Puchi Puchi Puchi

In the large and barren cavern, only sounds of squishy and slimy things echoed throughout the halls as they bounced from one spot to another. The once undisturbed place was now filled with small transparent creatures.

In one corner, a couple of those creatures can be seen trying to bounce into the walls and sliding down slowly as they failed to do so. On the other corner, some could be seen bouncing towards one another. Just by observing their behavior for a short while, Grey...

Splat

"They aren't very smart, aren't they...?" ［Grey］

.... inferred that they weren't the smartest of creatures as one of them impaled itself trying to jump over the small rock formations right in front of it.

Judging from its physical appearance alone and the absence of a physical brain, Grey already expected that they wouldn't be very smart, but the scenes he just saw in front of him were beyond his comprehension.

Grey once thought he had to be cautious when he entered a dungeon, but seeing their behavior, Grey could afford to dawdle and observe them all he wanted. He could probably sleep there for a few hours and then they wouldn't notice him.

⟨⟨Appraisal⟩⟩ ［Grey］

-----------------------------------

[Monster]

[Species] Slime

[Status] Healthy

[Type] Elemental

[Ability] Merge

[Mana Capacity] 12 [Mana Quality] H

[Combat Power] 2 [Threat Level] H

[Attribute] Null

-----------------------------------

Like what Grey had expected, the slimes' stats were quite low. In fact, it was low enough to the point that children could beat them without breaking a sweat.

In Merusia, adult men have an average combat power of 10 while women average at 8. As for kids, they have somewhere between 5 and 6, enough to combat a couple of slimes at the same time.

Seeing the slimes' combat power, Grey couldn't help but feel like a superior being that controls the lives of the slimes before him. Thankfully, he was able to suppress that feeling before it went to his head.

"Now then, how should I deal with them..." ［Grey］

Inside of his "Memory Bank", there were a few methods of dealing with monsters, the only problem was that they required the use of magic.

"Should I try 'that'?" ［Grey］

As if the echoing noises in the cavern were nothing to him, Grey slowly closed his eyes and focused his concentration into the utmost limit. In that moment, it was as if he was one with the surroundings, his breath in sync with the silent wind and his mind as calm as the shadows in the ceiling.

Inside his mind, Grey visualized the stagnant air... the moving wind... everything which encompasses gasses in his surroundings, slowly compressing into a tiny sphere denser than the ground below him.

Slowly and surely, a warm flow of mana surged from his soul into his body, circulating a couple of times before heading out into the environment like a storm trying to break free from its restraints.

In less than a second, the seemingly simple surge of mana gathered the surrounding air into a sphere on the top of his palm. The more time passed, the stronger the mana surged.

As he opened his eyes, what he saw in front of him was an orb of air and mana the size of his fist, rotating in faster and faster the more mana he poured into it. It was like a bullet waiting to be fired.

⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ［Grey］

The moment he placed the palm of his hands towards targets and released the spell, the once spherical orb became an elliptical bullet which ruptured through all the slimes that were on its way.

One slime... Two slimes... Three slimes...

In less than a fraction of a second, seven slimes bursted out as they were obliterated by the mass of air and mana that passed through them. The bullet which was fired only stopped when it hit the wall of the cavern and slowly dissipated back into thin air.

"A... A... Amazing!" ［Grey］

In front of the scene he just witnessed, Grey became dumbfounded and excited at the same time. After all, it was his very first spell and it went perfectly without preparations whatsoever.

Normally, it would take a few tries to successfully release a spell for the first time, but with the knowledge "God" had bestowed to Grey and Grey's own knowledge from his past life, it became possible to succeed in the first try.

It took Grey quite some time to select which attribute he wanted to be his main focus, and after much thought, he decided to go with the wind attribute. After all, there would only be a handful of situations where he wouldn't be in contact with air.

⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ［Grey］

Riding on the momentum, Grey shot air bullets one after another and obliterated all slimes on sight. Even the slimes which just spawned in weren't spared from Grey's onslaught.

