated before the fire exit door. He wasn’t a particularly brave man. He just knew that to survive he had to kill monsters. To successfully kill monsters, he just had to think logically. Plan before action was his new motto. Stepping through the fire exit door, he carefully placed the large brick to stop the door from closing on him. With the brick placed Eric suddenly froze in fear.

He listened to the disgusting sounds of loud chewing and hissing. The bodies! Eric stepped quietly to the top of stairway. Looking down he was met by the sight of rats chewing on the corpses. Not just any old rats. These rats were the size of a small dog. Several larger rats were attempting to drag the bodies away but the smaller (small dog sized ones) kept taking bites out of them making the whole process a whole lot harder than it needed to be. Eric couldn’t help himself. He threw up!

The rats dramatically I might add, slowly turned to look at him. The larger rats took the distraction to drag the bodies away. The smaller rats eyes glistened. Each rat (about 7) slowly stepped towards the watery eyed Eric. One step forward. Two steps forward. Eric recovered himself. With a start he took a slow step backwards. As his foot connected with the floor it sparked a rush. The rats started to rapidly ascend. In turn Eric spun around and sprinted for the door. Knocking the brick he started to close the door with his knife hand. Erics spear flashed out striking the leading rat in the snout. He left the spear imbedded. The door closed.

Boom!

Boom!

Scratch Scratch.

Eric stood there quietly before shaking his head. “Nope, Nope, Nope.”

Eric stood for a moment dumbfounded by the change in situation. He did not doubt that he could probably slay one, maybe even two rats at once but 6 or 7 at the same time. He had no chance. He was just thankful that the door was sturdy.

The rats lost interest quite quickly. They already had a meal after all. With the door no longer banging Eric returned to the sofa and waited for a couple of hours. The rats were no longer knocking at the door but he didn’t want the same situation as the first goblin thrall. Where they stand on the other side inhumanly patient, waiting for him to open it. He didn’t really expect them to be waiting they were very ratlike (if rather large) not thralls.

2 hours after the first failed expedition Eric was ready. He opened the door quickly knife and pan at the ready. He was greeted by an empty stairwell and silence. Eric released a breath he never knew he was holding. He placed the brick in position. His first steps onto the stairs to the next level were hesitant. He soon became if not confident, decisive. He was going up to the next level. The fire exit door, which Eric worried would be locked, was smashed open. As if something had simply walked through it. Thankfully the wreckage of the door was on his side. Therefore, whatever had broken the door had left. He just hoped he never met whatever it was. Some of the wall was missing too he might add.

Cautiously entering the apartment level he was greeted by the sight of wrecked doors. And dried blood. Lots of blood. Not all of it was red. Of course, no bodies. Eric shuddered. This might have been a bad idea. He approached the nearest apartment. With only his head showing. He peaked inside. Empty! Or at the very least the appearance of being empty. Again the apartment was the same shape as his own. It was very easy to search. Definitely empty. The next three apartments were much the same. Some food and items he could take but best to wait until he had cleared the level. He most certainly did not want to be weighed down. Eric peaked into the fourth apartment.     

He was greeted by the sight no sane RPG apocalypse survivor wanted to see. Cobwebs. Cobwebs like curtains covered the walls and hung from the ceiling. Eric retreated once again. He was frustrated. What happened to the easy enemies? “I can’t keep retreating”, he muttered. Since no spiders instantly attacked him so it seems like there are not too many. But how long would that remain? If he left this area, would the apartment block be swarmed at some point. “Terrifying, absolutely terrifying”, he muttered again. I’ve just got to find them kill them. Then drink. A lot.

It took a several swigs of some whiskey he found in one of the three apartments before he had the courage to re-approach the spiders. What he wanted to do was set fire to the building but unfortunately, he lived here… The liquid courage turned his frustration and fear into an angry confidence. He would show that spider. Sanity returned just before he entered the apartment. Cautious but slightly more courageous, Eric entered.

It was a ghastly experience. The light from the windows was filtered through thick cobwebs. He could see but some areas were conspicuously dark. It was simply terrifying. Eric strained to look in every direction at once. He felt unprepared. He very carefully avoided any cobwebs. He really didn’t want to test their stickiness. He met a victim to the spiders trap in the lounge. Next to an overturned coffee table and smashed television. A large rat was caught in the web. It hung at about chest height. It was still alive.

The rat gazed at him desperately. The eyes were fear filled. It was caught tightly unable to move. Eric slowly approached. Free experience! His knife hung several centimeters from rat’s neck. He was about to grant it a merciful death when… He realized the rat wasn’t looking at him.