I awoke in the morning strangely blue. Now I don't mean that I was sad in any way. Sure, I'm blue, but so are the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. Everything is blue.

The glowshrooms are already much brighter than they were last night and should only brighten as the day passes. I carefully opened the door with a low grinding noise, trying to avoid waking Nyssa. As I had thought, it was still very early, The sun hadn't yet risen and the moon was casting a very wan light over doorway. 

I lifted Thud from where I had left it beside the door and walked out into the very early morning. 

Where I found a rat, chewing on the hide of the previous rat I had killed. The rat must have heard me opening the door, as it was already glaring and hissing at me. Now, 2 days ago when I fought a rat that was almost as big as me, it was a pretty grueling ordeal, as it could reach my face and claw out my eyes if I wasn't careful.

This time I was much, much larger than the rat.

And this rat knew that as well. It was trying to creep backwards, and keep me in sight at the same time, but I was having none of that. This was a free meal that walked right up to my door, again I readied two stone bullets, but this time I didn't fire them right away.

I started walking towards the rat slowly while dragging thud on the ground behind me. 

"Grooooaaaaahhhh!" I did my best zombie impression.

The rat bolted.

I shot it in the ass.

One of the bullets took a chunk out of the right thigh, and the other mangle the left leg entirely, bringing the rat to a very sudden stop as the rat rolled with the impact. It tried to scramble away using only its front legs, but it couldn't even outrun my walking pace at this point. 

I raised another rock off the ground and just shot it in the head to end its misery.

I opened my dimensional storage and took out the only item I currently had stored in it, my small stone skinning knife. It took me 30 mana to either put it in, or take it out, so it wasn't reasonable to store Thud even if I was able to. I don't really want to start all of my fights with no mana, so I'll just keep carrying it around for now.

The sun was just starting to rise, giving me some modicum of light to work with, so I got started on the rat.

My skinning job this time was far from perfect, but still much better than the first time. So much so, it seems, that I earned 2 points in dismantling which helped greatly with the rest of the work. Butchering the meat and removing the intestines, I managed to gain far better cuts of meat than I had the last time, and none of it was spoiled. I placed the rat meat to the side on a few large leaves and picked up the hide.

I began scraping out the inside of the rat hide, and then almost keeled over as another annoying wave of knowledge slammed itself into my brain.

You have gained the skill: Novice Leatherworking

Passive: Tan leather from hides to create numerous useful items

Increased knowledge of leatherworking for each level in this skill

"I wish there was a warning for that or something so I could brace myself first," I grumbled.

*Yaawwwn* "A warning for what?" Nyssa asked sleepily as she bobbed through the air towards me.

"The knowledge gains, I just got leatherworking," I replied, returning to my scraping with a far more deft hand than previously. "Can you light a fire for me, I'll need it in a bit, might as well use the new skill I gained."

"Sure thing." Nyssa began dropping sticks out of her storage into the fire pit. "Is that breakfast?" She asked pointing towards the rat meat on the leaves dubiously.

"I can find something else for you in a bit if you like," I said while finishing my scraping, although I had nicked it in a few spots, and making a small stone pot. "It's not really as bad as you would think. It actually tastes quite similar to rabbit, if a little oilier."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try it." She spoke nervously. "But if it's disgusting, you have to find me something tastier!"

"Of course, Majesty, by all means," I said and started scraping the rat's brain into my stone pot, causing the fae to turn a bit pale and face away.

"What on Suliria are you doing?" she asked sounding a little sick.

"Making a kind of brain soup to tan the hide with, I guess," I replied, scooping some water into the pot from the stream. I placed the pot just to the side of the base of the fire, where it could start cooking.

I left the pot and started working on the rat meat before I thought of something. "I don't suppose you remember where that fruit tree from the other day is?" I asked. "I could use a couple of them."

Nyssa nodded, and with an 'I'll be right back', flew off into the woods.

I created a small flat stone grill over-top of the fire and, after washing my knife in the stream, began cutting the rat into thin strips. Nyssa came back right as I had finished, handing me 4 of the river pears. I placed the thin strips of rat meat on the stone table, now heated from the fire. I began squeezing the slightly sour fruit between my palms onto the slowly grilling meat.

I cleaned my knife again and sliced 2 more fruits into thin strips before placing them onto the grill also. I earned 3 levels in cooking through the whole ordeal before we finally sat down to eat.

"This smells absolutely delicious, you wouldn't even think it came from a rat," Nyssa said, staring at the steaming pile of meat and fruit on the table.

"Careful, It's still hot, so make sure you don't burn yourself," I said while pulling the pot of brain soup out of the fire and placing it to the side to cool down.

"Don't worry, I came prepared," Nyssa said and pulled out a fae sized knife and fork before slicing a small piece off of the rat meat and blowing on it.

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while now, but how high is your space manipulation that you can use it for pretty much everything?" I questioned the fae.

"Eggshpurt lebel fow." She said around a mouthful of food, before turning bright red and swallowing.

