After what seemed like forever, the slope finally evened out again into a floor.
***New Passive Skill Acquired: Climbing lvl 1***
*Climbing: Each level increases ease and speed at which the user can climb.*
...
*Climbing is now level 5*
I obtained the climbing skill and got it to level 5 during that, not too bad! It dawned on me then that I should make a habit of spamming the inspect skill all around me to try to level it.
After testing a bit, It seems the inspect skill can inspect things even if I can't see them, but it’s limited only to what I’m touching, and it seems to only give very basic info if I can’t actually see what it is.
*Used skill Inspect*
*Round Solid Object: From the feeling of it, seems to be a rock stuck in the floor.*
Wow, thanks, what a useful analysis.
Still walking forward I notice that there is a very very faint light in front of me.
Woohooo! Salvation! Outside! Freedom!
I pick up the pace a little bit and the small speck of light slowly grows bigger until I’m within it’s range.
Unfortunately, it’s not the outside like I was expecting.
However, it seems to be a large cluster of Mana crystals gathered on both sides of the cave walls. These mana crystals seem quite a bit smaller and slightly different in color too. The large mana crystal in the cave before had a very bright blue light emitting from it. These mana crystals have a very low green-ish glow to them, definitely not as bright as the large mana crystal.
*Used skill Inspect*
*Lesser Mana Crystal: A rock purified with a low amount of mana.*
Using void storage I bring out a few rocks and see if these mana crystals are able to be chipped off at all.
After a few hard swings, sweating and panting, the green crystal stayed intact without even a scratch.
Ugh. I just want some sort of light source! Why are these things so tough!
But then I got an idea…
Using void storage, I bring out the large mana crystal.
Although heavy, if I use gravity and the weight of the crystal, it might work to chip off some of these lesser mana crystals.
I lift up the large mana crystal and then using all my strength I throw it down onto the side of a bunch of lesser mana crystals. The green mana crystals explode into a bunch of smaller pieces and some even break off completely from the wall.
Success! Hahaaa!
I repeat this a few more times until my arms are too exhausted to try to keep going.
Propping myself against the cave wall, I use void storage to store the large mana crystal and a large majority of the lesser mana crystals inside.
*Used skill Void Storage*
*Rock x25*
*Unknown Minerals x16*
*Lesser Mana Shards x47*
*Lesser Mana Crystal x34*
*Large Mana Crystal x1*
Whew! That was a lot of work, I feel exhausted…
Checking my status screen I see my stamina has gone from 20/20 to 2/20.
Uh oh...I wonder what happens if it hits 0?
I’d rather not find out.
I guess this is as good a spot as any for a little rest break. I haven’t seen anything bad so far so I should be safe.
I feel my eyelids drooping and slowly drift off into sleep.
---
-CLANK!!-
My eyes snapped open as a metallic clanking sound rang through the cave.
I quickly but silently get into a crouch and move back against the wall.
***New Passive Skill Acquired: Sneak lvl 1***
*Sneak: Each level will raise Sneak effectiveness.*
Oh okay, that seems pretty useful...but what am I sneaking away from?
I scan in front of me to the end of the wall full of mana crystals and I can barely make out the outline of a creature.
It was a purple scorpion that almost looked like it was made out of metal. It had a long spiky tail with a red stinger on the end.
*Used skill Inspect*
*Lesser Mana Scorpion lvl ??: A metallic scorpion that harvests mana to further evolve.*
Not being able to see it’s level was a little bit concerning… from this distance it seemed to be about as big as a cat or medium sized dog.
I didn’t even have any attack spells! How am I supposed to defeat this thing?
Wait why am I thinking of fighting it? I could just wait for it to leave or sneak past it.
I stay in my small hiding spot and observe the scorpion as it uses its tail to break chunks of lesser mana crystal and then shove it into its mouth and crunch away.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
If that thing’s tail is hard enough to break those mana crystals it scares me to think what that thing could do to me.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, the scorpion stopped it’s harvesting suddenly and skittered into the center of the hall, looking in my direction.
Uh oh. I think it spotted me. And it doesn't seem to be too happy that I’m here.
Although it was a good 30-40 feet away, that thing was crazy fast. It had definitely spotted me and was charging at me very quickly.
I had to think fast, there was no way to outrun this thing and I don’t have any attacking abilities.
The sound of quick clanking could be heard as the mana scorpion rushed toward me.
Think! Think! KANE THINK!!!
Without much time left, I quickly grab onto a mana crystal and start climbing.
I’ve seen the scorpion climb and it’s definitely a faster and better climber than me, but I have a plan. Although it’s a one and done plan, hopefully it works.
After about 10 feet I looked back down. The scorpion was now right where I was a few moments before. It quickly leapt onto the wall and began following me up the wall.
God damnit. That thing was too fast, I better do what I’m gonna do or it’s going to catch up to me. Panicking a little, I activated my void storage skill.
Looking down again, the scorpion had closed the distance a lot faster than I had expected and now was less than two feet below me.
Seeing that I was in attacking range, the Scorpion lunged upward toward my leg, stinger swiping up, catching me right on the back of the calf.
I screamed in pain as the stinger broke the skin. This little bastard!
*-8 stab damage taken*
*2/10 HP remaining*
*You now have Mana Poisoning. You will lose 2 points of mana every 3 seconds until cured. If mana points run out, health will drain instead.*
Oh great. That’s just wonderful!
However, not even a full second later, the scorpion was swept underneath the Large mana crystal I just dropped out of my void storage. Getting stuck underneath, it fell the whole 10 feet down to the grown, making a crunching sound as the large mana crystal crushed the scorpion from the fall.
