Meanwhile, Max was searching for the fourth levelling zone, with no clue as to where it was and not even a map to help guide him.
He thought he should go straight to the next zone, without knowing where he was supposed to go and not even a hint of its surroundings.
After 30 minutes of searching, Max finally realised that he should go back to the village and gather more information. However, he looked at his surroundings and realised that he had no idea how to get back.
So, ignoring that thought, Max continued onward, hoping to find someone or something that would point him in the right direction.
Max kept walking for what seemed like an eternity to him. He was surrounded by grass and grass alone, with no people, monsters or anything else that would at least keep him engaged.
Finally, Max saw something unusual 300 metres away.
He didn't care what it was, as long as it wasn't endless grass, Max would be grateful for it.
He quickly ran up to it, even using swift dash just to reach it quicker.
In the end, he reached and saw an arch-shaped cave and a portal.
Max attempted to step inside, however it showed:
[Player Arcane has attempted to enter a dungeon]
[Warning! Warning!]
[Recommended level for dungeon is level 10 with C-rank talent]
Max glanced at the warnings and immediately went inside, too bored to even think of doing anything else. 45 minutes of pure walking bored him out of his mind, and Max was ready for some action.
[You have entered dungeon: Slime Mania]
'Well, at least I now know what kind of monsters to expect.'
While Max had now found out what the monsters in the dungeon would be, he still didn't know their characteristics properly, mainly due to the unpredictability of Genesis.
From prior gaming experience, Max believed that physical attacks would most likely be almost useless against them, making this place almost a haven for him, especially considering his class as a mage.
Max's teleportation had finished as he looked around at his surroundings.
While expecting his surroundings to drastically change, Max was left disappointed as the dungeon was only a rocky cave.
Max knew that from here on out, he would have to tread carefully, especially as he remembered the warning from before.
So he snuck around, as carefully as he could be, while focusing on the surroundings like he'd never done before.
Each step was made after careful deliberation, and Max was almost looking like a clown with how he walked.
He utilised his illusions to make him blend with his surroundings, and any bystander would have no clue about there being another person in the cave.
After staying like this for 5 minutes, Max finally found his first slime. He quickly checked its status, eager to explore any weaknesses to exploit.
---
[Slime]
[Talent:] Physical Resistance (D)
[Health Points:] 250
[Mana Points:] 150
[Stamina:] 250
[Speed:] 17
[Attributes:]
Vitality - 25
Strength - 15
Agility - 17
Endurance - 25
Intelligence - 15
Perception - 10
[Skills:] Bounce - Level 2 - Once activated, user can jump as high as its Vit x 5 metres - Consumes 15 mana - 10 second cooldown.
---
While the skill may not have been intimidating, every other part of its status was, with a D-rank talent and basic attributes that could potentially screw Max over.
He took a look at his own, wishing to compare the difference between the two.
---
[ID:] Arcane
[Level:] 8 (73%)
[Class:] Apprentice Mage
[Talent(s):] Plunderer (SSS) Accelerated Speed (D) Enhanced Perception (E) Illusion Prodigy (C)
[Health Points:] 160/160
Mana Points:] 960/960
[Stamina:] 140/140
[Speed:] 90
[Attributes:]
Vitality - 16
Strength - 12
Agility - 30
Endurance - 14
Intelligence - 96
Perception - 100
[Hidden Attributes:]
Luck - 1
Charisma - ??
[Unassigned Attribute Points]
ATP - 10
[Skills:] Fireball - Level 4 - Deal 40 points of damage to target + 140% of user Int to target - Consumes 25 mana - 3-second cooldown.
Swift Dash - Level 5 - Increases speed by 100% of agility for 3 seconds - Consumes 30 mana - 10-second cooldown
Bite - Level 5 - If the user bites the enemy, Deal 20 points of damage to target + 150% of user Per to target - Consumes 30 mana - 3-second cooldown.
Disguise - Level 5 - Once activated, user can disguise itself by changing the surroundings for Int x 50 seconds - Consumes 40 mana - 70 second cooldown.
[Spells:] Sound Mimicry - User can store sounds in Sound Bank and release them when they wish. Sound Bank: 0/5
Blur - User can make themselves look blurry, making it harder for anyone to perceive the user clearly and lets a limited amount of a certain type of attack roll off the user.
Cloning - User can create multiple clones of themselves, with them dealing 5% of the user's damage.
[Equipment:]
Apprentice Mage Staff
[Inventory:]
5 gold 57 silver 74 copper
28 HP Potions
72 MP Potions
Disguise skill book x 2
---
While Max had a much higher agility and perception, they weren't attributes that could help him fight enemies, in fact, none of his talents up till now had an actual use in fighting, being mostly for running away, detecting others and hiding your presence.
His high Intelligence, the only saving grace of his status, allowed him to deal much more damage than most at his level.
It seemed that this talent was also only for resisting attacks and not for dealing out damage. He currently only had one attacking spell, which was the basic fireball and the cloning spell as support.
Right now, Max's attributes were almost perfect for an assassin, so much that he almost regretted choosing a mage as his initial class, at least, he would have if not for his high Intelligence.
So Max started his plan against the Slime, deciding to sneak attack it and deal as much damage as he could as fast as he could, not wishing to wait for the slime to see him, instead taking the initiative.
-174
Max was astounded at his damage, unsure if it was even his own attack. He had already gotten it down to 70 HP, and one more fireball would finish it for good.
-174
[You have killed the Slime]
[You have gained 40 copper coins]
While he wasn't able to plunder anything or gain any useful information about its skill or talent, Max now knew how to easily kill them and that was enough for him.