Charlie made it back home safely, using some of the markers he noticed along the way had helped in re-orienting and making it back quickly. The familiar stink of the mushroom no longer bothered Charlie, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience. The gravel no longer bit into his skin either, but he still couldn't call it a soft floor, maybe he'd figure something out for that in the future. The mushroom softly hugged Charlie from all directions and provided some minor comfort.

Charlie plopped himself deep inside the cove, as far away from the exit as possible, and found himself simply staring ahead into the dimly glowing wall.

Annoying...

Charlie couldn't help but become frustrated with the incessant glow from the floor and walls. He lacked eyelids and couldn't actually blink nor close his eyes away from the light. On reflection, Charlie had been shattered and beyond exhaustion every time he fell asleep here, so now that he was in good health, another problem dutifully arose.

Spreading his gaze around, Charlie could potentially rip out some of the mushroom and use them to cover his eyes from the light. In remembering the slime touching Charlies raw stub and the searing pain that followed, Charlie decided against it. Even if the thick air didn't sting, Charlie couldn't be certain that the mushroom wouldn't irritate his eyes or worse, turn him blind, from direct contact.

Charlie was stuck, how could he fall asleep if there was no place that had any real darkness here? Charlie couldn't dig down into the stone, couldn't use the gravel to effectively cover his eyes nor could utilise the abundant mushroom all around. It felt like he was running out of options.

If I just had a sheet... or a blanket or... wait.

Then it dawned on him, Charlie could use the skins of the creatures around here but ,again, there was yet another problem with that. Charlie lacked any way to skin the creatures, no sharp talons to pierce a chunk of its flesh out, no claws to butcher with nor a simple knife to peel the skin off.

The serpentine form was proving to be worse and worse the more time he spends residing in one. Charlie had a hard time being able to see, hear and even move. His only defense was also his only form of offense, one that barely did any physical damage and relied solely on destroying the opponents insides.

Charlie was lethal, sure, but he was also almost entirely useless in every other aspect. There were too many things Charlie couldn't do, nor capable of finding replacements for what he had lost. There was no way to overcome the gap between their species with clever thought.

Charlie was still determined to find a solution, figuring out how to effectively sleep was an integral part of succeeding in this hostile world. If he couldn't skin his prey, then Charlie would do the next best thing.

He'll simply use the entire corpse.

With a new goal set in place, Charlie pushed away the siren of sleep and set out for suitable prey. The Sklites came to mind as the perfect first trial, their soft fur wouldn't, hopefully, irritate his eyes.

Sticking to the shadows and keeping a keen eye out for any trouble, Charlie safely made his way to the river to wash the slime off of his scales. Its warding properties were useful in the right circumstances, but right now he'd need to remain concealed if he were to have any hope in sleeping tonight.

The thought of just staying awake until Charlie passed out did seem mildly appealing at first, but it would be stupid to approach any situation with such a gimped mind. As Charlie watched the slime drift off, taken away by the river, he set his mind on the most efficient spots to hunt the Sklites.

The knife-clawed predator that still roamed the area would pose a problem, but their scent was a dead giveaway. Charlie had etched every nuance to the terrifying scent, and if it appeared, then Charlie would simply retreat. There would be no second chance if he were to be spotted again.

It seemed far less terrifying now that Charlie knew where he was going, of course he still exercised extreme caution when traversing the stony paths and their many deadly blindspots, but Charlie was definitely becoming more familiar with the place. Soon, Charlie reckoned, he'd be able to navigate through these walkways with his eyes closed.

Hmm... Eyes closed... It's hard to stop using them, huh?

Even though it didn't bother Charlie that he had used a once-human saying, not in the way that it should have bothered him, but it still irked Charlie to lose another part of himself.

There was a particular spot between a busy pathway, where five different roads connected and formed into a small roundabout. A few meters above, and away from the roundabout, there was a crevice formed by two coves that looked like they had melted into each other.

It was a bit out of the way, but it posed to be the safest option Charlie had. There was a lot of traffic below, populated by the many creatures that lived around here, but his attention lingered to somewhere above, to where Charlie had planned to stake out the prey.

The Sklites were a weak species that split up and scoured the cave for any food by themselves, rarely ever fighting back. Their swarm was incredibly powerful, and was rightfully approached with extreme caution, but by themselves they were the bottom of the food chain.

