The eyes don't look like they're attached to anything, but they're just....watching us. They don't seem to be moving, but god do they creep me out. The eyes are so big, it's like I can see their blood vessels pumping, which is weird considering they're not really attached to anything and they probably don't have a heart an-Just...just don't think about it Dave. That way probably lies madness.

I continue forward not looking at anything in particular. I could hear Stein growling softly, but I ignored it. If he's not outright attacking, they're probably just predators of opportunity. I slowly walk forward through the darkness, ignoring any sights, sounds, focusing on the motion of my body, the feeling of it moving. How my skin touches the air and the slight chill I feel. How my feet can feel a bit of an echo when stepping. How my breath is long, deep, controlled. The rhythm of my steps.....Water dripping...wind pulsing against my-wind? I open my eyes to find a few new sights. One was that I could see sunlight. Normal everyday sunlight.

It poked through the cavern entrance, leaving behind shadows trailing further into the darkness. It shone through the green trees, leaving behind a sense of fullness within my body. The sun was also shining upon the grass, showing water droplets spread throughout. Either morning or evening dew, I realized. Trees seemed to have surrounded the edge of the cavern entrance, with a couple ivies trying to climb along the sides. The entrance seemed to be sat upon the side of a hill or mountain, judging by how the entrance was just sideways coming out. The second thing I noticed, was that there was a log update while I had been under that headspace.

Through the proximity to powerful beings and not crumbling under the pressure of their gaze, you have received the skill: Mental Resistance

Through controlling your responses for an extended period of time, you have gained the skill: Emotional Control

Through the cancellation of your senses and the focusing on your internals, you have gained the skill: Meditate.

Congratulations on finding you way out of Dormund Caverns through dumb luck, for that you have received +1 LCK.

Quest Finished (Get out of Dormund Caves)

  Rewards: 100 Experience Added, Received 10 GP.

  For completing the quest, you have earned skill: Mapping

  Bonus Objective Completed (No kills): For completing the quest without killing, you have gained skill: Survival Instincts

....well, it seems like I was in danger with those eyeballs. Also, glad I got confirmation that I left the caverns. Really helps. Also, I got a bunch of new skills today as well as a small map in the top corner. Cool. Probably need to check them out, along with the others I've put off, as well as see if I can turn off the...Oh I can turn the map on and off. That'll help me see things better in my peripheral when I want to. But where's the.....Oh. There's a small sack on the floor. That's....I should go, pick it up, and open it. And yep, there's 10 gold coins in there. "How the hell did this get here?" Well, the answers pretty simple, but the execution is not. I just don't know about this, but hey, free sack. Now I don't have to carry things...uncomfortably. I take a second to readjust myself after the...incident, before I start to head further towards the light. I mean, it's a nice sunny day away from those...why can't I hear anything behi-Wait.....Stein!!

Quickly I look behind me to find the wolf fainted on the ground, mere inches from the entrance. The eyes seemed to be dragging him back with...tentacles. Aww hell no. You're not taking away the thing that saved me life! Quickly, dragging myself away from the sight of the outside world, I rush back into the darkness.

The eyes have looked up from their prey and notice me running straight towards them. I can.....hear them screeching in my head. It's so loud I think I might faint, but I have to push through. I manage to keep myself in a straight line heading directly towards them, and once I get close enough, I realize what they actually are. They aren't just eyes. Their eyes made of teeth. Plates gnashing in hunger. There's no tongue or anything, just an empty darkness in their mouths. It's surrounded by tentacles jutting out from them, each with a couple protrusions coming out of them. Wriggling. Writhing. Putting aside my fear and hesitation, I plow my fist straight into them.

There's a bit of a resistance that I can feel as the teeth that makes up the eye cave in slightly, before I hear a crack and the resistance fades. My hand goes straight through into their darkness filled cavities. I can feel it tingling, like pins and needles are being slowly inserted into their flesh, but I need to pull through this. I grasp around for something, anything and I can feel it brush against my fingers. Something beating. I squeeze it as hard as I can, hearing in my mind a faint pop, as one of the screams vanishes. The eye that I was fighting falls limp against my arm, and I pull it right out. The thing plops to the ground, and I notice the state my arm is in. I can see fucking bone and sinew, and its covered in blood. That's not good. The thing is, my HP hasn't gone down in the slightest, which is just weird. Doesn't matter right now though, got other things to deal with. The other two are closing in.

