The first thing I did was use [Appraisal] on the slime.

-----------------------------------------------------
[Status]
Name: Slime
Species: Blue Slime
Level: 20
Hp: 310/310 (50)
Mp: 80/80 (10)
Sp: 290/290 (120)
Str: 41
Int: 20
Con: 35
Wis: 14
Dex: 38
Spd: 25
Luk: 28

Skills: [Absorb lv 32] [Tackle lv 24] [Slime Whip lv 18] [Corrosion lv 1]
----------------------------------------------------

That looks a bit stronger than the one I faced before. It regenerates 50 hp in a minute and even has corrosion. I'll have to be careful here. Still, I'm stronger now myself, and unlike before, my mind isn't bogged down by the denial of my situation. Here's where my worth as a veteran player shines through!

The slime made the first move, charging at me with as much force as it could muster. I dodged it by stepping to the left and swung my dagger at it. The dagger made a sizable cut in the slime's side, but I could already see the slime reforming itself. Moreover, the corrosion attribute was already beginning to eat away at my dagger. It's minor, but the damage was already showing.

Slimes are terrifying in this world.

Distracted by my newfound fear of sentient gelatin, I was unable to dodge the slime's [Tackle], and had to block it with my arms. The attack knocked my back about half a metre, but I managed to stay on my feet. Glancing at my Hp, I found that I had been deprived of more than 30 Hp. When I had blocked. It has around 20 more Str than I have Con, which seems to be even more significant than I thought. I need to find out how damage calculation works here. Clearly it's a bit more skewed than in the game.

As the slime prepared to strike again, I rushed towards it and activated a skill of my own.

"[Heavy Slice]!"

The dagger landed a solid hit, and the slime was split in half. But rather than disappear, the two halves began attacking me at once. Albeit, weaker.

...the hell? [Appraisal].

-----------------------------------------------------
[Status]
Name: Slime (Offshoot)
Species: Blue Slime
Level: 20
Hp: 78/155 (25)
Mp: 40/40 (5)
Sp: 100/145 (60)
Str: 21
Int: 10
Con: 17
Wis: 7
Dex: 19
Spd: 20
Luk: 28

Skills: [Absorb lv 32] [Tackle lv 24] [Slime Whip lv 18] [Corrosion lv 5] [Division lv 1]
----------------------------------------------------

Huh.

Their stats halving is good I suppose, but their speed barely dropped at all. I've been somewhat managing so far, but I can't counter like this. Their attacks seem coordinated, and I was beginning to feel scratches all over. They're shaving me down. The corrosion attribute leveled up as well, making my scratches feel like they were burning. I won't last long like this. I need an out.

Dammit, if only I had my skills! Something like [Whirlwind Slash] would easily take care of this!

....Actually, now that I think about it, couldn't I still use it?

Most physical skills in MSO are learned by doing them first. While there are exceptions, [Whirlwind Slash] is not one of them. It's a simple technique where you spin, while slashing all around you. It's great for crowd control and I've used it many times when I was surrounded, even at higher levels. Seeing as most technique skills are only slightly augmented by the system, there should be nothing stopping me from using such a basic technique.

I got into stance with my dagger at my side, and as the slimes charged me again, I quickly spun around, cutting both of them in quick succession. Since my speed and dexterity are low, I could only manage to spin once before the slimes were knocked back. As I prepared to chase the one on my left, I received a notification.

-----------------------------------------
New Skill Acquired:

[Spin Slash]
-----------------------------------------
<Spin Slash>

A simple attack done while spinning. Low attack power. Gains more hits at greater speed. Greater dexterity allows the user to spin longer before falling.
-----------------------------------------

Not quite the skill I was hoping for, but it works.

I chased after the slime on my left, and ended it with a [Heavy Slice]. As it melted into the ground, I turned around to see a green whip headed for my face. I ducked underneath it and rushed to the other slime. Using [Charge] to up my momentum, I cut the other slime in half. 

Victory! And a level up message.

---------------------------------------
Level Up!

Level: 5 -> 8
---------------------------------------

....What? I beat an enemy four times my level and this is what happens? In a world where levels rise quickly? I call hax, cheats, and GM flubbing! This is completely unbalanced and unfair!

On an unrelated note, my first battle ended quite quickly. It might have been dangerous, but that wasn't very exciting.... Hopefully things will get better once I can fight the stronger monsters.

As I turned to the second slime melting into the grass, I saw that it left behind a small blue core. Interesting how it's offshoot didn't need a core, but I don't think I'll worry about that too much. I picked up the core and turned to Richia, who had approached now that the battle was over.

"C-congratulations on your first battle! Are you... uh... okay?"

"Yeah, though you seem pretty bothered."

"Eh?! No, I just... I thought I would have had to step in when it split like that, but you handled it fine. Honestly, I never expected it to be that strong. You should have seen it's strength though, right? How strong was it exactly?"

"Level 20."

Richia froze. Getting some deja vu vibes here.

"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"It was level 20. Had corrosion too. Honestly that was a pretty risky fight, but it worked out."

At that Rishia snapped.

"Why would you fight something four times your level?! Especially after I warned you that slimes get dangerous much faster than most other monsters! Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Eeeh....."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"I suppose it's fine, seeing as you beat it. So? What level are you at now?"

"Eight."

"....Well, we should hunt a few more slimes. After that, we can head to the guild to get you registered."

With that she started heading towards the center of the slime field. I guess she chose to ignore it?

==============

One time skip later, we're heading to the guild with dozens of slime cores in my inventory. While Item boxes, aren't exactly common here, they aren't rare to the extent of being legendary. A bit of surprise is all Richia showed, so it's probably not an issue for me to use it. If it is, I can just do the magic bag trick all the isekai protagonists use. Not a problem.

I was the one killing the slimes, and while they were much weaker than the first one, and thus gave less exp, I was able to get to level 10 before we finished for the day.

I managed quite a bit considering my leveling speed, and I got a very nice surprise once I hit level 10, the [Sub-Skill System]. It's the main reason MSO got it's name. The sub-skill system allowed players to gain stat's by doing things related to that stat, through the use of various sub-skills. For example, there's a sub-skill for pushups, which raises your strength stat when it levels. The game has millions of sub-skills for almost any action you can perform. It allows for players to gain strength in return for hard work and training.

My stats jumped quite a bit when I got it, so I assume it acknowledged the work I did before it was activated. Thanks to that I haven't had to spend a single status point, which is good, because I'd like to save the majority of them for emergencies. About 100 should do for now.

Moving on, though I felt that I should have some time to recover, we headed straight for the guild once we were done. It seems she needed to leave today and wanted to deal with the registration as soon as possible so she could prepare.

We headed past the guards at the gate and walked to the guild near the center of town. Also, on the topic, security is practically nonexistent. There doesn't seems to be any sort of inspections being done when people enter town. In fact, the guards don't give more than a glance at people passing! Do they have some magical security measure I'm not seeing? I'll ask about it later.

So, we walked though town until we came to a four story building with a sign showing two swords crossed behind a shield. It looked just like the rest of town on the outside if you ignore it's height. As we approached, Richia turned and spoke.

"So! When we get in there, don't look at anyone. Don't talk to anyone. Just ignore everything they say, and follow me to the counter. Okay?"

"....Okay."

I suppose if she's this worried about it I might be popular in there. In a bad way. Still, I expected that, so I didn't mind.

With that, we headed inside.