I started walking a bit faster towards the unknown because of excitement from my first kill. And the confidence from my first level-up helped too. I had not walked further when I came across a group of what seemed like 6 or 7 slimes.

“Wow! That’s a very fast upgrade in difficulty.” I whispered in disbelief. If this an indication of what’s to come I don’t think I will survive if I save my free attribute points. I think I should try kiting to see if it works or not. It would be a really helpful skill until I become stronger.

I look around for a rock that is not big but has enough weight that it can hurt an adult human if thrown with full power. It even fits perfectly in my palm. I try to aim it towards the nucleus nearest to me. Somehow it hits the target. Even I am in disbelief, but before I could even do anything else I get an even bigger surprise.

*Ding* [ You have gained the skill AIM (basic) Lv 1]

Finally! My first skill. It seems that I am out of the aggro range of the slimes as they are just moving around restlessly in a circle. I relax a bit, and I try to focus on the word skill in my mind and my skill panel opens up.

[Skills:

[ (1). AIM (basic) Lv 1 : Helps you aim better. Exp – 0/100]

]

I focus on AIM to see if I can get more info but nothing happens. Well, it is very detailed but very crude. Does my RPG panel as a whole upgrade too? If that is the case it would be awesome. According to basic RPG logic, throwing the rocks at the slimes should help me level-up the AIM skill. I think I should try and check out this theory before I go to even more dangerous part of the forest.

Looking around, I find 13 pieces of rocks that are the right size and they are just enough to fit in the pockets of my pants. I try to climb up a tree, so I can have a good spot to snipe these pesky slimes. I really don’t want to get a surprise about their agility stat. As soon as I reach around 2 meters above the ground, I hear the familiar notification sound.

*Ding* [You have gained the skill Climb (basic) Lv 1]

Seems like I do have a talent for this. I climb a bit more before I reach a sturdy branch which extends in the direction of the slime. I sit on it firmly and put my back to rest against the trunk. That was a bit draining, but I could clearly feel that difference in my climbing speed. Seems like skill will be a big part of my strength. I hope there’s no limit to the number of skills I can have.

I focus on skill again and the familiar panel pops up instantly.

[Skills:

[ (1). AIM (basic) Lv 1 : Helps you aim better. Exp – 0/100]

[ (2). Climb (basic) Lv 1 : Helps you climb on a vertical surface with 5% increased speed. Exp – 5/100]

]

Seems like climbing the tree a bit more, after gaining the skill did help with the experience. Would it possible to mimic the effects of chakra from N#r#to if I max out this skill? It is a great research project. I will try to climb more vertical surfaces from now on.

I take a deep breath and take out a rock from my pocket. I play around with it in the palm of my hand for a bit. I try to get a better feel for its weight. I don’t know why, but it feels like this is how an aiming process should go. Is this the effect of the AIM skill?

I snipe the nearest nucleus again and it’s a perfect strike again. Just as I was going to celebrate it I realized a big problem. This RPG system thing doesn’t let me observe my enemies nor does it let me see the amount of damage I do to them. This is not good at all. I can only pin my hope on the fact that it will level-up with me.

“Don’t panic Aarav! You can do this. Snipe those slimes down there, level up, become stronger and everything will be okay. Focus on present right now. You have to do it for Valerie. You are so weak that you cannot make or change rules, so don’t think about it. Yes, I will do it!”

Almost lost my cool there. I wish I could get something like gamer’s mind and gamer’s body. They are one of the most OP skill out there. I start throwing the rocks at the slime in an almost trance-like manner.

I reach into my pocket and realize that its empty and suddenly I wake up from that weird but very helpful trance state. I can see in the corner of my vision that I have a few notifications. And all the slimes are dead too.

I focus on the blue notification marks to see what exactly happened.

*Ding* [ You have gained the Skill Focus (basic) Lv 1.]

*Ding* [ You have killed a slime Lv 2]

*Ding* [ You have killed a slime Lv 2]

*Ding* [ You have levelled up. +5 free attribute points]

*Ding* [ You have killed a slime Lv 2]

*Ding* [ You have killed a slime Lv 2]

*Ding* [ You have killed a slime Lv 2]

*Ding* [ You have levelled up. +5 free attribute points]

*Ding* [AIM (basic) Lv 1 has levelled up to AIM (basic) Lv 2]

This is such a pleasant surprise. That trance-like state must be related to the focus skill. I check it out and I am so surprised by its effect and potential.

[ (3). Focus (basic) Lv 1: Helps you focus and quickly and accurately complete simple actions. 0.0001%

Chance of getting into the hyper-focused state (please find out about it on your own). Exp – 300/1000]

Just by seeing the huge difference in the experience required to level up this skill, I can imagine how precious this skill is. Leaving that aside, now that I have 15 free attribute points, I can finally use some.

Although my attributes are more inclined towards a magician build, but I don’t know how to unlock my energy. I also think that a strong physique is necessary for survival in a forest. As all of my physical attributes are equally bad, I add 2 points to each of them. Finally, I add 2 more points to the Strength stat.

My body feels like its burning, though I don’t feel much pain. It reaches a peak quickly, I feel a sudden jolt of pain and everything becomes normal again. But I can literally feel it in my bones, I have become stronger than before. I focus on status in my mind the panel opens up in front of my eyes.

STATUS

Name - Aarav Winehouse

Race - Human

Level - 3

Experience - 10 / 160

Health - 70

Energy - 110 (Locked)

Health regen. - 0.07 / s

Energy regen. - 2 / s

Strength - 10

Intelligence - 11

Agility - 7

Wisdom - 9

Flexibility - 7

Willpower - 11

Endurance - 7

Soul - 3

Free Attribute points - 5

Seems like the soul attribute levelled up too. I tried adding free APs (Note: I think I should use AP instead of Attribute points from now on.) but I just can’t do it. Soul stat is a complete mystery for me. I can’t even get more information by focusing on it.

“I will have to ask Ella about this. It looks like a very important part of me.”

Although the sun is still in the sky, but I have spent almost an hour here. I should move fast and search for a source of water and food.

*Time skip 5 hours*

I am sick of killing slimes. I came across some monsters, which look like small ugly human children with snake tongues. They are called imps and all of them are between Lv6 – Lv9. I have killed around 12 of them. They are intelligent but not smarter than a 5-year-old kid. Due to this, it was even more easy to fool and kite them. They also provide a good amount of experience. I got 70 Exp from Lv6 imps, 80 from Lv7, 100 from Lv8 and 130 from Lv9.

It was a little bit more dangerous than battling slimes because there were a few imps that had crude bows with them. Not only that but these bastards are very good at climbing trees. On the flip side, my Climb skill has become Lv 3 as I tried climbing higher and faster to escape from them. As soon as I kill the last slime in this area, I hear the familiar pleasant notification sound.

*Ding* [ You have levelled up. +5 free attribute points]

*Ding* [ You have reached level 10. Energy is unlocked forcefully as the participant couldn’t do it

On his own.]

This is the last thing I see before I black-out due to intense pain that came out of nowhere.