James woke up sore and confused. His surroundings were unfamiliar, and his body ached. It took a full minute before he remembered everything that had transpired the day before: the black cloud that swallowed him, the dog-sized rats trying to eat him, actual magic, and his grandfather's death.
‘I wish I could have seen him one last time before all of this happened, just to say goodbye.’ James felt tears well up in his eyes and regret fill his heart as he thought about his grandpa. Even if he was a cranky old man ninety percent of the time, he was the only parent James had in his twenty years of life. He taught James how to throw a punch, how to drive, always gave James some very dicey advice on talking to girls, but most of all, he was always in James’ corner, no matter the situation.
He slapped his cheeks, causing a crack to ring out in the tight confines of the cave.
‘Enough reminiscing, I need to find a way out of this damn cave.’
Unyielding Composure level 6 -> 7
James waved the screen away and glanced around. The first thing he saw was the skeleton only feet away from him. Strange enough, he was starting to get used to its presence. He glanced at the hole connecting his small dugout to the larger cavern. The rat carcass still blocked it and looked undisturbed. It was starting to smell, or the Enhanced Smell skill was acting up.
James grabbed the beef jerky and water from his backpack and had a small meal. He finished the meat off and had only a sip of water left in the bottle. Before his next meal, he hoped to leave this cave. He’d make a big, warm fire and grill some oversized rodents.
He inspected his body before leaving the hole. While sore from using a rock as a bed, James found no wounds on his body. All the bites and scratches from the previous day were gone, and he couldn’t even find any scars.
‘Huh, I wonder if that's from the increased endurance or some effect of my mana core?’
James had so many questions regarding the stats and mana he found himself with. But with no one to answer them, he pressed on. He checked his equipment: the large knife was hooked into the belt loop on his jeans, the pocket knife was tucked in his pants, the leather armor was secure and tightened, and his backpack was zipped.
James made sure to throw the journal in his bag before closing it. Although it was mostly the ramblings of a young boy’s daily life, it still helped him immensely, and he didn’t want to abandon it.
James would have buried Alex’s skeleton, but his circumstances didn't really permit it. He had neither a shovel nor any soft ground to bury the body in. With one last glance at the remains of the only person he had encountered since arriving in this world, James made his way out of the hole.
He pulled the Big Rat’s body out of the way, then shimmied himself through the tight space until back in the main cavern. James kept an eye out for the massive rat he saw the day before as he scanned his surroundings. The mushrooms still let off a soft blue glow, lighting most of the cavern, so his dark vision skill wasn’t needed. Besides the fungi, there were no signs of life at all.
He crept towards the pool of water, sliding his bottle out of the backpack as he did so. He took soft steps that he found far quieter than when in his old sneakers. He took slow steps, starting from his heel and slowly bringing the rest of the foot down. As James made his way to the water, he kept his head on a swivel, looking for any movement. After a few minutes, he eventually made it to the pond undisturbed. He dipped his hand in the pool and tried the water first. It was cool and refreshing, far more so than the bottled water. While he had no way to tell if it was bacteria-free, James felt it would be safe to drink. This must be the main water source for the rats, and with his increased endurance, he figured nothing too bad would happen.
He dipped his bottle in and filled it before placing it back in his pack. If it did make him sick, he might get a bacteria-resistance skill that could negate any adverse effects. Hopefully.
James slowly returned to the outskirts of the cavern and started looking for a new tunnel to explore. He wanted to find a way out and figured the best way was to start venturing down the offshoot tunnels of this main cavern. One of them had to lead to the surface, right?
James went down one tunnel after the other for the next few hours. He encountered over a dozen Big Rats and finally got to use Analyze on a living creature.
Name: Big Rat
Type: Rodent
Level 4
Strengths: Agility
Weaknesses: Intelligence
James killed twenty-two rats during his exploration. He always removed and ate the cores but got no new stats or skills. At one point, he increased his dark vision skill by eating a monster core. He figured that consuming the core gave him the Dark Vision skill, but since he already had it, it increased the level instead.
