My body hit the ground with a thud, my energy depleted from the fierce battle and the loss of blood. I laid there in a pool of my own blood, my left side a mess of injuries - deep gashes from the Hutia’s teeth on my shoulder, and a mangled arm and leg from its sharp claws. The rest of my body was also covered in minor scrapes and scratches from the tussle with the monster.

“He’s in bad shape,” I heard Neytiri say to Etu, concern in her voice. “I’ll do my best to heal him, but my abilities may not be enough.” Neytiri focused her energy on me, using her Minor Healing until she ran out of mana.

She focused on the large cuts first trying to ensure I didn’t bleed out, still, she was not able to close them all before running out of mana. It would take her twenty minutes to replenish her mana at this current level, and even then, her Minor Healing could only heal minor wounds as the name implied.

I clenched my teeth and tried to block out the pain. My left side felt like it was on fire, but as the healing energy flowed through my body, the pain turned into a warm sensation that dulled the pain a little.

Laying on the ground with my eyes closed, I knew it would take a while for her to fully heal me. I also knew that Neytiri’s healing could only do so much, and I had lost a lot of blood. Plus, some of the injuries came close to cutting major arteries and wreaked havoc on the muscles.

In a desperate attempt to help with the healing, I activated Augment. While the skill boosted my health, it wasn’t enough to make a significant difference in my current state. I tried to focus on the essence running through my body, hoping to find a way to augment my natural healing abilities.

The skill started as a subtle vibration in my chest but quickly grew into a powerful hum that pulsed through my veins. I envisioned reaching into my chest with my will and grasping onto the source of this power.

As I delved deeper into this meditative state, I found myself transported to a meadow with a palace at its center. Without taking the time to look around, I ran for the palace, I couldn’t help but marvel at its grandeur as I entered. The polished marble floors and sandstone walls were illuminated by floating light spheres, giving the interior a mystical aura. In the center of the room sat a plush throne adorned with red, sky blue, and black lightning running through it.

Curiosity overwhelmed me as I approached the throne. A large sphere of red, sky blue, and black lightning appeared before the throne. I was drawn to its beauty and power, reached out, and grabbed a bolt of sky blue lighting.

I could feel the power of the essence as it coursed through me, strengthening and giving life to my body. With determination, I grasped onto the source with both hands trying to gain control, but the essence fought back like a raging bull.

Despite the struggle, I held on, instinctively knowing that this power was not given to me by anyone or anything. Rather, it was a part of me since birth but had been hindered by some unknown force on Earth. The UI had unbound it and given me training wheels but I could feel the immense potential that it held.

The roaring bull transformed into a raging storm, but I refused to let go. The palace shook as the ceiling crumbled and collapsed, exposing the dark expanse of the thunderstorm that began raging in the sky above. The lightning sphere, glowing with immense power, soared into the heavens, but I held on with a death grip.

Lightning bolts struck my body from all sides and thunder drowned out my very thoughts. The lighting illuminated my desperate struggle to hold on as it struck me leaving singe marks behind. I bit down hard as every strike played havoc on my insides causing my body to convulse.

With a fierce cry, I yelled and screamed, my grip so tight it felt like bones were being ground to dust. I screamed at the top of my lungs, “You are my strength, and you will obey me!” My muscles felt like jelly by this point and most of my skin had third-degree burns. Still, I refused to lose, I couldn’t come this far just to leave empty-handed. In desperation, my mind fell into a vortex of nonsensical questions.

What good was all this power within me if I ended up dead because I couldn’t control it? Why had the world hamstrung me? Did the world fear this power? Why must I suffer so to control that which has always been mine? Why was every little step I took in my life always so hard?

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“NO! I REFUSE! I REFUSE TO BE HELD BACK ANY LONGER! THIS POWER IS MINE, RELINQUISH IT TO ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs into the raging lightning storm that became more violent by the second.

An immense blinding bolt of lightning struck me sending me plummeting to the ground. Yet, in a moment of determination, I managed to hold on to a thin bolt of lightning. It came loose from the sphere and wrapped around me as I fell. It may not have been much, but it was enough for now.

I landed on my feet and willed the lightning to heal me. I could feel the powerful surge as it mended my injuries, both internal and external. New muscles grew, my skin knitted back together, scabs fell away, and scars vanished as new skin formed.

When I finally opened my eyes in the real world, I was greeted by several messages from the user interface.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked a part of your lightning essence. You now have the potential to develop new skills based on your actions.] [You have unlocked your soul realm. Within it, you can manage all user interface functions.] [You have gained a new skill: Voltaic Regeneration - Harness your electrified essence to heal injuries.]

