Alex woke up to sunlight pouring over a white bed, in a room about the same size as the one he stayed in with the nurse.
Just a day had passed since he finished shopping.
There was a small, rectangular-shaped window, which he'd open as soon as he got up.
Next to the window, there was a wooden table, and a wooden chair.
On the other side of the room, there was a closet to put his belongings in.
That was the room he was planning on staying in for a while.
While not very luxurious, it would do the job.
A big downgrade from his room in his last world, but he had no complaints.
The other day he had just finished doing his tasks, buying important stuff to be stronger.
He got up from the bed to get ready, and get his new blade. Today, he would take his first commission.
He didn't want to be quick with his actions as it hadn't even been one month since his arrival here, but he couldn't waste a single second.
He wore his clothes, and the cape the nurse had given him before he left.
Now that he thought about it, this cape had probably helped him blend in a bit more, and made him look less like someone from another world and more like an Aelorian.
Maybe capes were pretty common to wear here, then.
Anna had warned him about commissions, yet he couldn't help but feel excited.
He finally got the chance to get stronger, and not only that but try and harness the mana in this world.
He could still feel the mana lingering amidst the air. He really did hope he owned a core.
After he finished getting ready, and gathering his thoughts, he moved towards the door and left his small room.
He waved to the innkeeper before leaving the building and started heading to the Guild.
Finally arriving at the Guild, Alex entered to see the usual crowded place, with many different people.
Some he'd seen before when he came to get his license, and some which faces he didn't recognize.
There were many tables around him, and they always had at least more than two people, who looked like they were in the form of groups, or parties.
After a meaningful look around the place, he reached up to the receptionist to ask about a commission.
"Good morning," he greeted the receptionist who gave him his license.
"I'd like to take on a commission, fit for my level, of course," he requested.
The receptionist nodded and gave him a piece of wood.
On the piece of wood there was a mark engraved in the center, and there was a smaller one at the bottom.
He was told that channeling mana into the one in the center would indicate he finished the task. The smaller one was if he needed help.
The commission he received was to clear out monsters near the town.
These monsters were slimes, but they weren't your average slimes.
These slimes were corrupted and larger than usual, making them harder to defeat.
Even then, it was one befitting his rank.
He bowed down slightly to the receptionist and left the Guild.
These monsters had apparently been on the southern side of the town, close to where he was first summoned.
He kept walking until he reached the last building in the open town, revealing to him the grassy fields and the mountains he first caught a glimpse of when coming here.
There were no trees, just large, green lands.
But, anybody would notice the slimes roaming around, jumping without a care in the world.
Apparently, he was asked to exterminate them in the case of them making their way to their town here, which was an open one.
There were no barriers nor walls encasing them, making them somewhat vulnerable.
Come to think of it, he never even learned the name of this town. He had to ask when he got back.
Before heading towards the slimes, he stretched out his right arm.
He wanted to finally try using the mana close to him.
What he was visualizing was a normal fireball.
He held his palm high, then tried visualizing a perfect image of a fireball.
It started feeling like the mana in the air was pulling him.
Or he was pulling it. He couldn't tell the difference, but he could feel the mana closer to him.
At that moment, a blaze erupted from his arm. Far larger than what he'd expected.
The fireball in particular was as big as a carriage, it was something he hadn't expected.
He wanted to pull one the size of possibly his own palm, but it was probably because of him using too much mana.
The heat rippled through the air and he nearly lost control of it.
His arm flinched merely at the weight of the spell he'd just created, in hopes of making it disappear, but to no avail.
With no other choice, he pointed it towards the slime in front of him, which was a bit smaller in comparison, then pushed it with his utmost strength.
The fireball flew straight towards the slime, slow but devastating.
It struck the slime, blowing its body in half.
Slime scattered on the grass with a sickening hiss.
He was just getting started.
More slimes turned toward him, drawn by the light and noise.
He gripped his blade tightly. He felt his mana was drained—but not empty.
With the sword in his right arm, his left arm open, it was time to fight.
He ran towards the first slime on his right then sliced some of its jelly-like body off.
