“Did you bring a flashlight?” Claire asked.

Clover peeked into his bag. "No. How was I supposed to know the lights would go out?"

To be fair, they should have foreseen that something like this would have happened. Having a steady supply of electricity was something the modern world had made them take for granted.

“We could go back. I’m sure there’s a store with a flashlight that isn’t too far away from here,” Ron said.

“Wait. Maybe I can make a flashlight Golem.” Clover wrinkled his forehead, thinking deeply about how such a creation would work. If he wanted to create a glowing golem, he'd first have to find a material conducive to conducting light, and then he'd have to embed a strong light-based image inside it.

Even if he did all that, he wasn’t sure if it would work. None of his Golems so far had that sort of secondary effect.

"Never mind, it's probably unrealistic to make a Golem like that on short notice, but I could probably make a crumby flashlight out of [Unstable Mana Bolt]. I don't know how long I'd be able to sustain it, though."

"That could work. Also, we should check the museum's gift shop; maybe they'll have actual flashlights," Ron said.

"They have a bunch of weird stuff; I wouldn't be surprised if they sold dinosaur-themed flashlights," Claire added. She turned away from the museum and glanced at the alien forest that surrounded the city. "The Monster Nest has its own lighting, so we wouldn't have to rely on secondary light sources while fighting."

"Well, it can't hurt to…" Ron stopped himself. "Sorry, Clover, I was about to jinx us. What I meant to say is that we should stop by the gift shop first, and if they don't have what we're looking for, we can make a quick pit stop at another store."

Clover chuckled. “Sounds good to me.”

Claire nodded

They skipped the line of stanchions that wrapped around the museum's front and entered the building. Some amount of sunlight streamed through the opening and windows, dimly illuminating the front quarter of the room.

After confirming that no monsters were waiting in the shadows to attack, at least within striking distance, Clover turned his focus inward and activated [Unstable Mana Bolt].

In his mind, he envisioned a bolt of mana; one of its halves - the one facing him - pitch black, and the other a bright white. As he pressed the image into [Unstable Mana Bolt]'s crystalline structure, [Minor Alteration] clicked on, aiding in the process. A force fought against the change for a brief moment, but it quickly dissipated. Clover's will, sharpened by his practice making Golem Cores, was stronger than it.

Bolstered by the Change Aspect it had absorbed, the Skill easily accommodated the change.

A bolt of mana, a crude imitation of a flashlight, blossomed in his hand, shining a bright cone of light out in front of it.

Congratulations! Unstable Mana Bolt has reached Level 27. +1 Skill Point.

Congratulations! Minor Alteration has reached Level 8. +1 Skill Point.

Clover tensed the muscles in his arm, straining to hold back the bolt. “Ok, let’s go. I can’t keep this up for long.”

The day before, he wouldn't have been able to restrain the bolt for more than a couple seconds, but now, with his increased Magic Stat and increased general proficiency in wielding mana, if he devoted his attention to the task, he could hold back the Skill for a good while.

Following the beam of light, the two-colored bolt of mana cast, they entered the gift shop.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to find a flashlight.

Claire held up a package of miniature caveman-themed flashlights. "Uh, they didn't come with batteries," she said, squinting as she fiddled with it in the low light.

Clover frowned. It was truly one of the scams of the modern age that most electronic devices didn't come with batteries.

Ron snooped behind the cash register, inspecting a variety of electronic equipment. The bolt of mana in Clover’s hand jittered unstably, urging him to release - he was nearing his limit.

Congratulations! Minor Alteration has reached Level 9.

"Ah, ha," Ron said as he shook a cordless phone. Leveraging his enhanced Strength, he tore apart a variety of electronic equipment, eventually liberating three small batteries. "Here, take these." He handed them to Claire.

At that moment, Clover’s concentration faltered, and the bolt of mana slipped out of his control. Shooting forward, it crashed into the wall, blasting a hole in it.

Claire shrieked.

“Sorry,” Clover said.

Dusty rays of light filtered in through the hole. Soon, Clover heard a click, and another light flashed on.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," she said, swinging the cone of light onto him.

He held up his hands as if he had just been arrested. “My bad.”

She shook her head. "It's fine," she said as she assembled the last two caveman-themed flashlights and handed them out.

Clover stashed away his bag of supplies and treasures, not wanting to have to lug it around.

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“Is it even possible to have a heart attack anymore?” Ron asked as they left the gift shop, slowly delving back into the museum, retracing their path from yesterday.

"I don't know, it's probably harder to happen than before," Clover said, not really paying attention to what he said - the strain of triple-tasking was too much for him to easily handle. One portion of his attention was focused on controlling his wheelchair, and the other, more significant portion, focused on the environment as he slowly swung his flashlight around in wide arcs, searching for monsters.

“Is that really important right now?” Claire whispered.

“Science is always important,” Clover said, trying to project a tone of confidence.

Clover shivered as they stopped inside what he had coined as the Ancient Rome exhibit - he didn’t know its actual name.

The darkness prickled at his nerves, intensifying his anxiety. Their flashlights worked, but they weren't bright enough to illuminate the entire room. Instead, they created pockets of flickering shadows at their edges that imitated movement.

Clover strained his ears, listening for any hint of danger, as Claire ripped a short sword off the wall, emptying out the weapon rack.

So far, they hadn't encountered anything, but with how close the Monster Nest was, he knew it would just be a matter of time. As long as he detected the Two-tail Squirrels before they got close, he'd be fine if he didn't…

He pushed down the violent memory that rose up from the depths of his subconscious, doing his best to not acknowledge it.

