GROWTH & POWER

I shuffled over to the skeleton parts, placed them back into a pile, and Summoned Skeleton Ritual.

Aptitude Increase:

Summon Kinan Skeleton (75%)

I could not help but feel a bit cheerful—proud. I killed three vampires, did not lose limbs, and had a somewhat reliable minion. Only the uncertainty of what was ahead of me bites at my current state of tranquility. I looked into my skeleton's eyes, and it returned the gaze with vacant eyes waiting for my instruction. I let out a shaky breath before limping over to the warrior's ashes to gather his items— Leather Helm +1, Leather Vest +2, Iron Short Sword +3, and a Tiny Vial of Healing.

Hmm... a healing potion? I remembered Cosmo force-feeding me one. Other than that, I have never held one in my hands. Also, since Prod had this, it must mean the undead, such as vampires, could drink potions.

I brought the gear to my skeleton and put the Leather Vest +2 on it, and I felt a decrease in my mana regeneration. Interestingly, the heavier the summoning, the more mana is required to keep it stable. Next, I gave it the Iron Short Sword +3 and again felt another mana regeneration decrease. Lastly, I placed the Leather Helm +1 upon its skull, bringing my mana regeneration to a crawl.

PAIN

Look at you. Eating all of my mana now, are you?

I returned to the ashes of Cabe and collected a mage robe and (Fire Aptitude) Tiara, Petty En Fire Casting, a pathetic piece of enchanted gear I could unseal by sight alone. Either way, I forced the unfortunate thing onto my head—a tight fit around my head of red hair.

Aptitude Acquired:

Petty En Fire Casting

Aptitude Increase:

Petty En Fire Casting (1%)

The Mage Robes were useless because they did not have any magical enchantment.

I disappointedly folded the Mage Robes and retreated to the first room with the single torch at its center. I tossed the robes down and returned to the vast room I named the Chamber. I went around the Chamber, collecting all the items to return to my room. It was pretty quiet, and I began to feel sure no other vampires were lurking within these ruins... but I was not so sure anything else was.

I figured my room to be the safest place because, if I needed to, I could flee into the river and let it carry me around downstream. Not something I was hoping to do anytime soon.

After retrieving all of the items from the Chamber, I eyed my collection within my room; Tiny Vials of Healing (red sparkling liquid in tiny bottles), Tiny Vials of Mana (sparkling blue liquid in tiny bottles), Dark Robes (useless), 2 Mage Robes, (impractical as well), Leather Boots +1, Wooden Shield +1, Ceramic Oil Vials, and a Map.

Hmm... I studied the map for a while but could not understand it. I was not able to find my location on the map. To be fair, Recall Memory only remembered the linear path I took through the air.

I examined the insides of the boots to be sure nothing slimy or disgusting was inside before I slid my crusted feet in—a loose fit. I called my skeleton over and gave it the shield and felt my mana regeneration come to an almost complete halt. Only a sliver fragment of my mana regenerated—good enough.

My adrenaline had died down, and my stomach growled. I grabbed one of the Tiny Vials of Healing and drank it hoping to quench some of my hunger, but it only healed my injuries slightly. I tossed the empty vial out the door and into the river, and soon after, my stomach growled like an agitated beast. Oh—this could not be happening—I rushed to the river, dropped to a squat, and let loose into the raging stream.

Was it the potion? I recall Cosmo informing me that his potion was pure and had no side effects. Furthermore, his potion was a green health potion, and mine were all red. What color did pure mana potions come in? I could not guess or think of what would make a potion pure. Pure mana, possibly? I began to wonder why potions, of all things, would cause issues.

As I posed there, lost in thought, I watched the moon slowly form into a sun. It hovered upstream over the gorge. It dawned on me that I had no clue where I was, nor the kingdom this land was a part of. I looked down the stream and saw that the river did not let up. Though, the gorge walls evened out further down. I looked upwards, and sickness engulfed me from how steep the gorge walls were. I could not believe how far I had fallen.

The moon reached half-sun, and I was grateful for how lucky I was—if this gorge had flowed east to west, I would have been forever in the dark, for the walls would block out the light.

Either way, I was stuck here for now. If I wanted a way out, I would have to go further into the ruins and find another way out. I was done a while ago but sat there, buried my head in my arms, and allowed my Recall Memory to run rampant. I have been through a lot in the past two years.