“Achak? Are you okay?” As Neytiri’s concerned voice echoed through the tunnel, I closed my UI and sat up, my eyes meeting the wide-eyed stares of my companions.

I tilted my head in confusion as I replied, “I’m fine, never better actually. But...are you guys okay?” Neytiri and Etu hugged the tunnel wall, their expressions filled with shock and fear.

“What did you just do?” Neytiri asked.

“Yeah, whatever it was, it almost fried us,” added Etu, his eyes still wide with disbelief.

My heart sank as I realized the danger I had put my new friends in. “Well, shit. I’m sorry, I was just trying to heal myself. I didn’t mean to scare you both,” I said, standing up to examine my fully healed body.

“Honestly, we were more worried about you. You were mostly healed then your body began convulsing and third-degree burns began appearing on your skin as you coughed up blood. Suddenly a light blue lightning exploded from your body, lifted you into the air, and encased you in a large ball of lighting as it healed you completely. When it was all over your body slowly descended back to the ground and you woke up as if you had just been taking a nap,” Etu narrated the event to me.

“We’re glad you’re okay,” added Neytiri with a warm smile. “How did you get your lightning to heal you? Can whatever you did help make us stronger too?” Her curiosity got the better of her as she began to bombard me with questions.

My grin widened as I turned to face them. “I found a lot. As for whether it can also help you, I’m not sure. But come, let me explain everything,” I said, gesturing for them to join me on the ground.

I eagerly shared my experience with them, their excitement matching my own. We exchanged information and I answered as many questions as I could. They both sat in a meditation stance after our discussion trying to see if they could replicate what I had done with their own magics and skills.

My body pulsed with newfound energy; I couldn’t help but notice the vivid details of my surroundings. My senses felt heightened and I was filled with a sense of power and vitality.

I wasn’t sure how long I had struggled with my power within, it felt like both a few minutes and an eternity. Apparently, an hour had gone by. During that time, Neytiri had used up all her mana to heal me twice and was waiting for her mana to recuperate again before attempting to heal me a third time. But before she could, the events that Etu described took place.

It was pretty much confirmed now that the monsters were either choosing to stay in their respective caves or were bound within them. Etu had snuck back to the cave entrance while Neytiri healed me and found four new Hutias wandering about in front of the eerie darkness in the back of the cave. One of them even looked up and saw him standing just outside of the cave entrance, but made no move toward him. With that confirmation, I felt at ease leaving them alone in such a vulnerable state.

I made my way back to the main cave to check if the lake was still murky. Some water to clean the dried blood off my body and quench my thirst would be helpful. I was relieved to find that no new monsters were lurking in the tunnels or cave. I wasn’t sure how many game mechanics had been copied into real life, but at least it seemed that monster respawns was not one of them.

The stench of death had only grown stronger, the bodies decomposing at an alarming rate. I noticed the bloating stage had already begun, something that usually took days to occur. I wasn’t an expert, but even I could tell that this was not normal.

As I searched the area, I noticed that the gore in the water had sunk to the bottom of the lake, leaving a buffer of seemingly clean water on top. However, we still needed to find a way to make it drinkable.

I pondered boiling or filtering it, but we had no tools available to us for such things. After slowly exploring the area for an hour or two, I came across the others also on their way to the lake. “Any luck?” I asked, but their dejected expressions answered the question. “Maybe we need to be desperate or in a certain state to trigger it?” I suggested.

“Who knows? All I care about right now is that I’m hungry, thirsty, and tired, we’ve been at it all day,” Etu replied with a shrug and Neytiri nodded in agreement.

“We might not be able to find food, but we could try to drink some of the water. We just need to figure out how to boil or filter it,” I proposed.

“That - could take hours,” Etu pointed out.

“We could also take a chance and drink a mouthful or two,” Neytiri added.

“We could, but I wouldn’t want to have an upset stomach in this setting just because I couldn’t stand to be thirsty for a little while, and I doubt either of our skills will fix that” I warned.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. That is a complication we could do without,” answered Neytiri. Etu nodded in agreement as he sighed. We found a clean spot on the cave floor away from the slaughter that had taken place in the cave, earlier on the day, and sat down to rest. We discussed the way forward as we rested.

We rotated taking naps, the constant fighting and fear running through our systems constantly since we woke up hours ago whore us down. Even if we couldn’t currently alleviate our thirst and hunger, we could at least alleviate some of our physical and emotional weariness.