I woke again in darkness but this time in familiar darkness. I could feel the cold and hard floor under me again which I associated with the dungeon.

I opened my eyes and slowly stood up. I looked around me and noted that I was where I started my dive into the dungeon the first time and not where I left it. If the dungeon would always keep the same shape has yet to be confirmed but I think it will keep it.

The second thing it did was looking at me. More specified my clothes. I confirmed that I wore the same clothes that I went to bed with. I wore sturdy shoes with jeans and a warm hoodie. I also wore my watch but my backpack was nowhere to be found. The knife I had kept in my hand was also not here.

That means that everything that falls into the categories of clothing and accessories was transported with me into the dungeon. I believe everything else that I had on me was left at home.

Now to the next point on my list. The time I stayed in the dungeon. I looked down on my left hand, where the watch was. I noted the time. 02:23 AM. Ok from now the time is counting. For safety, I inspected the pointer for the seconds for some time and noticed something peculiar. The indicator was going slower.

Now, I am not the best judge of time but I think that one second in the real world was two seconds here. Why was the watch bound to the real world and not to the dungeon? Did that mean two seconds spent here where one second in the real world? As I thought about this I heard again the ping of the game.

Soon a screen flashed in front of my face.

You have acquired the skill Inner Clock Lv. 1.

As soon as I read it I willed the description of the skill in front of my face.

Inner Clock: Level 1(7/100) (Active)

A metaphysical clock inside your mind. It helps to count time inside your mind.

Cost: 5 Points of Stamina per Minute

Bonus for the Level of this Skill: You can count time up to one hour. After this point in time is reached it will become less accurate as the time goes on.

Adds 0.05 Points of Perception per Level of the Skill. (0.05)

Adds 0.05 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.05)

I had wanted to create more skills but I did not think I would be so soon and without intention too. Sadly this skill also cost so much stamina to use. My Stamina would be used up to fast. I would be a good addition to my skills to a later date. The cost was simply too high for me to use it. I had also the Mind Mapping skills which also cost so much but it was far more useful. I also had the watch with me. My regeneration was simply to slow to support both skills at the same time. I just want to explore and map the dungeon first.

I dismissed the windows and focused my mind on my plan. First I would try to create mental oriented skills and after that the physical orientate skills.

This was the easiest part. The first skill I wanted to create was something based on Mathe. I just counted some numbers in my head. I added numbers up, subtracted them, then multiplied them and at last divided them. After I did this for some time I heard the ping again.

You have acquired the skill Mathematics Mastery Lv. 1.

Mathematics Mastery: Level 1(10/1000) (Passive)

Mathematics is the study of such topics as quantity, structure, space, and change. This skill helps in seeking out patterns and using them to formulate new conjunctions. When mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Reduces the cost of skills with an application in mathematics by 1%.

Adds 0.2 Points of Intelligence per Level of the Skill. (0.2)

That is creepy. As soon as I had read the description of this skill I felt changes in my mind. It was like knowledge was added. No, it was not added. It simply had more impact on my mind. I could remember the simplest application of math perfectly and use them. I had learned it in school and the most basic things I could always remember. But more complicated things were not always on my mind. Now they were. It was like the knowledge was branded into my mind.

I also noted that the added points per level were absurdly high compared to my other skills. But the skill needs much more experience than the other skills to level up. But what caught my attention was the bonus per level. Mathematics was applicable to almost anything.

Like the Mind Mapping skill. The skill calculates the width and breadth of my environment and reflected it on the map which was drawn in my mind. It was also applicable to the Inner clock skill. So this skill should reduce the cost of both of them. 1% was not much now but what in the future when this skill had levelled up a bit and I had other skills which would cost much more?

I had to level this skill up and fast but first I had to create more skills. The Mathematics Mastery skill was the only mental skill I could come up with that was usable without supplies. Next up was the running skill. It was far too dangerous to simply run straight ahead. So I activated the Mind Mapping skill and went ahead.

This time I kept an eye on my Stamina and stopped walking after half was used up by the skill. I noticed that walking also used up Stamina. By my calculations about one stamina point per minute.

I also compared the map from the last time and the Map that I had drawn now in my head and discovered that they were identical. That meant that the dungeon did not change.

Something else I discovered was that for every point in experience I got in the Mind Mapping skill Mathematics Mastery also got a point of experience. Every skill that used the reduction of Mathematics Mastery counts as experience source for Mathematics Mastery.

After pondering that I turned around and started to run back to my spawn point. I ignored the ping I heard after some seconds and kept on running full speed until I saw the wall. I started to slow down and stopped at the wall in front of me.

I leaned my back on the wall and let my body slide down. I ignored the screen with the message that I had acquired the running skill and jumped to the skill description.

Running: Level 1(79/100) (Active)

Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground. This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the centre of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting. Dexterity and Strength indicate how fast you can run at your maximum speed.

Cost: 10 Points of Stamina per Minute

Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Movement speed while running increased by 5%.

Adds 0.1 Points of Dexterity per Level of the Skill. (0.1)

Adds 0.05 Points of Strength per Level of the Skill. (0.05)

Adds 0.05 Points of Vitality per Level of the Skill. (0.05)

With this skill, many things became clearer. First vitality and strength had something to do with my speed but I think vitality was more about stamina than my speed. Second Dexterity was the most effective stat for running and my movement speed because the skill added more points to it. I also noted that I got one experience point for this skill for every meter I had run.

This is also a skill that I would train in the real world because I did not know how safe it was in the dungeon and running was loud.

Now that I had this skill I could try for the last skill that I had thought about. A breathing technique. I tried to relax my body as good as possible against the wall and started to breathe.

I inhaled and counted to the number four and then exhaled and counted to the number four all through the nose. The Inner Clock skill helped to count to for seconds. I did that until I heard the familiar ping. I willed the description of the skill I got in front of me.

Sama Vritti(The Art of Equal Breathing): Level 1(4/1000) (Passive)

Breathing is the process of moving air into and out of the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly by bringing in oxygen and flushing out carbon dioxide. You use this principle to strengthen your body by exhaling your fatigue and the impurities in your body and inhaling oxygen for more energy in your body. The rate and depth of breathing are automatically controlled by this skill and is always steady.

Bonus for the Level of this Skill: Stamina Regeneration is doubled.

Adds 0.1 Points of Strength per Level of the Skill. (0.1)

Adds 0.15 Points of Vitality per Level of the Skill. (0.15)

Adds 0.1 Points of Dexterity per Level of the Skill. (0.1)

This was the best skill I could have possibly gotten. I took care of one of my worst weakness my stamina regeneration and also increased my physical stats. It increased vitality more than the other physical stats proving my theory that vitality had something to do with stamina. The skill was also passive. That meant that I did not have to use it consciously. It was permanently active. I was breathing in the perfect tempo because the skill regulated it.

With this skill, I was finally prepared for the dungeon. Grinning like a madman I stood up and began to walk forward. I activated the Mind Mapping and advanced forward on my path to conquer this dungeon.