I awoke to darkness, only this time I actually was blind. Well, blind aside from the 2 bars in the upper left of my 'vision'. The red one was empty and blinking, however, the blue one was full. 

'I died, didn't I?' But if that was the case, wouldn't I be visiting the goddess again rather than sitting here in the dark contemplating my existence. Existence. That's it isn't it. I'm not a body, I'm a crystal core inside a body.

I quickly brought up my Earth Elemental racial passive.

Crystal Core

The basis of your existence is a crystal core

You can survive as long as your core is intact

Your core, however, cannot move without a body

So I can't move as a crystal core, that sounds rather obvious, considering I don't have any limbs to move with. 

'So, what can I do.'

I can still feel the cave floor under my core, but it isn't attached to me in the same way that my body was. 

'How does one become an Earth Elemental in the first place? How does a stone body move by itself, With no muscles or ligaments?'

It would have to be the obvious answer, wouldn't it?

It was magic.

I still have all of my mana, and my mana is still regenerating at the same speed. 

'My health is based on my body, but my mana is based on my core.' I concluded, with a self-satisfied smirk on my- wait never mind.

I just need to figure out how to get my mana from my core, into the earth below me, and use it to build a new body.

Simple.

'How do I do that!'

Think, when I first started playing with the glow skill, I realized magic is based on image. So all I need is the correct image for what I want to do. 

So I imagined myself sinking, and my mana started dropping a small amount. Suddenly, I couldn't just feel stone under me, but all around me instead, wrapping me in the familiar cocoon of stone that I've been living in for several days.

'Has it really only been several days? Being wrapped in stone feels more like home than Earth ever did. As strange as this place is, it has been exciting if nothing else.'

'Focus.'

I had stopped just below the surface and had to consider what to do next.

'I just need to reach out into the stone, feel it as if it was a part of myself.' 

I imagined the size of my body before it was destroyed, and started stretching my mana through the earth into all directions. My awareness of the surrounding stone grew slowly, with the core being at the center of the chest. Arms, Legs, Torso, Body, Head. I could feel the cold stone somehow bonding to my core through the tendrils of mana, becoming a part of me, as if it had always been so.

Due to a special action, Wisdom has increased by 1

Once my body was complete I finally got the popup that seemed a long time coming.

'Maybe it's getting harder to increase the higher it becomes.' I thought idly.

And so I sat up, noticed my mana had hit rock bottom and passed out.

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I awoke to darkness.

'This is becoming a bad habit of mine.'

I checked my mana to see I had roughly 25% now, so I had only been out for about 15 minutes, based on its regeneration.

I held up my finger and activated glow at low power, but for some reason, it was still dark in the cave.

I reached my hand up to my face to rub my eyes.

And that's when I realized it. I had forgotten to imagine my face. my head was practically a solid sphere of earth with no eyes and no mouth.

'Idiot.' I thought.

After some minor adjustments, to the mana inside my body. small bits of earth fell away from my head revealing two sockets with the general shape of eyes, and a thin pair of gravelly lips. The glow on my finger was still active, but I instantly dispelled it, as the room was still flooded with light from the numerous mushrooms.

The mushrooms were far dimmer than they were before, and only one small mushroom was still pulsing slightly every few seconds. I walked over to it and saw a shard of the earth mana crystal, now dim, pulsing underneath the mushroom. Sitting next to the mushroom was an earth elemental, or what was left of one anyway. It was my former body, missing one arm, an entire head, and most of the upper torso.

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'Wow, that thing did a number on me. My core must be a lot tougher than I thought it was to survive that mess.'

I picked up the small shard and the mushroom took on the same dim look as the rest. 

'I don't imagine I'll get much from this little thing.' I thought to myself and placed the tiny shard back on what was left of the stalagmite. It started pulsing with a bit more vigour, and even the mushrooms nearest to it started to glow almost imperceptibly brighter.

'Maybe one day it will absorb enough mana to regain its size and I can eat it again.' I chuckled.

I began slogging my way through the messy mash of mushrooms to return to my humble dwelling. Using only a very dim light once the mushrooms thinned out, so I could allow my mana to fully regenerate. By the time I reached the entrance to the cave, my mana was full and the sun was just beginning to rise.

'The slime is gone.' I idly thought to myself, before promptly sitting down in my little alcove.

It was time to finally try out the second skill I acquired yesterday, Earth manipulation, something that finally sounded like magic I recognized from games.

