Chapter 3 - Status window

The sun definitely seemed to have moved a little but Adam had no way of knowing how long it had been since he awoke. Probably five hours or so, therefore it didn't look like it would be night for a long while, meaning a day here would likely last a lot longer than an Earth day. This was a good thing for Adam right now since he needed all the time he could get to learn more about his new environment and nightfall would likely be the time the predators came out. During his trip in and out of the less dense part of the jungle, he looked around for any wildlife and did eventually notice some smaller insects similar to ants climbing up trees from their nests underground but no alien monkeys or even snakes so far. He assumed they were there somewhere as this environment was perfectly suited for them but surprisingly enough the first animals he noticed were a group of birds flying far off in the distance near the other island. They were too far away to see properly but they looked almost white with some hints of green on their bellies. Despite his fears that they may be some sort of prehistoric flying monster, they rather resembled big falcons except for their tails that were almost half as long as their entire bodies and seemed rather unique as they were as wide as a palm and equally so all the way down to the tails end where it then abruptly ended in a small tuff of white fur similar to a rabbits tail. He couldn’t see more as the group of a dozen birds disappeared over the second island.

He had long cracked open the heart-shaped coconut fruit and found more of that amazing sweet water along with small semi-solid balls lining the entire inside of the fruit. They reminded Adam of small cherries except instead of a red color they had a distinct semi-transparent blue tint to them. He plucked one out and bit into it to find that despite its looks, it did not contain liquid inside but was rather a jelly-like substance that released a similar yet more potent sweet taste than the fruit’s liquid. Its effect on Adam was even more pronounced as his whole body felt stronger and tougher after eating it. There should have been at least 30 of the small blue cherries so he only ate a handful and decided to keep the rest for later. He didn’t want to leave his only source of food and water unattended on the beach however, so he made haste back to his cave.

After a few minutes of walking, he heard the sound of movement behind him and turned around a split second later to find some abomination crawling out of the treeline and onto the beach behind him. Adam was confused for a second as his eyes had trouble focusing on whatever had just moved. A moment of confusion later he began running away as fast as he could in the opposite direction. What he saw when he turned around was seemingly a mix of a lizard, a snake, and a centipede matched together with a camouflaging ability that blended it in with the jungle. The terrifying monster had countless small lizard legs all along its long body that extended back into the treeline meaning it was at least 15 meters long. Its centipede-like form was only made worse by its snaking main body, which he could only make out because of its contrast with the bright sand. The other end of its wavy body seemed to merge with the jungle meaning he would have no way of seeing it coming if not for the fact that he was on the beach right now. Its head was poorly defined as it appeared to lack any sort of eyes, nose, or ears but instead, Adam was staring face to face with a dark void filled with countless rows of needle-like teeth. Without needing much thought, he sprinted as fast as his legs would take him down the sandy beach and towards his cave. He tightened his grip on the large fruit in his hands as he didn’t want to lose his only source of food to this terrifying monster. However, this didn’t help him move any better as the added weight was making running on the slippery sand even harder and sent sand flying with every step. He was constantly stumbling but either through sheer luck or his extremely high adrenaline, he was able to stay on his feet and keep moving. The monster however didn’t seem to be bothered by the sand as its many legs were moving at blurring speeds as it snaked its way to the fleeing Adam. He glanced back to see it gaining on him at a rapid pace. The sight of it made his hair stand on end as he gained an extra spring in his leg. Despite his best efforts, he simply wasn't fast enough as the thing snapped at his legs with every step so every step was likely to be his last, the creature was simply too fast and had better mobility. Adam felt his heart jump in his throat as time seemed to slow down and Adam searched for anything to get him out of this. There were no places to hide and nothing to use as a weapon, his stamina was dropping and his speed was diminishing. He clenched his muscles and willed them to be a little stronger, just move a little faster. He reached down deep for anything to get him away from his pursuer. Then suddenly, he began to feel a warm feeling permeating his whole body. His muscles felt stronger, he was fully re-energized and began running faster. Even his balance on the sand seemed to improve as the warm feeling spread from his stomach into every muscle as the refreshing gust of energy as it rippled through every fiber of his being. Suddenly he gained a huge burst of speed and started leaping across the beach more than twice his previous speed. He was so fast that he was practically flying just above the sand as his legs started blurring together with every leap. Adam and the creature were racing across the beach, his steps were wide and flung more sand in the air with every large leap, the beast on the other hand used its many legs to practically glide along the beach in near-perfect silence despite leaving disturbed sand in its wake, but nowhere near as chaotic as it's fleeing human prey. Now though, the creature for the first time since the start of the chase, started to fall behind as Adam ran straight for the cliff up ahead, and after less than half a minute, he jumped with all his might and made it two-thirds of the way up the 3-meter cliff side slope. He used his left hand to drag his body the rest of the way as he continued to use his right hand to grip the coconut heart fruit. Luckily for Adam, there were many loose rocks on the cliff side so he grabbed the closest and lobbed it at the creature who had fallen behind a little after his mad dash. He missed the first two throws but hit it with the third as it was now right up against the cliff. Adam was about to run away from the cliffside to avoid it once more when he noticed that the creature was unable to climb the stone wall. Only now did he notice that the legs of the creature were not solid like a centipede but rather pretty soft-looking, probably designed for fast but silent movement within the jungle. Its whole body seemed to be made for flexible and silent movement within densely forested areas, allowing it to easily bend and snake its body between trees and using its camouflage ability to hide in wait for unsuspecting prey, but out here in the open, it looked rather out of its depth. It was fast but based on its size and many legs, it shouldn’t have had too big of a problem running him down. Yet here he was, safe and out of its reach. It tried to climb the stone wall again but gave up after a few seconds, instead deciding to crawl away back toward the jungle where Adam guessed it would hide in wait for him to come back down before ambushing him. He pushed the thought out of his mind and tried to calm down his shaking body. “That was way too damn close, I knew there had to be centipedes in this shit world but that was so much worse. At least it can't climb rocks though so that's something at least”, he attempted to regulate his breathing now that the danger had passed and he was coming down from his adrenaline high.

