After leaving our previous camp, we started exploring the mines. Astrid had never been this deep before, and we needed to find a place that connected with the upper area. With some luck, it would not be that far. It was strangely quiet as we walked through the tunnels. Our echoing footsteps and a constant rhythmic rumbling coming from the Ice Devil as the creature snored were our only company.

There were signs of other bears here and there. Claw marks too small to belong to the massive beast. Yet, the owners of those claws were nowhere to be seen, and they were deathly quiet. We spent close to an hour walking alone, making pathways and tunnels that all looked the same. Every step was full of tension and worry about what was to come. But that tension could only grow so much. Eventually, we started to relax.

Both of us were still painfully aware of our predicament. We were in the middle of a dungeon, surrounded by powerful monsters and in the vicinity of one massive beast that likely had more power than either of us could imagine. Yet my mind wandered to something else.

“Astrid? I didn’t ask anything because I was just waking up. But did I read it wrong, or do you have a title?” I turned to my companion once I remembered what I saw.

“I do,” the woman nodded before picking the corner of the tunnel we were about to go inside. Even so, our carefulness was not unwarranted. Neither of us was willing to forgo it completely.

“What does it do? I only gave the System to one other person, and he didn’t have a title.”

“To whom?” Astrid turned towards me. I could not really understand her expression. It was a mix of confusion, but she also seemed upset about something.

“My grandfather.”

“Only him?”

“Yeah. Actually, no. There was one more person. The leader of the guard of the village I had to leave, the one my grandpa was staying at. But I gave it to him and left. Like, literally. Shook his hand, told the System to ingrain, that’s the command to copy to someone else, and walked away as soon as the process was complete. He didn’t get the skills like you did. So I have no clue if he has a title or not.”

Astrid smiled while looking ahead. “I see.” She took a step closer towards me and placed one hand on my shoulder. “Here, mine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frosted Metabolism

As stamina depletes, metabolic rate slows to grant increased resistance against fatigue and exhaustion, without compromising physical capabilities. Like permafrost that endures through seasons, your fortitude deepens with each challenge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stopped walking when reading that and blinked slowly a few times. This sounded extremely powerful. Sure, it was not something that would give any meaningful effects at first, but being able to fight for longer without having to worry about fatigue was incredible.

‘Sys, can you tell me if that title is really as incredible as it sounds? Getting all those benefits without any Energy cost seems almost like cheating.’

[According to information coming from Astrid’s System, this title will trigger a rapid consumption of Energy. Both in the sense of food, as in the power required to use skills. Meaning that to offset this boosted endurance, Astrid will have an increased hunger up to the point of near starvation if effects are left unchecked. Alternatively, Astrid is able to spend Energy that was supposed to be used on skills to power the effects of the title.]

‘I see… That is a lot more information than I was expecting.’

[If user shares a title, or a specific skill with another person who possesses a System, all the pertinent information will be shared without exception. It is not possible to only show the description or only explain the nuances of a title or skill.]

‘So either I share everything or I do not share at all. Good to know.’ I turned to Astrid. “That is amazing. I’m sure it will help a lot. Also, just so you know, here is my title.” I tapped her shoulder, having to reach up since she was considerably taller than me, and told the System to share the information about Enduring Heart.

She paused and after a moment, nodded. “I see. You survive.”

“That feels a bit like an understatement, but yes. I think that if I was the one who got hurt yesterday, I could get back up with just a single use of {Body Regeneration}. That is how I survived when an Eater attacked me,” I gestured loosely to the scar on my stomach.

Astrid paused, staring at me for a moment before asking, “You lied.”

“What? When?”

“At dinner. Said scar was due to an accident.”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “I did. I didn’t mean anything bad by it, but I can’t go around telling people I have the System. And it’s hard to explain I survived being impaled by one without superpowers.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Why not?”

“Because not everybody is going to use it for good. There are a lot of people who would just abuse its power. I’m sure you, in your village, had to deal with bandits at one point or another. Am I wrong?”

“No. We had,” Astrid said.

“Now imagine if one of them got their hands on the System. I’m not about to go sharing this with anyone and everyone.”

“Then who?” the woman asked.

“People I trust. People I think are kind. And on occasion, people who really need it. That is what I decided when I started traveling. Once I am powerful enough to deal with any problems, and there are enough good people with the System around, I might be less restrictive about who I give this to,” I explained as we turned into yet another tunnel. The lack of change in scenery was starting to drive me nuts. Everything looked the same, and the longer we stayed down here, the worse that would get.

“What was I?”

“You? Options two and three, for sure, with a little bit of option one, too. I can’t say I really trust you since we barely met, but I think it won’t be long until I start trusting you more,” my voice became but a whisper as I gestured ahead. There was a large white bear at the end of the tunnel, sleeping against the wall.

