The group continued throughout the day, chopping away at the seemingly endless forest and occasionally fending off a rabid creature here or there. Nothing like the monstrosities of the previous night were moving around in the tightly packed wooded area. They took three more breaks which allowed Alex to rest and acquire a few more skills from V.V.’s recommended list. The first things he chose were Natural Stamina Body and Natural Regenerative Body. To say there was pain would not have done the experience justice. Alex bit down on a root that was helpfully jutting up from the soil from within the second dome of the day while he went through the process of acquiring both of his new upgrades. Alex would have been embarrassed to admit that he probably passed out yet again during the process. It may have been one of the most painful experiences that he'd been through in his life, but it was over quickly, and he knew they still had more ground to cover.

On the group’s second stop the rain finally ended, V.V. and his Orbs dug out a shelter for Alex, he entered and decided to purchase some of the spells V.V. had listed. The first of three Spells that he decided on was Advanced Blink. That one only ended up giving him a mild headache for a few minutes, but Greater Barrier saw him unconscious again. After blinking his eyes back into a conscious state and finding out that he’d only been drooling for five minutes, he decided he’d go for Greater Summon Sphere. Two hours later, Alex sat up abruptly while caked mud clumps fell from his face and neck. There had to be a reason why some abilities didn’t seem to bother him at all when learning, some hurt, and others knocked him across the head with a proverbial frying pan. He scrambled out of his safety bubble and saw that progress forward was moving with or without him. His companions continued their diligent deforestation while he laid drooling in the mud. Climbing out of his hole, he set off once again.

The third break was more forced than the previous two. Alex and his companions had entered another nest of squirrels and were forced to defend against dozens of critters attacking from multiple directions. While they weren’t a threat to his life, Alex still found the experience stressful. V.V. had detected them before they decided to enter the territory but there didn’t seem like an easier way around, so they entered and went to war with the rodents. Due to the Mana Crazed debuff that the squirrels had baked into their bodies, none retreated and may have not been able to even if they wanted to run. The thought that the animals were being forced to throw themselves into the sawmill that was V.V, and his Orbs was a depressing thought. After the massacre had finished, Alex was tired but capable of continuing, but a new problem arose. The forest had gotten noticeably thicker just after the squirrels nesting grounds. So thick that Alex could not put his arm through an opening in the brush without his hand running into a solid mass of limbs.

V.V. suggested that Alex take the time to rest again while she worked on clearing with Ruby and Opal. He felt bad that his companion was continuing yet again without rest while he slumped to the ground against a thick tree trunk. Feeling bad about it didn’t make him any less exhausted though. Alex kept opening his status and stats and wondering why he wasn’t more resilient even with all the increased numbers. He’d slept a good amount earlier and although it had been over ten hours since they’d left the clearing, shouldn’t he have more gas in his tank than this? While he continued to mull over his own deficiencies, he looked over V.V.’s recommendations and chose Advanced Storage. He expected the same kind of headache or to wake up hours later drooling all over himself but that didn’t happen. This time, his head felt a bit tingly and then, nothing.

He looked at his status and there it was, Advanced Storage (1). Confused by the lack of pain but not mad about it, he decided to press his luck and selected Advanced Identify next. Again, no pain, just some tingly sensations in his head. A smile crept onto his face as he selected Advanced Scan. Alex thought that he’d discovered something. Maybe Abilities didn’t bother him as much as Skills or Spells seemed to. All three of these additions were considered Abilities and so, for whatever reason, he seemed to be able to bypass the huge amounts of pain or unconscious states that the others had caused him. He thought that for exactly three seconds after confirming his purchase of Advanced Scan. His skull may have well of spit open while some horrific monster began to scoop his stupid, stupid brain right out of his head. A scream would have come out of him if his entire body wasn’t both paralyzed and convulsing.

The densely packed trees were quite beautiful as the sun broke through small openings here and there to allow beams of light to shine through. Soft wind rushed through limbs that overflowed with lush green leaves. There were no sounds of bugs or birds that could be heard, only the gentle rush of wind. It was an incredibly relaxing view from where Alex laid on his back, looking up. His glorious view was obstructed by a silver ball unfortunately. He found this to be extremely irritating as all he wanted to do was watch the wind scatter the light rays around the canopy. He made to push the orb out of his line of site but when it tried to push it, it bit him!

“OUCH!” Alex yelled.

“Alex! I said you need to get up. The sun will be setting within the hour, and we’ve found a cave.” V.V. said after poking Alex with her sharpened limb.