Monster core consumed. Dark Vision level 4 -> 7
James gained another level and quite a few skill levels throughout this excursion. He also drew a map of the tunnels he explored on a blank piece of paper from his bag. He figured that making a map of the cave system would hasten the search for an exit. Now, his status looked like this:
Name: James Costello
Age: 20 years
Race: Human
Status: Normal
Titles: Core Assimilation (Unique), Butcher I (C), Fledgling Mage (U)
Level: 4 (210 / 400 Experience)
Strength: 16
Endurance: 24
Agility: 18
Intelligence: 11
Mana: 45
Stat Points: 5
Skills: Unyielding Composure (U) Lvl. 7, Dark Vision (C) Level 8, Small Blade Mastery (C) Level 7, Unarmed Mastery (C) Level 5, Running (C) Level 4, Thrown Weapon Mastery (C) Level 3. Pain Resistance (U) Level 4, Enhanced Smell (C) Level 6, Analyze (C) Level 3, Mana Manipulation (U) Level 2
He decided to add 4 points to strength and 1 to agility, bringing them to 20 and 19, respectively. The increased stats and skills were starting to have a noticeable effect. James only received a few injuries from his battles against the Big Rats, and the bites were relatively shallow and healed quickly from the monster core energy. His body felt lighter, faster, and stronger than ever.
The steel dagger was also a significant upgrade to his combat prowess. Using a knife designed for combat versus a pocket knife was like night and day. The knife cut cleanly through the rats, even though it was old and starting to rust. It never got stuck in a skull or rib after stabbing with it. James could kill most Big Rats with one or two precise stabs.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He had explored three tunnels over the past few hours and was feeling hungry again. All three had ended in dead ends. Most tunnels were shorter than the one he started in, which he estimated was close to a mile long.
Finally returning to the central area, James went to the shortest giant mushroom nearby. There was still no sign of the larger rat seen previously, so he felt safe walking freely around. He had been hesitant to try eating the mushrooms, but with no food remaining and hunger gnawing at him, it was now or never.
There are many types of mushrooms, some edible, some not. While he had no idea if these glowing mushrooms were edible, he would soon put it to the test.
James pulled out his knife and sliced a small piece off the top of the mushroom. He had once heard that if you didn’t know if a plant, or fungi in this case, was poisonous, there was a somewhat safe way to test it.
Making his way to a darker, more secluded part of the cavern, James rubbed the mushroom on his wrist and waited a few minutes. After nothing happened, he licked it and waited a few more minutes. Once again, nothing happened. With a nervous gulp, James moved on to the final test. He bit off a small portion of the mushroom cap and ate it. It tasted like a typical mushroom, very chewy and a little bland, but nothing that screamed “Poison!”.
James kept checking his status screen. He thought if it detailed injuries and the like, it could also tell him if he was poisoned. He wished there was some information about the system in that journal he found. Trying to piece it all together with no aid was nearly impossible.
For example, what exactly did the Agility stat do? James could tell it increased his speed, but was that all? Did it affect his flexibility and dexterity or increase his proficiency with ranged weapons, like in some games? It was the same with Intelligence. He assumed it involved magic, increasing damage, or casting speed. But James still didn’t even have a way to use mana. Sure, he just made a mana core and got the Mana Manipulation skill before falling asleep the day before, but that didn’t mean he could make a fireball or do some other cool magic tricks.
While waiting for the mushroom to digest, he experimented with his Mana. At first, he simply pushed it through his body like the day before. James found that getting the mana to flow throughout his entire body was relatively easy now, but the flow was still slow. Moving the mana from his core to the soles of his feet took four seconds. Then, another four to move it back to the core. James had a feeling that if he wanted to use his mana, he needed to find a way to push it out of his body, but it felt like a wall was preventing it. Whenever he tried to push the mana outside his body, it would build up like a river being stopped by a dam.
Much like how water erodes rocks, deepening and widening rivers, he just needed to keep pushing against the “walls” until they finally broke down. That was James’ best theory, at least. Having a supernatural energy flowing through his body was still a very strange experience, but gradually, it was becoming more natural to him.
He kept working on his control and speed of the mana inside his body for an hour or so, increasing Mana Manipulation to level 4. He thought that was long enough to let the mushroom digest and release any poison if it had any. Since he felt fine, and no ‘Poisoned’ condition appeared on the status screen, he gauged the mushrooms as safe to eat.
New Skill: Herbalism (Uncommon)
Description: This skill provides the user with information on various flora. Increased information will be provided with each level increase.
‘Oh? This will certainly help keep me alive. Hopefully, it will tell me if something is poisonous before I eat it.’ James thought. This new skill would also help him gather more information in this new world.
He walked up to the closest mushroom and tried the skill.
Giant Luminescent Mushroom
Type: Fungi
Description: An edible variety of fungus that has adapted to mana. It absorbs mana from the ground through its stem and uses it to light its surroundings with luminescent spots on the mushroom cap.