Instead of traversing the caves floor, they tended to stay up higher, choosing to cross over the myriad of coves and stick to high vantage points. Up there they ruled and could cross vast distances without ever being seen, but that in of itself proved a problem. There were so many ways for them to traverse up there that the likelihood of coming across a Sklite were slim.

Charlie scaled the rocky exterior of the surrounding coves and found the crevice from before. It was still empty and the shade it provided was satisfactory, so without much further ado, Charlie plopped himself down and made himself comfortable. Charlie was going to have to wait, and there his hardest battle lay.

The Sklite would effectively be a quick and easy job, taking one down unaware was beyond easy and almost didn't matter to the overall difficulty. What did matter was the fact that Charlie was finally in a dark space and his body still yearned for deep slumber. The crevice was dry, comfortably small and provided just enough shade to feel like his eyes were trying to lull him away into sleep.

The first dozen or so minutes were relatively easy, the environment was interesting and kept his attention, keeping sleep at bay. There were vicious encounters between the creatures below, and Charlie gained a lot more information on how different creatures fought.

Though there was a lot of information, Charlie was still limited in what he could perceive. He still had to stay hidden and couldn't get a better look at the action below, nor could he allow himself to truly become distracted.

Like this Charlie lost track of every painful minute that passed, which was when the battle really reared its ugly head. Charlie struggled to keep his mind sober and focused, the sleep had an iron grip on Charlies being now, trying to seduce the control away from him.

Yet Charlie held on, barely, and continued to lay in wait for an opportunity to show itself.

He was certain an opportunity would arrive, but there was no chance Charlie would would back down now, if not for the simple fact he refused to lose to something as trivial as sleep. Charlies pettiness continued to grow with time, as the longer he fought against sleep, the pettier his mind became.

The mission for the Sklites corpse had eventually taken a back seat, the petty fight against his sleep had overtaken the original goal in priority. It was stupid and completely pointless, but Charlies skewed mind felt offended and raged against the sleep that threatened to take him down.

Charlie had lost all track of time, the stupid battle raged on for what felt like mere minutes, and at the same time an eternity, but was pulled out by a sudden noise from somewhere close-by.

Charlies mind was cleansed of the clutches of sleep, finally calming down and focused on listening out for anything suspicious, trying to confirm whether or not he imagined the sound. There was a faint rustle and a pebble had scraped against stone right outside of Charlies hidden crevice. He couldn't hear any footsteps or the familiar pitter-patter of their claws against the rock, but the sparse few noises were enough to conclude that he hadn't imagined it.

Charlie readied his body and lay in anticipation of the unknown creature. His heart rate steadily increased as the tension built, it was going to turn the corner any moment and Charlie subconsciously bared his fangs.

A small, furry figure slowly passed in front of the crevice, it's wiry tail followed in tow and Charlie felt his body relax at the sight of the familiar figure. Charlie let an additional moment pass, the Sklite needed to walk just an inch further before he struck out. There wouldn't be room for the Sklite to escape, not if Charlie could help it.

[Hollow Fang] shot out and found itself burying past the fur, and directly into the muscle and bone of the Sklite. The cold venom quickly released and spread its corrupting touch in all directions, sentencing the creature to certain death. The Sklite fought back vigorously, writhing in Charlies grip and driving the fangs even deeper.

The weakening screeches failed to alert any of the creatures below, but Charlie didn't want to risk attracting any unwanted attention and sharply swung his head towards the rock wall. The Sklites head whiplashed into the sharp rock, silencing its mewling cries.

Charlies mission, while so far a success, only became more difficult from this point onward; it was time to hurry back to the cove and get out of here before any of the other Sklites came sniffing around. If Charlie could, he wanted to remain unknown in his preying of the Sklites, and the longer he went unseen, the more time he had against the swarm eventual discovery.

They were the apex predator this high up in the cave, and Charlie didn't fancy his chances against a literal wall of vicious flesh. Let alone evading their invasive sight forever, it was just a simple fact that he would eventually be found out.

Scaling the sharply inclined coves proved to be far more difficult when the weight of the Sklite was held up by his maw, attempting to drag him down to the floor with every sharp movement. Lacking a third of his body put an incredible thorn in Charlies side, losing the weight and leverage it provided was becoming a greater loss than previously thought.