Before I have a chance to even approach them, I feel another scream go throughout my head. This one is much louder. I can't tell which one is doing it, but I can just feel my mind tearing at the seams. If I don't do something soon, I am literally going to have my brain splayed. Quickly, I move my feet in the direction of the nearest one for a kick to the things misshapen mug causing it to fall to the floor. This one is much easier to tear through, but even then, it isn't down. I might need to just crush whatever I did before to get them to stay down for good, so I just began stomping on it, its tentacles flailing wildly batting at my body.

After a couple stomps, it stilled, but I felt a sharp pain in my back. The last one was biting my goddamn shoulder. I could feel it's teeth sink in. They must've been serrated too, considering I felt something tearing some of the muscles in my shoulder as I yanked it off and bashed it against the cave wall. The pain probably would've been immeasurable, if I could be still and think about it, but I think that maybe the adrenaline was just pumping too hard for me to notice.

Turning towards the final thing leaving behind the stain on the wall, I stare directly into its teeth. "AAAAAAAAAAAA" I scream, as I run towards it. It's eye, somehow changes colors and starts tearing up in fear before running back towards the sanctity of the darkness. I breathe slowly, deeply. Trying to get back the oxygen I used to do all that. God damn, I didn't think I had it in me. I'm just a fatass, but hey, you put enough mass behind something you get a lot of force, I suppose. That was just....insane. I think that was the first time I ever killed something, without it being an insect or something. Oh god, is that even my blood. Ulp. "...Bbelarlabebl!"

I....I didn't feel too proud after that. Especially since I threw up whatever was in my stomach. Shit...just. Just breathe. God...Ok. I think I'm fine. Is Stein good? I look over to the wolf...he doesn't seem to be injured too bad. There's blood coming out of his ears and his furs a little torn up. Fuck. I don't even know if he's dead or not. His heart is still beating, but I can't even tell if his head is all there anymore or not. From what I felt, those things just loved tearing apart my mind. I can't even know if what they did to him was worse. Wait, I need to check the log. I might've gotten something useful somehow, I don't know.

For killing something for the first time, you receive +1 STR.

Congratulations on killing a creature much higher level than you skillfully. For that, you receive 10 levels, +5 DEX, and +5 STR.

Congratulations on killing multiple Mind Breakers. For that, you receive +5 to WIS, 10 more levels, as well as, a new title: Defender of the Mind.

For intimidating and causing fear in a creature higher level than you, you get the ability: Aura of Fear

For thinking fast, and using fast reactions, you have earned +5 DEX.

Damn. Nothing here seemed helpful to the current situation. Could I use observe on Stein to see what's wrong with him? Nothing hurts to try.....Ok. I don't have a high enough level to see exactly what's wrong with him. All I can see is the name I gave him, his species, and his current health, which seems incredibly low. He almost had 250 health and its down to 35. That's a big decrease. Speaking of which, how did I even survive that encounter? I was lower level, and I don't necessarily have....wait. Did I defeat their attempts into my mind with my high intelligence or wisdom? Only thing I can think of since that skill couldn't have possible been high enough to help against them. ALRIGHT! Enough debating I need to get him out of this goddamn cave to shelter.

Slowly, I bend down, and try to lift him up. It's hard work, and I can't necessarily pull him completely off the floor. I can only drag him. Thank god for that +5 to my strength. Wait....is the system controlling my body somehow? Never mind that. Questions about the validity of my actions can wait. A life is more important than philosophy right now. I slowly try to drag him towards the nearest tree. His body, though heavy, has fur that can act as a sort of cushion against the ground. Reduces friction somehow. Anyway, I got to figure out a way to heal him. Is there a magical plant nearby?

Observing my surroundings, I can only tell that there are some variety of trees for a second before my observe gets more detailed. It probably leveled up again because I can instantly see that the trees have much more detail added to their tags, even indicating how old they are and what type of tree they are. I look at more while disabling the notifications for it, hoping to get another level, but nothing seems to happen. Maybe I need to look at progressively more complicated things to be able to level this up easier. I mean, floating eyeballs are kind of complicated, even if it just labeled them as floating eyeballs instead of the proper name they had. I switch my gaze from the trees to the other plants in the area.