Now, knowing that the fungi were, in fact, edible, James felt safe cutting off some larger pieces and eating them. He also filled his backpack with the mushroom cap. Strangely enough, the soft blue glow they emanated stopped once cut off from the main body of the fungus.
‘Maybe because it can't get the mana supplied by the stem once I cut it off?’
Herbalism level 1 -> 2
‘Huh, guess that means I was right.’ Perhaps he could also improve some skills with specific insights instead of repeatedly using them.
With food and water, James felt prepared to continue his exploration. Using his crudely made map, he found the next unexplored tunnel and started down the path. He detected a faint smell of piss emanating from the tunnel, likely from the rats using it as a bathroom. It made sense. James hadn’t found any signs of rat droppings anywhere until now.
Ten minutes later, James deeply regretted going down this tunnel. The smell of piss had been joined by shit, and it grew stronger with every step he took. His Enhanced Smell skill only worsened the situation, and James was starting to realize that the chances of finding the exit down this route were slim.
‘Wouldn’t the smell get aired out if there was an exit this way? I can't even imagine how long the rats have been using this tunnel as a toilet, but it's absolutely foul.’ There hadn’t even been a single rodent to fight, making James regret his decision even more.
Once he reached the end of the tunnel, he ran back to the exit, hoping to escape the smells that were tormenting him. The only upside to the excursion was that he leveled Enhanced Smell twice, bringing it to level 8.
Taking deep breaths through his nose, James simply breathed the clean air momentarily before making his way to the next tunnel. This one was twice as wide as the last one and didn’t smell like piss.
James took cautious steps into the tunnel, keeping alert for any sights or sounds that would alert him to rats. He kept the fact that the giant rat must be in one of these tunnels in the back of his mind. The last thing he wanted was to come face-to-face with the monstrous rodent while unprepared. While he hadn’t been able to analyze the rat, James was sure it was a far higher level than any other rat he had encountered so far.
After a few minutes down the tunnel, James felt something. A slight breeze tickled his skin. It was warm and dry, far more so than the stale, damp air in the cave. He felt his excitement stir as he picked up his pace.
‘Finally! This tunnel must have the exit to this damn cave. Oh, I can’t wait to feel the sun on my skin. It feels like I've been down here for ages.’ Abandoning his caution, James started running down the cave. He ran past a couple of rats but was moving so fast that they didn’t even have a chance to attack him.
Running level 4 -> 5
With every step, he could feel the breeze growing stronger until finally, James could see it. An opening in the cave wall with sunlight pouring out of it.
‘The exit! I can finally get out of his shitty cave!’ His heart hammered in his chest as he approached the exit at speed. Only a few more steps until he would be out.
Two more steps.
One step.
Bang!
Pain Resistance level 4 -> 5
James hit something just as he was about to leave the cave and was launched back. His face stung, and his nose throbbed in pain. It was like he had just run into a wall. James got back up on shaky feet and approached the exit again, this time far more cautiously.
He reached his hand out as he approached the exit and found it meet some unseen resistance. It was like an invisible wall was separating the cave from the outside world, preventing James from leaving.
“The fuck is this? I’m so close! Why can't I leave?” He nearly screamed out. James could see the outside world. The grass, trees, and even a few birds in the sky. He could almost reach out and touch it, but the unseen barrier kept him locked in, a prisoner in this rat-infested cave.
He slammed a fist into the barrier, more out of anger than anything else. The outside world was so close, but he couldn’t reach it! A flicker of fury began to kindle in James, dulling the pain from earlier. He had fought tooth and nail, killed so many of those damn rats, all for this moment, to leave this horrible place. But now he was being denied. It felt like the world itself was holding him prisoner inside the cave.
‘Damnit! Fine, if you won’t let me out, I’ll find another way!’ James stormed back down the tunnel, foregoing all caution. He was too angry to worry about the possible dangers lurking in the dark.
He encountered the two Big Rats that he passed on the way to the exit, this time brutally killing them. One with a powerful kick followed by a stomp to the head, the other with a vicious stab in its back. He didn’t even bother retrieving their cores, simply continuing his path back to the central cavern.
You have killed a Big Rat (Level 3) x2
30 experience gained
Unarmed Mastery level 5 -> 6
James pushed the windows out of his vision and kept moving until he neared the central area. Just as he stepped into the cavern, he noticed something huge quickly approaching from his left.
It was the giant rat, and it looked pissed off. James let off a quick Analyze.
Name: Big Rat
Type: Rodent
Level 15
Strengths: Strength, Agility
Weaknesses: Intelligence
“Oh shit…”