Once I was done tending to myself, I took myself back inside and eyed my skeleton—I wondered, could it survive outside? There was only one way to find out—I ordered it. The light rays barely reach it before it combusted into flames. I pulled it back in and put out the flames with the useless robes as my mana drained to heal his injuries.

PAIN

Well, that is unfortunate.

Either way, it was not as if I could leave through the River Door, so I headed back into the Chamber with my skeleton close behind. Everything was the same as I had left it. I then heard a sound. I snapped my head to the right, towards the direction of the sound. It was a faint scuffing sound that faded as soon as I heard it.

For a full minute, I stood still, waiting to hear it again, but it did not come again. So, I decided to first go through the Dark Corridor and inspect where the door led.

After waiting silently in search of that scuffling noise, I noticed how annoyingly loud my skeleton's movements were. I put up with it until I reached the door and ordered it to stay put while I crept through.

I entered a void of darkness, blinking to confirm I did not suddenly go blind. I created a tiny ember within my palm and waited. I heard nothing nor saw anything moving ahead. Despite the tiny ember, I could not see too far and was not proficient enough to throw a ball of fire. However, I could make out a small tunnel ahead of me.

Despite my ability to cast Fire, I was not immune to the heat. It was also draining my mana quickly. I needed a torch—

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw it. There was an old unlit wooden torch on the wall to my left—I grabbed it and lit it ablaze. Then, I crept further into the abyss, illuminating more old torches. As I went further in, I noticed a gradual increase in webbing. Most of it was a light brownish color. Hesitantly, I reached out and touched a sheet of it—it was not sticky and felt more like an elastic rope. Arachnid webs were valuable, and I was hesitant to burn them.

The Black Forest webs in the Kingdom of Fire were finer than these. Nevertheless, any kind of arachnid webbing was hard to come by without being threatened by the arachnids or perfectly wrapped in them... waiting to be eaten.

I attempted to incinerate the sheets of webs that impeded me and gawked at how combustible they were compared to Black Forest webbing. Locness' image popped into my mind, and I grimaced,

PAIN

If only it were these arachnids.

I pushed the thought of her away as I ran into three baby arachnids. With my confidence catapulting, I incinerated one of them, then chased down the other two and turned them into ashes. I continued past their ashes and eventually came to an oval room.

A worn-out desk was in the middle, and the walls were carved into shelves. I inspected each and every gap in hopes of finding something useful. I found nothing but trash saved for a few parchments. I decided to cut my losses and return with the parchment rolls. Hmm... I would give spell writing a go—only if I were bored out of my mind.

Back in the Chamber, I took a left, went through the north door, and caught myself after tripping down a small flight of stairs. I walked around the dark room and inspected it little by little. I could not find any torches along the wall but soon saw that this was an old library.

Several small round waist-high stone tables were at the center, and four shelves were on either side. I spotted some old wax candles on the ground, but they were worn down. I could possibly put them together and make them work with some dried webbing. Near one of the shelves, I found a burnt-out campfire made of old books with the remains of several overgrown, dead rats with one partially cooked and eaten rat. After a few more minutes of searching, I found only that partially cooked rat, some charcoal, flint stones, and more rolls of parchment.

I carried the supplies to my room and set the massive rat before me. It was not going to taste well, but... this was fine. After all, I was immortal and took a cringe-worthy bite out of the rat before returning to the Chamber. The last door was where the vampires came from. My heart was beating rapidly, but I kept breathing slowly and steadily. I took along my skeleton but kept it trailing at a distance.

A flight of stairs led down into a hall ahead lit by torches along the walls. Interesting... did vampires need light, or do they tire of using only their night vision? After I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed several entryways on either side of the corridor. I cautiously peeked into one of the rooms, an old classroom with stone seats and tables. I moved across the corridor and looked into the next room, another classroom.

I became confident and made my way down the corridor. Each room, sixteen in total, was an old classroom. The last and final door at the end of the hall was open slightly, and I could feel a slight breeze coming from it.

I peered in and made out a circular dirt-ridden room. Nobody was there, and I noticed a spiral stone staircase taking up the right side and center of the room. My heart skipped a beat—I could finally leave... But then reality dawned, and I questioned what I would do if I had left this place. Get eaten again? Attacked by adventurers? Eat poison berries? My eagerness to leave faded and I looked closer at the room.

