My Level Zero System

[Fire Control level 1] 134/250 (+51)

Now, Kain finally decided to rest.

He calmly sat down on the hard ground, pulled out the last of his dried food, and began to eat, drinking water to moisten his mouth and aid digestion.

Kain had prepared a week's worth of standard food, and it was only his second day in the Dungeon. However, Kain didn't eat three fixed meals; instead, after each battle, he would sit down to eat and rest to recover energy, so his meals were divided and consumed very quickly.

After spending more than fifteen minutes eating and nearly an hour sleeping, Kain felt he was in pretty good condition. He stood up, stretched, and loosened his slightly stiff body. Only then did he push open the stone door.

Before Kain was a long corridor, just like other guardian monster rooms. Kain advanced, his gaze focused on the end of the corridor, which led directly to the center of the room.

With his eyesight, Kain saw a vague spherical shape floating in the middle of the large room.

He reached the end of the corridor but didn't immediately step into the guardian monster's room, as doing so would alert the monster.

Kain needed to observe first.

Compared to the guardian monster's room on the first floor of the Dungeon, this one was only slightly larger. And floating in the center of the room was a mass of green liquid. It was called a liquid because occasionally Kain saw the reflection of light on it change slightly, like sunlight on a lake surface.

"Slime again? A mutated Slime?" Kain wondered.

It was worth noting that the guardian monster on the first floor was a mutated gray Slime, which had incorporated an Eyl into its liquid body, giving it 360-degree vision—a rather tough opponent for Kain in the past.

He didn't think he would encounter another Slime as a guardian monster.

However, from its appearance, this thing hadn't changed much except for being much larger than a normal Slime. With its semi-transparent Slime structure, Kain could tell this Slime wasn't symbiotic with any other monster.

"Let's see." Kain didn't show any contempt.

Guardian monsters were certainly much more special than regular monsters and served as a fairly accurate benchmark of strength.

Previously, Kain had created a monster ranking system, using Zombies as Rank 1 and Slimes as Rank 0.5. The gray mutated Slime on the first floor was Rank 4, and the Pythonel on the fifth floor of the small-sized Dungeon was Rank 5. And Rank 5 could already be considered the ultimate limit for a low-class Magus.

Given the jump in combat power for medium-sized Dungeons, Kain estimated this creature must have at least Rank 6 strength, meaning it had stepped into the realm of a mid-class Magus.

He activated the magic skill [Thunder Arrow], the fastest attacking magic skill, aiming directly at the watery sphere.

Bow drawn, then, release the string!

A lightning bolt shot forth with speed imperceptible to the naked eye, heading straight for the Slime. But the next scene made Kain's pupils contract, showing that even he was incredibly astonished.

The Slime suddenly transformed in mid-air, its entire liquid body contracting and then rapidly opening a large hole, just in time for the [Thunder Arrow] to pass through the empty space. It neutralized Kain's attack.

This creature didn't just dodge in a normal way; it utilized its own body to evade the attack.

Breaking free from his initial surprise, Kain quickly stepped into the room. Around him, lightning from [Thunder Summon] continuously surged, forming a lightning network. From the intersection points, [Thunder Arrow] after [Thunder Arrow] formed and shot towards the Slime.

Once again, the Slime perfectly evaded all attacks, because it could not only create one hole but also transform its shape in various ways, such as spreading its body flat, then creating multiple holes for the [Thunder Arrow] to pass through.

To describe it, this Slime was like water. When Kain poked his finger into it, he didn't "stab" into the water; the water simply moved away from Kain's finger. So, in reality, he caused no damage to the water, whether with one finger or many.

"In that case, how about this?"

Kain changed tactics, expanding the lightning network to engulf the Slime. This time, Kain wanted to try attacking it from all angles. With this overlap, the Slime, no matter how many holes it opened, couldn't completely escape.

However, as Kain changed tactics, so did this creature.

When it saw [Thunder Arrow] shooting from all directions, this Slime didn't scatter and create holes anymore. Instead, it contracted slightly, and the movement of water on its surface intensified at a dizzying speed.

Kain immediately realized that this creature was using its own body as material to cast a magic skill belonging to [Water Magic], [Water Bubble].

[Water Bubble] isn't a magic skill that creates a fragile water bubble. Instead, the caster draws water around their body, shaping it into a bubble-like form. But this "bubble" isn't static; it's like a furiously flowing river constantly swirling and circulating, deflecting and tearing apart all impacts directed at the caster. It's a defensive magic skill that can be considered top-tier among low-class magic skills and can still be improved and useful even in the mid-class.

However, there was no Magus casting here; instead, this very Slime had transformed into a [Water Bubble] to protect itself. Coupled with its superior quality, the monster's defense withstood all of Kain's [Thunder Arrow] attacks.

And now, the Slime began its counterattack.

Unlike the mutated gray Slime on the first floor, this Slime didn't split itself into liquid cutting blades. Instead, it directly used its entire spherical body to... pounce on Kain's position.

This hunting method was identical to that of regular Slimes: pounce, engulf, then digest the prey. But when applied by this colossal Slime, it was far more terrifying.

From the moment it didn't split, Kain had already guessed this monster's hunting style, so he immediately changed his stance, using all his [Enhancement Magic] to maximize his speed, directly running from his spot to evade.

Fortunately, though the Slime's body transformation speed was fast enough to match the speed of a [Thunder Arrow], similar to how water reacts to a solid impact, this Slime's attack movement speed was quite... sluggish. This was also due to the liquid nature of its body when moving in such a manner.

Therefore, Kain had a fair amount of time to think, at least a fair amount for him.

As for a regular Adventurer, they'd likely be in despair, because this Slime was almost impossible to kill. They could escape the guardian monster's room to avoid being attacked, but food wasn't infinite, and if they couldn't defeat this Slime and open the way back, they would rot here.