Alex blinked several times before he finally came back to himself. He wasn’t relaxing in a safe wooded backyard but on a gods forsaken floating island, filled with monsters. He tried to sit up quickly but felt a woozy sensation come over him. He leaned to the side, braced himself and gave back the only food he’d eaten that day. Emerald was slowly orbiting around him and most likely had been even before he’d taken his latest forced siesta. The pain he’d felt was only a memory now, but that memory was strong. He took a bit more time to empty his stomach before he was finally able to compose himself. The soft but consistent wind blew Alex’s hair around as he slowly climbed to his feet. Looking to where they’d decided to push forward, he could see that the thick wall of foliage had once again been obliterated for quite some distance.

“How long was I out this time? It looks like you made a ton of progress again.” Alex decided in that moment to not try to acquire anymore Skills, Abilities or Spells until they were bedded down somewhere relatively safe and without having to put V.V. through constant work on her own.

“Approximately three hours. Progress was easier through this thicker brush than the less thick but sturdier saplings in the other direction. Most of this stuff is vines, bushes, and thin but numerous trees.”

“That’s great. So, there’s a cave at the end of the tunnel?” Alex said as he began to walk down the path.

“The area opens again after three hundred feet and there is a small cave that you’ll be able to crawl inside for the coming night. We’ve expanded the entrance to accommodate your size and Opal can seal the entrance with the dome after you’re inside.” V.V. explained while floating beside Alex as they continued down the tunnel.

As Alex stepped out into the open again after being inside the thickest woods he’d ever seen for a full day, he felt a relief wash over him that he’d not known was needed. The forest closed in on him from every side at all times and he never knew if something was going to jump out at him. Now, he could at least see the monsters coming, hopefully. Looking around he could see that the forest continued on both sides and about a mile ahead of him it started again. Walking into the open, Alex could tell that there had been a road that ran alongside the forest where he now stood. The grass had already reclaimed whatever the road had been made of but it was still distinct from the rest of the grass around him. The grass to either side of the road was thicker and darker green than where he stood. He bent down to rip some of the grass away and found that instead of asphalt, the road was loose gravel.

“This is interesting. I was on an interstate road in the middle of nowhere as far as I could tell. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some dirt roads, assuming the grass hasn’t already made them unrecognizable, but this road is gravel.”

“So?” V.V. said, confused as to why they were standing in the open and not moving towards shelter.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“So, I think this road probably leads to a building or some type of construction area.”

“How does that knowledge help us in this moment?” V.V. said with genuine interest.

Alex knew that V.V. was just curious, but he couldn’t help but feel there was some snark there. “I suppose it doesn’t help us with our current goal of getting to shelter but there could be things we could use wherever this road leads. Also, if it goes further inland, it would be easier to travel it than have to cut our way through the woods again.” That part got V.V.’s attention and she quickly ascended into the sky. After the little orb was well over one hundred feet in the air, she came back down.

“It does seem that the left path does indeed go deeper into the forest. I’m unable to go any higher to see how far the road goes.”

“That’s good… Is something up there to be scared of?” Alex said as he began to search the sky for monster birds.

“I don’t think there are any flying creatures around here at the moment but something observing me from the ground outside of my detection range could be an issue. That isn’t the reason as to why I couldn’t go further up, however. I need to be within a certain distance of an object with a large enough mass that I can push against.”

Alex looked at his companion and wanted to ask what she meant by ‘push against’ but he decided to put that line of thought on hold until he was securely nestled into whatever hideout V.V. had found for them. To his right and about halfway across the large clearing, Alex could see large boulders scattered amongst solitary trees before the forest swallowed everything up again.

“Is that where we’re headed?” Alex said, gesturing towards the boulders.

“Correct.” V.V. said and started floating towards the rocks.

They arrived after a few minutes of what Alex felt was a light jog across a large field but would have made Olympic athletes jaws drop. Alex had already become something more than human but had yet to fully comprehend it himself. After passing several massive boulders, they arrived at a cluster of smaller boulders that laid together. V.V. floated up an incline that went up to a small hill with numerous midsized boulders laying in various clusters. Alex followed her until she swooped down and disappeared under the overhang of one of the large rocks. After getting on his hands and knees, Alex could see the opening that she had entered. He crawled forward and had to lay flat before wiggling his way into the barely large enough hole. After clawing his way forward for several feet, a larger space opened, and he was able to pull himself inside. What V.V. had called a cave was formed by several boulders lying together at just the right angles to form a gap large enough for Alex to sit or lay comfortably.

“This is great.” Alex said as Ruby floated around his tiny fortress. The ceiling was about five feet tall at its highest point, so he didn’t see himself doing any jumping jacks in his temporary home. A few days before he would have had a much different reaction to being in a damp makeshift cave but that was then, and this was now.

“I’m pleased that you like it. We can stay here for the night and depending on how far we get tomorrow, we may return.” V.V. said as she and Opal headed back down the entrance. A few moments later, there was a thudding noise and Opal returned. Alex leaned down to see into the small tunnel and could barely make out the shine of V.V. as she began drilling into what he knew was a small dome. Alex watched V.V. for a few moments before sitting back up and leaning against the wall formed from one of the boulders. He flicked open his Status page and looked it over.