Charlie was now aware that he was on a timer, the corpse started to emit a soft smell of decay the further he travelled. Having the Sklite safely held between his fangs, Charlie knew he'd be the first to notice the scent of death, but if it became any stronger, he worried about keeping himself hidden from hungry, and brave, mouths.

The numerous rocky ascents and sharp descents that Charlie had to traverse over, in addition to the dead weight he carried in his mouth, were proving to be utterly exhausting. If he wanted to stay above the foot traffic, Charlie needed to navigate through a far greater distance than before. Unlike the stony pathways, the winding ceilings of the rocky coves were anything but easy to traverse.

From the sharp stone that snagged on the Sklites corpse, to the dangerously tight holes that connected the cove ceilings, there were many challenges to overcome. At times, Charlie was forced to push the corpse through the tight fittings with just his head, before just barely being able to squeeze himself through.

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Charlie had gotten bigger again, just a few days ago these tight holes would have been simple to cross, yet now they were a struggle to deal with. If Charlie continued to grow in size as he leveled, how large could he possibly get? In a way, this mystery would solve itself soon enough so there was little for Charlie to continue thinking about.

The smell became stronger too, Charlie still had time, but if he neared too close to another creature, let alone another Sklite, he worried they might be able to notice him. He had already been going as fast as he could, but found that perilous situations somehow brought more out of him, and redoubled his efforts to cross the labyrinthine structures.

Navigating the labyrinth-like roofs of the coves had turned into a great boon for Charlie, a plethora of hidden passageways were now visible to him and would give aid in providing a much needed advantage over the local populace. The sheer diversity of the creatures Charlie had spotted was nothing to scoff at, either. Having the chance to extend his knowledge about what Charlie could face up here could prove to be invaluable, so he attempted his best to commit everything to memory.

It would all be for naught if Charlie failed to reach the mushroom cove though, but with its thick vegetation that tried to protrude out of the cove now being sight, Charlie could feel the tension ease off of his metaphorical shoulders.

Having finally been able to view his home and its surroundings from above, Charlie could safely conclude that the path forward was temporarily clear. There were no stray creatures looking to walk past his hideout, nor could he see any fights too close that would stop him from getting back safely, the perfect moment.

Seizing his chance, Charlie let the weight of the Sklite corpse pull him down and over the edge that overlooked the mushroom cove. It was a long drop if here were to fall by himself, instead, Charlie broke his fall with the fur and body of the soft Sklite.

Quickly gathering himself after the fall, Charlie turned towards the cove and made his way inside. The sickly scent that permeated the cove felt like the sweetest nectar as it washed away the scent of Decay. The corpse was still in his jaw, yet he couldn't even sense a trace of its smell over the pungent mushroom scent.

Charlie brought the corpse deep into the clutches of the cove before returning back to the entrance. He had returned home, safe and sound, but it felt a little too easy for comfort. Charlie decided to lay in wait for a bit longer before attempting to sleep, the idea of being found and attacked when he was in a deep slumber irked him.

Though in giving it further thought, if he were the creature that stumbled in on a sleeping predator, he too would take the chance of a lifetime and strike them while they're at their weakest. Still, even in understanding all of that, it still irked him.

After the better half of twenty minutes, Charlie decided that enough was enough and returned back to the corpse, ready for a well-deserved rest. In the short amount of time that Charlie was gone, the Sklite now had a thin, but visible, brown sheen of slime all over their body.

Fuck.

Charlie hurried and approached the corpse, and in flipping it over, found that the underbelly was, thankfully, still dry and... slime-free.

Without wasting precious seconds, of even more slime accumulating on the corpse, Charlie hid himself under its body and allowed the weight of the Sklite to come down fully.

It was uncomfortable, hard to breathe and ever so slightly demeaning, but it blocked out the light, which was enough. Charlie had succeeded, but this could only be a temporary solution. The corpse would eventually rot, or in dire need, Charlie would need to eat the decaying corpse. No matter which came first, he would still have to find a replacement, which was incredibly inconvenient.

Charlie would have to figure a better solution at some point, but right now sleep was already taking his mind and there was no fight left in him. Instead, Charlie focused what he had left of his still awake mind on to the powerful memory, the memory of the Lightless Door.