It was vast and well-lit with wall sconces—these vampires must have needed light. Something new to note, I assume. I counted three separate sleeping areas and one large one in the middle that was damped with white—that was semen. Gods—it was definitely semen and another thing to note. How fascinating. Could they poop too?

After realizing this dwelling was smaller than I expected and I was alone, I made my way up the spiral staircase. Hmph... I ran into a debris wall that had collapsed onto the stairs. It had not collapsed on its own—I rubbed my hands along the burn marks upon the debris. I thought about it for a second before heading back down. The area damped with semen was actually made from worn-out clothing. This explains why the vampires were naked. I also noticed a broken hand-pushed wagon at the bottom of the stairs.

They were chased by someone or something that they deliberately trapped themselves in here. What could vampires be afraid of?

PAIN

Other vampires?

I thought out loud. Or a fierce beast... staying in these ruins might be safer for me. I should be in no need to rush outside and become food again.

I spent some time inspecting the wagon, attempting to fix it, but it was beyond repair. Letting out an air of frustration, I began my back-and-forth trip of hauling all valuable belongings from the Tower to my room.

After I got everything back to my room, I inspected my loot; random books, Tiny Vials of Healing (these were red too), Tiny Vials of Mana (these were blue like the others), a few dead rats (still fresh...), one decaying rat (this one was better than the other decaying four I saw), two sleeping rolls, collection of wooden spoons, clay pots, and bowls (these vampires were meticulous about their food I assumed), and 2 Spell Book: Summon Undead Ritual.

PAIN

Summon Undead?

I thought skeletons were considered undead. I had two books, so I unsealed one and learned the spell.

Active Acquired:

Summon: Undead Ritual

After learning the spell, the knowledge of the magic itself informed me that the ritual required fleshy organs and bones. Plants, tiny bugs, critters, or animals would not do. Hmm... it had to be, at least, large as a rabbit. The longer the creature was dead, the weaker Summon Undead Ritual became—which I noticed after eyeing the decaying dire rats. Furthermore, the amount of mana it would require was absurd. What a pain...

I decided that I needed to train my mana endurance. I could also engage in active labor while I was at it to hone my physical body. I could increase my mana pool by constantly draining it, and the Chamber was large enough for running and performing other physical activities.

Hmph, thinking back, Abigail had about seven skeletons summoned. Summoning should be a great way of increasing mana.

I started training in the Chamber and cast Fire into the air for an hour. Instead of running out of mana, I became hot and sweaty. Remembering the breeze at the Tower, I decided to train there instead for several hours on the debris blocking my path. This could be a significant challenge, to train every day until I could get through this debris. After depleting my mana, I returned to my room, opened the River Door, and lay down with a book.

It was challenging to read—my stench was revolting, but I refused to get into that ravaging stream for a bath.

Bane of Winter Fort was the book I had begun to read. Winter Fort was a grand old fort in the Kingdom of Ice many years ago, and that was all I knew about that name.

According to this book, an orphaned bain—a furry race known for its violent nature—rose to the rank of Knight and fought on the front lines against the Kingdom of Fire. I was not surprised he had a difficult time gaining recognition. He was different, and I understood the hate between the races. Thinking about it, I believe the Fire Kingdom even forbade other races from becoming citizens...

Reading the book, I learned the bain with no name grew in favor of his fellow soldiers and became a captain. So, Captain Bane became his new name. The book's authors eagerly detailed his strategies, plots, sabotages, and plans that I caught myself drooling from my mouth as my eyes darted across the pages.

Unfortunately for Captain Bane, he was different, and his superiors wanted him dead and plotted against him repeatedly. With nobody to turn to, Captain Bane and a small platoon of trusted knights defected to the Kingdom of Fire and aided them in taking down Winter Fort.

With his command, he ordered his three thousand kinan army to become victorious over a ten thousand kinan fort in one night. The Fire King Banki, a name I have never heard of, offered Captain Bane nobility and riches, but Bane declined, set the entire fort ablaze, and committed suicide on the peak of the fort.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

PAIN

Hmm, what a warrior. Suppose any of that was true.

The book read more like a story told by an author who obtained the report through second-handed accounts... or even rumors.

My mana replenished moderately, so I picked up another book—The Journey; it was a smaller book and was quick to read. Unfortunately, it contained a slew of vastly detailed gruesome accounts about the ylguen author being a bain's slave for two years. Hmm... how ironic.

