I’d forgotten, I could gain additional stats, skill increases and such from eating meat from creatures. It wasn’t just from eating the heart, but it took more volume.

Hammy and Lenna came back inside to the campfire, chatting.

“I’ll wake everyone up before dawn so we have plenty of time to get to the dungeon entrance.” Lenna flashed a smile in my direction. “Hopefully, we all can get a good night's sleep.”

“Not setting a watch is nice, though at some point I need to head back to the drop ship. All of my tools are there,” explained Hammy. He moved closer to the pot, peeking in. “Hey, can I finish this off?”

I shrugged, my stomach feeling full after the last bowl and the additional meat. “I’m good.” Eating more at this point wasn’t worth it.

“Sure, you finish that and I’ll clean everything up.”

Hammy dumped the last of the soup into his bowl next to his bedroll and handed off the pot. He kept glancing back at his armor with a smile. It stood next to him like a weird skeleton guarding us. The crystals pulsed along the back, creating a soft glow near him.

Dengu huffed in his sleep, near Lenna’s sleeping spot.

That left me with my cloak on the other side of the fire. The wood slowly burned to coals as everyone settled in for the night. Green light drifted down from above, from the crystal chips in the ceiling. Outside, the sounds of bugs and bats took over, coming in through the openings hidden in the roots above.

I laid down and pulled the needle I’d stashed out to look at it. I tried using Insight on it.

[Quill from Greater Armored Snapper.]

[You have gained a greater understanding of Insight. Insight - I: You can study different creatures, or objects, learning basic information.]

Insight was one of the few skills that hadn’t changed since I’d gotten it, and now it upgraded from just using it on something other than a creature. Along with my skill Blades and Polearms, its name hadn’t changed until now. I shifted and looked up at the crystals on the ceiling.

[Forest Crystal Chip.]

I wanted more than basic information, but I didn’t know how to increase what it showed. When I studied creatures, it now let me know how they’d taste, but the information seemed to be based on their names and how similar they were to creatures I’d eaten before. Thankfully, it didn’t know how humanoids would taste.

Soft breathing came from Hammy, but Lenna’s form remained tense.

“Hey Lenna, do you know how to level up Insight?” I asked softly.

She rolled over with the blanket pulled up to her chin, glancing at me over the coals. “You need to use it constantly and on everything you can. It’s one of the first skills we get when we are small. It uses information that you learn in other ways as well.” She shifted onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. “So, any stories you hear, things your elders teach you, and such. It all helps.”

“So, knowledge is the key. I need to learn more to level it… and I need to use it all the time. Got it.” After a second, I added, “Thanks.”

I stared at everything in the camp and tried to increase the skill before I rested. First the pot, then the bowls. Eventually, my eyes ached, but I didn’t receive another notification about any adjustments to the skill.

Soft snores came from Dengu and Hammy. Lenna still faced upward with her eyes still open.

“Thanks for answering all my questions,” I whispered.

Lenna chuckled softly. “You haven’t asked all that many… Not compared to Hammy. The first three days with him were just nonstop questions like a little one.”

That I could imagine. I’d be in the same place if I hadn’t asked Noseen some. Even when he ignored them, I learned something.

“How come you haven’t talked about the dungeon yet?”

“It’s bad luck. I only know the basics from people in my village.” Her voice shifted into a deeper tone. “You need to complete the dungeon without guidance from anyone but your team.” She let out a sigh, then sounded more like herself. “Yet, my father warned me about the additional level, and not completing it.”

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“Sounds like my father,” I said. “He’s big on learning things on your own, and putting in the work. Hammy slacking on his training wouldn’t have worked back in the colony.”

“Can you tell me about the colony?” She turned to face me again. “Ham doesn’t know much about it.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” I wasn’t a storyteller, but I quickly explained how the ship we’d traveled on had crashed, and the days after getting to the planet. I glossed over how injured I’d gotten but kept things pretty close to actual otherwise. Some of this I’d spoken of to Hammy, but this time I spoke more about the people. While I didn’t go into the layout or location of the colony, I explained how we’d built some buildings, and what classes people had unlocked.

Eventually, her breathing evened out and I let my voice fade as the small embers were outclassed by the crystal light from above. The smell of dried leaves surrounded me as I shifted to my side away from the fire. The dark tree trunk that made up the wall lacked interesting things to look at.

I wondered if Noseen would visit as I fell asleep.

#

My question answered itself as I found myself sitting at the top of the waterfall, staring down at the carcass of the turtle.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you tonight,” I said. “Everything okay?” Last time I’d spoken to him, he’d rushed and cut off the conversation.

