《Aaron, A Shadow Monster》 Prologue: Present in Every Human My situation is a consequence of my inaction. A family destroyed, its name in ruins, and now I am here, sitting in the roaring fires my circumstances led me to. But was it really because of my circumstance? A person, maybe some rich millionaire, might argue that blaming the situation on circumstance instead of yourself is an excuse for not being successful. I don¡¯t know who to believe. There¡¯s no one left to tell me if this is really my fault. Fifteen years ago, two people met on a cruise, one being a mayor of a city and the other an unparalleled young beauty. They met, fell in love, and had a single child the year after. It was a male, and they named that child me: Aaron Leum, son of Barry Leum and Alicia Leum. The years passed by peacefully for me since then. My dad wouldn¡¯t be at home often, instead doing his duty as the Mayor of Maceret, the town we lived in. However, he would often tell me all about the duties and responsibilities a mayor had. I was under the impression that a being politician was a noble duty, and I wanted to become one just like him. Isn¡¯t that funny? How I used to think that after all that has happened over the years? I don¡¯t know. It at least makes me want to laugh. Or cry, who knows. Filling the role of watching me at home was my mother. She was sweet and caring at first, but that stopped six years after I was born. The mother, who once used to play games and have fun with me, started to become more indifferent and apathetic to my situation. ¡°Oh¡­ Aaron. Why don¡¯t try you try er¡­ playing with your school friends! Mommy has things to do and can¡¯t spend her time with you all day.¡±, she said in a tone that betrays some of her exasperation. I was a little confused and disappointed at first, but didn¡¯t really question it and went on to someone else. Seven years ago, mommy would go out more often, and daddy wouldn¡¯t come home some days. That left me the only one home. They never hired a caretaker for me. I never found out why. I was confused and lonely those days, but they wouldn¡¯t talk about what they were doing when they weren¡¯t home. Children aren''t stupid. I knew that there was something wrong happening. But with me though, I didn¡¯t even try to figure out. A regular child might¡¯ve pestered them more. If I did then I might''ve known earlier. That they weren''t who they said they were. A regular person might not have blamed me for my reluctance to find out that something was going on. Not me. I know what I know, and what I knew is that something was wrong. I was already aware that I had a high sense of self awareness for my age. And I knew something was wrong, but reluctance took hold whenever I thought about doing anything. Maybe for a seven year old, there was nothing wrong with that. Maybe. The year after, it was nearly Christmas. I got a laptop and was introduced to the internet, my access unhindered by any parent who worries about the safety of their child online. I knew how to keep myself safe though, but what I didn¡¯t know was how much the internet would change me. I discovered what the public thought of my father, what they thought of him as the Mayor of Maceret. Duties and responsibilities of the mayor? Just thinking of it now makes me spiteful. Even knowing that, I didn¡¯t say anything to my father. I was too reluctant. Too naive, because maybe my father really was a good person. Maybe it was just lies. Rumors began to spread as the months passed by. People with connections to the mafia and spite in their eyes ¨C it started with them. Barry must¡¯ve wronged them somehow. It¡¯s spread was growing quicker and quicker. Now it was even being talked about by the children at schools. Barry noticed it too, and devised a plan to be released Christmas. His future as a mayor was in jeopardy, and his wife pushed him to do something about it. And so, he came ¡°clean¡±. Deals with the mafia? He was only trying to gain info about them through the use of ¡°Mafia Proxies¡±! There was a suit against him. He crushed it with his knowledge of loopholes as well as abusing the corrupted government. It isn¡¯t like he¡¯s mayor for no reason ¨C He has connections and power within his title. Legally, he did no wrong. The public, however, saw different. Regularly, he would be sent hate mail. Lots of it. But neither Barry or Alicia was home. I was though, and I read through it. All of it. Finally, it was crystal clear to me; My father is no responsible and dutiful person; He¡¯s a corrupt politician. My mother isn¡¯t a caring, loving person; She wants money and luxuries through my father. I became cold and depressed and apathetic and ashamed and everything at once. My parents didn¡¯t take notice. The years continued on in a daze, and I continued reading the mail. Maybe someone more mature could simply look at it and dismiss it, but I was young and innocent. The worst and most vile words a person could muster was put on those letters, directed at the reader, namely Barry Leum. Instead though, his only son read it. It''s hard for an eight year old to withstand the collective hate of a city. The hate mail was an eye opener for me, and I grew more disgusted with my parents. I couldn¡¯t stop a part of me thinking that the city hated me too though, and that I was as disgusting as my heritage. Did they really hate me? I wouldn¡¯t have known. I never bothered to ask. I became more recluse. And then I grew older, by one year. I have witnessed shady men in clothing walk up to me suspiciously, but then suddenly back away, like they had the thought of doing something but went against it at the last second. Anti-Barry supporters have grown bigger and bigger. The state of the city was neglected, while the government was living a life of lavishness and luxury. Barry, however, needed to secure his position as the mayor in future elections. He made a campaign. Much money was put into it, with videos being produced, signs being placed, pamphlets being distributed, and so on. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It blew up, big time. I was burying myself on the internet and immersing myself in order to escape from reality, but even then news of how badly the campaign blew up reached me. The entire thing was patronizing, disrespectful. Did the mayor really think he was just talking to a bunch of sheep, only in need of a little herding? Barry messed up massively doing what he did, the entire event only serving to push him and the Leum name further down. It got national news coverage, and the federal government started to put an eye on the Maceret district. Barry¡¯s face was plastered over signs, being paraded around the city in a demeaning way. He would come home exhausted some days. And then eventually, he would come home and start drinking. A wonderful time that was. I couldn¡¯t even approach him, lest I incur a swing filled with drunken wrath. My mother got the worst of it though, getting beaten nearly every day during the worse parts of it. I sat there on my laptop, doing nothing. Forgetting everything that was happening. I have a happy family. We live a happy life. Everything will eventually turn out fine. My father will not leave me and go to jail. My mother will stop crying eventually. Life will turn better for me eventually. And other lies I told myself. I was a pitiful person, trying his best to forget about the world around him because it was easier than doing something about it. Life isn¡¯t so merciful however, and I am here now living this memory in my head. Back to me in the past though: A couple of months passed by in a daze, all while I force down the emotions within myself. Now instead of being cold, depressed, apathetic, and ashamed, I was mostly just cold and apathetic. The feds came and arrested my father, my mother, for some unknown reason, was not charged at all. Barry was then promptly charged with obstruction of justice, bribery, perjury, conspiracy, and blah blah blah God only knows how much this man did when he was in office. It makes me want to laugh. It really does. I was such an idiot to not see my father for what he truly was: Evil. A fraud. Liar. What could I have done then? What could a recently turned ten year old could¡¯ve done? I guess there really wasn¡¯t anything I could¡¯ve done. But it sure as hell doesn¡¯t feel like it. The Leum family was ruined by this point. My mother tried to sell the house ¨C no buyers. She tried to hold out through loans but she was hit blindside when the tax bill came. She had no life skills whatsoever. She didn¡¯t know how to pay taxes among other things because she never had to. Her sweetie had taken care of her for her and handled all of the things himself so that his dearest could simply enjoy herself. She fell into debt, and the bank foreclosed on her home. She found herself jobless, and her skills as a photographer weren¡¯t putting any money on the table. No one wanted to hire a Leum ¨C the vilest, scummiest family in Maceret city. There has clearly been a whole lot of things that Barry had done that I wasn¡¯t aware of. Eventually though, she found a job working as a grocer as a supermarket. The apartment we rented was dingy and old. The conditions were horrible, especially for a person who¡¯s used to grand mansions like our family was. There was barely enough space for us, and the walls were thin. Hate mail still came though. I burned them on cold nights, and I ended up setting off