Thankfully, the walls and ceiling of the cavern were reinforced with mana, or else the cavern might have gone crashing down from one small mistake.

"Huh?!" ［Grey］

As he was firing his spells without restraint, some slimes started to head towards one another and in just a few seconds, the slimes merged with one another and became bigger and stronger.

-----------------------------------

[Monster]

[Species] Big Slime

[Status] Healthy

[Type] Elemental

[Ability] Merge

[Mana Capacity] 34 [Mana Quality] H

[Combat Power] 6 [Threat Level] H

[Attribute] Null

-----------------------------------

"Air Bulー" ［Grey］

As Grey tried to eliminate the big slime with an air bullet spell, the mana which tried to surge out suddenly dissipated into the air, immediately halting the formation of the spell.

"Ah, crap." ［Grey］

It was in that moment that he realized that he fuー I mean, that he had run out of mana to release a spell. Even the mana reserves from the "Mana Heart" of the Divine Amulet were sucked dry. There was only a meager amount of mana left in his soul, just enough for him to not suffer mana exhaustion.

Realizing his mistake, Grey immediately raised his guard and imitated a fighting pose he saw on the action movies he had watched before. Although it was an unpolished pose, it was satisfactory for an amateur.

Gathering what meager mana he had left, he hastily sprung up towards the big slime and with a single punch that contained all his mana, he landed a strike deep enough to reach the big slime's nucleus.

The moment his fists made contact with the big slime's nucleus, the impact immediately spread throughout the big slime's body and cracks appeared on its nucleus which eventually made it shatter into tiny fragments.

Seeing the nucleus starting to shatter, Grey immediately pulled out his arm and quickly stepped back before collapsing into the ground from mana exhaustion.

As for the big slime, the moment its nucleus shattered, it burst into tiny pieces and those tiny pieces then soon turned back into mana and assimilated into the air, leaving not a trace behind

Normally, every monster defeated would drop something, even if it's just a mana crystal. But in this special dungeon, everything would just turn back to mana and assimilate back to the dungeon.

On the plus side, whenever the trainee is exhausted or injured enough, the dungeon would despawn the monsters and let the trainee rest. It was a high-reward low-risk dungeon created especially just for Grey.

It was also because of that reason that Grey can manage to lie leisurely in the ground as he recovers from mana exhaustion. If it were any other dungeon, Grey could face death in the worst situation.

While he was exhausted from his first time fighting monsters, one could see the clear and satisfied smile on his face as if his frustrations were washed away from the fight just a few moments ago.

"Alright, time for round 2!" ［Grey］

After a few hours of rest, Grey's mana has been refilled by a substantial amount and the moment he stood up, slimes had started mysteriously spawning once again as if they were just waiting for Grey's signal.

In the moment Grey had rested, rather than lazing around doing nothing, Grey thought of ways to efficiently use his mana in order to fight longer and defeat more enemies. Of course, he had also considered the fact that multiple big slimes might spawn at the same time.

Whenever a slime spawns, Grey immediately launches himself into it in the shortest amount of time possible. The moment he is in range, he hastily delivers a fatal blow into the slimes' nuclei, using as little mana as possible.

⟨⟨Air Bullet!⟩⟩ ［Grey］

When the slimes tried to converge into a big slime, Grey would immediately fire an air bullet towards it to stop them from merging. The moment the air bullets hit the slimes, they instantly disintegrated and vanished into thin air.

With a combination of punches and spells, Grey maneuvered himself in the battlefield like a ruthless warrior whose only goal was to win. In just half the time he spent compared to the last fight, he ended up defeating more than double the amount of enemies.

Like a god of death who descended from the heavens, Grey massacred every slime in his line of sight without mercy. There were even slimes who didn't have the time to bounce even once as they were taken care of immediately.

This routine continued for a few dozen minutes, only ending when Grey had run out of mana once again. Of course, the moment Grey recovered his mana, the massacre of slimes started once again.

Round 3... Round 4... Round 5....