Surprisingly, as soon as I look at a purple one I get a notification about observe leveling again. Just like that from one flower. Why? The tag now lists its species and effect because apparently plants have effects now. It's a Twilight Rose apparently. It has dual affinities which causes insects that try to touch it to burn or freeze depending on the time. Guess, it's special cause it also has conflicting affinities like me? I mean, it sounds like a good plant to take, but I don't necessarily want to freeze myself. Otherwise, I might just burn from the inside out if I tried to eat it for an affinity. Still nothing helpful for Stein, but this new level is at least helpful considering it gives an object it's traits. Might find one that gives it regeneration or something.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I keep looking around the immediate area, but I see nothing. There's absolutely nothing here that has the properties I'm trying to find. I mean, there could be further into the forest, but I don't want to leave Stein behind. That would be irresponsible of me to do that....wait, could I....If I have a life-type affinity, could I just let Stein drink some of my blood and he'll be better? I mean that could happen, but it's also just as likely for my decay element or something to activate on him. The only option I can see right now, is that I somehow get really good at magic really fast, but that's not really feasible.

Maybe if I can treat the body and let him sleep off the effects, he'll get better? I remember a while back that sleep is good at maintaining brain function and helping it operate. It's the best thing that I can do right now, I suppose. I keep pulling his body toward the tree, before letting Stein lean against it with his side. I inspect him for any obvious injuries, and for those I don't see, I cast observe to see the whole picture clearer. Thankfully, there's only really one place where he's actually really injured. It looks like somehow those tentacles had managed to tear up his side in a long gash along his ribs. Oh god....I don't think I can do this. I was never good with blood. It's why I never got into medical school despite the urges from my family. Wait...I just remembered! I got a bunch of new skills. Let's see what they are.

New Skills: Stacked in Your Favor LvMax (Stat Ability) Cost: (- AP) A skill given to those who have placed their lives within the hands of luck. Whenever you play games of chance, you have a 25% higher chance of winning. Lucky Influence LvMax (Stat Ability) Cost: (- AP) A skill which lets the holder pass on 50% of their total luck, in either the negative or positive direction, towards allies or enemies. Remembrance LvMax (Stat Ability) Cost: (- AP) A skill given to those whose state of mind is as sharp as a tack. Anything that you have done, even from before this skill was earned/learned, can be recalled with perfect accuracy, unless under a harmful mental effect. Mental Resistance Lv7 [77/100%] Cost: (-/2 AP) There are always things which wish to enter the mind, either ideas or others. Their purposes for doing so can be many, but, more often than not, it's mostly malicious ones which spur them to do the things they do. To either rend, shape, tear, or obliterate the mind. This skill will help reduce those effects by a steady percentage based upon the level of this skill, as well as the opponent's opposing one. Emotional Control Lv2 [47/100%] Cost: (- AP) Sometimes, situations can call for tact, a calm mind, and a rational judgement. In those situations, emotions can either be a hassle or a tool, whether they're positive or not. This skill will help take control of them in whichever way you want, whether that means dampening or amplifying them. Meditate Lv1 [31/100%] Cost: (10 MP) Meditation is an art form that is all but correctly translated in the medium of culture. People often think that meditation is simply quieting your mind and listening to your body. That is not the case. For those who have this skill, they know the truth of it. Meditation allows those who practice it to slowly recover from mental and physical trauma, as well as, allows easier methods of channeling energy to flow throughout the body. Mapping Lv1 [31/100%] Cost: This skill is a must for all those who desire to know where they are, where they've been, and where they might head towards. In effect, this skill allows you to see where you are and where you've been at all times, while showing which direction you're heading in. With higher levels, comes higher information and more functions to be derived from the skill. Survival Instincts: Lv2 [55/100%] Cost: (- AP) Sometimes there are going to be things that are setting out to try and kill others. In other words, those very same things might target you for their next kill. This skill is an essential in figuring out if someone or something's currently doing this in your vicinity. As the level goes up, the sooner the notice is given to the holder of this skill and the more range it can have Aura of Fear Lv1 [50/100%] Cost: (5 AP) Fear is a primal emotion that most things have in the world. It governs all thought whenever it pops up and almost always leaves the thing which experiences it not coherent in the slightest. This skill allows those who have it to spread fear in a circular range from its origin. Fair warning, as this is a mind altering ability, those who possess greater mental and emotional resistances have a fair chance of being unaffected.