the fire alarm a couple of times. Naturally, the residents were furious and so was Alicia. She did end up taking the blame for all of the occasions though and was subject to numerous threats to her well being and the security of our dingy little apartment. Alicia would come home in tears, every day draining her stamina and mental health more and more. Often times she would drink and became just as abusive as her ex-husband. It was a pitiful sight, but then again, hasn¡¯t that become our family shtick? Seeing her pick up the knife on some occasions didn¡¯t come as a surprise to me, but made me worried all the same. She would talk about the various ways she would kill either herself or me. She spoke of it so casually, an incongruous sight to her usual bouts of mania when she came home. That¡¯s when I realized that she was beginning to really go crazy. I started to stay awake for a little longer at night, scared of what she might do to me. By now we have lived this life for a couple of years, and I could tell that it was eating at her. What was the life of Alicia Leum, spouse of the hated Barry Leum, like at her job? One day, Alicia walked up to me and looked at me directly. I saw in her eyes an eerie stillness. A calm and serenity I haven¡¯t witness from her since before life started to roll downhill. She spoke very clearly and concisely, as if she has rehearsed the line numerous times in the future. I couldn¡¯t tell what motivated her to say it. Insanity? Grief? ¡°In the nearby future, I will kill you, and then I will take the insurance money.¡± What would a person, aged only 14 years old do when hearing that spoken to them? Run? Call the police? Instead, I, Aaron Leum, son of the infamous Barry Leum, did... absolutely nothing. I want to go back to me from three days ago and ask, what were you thinking? Maybe it¡¯s because I was used to death threats from reading the mail. Maybe I was subconsciously looking for my death. Maybe I just thought she was acting crazy like usual. There are an infinite amount of ways I could justify my actions ¨C it seems that skill is present in every human to walk this earth. I could so easily blame it on anything at all, but in the end, I did absolutely nothing. And now, I finally arrive here, surrounded by the roaring fires of my inaction. The scorching heat filled with scorn and hate. Towards me, whose apathy kills him; Towards Alicia, who spiraled into insanity; Towards Barry, who gained the wrath of everyone; Towards Life, which remains unmerciful; Towards the World, the cruelest to exist. Goodbye to every one of you. Lets never meet again. Error entity:Unknown detected I am floating lazily through an empty void. Where am I? What¡¯s happening? Who am I? Aaron Leum Flashes of memory come to me. I begin to remember everything that has happened. I died, haven¡¯t I? Does this mean that this is the afterlife? It appears that all there is to do is to float through this endless void. I look down on myself. Weird, so I can see my silhouette but not my actual body. It¡¯s still there though ¨C I can touch it. So where was I before I died? I remember waking up in a room. It was warm ¨C no, hot. I get shivers all over my body as I remember the flames encroaching upon me as I lay trapped on top of my bed. I was burnt alive inside the apartment complex. My mother, Alicia, set the room on fire to collect insurance. Strangely enough, I feel at peace floating through the void. My past life and all of its tribulations are behind me. I close my eyes and dream. I was¡­ I was standing upon a hilltop, looking over a city that I don¡¯t know or have any relation with. It was a freezing night, but I could still see the bustling activity through the streets. There¡¯s plenty of it too, the snow barely doing anything to hinder the joyfulness of the residents. I hear footsteps in the grass behind me. Turning back to look at who¡¯s there, I see a girl standing there, her features indistinguishable for some strange reason. Even with that, her beauty is very apparent, with her long, glossy hair that seems to be a reflection of the night sky and the feeling elegance she emits. The rest of her body seems surprisingly normal, however. I open my mouth to greet her but she speaks first. What an interesting place we are in. I am taken aback a little by the peculiar but oddly pleasing tone the mysterious girl speaks with. I quickly try to pull myself together and respond. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything quite like it really.¡± I smile bitterly, as I reminiscence about gazing upon the numerous rioters that would be standing outside of our mansion, begging for the mayor to fix whatever problem the mayor neglected for the day. The girl walks up next to my side and gazes out of the hilltop and onto the city below. It¡¯s¡­ bright. The girl turns to look at me. What is your name? ¡°It¡¯s Aaron Leum.¡± There was an awkward silence as the girl looked up, looking as if she was in an intense focus. It began to feel a little uncomfortable so I say something. ¡°Could I have your name?¡± The silence continues for a little while longer as the girl continues to look focused as if she hadn¡¯t heard a thing. I turn back to gaze at the city. Looking at it completely removes any feeling of awkwardness from that conversation. Instead, it feels me with peace. I wish my life was like those below. So happy. I spot a Father Daughter duo working together to build a snowman next in their front yard. In the park, I see a group of children having a snowball fight. In the far north of the city, way in the distance, I spot a plume of smoke, rising slowly as I see flickers of red and orange at its very base. I was shocked for a moment, but before I could think of anything the girl speaks again, her voice flowing through the air seizing the attention of all around her. What should we do about him? It was an unexpected response out of nowhere. Not to me, for sure, but to someone else. Suddenly, the scenery fades out to give away a blank void, similar to what I was just in, except this time we were on a circular blue platform floating through the void. The girl nods at what I presume to be the entity she seems to be speaking with and then turns to look at me. Her body language suggests she is about to engage in a battle. She grows wings made of some blue ether, swirling with incredible fury and a sword is summoned out of nowhere. I can finally make out her eyes. I can see that they are filled with those same exact emotions I seen once before. An eerie stillness fills her eyes, just like what she had before she murdered me. It hits me. Before, I simply recalled the events that had happened, but now I remember living through that horrific nightmare. The emotions within swirl violently as I recall each and every single detail of what I went through. The mysterious girl is surprised and looks around her as blazing hot fires start to pop up everywhere on the platform. An atmosphere of despair descends upon the area. I am too stunned in my own recollection to notice anything that has been going on around me. The girl drops to the ground, dropping her sword. Her wings encircle around her to protect her from the roaring flames. I feel anger. Hate. Shame. I feel the urge to vomit well up within me. I wish I hadn¡¯t have looked. I feel disgusted with myself as all of those repressed memories hit me in full. A scream starts to build within me as the emotions are simply too much to handle all at once.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I drop down to the floor, the force breaking me out of my stupor and giving me a tiny window of clarity. I don¡¯t know where the girl is any more or what just happened with her. All I can focus on now is breathing. I close my eyes and breathe in and out, trying to calm myself. I can¡¯t see what¡¯s happening around me, but it feels like it¡¯s getting less and less intense. I breathe in, holding it in for as long as I can. What had been done has been done. I breathe out. There isn¡¯t anything to do about it now. I breathe in. Everything has come to pass already. I breathe out. No more politicians or murderers. And finally, I just lay there, after those moments of intensity, for who knows how long. I feel a bit better now. Just a bit. My eyes are still closed. I think it¡¯s finally time. Finally time for me to wake up. My eyes shoot open, and I hear messages flow into my head. ~Error entity:Unknown detected~ ~Assigning entityType:Monster~ ~Detecting entity:Monster~ ~Rolling skillTable:General~ While still a little groggy from just waking up, a dinging sound plays and a blue screen pops up in front of me.
You have obtained Identify Level 1.
What? ~Assigning monsterAttribute:Random~ ~Error type:Dark detected~ ~Rolling skillTable:Dark~
You have obtained Camouflage Level 1.
More windows, more questions. ~Error resolved~ ~Displaying status screen~ ~Shutting down bugResolver~
Name: Aaron Leum Class: Juvenile Shade Beast Level: 1 Health: 20/20 Magic: 10/10 Power: 1 Endurance: 1 Speed: 3 Intelligence: 4 Spirit:3 Skills: Camouflage LV1, Identify LV1
And now finally, one big blue window to top it all off. I look through the windows, and I think I begin to understand it. This is like I¡¯m in some sort of Dungeons and Dragons game right? Looks like I have my own character sheet. I wonder how I can remove these windows. As I think that, the windows just disappear from sight. Interesting. I will it to open back up again.