Grey went on for a few rounds without stopping, and the more he fought, the more efficient he became in fighting against the slimes. Just from the last round alone, he had defeated more than the amount of slimes he crushed in the first 3 rounds.

The better Grey became, the more slimes spawned and even big slimes started to spawn without the others slimes merging. At first, it became a problem at first but as time went on, they became as insignificant as the slimes in the eyes of Grey.

If it were animals or beasts, Grey's guilt would have been crushed by the weight of his actions, having killed so many. Fortunately, from the knowledge "God" gave Grey, monsters are nothing more than a moving mass of mana that seeks destruction and couldn't really be considered as living things. Even if they seem to have intelligence, it would be just fake intelligence derived from their instincts to destroy.

Time went on and the sun had started to set outside of the dungeon. As for Grey, he was sprawling motionlessly on the dungeon grounds, trying to catch his breath from all the fighting he did.

While he could recover his stamina and mana, fatigue would continue to accumulate as he continued to fight. Not to mention that his muscles were aching from lack of exercise before he reincarnated. Even though he had become younger, it seems that he still wouldn't be able to escape muscle pain.

There was also his hunger which he brought upon himself as he became too invested in fighting the slimes. Thankfully, he didn't forget to drink or else he would have really passed out from dehydration.

Having rested for almost half an hour, Grey headed out of the dungeon and as he opened the curtain of vines covering the entrance, the beauty of the night greeted him as if they were congratulating him from his first dungeon dive.

As the night dazzled brightly in the night sky, the fireflies illuminated the forest with warm and cold colors which weren't possible on Earth. The gentle night breeze swept through Grey's body, embracing him fully. The gentle rustling of the leaves and grasses along with the chirping of the small bugs and critters and the hooting of the owls, sounded like an orchestra in the middle of the night.

Hearing such a beautiful performance in a comparably beautiful night, Grey's mind and heart which was once riddled with fatigue became lighter as if it had been refreshed and cleansed thoroughly.

Grey stayed for a little while, enjoying nature's beautiful performance before heading back to his new home which was just a few steps away.

After having a meal from the rations "God" gave him, Grey immediately went to his bedroom and jumped into his bed. The moment he landed on his bed, it was as if the goddess of dreams was embracing him and he eventually succumbed to his exhaustion, heading towards dreamland.

A new day arrived and with it, Grey's muscle pains from his previous endeavors went away as if they were just a lie. It might have been because of the presence of mana or due to the Divine Amulet he was wearing, but one thing Grey knows is that magic had a hand on it.

Grey still couldn't believe that everything he had experienced was real. It was just so out of the ordinary, that Grey had a very strangely detailed and weird dream but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

After having a light breakfast, Grey then headed into the dungeon in the same manner he did the day before, and the moment he stepped foot into the dungeon, a rush of mana once again greeted his body.

The hallway which seemed to be so long just a day ago now seemed shorter all of a sudden. It might have been just because he quickly got used to it, but Grey couldn't help but feel like magic had something to do with it.

Once again, mana swirled inside the cavern and gathered in the center, but rather than slime.... another staple monster in the fantasy world had taken shape from the gathered mana.

⟨⟨Appraisal⟩⟩ ［Grey］

-----------------------------------

[Monster]

[Species] Goblin

[Status] Healthy

[Type] Warrior

[Ability] ...

[Mana Capacity] 45 [Mana Quality] H

[Combat Power] 8 [Threat Level] H

[Attribute] Null

-----------------------------------

Green-skinned, child-sized monsters with sharp teeth, bloated stomachs, comically large heads. Just a single glance and one could easily tell what monsters they were. They were goblins.

Unlike the slimes from before which bounced around as soon as they spawned, the goblins just stood still as they stared blankly at Grey, it seemed like they were waiting for Grey to move before attacking.

But even if they had no malicious intention, noticing multiple things stare at him to the point where they can bore a hole into him was nothing but uncomfortable. Actually, rather than "uncomfortable" it would be better to describe it as "creepy".

Disregarding the creepy stares from the goblins, Grey became slightly puzzled as to why a different monster spawned compared to the ones from yesterday. Of course, Grey already had formed a hypothesis as to why that was the case.