"[Mana Sense]," Clover whispered as they slowly inched deeper into the museum.

Congratulations! Mana Sense has reached Level 2. +1 Skill Point.

Around him, the ambient mana - stale and still - came into focus. He hoped that with the extra form of perception, he'd be able to notice and track the Two-tailed Squirrels' movements if they came into his range. He didn't put all his focus upon the sense, but still, it acted as an additional layer of protection - a warning signal that would persevere even where his eyes failed him.

Nervous with anticipation, seconds ticked by, eventually turning to minutes - still, no monsters appeared.

“Hold up for a second. I’m going to make another Golem,” Clover said as he rolled to a stop in the dinosaur exhibit.

Congratulations! Mana Sense has reached Level 3. +1 Skill Point.

After checking to make sure the giant tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the center of the room hadn’t spontaneously animated itself in the time he had been away, he wheeled over and placed his hand on a miniature recreation of a velociraptor skeleton.

Well, actually, he wasn't sure if it was a miniature. Clover, like presumably the rest of the human race, had never seen the actual dinosaur before. The important part was that it was roughly a bit more than a foot and a half tall, well within his limits to turn into a Golem.

“[Lesser Golem Creation],” Clover said.

Congratulations! Lesser Golem Creation has reached Level 10. +1 Skill Point.

Within his soul space, a sphere of potential formed, and within it, he painted the Golem's core. While he worked, bending strands of energy to form a picture of a sharpened claw, [Mana Sense] deactivated. He had been distracted to feed it enough mana for another tick.

"Uh, guys, we have company," Claire said. On the far side of the exhibit, on the edge of a cone of light, a pair of Two-tailed Squirrels stumbled into the room. Both were Level 2.

Claire and Ron braced themselves as the beasts darted forward, hiding themselves in the shadows as they approached.

Distracted, the image he had painted fell away, returning the core to a blank canvas now that his attention and will weren't there to uphold it. Clover shook his head, forcing himself into action.

He needed to finish up here fast before the monsters arrived.

Diverting part of his attention away from the beasts, Cover focused his will, forming a singular image of light - bright rays emanating out from a bulb. It wasn’t pretty or complex, but he managed to finish it in less than two seconds, and that’s all that really mattered. Without taking the time to build a barrier around the image, he triggered the consolidation process.

The sphere shook, aiming to destroy itself with biting lines of light, as he carefully tracked or at least did his best to track the Two-tailed Squirrels as they approached.

Fortunately for Clover, the monsters set their sights on Claire and Ron, who were closer and more convenient targets for them. Unfortunately for them, they could not fight effectively in the low-light environment. They focused more on keeping their flashlights aimed at the monsters and avoiding damage than fighting back.

Due to his momentary inattention, chunks of the image were torn away, degrading its quality. He fought back the force, largely able to keep the core area unscathed. A few seconds later, the process ended - faster than ever before.

A totem revealed itself inside Clover’s soul space - a cartoonish replica of the dinosaur. It wasn’t his best work, but it’d have to do.

Spiderweb cracks ran through the bones of the velociraptor skeleton as it turned into a Golem, spilling out a green glow. As he pointed his flashlight at it, the Golem seemed to absorb a portion of the light, reflecting back a soft white glow that illuminated its surroundings.

The second the process ended, he sent the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur into the battle. Mr. Cat followed closely behind, following Clover’s orders to attack. Now that [Lesser Golem Creation] was Level 10, he could control three Golems at once - a marked increase in his capabilities.

His newest golem illuminated the area directly surrounding it as it tried to slap the Two-tailed Squirrels with its tail, missing by a large margin.

Even though the attack missed, its mere presence was enough to turn the tide of the battle. Now that they could see clearly, Ron and Claire were able to fight back to their full capabilities.

“[Power Strike],” Ron said. A red glow emitted from his foot as he punted one of the monsters, sending it flying into the wall with a crack.

Similarly, Claire slashed down at the monster, deeply cutting into its side. Before it could recover, Mr. Cat pounced forward, stylishly cutting into its leg. In a matter of seconds, the monster died.

In total, the battle couldn’t have lasted for more than ten or fifteen seconds.

Congratulations! You have minorly contributed to the defeat of a Two-tailed Squirrel Lvl 2. +63 Exp.

Congratulations! You have significantly contributed to the defeat of a Two-tailed Squirrel Lvl 2. +125 Exp.

The Two-tail Squirrels had been thoroughly outmatched. The gap in their capabilities and Levels was too large for them to overcome.

Clover read through the notifications, noting that minorly contributing to the defeat of a monster only netted half the Exp he usually got. Like most things with the System, he wasn't exactly sure what constituted a minor contribution. Apparently, shining a light on the monster and missing an attack had been enough.

“That was a lot easier than it was yesterday,” Ron said. The white glow was fading away, leaving only the original dimmer green light to come out of the cracks in its bones.

“Ya. We’re getting better,” Claire said.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Clover used [Appraisal] on the glowing Golem.

Congratulations! Appraisal has reached level 10. +1 Skill Point.

Lesser Golem

Durability: 40/40

Mana: 25/25

Traits: [Phosphorescent I]

“What’s this?” Claire asked as she picked up a small mossy chunk of wood in the shape of stone that emanated an aura of magic.

Clover knew immediately that, without a doubt, it was a Skill Stone.