Ylguens were a race with a slightly lower mana intellect than kinans. They were considered among the most beautiful creatures in the Kingdom of Fire.

In this book, the author, Bregor, and his entourage were caught on a trade route and brought into a bain underground outpost where all the females were raped to death. Afterward, the bains sought out the males for pleasure, including Bregor. Quite bothersome—he explained in detail how he was raped and tortured and even forced to watch others receive the same treatment.

Like the ladies, many gents died in the struggle, but Bregor held on. I sighed... in the end, his escape was not all that glorious,

PAIN

I should have expected much.

I mumbled. I gently closed the book and set it aside after reading that the author used several fellow ylguen gents as bait to escape.

People were not very kind, and for those who were kind, I usually only read about them in books. But Bregor wanted to survive—holding on dearly to life, something I did not understand... or maybe I do.

I wanted to be out on the plains on my own for so long... hoping to become the heroes I read about... quite childish of me. Unfortunately, the plains were no different from the castle's basement.

I hugged my knees and curled into a ball, thinking of how people were always unkind. I believe myself to be a kind gent... despite how angry I may become, I have always done my best to keep it under control. I never attacked anyone for no reason—Sky's scarred neck popped into my head—good reason... I have never instigated a fight or complained in anger. Anger did not solve anything. It just caused more suffering. But then my memory proved me wrong…

PAIN

I am a liar. I did all of those things. I am a damned hypocrite.

With my mana full and body stiff, I sought to loosen up, so back at the Tower, I pelted the debris with Fire. But, unfortunately, Recall Memory kept activating on its own, and I could not get those books out of my head.

Giving up, I did my best to keep my mind clear by deciding to practice controlling my fire. Mages who could throw balls of fire or create streams of flames learned by perfecting mana control. It sounded so simple, but it was actually complicated—I needed to have a perfect picture in mind and practice controlling my fire to mimic that image.

With Recall Memory, I could firmly hold an image in my mind without the image faltering for even a second. All I needed to do was practice forming my fire to mimic the imagery. After a few tries, I soon ran out of mana but made astonishing progress.

Back in the Chamber, I performed physical activities—it was not the best experience because my rancid body odor filled the Chamber within seconds, but I had no choice. I needed to stay fit and physical exercise was a must. With Infinite Petty Regeneration, my fatigue slowly dissipated at the cost of the food in me.

In my room, I held up a dire rat to the oil torch stand, cooking it entirely—almost to a blackened crisp before I decided it was done. I took a reluctant bite, and the bland, dry pieces of rat slid down my throat. I tried to savor the arduous meal, but instead, sweat formed and ran down my forehead. After a few bites, I was sweating harder than my physical bouts. Finally done with the morsel, I opened the River Door to allow the breeze to enter and saw night had fallen.

I eyed the door across from me—what could it have led to? I could only imagine; a den full of arachnids? A pit of golems? An enchanted tomb full of the walking dead? I did my best to put it out of my head, sat down, and pulled out a book, Plight of Souls.

The name made me hesitant, but I began to read it anyway, and with a dozen pages in, I understood this was a story about someone banished from society for being a Necromancer. Hmm... life was genuinely unfair. I took a break and thought about it. I was confident I was a Mage, but the two spells I learned accepted my mana readily.

Though I was positive that Mage was my class—I could feel it. Of course, it was also possible to have multiple classes, but the more I had, the more difficult it was to attune my magic to a different type and obtain more classes.

The way I understood it was the more necromancy I did, the more my mana would become attuned to it and vice versa. For some, due to the nature of their birth and genetics, no matter how many fire spells or ice spells they cast, they would always be attuned to necromancy. Was I becoming a Necromancer? Was that why I could not create a Fire spell book or scroll?

Thoughts eventually gave way to sleep, and I experienced the most annoying dream I ever had; I was in an underground mine as a bain's slave, reliving every word from that damned book. Recall Memory was indeed toying with me.

Passive Acquired:

Great Strong Body

Petty Body Control

Petty En Stamina

Petty En Strength

Petty En Hearing

Petty En Sight

Petty En Vitality

Lesser Fire Aversion

Passive Increase:

Infinite Lesser Regeneration

Skill Acquired:

Petty Heat Vision

Petty Quickstep

Petty Interference

Aptitude Increase:

Summon: Kinan Skeleton (85%)

Summon: Kinan Warrior (50%)

I sprung awake the following day, shocked by the growth I had obtained. I hopped to my feet, feeling lighter, and as I scanned through my passives, I figured that lightness was connected to Petty Body Control.