'Interesting...' ［Grey］

As if trying to test his hypothesis, Grey immediately rushed towards the goblins but the moment he moved, the goblins also started coming into him in an aggressive and mindless manner, flailing their wooden clubs as they ran.

Unfortunately for the goblins, before they could land a hit, Grey's fist already came in contact with their heads, sending them flying towards the walls of the dungeons. The punches boosted by his gauntlets shattered the goblins' skulks in a single hit, sending them to their deaths.

Although it was a bit gruesome fighting and killing humanoid monsters, it doesn't remove the fact that they were still monsters. Grey felt the urge to vomit but held it in by using his willpower.

The goblins which tried to launch attacks simultaneously also failed to harm Grey as when two rushes, one gets hit by an air bullet, while the other gets blasted towards the walls with his punches.

The moment more than two goblins rushed towards Grey, Grey already had thought of a countermeasure in such a situation. That solution was...

⟨⟨Air Cutter!⟩⟩ ［Grey］

Air gathered and compressed into a thin blade of wind and mana, and the moment he released the spell, a strong blade flew straight towards the goblins, and like a sharp guillotine, it swiftly cut off the heads of the goblins it passed through.

"Air Cutter" was a wind-attribute spell that Grey had picked out from his "Memory Bank" which allows him to damage multiple enemies at once in a wider range. It was especially useful when dealing with a horde of monsters.

In just a few minutes, Grey became accustomed to fighting goblins and was able to formulate a few tactics in dealing with them.

The moment Grey started the 2nd round, the goblins were no longer a threat to him. Although they are much stronger and mobile than the big slimes from before, with their intelligence and recklessness, it wasn't very hard to take care of them,

The massacre of goblins went on for a long time and before Grey knew it, nightfall had fallen already. After a short rest, Grey then exited the dungeon, ate dinner, and slept. The very next morning, he entered the dungeon once again and did a repeat of the previous days.

This pattern went on for a long time with Grey's enemies changing from kobolds to orcs then ogres and so on. There were a handful of times that he got injuries but thankfully, they were never fatal.

Just like that, 4 and a half months had passed since Grey came to the world and having lived there in that time, he had greatly adapted to living life in the forest. He had changed so much that he couldn't be compared to his previous self anymore.

Buhiiii Hngok Hngok... Oik....

"Alright! Another great catch!" ［Grey］

Currently, Grey is out hunting wild pigs deep in the forest which will serve as his source of food for a few weeks. He had also foraged a few baskets worth of fruits and nuts on the way to the hunt.

Even before his rations ran out, Grey had already found many ways to procure food from the bountiful forest. He also took the time to grow some "crops" in front of his house as an easy source of food.

"It's been a while since I've looked at my stats. I wonder how they look like now...." ［Grey］

Grey pondered as tied the wild pig's feet into a pole and hung it to drain its blood.

⟨⟨Appraisal⟩⟩ ［Grey］

-----------------------------------

[Salferine]

[Name] Grey Silverdrake

[Race] Human

[Sex] Male

[Age] 15

[Status] Healthy

[Mana Capacity] 879 [Mana Quality] D

[Combat Power] 753 [Threat Level] C

[Attribute] Wind [Magic Proficiency] Intermediate (42%)

[Class] Brawler [Weapon Proficiency] Intermediate (41%)

[Physical Enhancement] 47%

[Ability] 『Divine Eyes (Divine)』

              『Divine Mind (Divine)』

              『Subspace (Divine)』

 -----------------------------------

In the relatively short amount of time, Grey had accomplished what most people wouldn't even be able to dream of. He's already powerful enough that he'll be able to contend for the top 5,000 spots amongst the around 2 billion people living in Merusia.

"Seems like I've improved a loー !!?" ［Grey］

Before he could even finish his sentence, a large shadow loomed over where Grey stood as a large bird-type beast flew over the trees. It was like a large cloud which had hidden the sun.

 "What the...." ［Grey］

CHAPTER 3 END