Name: Aaron Leum Class: Juvenile Shade Beast Level: 1 Health: 20/20 Magic: 10/10 Power: 1 Endurance: 1 Speed: 3 Intelligence: 4 Spirit:3 Skills: Camouflage LV1, Identify LV1
So I really can control it with my mind. ¡­ Am I hallucinating? Is this what people experience after death? Whatever the case may be, this is my reality now. I have no choice but to accept it. Now, lets see what all of this stuff means. I guess the two smaller windows are simple enough. It¡¯s just telling me that I¡¯ve received some skills. That robotic voice from when I woke up had something to do with that I think. I wonder what was that voice even. My name is self explanatory ¨C It¡¯s just me. My class, however, is less so. A Juvenile Shade Beast? What kind of fantasy-esque¡­ I look down on myself, and discover¡­ darkness. Not from the brightness inside the cavern ¨C there are plenty of luminescent plants around here that allows me to see. It¡¯s just that when I look at myself, I see neither skin or my old clothes. I¡¯m in a new body, one that is completely dark. I can still see my silhouette however, as it seems to be lined in silver, but it''s difficult to see any depth unless I try hard to look for it. It¡¯s just that there seems to be some sort of hazy¡­ thing that just covers me, and prevents me from seeing how I really look. My hair is still here at least. I think that¡¯s something that I should at least be happy about kinda. So that¡¯s it then? I¡¯m still alive after dying, in the body of this so called "shade beast", no longer human, and I have blue screens detailing my status with me? I guess this is the life I have to live for now on. Maybe I¡¯m hallucinating. I¡¯m not actually dead and is instead in some hospital in a coma. Or maybe I¡¯ve become crazy as my mother. Whatever it is, I guess the only option I have right now is to continue living as I have, or at least tried to. I see on the status that my health and ¡°magic¡± are represented numerically. I have no idea how that could work in real life, but my knowledge from games, pitiful as that may have been, tells me that the only thing I should worry about is that once it reaches zero, I die. Magic is more interesting, however. It sounds especially dubious, but also kinda exciting. Can I cast spells in this world then? I want to fly on brooms and the like. Maybe not brooms. If I could fly on a couch. That¡¯d be nice as well, despite looking less cool. I¡¯d have to save that for later because I¡¯m getting an increasingly uneasy feeling that I¡¯m not as safe in this cavern that I thought. This screen and the suspicion of magic do tell me that this is some sort of fantasy world right? That means that there are probably some very dangerous monsters too, especially with the addition of Levels in the status panel. The next four seems to detail information on my capabilities. My power is¡­ low. Is it possible to have a power lower than one? Maybe with fractions, but I haven¡¯t seen any so far. My endurance is equally low, at the fantastically low number of one. Speed seems to be doing a little better, being at three. Not sure though, I haven¡¯t really tested how fast this body is. Or maybe a speed of three isn¡¯t much to begin with either. Intelligence is my highest stat it seems, sitting at a 4. Like health, I¡¯m not sure how something as intangible as ¡°intelligence¡± can be so simply qualified into numbers. I mean who is more intelligent: Pythagoras or a modern day math teacher? Technically, I guess the teacher would know more areas math but I don¡¯t think that person will be inventing any new numbers or groundbreaking findings in math anytime soon. Next stat is spirit. I think I should really just give up on trying to figure out what these titles can possibly mean. Next are my skills: Camouflage and Identify. I know they were given to me I think by that voice from when I woke up. But I don¡¯t know what they do really. Well I mean I guess camouflage is obv-
Camouflage LV1 The User is able to blend in with their surroundings, lowering visibility slightly,
Identify LV1 The User is able to obtain information related to a targeted object.
Oh. Well, that certainly is convenient. So what then? Do I just think of it- woah¡­ I¡¯ve just done something¡­ completely impossible. I just camouflaged¡­ I smile. That is really cool. I use identify on myself.
The User. A unique Juvenile Shade Beast. Unlike others, this one seems to hold a higher degree of autonomy. Juvenile Shade Beasts are a rare type of monster that arise from dark areas in places of high mana concentration.
Useless. Skills. Skills are good. But after feeling the rush of dopamine I got from being able to do what was once thought of impossible, I started to become acutely aware of the very situation I¡¯m in. This cavern I am in is massive and somehow overflowing with life. Up until now, I have not met a single animal, giving me a small sense of security. Because of that, I became engrossed in the moment, not worrying about what was going on in the environment around me. No, I don''t want... I refuse to be careless. In my last life, I let every opportunity I had to secure any chance of happiness fall right through my fingers. I have miraculously been given another somehow, and this time I refuse to have it be wasted. I start to wander through the cavern looking for any sign of animal life, making sure to utilized my camouflage passively and my identify constantly, hoping that it would level up eventually.
Blue Glow Moss. Moss that often grows in caverns deep underground with high concentrations of mana.
What is my goal for this life? To live how I want to live. Gone are the days of just passively taking things as they come, letting them shape my life in whatever way they feel like it.
Rinthra Mushrooms. Deadly mushrooms that can be lethal if ingested. Grows in caverns deep underground with high concentrations of mana.
My fate rests in my hands. I will no longer make the mistakes past me have committed. No longer will I live life so reluctantly. I will do the things I require to live. No matter the cost. Also, looking back on the identify skill after the shock and awe have faded, the description seems a little too bare bones, doesn''t it? Nevertheless, I continue my trek forwards into the unknown, wary and curious at the same time. ¡­ I have been walking for what feels like an hour. I¡¯m beginning to feel a little exhausted from my constant usage of camouflage and identify.
Camouflage has leveled up 1 ¡ú 2 Identify has leveled up 1 ¡ú 2
Oh, what fantastic timing. Suddenly, I hear sounds from my left. Sounds of fighting. I walk towards it, wondering if I had finally found what I have been looking for. I ascend the terrain inside this massive cavern and find the group in the middle of a depression in the land. I use identify.
Razor-Clawed Bat A monster that utilizes its sharp appendages to quickly swoop in, damage its prey, and then fly away before it can deal any damage. Found in caves or cavernous areas. Level 4
Gray Variant Cavern Scorpion A unique variant of the regular Cavern Scorpion, but with a gray exoskeleton as well as slightly higher defense at the cost of speed. Its stinger is mildly toxic, but packs much force behind it. Found in cavernous areas with high mana concentration Level 6
The sizes of these monsters are incredibly massive compared to the ones on Earth. The scorpion especially so, as it trumps the size of the bats, despite being what was is usually thought of as the smaller organism. Magic? It looks like it reaches the height of a human. I guess the rules don''t work the same here than it did on Earth. I watch them sneakily, hoping that the extra level gotten from camouflage will help me stay hidden from the group. The monsters are savagely fighting each other. It''s obvious that individually, the scorpion would triumph over the bat, but because it¡¯s a 3v1 fight, the outcome seems less assured. I plan to attack the winner of the battle, hoping that it would be weak enough so that I would be able to take them on. With this in mind, I continue to observe the battle. The bats swoop in and use their claws to leave gashes on the scorpion, then flying away before the scorpion could hit them. The scorpion struggles to land hits ¨C it seems that its speed deficit may be lethal for him in this match. Even then, it manages to land one hit on with of the bats who were to slow to dodge. The scorpion¡¯s tail gores the bat, it¡¯s stinger fully plunged into the bat. The scorpion shakes the bat off, and it weakly falls to the ground. The image fills me with uneasiness. I shake it off. Or try to at least. First kill for the scorpion, but the monster has already sustained heavy damage already prior to killing the first bat. Its movements have slowed, but the removal of one of the bats have also diminished their firepower. I watch even more intently, fear gripping at me at the thought of trying to go against these things. I can hear a more logical side of myself telling me not to do it. But do you really have to fight the monster? Yes¡­ I do. They will most likely kill you, you know. I mean the scorpion is six times your level. The trio of bats were all three times your level. I already know. But it¡¯s just¡­ I have to prove it to myself. Prove that I can change. I don¡¯t want to be the same person who was as reluctant as I was. This monster is more than a source of food; It¡¯s a challenge... To me, my character. And I know that I have the ability to defeat them when they''re weakened. Past me would skip out on a challenge. But now¡­ This scorpion is the strongest individual creature I have seen so far, and though I haven¡¯t seen very many. It¡¯s six times my level, but even then I will challenge it. This is a new world! A new chance at life! I don''t want to live my life like before. I want to take risks. If I defeat this, the experience I get will increase my level and I will get stronger to more easily survive my future and undoubtedly more difficult hardships.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Do you really know that it will increase your level? Have you ever tested it? This is another world, do you really think our rules still apply? No. Yes. I don¡¯t know. I grab a rock with shaking hands, the battle is coming close to an end. The scorpion is weakened considerably. There is only one bat left. I can still hear that voice in my head, coaxing me to stop. If it¡¯s food you want you could just wait until the battle is over and until the surviving monster leaves to then eat whatever is left of the carcass. There are always more opportunities in the future. Better and safer ones. Really. What does your effort to prove yourself even mean? There isn¡¯t anyone here to even witness your actions! Go ahead, idiot. March onto your doom, I mean even the most brainless of idiots would find a retreat to be a better option than trying to fight that thing being so weak. Actions like these make you seem like your father: his wrong decisions led him to jail; your wrong decision will lead you to yet another death. Are you really so eager to call yourself helpless? If you say that facing that monster here signifies that you can change, are you admitting that the you right now ¨C the one that has not faced the monster ¨C is and has always been a useless child? ¡°Shut UP!¡± I shout out loud, emotions swirling furiously within me. The duo of monsters are too engrossed in their battle to show any reaction, but I doubt they haven¡¯t taken notice. My hands are clenched hard, shaking with violent intensity. I speak again, quiet enough so that the monsters won¡¯t be able to hear me. ¡°Shut up! I am not useless! I can do things! I just need to prove myself!¡± Don¡¯t you see the irony in that? You sound like the naive little child you once were and still is. Whatever. Continue your ruse of bravado. Continue my ruse of bravado. I exhale as I try to calm myself, panting in deep breaths. My thoughts went a little wild there, but I got a hold of them again at the end. Sometimes I forget that the voice I speak with in my head is just some obscure part of me. The battle is finally resolving. The bat was swung at by the scorpion tail, it left a blood splatter on the ground, but it¡¯s still alive and limping. The battle is over at this point, and the scorpion has triumphed. The scorpion walks over to the bat, and with a brutal whip, it gores the bat¡¯s face. Out of curiosity, I use my Identify skill again.