Charlie imagined it's great ashy plumes and the sliver of light that emerged from nothingness. He imagined a blackness so powerful it consumed even the darkness in his dreams, the impossibly thin plumes of smoke that contained the untold danger within that dark, it started to feel...

Then, dreams turned to reality, a great, yet noticeably weaker, draining sensation permeated Charlies being. The incorporeal Lightless Door of Charlies dreams turned corporeal, and its power flooded out in waves. It was as magnificent as always, even if it wasn't his first time seeing the Lightless Doors splendor, Charlie couldn't help but admire its beauty and raw presence.

After a moment of consideration, Charlie could see that his previous theorem might have some truth to it. He was using some sort of power, or resource, that is imperceptible to Charlie under normal means, yet when he summoned the Lightless Door, he could finally feel it. Whatever the resource was, or its origin, still remained a mystery, but confirming its existence was enough for now.

There might even be a connection with the lesser drain on his being and leveling up, as that was the only change that Charlie could conceive of making a difference. There were still things Charlie didn't understand about leveling, but that might quickly change.

Returning his focus back to the door, Charlie could only hope that there would be answers on the other side of its all-devouring blackness. The world of smoke and storm appeared once more, its vast expanse of turbulent vapours extended in all directions. Unfazed, Charlie made his way to the mystic text in the clouds.

Level: 3 / 0%

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3

Vitality: 4

Eso: 3

{Evolution}

[A limitless journey awaits, but you are naked and bare, still seeking purpose.]

{The Challenge}

[Cursed and blessed at the same time, your journey is one of Hunger. Devour that which is precious, steal the sacred and become more than your Creator.]

{Powers}

[Devour:

Level: 1 / 15%

A wretched power, manifested from bottomless hunger.]

{Epitaphs}

[No Strings On Me]

[Hollow Fang:

Level: 1 / 32.5%

The venomous bite of this Serpent is scarier than it looks.]

Reading through the information that was provided by the System, Charlie had gained a new understanding of the relationship between everything. The answers were easier to tease out of the minuscule amount of information provided, the whispers of the System helped guide his thoughts in uncovering its secrets.

The first revelation that Charlie was struck by was the deepened understanding of the {Epitaphs} and the changes in the descriptions. Not quite in words nor quite a whisper, the System expanded Charlies mind to further possibilities until only one remained.

Much like the stories that were found in books, recorded by the people who had long died, Charlies {Epitaphs} were a collection of surviving history. It was hard to completely comprehend for Charlie, but to him it felt like someone was talking to him and telling him an ongoing story about himself. What that could mean would reveal itself in time, right now Charlie still needed to process the information and eke out any remaining hint or clue from the Systems guidance.

How the System achieved any of this was still a mystery for Charlie, the unfathomable nature of how one could possibly create such a mysterious existence still eluded him, but at least he had some ideas as to its origin. The golden and radiant beings were the first to come to mind, their uniqueness and grandeur were awe-inspiring, but with their power, the System could surely be created by a being such as that.

Yet why Charlie could interact with the System, or even perceive it, still eluded him. Its existence was surely the greatest mystery of them all, one that would remain unsolved today, much to Charlies disappointment. Instead, Charlie focused on what he could currently understand and intended to only return to the Systems profound mystery when he had experienced more of the perils within the cave, more of the world itself.

Charlie was excited to see how his {Epitaphs} would change over time, even if they provided little in information right now, their potential to grow and expand was tantalising. [No Strings On Me] entirely lacking a description was not as fruitless as initially thought either, the fact that it provided no information, was useful information in of itself.

Since Charlies {Epitaphs} changed with time or level, or even use, meant that [No Strings On Me] had yet to reach whatever threshold it required to reveal itself. It wouldn't be crazy to believe that if Charlie became powerful enough, the mysterious {Epitaph} would reveal its secrets.

Quickly glancing over his attributes, Charlie confirmed the changes he felt in real life to the changes observed in the text below his attributes. He felt stronger than before, and his flexibility increased even with the loss of his tail. Charlie wasn't as flexible or dexterous as when he had a tail of course, but the additional point in Dexterity was more than a welcome addition.

Charlies Vitality had stagnated, not gaining a single point since his first level up. It was more than likely the real reason he had survived up until this point, and it almost worried Charlie to not see it continue to rise. He'd need to be able to survive impossible odds every single day, and in having already lost a major part of his body, hoped it would continue its rise.