'Magic is based on image, and I have seen magic used in hundreds, maybe thousands of different ways. In games of course, but the image is all that matters.'

I started small, making tiny spikes pop out of the ground in front of me. Practicing on this small amount, my mana only dropped slightly before regenerating back up. I then formed a tiny grasping hand, reminding me of a few days ago when that hand was the same size as my own and chucked a bit. 

I formed a small pit.

"heh."

I made a tiny golem.

"hah."

I made it walk over, trip, and fall into the pit. And then I closed it up.

"haaaaaaaaa."

I stood up and yelled at the top of my lungs.

"I CAN USE MAGIC!"

I lifted a small stone off the floor, shaped it into a spike, and fired it at a small protruding rock on the other side of the cave, about 5 meters away.

I missed. The spike started wobbling halfway to the target and veered off about 25 centimeters to the right.

'5 mana wasted, and I can't even aim.' I thought after a quick check of the bar. 'what about an arrow?'

I tried again but this time instead of a spike I made a stone arrow. It was slightly more accurate, only missing by about 10 centimeters. However, this one had spun end over end midair and hit the wall sideways, making it even more useless.

Then an idea struck me, I formed a small pointed bullet. I then made the bullet rapidly spin before taking aim and firing.

*Crack*

"Direct hit. This is easier than I thought it would be."

I looked up at my mana bar, and it was at 75%.

'I don't have enough mana for an extended fight if that small bullet takes 5, and I don't really want to punch things to death with my fists, even if I have the skill for it.'

I started thinking about weapons commonly used in fantasy games. Daggers were right out, I wasn't nearly fast enough to use one effectively. Swords needed proper training to use effectively, although I would likely gain the skill for it, I decided against it anyway.

'Axe or mace.' I thought.

'I am slow, physically slow, not the other kind.'

Neither weapon would help much in that aspect but the trade-off would be power. So, do I want a blunt weapon or blade?

"Why choose?" I said, chuckling to myself as I walked over to the wall.

I pressed my hand to the wall, forming the image in my mind and in reality at the same time and using the cave's wall for stone. I pulled with my hand, and a one-meter shaft came away from the wall. At the end, almost as large as my head was a brick of stone on one side, and a fairly dull axe blade on the other.

It felt light in my hand, considering it's size. It had cost me most of my remaining mana to make, however, but at least I wouldn't have to make another unless I grew out of it. 

I hefted the hamaxe with both hands and swung it towards the wall of the cave.

*CRACK*THUD*GRUNT*

The damned head snapped off and hit me in the face!

'Why does nothing ever work the first time?'

I sat and waited for my mana to regenerate. When it was finally full, I set the hamaxe pieces down next to the wall and used a small amount of mana to reattach them together. I then proceeded to strengthen the shaft of the hamaxe by condensing more stone into it, keeping it the same thickness but making it far more durable. 

After I finished with the shaft, I had to let my mana regenerate again before moving onto the head. Three hours later, it was complete.

Due do a special action, Wisdom has increased by 1

I really hope that means that I did something right, and that this is going to work.

I hefted the hamaxe 2.0, now more than twice as heavy, braced myself and swung it at the wall again.

*BOOOOooooommm*

'The reverberation shook me to my core.

'Hah, Core.'

'I need to find someone to talk to, I'm starting to laugh at my own jokes.

Anyways. The hamaxe 2.0 survived it's first battle against the invincible wall, which means it should be fine for pulverizing far more fleshy creatures in the future.

I spent several more hours using the same system of rest, create, repeat. And by the time the sun had dipped below the horizon, I had also finished a pair of spiked gauntlets. I decided to make them just in case something gets a little too close to swing my large weapon at it. I also got a very welcome boost to a skill I imagine i'll be making a lot of use of.

Due to constant use, Novice Earth Manipulation has increased by 1 level

'Nobody ever said being too prepared was a bad idea.'

Tomorrow I will venture back into the forest.

To fight, and to feast.

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Name Raak Race Earth Elemental Str 4 Vit 5 Dex 1 Int 3 Wis 8 Hp 70 Mp 95

Skill List - Passive Level Glutton 1(MAX) Crystal Core 1(MAX) Photosynthesis 1 Novice Hand to Hand Fighting 1

Skill List - Active Level Glow 1(MAX) Novice Earth Manipulation 7