They were back to the jungle, back to the heat and humidity. All the news they received consisted solely of restraints. They were not shackles but relatively strong ropes binding Sun Tie's hands.

Sun Tie looked back at Cole and saw the man standing resolute again, his white skin speckled with red blood. He almost died. Should I be this concerned? Sun Tie didn't have the answers. All he knew was that the old man didn't deserve to die like that. He was a fighter, a survivor who shouldn't meet their end at the hands of some invisible force in a dark hallway.

“Hey, Sun Tie!” James, the enormous black man who was also a priest, came in his direction. He had a big smile on his face. “How are you?” His gaze shifted from Sun Tie’s bonded hands to the youth’s face. Regret and shame stamped on him. "Sorry about this. I was completely against the idea, for the record."

"Oh, how much better I feel now, peasant. Your kindness is truly remarkable," Sun Tie replied, lowering his head as sarcastically as possible. Yet James responded with a genuine smile.

"That actually makes me feel better! I'm not a fan of violence—”

“I am,” Sun Tie said, giving the man a long glance.

“...but we have to make do with what we have," James said, taking the lead and walking backward to face them as only a fool would. "I hope you'll stay with us. God knows we could use a better [Swordsman] than me. I've tried, but I'm not good at it."

James awkwardly displayed his sword, brandishing it in front of Sun Tie.

"I'm not a swordsman!" Sun Tie exclaimed, his voice tinged with irritation. "And get that damn weapon out of my face before you hurt yourself or worse, me!" Cole chuckled from behind Sun Tie.

"Sorry," James apologized awkwardly, stowing his sword back into his inventory before resuming his walk.

Sun Tie couldn't grasp who might be swayed by this man's preaching. He couldn’t figure out how someone so childlike could be a religious figure. The most startling aspect was the gap between James's appearance and personality. This Earth place is messed up.

There were six of them trekking through the jungle. With ropes bonding Sun Tie and Cole, they were accompanied by James, Sofia, and two kids who appeared to be two or three years younger than Sun Tie. They looked practically identical, with long, shiny black hair and rodent-like faces. They wore white shirts and blue pants similar to Cole's and were ugly and stupid. However, they followed Sofia's orders promptly, making them ideal soldiers.

Sun Tie considered the possibility of taking them down, but it didn't seem like a wise choice. He and Cole couldn't die, but they could still feel pain. Moreover, if they fought and won, Sofia would likely survive to inform the others back at camp.

Waiting and observing seemed like the best course of action. Sun Tie was curious about this Leigh character the twins couldn't stop discussing. They'd been walking for half an hour, and Leigh had dominated the conversation for at least half that time.

"Oh, it was incredible how Leigh took down that bat with his magic."

"Man, the guy pulled off some Gandalf-level stuff! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

"I'm so grateful Leigh saved our lives."

"Leigh was a star in school, and now he's acing the apocalypse."

The twins chuckled and slapped each other on the shoulders, seemingly enjoying themselves amid what they called an "apocalypse." James spent five minutes discussing a book called Revelations, and Sun Tie reached his limit. He was surprisingly less hungry than expected, given they'd been more than 24 hours inside the dungeon.

When Sun Tie realized the amount of time they had spent, he suffered a shock. He had thought they were inside for no more than three or four hours. He began to suspect that the system and stats somehow sustained him, reducing his need for food and water.

Though unsure how long this no-extreme-hunger situation might last, he didn't care to find out. What he did want was to eat and hydrate as soon as possible. A cup of tea and a nap would also be great, he couldn’t deny.

Maybe his stupid captors could let him cook the jaguar’s leg Cole had taken in their first day together. I hope they have some fire magic to light a bonfire.

“Hey, woman! Can you release me? I’m quite hungry. You should probably order your servants to make some food for me.” He said, getting close, and she poked him with her gun, making Sun Tie fall back to his place. “Ouch! Respect, woman!”

She ignored him promptly. The twins chuckled with themselves.

Sofia now wore blue pants similar to Cole's, black shoes, and a shirt that read "Portway High.", instead of the red dress from their previous encounter. It's better not to mess with this one. She would probably shoot me just to see what would happen.

“I’m sorry for this,” She said, looking at Cole. The man just nodded slightly. "We need to be sure we can trust you before taking further steps."

"No problem, miss. I understand," Cole replied. Sun Tie had doubts about whether Cole understood. Like Sun Tie, he seemed like the type who wouldn't take kindly to being restrained.

"What did you guys find inside the dungeon? Any means of communication? All of our phones have disappeared, so I assume yours have too," Sofia continued, hope burning in her eyes as she looked at Cole. "We're trying to locate other survivors, perhaps someone from the military."

"Nope," Cole responded, "just a lot of monsters."

"Was it difficult?" Sofia inquired.

"Compared to the wolves, bats, and jaguars, it was tougher. Compared to a typical day for me... it was hell," Cole answered. Sofia nodded and resumed her position at the front of the group without sparing Sun Tie a glance. Am I invisible?

Growing tired of the jungle and the ongoing conversations, Sun Tie decided it was time to check his Stats and skills. Above all, he was keen to see his progress in his [Mana Seer] mastery.

[Mastery Unlocked!]

You've earned a new title: [Pathfinder of the New World] - Be the first to acquire a [Hidden Mastery] in the integration. Reward: +2 in all stats.

Oh, Titles grant stats? I think I had one before, something related to my core. Let's take a look. Sun Tie's thoughts prompt the system to display his earlier title.

[Shattered One] - You began the integration with a Shattered Core. +2 Intelligence.