It wasn't hard to cut, but it still needed focus and concentration.
Another slime crept behind him, its body stretching out into long, whip-like arms as it attacked.
He stepped backwards, to make distance between him and the slime.
The slime sent a barrage of attacks with his many new arms, Alex ran towards it again, cutting off the extended jelly-like arms that were trying to hit him as he was closing the distance.
Finally, coming closer to the slime, he sliced the large slime.
A quarter of its body was cut clean while the other was still intact.
He wasn't done yet.
He turned around to cut the other part, but as soon as he turned his head another extended arm came right towards him, hitting him clean in the face.
He cursed under his breath as he thought to himself, his senses and intuitions were still too weak to see that coming.
It hurt.
He could definitely feel pain even from slime.
It had been building up for it this whole time, but he still had much more to use.
His nose started bleeding and his head ached in pain.
Thanks to the slime hitting him in the face and pushing him backwards due to the sheer force of the punch, he mustered enough strength to raise his left arm and send another fireball towards him.
Visualizing the same spell he'd used earlier, he raised his left arm and made the slime stand right in front of his palm.
He concentrated as he visualized, before the slime sent another wave of attacks, he made the same blazing fireball, this time with more precision and control.
He felt the mana once again, as he pushed the fireball towards the slime and his extended arms which were almost reaching him.
The fireball came into direct contact with the slime monster, evaporating his entire slimy body and his wave of attacks.
Looking down at the small pieces left of the slime, he muttered to himself, "I'm getting the hang of this."
Maybe even a hopeless guy like him could get strong, if he worked hard and pushed himself every day.
About four more slimes came charging towards him. He thought he needed to kill them all at once.
He could use the same fire spell once more, but it wouldn't be enough.
He needed to visualize a stronger spell, but more mana-efficient.
A fire bullet? No. That wouldn't do anything.
These corrupted slimes were a bit harder to deal with, he just needed to immobilize them for some time to erase the mana corruption in them.
The reason why they got corrupted was still unknown, but it had happened about a week ago,—according to the receptionist—which was when he came to this world.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, a barrage of punches came directly towards him.
With no other choice, he gripped his blade and started running towards the slimes once again.
He kept cutting the extended arms as they flew towards him while running, to close the distance and immobilize them.
Catching up to one of them, he jumped— to avoid the arms coming from the other slimes, then proceeded to cut the slime from above.
He jumped on the upper part of the slime with his blade drawn downwards, directly towards the slime.
He then moved quickly in a circlular motion to cut parts of the slime even more, and to enable an escape route, so he didn't get stuck in its body.
With one down, and three left to go, his stamina was running even lower.
He had to use a spell.
He dodged another barrage, sweat dropping on his eyes.
He was running out of time. Then it hit him. One move. One spell. He could end this in a single blow.
"Anna said it like this, right…?" he muttered under his breath, further tightening his grip on his blade.
He gathered the last of the mana he could feel surrounding him. It was like thin threads in the air, all drawn toward his blade as he raised it.
"Activate."
His mouth suddenly opened, to speak words he never expected to say in his life.
"Seven Layers… First Form."
The words came out of his mouth without even realizing it. A truly special peculiarity of Concept Users.
He didn't know what the words meant, or where he even heard them. But something inside him, instinct or memory, replied.
Strength started flowing in his body and his blade started shining with a dark purplish color, black oozing from it.
He took a step forward and dashed through all the slimes, and before he'd realized it, all three slimes were cut cleanly in half.
His breath was ragged, his body full of sweat, he was at the point of collapsing on his knees due to using too much mana, almost draining him completely.
For the first time, it felt like he hadn't just cut the monsters. He cut his own emotions.
It seemed like these slimes were the last.
He sat down on the ground from exhaustion then pulled the piece of wood he'd gotten from the Guild and channeled mana into the symbol in the center, indicating that he'd finished his commission.
The piece of wood brightly lit for a moment, then other words started appearing on it.
If he had to guess, it was telling him to go back and talk to the Guild for his reward.
He laid down and stared at the sky, to get a moment of peace and rest for some time.