After lying on the rough stone floor for a few minutes, Lor slowly stood up. The cave, now that he could see, wasn’t as terrifying. Dull grey rock, rough floor with some loose stones, with the ceiling being about ten feet from the ground. Looking around, he realized that he had no idea where he had started. The cave before him had no similarities to what he could remember of the dark he had stumbled through before. Driven by his hunger and even more prevalent thirst, he chose the path with a slight upward slope, and started walking.

A few minutes into his walk, a sound other than his footsteps greeted Lor’s ears. A sound so beautiful that he nearly cried. The sound of trickling water. Breaking into a run, he rounded a corner of the cave and came to a stop. About twenty feet before him, a pool sat against the base of the wall. The reason he had stopped, however, was between him and the pool. A snake was coiled up in the middle of the large room. The fact that it was a snake wasn’t why Lor had stopped. The fact that coiled up it was over eight feet tall was.

Slowly backpedaling, Lor retreated around the corner, only poking his head out to look at the snake. Concentrating, he tried to use his new eye to gain some information about the snake. After a couple of moments, information made its way into his mind.

Stoneskin Serpent (Tier 3)

‘What, no more info? I got so much more information on the rat.’ Lor thought indignantly. Suddenly more information entered his mind.

Eye of the Traveler: Identify: Can provide basic information on living creatures. Further information available after death or with creature permission.

‘Oh. That explains it then. So, the snake is Tier 3, the same tier as my knife. I wonder if that means I can do more damage to it. I guess I’ll find out if it notices me. First I should try to sneak around it. Maybe it is a sound sleeper.’

Slowly creeping back into the room, Lor started slowly working his way around the edge of the room. He was about halfway there when his foot brushed a pile of stones, causing them to clatter over the floor. Immediately he froze, looking at the snake. The noise had woken it up, and its head slowly lifted from the coil. Tongue flicking the air, it turned its head slowly before its eyes locked onto Lor. They stayed like that, staring at each other, for only a moment before both bolted into action.

Lor immediately used Blink to move to the right, barely avoiding the snake as it bit where he was, moving so fast it only registered as a blur. The knife appeared in his hand and he slashed out at the side of the snake. The knife left a shallow cut in the stony skin of the snake, Lor’s strength not sufficient to truly cut it. The time spent on his cutting attempt cost him though, as the tail whipped around and slammed into his chest, launching him across the room into the far wall. His knife was knocked from his hand, skidding to a stop a few feet from him.

Stunned from the impact, Lor didn’t see the snake lunge at him again, only sensing it when it was a scant few feet from his head. Lunging to the side, Lor managed to keep his head, but only barely. Instead, he felt the fangs sink into his shoulder with a searing pain. The snake whipped its head to the side and flung Lor into the wall once again, causing him to bounce off and land next to his knife.

Grabbing the knife with his still functioning left hand, Lor sat up only to see the snake’s open mouth rushing at him. Activating Blink, Lor dodged once again, only to be hit by the tail a split second later. The force of the blow flung him against the wall, where he slid to the ground. Barely able to move, propped up against the wall, he saw the snake's open mouth rushing towards him.

Absorb has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

That alert reminded him that he had not used all of his Skills. As the snake rushed at him, he pushed the knife forward. When the snake entered his area of awareness and was about to collide with the knife he shouted at the top of his lungs and activated his Skill.

"DISCHARGE!"

All of the stored force in Absorb was released into the knife, causing it to shoot out of his hand and straight into the head of the snake. Unlike Lor's earlier attempt to cut it, the knife now had enough strength behind it to penetrate not only the stony skin, but also the solid skull beneath. The snake, instead of biting Lor, thrashed around the room, breaking into the walls and splashing water when it collided with the pool. After nearly a minute, its death throws ended and the snake lay still. As Lor watched, the snake started to dissolve, transforming from stony flesh in a glowing grey mist that slowly dissipated. As the mist faded, Lor felt some form of energy, different from what he himself used, enter his body.

Discharge has reached Tier 0 Rank 2

Discharge has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

As the adrenaline of the fight started to wear off, the extent of his injuries became noticeable. His ribs hurt every time he took a breath, his right shoulder burned yet he could also feel a numb cold beginning to radiate out from the wound.

Dimensional Body has reached Tier 0 Rank 2

'Shit, poison? I need to clean this fast!'

As quickly as he could, Lor dragged himself over to the pool and began splashing water on the wound. As the numbing cold continued to spread, Lor began to shiver uncontrollably. Lying down with his shoulder in the cold water, he tried to think of something that could help him.

'Do I have anything I can use? Do I have any Skills besides Dimensional Body that could help?'

Dimensional Body has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

'What about that new energy, what can I use that for? Maybe I can use it to fuel my Skill'

Still lying on the ground, Lor closed his eyes and began concentrating, focusing on the second blob of energy he could now sense inside him. Slowly he managed to pull some of it off and tried to think about shoving it into Dimensional Body. Nothing happened at first, but then the energy seemed to slip past his imagined location of Dimensional Body and sunk into his Body Stat.