Astrid’s entire demeanor instantly shifted. Her movements were no longer that of someone exploring a cave but now of a seasoned hunter stalking her prey. I did the same as we slowly moved towards the creature.

[Polar Brown Bear - Tier 1]

It was good to confirm that the monster wasn’t saturated like the Ice Devil. I didn’t really like our chances when facing something stronger. Even if Astrid was a trained hunter, she was still only Tier One, and any fight we had now would be a full tier above her own.

We slowly approached the bear, being very careful not to make any sounds. Once we were right by its side, Astrid raised the Frosted Axe, aiming at its neck. With one powerful swing, she brought it down, cutting deep into the monster’s skin. But it wasn’t enough to decapitate the creature.

Following that up, I slammed my staff on top of the axe, intending to drive the blade even deeper into the bear’s neck. That worked, and there was a lot of blood coming out, but we weren’t even able to reach the bone.

With a roar, the creature got up. It was clear that it didn’t understand what was going on. It only knew it was being attacked. Astrid pulled her weapon back and went for another swing just as I did the same. This time, however, our attacks weren’t as well synchronized.

While I aimed for the exposed neck, hoping to reach the bone and break it, she went for an upward swing, clearly intending to make the monster bleed out by cutting the lower part of its neck.

After that second round of attacks, the bear had woken up enough to fight back. It swiped at me, but my new staff was enough to parry the blow. Even if the monster had a large value in Body, it wasn’t enough to fight off against mine. Or at least, not enough to beat me with the power of {Ice Veined Strength}.

“Try the axe skill!” I told Astrid as she jumped back to escape the bear’s bite.

The monster tried to attack again, jumping to its back legs before stomping forward in my direction. With the move clearly telegraphed, I managed to get far enough away before anything could hit me. Before it hit the ground, large shards of ice slammed against its back, embedding themselves deep into the monster’s skin. I couldn’t see how they were formed, only that they were there, and Astrid seemed to have just swung her axe.

Not letting up, I slammed my staff on the side of the bear’s head. It was impossible to break its neck like that, but if I forced it to move enough, the amount of blood pouring out of its neck would increase. That might be the best way to kill it.

If I had something sharp and pointy, maybe I could try getting to its brain through the eye socket. But considering my current weapons, that wasn’t in the cards. To do that with my staff, I would have to make it too small, which in turn would force me to get too close to the beast.

Astrid wasn’t leaving me alone to fight the creature; instead, she slashed at its back legs, trying to catch its attention. Making it jump back and forth could also be a good way to delay until it was gone. But the bear was smarter than that—or at least, it was angry enough to continue charging at me instead of changing targets.

Stepping back, I evaded a couple more attacks before noticing an old rusted wheel on the ground, a handful of meters [ft.] behind me. With a quick few turns, I rushed towards it and made it stand up, holding the piece of metal with my staff. The bear did its best to run at me, but it was already too weak to go on a full sprint.

Just as the creature got close to the wheel, I triggered {Compression}, making it as large as I possibly could. It was nowhere near the size it would need to block the entire tunnel, but it became bigger than the bear.

The creature slammed headfirst into the wheel, shattering a few pieces of metal with the impact. Despite the lack of speed, the power behind the monster’s movement was palpable.

One more time, I jumped back, going for a quick stab on the bear’s snout with my staff. As it was still pushing through the wheel, I tapped the metal circle and reversed the {Compression}, making it as small as I possibly could.

In a perfect world, the bear would be bisected by the wheel. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the metal constricted around the creature’s stomach, piercing it in various sections. The skin and fur of the bear were too thick. In essence, the metal wheel became a ring that was too tight for a finger, and the monster cried out as it stopped everything to try to remove this trap. Even its anger was too weak compared to the pain brought by the wheel.

Astrid and I didn’t wait around for it to die. Instead, we started attacking the creature, increasing the wounds and the places that could cause it to bleed out. After almost two minutes of constant back and forth, constant thrashing, and countless new cuts and bruises being created on the Polar Brown Bear, it finally died. The confirmation came in a wave of SP flooding my body. Not as much as I thought, considering the size of the beast. Hell, it wasn’t even as much as the spider had, but it was still a considerable amount.

Before I could ask the System for a reason, Astrid spoke up, “I leveled up.”

“Nice. I was worried I would get all the SP since my tier is higher,” I smiled.

[User does get a bigger share of the SP as the particles are more attracted to beings at a higher tier.]

“So I do steal some of Astrid’s SP if I help kill the monster? Good to know,” I said out loud so she would also hear it. But it seemed like her mind was somewhere else. If I wasn’t wrong, she wasn’t just increasing one attribute but reading the description of a skill.

Before she could finish, roars echoed through the tunnels. Not wasting time, I grabbed her hand and started running away. If the bear’s friends were coming, I wouldn’t want to be here when they found their buddy in pieces.