As Charlies consciousness returned, darkness remained. For a moment, a hint of panic blossomed within Charlie before he quickly squashed it, remembering that he was still within the pitch black hovel. Slightly embarrassed, Charlie also noticed that the scent of earth and mud should have been a massive giveaway.

Charlie had woken up in a great mood and felt incredibly positive about the oncoming journey. He had finally hit Level five and had two new tools at his disposal - [Mana Sense] and the new addition to [Devour]. There was so much to see, so much to learn now and Charlie could only salivate at the breadth of possibilities that still lay ahead of him.

Charlie couldn't wait any longer and broke down the mound of dirt he used to block off the entrance. The lights and sounds of a wonderful morning filled the air, and for some reason, it tasted almost sweet.

Charlie set off back towards the terrifying desert canyon, and decided to follow along the rim back towards the mountain. Whilst it was large and seen from almost anywhere, the thick canopy blocked out the sky pretty well.

The vegetation was as plentiful as always, the luscious trees were tight but still had room to maneuver through and Charlies body felt lighter than it had in a long time. Charlie felt good to such a high degree, that he took a moment to inspect himself, and was elated - beyond pleased to see that he was back into full working form.

His gaunt figure, withered skin and protruding ribs were nowhere to be seen now. Thick muscle atop his bones and covered in pristine scales - the skin felt strong and tight, like it could withstand the world again.

The Level up and the cores of the two creatures seemed to have been enough to restore Charlie to the peak. He still wished that there would be something he could do about his missing tail, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Charlie had turned on [Mana Sense] and continued viewing the world with his newfound sight, not even for hidden dangers, but simply out of sheer excitement. It was so wonderful to have an ability that he had created all by himself - and it filled his head with plenty of new ideas for what he wanted next.

Since creating abilities was possible, but not knowing where to begin, all Charlie would have to do was recreate the abilities he had already seen. Granted, that was easier said than done, but Charlie had nothing else to go on for the moment, so it was the only logical direction he could take. The first thing he wanted to recreate, was the ability to make something float.

It was the first bit of Magic Charlie had seen, and it left a deep impression on him. Not only that, but it gave Charlie ideas of how to finally return some sense of normality into his life. If he could figure out how to make something float, then it would be like he had gained a pair of arms - or better! Even after weeks of living in this Serpent body, Charlie had yet to get over his lost form.

Still, progress on crafting a new {Epitaph} was a long ways away from even beginning and would require a tremendous amount of research into how it was even possible to achieve something like that. Thankfully, if Charlie was careful, time would be plentiful. [Mana Sense] would allow Charlie to essentially have no blind-spots, the importance of which could not be understated within the human cave.

The forest was becoming less and less dense the further Charlie traveled, eventually giving way to a wide view of the desert canyon and its infernal basin. Sticking close to the trees, Charlie followed along the edge of the canyon and towards the mountain the distance.

Its shadow was deep and grand, stretching far off into the opposite side of the rising sun. The sky was filled with deep blues, rosy reds and the soft colour of lilac smeared across the canvas of the world. It was a stunning sight, marred only by the grey mountain peak, almost as if its beauty were out of a painting.

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After traveling for about half of the day, there was still a long way left to go. Charlie had gotten close enough to where the mountain took up most of the horizon and the desert canyon was already long behind him. The sun was at its zenith, gently bringing light and life to all below. Charlie deeply enjoyed the contrast between the warmth and the gentle breeze, keeping him just cool enough to continue enjoying being out in the open.

Charlie didn't know why exactly, but the sun up here was completely different to the sun down in the desert basin. If Charlie were back down in the desert hell, he would have long succumbed to heatstroke, but up here, he wished to be nowhere else. Sure, he was out in the open and felt a touch too seen, but after spending days in a dark and damp cave - this was simply bliss.

Though, to get close enough to the human cave, Charlie would still need to return to some cover and hope that it would be enough to not get spotted. Today's goal was not to successfully re-enter, but to observe, find a way in and learn about the human patrols.

No matter how powerful a human was, they still would eventually tire like anyone else. There must be a rotating shift, or some such variation that would grant a moment to take advantage of. Charlie had done it many times as a human, especially when they were forced to engage on enemy settlements for resources, or territory. He had been often sent in alone, so it was a bit of a nostalgic experience to be forced to do so again.

Night had already fallen, and Charlie was still not within view of the human cave, so he decided to rest for the night, maybe grab a meal and finally complete his journey tomorrow.

Dodging roaming creatures was a breeze, Charlies [Mana Sense] didn't have to be turned off and after getting used to the large amount of information that barraged his mind, Charlie stopped getting headaches too.

The creatures that were naturally gifted at hiding failed to escape Charlies sight. It was a good thing, too, as some were truly indistinguishable from their surroundings. If he were to be caught off-guard by one of them, then Charlie wouldn't have had a chance in noticing their presence without [Mana Sense].

It was either sheer luck that Charlie had yet to come across some of the hidden creatures, or if it was simply that he was not interesting enough of a meal for them to bother - whichever it was, Charlie couldn't help but feel thankful.

There was also the [Worm of Envy]. Charlie didn't forget to cast it whenever an opportunity arose, but made certain to not overuse it in case he needed the extra Mana for an unavoidable battle.

Charlie had also experimented with using his will to cast the [Worm of Envy], to no avail, and with what sort of questions he can ask. It ranged from mundane questions such as preferred diet to something more serious, such as whether or not it was sentient.

The overall conclusion was that any question not pertaining to the System, or its mysterious workings, then the answer Charlie would get was nothing more than a vague sensation. Instead of immediate understanding and an influx of knowledge, it was like he received a craving for green foliage and an eerie discomfort as an answer.

Charlie had never considered it before, but there might be others like him, trapped in the bodies of creatures and forced to fight to survive. Yet, out of the two creatures Charlie checked for sentience, none of them provided more than an uncomfortable and eerie silence.

It was hard to confirm whether or not that meant that they were non-sentient beings, or if it was because [Worm of Envy] lacked in Levels - even after it had already Leveled up, which surprised Charlie. He had seen that it was already close to Leveling up when within his Soul, but having been distracted by [Mana Sense] it slipped his mind. He was too used to abilities such as [Devour] or [Hollow Fang] taking forever to Level up to remember.

Even with the added Level, Charlie was no closer in receiving an answer for whether or not they were sentient, though. Charlie didn't think there would be many, or any, of beings like him - but there was no sense in discarding the idea entirely.

Using [Mana Sense] Charlie scouted out the pitch black forest floor and found himself another cozy hovel. This time there were three inhabitants, but none of them put up much of a fight. Charlie had become incredibly efficient at rooting out the unaware inhabitants and stealing their homes.

Since Charlie was going to sleep tonight, he decided to swallow all three corpses and found himself satisfyingly full. It had been a long time, too long for Charlie, that he felt this full without also being in immense pain - it felt nice.

Tomorrow, I'll finally reach the human cave. Just a little further, now...