Gray Variant Cavern Scorpion A unique variant of the regular Cavern Scorpion, but with a gray exoskeleton as well as slightly higher defense at the cost of speed. It¡¯s stinger is mildly toxic, but packs much force behind it Found in cavernous areas with high mana concentration Level 7
It leveled up. You wanted this. Yes I did. Rock in my hand, I take a second to prepare myself. Then, I slide down into the depression and charge at the scorpion. With all of the force I could muster with my measly one power, I throw the rock at the scorpion. The rock misses by a wide margin. I need to get closer to hit it. The scorpion faces me, bloodied and scratches all over its exoskeleton. It looks at me, and in those eyes, the monster displays grim resolve. It knows that it could very well die here. But I¡­ I just freeze in fear, shocked about how raw this intensity was. I was just looking at them fighting before, now I''m in it. The scorpion tries to dash towards me and I break out of my stupor. I take off running to the side as fast as I can. The scorpion is stunned a little from exerting such a large amount of force being so damaged but it quickly recovers. It lunges its stinger at me and misses as I frantically try and dodge out of the way. I try again to pick up a rock and throw it at the scorpion but I miss another time, my panic throwing off my aim severely. I realize how perilous a situation I have put myself in. I start running in retreat, finally realizing what a horrible idea I¡¯d thought up of. I am nowhere close to being prepared enough to take on this creature. The scorpion follows me. Coward. I choke out a small whimper and tears start to run down my face. I try to keep running, as fast as my legs can take me. The scorpion once again leaps towards me, its stinger aimed directly at my head. It fumbles the jump, not being able to move properly with part of its legs broken. Even then, the scorpion can still move fast enough to catch up to me. I keep running anyway, trying as hard as I can to escape. What¡¯s with you and your problems anyways? I end up at the incline of the terrain. It¡¯s too steep for me to climb fast enough to escape the scorpion before it stabs me. I forgot, the monsters were battling in a depression weren¡¯t they? The scorpion fumbles its way towards me while I try to escape it. I trip on a rock. Looking back, I can see the scorpion behind me, struggling to move with its broken legs. I roll to the side while narrowly missing a stinger and get up as quickly as I can. Pathetic. I hate myself. The tears flow faster down my cheek. I¡¯m going to die a pathetic child. Twice. Every single time a problem faces you, you run away. And yet¡­ I pick up another rock this time. I weakly throw it towards the scorpion, hitting it. It bounces off its exoskeleton, but it seemed to exacerbate its internal injuries seeing as how the scorpion was stunned a little on the impact. You continue to live life so shamelessly. That is your flaw. On the outside, you seem so concerned with trying to put up a calm persona you ended up tricking yourself that you were could deal with the circumstances you were in. Was it because you were concerned with appearing tough? Nevertheless, these very situations expose your true self: Cowardly, Pathetic, Useless. Even then, you still have to gall to appear to calm and cool in the situations you are put in. You don¡¯t even know how to truly cope with the trauma you¡¯ve been through. Instead, you bury it. You bury it and forget it and hope that you never think about it again. When you read all the death threats that were sent to your father, you buried that. When you realized your parents lied to you about what they truly are like, you buried that. When your mother told you that she was going to kill you you buried that too. So where¡¯s that bravado now? Where is it?¡­ Maybe I really am just a pathetic person. Maybe I should just accept my death like I did in my last life. Maybe someone as shameless as me deserves it. I slow down my sprint to a complete stop. The scorpion continues fumbling along as quickly as it can. I turn. Yes, I think that¡¯s the fate that¡¯s in store for me. Death for the weak, isn¡¯t that the law of nature? I am an immensely weak individual, who tries to play with the big boys. I turn to face the scorpion and meet it in the eyes. The scorpion pauses for a moment, wondering if this weak-looking monster staring at him was finally going to start fighting back. ¡°Come on scorpion.¡±, I say, knowing there¡¯s no one around who could understand me. ¡°Are you afraid of a fourteen year old boy?¡± Because that¡¯s all I am. A young, naive, little boy in this cruel, oh so cruel world. I dash towards the scorpion, subconsciously looking for death. To escape, once and for all. My mind races in a haze as I feel as if I¡¯m not in the correct mental state to control my actions. Instead, things just happen as I feel them. I wonder, is this how it feels like to spiral into mania? Have I gone crazy? The scorpion snaps out of its stupor. It readies it¡¯s weapon and swings the tail down at me. My body tries to dodge out of reflex, and the tail ends up puncturing the area near my left shoulder.
You took 11 damage.
I felt numb to the pain, and to everything really. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking, except for numb despair that was in the back of my mind since I had first engaged this monster. All that filled me at that moment was a crushing need to repent for my inability to well¡­ To do anything right in my life? I''m not even sure exactly what I''m feeling. I started to bash on the exoskeleton of the scorpion with a rock I picked up. It spasms wildly with every strike. Over and over again. I hit once, then twice, then another, and then again another. All with the force of my measly one power, taking off the tiny slivers of life this scorpion has left. Maybe in games or movies, the slaughtering of monsters is easy to watch. It doesn¡¯t really take very much from the main character ¨C all that is required is to pull the trigger of a gun or swing a sword. Well, what if you don¡¯t have any weapons then? I had to slowly beat the scorpion to death with nothing but my hands. Sounds pretty metal, doesn¡¯t it? Let me ask you: Do you know what happens when something is dying? Each and every hit, the scorpion spasms, it¡¯s tail waiving in death throes. Nearly dead, it starts to convulse seizures. I quickly backed up as it started vibrating uncontrollably. It turns on its side and I can see the foam in its mouth. This happened because you were weak. I sigh, one of emptiness and pain, and after collecting myself for a little, I picked up the largest rock I could find. Then, to my surprise, I felt a peculiar calm well up within me. I wanted to laugh at the feeling. I wanted to cry. Instead, I simply held a sad smile. In my self pity, I couldn¡¯t help but joke at the irony. ¡°In the nearby future, I will kill you.¡± Im fine the way I am
You have slain Gray Variant Cavern Scorpion LV7 You have leveled up 1 ¡ú 4 Your stats have increased: Health: 20 ¡ú 60 Mana: 10 ¡ú 50 Power: 1 ¡ú 4 Endurance: 3 ¡ú 7 Speed: 3 ¡ú 8 Intelligence: 4 ¡ú 10 Spirit: 3 ¡ú 5 You have 8 unassigned stat points.