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 2

'I can't use it for my Skills, but I can use it for my base Stats.' Lor thought, already concentrating on moving all of the energy into Body. He could feel his breathing becoming more labored, his mind slowing down as the poison expanded. Focusing all his will on moving the energy, he lost all sense of how long he lay there, partially in the pool, before his senses came back in a rush, no trace of the cold poison remaining. Concentrating, he checked what alerts he had gotten in his stupor.

Dimensional Body has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

Dimensional Body has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Dimensional Body has reached Tier 0 Rank 5

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 5

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 6

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 7

Spacial Awareness has reached Tier 0 Rank 2

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Sitting up out of the water slowly, Lor realized how much better he felt. Even though he had not eaten anything, his hunger felt lessened slightly. Looking down at himself, he saw that not only had all the wounds from the rat completely healed leaving only small scars, but the bite wound from the snake had also closed. He also noticed that his broken ribs had healed as well, with only some bruising remaining. Standing up he realized that while he felt healthier, he did not feel stronger at all.

'So Body is only physical health, not strength. Power must be related to strength then. I wonder what the other Stats are connected to. I know Energy has something to do with the stuff I use for my Skills, but does Mind make me smarter? Better defense against mental attacks? Think faster? All of the above? I need to put some energy into the others to see what happens next time I get the chance.'

While thinking about his options Lor crouched down and began greedily gulping down handfuls of water. After drinking his fill and spilling all over himself, he turned and walked over to where the snake had died to collect his dagger. When he got there he noticed that there was something else on the floor as well. Bending down, he stored his dagger and picked up the other items. Due to where he had found them, it took him a couple seconds to work out what they were.

"Why the fuck did a snake drop pants? The steak I can slightly understand, but pants?"

~~~~~

“Are we able to go the the Place today?” Almer asked impatiently, staring up at the ceiling from his position on the couch. “Summer started a week ago and we still have’s been able to go.”

“Actually, yes we can. Father finally got the Place evaluated and decided that any Tier 4s that it does spawn would be of a type we can run from if needed.” Elise answered with a smile. “So go grab your bag and lets raise our Ranks.”

“Finally!” Almer exclaimed as he raced out of the room, coming back a minute later with a small pouch hanging from his belt. “When do we leave?”

Laughing at his enthusiasm Elise gestured towards the door. “After you my enthusiastic friend. Time to surprise everyone.”

Exiting the manor, they acquired horses from the stable and set off riding towards the nearby mountains. The horses, being Tier 3 focused in speed, made the journey quite short, the miles eaten up at an astounding pace. As they came up to the base of the mountains, they slowed down, eventually coming to a stop at a small lodge. A young servant came to collect the horses, leaving them to travel on foot the rest of the way to the Place.

The journey took them the rest of the day, as they arrived with the sun just beginning to set, at the start of the Place of Power, a cave mouth in the side of the mountain.

“Let’s set up a camp here, we can truly begin tomorrow.” Elise said as she removed a camping set from her bag. The tent looked simple from the outside, appearing to be a piece of cloth stretched over two poles, but when entered contained a small house complete with running water.

Entering the tent, they both found a place to sleep as quickly as they could, exited for the opportunities of tomorrow.

~~~~~

After getting over his initial confusion, Lor wasted no time in identifying the strange pants he had found, learning that they were Tier 3 Stoneskin slacks and worked as light leg armor, providing the same defense as the snake had boasted. Slipping them on, he discovered that not only were they soft on the inside despite the rough exterior, they were comfortable and easy to move in, the tough snakeskin feeling closer to cloth than leather.

Satisfied with the pants, Lor dug in to what he viewed as the true reward, Stoneskin Serpent jerky. He quickly devoured all eight pieces he had obtained washed them down with some water from the pool, his hunger and thirst finally lessened. Standing up, he decided to continue to look for an exit from the cave. Preparing to leave, he tried to store some water from the pool in his Inventory. To his surprise, the water filled in the gaps between the items inside without coming in contact. With this discovery, he quickly filled the remainder of the space with water and started towards the other entrance to the room, the ground sloping slightly up under foot.

Inventory has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

Sensing that he had gained another cubic foot of space, Lor contemplated going back to the pool but ultimately decided against it. If he couldn't find the way out before he got low on water, he could find his way back to restock. While traveling through the cave, he experimented with Absorb and Discharge. He discovered that he could charge up Absorb by punching his palm or clapping, really anything that caused some form of impact with him. He also discovered that, at least for now, the impact was not reduced in any way, some of the energy simply duplicated and stored. As for Discharge, he found that at most he could choose the general direction of the force, but not the exact vector. He tested launching rocks with it and found that at a distance of around ten feet he could hit within a three foot circle. Any further away and he could only choose what wall he hit.