It's not ideal, but it could be worse. Now, let's dive into the mastery.

[Mana Seer] - You can perceive mana flow within the world, setting you on a path of deeper understanding, knowledge, and connection with nature. Use this unique vision wisely.

Skill 1 - Pools of mana will be highlighted for you. Striking them will produce various effects, influenced by your equipment and skills.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Cost: 1% mana/sec. The specific effects you produce with this skill may consume varying amounts of mana. Experiment!

Skill 2 - ????????

Skill 3 - ????????

Skill 4 - ????????

Sun Tie felt a sense of excitement as he read the details. He now could see the "core" of any being and exploit it to his advantage. Even better, this was merely the beginning; he could acquire more skills with this mastery. All those books he'd read about manipulating external Qi would finally pay off.

With that thought in mind, Sun Tie reviewed his overall status.

- Status -

Name

Sun Tie

Level

6

Title

[Shattered One];[Pathfinder of the New World]

Race

Human (Eternal Wind)

Runes

(1/3) [Dull Mana Rune] - lvl 4 - Common

Skills

[Combat Dexterity], [Swift Strike], [Combat Strenght]

Health Points

110/110

Mana Points

180/180

Strength (Your physical capacities. Your brute strength.)

13

Dexterity (Your agility. Your speed and vigor.)

15

Vitality (Your life force, your health points.)

11

Endurance (Your physical resistance. Your capacity to take damage and stand.)

10

Intelligence (Your mental capacities, ability to store mana or Qi.)

18

Luck (Your social skills and resistance to bad outcomes.)

12

You have 2 points available.

Sun Tie was impressed by how much his stats had been up since the last time he had seen them.

In his mind, he had two options: put more points in Intelligence or Strength. The latter would be a wise choice since I don’t need to use a lot of mana to see the weak spots, and an amplified [Echo Strike] consumes 50 mana. In the rest of the experience time, I don’t need to worry about that.

His first move was to balance out his stats, boosting his Strength to 15. He figured next time, he'd most likely invest in Intelligence. Vitality was also becoming increasingly appealing, but Sun Tie maintained the philosophy that you didn't need extra vitality if you weren't getting hit.

Turning his attention to skills, he noted that he had two skill points to spend and three available skills to consider:

[Mighty Strike]: Your first attack against an enemy inflicts bonus damage.

Cost: None

[Counter-Strike]: Your first hit after taking or defending against an enemy attack inflicts bonus damage.

Cost: None

[Identify-Basic]: You can identify various species, equipment, and ingredients. Bars will display the life and mana above enemies and allies.

Cost: None

Each of the three skills had merits, but [Counter-Strike] didn't align well with Sun Tie's combat style. He felt tempted to pair [Mighty Strike] with his existing skills, such as [Mana Seer] and [Echo Strike]. However, [Identify] seemed too valuable to pass up. The downside was it cost 2 points to acquire it.

After some thought, Sun Tie opted for [Identify] and decided to put it to the test. As he focused on Cole, a message appeared before him.

[Human Archer - lvl??]

Above his head, two bars, one green and one blue, representing the man was healthy.

He did the same for Sofia.

[Human Mage Healer - lvl??]

And the twins.

[Human Axeman - lvl??]

[Human Axeman - lvl??]

The [Identify] skill was already proving its utility. It provided a glimpse into what Sun Tie might be up against should they ever come to fight. He suspected Cole might also have acquired this ability by now.

Sun Tie checked his quest progression; none were near completion, and he lacked the means to advance them. So, he closed the menu.

He still had 5 class points left unspent, but he would die before using them.

Finally, Sun Tie looked at his new robe stats. He could see them in his menu, but it was impossible to equip them because it was inside his inventory. Probably -1 in all stats, he thought.

[Garb of the Humble Man] - Uncommon

+5 STR

+5 DEX

+5 VIT

+5 END

Description: Woven from simple but durable fabrics, this unassuming robe has seen its share of challenges. It belonged to a nameless wanderer who, despite appearing as nothing more than a humble man, faced adversity with a quiet strength that belied his appearance.

It's better than what I was expecting, for sure. I could equip it.

“We’re here,” Sofia announced, and Sun Tie exited his trance.

In front of him was a clearing similar to the one they had found the day before. A stream ran free on the space's right side, and a rock formation was close to it. In the distance, Sun Tie could hear water falling. They were close to a waterfall, making the air even more humid.

Near ten people were building tents close to the rock wall. They were all young and had similar clothes to those of Sofia. Their interactions and conversations led Sun Tie to deduce that they had known each other before "the integration."

They proceeded toward one of the already-assembled tents.

“Where’s Leigh?” Sofia asked a redhead girl passing by with wooden sticks in her hand.

“He’s out hunting.” The girl was about to leave when Sofia took her arm.

“And the woman?” Sofia asked, her eyebrows getting close.

“Sleeping in Leigh’s tent, finally. I was starting to worry about her.” The girl replied and resumed her walk.

Sofia took them along and ordered them to sit inside. She then checked their bonds and tightened them around a wooden pole. Cole grunted. The man was getting more and more upset with this whole situation. Seeing that their captives were a lot of kids didn’t seem to help him manage the situation.

"Wait here. No funny business, alright?" Sofia instructed, not waiting for a reply. And then pointed a finger directly at Sun Tie as she was about to leave, “Leigh will want to check up on you two. Especially you, swordsman.”

Sun Tie heard the youths muttering to each other as the twins and Sofia went their way.

“I hope Leigh doesn't make us kill them.”