I get another notification. It¡¯s a victory, but somehow I don¡¯t feel like celebrating it. I check my health. Health: 3/60 I¡¯m still living¡­ I¡¯m still living! A wave of relief surges through me, knocking me down to the ground. Or maybe that was because of the blood loss. A pool of purple blood forms where I am. Looks like Shade Beast physiology differs from humans in more than just outward appearance. I can feel my head getting hazy. Will I pass out here? I can¡¯t think straight. An image of my parents flashes through my head. I shiver at the thought. I still see them ¨C the eyes of my mother, three days before she killed me. I let out a big sigh. I let the exhaustion and blood loss take over me, pushing me to pass out and sleep. I¡¯m to done with this whole situation to start thinking about my past life now. That¡¯s it. When I wake up, I will be as I was before when I came into this hell. I will go back to normal Aaron. I just need a little bit of sleep. ----- I wake up from my sleep, still feeling tired. Hard, stone rock doesn¡¯t make for a very good bed at all, but I¡¯ll have to make do with what I have. My stomach growls, urging me to find something to eat. Oh, that¡¯s nice. This body can growl at least. I look at the pool of purple blood I slept in. My blood. It¡¯s a strange look, to have a purple substance come out of your wounds instead of regular, red blood. Nevertheless, I approach one of the bats. It¡¯s strange. I thought I would feel a little more repulsed at the thought of eating one of these things raw, but I don¡¯t feel any aversion at all. Maybe it has something to do with my class. I kneel down next to the bat and hold it up to I could bite of pieces of it. I notice that when I open my mouth, I don¡¯t have any teeth. I notice that I don¡¯t really have lips either ¨C the mouth parts open in a zigzag line, pointy enough to tear off pieces, but not fit for chewing food. Maybe I swallow food whole? I hold up the corpse to my mouth and try to bite off a piece. I simulate chewing reflexively, but with no teeth, I¡¯m not really doing much but moving it around. I try to swallow¡­ I can¡¯t actually swallow. I try and force the morsel of meat to go down my throat, but I end up nearly choking myself. I cough the food out of my mouth, panting. Yea, that¡¯s not right at all. A frown appears on my face. How will I eat now? I can feel the instinct guiding me though. I can feel that I can do something with my hand, I just have to¡­ I just try to¡­ A strange popping noise happens, like the sound a bubbling mud would make. I can see that my hand has turned into some kinda weird¡­ swirly vortex-y thingy. Magic? By instinct, I touch the carcass with my vortex-y hand and the meat begins to disintegrate while strange particles emanate from it. The particles flow into my vortex hand and a strange taste sensation fills me. The meat is pretty mediocre, but not at all disgusting. I mean compared to the lavish meals I had in my last life, the taste is wholly inadequate, but unlike those meals, this just feels so¡­ filling. A smile appears on my face as I happily engorge myself onto the bat carcass ¨C a gruesome sight indeed. I could only do this because of my Shade Beast physiology. It feels wondrous. Maybe life here isn¡¯t so bad¡­ Sure it¡¯s pretty brutal, but that¡¯s just nature isn¡¯t it? I don¡¯t know how someone like me looks when they smile, especially when their lips part in a zigzag like mine. I sure was doing a lot of it right now though, compared to my past life. Surviving here just felt so rewarding. Like, I had to actually work for this. That might¡¯ve been what I was missing this whole time. Just maybe. It feels so great to actually get out there and just do stuff. I have to improve myself. My past is exactly that, something that happened a while ago right? Why should I let something that happened so long ago affect me right now? I¡¯m in a different world in a different life! I should be happy and dancing at such a monumental opportunity! You¡¯re only saying this until you meet another scorpion that wasn¡¯t as weakened as the one you just fought. Maybe, but you know what? That¡¯s completely fine. You haven¡¯t changed at all. You let your past burden you and try to hide it. You become usele- If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Okay, Maybe I do let my past burden me. Maybe I will continue to stupidly face battles I could only win by luck. But everyone has flaws, Shade Beast or not. This hole in the ground that I¡¯m in brought out the very worst in me, but I know that I am better than this. I won¡¯t let my past affect who I am now. Alicia and Barry... ¨C those are just names to me now. Strangers in another world. They can¡¯t do anything to me here. ... I already know; This problem is within myself. But I think that I can accept that. I¡¯m fine the way I am. Yea, I like the sound of that. And so I sat there, happily munching on the bat carcass, savoring the flavor for who knows how long. And I was happy, for the first time in a long, long while. -----
Name: Aaron Leum Class: Juvenile Shade Beast Level: 4 Health: 56/60 Magic: 50/50 Power: 4 Endurance: 7 Speed: 8 Intelligence: 10 Spirit: 5 Skills: Camouflage LV2, Identify LV2 You have 8 unassigned stat points.
I am surrounded by a bunch of skeletons. And also one empty exoskeleton. This body sure can hold a lot of food. It looks like my stats have increased by a bunch. I take a moment to reflect on my self. I do actually feel that something has changed within me. Not like I feel super powerful or something. Just that I feel more capable and healthy. I¡¯m not really sure how these numbers increase or in what pattern, but I think I could go along with this. Those unassigned stat pointsare what¡¯s really catching my attention.
Distribute unassigned points? Y/N
I agree and I can see another panel pop up in front of me. They¡¯re about what you would¡¯ve expected from something as game-like as this whole character sheet deal. It looks like each point is worth either two in a regular stat, five in mana, and ten in health. I think about what I should spend my points on. After a moment of careful deliberation, I dismiss the stat panel away from my view, alongside all of the other notifications except for my status panel. I don¡¯t really know what I need right now in my stat department, besides everything. I don¡¯t even fully understand what each stat represents. I¡¯ll save those stats for a rainy day maybe, or when I have a more complete understanding of my stats. The intelligence and spirit stats does spark some curiosity in me. Are my intellectual capabilities based upon the stat value? Or are the values a representation of how capable I am? I wonder if doing something like sprinting would increase my speed, or if exercising would increase my power. An interesting thought, I could try and test that later. What I really want to know now is what the deal with that Magic: 50/50 on my status. This world has already shown that it can do some pretty ridiculous things so far, but I haven¡¯t actually seen anything use magic, besides my weird vortex hand that I¡¯m still not sure what that was. So I experiment then: How can I use magic? Well, how does anyone use magic? Do I just think of a fire and it appears? I hold out my hand and imagine a fire popping up. Nothing. What if I say something out loud? ¡°Fire.¡± Nope. ¡°Flame.¡± ¡°Burn.¡± ¡°Conflagrate.¡± Nope, nope, and nope. So just saying it out loud isn¡¯t working. I sit down on the floor and focus. Maybe I have to somehow gain awareness of mana around me. This cave has high concentrations of mana according to my identify skill, so maybe that could help expedite the process. I sit down, close my eyes, and try to focus. It¡¯s strangely relaxing, having such a quiet, peaceful moment of serenity after that intense battle back then. I actually feel like I should do this more often. Just bask in the nothingness. But that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. I need to focus, and figure out what''s the deal with this magic. What is it like in novels? They say that it¡¯s in the air right? I try to focus on what I¡¯m feeling, just trying to see if I notice any foreign thing touching me. And I actually do feel something there. It feels smooth, slick ¨C flowing gracefully on my skin. It feels so familiar too. Is this what mana truly is? I open my eyes, facing directly at where I felt that strange sensation. It was just the blood dripping down on my leg. Oh. Well, that was kind of disappointing. After that little mishap, I continue to closing my eyes and trying to focus on what mana is. I stay in that position for a little while, patiently waiting for the feel of mana. It doesn¡¯t feel like anything is happening. Maybe I¡¯m just looking in the wrong place? The only thing I felt was the still air around me. What else do people describe mana like? Maybe the mana is inside of me, and I have to direct my attention to myself and ¨C oh. There is something there. I can¡¯t believe I hadn¡¯t noticed it earlier. It¡¯s faint, but if I focus then I can see that this strange energy is present in every part of my body, with its concentration lessening as it extends to my appendages. It isn¡¯t something that can be casually felt; You have to be consciously looking for it to even notice it¡¯s presence, but it¡¯s not hard to find at all if you concentrate. I try and will it to move, and it budges. I try to push it in different directions, and the mana moves in strange ways. It flows by its own set of rules, unlike anything I have ever witnessed before. The sight of it is mesmerizing, a beautiful display of the grandness and elegance of the universe. I focus on what it feels like, and I can feel that it holds power in the strangest way I could ever imagine. This is it, this is truly magic. I hold out my hand and will the magic inside me to flow into my palm and to emit light. A ball forms on top of my palm, emitting a dim light. If I focus, I can see the mana, but only faintly. I have an idea. I cease sending mana into my spell and push the mana into my eyes. I can feel my mana being slowly absorbed into them, but it takes every ounce of mana I have in my body to keep sending mana into them. I thought that a higher concentration of mana around my eyes would help my vision like it does in shows, but it seems to have worked out a little differently. My vision starts to dim as I keep the mana flowing to my eyes, my body having some sort of interaction with the mana I send directly into it. I think the reason why this hadn¡¯t happened before was because, instead of mana being around and permeating through it, I am making a conscious effort to send the mana into my eyes. It gets absorbed naturally, and my vision gets even darker as the process starts to fundamentally change my eyes. I keep sending mana into it, hoping this doesn¡¯t leave me permanently blind. Finally though, after bearing the uncomfortably itchy sensation withing my eyes, My vision brightens and I get a notification.
