Chapter 18 Suspicions

After absorbing the Spirit Crystal, Michael didn't feel any immediate changes. 

It wasn't until he checked his status to see his talent that he was finally able to see one.

*****

[ Talent: Infinite Evolution ]

[ Evolution Points: 3 ]

*****

'The Evolution Points increased?' Michael's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

There was still just over an hour left until a full day passed since his Awakening yesterday. This meant the daily Evolution Points would soon arrive, bringing his total to four.

'Though I guess it's a good thing that the Evolution Points are increasing, but why haven't I felt any changes yet? Do these points need to accumulate to a certain level before I can use my talent?' Michael speculated.

Michal also couldn't shake another suspicion about how his talent worked.

'Maybe my talent is linked to my class for activation. From what I read on the forum, that's a pretty common issue. Perhaps I need an undead summon before I can actually use my talent.'

Michael sighed as he thought about it, frustration evident in his expression.

He wanted an undead summon too.

But unless he encountered another easy monster like the slime in this building—which he didn't think was likely—there wasn't much he could do.

For now, he had no choice but to go with the flow.

'Maybe the Supers Association forum has a solution. I'll make sure to research it after I'm done here.'

Even though he had used the precious Spirit Crystal and still couldn't use his talent, Michael tried not to feel disappointed about it. 

At least he had gained something in return, even if it wasn't usable yet.

Shifting his focus away from his talent, Michael turned his attention to the other "loot" left behind by acid slime's "corpse."

It was the slime's core.

The core had been scattered on the ground, likely damaged from the shot that killed it.

'I am not sure if this is worth anything, but I'll take it just in case.'

Not willing to throw away anything that was potentially valuable, Michael gathered the acid slime's core, which was about the size of a ping pong ball, and placed it into his Mark of Origin.

Afterwards, he retraced his steps back to where he had first encountered the slime, following the trail it had left behind.

His goal was to recover the bullet casings he had dropped when trying to distance himself from the slime's acid shots.

Unfortunately, some of the bullets had been destroyed by the acid during the chase. But a few managed to remain intact, and Michael wasn't about to let them go to waste.

Just because the casings were damaged didn't mean that the bullets inside were damaged as well.

Every bullet was worth money, and he wasn't about to be generous and leave them to nature.

After recovering most of the casings he had dropped, Michael returned to scanning his surroundings.

'At first, I wasn't sure, but now… after so many turns, I think this building might be a dormitory or at least a place where a large number of people used to live. The large rooms and the overall structure of the building fit the description.'

Michael was still unsure of it since he had only explored a small part of the building and couldn't make an accurate guess yet.

'Let's keep exploring. Maybe there are more monsters in this building. Hopefully, they'll be slimes—preferably nothing too freakish.'

It wasn't that Michael was afraid of other types of monsters, but his experience told him that slimes were the only creatures he could handle in his current state. Only rabbits could come close other than that.

Had he been closer to civilization, he might have even received a quest to hunt such creatures, however, his starting point was far from any village or town to expect any easy battles, unlike some new Awakeners.

As for why he felt confident about only being able to handle slimes now was because of his combat prowess.

There was a reason as to why guns became useless to Awakeners after a while.

The forum didn't explain it clearly, only hinting that monster skin grew thicker or that they developed skills that gave them the ability to turn projectiles like bullets ineffective. 

However, after increasing some of his stats, particularly his Constitution, Michael started to piece things together and understand a little.

[Strength: 1.6]

[Agility: 4.9]

[Constitution: 3.4]

[Intelligence: 5.5]

[Attribute Points: 1]

With nearly four times the constitution of an average human, Michael's enhanced Constitution affected his health, endurance, and resistance to both physical and elemental damage, as well as environmental factors. 

He suspected that even a bullet shot at him might struggle to cause him serious harm.

He might not even bleed thanks to the increased toughness of his skin.

Just as a lighter wouldn't harm an average person with normal durability, with his constitution now enhanced three times that of a typical human, Michael had reason to believe that he'd be much harder to kill with ordinary weapons.

If this was true for him, then what about monsters?

Though attribute points gave Awakeners a substantial, almost "unfair" advantage, just like a cheat, making them stronger than most monsters at the same level, there were still higher-level monsters that possessed significant powers and demanded caution. 

Some of these monsters could have a constitution that could match or even be greater than his, depending on their species, rank, and number of stars.

Compared to those stronger monsters, creatures with relatively weak bodies—like acid slimes—were indeed the safer opponents for a newbie like him.

Michael didn't dwell on these thoughts for long.

Shortly after moving through the large building, which he suspected had once been a residential area, he encountered his second monster.

However, the sight in front of him left him conflicted.

'Should I be happy or not?'

[Acid Slime Lv. 7]

[Rank: Common★★]

[ A harmless-looking slime that shoots acid. ]