*Lesser Mana Scorpion lvl ?? slain. Earned 400xp*
*You have leveled up to Novice Enchanter level 3!*
*You have gained 15 stat points!*
*+9 INT, +6 WIS, +4 STR, +4 DEX*
*Leveling up has cleared all negative Status Effects and healed your HP*
*Mana Poisoning removed*
*Inspect is now lvl 6*
*Void storage is now lvl 2*
*Climbing is now lvl 7*
*First time slaying a Lesser Mana Scorpion 200 bonus XP!*
*300/400 XP till level 4*
*(Rare) Title Acquired: Brave Soul - Slay a monster more than 10 levels higher than you.*
*Title Bonus (Unique): Acquired Unique Attribute: (Perception)*
*(PER): A measure of the user's openness to their surroundings.*
*+3 STR, +3 PER, +2 WIS, + 1 INT, +1 DEX*
*(Common) Title Acquired: Monster Hunter I - Slay monsters to progress this title and earn rewards!*
*+2 STR, + 1 DEX, +1 PER*
With all those stat increases, my body and mind tremble and I can almost feel my muscles ripping apart and healing over. The pain is so intense I pass out and fall from my perch on the wall...
…
I slowly drift back into consciousness, opening my eyes. With a grunt, I pick myself up off the ground and scan my surroundings, checking if there are any more threats while I was out. Seems to be all clear…
Woah. Just moving around the little bit that I did felt completely different than before. My body feels lighter and stronger. My brain feels...smarter? Faster? Almost as if I have better control over my thoughts and emotions. This is crazy!
Looking at the Large Mana Crystal I dropped, I stored it away with void storage. Checking where it landed, I could see the impact of where the scorpion was crushed, but the remains of the scorpion had vanished. Left in it’s place is what looked like a dark see through stone with a little purple glow to it, almost similar to the mana stones but a very dark tint to it and only about the size of my palm.
*Used skill Inspect*
*Lesser Mana Scorpion Soul Stone: Dropped by defeated monsters, often sold by locals for money.*
*DING*
*Soul Stone compatible with Graverobber*
*Consume Soul Stone using Graverobber?*
*Y/N*
Consume the scorpion’s soul stone? That Graverobber ability is starting to make a little bit more sense. And since so far I haven’t found any locals or let alone a shop, I think consuming it would be better for my survival.
*Yes*
*Used skill Graverobber*
*Soul Stone Consumed*
*Graverobber: New ability acquired - Mana Poisoning lvl 1.*
Hell yes! Finally an ability that seems somewhat useful in combat! I’ll have to test it out...but first I better check my status screen.
Details
Name
Kane
HP
24/30
Race
Human
MP
85/85
Class
Novice Enchanter
Stamina
30/35
Level
3
EXP
300/400
Profession
None
STATS (15 unused Stat Points)
Titles
INT
15
Brave Soul
WIS
12
Monster Hunter I
STR
11
-
DEX
8
-
PER
4
-
Innate Skills
-
Keeper of the Dead
-
Child of the Void
-
((null))
-
Acquired Skills
Inspect (lvl 6)
Void Storage (lvl 2)
Graverobber (lvl 1)
Novice Enchant (lvl 1)
Throwing Mastery (lvl 6)
Climbing (lvl 7)
Sneak (lvl 1)
Mana Poisoning (lvl 1)
Hmm...The stat screen looks a bit different now but at least my stats have gone up quite a bit. The titles are a nice addition and a new Perception attribute sounds pretty useful.
I guess I should just distribute my points I got…
I decided to increase perception quite a bit since that’ll help me detect enemy threats a little bit better. Intelligence seemed to have got quite a boost so I can probably use some more points to even out my other attributes..
+6 Perception, +2 Dexterity, +4 Strength, +3 Wisdom. With that, it seems my stats have evened out a little bit.
With that all settled, time to try out my new skill!
Putting my hands out I try activating it.
“Mana Poison!” … nothing happened…
Well that’s a little embarrassing, maybe I need a target?
I looked at the wall of mana crystals and aimed at one in particular. Thinking of the skill, I focus on trying to use it.
*Used skill Mana Poisoning*
*Skill use failed; Enchanter Class is unable to cast spells.*
... Wha-
WHAT!? My class is unable to cast spells?!?!?
Isn’t that like the most important part of being an enchanter?
Confused, I decided to try my leveled up Inspect to inspect my class once again.
*Enchanter: Imbues magic into objects to be used passively or activated at will. Enchanters are unable to cast magic of their own, however, can enchant objects with many different types of magic, depending on level.*
Ugh.. Why did the system have to give me this class… IT SUCKS! How am I supposed to fight if I don’t have spells that I can actually use?
After cursing the system, I calm myself down a little bit and try to think of a solution. Okay, if I can enchant an object with Mana Poisoning, does that mean that object can inflict the debuff on monsters? It’s worth a shot.
I grab a sturdy looking rock and smack it against a mana stone for a bit until it's nice and sharp, almost like a very crude and rough knife.
Alright, enchanting here we go!
*Used skill Novice Enchant*
*Enchantment: Mana Poisoning successful*
*Enchanted Rock: Mana Poisoning, 3/3 uses remaining*
Wow look at that! Three uses huh? Looking at my stats, it seems it drained my MP quite a bit to enchant a rock with just 3 uses. Now I’m down to 60/85 MP.
*Novice Enchant is now level 2*
Okay not really sure what that does for me but I’ll take it!
After waiting a minute or two it seems my MP does slowly regenerate over time. I’m back up to 70/85 MP. The rate seems to be 5 MP a minute right now… not too bad.
Thinking it over a bit, I decide it’s better to be safe than sorry and come up with a plan, even if it might take a while.
“Oh well, better get started!” I grinned.