You have gained Mana Sight LV1 You have increased your intelligence by 1
I can see it, the Magic. It¡¯s not as if my vision has changed very much, but I can see the mana inside of me, without having to concentrate on it. I can¡¯t see directly the intricacies of how mana flows within me though, unlike when I was focusing, only that it¡¯s there. The second notification also answered another question of mine then. When I obtained that extra stat value, I felt something within me change. It seems that my capabilities are dependent on whatever value my stat holds. I just need to increase it either by leveling up or by other methods like exercising. I could increase my stats without having to level up. That¡¯s a revelation that makes surviving in this cavern seem more plausible. Back to my Mana Sight, which I gained through my own efforts. Looks like you get these things by working for it. I cast the light ball spell again, and this time I can clearly see how the mana moves. The picture isn¡¯t as clear as when I looked at the mana through focusing on myself, but that¡¯ll only increase as the level rises I presume. I see it now: The mana flows from my body to the outside. As it does so, the mana rapidly dissipates, losing intensity quickly. It seems that the reason why my ball of light is so dim is because the method I¡¯m using is inefficient. The mana changes from ¡°energy state¡± to another until it finally reaches light. It¡¯s a little complex for someone like me, but I think I understand it. It¡¯s almost similar to how energy changes from one state to another, while still being energy. The sun emits electromagnetic energy, which turns into thermal energy when it hits us, or chemical energy when it hits plants through photosynthesis. It¡¯s a beautiful transition, flowing so naturally. I only desire to experiment more with this new energy, and how many ways this energy could be applied. I also notice that not only is mana lost through dissipation, but it also loses energy when it converts from one state to another. I wonder how it transforms. Maybe once I can get a clearer view of the blurry image Mana Sight gives me, I will find out. Immediately, I can think of one optimization I could do to this system. I concentrate the flow of mana into my hand and will it to emit light. Nothing happens. Oh, of course, light can¡¯t penetrate flesh. I can definitely feel my hand heating up though. I change the destination of the mana to cover my hand and then will it to emit light. The light is brighter this time; It loses less efficiency by traveling less distance through open space. Interesting. You have increased your intelligence by 1. The scenery here really is something else The magic coalesces in a ball on top of my palm, and I watch as it slowly dissipates exposed in the air. What does it dissipate into anyways? And why? This cavern has high concentrations of mana ¨C does that dissipate too? Wondering about these things aren¡¯t going to put food in my stomach if I even have one anyways. I need practical applications, not theories on things I can¡¯t even answer yet. Like before, I cast a spell of light, but the old one this time. I use my mana sight to try and see what exactly happens when the mana transforms into light.
Mana Sight has leveled up 1 ¡ú 2
The mana¡¯s visibility increases and I can see more details on what exactly I¡¯m looking at. I can see each and every individual change to the stream of mana. Many complex things are happening at once, but I think I understand them. Using this information, I have an idea about what the intelligence stat represents. The intelligence stat doesn¡¯t represent how knowledgeable someone is; It represents how complex someone can make their spell. The higher intelligence someone has, the more efficient their spell becomes if cast through this method. Like, with higher intelligence, the brain is more capable to perform the complex calculations ¨C or whatever that magic does when converting from one state to another ¨C to increase the efficiency or power of the spell. Or maybe I¡¯m just overthinking it, and all it really means is that high numbers equal bigger boom. I¡¯ll go along with my theory instead, as I have nothing better to believe. I wonder if I could one day get to the level to understand exactly what is happening with the magic on a deeper level, so I could maybe improve on the calculations myself, if my hypothesis is to be correct. Answering that question wasn¡¯t my intention with casting a less efficient version of my spell though. I was actually trying to see if I could alter the intensity of light instead. I already know that more mana would entail a more powerful spell, but I had problems trying to siphon it into my spell. Like I would try to force a higher quantity of mana to flow into it, but it would cap out at a set rate. But what if I could send bursts of mana all at once into the spell for a small moment of intensity? My mind goes back to when I was playing with the ball of mana on my hand. I was able to build it up to a sizable amount before the rate of decay became equal to the rate at which I could send in mana. What if instead, I were to build up that ball of mana inside of me, where it won¡¯t decay at all? I start forming my mana into a sphere, trying to get it as compact as I can. I can really feel the mana points that I have tick down.
Magic: 12/50
Yea¡­ I refocus on the magic ball I have. Eventually, the ball forms big enough to the point where I can¡¯t compress it further than I already have. I had a thought that maybe intelligence has to do with that as well, seeing as how my control over the ball is starting to waver. As I gather up mana, my control over it starts to weaken. I start to sweat in exertion and concentration as I try to gather even more mana into it. It''s grown even bigger. I think it''s time to let this one go. All at once, I shove the ball of energy from out of me and into the spell, a breath of relief coming out of me as I do so. I can see the ball of energy even without my mana sight, or rather, its imprint. It bends the light around it slightly, leaving me to wonder how much I really don¡¯t know about mana. The ball decays quickly, but at the same time it¡¯s burning up just as fast as it turns into light. I had to avert my eyes because of its brightness, and it lingers on for about five seconds before it finally stops.
You have obtained External Magic Manipulation LV1
I panic and look side to side, look for any signs of danger. I hope nothing out there saw that, otherwise I¡¯d be in trouble. I may be level four, but I¡¯m still weak. Yes, I can¡¯t forget that. There will always be stronger opponents in this world. It leaves me with a disconcerting feeling. I¡¯m not a heroic person like in the novels. I can¡¯t adapt my mental state so quickly to face my fears. I¡¯m still just a boy, struggling to survive. One day though, I know that I will finally be able to change into the person I dream of being. An image of a valiant individual, casually flying while simultaneously throwing out bolts of mana at massive monsters pops up into my head. So cool... I perish the thought, a feeling of hot embarrassment welling up within me. But there''s nothing wrong with that image right?! I refocus myself and let out a sigh. I think that¡¯s enough experimenting with magic for the time being. I¡¯m running low on mana and I need to keep some in reserve in case I meet a monster trying to kill me. It¡¯s not like I really have anything to defend myself with ¨C just a small flame and some bright lights, but having the ability to do something magical gives me a sense of comfort and easiness. It¡¯s unfortunate, I really wanted to continue experimenting by sending mana into my body parts like I¡¯ve done with my eyes, but things don¡¯t always go the way you¡¯d want them to. I should know, I guess. I take a deep breath to ease my nerves and then resolve myself. No more playing around. If I¡¯m going to survive in this cave, I¡¯ll have to be smart about it. No more throwing pebbles at scorpions or rushing into my death, no, I have to plan out my encounters. I activate my camouflage skill, blending me into the environment better than before now that it has leveled up. Can¡¯t have monsters getting the jump on me, can I? I guess the first thing to do is to find some water to fulfill my thirst and hopefully wash off all of my blood. My wounds have healed at a surprisingly fast rate, but I still have purple blood all over me. I mean there must be something that these creatures drink. I just have to go looking for them. I wander the cavern and try to head towards the more lush areas with lots of bioluminescent plants, thinking that areas with more greenery are more rich with water. On the way there, I happen to spot a couple of monsters, but using identify on them told me that they weren¡¯t something to be messed with.
Blue-Eyed Cavern Lizard A voracious and deadly predator of the caverns. It¡¯s known for its striking blue-violet eyes, which it can use to temporarily paralyze prey by looking at them.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Usually only found in cavernous areas with high concentrations of magic. Level 12
Deepcrawler A centipede that hunts by using its natural camouflage to hide from its prey, and then jumping on them to inject its poisonous venom. Only found deep underground. Level 9
There are some pretty spooky plants as well.
Yellow Boomshroom A dangerous type of mushroom that can be fatal if ingested. The mushroom holds a liquid in its yellow cap that explodes violently if exposed to air. It grows in single quantities but is most often connected in big, underground root systems. Only found in this specific cavern next to sources of water.
Yeesh. I do not want to be anywhere close to something that volatile.