Never in his life had he been so close to death. He’s had a few close calls, the occasional hammer falling from the construction site or the truck’s brakes not working properly on an icy day but all of those close calls were accidents and he only realized how lucky he was after they were over. This however was an entirely new feeling of helplessness, he knew that if he slowed down just for a fraction of a second then that beast would have been on him in a heartbeat. And he knew that if it so much as touched him back there then it would be game over. Never in his life has he felt so shit scared and desperate to get away from anything like today. Then again, he always hated centipedes as they looked super freaky to him as a kid and even as an adult he wasn’t a big fan. All those legs moving in tandem and their ability to crawl anywhere gave him the heebie-jeebies. Adam was only marginally grateful that this world's equivalent of a centipede had less sturdy legs and couldn't climb walls. If he was being chased by an upscaled earthly centipede then he might have been royally screwed. Hell, if he kept running like he did to get up here he might have been able to jump his way back to Earth just from the fear. Thinking about it, that last jolt of energy he had felt was different than just fear and adrenaline. It was a sensation he recognized, looking down at the coconut heart he had placed on the ground at his feet while he caught his breath, he realized that whatever that fruit was, it somehow energized him enough to escape the beast. In hindsight, its effects were pretty obvious since it did the same thing when he first tasted it. It somehow helped him with his hunger and low energy despite only having tasted a small amount of the liquid. Adam had calmed down a bit now yet he still felt much stronger than before, like how his body felt when he was pumped full of adrenaline except he wasn't anymore, his breath was steady and the shaking in his hands had stopped. He picked up the fruit again with his right hand and noticed that it didn't feel as heavy as before. He checked through the hole in the top of the upside-down heart fruit to see if the cherries were gone but as far as he could tell they were all still there. This fruit was the size of a watermelon and he needed two hands to carry it from its original tree to the beach. Now the fruit seemed to weigh half as much and he could lift it with one hand without too much effort.

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‘Could this fruit have somehow changed my body to somehow make me stronger?’

Just then, the moment he started to question what had changed with his body, a window appeared in his vision and he almost fell over in surprise. The bright blue light of a floating box with slightly fuzzy edges that seemed to blend into the rest of the world came to life in his vision. His shock was quickly filled with anticipation as he realized what it was upon glimpsing some white text in the middle of the panel. Adam wasn't the most nerdy person but he did enjoy the odd gaming session every so often on a rainy day. He may only have had an old PS2 but he knew a status window when he saw one. And what else could this be if not that?

Adam Hartwell

Mana core: [black - early - (???)]

??? (???): [???]

Spells: [ - ]

(???)

“Well, that's disappointing, where are my stats, my skills, and my points? And what the hell are all those question marks?” “At least there is a spell section so that's something, I guess I will be able to learn spells. I can't wait to be able to conjure fireballs and lightning strikes. And I'm assuming a mana core is like a magic heart right… Hold up, is this why I feel so much stronger now? I have magic flowing through me and reinforcing my muscles?”

‘Is this really everything?’, “Hey, urh… system? More information? Stats? Tutorial?... I need to contact an admin… Hello?” No matter what he did or said, the panel never changed. It followed his eyes as he turned around and its only change was when Adam wanted it to go away. That was the only mental command that seemed to work. His frustration with the lack of helpful information didn't bother him too much though as the idea that he could use magic made him forgive whichever stupid god made such an unhelpful system screen.