Ok. Survival Instincts looks good for this kind of situation. Might be able to tell what's poisonous and what's medicine. Alright, this grass looks good for a makeshift bandage. EHhh. Alright, it's done. It's held together with sticks and twine, but it'll do for now. I doubt he would need it for that long anyway if we can find a medicinal plant or something. Wait....something's not right here. My bars are full. I mean, I didn't use any magic or abilities, but why didn't I lose any health. I can clearly see.....

My hand's better....huh. There's only slight bruises now, and my flesh has grown back? It must be the affinity benefit. Guess that explains why the system was talking about growths. If this affinity causes hyper regeneration, it's no exaggeration that there's going to be extra flesh and cancerous stuff growing. I'm just not too sure about the brain falling apart bit. Why would regeneration cause something like that? I mean, I'm glad I got this kind of body now, but how in the hell is it doing this. Nanobots? Actual magic? I need to find someone, anyone to find an actual conversation to talk about this. Till then though, guess I stick with Stein.

I rub my hand through his fur, sitting down next to him. His breathing's no longer as ragged, and it doesn't seem like he's having a nightmare anymore. Slowly but surely, he'll get better. Maybe I should get something for him when he wakes up? It might take awhile, but I could try and...cook those things. Can't let good meat go to waste after all. Just need to make a fire, now how do I.....Guess that problem's solved. I just...know how to make one using the materials around me now which is weird, considering that I thought I needed a special rock or something. But how did it....Remembrance! Now that I have perfect memory I can just remember exactly how to make a bowline. Just need to find a string or I could just rip up plant fiber. Perfect!

I set out to do my task, pulling any loose grass or tree bark that I can find in the underbrush. I rip and tear until I have a pile of plant stuff. Next, I should just tie them together like a helix kind of shape. Tighten it. Add some spit and...eye blood to make it stick together. Grab some sticks. Tie the string along one end, and make a loop around a second stick. Then I take the rest of the plant fiber and put it in a little divot inside a tiny log. Now I just rub vigorously. Fuck! Shit! Splinters are hell.

Ok. Sun's setting over the trees if I can see that right. Need to do this fast before I can't see what I'm doing. Bracing myself against the ground I rub the bow quickly while applying pressure to the top of the stick, with a bit of plant fiber as well. Don't necessarily have any whittling tools, so I can't make a smooth top wood bit to hold it. After a couple minutes, there's a spark. It's not really catching so I have to keep doing this. Then, a spark finally catches. Quickly, I take some loose sticks and pile them around in a log cabin style. Making a little room lets the heat get trapped easier, I leave a little hole in the side though, so I can blow into it. As the fire slowly rises, I leave it behind for a minute to gather more fuel.

Eventually, the fire seems big enough to cook something over, and I have enough spare wood to keep it going for the long term, now I just need to make a spinner. Unfortunately, I don't remember ever doing one before, so I don't know how. I do know what I need first though, a couple of stands. I grab a bunch of big sticks, about 8 and arrange it into two teepees, tied together with plant fibers, and plant them firmly in the ground. Ok. I've got stands now for the spinning thing. Now I just need. a long stick and more rope fiber.

I gather the materials and I don't really have time to make it professionally, and I'll probably need to sand down the handle later, but for now it's done!

Congratulations on creating something without knowing how to, for that you earn the skill: Crafting

Didn't expect to get a skill from that, but glad I did. Means I'll probably get a bonus to making new things and/or the things I make will work a little better with the skill.

For correctly knowing what a skill did, without looking it up, you gain +1 INT.