“I’m fine… Are you on your way to the dungeon?”

I chuckled as Noseen, as always, got right to the point, then froze when he came into view beside me. A mosquito the size of my fist landed on a rock. Fear rippled through me at the size of its needle-like mouth.

“Alex.” His voice snapped me out of staring at him.

“Yes, with another guy from the colony ship. He crashed outside Sanctuary, and has survived. There’s also a local jungle folk, named Lenna.” Her species came up as jungle folk, and hopefully that meant something to Noseen.

“Interesting.” Noseen’s wings came into view for a split second. Memories of the campfire conversation, and then the turtle fight, flashed through my mind. “Ah, a young Jungle folk.” He chuckled. “Not listening to her elders, I bet.”

“What do you mean?”

He chuckled at my question and ignored it. “Once in the dungeon, you won’t hear from me. They block even dream-speak.” He moved. One second he stood on the rock, and the next he was on my knee. It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to not swat at him with my hand. “I will find you once you have completed the dungeon. You will need to finish the rest of the quests for Citizenship, too.”

“The gift quest, and the naming quest, right?” I asked, thinking about what I’d learned so far.

“The job quest as well.”

Part of me was shocked he gave me the info, another wondered about Lenna not mentioning it.

“But I’ll take care of that one. I’ll come up with a quest for you to complete.” He bobbed his head.

“That feels like cheating,” I added, thinking of Hammy trying to game his profession. However, I wondered how someone got quests outside of the ones that popped up as part of the system. Each time I learned something, it made me realize how much I didn’t know.

“You have much to learn about the universe.” Noseen chuckled again. “The system encourages creativity and growth above all. It dislikes when you become stagnant.” He paused after he spoke for a moment, a tiny tongue flickered out of his needle mouth like a hummingbird. “You must become less squishy.”

“I’m working on it,” I growled. It wasn’t like I hadn’t done anything since I’d last dreamt of him. I’d fought a giant turtle thing and found a team without going to a village, as he warned me of. Not to mention the levels and skills that I’d increased. Noseen reminded me of my father, full of unrealistic expectations. Then again, he knew what awaited me out in the universe, given my class. “How can I level Insight?” I suddenly asked, thinking of my conversation from earlier.

“Using it, and learning new things. The dungeon will help, I mean it. Use it on everything inside. Dungeons provide history and context for the range of levels that challenge them.” His wings vanished as he rose in the air toward my face. “Dungeons are better than hunting down higher-level creatures, when you can find one for your level.”

I flinched back before steadying myself. “Are all dungeons level-locked?” I did my best to ignore him hovering right in front of me.

Noseen buzzed louder than the light sound from each beat of his wings. I wasn’t sure if he was laughing at me or not. “Each has its own requirements, none on my world are for under level 100.” The buzzing paused. “It might be 200, it’s been awhile since I checked in.”

My eyes widened at his comment, but then I relaxed. Given my current rate of leveling, that wasn’t too far off. Not that I’d get to try one on his world soon. Two hundred might be pushing my abilities, though I had to admit, I didn’t really have any idea how common levels like that were.

“So, after this dungeon, we’ll meet up and I finish the rest of the citizenship path quest thing. What does becoming a citizen mean?” While I had access to Lenna now, I figured she’d have different viewpoints than Noseen.

“Citizens can move freely between worlds, using the portal system. That doesn’t mean some portals or worlds don’t charge to visit, or that you can automatically access every portal, but you have right of travel. Some will charge, and some will be restricted, especially depending on your level.”

“Woah, so I might visit your world?” I leaned back on the cliff edge, wondering how many worlds were out there. The whole reason I’d joined the mission to colonize the stars was to explore. See unknown places, and build a home with my family that wouldn’t be destroyed in a couple of years. Now, I’d be able to explore more than one world. Not to mention meet others like Lenna that weren’t human.

Yet, if portals were the primary mode of transportation, John was out of luck. His class was less useful than I’d thought. We’d need to see if it could be evolved, like Hammy’s.

“That’s the plan. The sooner the better.”

“Wait, what?”

“Remember, become less squishy,” replied Noseen, before everything around me rippled and then vanished.

My eyes flickered open, and I frowned. I hated how he always got the last word in, not to mention not getting to ask all of my questions. Noseen planned for me to leave this world, and head to the one he owned. I couldn’t do that, my family was here. His warnings so far had meant little, Lenna hadn’t freaked out when she’d used Insight on me. I resisted asking her about my class because of Noseen. Otherwise, it would have been the first question out of my mouth. Sleep eluded me as I stared upward at the fake green stars. How much danger was I really in?