Discharge has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Absorb has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Spacial Awareness has reached Tier 0 Rank 3

He stopped practicing when his energy hit about 75%, leaving enough for a Time Stop and a few Blinks or Discharges. Coming around a corner, Lor came to a stop, noticing an unnatural smoothness to the open section of the cave ahead. Slowly sneaking forward, he peered into the room. At first nothing seemed to be there, but then he noticed movement off to one side. A large shape was pressed up against the wall, only a small portion near the middle moving. Taking it in, he realized that it was a giant crab, fully 8 feet across, chewing on something that looked an awful lot like the torso of a human. Concentrating, Lor waited for the identification to happen before ducking back around the corner.

Furnace Crab (Tier 2)

'Well, at least its not another Tier 3. I should be able to take it. Since it is a crab, slashing it should be pretty ineffective and I don't have enough strength to pierce it by myself. I should charge up Absorb to the max and attempt to surprise it with Blink. I'll try aiming for above the mouth I saw, that should be a decent target.'

His plan made, Lor retreated back down the tunnel a ways before he started punching his palm repeatedly. It took him a few minutes, but once he sensed that Absorb was full, he snuck back into the chamber until he was six feet from the crab. Activating Blink, he teleported across the intervening space, quickly placing the knife against the shell of the crab before activating Discharge. With the sound of shattering stone, the knife broke through the shell, sending pieces flying from the force.

Before Blink had recharged, Lor sensed something huge coming at him from both sides at high speeds. Activating Time Stop he once again felt the enormous drain of energy as time froze around him. This time however, he chose to move, ducking out of the way and retreating from the crab. As time resumed, the crab's claws snapped shut on the place where Lor had been with enough force to create a breeze that could be felt from where Lor stood. That desperate attack of the crab, however, was the last thing it did, for Lor had gotten lucky with his attack. The knife had broken the casing of the organ the crab used to melt its food, coating the insides of the creature in molten metal, cooking it from the inside out.

After a couple of minutes, the crab dissipated into glowing mist, some of which flowed into Lor. Concentrating, he realized that it was significantly less than what he had gotten from the snake, which made some sense based on the Tier of each creature. Walking over to where the crab had been, Lor bent down and picked up the items the crab had dropped, identifying each. He discovered that he had gained six perfectly cooked crab legs, a Furnace Crab cooking pot, and something called a heat elemental crystal. Focusing on the crystal, additional information appeared.

Elemental Crystal: Heat (Minor): This crystal contains some Energy with the Affinity of Heat. It can be used to replace an Affinity with a minor Heat one before the age of 10, as an ingredient in creating items, or as a source of Heat until the Energy runs out.

Holding it in his hand, Lor concentrated on heat. Suddenly he dropped the crystal, as it had quickly become too hot to hold. Concentrating again, this time on the crystal not outputting heat, he bent down and picked it up. The crystal had become cool again, no trace of the blistering heat from before. Lor stored the items, thinking he would come up with a use for them at a later date.

With the items taken care of, he concentrated and reviewed the alerts from his most recent conquest.

Discharge has reached Tier 0 Rank 5

Absorb has reached Tier 0 Rank 5

Blink has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Time Stop has reached Tier 0 Rank 2

Spacial Awareness has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

To Lor's surprise, Time Stop had increased in rank, only taking two uses to go up. 'Maybe it has something to do with how much energy it uses, or what situation I am in when I use it.' he thought, looking around the chamber. The entire room was strangely smooth, possibly due to the Furnace Crab. Four different openings in the walls lead out of it. One Lor had come in from, one leading upwards, and two more leading to unexplored depths. Leaning back against the smooth wall, Lor concentrated on moving the energy he had just received into Body, thinking that the more durable he was, the better chance he had of surviving this place. He was also curious to see what would happen if he managed to go up a Tier.

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 8

Body: Dimension has reached Tier 0 Rank 9

Lor smiled as he fell asleep, vaguely comfortable for the first time since his arrival in this world, and exhausted from expending so much energy.

Looped Energy has reached Tier 0 Rank 4

Looped Energy has reached Tier 0 Rank 5

~~~~~

Name: Lor Telmrin

Tier: 0

Rank: 3

Stats:

Power: Kinetic (T0 R1)

Body: Dimension (T0 R9)

Mind: Space (T0 R1)

Energy: Time (T0 R1)

Skills:

Active

Discharge (P) (T0 R5)

Inventory (B) (T0 R3)

Blink (M) (T0 R4)

Time Stop (E) (T0 R2)

Passive

Absorb (P) (T0 R5)

Dimensional Body (B) (T0 R5)

Spacial Awareness (M) (T0 R4)

Looped Energy (E) (T0 R3)

Artifacts:

Eye of the Traveler (Bound)

Stoneskin Serpent (Tier 3): Known for its durable skin and quick movements, the Stoneskin Serpent also possesses a mid Tier 0 venom capable of paralyzing anyone without the Skill to resist it.

Furnace Crab (Tier 2): Known for their smooth shell and molten spit, Furnace Crabs will eat any solid matter they can melt in their mouth. Their large claws are capable of cutting even Tier 4 materials with strength alone.