[https://i.imgur.com/tP5iRYR.jpg?1]

Adam’s stats had increased all across the board.

Including the points his aptitude provided with each level, he had gained several attribute points from his encounters and from devouring his foes. Thanks to that his BODY which had been lagging behind the others, had managed to catch up to his MIND attributes. But both were behind his SOUL stats, especially after efficiency was calculated. His pool of unspent points had grown as well but unlike before Adam felt no need to spend them. He saw that his strategy of relying on Devour to gain attributes had paid off. His kills from level 03 to level 04 had netted him 13 attributes, which were more than the free points his levels provided. With this knowledge he had no issue putting aside his free points until he truly needed them.

My stats are looking really good right now. I’ve almost doubled them from when I was level 0 and with the efficiencies applied, its closer to 4 times what I had started with. Adam smiled at the thought, And my skills. I can’t believe I filled out all my slots and I’m only level 04. Still can’t believe that I’m capped. I used to feel frustrated that I didn’t have enough abilities and now, Adam let out a sigh, at least most of my skills are powerful or useful and all of them are full of potential. Adam reminded himself. Except maybe Wild rush..

With each skill level gained, they get stronger and more effective. So, stop thinking about what ifs Adam! MY skill set is good. Adam remined himself. Instead of moping and feeling bad about not being able to gain more skills, think about how you can use your skills to their full potential! Adam still hadn’t gotten over the fact that he couldn’t gain anymore skills.

Adam hadn’t realized but for a while now he had been subconsciously thinking that he could find a way to gain more skills, that he was somehow special. The system Interface and his game like abilities, his triumph over creatures much stronger than him had led him to believe this fallacy, that he was chosen. He had even begun to think that he was invincible. His hubris had very nearly killed him during the incident with the Wendigo and now he realized that he was doing the same thing once more. He had gotten it in his head that the system rules did not apply to him. That the interface limits did not apply to him. That he could gain more skills. That he was special.

As if! Adam bitterly thought, this isn’t a movie and I’m not a protagonist in a book. It was just a freak cosmic event that brought me to Terra. I wasn’t summoned to be a “hero”. I wasn’t brought here by a wizard to slay some big bad evil. Instead, I got portalled through space time in my underwear, ended up in a forest full of dinosaurs and died on my very first day. Adam thought with black humor as he remembered his first day on Terra. I managed to get resurrected but I ended up weak and almost crippled. My first kill was as much luck as cunning, no magic sword or spell to help me or anyone to guide me. Even then I should have died due to my wounds and would have too if not for my title. I was just lucky.

I guess that’s why it was so easy to believe that I was special in some way, that the system had some special interest in me. And that’s why I fooled myself into hoping and believing that the interface limits wouldn’t apply to me. Adam reasoned as he confronted the truth. This mentality is gunna end up getting me killed. Maybe not today or tomorrow but someday soon. I need to fix this. And here I thought I had fixed my hubris after that wendigo incident. Adam sighed. Well, at least now I know that I need to be more careful about falling into that line of thinking. It would be a whole lot easier if I didn’t have such an overinflated sense of self, Adam complained in his heart. I just need to be more vigilant not to lull myself into delusions anymore. No need for fantasies in my head with all the fantastical shit happening all around me.

It had gotten easier to accept the limits imposed by the interface after Adam’s self-discoveries. Although he still felt that the interface limit on skills was bullshit, he didn’t think that he was an exception to the rule anymore and instead he spent the rest of his time going through his skills one by one and brainstorming ways to use them effectively and thinking of ways on how he could mesh them together so that they had a multiplicative effect. Like Bolster and penetrate. Adam mused as he went through his skills.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He had gotten a couple of ideas out of his brainstorming session and after a while with no more ideas incoming, he decided to get some sleep till it was morning. He had a lot of things that he wanted to try and was feeling excited as he drifted off.

Adam woke up to dawn the next day. The sun wasn’t quite out but there was enough light for him to see as Adam got up and stretched his body before washing his face with the water from the pool. He observed his reflection in the water and he couldn’t quite recognize himself. His face which had been a bit plain had gotten a bit angular and a bit more pleasant, his skin had none of the scars left by acne. His skin looked extremely healthy and had a glow to it even though he had woken up. System magic I guess, Adam absentmindedly thought as he washed his face. Should help me with girls back home…if I do make it back home. Adam thought as he finished up and stepped out his cave. He put those thoughts at the back of his head as got ready to start his day.

He went out and checked his makeshift stone grill and confirmed that it hadn’t been damaged last night by the THING. The cave is definitely a safe zone but I was worried about the creature destroying the grill since it’s out in the open. Satisfied that the grill was still functional, Adam gathered dirt, went back to the pool inside the cave and slathered the mud he made all over his body before coming outside once more.

Instead of heading straight into the woods Adam climbed the hill his cave was situated in till he came upon a large boulder. He activated Mimic and copied the boulder before he activated the skill once more. He focused inward and into his core as he activated the skill to see how it worked. He had done the same when he activated the skill to copy the boulder and the skill had caused his core to release two strands that moved into his eyes and connected them to his core for the duration of the skill before the skill finished copying the boulder.

When he activated Mimic again the skill caused hundreds and thousands of mana strands to be released from his core and travel through his channels to the surface of his skin, where it got absorbed by the skin surface. Adam stopped looking inward at that point. He focused outward and saw that his skin had taken the same coloring as the boulder and had even gained a similar texture. The skill had almost perfectly coped the color and texture but it hadn’t managed to do much for his form and shape. He still had a head and limbs though they looked like inflated grey balloons. So instead of looking like a boulder, Adam ended up looking a human shape golem made from boulders. Not exactly what I had in mind when I read through the skill, Adam thought disappointed. Maybe it’ll get better with proficiency. But for now, I still need to check on more thing out.

Adam deactivated the skill as he made his way down the hill and towards the edge of the forest. He walked along the perimeter of the forest before he found a bush that was just a bit smaller than him and he activated Mimic and held till it copied the bush. Once it had finished copying the bush, he activated the skill once more and this time he wasn’t disappointed with the results.

Adam’s skin took on different shades of green and a texture that made it look as if he was covered in leaves. And even his outline was somewhat broken so that he wouldn’t appear human shaped. Adam was very much satisfied this time and was sure the skill was better than a ghillie suit. He was sure that once he was crouched down in the forest floor, it would be hard for animals to recognize him as human. In fact, he was sure that the skill would hold up to scrutiny and would only fail if a creature with high enough perception was directly looking at him or was close enough to touch and truly make out his shape. And even then, it might not, the skill should have copied the mana signature of that bush so even if it did grow suspicious my mana would resemble that of a bush. At least I hope it works out like that. Adam reassured himself, besides you’re not only going to be using Mimic by itself. Psychic Obfuscation will work extremely well paired with Mimic. With Psychic Obfuscation active, unless a creature has a high mental resistance, they would actively ignore my location.

Reassured by his new skill, Adam kept it active and activated Psychic Obfuscation along with it as he headed into the forest in search of breakfast.