Dane lurked by the river, timing the monsters that came in and out. Despite being a chronomancer, he was terrible at predicting when the monsters would appear and disappear. He was, however, good at recognizing patterns, and the slimes would be the first ones to the water and the last to leave. If he had to guess, they used water in their attacks. He wasn't sure if it was mana or if they needed to replenish themselves.

  When the light from the river hit the gelatinous monsters, a rainbow shimmered on the floor as if it were a prism. The slime swayed when the minuscule droplets from the cascading cave river hit its jello-like form. After Dane watched them leave, he followed closely. It was hard to tell where the monsters were; unlike the wolves, they made little sound as they crept through the dungeon.

  He listened closely, but the slimes' sound as they tunneled down the caverns was the same as scraping a fresh razor blade across coarse hairs during a shave. It was much easier to track them compared to their canine compatriots. Their snail trail smelled putrid, and the slick surfaces were hard to miss. Dane followed his nose, and as the light from the magic river faded behind him, he needed to rely on his other senses.

  He grew tired of not being able to see. He hadn't practiced mana much since he had to run the mana ropes through his body, but he got a great idea. What would happen if he ran the strings through the channels in his eyes? Dane began to channel his mana into his eyes, picturing Superman's heat vision.

  He couldn't blast a laser out, but his surroundings began to radiate light. He could make out shades; it wasn't like he could suddenly see every detail as clearly as day. But at least now he had various shades of gray to distinguish the general shapes. That was when he noticed the slimes were too translucent to make out their bodies. Instead, he saw a small pebble floating where he felt the heart should be. He looked around and counted 58 separate floating stones.

  They all stopped as soon as he began to channel mana, and they began to shamble toward him slowly. Dane turned around and hauled out of there. Without more information, he was not about to fight a small army of slimes. He made it back to the river and was almost blinded by the illumination from the mana-rich water. He turned off what he was thinking of as his mana vision.

  The slimes had followed him back to the river. He ducked back into a crack in the wall and held his breath. He watched the jiggling would-be assailants scour the area in search of him. Something was different. The monsters hunted him precisely in the darker part of the cave. Why were they struggling to find him now?

  It felt like it had been hours, and the slimes were unrelenting. All 58 of the disgusting balls of sludge were now in the room. More than once, the slimes rolled past his hole in the wall. He hadn't seen the moles or the wolves in the room since the slimes began their occupation in search of the mana-eyed intruder.

  A couple of times, he activated his mana eyes to see if he could spot the pebbles on the slimes, and each time he did, the slimes stopped moving, almost as if they could sense the mana in the room.

  These guys didn't see, smell, or hear. They tracked prey based on mana. Dane figured since they wouldn't be able to see him, he could come out, and just as he predicted, when he began walking around the slimes, they just aimlessly meandered past him.

  He grabbed his trusty pickaxe and figured he could get some easy levels. He picked a small one to start with.

  Acid Slime, Level 16, HP?, MP 10/10, Threat level: Manageable, Recommended course of action: fight.

  He couldn't see the health bar, which was strange, as every monster he had faced showed at least a basic health bar since he had received the system. Dane's heart began to race. He tightened his grip on the bone handle of his pickaxe. He centered himself, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. His palms were sweaty, making the pickaxe feel like it would slip out of his hand if he swung too hard.

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  He crept toward his target, slowly sliding his feet rather than taking significant steps. Just as he got within striking distance, all of the fear, anxiety, and doubt left his mind. He chose to do his most powerful strike: an overhead chop. The movement was much easier now that he didn't have to balance the pickaxe with one good hand and a stump. The head of his pickaxe was met with very little resistance, feeling more like a paddle plunging into water rather than the reverberation he was used to feeling from the stone.

  Dane followed through, but the slime reformed after his strike split it in two. The monster gurgled as it coagulated. Dane looked at his axe head and noticed that some of the rust that was on it previously was no longer there. He tried several more attacks, but none even affected the monster. He was growing increasingly frustrated.

  He began to swing at the beast relentlessly until he felt something crack under the weight of his axe. It was the same feeling he was familiar with when he would strike a precious gem in a bed of igneous stone. The composition of the slime dematerialized, pooling on the ground in front of him. A broken gem sat in the middle of the puddle.

  Congratulations on defeating an opponent over six levels above you; you have gained additional EXP.

  Level 11 reached.

  Please choose a skill listed below:

  True Strike: The rock beneath you crumbles under the might of your pickaxe. Now you don't need as many blows for the same result because the edge always goes where you want it.

  Moleman: You have spent more of your adult life below ground than above. Your senses are now sharper and more in tune with the earth. You can feel vibrations in the ground and interpret the cause. Warning: Access to mana sight will be lost upon obtaining this skill.

  Vampire: You are not undead or super strong. But you are disgusting. Taking this skill will offset the adverse effects of drinking blood.

  Analyze: You have spent much time figuring out your surroundings, which will become more manageable with this skill. This is a direct upgrade to identify.

  Caveman: You are simple and not the most brilliant man. But you will find a way to kill it. This skill will help you assess your target's weaknesses.

  Dane understood why he got the skill selections that he did. He could already rule out Vampire, Moleman, and True Strike. He could use mana vision, so he didn't want to use the skill slot on a sensory skill. He could always get better at hitting where he wanted, so he didn't feel pulled to True Strike. Vampire would have been great, but he would be alright with hydration since he could now eat mana stones and access the river.

  That just left Analyze and Caveman. He was starting to sense a pattern. The system thought he was stupid, and he couldn't refute that; after all, he had seen the floating pebbles in the slime and couldn't put together that he was supposed to destroy them to kill the monsters.

  They didn't even have a health bar. He chose Caveman because, while Analyze was more versatile, he didn't have the creativity to discern what to do with the information. It was the same reason he stayed away from Magic classes. He didn't need to be the most intelligent person as long as his enemies died.

  Are you sure you would like to select Caveman? Y/N

  Yes

  His eyes began to heat up. It wasn't the worst pain he had ever felt, but more like putting his head in a warm bath with his eyes closed. Dane looked at the slimes again and saw the pebble without using mana eyes. It flickered a dark vermilion. He took his axe and began to slaughter the helpless slimes until he reached the final 15 of them. He was now level 19, and nothing would stop him.

  The remaining slimes began to screech a high-pitched whine that stung his ears. They sought each other out, huddling together. Dane felt like the big bad wolf come to eat the little pigs. But the slimes began to bubble and gurgle. They were combining and integrating. A behemoth of a slime stood before him, almost touching the top of the 20-foot ceiling in the river chamber. He used Identify.

  Caustic King, Level 35, HP?, MP 150/150, Threat level: Boss, Recommended course of action: run.

  He used his Caveman skill and saw 15 pebbles floating in the monster, but they were moving now instead of being the steadfast target on the individual slimes. He would have to go inside the monster to get some of them, but with the name Caustic King, this would be anything but a fun fight.

  "Dia, we are going to need to use some space magic. Can I count on you?" Dane asked his little spirit.

  "Dane, I thought you would never ask," Dia said, anticipating their first boss fight.