Wriggling out of the Cithlar mansion for the first time since it was born, Mud carefully examined its surroundings. The area around the isolated manor was a tangle of overgrown grass and weeds. Beyond the grass countless coniferous trees grew tall and proud, blocking sight deeper into the forest. The ground between the trees was thick with ferns and ivy which crawled precariously up the thick trunks. Playful bird songs and the buzzing of insects reverberated over the gentle humming of an evening breeze.

Confident that there were no immediate threats, Mud closed and locked the door, burying the spare key deep inside its body. Following the wall of the building, Mud made its way towards the hunting ground it had spotted from the second-floor window. Wanting to assess itself for battle, Mud opened its Status.

Name: Mud Golem

Level 1 Mud Golem

Class: none

HP

5/5

SP

0/0

MP

100/100

Spells:

Skills(0): Housework 7, Mathematics 1, Sneak Attack 1, Stealth 2, Unarmed Combat 1, Amorphous Form ®, Dictionary (U)

Status Effects: Incomplete (Articulation Runes)

Thankfully, Mud's hp had recovered over the course of an hour after the fight with the scarred human. When the golem had initially reabsorbed the remnants of its arm, the dirt had almost felt foreign to it. Over the course of healing the material seemed to reintegrate itself with the rest of its body, to the point that Mud couldn't even tell them apart anymore.

Stealth had improved by one point when it successfully hid from the scarred human in the hallway. Housework had appeared and improved rapidly as the house was cleaned. Sneak Attack and Unarmed Combat had been gained when Mud ambushed the thick human. The former when it fell on him, and the latter when it had resorted to bludgeoning him with its arms.

Thinking back, the inquisitive automaton noticed a certain pattern in the skills which it had acquired without Skill Points so far. Each skill was listed as "common" by Dictionary, and each one was a skill that automatically granted related knowledge when appropriate. Whether such skills are easier to learn or it was a coincidence would require more information.

Putting those thoughts aside, Mud arrived at its destination. Behind the manor was a heap of refuse. Either due to laziness or lack of care, Cithlar seemed to dispose of his trash by simply throwing it out the back window. This suited Mud just fine, since the decomposing mass attracted a wide variety of hunting targets. The golem set its sights on its first target; a plump rat, nibling on a dry bread crust.

Wasting no time, Mud charged forward and fell upon the unfortunate mouse like a landslide. Or it would have, had the rat not swiftly fled the moment it was approached. After this series of events repeated itself 3 times, Mud was forced to admit that this tactic was not working. The problem was movement speed. Slithering around by manipulating the shape of its torso was considerably slow. Other methods of movement, such as rolling and crawling on tentacle-like limbs, had been even slower. At best, Mud could only move as fast as a walking human. Hunting with a frontal assault was completely impossible.

Giving up on this method, Mud decided to try following the advice of that unscrupulous demon, and attempt an ambush. Following the vague insights of the Stealth skill, Mud located an area that seemed to attract a large number of rats. Flattening as much as possible and staying perfectly still, it waited.

A nervous rat carefully approached an inviting piece of cardboard, glazed with the slightest remnants of mouth-watering cheese. Just moments ago, the rat had been chased off by a huge, but luckily slow moving, monster. Now the monster was nowhere to be seen. The experienced scavenger didn't let down her guard, though. That monster could still be in the area. Vigilance was at maximum as the rodent approached her meal, ears listening for the slightest disturbance. As the rat lifted her head to take the first bite, pillars of dirt suddenly sprang from the ground in all directions. She responded immediately and attempted to leap the bars, but it was too late. The pillars had already met above her before she could reach the top. Unable to chew through the stone-like prison, the rat was quickly crushed.

[Experience Gained: 1]

Success! The 'Experience' that would make Mud stronger has been harvested. The golem didn't feel any different, but Dictionary had backed up what Jabrax had said; Experience would make it stronger. Perhaps there was some unknown way to use the resource, or it was only useful when a large amount was collected. Regardless, a way to acquire Experience had been discovered, and it would surely come in handy in the future. Returning to its ambush position, Mud settled in for a long night of hunting.

The next day, Mud entered the basement and slid towards the Magic Circle. Lifting itself high with pride, Mud waved towards the imprisoned demon to get her attention.

I have acquired the Experience!

Setting aside the document she was rereading for the third time, Jabrax looked up. "That's great, how much did you earn?"

I have acquired five of the Experience.

"Five experience? In an entire day?" Dropping her head into both palms, she let out a deep sigh. "That's... not a good speed. Even if you're level one, you look like at least a rank one monster with that shape changing ability of yours. What were you even hunting?"

Rats. I killed five. I also killed some insects, but I didn't get an Experience from those.

"You're hunting rats? No wonder your gains are so pathetic. If you just let me out of here I could... oh forget it, I'm almost done reading this thing anyway, and it doesn't seem like a bad deal. I doubt I could convince you to let me out with some half-baked promises either."

That is correct.

"...right. Look, you need to hunt something stronger, something higher up the food chain. Rats may be fine for a novice human learning the ropes, but for a construct like you they’re just too easy. Killing a magical beast would be best, but a mundane animal would be fine if it was at least a predator."

Wouldn't that be more dangerous?

Laying down in the air as if on an invisible bed, she replied. "Yes, but that's kind of the point. The more dangerous something is, the more experience it gives, generally. Rats aren't a threat to anyone, so they only give one experience. You need to hunt more dangerous things or you'll take too long to get strong." Jabrax sat up and looked squarely at Mud. "Think of it this way; what's going to happen if somebody attacks this place sooner rather than later? You need to get strong as soon as possible. Maybe you could level up eventually by just killing rats with your immortal lifespan, but it won't do you much good if somebody kicks down the door in a month or a week. It's already happened, hasn’t it? I heard sounds of a scuffle through the floorboards right before we met.” With a frown, she added “if it happened once, it can happen again."

Mud was hesitant to accept the advice of the deceptive abyssal, but it couldn't argue with the logic. It was possible that those humans would attack again at any moment, or others like them. Mud was naturally opposed to risk when it came to its body. Avoid being damaged. The words of The Master etched in its very soul. But if it didn't get stronger now, wouldn't the danger of being damaged later be even greater? If both options went against The Master’s orders, Mud could only choose the lesser of two evils.

Mud firmed its resolve. It would hunt something dangerous today, and secure the Experience it needed for the future.