Identify has leveled up 2 ¡ú 3
Oh, it finally leveled. Took a while, I¡¯d been identify everything that I¡¯d seen since I got that skill. I find it a bit strange though. All of these descriptions for living targets all follow the same pattern: Name at the top, a short description that becomes more specific with higher levels, and then the target¡¯s stats. My description at the beginning of when I got here was just something like A unique Juvenile Shade Beast. Unlike others, this one seems to hold a higher degree of autonomy. Just saying that I¡¯m unique and is more self aware, but nothing about what Shade Beasts are actually like. I wonder if that will change if I identify myself right now, with it being a higher level.
The User. A unique Juvenile Shade Beast. Unlike others, this one doesn¡¯t exist. ~Unknown error detected~ ~Resolving~ ~Resolve failed~ ~Resolving~ ¡­ ¡­ ~Resolve s???u?????c??????cessful~ ~Reverting to past log~ T???h???e???? ???U?????s????e????r???: A unique Juvenile Shade Beast. Unlike others, this one seems to hold a h????i????g?????h????e?????r??? ?????d????e?????g???r?????e????e???? ?????o????f??? ????a?????u????t????o?????n????o????m?????y????. Juvenile Shade Beasts are a rare type of monster that arise from dark areas in places of high mana concentration.
I pause in my steps. What the hell¡­ What was that? Does this system think that I don¡¯t exist? Uh¡­ not really sure about that one. I mean I thought I did a fine job showing off how much I exist by screaming in circles when chased by that scorpion. Whatever the case may be, I¡¯ll have to keep this at the back of my mind. My main objective comes first: To get some water. I¡¯ll keep using identify and camouflage to try and level them up, all while avoiding the dangerous predators. All the same, I keep wandering this forest inside a cave. I can say that the view is pretty nice. It¡¯s dark but the areas are lit up by moss or mushrooms, giving it a kinda neon atmosphere. The grass here also glow, but they are only in areas where the ground is soft enough for it to grow. The mushrooms just seem to grow everywhere it looks like. I wonder where they get their nutrients. Magic? Magic. This place only serves to show me how much I don¡¯t know about this world. It sparks an insatiable curiosity within me. I really want to experiment with magic more, but if I don¡¯t stay fit, then I wont survive long enough to experiment. Is that my goal then? It¡¯s settled. I want to learn magic. That¡¯s my goal. With newfound resolve, I continue marching on silently through the cavern.
Camouflage has leveled up 2 ¡ú 3.
Nice. ----- ¡­ The scenery here really is something else¡­ ¡­? Is that it? In my view, in the middle of one of the more lush and open areas of the cavern, I see a lake through all of the flora. Around here, the grass reaches high up and covers my vision, not to mention the giant mushrooms that have grown tree-sized. I pick up my pace, pleasantly surprised and satisfied with myself now that I have finally found it. The trip didn¡¯t feel too tedious at all, as I lost myself immersing in the environment and all of its wonders. It makes me wonder when or if I will ever find a sentient person out here. Well, maybe not in this cave probably. I¡¯d have to go up to the surface for any chance at finding them. Who knows, maybe there is a city above me right now. The chances would be low, I¡¯d presume. Aside from that, the lake comes clearly in my view. I look around me, searching for any dangers. In the process, I witness the grandeur of my surroundings. A view impossible to find on Earth: A massive, crystal clear lake in the middle of a cavern, reflecting the lush, bioluminescent flora that surrounds it. To the north, or at least north relative to my position, of the lake is a cliff that stands high above everything else. On the west side of the lake is a river¡­ A river! Could that by any possible chance lead to the outside?! An escape to this horrible, though admittedly beautiful, landscape? I¡¯ll have to find out soon. To the east of the lake is a bunch of monsters, too far away for me to properly identify them. They don¡¯t seem to have noticed me, but with them being that far away, I doubt they pose very much of a threat. I¡¯d keep my eyes open just in case. I perform one last look around just to make doubly sure that there aren¡¯t any monsters near me. Then I walk close to the lake. It¡¯s¡­ breathe taking. Too much for a sheltered individual like me, who¡¯s only experience with nature is the pictures I see on a screen. The water is clear, but at certain angles, it ends up reflecting the cliff in front of me. A grand sight, definitely once-in-a-lifetime qualifying. It makes me embarrassed a little, but seeing the lake, I actually break down crying a little. Seeing something like this, after being on edge for so long. It¡¯s the only time I ever felt safe in this cave. All around me were toxic plants or bloodthirsty monsters, but here¡­ It just feels so serene. I take a look at myself in the water. I truly am not a human anymore. So this is what a shade beast is? I¡¯m like a blank figure, shrouded in a haze. My eyes are visible, glowing a soft purple which I¡¯d never noticed before. I try to smile, and I see the zigzag of my lips clearly. I feel like some monster in a horror movie ¨C fitting for the class of ¡°Shade Beast¡± I guess. It fills me with a sense of loss, I suppose. To no longer be human anymore, and instead some beast; a monster. Cloaked in shadows. A premise like that sounds way to edgy to my ears. Totally not cool at all. I suppose this is who I am now. I wonder how a sentient person would think of me if they saw me. I hope my appearance won''t label me as some sort of evil being to them. I remove those thoughts from my mind and put up a smile on my face. I won¡¯t do me any good to think about those things now. I reach my hands into the water. It feels cold... Is it safe to drink water from a lake? I don¡¯t know, but I did eat a bunch of bat corpses and dead scorpion before and it was an okay experience. I scoop up water with my hands. I don¡¯t know how I didn¡¯t notice it before but the tips of my fingers actually extend into spikes. Why haven''t I noticed that when I was fighting the scorpion? I guess somethings are just overlooked when you¡¯re not thinking straight. I lift the water up and drink. Kkk... Kah! Huh¡­ huh. Stupid. I don¡¯t consume with my mouth. That¡¯s for breathing only. I form a vortex in my hand now, holding it into the water. Mmmm¡­ delicious. Water tastes so much better when you haven¡¯t drunk after walking for hours on end. I let out a laugh. I never went even close to a pool before, and the child within me just wants to have fun in the water. Like the fourteen year old I am, I dive into the water. Not even realizing I don¡¯t know how to swim. ...I''m such a dummy... An exhilarating experience Stupidity is encoded within my genetics, down to my very bones. ¡°Kkk¡­ Damn¡­ it¡­¡± I was on all fours, coughing out whatever water was left in my throat after crawling out of the lake. I¡¯m such an idiot. Still, a grin was plastered stupidly across my face. Not gonna lie, that was at least kinda fun. I lay on my back. ¡°Hah¡­ hahaha¡­ ¡° I giggle to myself. How long has it been since I¡¯d felt this way? This sensation is something I can¡¯t ever remember ever feeling before. What was I missing out during the time I buried myself into the internet in my last life? This moment, I want it to last forever. But I have a goal, three goals actually. The first: Survive and grow stronger in order to protect myself from future adversaries. The second: Discover the mysteries of magic and its applications. And the last: Get the ever living hell out of here. I get a hold of my self. The moment of fun can wait until I grow a little bit stronger. My mission right now is to get stronger, and there¡¯s only one good option available to me right now: Level up. I¡¯ve been eyeing a scorpion next to that cliff for a while now, and I have an idea on how to defeat it.