User: Alexander Ingram

Race: Human (Other)

Age/Sex: 19 / Male

Titles: First Among Many, The Sky Is My Kingdom, Lonely Warden

Class: Orb Caller

Orbs: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal

Level 5: 5200/7500

Profession: None

Exp: 1421

Companion: Vibrant Void

System Credits: 74657

System Tokens*: 3 X-Grade Tokens, 6 A-Grade Tokens, 4 B-Grade Tokens, 3 C-Grade Tokens

Skills: Mana Tolerance (1), Mana Absorption (1), Advanced Mana Channeling (1), Scour (1) Call Orb (1), AbsOrb (1), ResOrb (1), S. Healing Orblet (1), Advanced Blink (1), Greater Barrier (1), Greater Summon Sphere (1), Advanced Storage (1), Advanced Identify (1), Advanced Scan (1)

Body*: Natural Stamina (1), Natural Regenerative (1)

Mind*: N/A

Soul*: ??? (?)

“I’ve got a lot of new things to try but I want to get everything V.V. recommended before I start playing. I know I’ll just get lost and let time slip by if start messing with my abilities…” Alex spoke to himself as he looked over his status. He noticed that his experience had gone up a bit but what really stood out to him were the three new categories. Body, Mind and Soul had been added to the bottom of his Status with Body filled in with both Natural Stamina and Regenerative Body. He thought it was weird that Mana Tolerance and Mana Absorption hadn’t added themselves to Body since V.V. said that they were something like having a Mana Body. He set that question aside as he looked at the next two listings. Mind said not available, which made sense as he didn’t have a Mind ability yet but was going to acquire a Telekinesis ability very soon. Looking at the last entry he became even more confused. Soul was listed but instead of saying not available, it had question marks listed. It even showed a question mark inside parenthesis which had been an indication of the level of the skill it was beside. Seeing the asterisks beside the words, he willed the menus for the three categories to open.

Body: The Body is the physical form that the User resides in.

Natural Stamina Body (1) and Natural Regenerative Body (1) are integrated.

Mind: The Mind is the metaphysical state in which the User resides in.

N/A

Soul: The Soul is the incorporeal, immaterial incarnation of the User.

??? (1) is integrated.

“…What the fuck does any of that mean?” Alex asked to the walls around him. As he continued to read over the nonsense that was displayed in front of him, V.V. returned.

“The Body is your physical self. The Mind is what you associate as your ‘self.’ The Soul is what you are between the two. You could say it’s the real you but even I’m not entirely sure how it works. Body skills are the most common, then Mind and of course Soul is the rarest. One out of every ten thousand Users will have a Mind Integration and maybe one out of one hundred thousand will have a Soul Integration.”

“One out of one hundred thousand? I guess I’m pretty rare then but why does my Soul Integration have nothing but question marks?” Alex asked and not for the first time, he watched as V.V. went from casually floating around to freezing in place.

“You have a Soul Integration? I didn’t detect anything that may point to you having one. What do you mean question marks?” V.V. asked, breaking out of her frozen state to float over to hover directly in front of Alex. He showed her the screen that he had pulled up.

“That… is strange.” V.V. said, sounding more confused than he’d ever heard her.

“Uh, are question marks a bad thing?” Alex said, somewhat nervous. Did he have some weird, corrupted Soul skill or whatever?

“Hmm… No, I don’t think so. The System uses question marks to denote something that it doesn’t recognize that’s present in a User’s Status. You already had something the System didn’t recognize which is your Other race. I’m wondering why it denoted your race as Other and your Soul Integration with question marks. Very strange indeed.” V.V. said and went back to slowly floating around the room, presumably in deep thought from Alex’s perspective.

Alex tried to pull the question mark Soul Integration page up, but nothing happened. After a few more attempts to discover what the question marks could be, he gave up and started looking at the remaining recommendations from V.V. He didn’t put any additional thought into what he should pick and simply started going down the list of remaining skills. Advanced Mana Shield gave him a bad headache for a few minutes, but it faded quickly enough. Advanced Remote Viewing was an even worse headache, but it didn’t last as long as the previous one. Greater Telekinesis was the one that would have knocked him on his ass if he hadn’t already been sitting down. The pain that began to sear its way into his brain was on a whole new level from the previous headaches. Fortunately for Alex, the screams that came out of him were muffled by several tons of rock and didn’t carry too far beyond his hideout. The pain didn’t last long but he was completely exhausted from the short torturous event. No consideration for the other skills was given at all before Alex closed his eyes, did his best to calm himself and finally allowed himself to sleep.