I take a vial out of my pocket. These potions were pretty expensive but they were worth it.

I uncorked it and chugged the contents down my throat.

My body began to heal itself of the fatigue and stress it had just put itself under. I make sure to drink every last drop before putting the glass container back into my bag. I feel good.

I charge down the tunnels and slice apart all the slimes in my way. Even the hands are now barely any trouble. I go on for what feels like at least half an hour before I find something different.

The path leads me to a large ledge that had a massive bridge stretching out to another ledge of earth.

The bridge itself was marvelous. It was somewhat gothic, made of black and grey metal that formed railings.

The main material was grey stone bricks but they looked as if someone had sawn them down into perfect shape by hand. It was like looking at a dark London bridge.

From the sides though I could see a dark abyss. If I somehow fell off this bridge I would fall into a chasm of endless shadow until my body snapped on the ground below.

Deep within the depths of the earth, never to be found. Thank god there was some sort of protection to prevent me from falling off the sides. Though that does beg the question of who made this?

Something then sparkles and catches my eye.

In the very centre of the bridge was a small silver orb with a shade of red in the centre.

My senses were flaring like wild. Could it possibly be…!?

It swayed from side to side as I slowly approached with a childlike wonder in my heart and my lips curling into a wicked and violent smirk. Getting somewhat closer I could see it clearly now.

I begin laughing like a maniacal madman as my eyes confirm my wishes.

A metal slime. It’s a metal slime! The bastards worth tons of experience points in Dragon Quest!

To encounter and kill one would defeat the very premise of this web novel but who the hell cares!?

I approach with my heart beating a hundred miles a minute. Can’t let it run.

Must blow it into pieces. Those guys always had huge physical resistance in the games.

Not going to give it a chance.

My body begins to crackle with an electrical charge as I get closer to my prey.

I need to obliterate it with everything I’ve got. I need to max out my destructive power.

“Learn, Magnetic Missile.” I acquired a spell I had been putting off.

That’s step one. Magnetic Missile is an earth spell that uses loadstone and earth manipulation to launch a small tracking missile at a target with powerful physical force.

I’m not going to use any simple rock to attack this thing though.

I focus. The Physical Element. I’ll make a missile of dirt and loadstone but this dirt will be special.

It’ll be made of metal. Find the metal in the earth and shape it into a spear. I can feel the land shuffle as it sifts out what I want and amasses them together. It’s forming.

Mountains resist winds and the tides of the sea and stand tall no matter what,

Even a shattered mountain is still the same amount of mass. Chunks of stone and dust.

It is eternal. That which sustains and buries life. The footsteps of all living things are scorched into the planet. Bones. Lives. Legends. Shooting stars of shining hope and destruction.

The Imaginary Element.

Finally, what the earth means to me. It’s endurance.

It’s planting your feet on the ground and making your stand. Against the waves of bullshit in my life.

The weight of my actions.

What it means to take a stand. To advance no matter how slow. Never stop moving forward.

Stubborn and spirited. Unbowing and unbroken.

Rockslides and avalanches of accumulated stress and rage until all is as broken as I am.

Now I have to couple that with my tempered wrath. Lightning. Bring that back.

Heaven and Earth united. Unstoppable power. Divine and mundane.

The fall of frustration and fear like a guillotine.

Then mix fire with the metal I’ve collected. Cool it with water.

Fireball and Solution Sphere in tandem with Magnetic Missile as I charge up Bolting Blast.

Above me, steam begins to leak as a shining silver spear forms and then floats above my head. Freshly made.

Got it.

“Magnetic Missile: Mauling Metal!”

I command it. It fires down towards the metal slime… and lands behind it.

The bridge shakes on impact and parts reform. CRASH!

A wall is erected behind the metal slime, made of rock, minerals, and metal.

I can remove it anytime I want since it’s my magic. For now, though, it’ll trap this guy right where I want him.

It also means I can focus all my energy on a single point without fear.

I’m giddy. I can feel my creative juices going wild. My magic is evolving in pace with the anticipation of all the power I'll gain from obliterating this thing out of existence.

“Bolting Blast: Thorn of Thunder!”

Instead of coming out of my body, this time it materialises around the spot I desired.

As if I had called for a favour from the gods themselves.

A true lighting strike. One that defied imagination and science.

There was no sky here beneath the crust of the world and yet it happened.

The sky roared with the majesty of the king of beasts.

This time the fang of destruction was golden.

My vision went white and my ears were momentarily deafened by the impact of the blow.

When my body recovered from the shock, I grimaced.

I didn’t level up. Shit, I guess this isn’t the same as the games then.

Gurgh. What a waste of effort. I went way overboard and spent so much mana for nothing.

Then my vision was coated with pure silver.

My jaw feels a pulse of pain as my entire body begins to kick off the ground.

Everything slows down for half a second. A fist made of liquid metal had come out of the bricks of the bridge below me, seeped through the cracks and smacked me with incredible blunt traumatic force.

I flew through the air until I crash-landed several feet back from the spot I had been standing.

From my collapsed posture I could see the culprit that subjected me to this indignity.

The metal slime had somehow melted into the bridge, buried itself when I attacked with my blasting bolt, crept out of its hiding spot and was now reforming into a new shape.

A mannequin doll made of glimmering liquid silver. Yet for some reason it had fists shaped like boxing gloves.

It looked triumphant and stood in the pose of having just performed an uppercut.

Its red core was focused inside its head. It glowed scarlet. As if it was a singular crimson eye.

I growl as I get up and point my blade towards my foe.

The thing accepts my challenge and switches its stance.

Flicker boxing. A metal slime that knows fighting techniques and assumes a humanoid form.

That’s new. That’s fresh. That’s the perfect subject to test my blade on.

It might also be worth a boatload of experience. Perfect. As they say...

“No pain, no gain.”