Gun Chapter 41: Hunting Slimes (Patreon)

This was a sign that he was about to condense a class.

Wakasha felt that if he could raise Mage Hand to EX as well, then his class would definitely be able to take shape.

That only made him even more eager to keep grinding monsters.

Next, Wakasha tested Solar Sphere.

Solar Sphere floated above his shoulder, its golden-red glow flowing softly, the warmth it radiated passing through the air to his skin and driving away the damp chill of the marsh.

Wakasha stared at the skill description for Solar Sphere on his panel. With a slight movement of his fingers, he poured a thread of mana into it, and the orb, originally only the size of a marble, instantly swelled to the size of a fist. A wave of scorching heat rushed outward, and the muddy ground around him immediately began giving off faint white smoke. The low moss and ferns nearby withered and curled at a visible pace.

And because a caster could freely control how their own spell affected them, Wakasha only felt pleasantly warmer.

“As useful as I thought.”

A smile curled across Wakasha’s lips, and the excitement in his heart was impossible to hide.

For a 0-ring spell to achieve this kind of effect was unbelievable. And the utility brought by the Solar Flare option was far more practical than merely increasing the temperature or making the flames cling. It could float, deal area damage, and be loaded with other spells. That meant Solar Sphere could flexibly adapt to different combat situations. Whether for ambushes or direct battle, it would be incredibly useful.

Next, Wakasha also checked what effect Solar Sphere would have when loaded into Deathbird.

[Solar Sphere: Effect 1: On hit, deals high-temperature penetration and damage, with additional fire-element damage. On hit, the user may choose whether to trigger a secondary detonation that deals heavy physical heat and explosive damage.

Effect 2: On hit, immediately causes an area explosion, dealing continuous high-temperature, light, and fire-element damage.]

There were two effects in total, and he could freely switch between them.

Both were extremely powerful.

Wakasha pulled his thoughts back and refocused on the slime tide before him.

The forty to fifty slimes were still slowly wriggling around the puddles, utterly unaware that their companions had been dying one after another. They also hadn’t sensed the threat from Solar Sphere’s heat. They had no complete senses and could only detect surrounding vibrations and fluctuations of magic power. Wakasha had deliberately suppressed his own magical presence, and he kept Solar Sphere’s fluctuations confined to a tiny range, more than enough to fool these low-intelligence monsters.

Wakasha slowly raised Deathbird and aimed it at a cluster of ordinary green slimes in the middle of the puddles.

At this point, his goal was no longer simply to harvest experience. What he wanted most was to raise Mage Hand’s skill EXP as much as possible. Mage Hand was currently at LV4, still some distance from LV5, and he was desperate to push it all the way to EX and trigger its ultimate option, so he could finally condense his class.

He stirred his mental power slightly, and a mental bullet quietly formed at the muzzle. At the same time, he spent a small amount of mana and loaded Mage Hand into it.

Bang!

The bullet shot out with pale blue magical patterns trailing behind it, streaking toward the cluster of green slimes.

Mage Hand’s precision effect fully came into play. The bullet subtly adjusted its path mid-flight, slipping past the slimes wriggling in front and striking the core of one green slime hidden in the innermost part of the group.

There was no explosion, only the faint crack of the core breaking. The green slime’s body instantly collapsed into a puddle of green liquid and melted into the mud.

[Monster Killed: Green Slime. Gained 1 EXP

Talent: Law of the Jungle activated. EXP x20. Actual EXP gained: 20

Concept Armament: Deathbird gained 20 Skill EXP

Spell: Mage Hand gained 20 Skill EXP]

Wakasha didn’t pause. His finger pulled the trigger again and again, firing one Mage Hand-loaded mental bullet after another. The gunshots rose and fell through the quiet marsh, always soft enough not to attract monsters from too far away.

Every single bullet struck a slime’s core precisely. Whether it was an ordinary green slime, a pale blue slime, or a larger giant slime, none of them could avoid the fatal blows. The sensory boost from 9 Intelligence, combined with Mage Hand’s precision control, had pushed his accuracy to an almost perfect level.

If any phrase described him now, it was this:

Every bullet landed. Not a single shot missed.

Meanwhile, Solar Sphere floated over his shoulder, occasionally swaying slightly. Its golden-red light swept over slimes that had approached unnoticed or been ignored, and the intense heat instantly scorched the gel on their surfaces. Their movements became even slower, and some weaker slimes melted into puddles from just being brushed by the light.

At the same time, Embers was quietly doing its work. Every time a slime died, a faint current of energy seemed to flow back along some unseen pull, sinking into Wakasha’s body. It slowly increased his mental power and mana cap, while also strengthening Solar Sphere’s power. The improvement was small each time, but over time, those tiny gains would add up to something enormous.

The battle unfolded in a calm, orderly rhythm.

Wakasha stood in place without moving his feet at all, harvesting slime lives with nothing but precise gunfire.

Deathbird’s Gluttony effect kept working constantly. Every monster he killed restored a small amount of mental power and mana, and together with the replenishment from Embers, his mental power and mana stayed above 80% the whole time. He didn’t need to worry about overconsumption at all.

The number of slimes at the puddle’s edge steadily dwindled. The once densely packed gelatinous bodies grew sparse. The sour stench in the air was still thick, but now it was mixed with the burnt smell of Solar Sphere, giving the whole marsh a scorched, searing atmosphere.

Wakasha’s firing speed didn’t slow in the slightest. The muzzle kept turning, locking onto every surviving slime. Whether one hid deep in a puddle or curled up in a patch of moss, none of them could escape his aim.

[Monster Killed: Green Slime x12, Pale Blue Slime x8, Giant Slime x5. Gained 53 EXP

Talent: Law of the Jungle activated. EXP x20. Actual EXP gained: 1060

Concept Armament: Deathbird gained 1060 Skill EXP

Spell: Mage Hand gained 1060 Skill EXP]

With the death of the final giant slime, the entire marsh finally fell quiet. All that remained was the rustling of the low plants in the wind and the heat from Solar Sphere baking the muddy ground until wisps of white steam rose into the air.

Wakasha put Deathbird away and lightly brushed Solar Sphere with his fingertips. The golden-red orb instantly shrank back down to the size of a marble, floated gently into his palm, and gradually dimmed before disappearing completely from his hand.