But for a Slime

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His earlier excitement quickly plummeted when he realized that he wasn't given much at all. Seriously? It's the same as commoner? Well, I've got two dexterity and agility now, a little luck! That's nice! And some physical resistances… and much better magical resistance to the commoner resistances... Joe sighed a bit and almost turned around to head back to town, but then decided against it because nothing else really seemed useful. Maybe I should try the change job trick and see if I get one point per new job? But as Joe considered it, he knew he was going to change the job anyway, and spending an hour to run back to town and another hour back out again seemed to be quite a waste of time for travel anyway. Let's get this job up for today, I'll change tonight or tomorrow and check things out then.

Joe spent the rest of the morning mowing through the slimes and was surprised, but gratified to find he hit level two before he had made it to lunch. He took a look at his status again, bouncing back and forth between his current job and his main status, and found what he had expected. The levels multiplied the base stats one gained at level one. He had one point for everything except now four points in dexterity and agility, with a half a point in luck. The same thing happened with his resistances, each going up to two except for his piercing which was now four, because it had started at two.

OK. Everything makes sense. It's following the same pattern. Now I have four points in all my stats and six in dexterity and agility and a half a point in luck. I just have to figure out where those two extra points came from! Joe quickly swapped over to his log and spent the time counting the number of slime kills he made, reaching the expected thirty four kills at three points each. Man, starting off with this much learning sure is nice! So it's still one hundred per level for the first five levels, it seems!

The meal ended quickly due to Joe's excitement, and he returned to his killing and made another level in only just over two hours. Now at level three, Joe returned to his killing with a driving determination. Another two hours passed and Joe hit level four, startled excitement flushing through him as he realized that just the added two extra learning points made such a huge difference. Joe rushed onto the next slime and pushed his way through, driving from slime to slime with an eagerness that tired Garnedell and left him gasping to catch up. Joe knew it would be tough to hit level five before the sunset, but hoped an increased in speed would give him just enough time to finish. He had maybe an hour and a half before the sunset, and pushed hard through that last hour. When he came to the end and the sun hung low in the sky about the time Joe was used to returning to the village, he popped open his status screen and looked at the experience bar left. It was two thirds filled. Joe smiled but worried. A third left. How long… He ran some quick calculations, looking at his six learning and figured out how many slimes he would have to kill to make it to one hundred experience.

Six exp per kill, ten slimes hits sixty. I need forty more… six in forty is… I need seven more slimes, so seventeen slimes to hit five. At two thirds, I should have about twelve slimes done, so I only need another six, right? Maybe seven? There should be about that many if we head back to the road following the slime trail back. Maybe?

Joe turned back to the road, much to the relief of Garnedell, but didn't slow at all, quickly aiming for each slime that came into view through the encroaching gloom of the soon to arrive twilight. Despite Joe's hope, he made it back to the road without having made it to five, and Joe fumed a bit, but then flipped up his status log and quickly counting up his slime kills sense hitting level four. Fifteen kills… so I would need two more, right? Joe plunged into the forest on the other side of the road and quickly found a slime, returning it to its maker with practiced efficiency. The gloom by now was quite dark, although the sun was still over the horizon, its bottom edge still not kissing the horizon. Joe considered a bit, the forest undergrowth now shadowed in shades, most color now gone. Even as he considered and began to turn back, he saw the telltale glow of reddish orange, the hint of danger and warning. A slime! Joe tramped quickly through the forest until he came upon the glow, and slow carefully to make sure it was a slime. As he peered around the tree, he grinned when he noticed the slime plodding in its normal north westerly movement and quickly stepped out to confront it. It zeroed in on him quickly, and was soon destroyed, it's body anchored by his wooden stake and gem excavated from the slimes body with his spoon spear, and the sweet feeling of growth suffusing through his body as he made level five. He scrambled through the darkened woods for a bit to search for the gem, but was unable to find it, and finally decided to give up on it. It's not like I don't already have thousands!

Joe called for the boy, and they headed back towards the road, although the boy looked back with some anguish towards where they had last killed the slime.

"Hey kid. Don't worry about it. They're a dime a dozen! Seriously. We pick up almost a hundred in a single day! It's like money lying on the ground. We're good!"

The boy grabbed at Joes arm, some fear coming through as he began calling loudly and pointing back to the way they had come. Joe turned to the boy once the made the road, and looked at him carefully, calming him down.

"Kid. It's OK! Seriously. Don't worry about it. I'm not mad at you, and there's no way we could have found it in this light, alright? We're good!"

The boy looked at him for several moments, but as Joe continued to smile and nod with gentle affirmation, the teen seemed to calm down and Joe's smile grew once more before they headed back towards town. The boy seemed to calm and was soon jogging after Joe, the sunset in their eyes with the great ball of the sun almost halfway below the horizon. They made the village outskirts just as the twilight gloom began, and ended up bathing in the glow of the gas giant overhead. The meal was fast, and sleep was even faster. Despite tired eyes, Joe still took the time to take notes of his new jobs stats and what skills he had gained. The stats were as expected, but the one skill that he found exciting for him was what he got from level five hunter: Char: Use bow. Huh… nice. Another Char skill. But I've got no reason to shoot, really, right now…