With a rush of excitement and anticipation, Adam tried to focus on that warm feeling he felt from within him when fleeing for his life. The same he got from eating the fruit, and as he focused inwards, his mind suddenly became aware of something new inside him. It was like a tiny black pebble but it definitely seemed to be the source of the warm feeling throughout his body. “I guess this is the so-called mana core, although it says that it's early. Does that mean I got it sooner than expected like it was born prematurely because of the effects of the coconut heart? Or does it mean it can be upgraded and mine is just an early version? Maybe both I guess.”

He sat down to be able to better focus and quickly noticed that every time he exhaled, the warm feeling that spread from his core intensified as if each breath was feeding mana to the core which was then diffused across his body. Adam took a deep breath before holding it and waiting to see the effect not breathing would have on the core. That big breath seemed to fill the core with more mana than usual as it continued to infuse and empower his body at a constant rate until he couldn't hold his breath any longer.

“So this mana is in the environment all around me and I can absorb it by breathing. The mana core must be a battery to store it in then.” He was excited to stress test his new power so he continued to try and feel it flowing throughout his body as he experimented with his breathing for the next few minutes. He was so focused on it that he completely forgot about the near-death situation he was in only minutes earlier as his whole mind was preoccupied with the inner workings of his body. It was only when he heard some fairly loud screeches from somewhere behind him that he snapped back to reality. He tried to locate the source of the noise as they sounded somewhat familiar. They were coming from the other side of the cliff. He was only at the very bottom of the rocky outcrop but it extended high into the sky and stretched from the ocean far into the jungle to the point that he had no idea how big it really was. The noise he heard soon made themselves apparent however as the bird-like creatures he saw previously could be spotted flying high above the cliff and appeared to be fighting over something that one of them had in its claws. It must have been some sort of prey that the birds had hunted and it made him freeze for a second as those birds were incomparable in size to Earth’s. The prey they were squawking over however must have been roughly the size of a person. His came as a good reminder that he has been lucky until now not to have attracted more attention than he already has. He has been traveling up and down the beach in the open to be able to spot predators coming but if he can see them, then they can see him too. The thought of those big flying predators swooping down and snatching him up from where he sat made him get to his feet, grab his coconut heart, and hurriedly make his way up the path to his cave.

The light danced over Adam's body as he sat cross-legged in his cave. Breathing deeply, he observed his body and how his core was sending out energy to his different muscles. With every breath, his core would send out a new pulse that seemed to travel exactly the same way each time. It appeared as though his body had a second pair of veins specifically for transporting his mana.

He was able to tell that his body was constantly infused by his core, even when he wasn’t breathing but after some practice, Adam was able to empty his core without letting it re-absorb mana by holding his breath for almost 2 minutes. This allowed him to test his new body while it had very little mana being infused in it but was shocked to find that he didn’t fell any less strong than before. In fact, his core was stating to distribute less mana with each pulse as the hours went on, and after continually trying to sense and test his mana, he came to a shocking realization. With intense concentration, he was not only able to sense his mana coursing from his core to his muscles, but he could even push and nudge it slightly. Also, his mana wasn’t simply helping him become tougher but was actually somehow infusing his muscles and tempering him. Meaning they weren’t simply stronger from his mana but he was in fact being tempered by his core like a workout, so his gains didn’t disappear when the mana pulses weakened. After a few hours, the mana pulses his core was sending out were almost invisible as his muscles were now just as good as when they were being fully reinforced with mana. Holding his breath now didn’t do anything to stop his core from replenishing as it was hardly expending any mana to begin with. Instead, he tried to manually control his core to release pulses with little success so far. He was able to slightly alter his mana by pushing a little more into his arm compared to the rest of his body but it dissipated immediately upon reaching his muscles so he had no idea if that would even do anything. Besides, most of his “discoveries” at the moment were mostly guesswork. Sure, he felt stronger but not in any measurable way. Based on his estimation, he had the same amount of strength he did when running from the beast. This means he is as strong as a fit human in top condition so nothing superhuman or too impressive. In fact he wasn’t that strong to begin with, sure he worked hard but those tasks didn’t really build much muscle, at least not like a professional athlete or even someone that did strength training in a gym. His muscles seemed a little more defined but he didn’t have a six-pack or anything crazy. Since his core was only early he assumed his body would be tempered like this with more and more mana as his core upgraded until he would become some sort of unstoppable superman that could lift cars and smash through buildings. His dreams of being a superhuman were short-lived however as the reality that his mana was no longer helping his body get stronger meant that until he figured out how to grow his core, he be stuck as he is, since this stupid system didn’t even give him a spell book to get him started with magic and he can’t use the mana stored in his core for anything right now.

“Is magic always this hard to control or am I just bad at this?” Thoughts of using the magic coursing through his body to throw fireballs at that freaky centipede popped into his mind but before the disappointment of reality came to suppress his thought a different idea sprung up in his mind. Adam turned to his right and reached out to grab the coconut heart he brought with him as a wide grin spread across his face. If he needed to grow his core then what better than the thing that probably made it in the first place.