I then looked down, expecting my body—

PAIN

By the drifting Gods of Limbo!

I nearly leaped out of my body at the sight of sharp red claws protruding from my fingers. Then Recall Memory struck me with a flurry of images recalling my fight with Abigail. I chuckled a little,

PAIN

I am a vampire now...

I fell to my knees, barely feeling pain as my kneecaps collided with the stone ground. I did not know what to make of it. Despite the incomprehensible bubbling fear that lived in the back of my mind, I continued to smile with joy and let my tongue slide against the back of my fangs.

I went onto the platform and looked at my reflection in the quick-moving river. I looked normal, realizing it had been years since I saw my reflection—black and white skin resembling the skeleton's frame, my black pupils and blood-red eyes swimming in a black sclera.

Nothing off or strange about my looks compared to the vampires I slew—their faces were twisted, scrunched up, and primarily ugly, while I resembled a normal kinan. With a little effort, I could retract my fangs and claws—it was highly uncomfortable—like holding in an upcoming sneeze. But I smiled at the relief that I could still blend in with commoners when the time came.

My grin widened at the thought of testing my new skills and passives, but a sudden commotion outside my room grabbed my attention. My mana was draining quicker—my skeleton must be fighting off something weak if that something had trouble overcoming my skeleton. I hurried out of my room and saw that my skeleton was fending off three baby arachnids.

I burnt one into a cinder and gawked at my flames' strength. No... it was not my flames. My mana output was greater. I could dispense mana from throughout my entire hand and wrist. Dean could also do this, so some training helped me come a long way. Well, that and Recall Memory.

I swiftly turned the other arachnids into blackened corpses. Where were they coming from? I did not think much of it before, but these arachnids were not in packs similar to the Black Forest Arachnids. Or were they elsewhere, and I did not know?

My stomach growled, and I returned to eat my morning meal—a large chunk of a rotting dire rat. Again, beads of sweat formed at my temple as I swallowed each bite of rotten meat. I would have assumed that my taste for these grotesque critters would improve being a vampire. But why would it, since Abigail and her party had stashed cooking tools?

Clenching my jaws at the aftertaste, I exhaled strongly through my nose and eyed the remaining rats I had left. My Petty En Sight allowed me to catch sight of the first specks of mold. Despite my gratefulness for being able to see such detail, it was such an unpleasant sight that I wanted to claw my eyes out.

I returned to the Chamber to test my newly acquired skills and passives—the first one, Petty Heat Vision. It was... quite interesting. It allowed me to see lingering forms of heat but hampered my regular sight while it was active. If I was close enough, I could see lingering heat through walls and slabs.

I then tried Petty Quickstep, which allowed me to briefly dash or move in any direction at high speeds. I grimaced and grabbed my calves—there was a temporary strain on my weak muscles after performing the skill.

Lastly, there was Petty Interference, but nothing happened upon activating the skill. Yet, it was an active skill, but as I continued to tap into it, the feeling of it as a passive continued to wash over me.

My passives will eventually be put to the test. One that I could test now would be Lesser Fire Aversion. As I made my way to the Tower, I created a spark of fire within my palms, but the heat from it was not at all different. Curious, I placed my arm into my palm of fire and panicked as it instantly combusted into flames.

I frantically waved my arm, but the fire spread toward my shoulder. I was about to fall to the floor and roll, but Abigail's scene flashed in my mind—rolling would have made it worse. I started patting the fire with my free hand; it was working—it was my mana, to begin with.

Unfortunately, it was not working fast enough, and the fire began spreading throughout the right side of my robes. The sound of a water drop reached my ears, and my eyes snapped to the door ahead of me. I rushed through the door and slid across a layer of mud before falling face-first.

PAIN

Fuck!

I pushed myself up, relieved the fire had dissipated—suddenly lurching away from the damp clothing of semen.

I huffed; my Lesser Fire Aversion made me succumb to fire, and if my own was Lesser, I could only guess what Abigail and her party might have had. But, since I could regenerate, I could rebuild my resistance to Fire.