"Expert level four." She corrected herself. "It's the 4th tier, second only to master." She said smugly and then looked a little sad. "I had a lot of time to practice by myself."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," I said quietly, before stuffing my fifth piece of rat meat in my mouth. It really is good. I ended up gaining 1 strength, 2 vitality, and 2 dexterity from it all. 

"It's okay, besides, If I wasn't banished, I wouldn't have been able to meet you, Raak." She said with a smile, before blushing again. "D-Don't misunderstand, you're just my first friend is all!"

I chuckled a little at the blushing fae before asking. "How much can you store in that space anyway? It always seems like no matter how much you take out, there is always more."

"Mmmm." the fae thought for a minute. "It's probably a bit larger than the room you built yesterday, It's only about half full though."

My eyes went wide, I could barely store my skinning knife and this little fae could store an entire room. "Wait, what could you possibly have that takes up that much space?"

"Let's see, I have some utensils, some more wood, I put a few more fruits in there. Hmm, what else. Oh, my clothes!" She said proudly.

"I've only ever seen you wear that one dress, though," I said, pondering.

"Eh? I- Uh- Uhm, I just really like this dress! That's all." She said looking nervous.

'Strange.' I thought to myself, but if she didn't want to tell me, I wasn't going to pry into it. Everyone deserves their secrets.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Well, it does look good on you, so I can understand that," I said shifting topics.

"Alright, back to work for me. You might not want to watch this part either." I said before moving the pot of brains over to where the rat hide was laid out. I began mashing the brain soup with my hand until it was turned into a greasy paste, prompting the fae to look away again. I spread the mess onto the hide with my bare hand, eliciting my first gain in the leatherworking skill. 

I set the hide on a rock outcropping near the top of the cave entrance so it could dry, and placed a stone cover on the pot to prevent it from drying out as well. I would need to give the hide another coating later.

I washed my hands off in the river and told Nyssa that I was finished, for now.

"Finally! I packed up the rest of the food, so what are we doing now?" Nyssa asked.

"Well, I figured I should get back to practicing space manipulation. I can use the downtime to eat some more of those stone bricks." I responded.

"Actually! I had an idea about something. I think you should eat a tree." She said.

"Eat a tree? Like a whole tree?" I questioned, looking up at the massive trees in the forest.

Nyssa giggled. "Not those ones, find a smaller one, silly."

"Can I ask why?" I turned back to Nyssa.

"Well, if you gain levels in your regeneration skill from eating plants, then a tree should give you a huge boost. That way you can train your manipulation skills much faster, without having to wait all the time." 

"Why didn't I think of that, If I can get the skill high enough, I can have almost infinite mana during the day. Plus I would heal ridiculously fast." I mumbled and then spoke up. "Alright!, let's do it."

I hefted Thud off the ground and started walking towards the forest, followed closely by the fluttering fae.

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We walked for almost half an hour before finding a copse of smaller trees a bit more than 2 meters tall. In the center of the group was a tree much thicker and over 3 meters in height.

"Perfect," I said and spun Thud around, the trees were barely as big around as my arm, so I should be able to cut through them cleanly. I chopped through the first tree with ease and stuffed it into my mouth, it took me a few minutes but I managed to get the whole thing down. I gained 2 levels in photosynthesis from just one tree, so this group should be a massive help.

I took aim at the second tree and hefted Thud.

And the tree in the middle slapped me.

I was knocked back almost a meter, feet sliding across the forest floor. 10% of my health was lost from just that one hit.

"Raak!" Nyssa screamed. "It's a treant, be careful!."

The treant shifted slightly, wriggling roots shooting up out of the ground. It tried spearing me with the roots, but I was managing to keep up, for the most part, receiving minor scrapes across my arms and legs. 

Until it caught my leg.

The roots suddenly redoubled their attacks, now that I was caught. I managed to crush a few of them with Thud, before getting speared through the leg. I chopped off the offending member, but just as I did so, another root came straight for my head.

But it stopped short, blocked by a tiny fae holding both her hands in the air in front of her.

"Raak, hurry, I can't hold this for long!" Nyssa shouted.

I pulled the remains of the vine out of my leg and moved around the fae, slicing through the one attacking her as I did.

I quickly fired 3 stone bullets at the body of the treant, causing it to pull a lot of its vines back to protect itself. After earning myself a bit of breathing room, I lifted a couple of larger stones off the ground. The stones were flattened and given a sharp-toothed edge before I started rapidly spinning them. Ignoring the wisdom increase, I began causing the blades to fly around, chopping through vines much faster than I could do with Thud alone.

My concentration was really being tested, and I was draining my mana very quickly keeping the blades moving. I had to do something and now, rather than later.

I began running passed the wall of roots, dodging what I could and chopping through what I couldn't.

I swung Thud at the main body of the treant, causing it to shudder in agony, and then I was again caught by the roots. Right as the treant was about to spear me again, the saw-blades dug into the trunk from the opposite side, causing the treant to shake and throw me at a nearby tree.

I was down to less than a quarter of my health and about one-third mana. There was a veritable forest of roots wriggling around in front of me, and I couldn't get anywhere near the treant.

"Nyssa!" I shouted. "Remember when you hit me with that rock?"

She looked puzzled for only a moment before breaking out into a grin. "Do it!" She shouted back and raised both of her hands.

