“A rifle seems like it would fit better with my plan,” Grim said, and after picking the rifle choice, what seemed to be a musket dropped into his hand, and he got a pair of notifications.

You have received the Starter’s Rifle!

You have received 500 rifle crystals!

Grim read the second message curiously, before inspecting his rifle

Starter’s Rifle

Level Requirement: N/A

Attack: 2-14 PHYS

Durability: N/A

Shots per crystal: 5

Shots remaining: 5

Grim nodded, now he understood. Instead of metal slugs, this rifle shot mana bullets in order to deal damage. Despite the magic, the damage was considered physical damage. As Grim walked down the road to the outskirts, a large board caught his eye. He walked up to it, and saw that it was a job board. Grim quickly looked over the list of quests, before accepting two of them.

Smithing components: slime cores

A blacksmith wants 20 destroyed slime cores for special weapons.

Slime cores gathered: 0/20

Rewards: 1 silver, increased reputation with the blacksmith.

Fire slug pacification

The fire slugs are getting out of hand. Exterminate them and bring back their antennae as proof

Fire slug antennae: 0/20

Reward: 4 silver pieces

Grim then walked out of the town and into the fields outside of town. There he saw two creatures. The first was a slime. They were bright green, which contrasted harshly with the brown and dead ground, and had a happy smile on their face. The second was a lava slug. These were ugly red creatures that looked like an oversized banana slug, but completely red. Grim smiled, it was time to hunt.

He walked over to just under 20 feet away from the slime and proceeded to take aim. He activated Deadshot, and fired. The slime was hit hard, and flew about 10 feet back, with a pained and sad expression on its face. Then it looked at him with anger, before hopping toward him.

“What the heck? It’s a level 1 slime! Why did it not die from one shot?” Grim shouted with surprise. He then shook his head.

“No matter, I’ll just shoot it until it dies then.”

Grim then proceeded to carefully open fire on the slime, which was knocked back with every shot, until his rifle stopped shooting.

“What?” Grim asked as he looked at his gun. Then he slapped a hand to his face, and groaned “Reload!”

To his surprise, upon saying that the rifle’s crystal popped out, and a new one appeared in his hand. Grim took the hint and slotted the crystal into his rifle, which then closed the compartment. Grim smiled, and took aim again, only to be hit by a mass of goo.

“Ow! Shit!” Grim yelled as he fell over. Despite being made of a Jello-like slime, the little creature had hit him hard enough that he had fallen over and taken some damage. Grim unfocused his eyes and a little screen appeared.

Health: 117/120

Mana: 75/80

Grim relaxed. The slime had dealt nearly no damage, and he now had the perfect opportunity to see if his plan to game the system would work. He grabbed his rifle by the barrel, before turning it around and smashing it into the slime with all his strength. The slime gave a hurt expression while flying a solid 6 feet into the air. Grim took aim with Deadshot, and fired before it hit the ground. The bullet managed to hit the slimes core and the slime immediately gave a shocked look, before losing all of its consistency. Upon impact with the ground, the slime seemed to splatter. Grim looked at his notifications.

You have defeated 1 slime

+10 exp, +3 copper

Items received: Broken slime core

Achievement unlocked: First Kill

Congratulations! You've killed a monster! Here have a coin as a reward

Requirements: Kill 1 monster

Reward: 1 silver

Grim sighed in relief.

“Who would have thought it would be this hard to kill a slime?” He asked the air. “Well at least now I know to go for the cores, that way the slimes should die in only 1-2 hits each. I guess they’re there for the magic users, while the slugs are better for those who use physical damage.”

Grim looked down at his rifle. “I wonder if I could get a bayonet or something similar on this? It would certainly work for my idea of a close combat gunner. Combat snipers aren’t a common idea I bet, but I’m sure I can make it work.

After a shrug, Grim stood up and took aim at another slime. With a single Deadshot he managed to kill the slime, which quickly collapsed. After another 18 kills Grim had all the cores he needed, but more importantly, he had leveled up to level 2 and gained a new skill!

Bash Lvl 2

Hitting something hard has always been a tactic in fights

Hit your opponent with a blunt weapon. Small chance to stun any living animal. Stun chance and damage increase with level

Grim had also leveled up Deadshot to level 4, Deadeye to level 2 when a slime had run away, and Steady Hands to level 3 in order to shoot the running slime. Grim then turned to the lava slugs, before aiming at where he thought the head was on one of them. He used Deadshot, and immediately killed the slug. He did not, however, expect to get another skill notification.

Headshot Lvl 0

Normally a creature needs its head. That’s why shooting it off is a good idea.

Aim for 5 seconds to shoot your enemy in the head. Deals critical damage, and always hits the head. Time aiming reduced per level. Damage percentage increases as Deadshot’s level increases.

Grim smiled. Now he was a real sniper! He then turned to another slug and went back to work.