Putting the thoughts away, I marched up the spiral stairwell and noticed dew dripping from the debris. It must have started raining outside. Something I could use for my training—since the debris was wet, I might be able to use as much mana as I wanted.

Within two hours of training, I could focus my wild cone of flames into a lovely three-foot stream. Unfortunately, during those two hours, I had set my flammable skin on fire over a dozen times, forcing me to dive repeatedly into the mud.

I eventually covered my entire arms save for my hands in the mud. Then, somewhat safe from my fire, I tested my fire control and learned that decreasing the output area around my hands was a bad idea, and I burned myself again.

PAIN

Dammit!

Instead, I had to increase the area of my mana zone and cast Fire—mana emission. I must then manipulate the heat and density of my fire—mana manipulation. Finally, use mana control to maintain the shape's stability as it emanates from my hands.

This was a challenging task, granted the first step, mental imagery, was obsoleted by Recall Memory. Nonetheless, it made a grave difference—I was improving. Feeling satisfied with my progress, I retired to my room, washed off the mud from my face and arms in the rain, and picked out the most appetizing dire rat I could find. I cooked it to a crisp—I would rather taste the burnt meat than the meat itself.

Again, I opened the River Door to allow the breeze in—it was still raining, but I did not mind. I grabbed Plight of Souls and sat against a wall facing the River Door—the breeze became strong and sprinkled me in shivers, blowing out the oil torch.

Dammit, I pouted in the darkness. Placing down Plight of Souls, I crossed my legs and focused on creating a tiny stable sphere of fire between my hands.

I was sure to use as little mana as possible to let it regenerate while I meditated. A peaceful meditation... and Recall Memory was calm and granted me complete focus and imagery. Mental imagery was the most challenging part of mana manipulation and control back when I was in the Fire Kingdom. It would always come and go. I would constantly get distracted or drawn into my mind—reliving a book I had long read or thinking about setting fire to a fellow scribe.

I opened my eyes after fifteen minutes to see a sphere of fire stable in my palms. I should not have opened my eyes—my astonishment caused me to lose focus, and the shape of fire warped violently. I added mana into it and aimed it out the river door—my aim was off, and it blasted through one of the River Doors before exploding off the doors across the river.

The explosion blew loose chucks off the ravine walls and whipped the air through my room, but as the smoke cleared, the doors across the river were still in one piece. I briefly observed shimmering mana energy shielding the door before it vanished from view. I sighed, I did not want to think about it, and while I put off the thought, my stomach growled, and I growled back at it,

PAIN

You always need food.

The other rats were turning brown, white, and black. I could see the first maggots swimming through the guts. From what pits of hell did they come from? Frustration took over me, and I set them on fire. Even if I wanted to eat the rats, they were ashes now. I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

I went out into the Chamber and eyed the toasted dead arachnids. Hmm... some bugs could be eaten, right? I picked out the most delectable arachnid corpse and took it to my room. I knelt in my sleeping area and held the arachnid by one of its limbs. I studied it... stared at it... held it up by a different limb... I did not want to eat this thing. I sighed and broke off one of its legs. I studied the insides, hollow with pieces of flesh hanging along the limb's inner walls—the flesh looked like flakes, baked potato flakes covered in white and green sticky liquid.

I finally bit into it... it should not have any toxins in its limbs... I think. The texture did resemble flakes of roasted potatoes.

But the taste was nothing like it; it was unbearably sour and salty, and after two more bites, I felt a sharp burning throughout my mouth, throat, and stomach. I dropped the limb and doubled over in pain. My hands gripped my stomach, and they also began to burn. Then, through my blurry vision, I saw a bloody hole in my stomach. The gap was growing—acid?

Sharp painful air touched my throat and chest as my esophagus and sternum began to corrode away. My vision blurred utterly, and my head spun. Blood exploded out my throat as my body attempted to puke the hazardous food. Finally, my body numbed, and the pain vanished as I tumbled.

Of course, its limbs would be poisonous! It seems no matter how many books I read, I was still a daft idiot! Dammit. I felt myself come and go several times during the ordeal—it felt like I was out for three hours, but I was sure I was out for days. Finally, I entered a state of being both awake and asleep simultaneously.

Profession Added:

Cook

Soon after receiving my new profession,

Active Acquired:

Summon: Skeleton Kinan Warrior

Summon: Skeleton Kinan

Cook Passive Acquired:

Petty Heatmaster

Hmm, how quaint...