I spun in a circle, holding Thud by the end of the haft, and threw it at Nyssa. A large portal opened up in front of the fae and Thud disappeared only to reappear on the other side of the roots. Thud slammed into the front of the treant as I drove the saw-blades right through it from behind.

All of the roots stiffened for a moment and then became slack, falling to the forest floor all around.

I fell over backwards.

"Raak!" The fae screamed and flew over to me.

I lay down on the ground, chuckling slightly, before holding up two fingers. "Victory!" I said, dismissing the 3 levels in weapon mastery and 2 in earth manipulation.

"Grrrrr, here I am worrying and you're just taking a break." Nyssa scowled at me.

"Thanks," I said with a grin. "You saved me there and helped me beat it."

The fae blushed and mumbled. "Stupid Raak."

I lay there on the ground and waited for the hole in my leg to heal before slowly getting back to my feet. I lifted one of the saw-blades from where it was stuck in the dirt and, using my now regenerated mana, began shaving pieces off the treant and stuffing them in my mouth.

'Small Forest Treant' has been ingested

Due to the Glutton skill, you have gained

5 Strength 11 Vitality 6 Intelligence 4 Wisdom

7 levels in Photosynthesis

The rush of stat gain was ridiculous, vitality itself more than doubled from this one creature alone. The sudden gains honestly made me feel a bit dizzy.

"Hmm? Strange, I thought for sure I would gain a new skill from this thing." I thought out loud.

"Well, you still haven't eaten the monster core, so don't give up yet," Nyssa said absently.

"Monster core? What is it?" I sort of had an idea, but what she said next confirmed it.

"All monsters have a sort of stone inside them, it's basically mana condensed to the point where it becomes a physical object," Nyssa spoke like it was common knowledge.

"Is it sort of like a mana crystal?" I asked.

"Mmmm. Somewhat, but monster cores only come from monsters, mana crystals are condensed naturally in environments high in ambient mana." She responded.

"What about the rats then? I didn't find any cores in them." I said.

"Rats? Those aren't monsters, just beasts, like wolves. They don't condense mana and are incredibly weak compared to their monstrous relatives like magma rats and ice wolves." 

"Alright, thanks. So what am I looking for here?" I asked, carefully digging through the treant's remains.

"In something like this? It should be about the size of your thumb and somewhere in the trunk. Stronger monsters have large cores, a dragon core would probably be bigger than your head, conversely, a goblin core is about the size of a pinky fingernail."

I decided not to comment on the offhanded mention of dragons, and kept digging, eventually pulling out a small greenish-brown core. It was slightly smaller than my thumb and I could practically feel the mana oozing off it.

I popped it in my mouth and swallowed straight away.

You have gained the skill: Novice Plant Manipulation

Active: Bend nature to do your bidding

Mana cost: Dependent on use

'Small Forest Treant Core' has been ingested

Due to the Glutton skill, you have gained 

1 Strength 3 Vitality 3 Intelligence 1 Wisdom

12 levels in Photosynthesis 4 levels in Plant Manipulation

"Wow! Not nearly as many stats as the treant, but quite a few skill levels from it." I stated, telling her about the gains. "I also gained plant manipulation from it."

Nyssa nodded at that. "It makes sense, treants turn into ents if they grow strong enough. Ents are incredibly strong sentient trees, some of them hold dominion over entire forests."

We chatted for a bit as I ate a couple more trees, I didn't gain anything from them, though. My photosynthesis level had jumped 2 full tiers, so I wasn't really surprised about not gaining anything from the regular trees.

I could already regenerate even my entire increased mana pool in less than ten minutes.

Nyssa and I headed back home while tossing pebbles back and forth between us using portals. We had a quick lunch, with her eating some of the remaining rat meat, and me eating stone bricks. 

The rest of the day was spent throwing bricks into my mouth with portals and eating even more bricks during the short waiting periods for regeneration.

And I finally managed it, 22kg of bricks and 3 levels of space manipulation later and I was back up to 184cm.

"No longer a manlet!" I shouted and fist-pumped.

I tossed one last brick into my mouth and got a rather surprising message.

'Iron ore' has been ingested

Warning: minor compatibility issues with current race - Earth Elemental

Warning: Race adjusting to compensate for incompatibility

"What does it mean by race adjUAAAAGGGGH"

Small veins of red began showing through my skin like blood vessels, causing me no small amount of pain.

"Raak! What's happening!" I heard Nyssa call out as my vision dimmed.

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Name Raak Race ??? Mass 176kg Str 16 Vit 25 Dex 10 Int 17 Wis 16 Hp 330 Mp 245

Skill List - Passive Level Glutton 1(MAX) Crystal Core 1(MAX) Journeyman Photosynthesis 5 Novice Hand to Hand Fighting 2 Novice Two-Handed Weapon Mastery 7 Novice Dismantling 3 Novice Cooking 2 Novice Leatherworking 2

Skill List - Active Level Glow 1(MAX) Apprentice Earth Manipulation 4 Novice Space Manipulation 10 Novice Plant Manipulation 5 Appraisal 1(MAX)