Eso had once again gained an additional point, but the sensation of understanding only grew in intensity, and not clarity. There were no answers, there were no actual benefits from its increase that Charlie could reasonably perceive. Since Eso existed, there must be a good use for and reason for the attribute taking a slot, still, Charlie couldn't help but feel sour when he instead thought about Vitality having that additional point.

Still, there had been a great deal of information that Charlie was now aware of and had a deeper understanding of. The further Charlie would level up, the more powerful he would become, that was now a given fact. Just how powerful he could become, yet remained to be seen. No matter the breadth of its upper limit, it would be the key to conquering the cave and Charlie could finally picture himself succeeding.

With only the grumpy Serpent and his Soul left to check in on, Charlie decided that the unhappy housemate could wait a little longer, and made his way to the welcoming embrace of his Soul. The radiant warmth and light it emitted felt like it could reach ever so slightly further than before, sparking a new curiosity.

If Charlie leveled up, did it affect his soul too? The more Charlie thought about it, the more he realised that he barely even knew what a soul was in the first place. The only information Charlie had ever heard about souls were from Sabrinas dad, Franky.

He had often called Sabrina a gentle soul, yet when Charlie asked what that was, all Franky could tell him that it was what made a person who they are. Some part deep inside of you that was the manifestation of the true self that resided within everyone. Franky portrayed it as the reason behind Sabrinas loving and kind nature.

It was a beautiful thought, but one that was too bitter to swallow and believe. The way Franky had described it made it seem something inherently good and incorruptible, that resided within everyone and was what made a good person, well, good. His father was once a person, yet what brought him to such cruelty if there was a loving, and kind soul somewhere deep within.

That single question brought too much scrutiny to the idea of souls for Charlie, but he didn't have the heart to tell Franky his honest thoughts and how some people didn't have such a thing.

Now, there was a soul right in front of him and there was no way to deny such a thing. Charlie supposed it even stranger that he instinctually knew its origin, from the moment he laid his eyes on the radiant glow there had not been a doubt in his mind that it was his soul. Yet, what was a "soul"?

Charlie hoped that the System would once again hear his question and provide some mystic answers, but its silence continued no matter how long Charlie waited or how many times he rephrased the question.

In hearing nothing, Charlie turned his attention back to the changes he could physically see in his soul. Everything from the glow to the warmth had increased in strength, even the allure of dropping everything to stay here felt more potent. The sacred water that housed the soul had receded just like in the past, but there was still a change Charlie came to notice.

The water had pooled up in a shallow depression of smoke, giving the smokes ephemeral nature a surprisingly solid feel. There was a lip made of solid smoke that surrounded the depression, almost making it look like the edge of a pond or lake, but incomparably smaller, that surrounded the pool from all directions.

The lip had now reclaimed more of the smoke and inched out ever further, creating additional room for the water to expand into, if it ever actually did was still uncertain. There was even more of the mystic water than the last time Charlie had been here, if only a buckets worth or so.

These were all clear signs, indicating that Charlies level up had some influence on his soul, but the changes were too minute to provide a concrete understanding. Did the quantity of the sacred water matter? Did it have some link or connection to the mysterious power that Charlie had theorised existing?

In asking the last question, Charlie paused. There was something to that thought, he was certain, but Charlie didn't want to continue its many conjectures until he had a stronger foundation of knowledge for what a soul even was in the first place. Right now, speculating about things that he failed to feel or simply see and using that to unravel a concept he didn't understand begged for failure. Instead, Charlie would monitor the changes his soul underwent every time he leveled and, if he were lucky, the System might reveal a clue, or even a simple hint to help solve the vast mysteries.

Charlie eventually finished reveling in the warmth and radiance of his soul and glanced at the Serpent in the clouds, and in failing to sense anything over their unnatural connection, decided to ignore the pesky shadow. Its silence was more than welcome, if not simply entertaining. The once terrifying shadow of a Serpent that made its home in the stormy clouds, was grumpy and sulking away from Charlies senses.

Now that Charlie finally had some answers, he couldn't help but feel a distant sense of excitement rise from somewhere deep inside. There were many more mysteries to solve, many clues to find and, maybe, find a way to make sense of everything.

There was little left to do in the dream realm, and so, Charlie woke up.