Huh. Guess you can do that. Anyways, focusing on food right now. I head towards the entrance of the cave, where the corpses lie. Remarkably, they're not too difficult to lift. Might mean there might not be much meat on here, or could be because I have absurd strength now. Don't know. But some meat is better than no meat in my opinion. After that, I guess I just got to find fruits or vegetables for a balanced diet, but that's for the long game. Need to make sure we're taken care of now.

I am able to carry both of the corpses of the Mind Breaker's towards the fire, and tie them to the stick with some loose plant fiber. Usually, a spit roast is a two man operation, I think given how long the stick is, but I can just lift one end to the stand and then lift the other, while only focusing on one corpse at a time. But, I need something better than that. I need to make a knife. That way, I could cut out the little chunks I want to eat. Thankfully, I can just put this on the fire since the thing didn't seem to have scales or fur. It was just a giant blob of flesh. That's good and bad, considering I need clothes, but I didn't even know how to peel off fur in the first place, so I'd say net good. All else fails, I could just try and make myself leaf clothing.

While I'm rotating the spit, I might as well use some of the new stat points to get a better, rounder array of stats. I add 4 to Strength for 20, as well as add 2 to Wisdom and 5 to Dexterity so that the total is 25, and if my calculations are correct...

For gaining a Wisdom of 25, you earn the skill: Perception

For gaining a Dexterity of 25, you earn the skill: Accuracy

Nice. I was right. Don't know what that skill's about, but I could test that later. I currently have, 53 points in total. I could divvy it out so that each stat would be at or above 25 and I'd get a skill for each of them. But....Goddamnit. I know I'll hate myself later for not doing it, but something's telling me to wait on that. I don't know how thing's work in this world. I don't know if I'm even making the right choices. I was never too good with too many choices. I'll just keep the points I have and spend them later.

Alright, the first one seems to be good. Usually, if it's slightly burnt on the outside, the inside's nice and a little bit seared. I'll leave that one to Stein. It was the bigger of the two after all. I pull the stick off, slide the meat down, and put it in front of Stein. I'm sure he'll appreciate it when he wakes up. Anyways, I got the food problem sorted. Nice. Now I just need to find water....now, how am I going to bring it back to the camp we got here?

I don't have any cups or anything, not even a thermos. I could always try to support Stein to the water, but I don't know if his side will hurt too bad to walk. With any luck, with how green everything is around here, there's probably a river, lake, or it might just rain a lot. I could make a rain catcher, but I want to know if it's worth it or not before I do. I'll just focus on that problem when Stein wakes up. In the meantime, I could try and meditate while doing something. With any luck, I could do that while maybe putting together my leaf clothes or something.

With that, I get up, gather some leaves, and sit by Stein. I try to meditate like before, but it isn't working as well. I think meditate only works if I'm not moving at all or if I'm using simple repetitive motions. Might become better with leveling or something, I don't know. I notice that through the darkness of the dawn, the moon is coming out over the horizon. Wow. Even though I can't see much through the trees, I can tell one thing. That it's big. Definitely bigger than the moon I'm used to.

Sitting high in the sky, partially shrouded by the forest, it lies there. Where our moon would look like size of your thumb tip if you looked at it in the sky. This one's size is basically my entire hand. And I think I can see a tinier one orbiting it or something. Oh. Also, probably the most important thing to note. They're not really white. Well, one is, but the other is just a light shade of blue, almost like the color of an evening sky. Wow....This....this right here, no matter if it's a skill or not, is a good place to meditate. I slowly sit down beside Stein and lean my head up towards the heavenly bodies.

What do I do now?....I got out of the caverns, where there were probably monsters or something. I've got a tagalong friend with me. I can relatively survive fairly well out here, unless there's more of those creeps stalking about....I don't even...Wait. The system all this time has references to other people. I guess it's just the question of what state those other people are in. What do they have and could they help me figure out what's going on with me? I need to find civilization.

Quest Received

  Quest: Find Civilization

  Reward: Local Language Skill, New Class Options, and 100 GP

  Failure: Death

  Take Quest: [Yes/No]

Sure. I'll take it. Next logical step anyway. Why does it say I'll die though? I have a nice reliable source of food from the woods. It's going to at least rain at some point, so I can get water. I mean, It's not like there's going to be another goddamn monster from my nightm......Oh God. I just felt a rumble through the earth.