Juvenile Cavern Scorpion A scorpion that utilizes it¡¯s tail to hunt for prey. It uses it¡¯s strong tail muscles to puncture through its opponents, with injecting them with weak venom as well. Its stinger is mildly toxic but packs much force behind it. The scorpion is known for its tendency to quickly dash towards its opponent. Found in cavernous areas with high mana concentration. Level 4
I put on a serious face. This is a time for progress and planning. After steeling myself for the upcoming battle and shaking off all hesitation, I begin to move stealthily towards the juvenile scorpion. I start using my camouflage skill again. The shade around me warps and changes color and I start to blend into the background a little more. I walk as carefully as I can, so as to not alert my enemy. This is an extremely dangerous situation. You have a high chance of dying. Then I must proceed with caution then, so as to lower that chance. As I continue to walk forward, the juvenile scorpion comes into view. It¡¯s not gray like the last one, as expected, and its size is much smaller, reaching only about three quarters of my height. It¡¯s sipping on the water, unaware of me stalking it. Perfect. I grab a rock ¨C plenty of those around here, even in a lake like this ¨C and calm myself. I breathe in and out. Steady now. My heartbeat calms, and my focus sharpens. Last time I threw that rock, I was half panicked and unprepared. This time will be different. You don¡¯t have to hit it directly. Making it see you and recognize you as your enemy is more than enough. I tell myself this, and the assurance fills me with calm. I should stop trying to do everything perfectly. Close enough is completely adequate. I pull back my arm. How do they do it in sports? They twist their back. One foot forward. Weight on my back feet. One last moment to collect myself¡­ And shoot! The ball lunges forward with more Power than I¡¯d have expected. It almost looks like that rock has some actual speed to it. The rock soars through the quiet air, whooshing noises following as it cuts through the atmosphere with respectable speed. And it soars. The scorpion looks up from it¡¯s drinking position, hearing something come by. It turns its head¡­ Bullseye. Hehe. The scorpion is hit with the full force of the rock and is pushed to the ground. It recovers and looks around its surroundings, searching for the aggressor. It locks eyes with me. If I was close enough, I would¡¯ve witnessed the monster¡¯s eyes filled with fury and anger. Engaging with the scorpion in physical combat is impossible for me ¨C the tail is just too much for me to handle. My strengths, however, lie elsewhere. On Earth, humans did not rise to power with strength or endurance, but with their wisdom. I have the power to anticipate and plan on a level unequal to these monsters, or at least the ones I¡¯ve seen so far. The cavern scorpion readies its legs. I¡¯ve seen that stance before. I already know what you¡¯re going to do next, creature. Well, I say it¡¯s about time to initiate phase two of the plan: Run. The scorpion lunges at me with terrifying speed, and I take off madly dashing through the forest as fast as my legs can take me. The scorpion keeps up the speed. I run with such a quickness I have never experienced before. This speed and that throw¡­ Is this the power of stats? I actually think that I run faster than that juvenile scorpion, but in my planning, I overlooked one thing. I awkwardly stumble on rocks as I run. Shrubs scratch at me as I pass by them, the taller ones leaving bigger marks. They aren¡¯t doing very much against my increased endurance, but as I run, the start to build.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The real problem is that I¡¯ve never experienced this terrain. I stumble on some more rocks again. This damn cave¡­ Looking behind me, I can see that the scorpion begins to catch up to me. My urge to look only served to cost me more speed, as I end up tripping over a patch of glowing mushrooms. I quickly get up, panicking as I wonder how close that scorpion is. Oh no. It¡¯s almost in dashing range. I try to pick up speed, but I¡¯m already going as fast as my legs can take me. Panic begins to well up within me now. ¡°No¡­¡°, I say to myself in a ragged voice. Things did not go as perfectly as I planned. I needed to keep the scorpion a certain distance away from me as I ran so that I would not be forced to engage it in a melee. But that¡¯s okay though. The shrubbery begins to clear. I still stumble on some of the rocks, giving the scorpion an opportunity to catch up. It¡¯s extremely close to jumping on me. Things simply won¡¯t turn out perfectly sometimes, and that doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s my fault if it doesn¡¯t. What I can do, is to just adapt to the situation. Open my mind to try new things, and maybe, just maybe, things won¡¯t turn out so bad. Try new things, and I could maybe turn this around. Think, Aaron. You got this. I focus, my mind racing from idea to idea as I try to land on a plausible one. I smile as a sudden thought hits me. This situation won¡¯t turn out so bad after all. I command my mana to centralize in my palm, a swirling ball of energy forming there. I just gotta keep building energy, and focus myself so I stumble less often in this terrain. I struggle to keep my ball of mana together while I run. I¡¯m not thinking of chucking a big ball of fire at the insect because I don¡¯t think a hot, temporary burst of fire will do enough to slow him down, seeing as how it¡¯s exoskeleton doesn¡¯t seem likely to catch fire. No, what I need is force; a big boom. My smile widens as I spot what I was looking for in my sprint. A wave of relief flows into me.
Yellow Boomshroom A dangerous type of mushroom that can be fatal if ingested. The mushroom holds a liquid in its yellow cap that explodes violently if exposed to air. It grows in single quantities but is most often connected in big, underground root systems. Only found in this specific cavern next to sources of water.
It lies right ahead of me! Finally, after running for what felt like ages! I lower myself while running in order to reach for it. This proves to be a poor choice, and I stumble onto the ground next to the savior shroom. Whatever! This is my chance. I grab and reach for the mushroom, plucking it at its base so as to not disturb its volatile insides. I roll and face the scorpion, who¡¯s now only a couple yards away from me. It pounces, but the shroom is already in mid air. As I get ready to use my magic, time seems to slow. I hadn¡¯t planned for this to happen, but I have no choice. I begin to visualize capsule of air, compressed and flung at high speeds in order to pierce its target. The mana roughly flows into the middle of my palm at what seems like a painfully slow rate. I never had practice with this. What if it doesn¡¯t work? What if I fail? My thoughts begin to race at sonic speeds. The mana flow seems to slow, and I can¡¯t tell if truly does so or if I¡¯m just imagining things. My heart races. But I have to believe that I can do this. Even if I must lie in the face of fate, I must lie to believe, because if I don¡¯t, then my spell will fail. Believe in myself, because the alternative is much worse. I will not fall. This world will not kill me. Not here. I reassure myself that I can do this. The mana resumes flowing in front of my palm, faster and smoother this time. The tiny air capsule forms soon enough. It¡¯s ready. My eyes focus on the mushroom only, filled with steadiness and resolve. My hand doesn¡¯t shake as I move my arm up. Finally, I let the built up ball of mana come forth, willing it to infuse kinetic energy within the makeshift bullet. It¡¯s released in sonic silence, cutting through the air faster than the eye can see. Not like eyes can really see it in the first place anyways. The mushroom cap is punctured, and the liquid leaks. Immediately, a deafening boom follows later. The explosion leaves behind resounding echoes through the cavern. No time for thinking; just run. I want to celebrate my success at detonating the mushroom, but the duty isn¡¯t done. I continue running, looking back while keeping awareness of the shrubbery near me. The scorpion is pushed back, angrier than ever before. I smile. The mission is back on track. But I still got a four feet scorpion tailing me so I guess I shouldn¡¯t be relaxed just yet. The terrain starts to rise now. I have arrived where I needed to be; I¡¯ve reached the cliff. Now, it¡¯s time to once again build the magic in my palm. I don¡¯t need to much this time, so I only build up a little so I don¡¯t get exhausted as quickly. In a fair 1v1 battle in regular terrain against this scorpion, I will 100% lose all the time, even with us being the same levels. Sure those 8 unassigned points may make a difference, but I don¡¯t have any natural weapons I could use except for my pointed fingers and the small variety of spells I have at my disposal. This isn¡¯t a regular battle though; The field is littered with bombs and the terrain just so happens to have a large cliff with a deep lake below it. So come, scorpion. I am no longer afraid of you at this point. I continue to ascend the cliff. I didn¡¯t spot any monsters on it when I was trekking through the forest, so I had assumed it to be pretty safe. The scorpion follows behind. We have continued this little goose chase long enough. I think it¡¯s time to end that now. Finally, at the top and nowhere left to run, I turn. The scorpion encroaches upon me, thinking that it has me cornered. I feel the magic in my hand. It¡¯s ready. C¡¯mon. Walk closer. Please. The scorpion moves closer, arching its tail back, readying a strike. This will end quickly for his prey. He can run no longer. But I''m no longer trying to run. I ready my spell. My last trick in my sleeve¡­ This cavern¡­ it¡¯s an impossibility for all this life to be here, one that is explained with magic, especially through identify¡¯s implication with its constant references to high mana concentrations. Still though, even through all of the impossibilities magic performs in this cavern, evolution takes place. What does a creature become in an environment like this? Lots of things, apparently, but in such darkness, I can only assume that predators like this scorpion all have at least one thing in common. The scorpion is only an instant away from impaling me with that massive stinger. It reaches higher than I have seen it before, trumping even my height. I won¡¯t allow that thing to hit me, and my hand begins to glow with intense, bright light. It fills the cliff entirely, engulfing the two of us in it. I close my eyes as I activate the spell. How do these mobile creatures hunt? They chase their prey, using their eyesight to track their prey¡¯s path. Regular eyes won¡¯t do in this situation though, the environment not allowing for it. Evolution dictates that whoever can see the best in this place will survive. Evolution calls for eyes that are extra sensitive to light. Even knowing all of this, anxiety still fills me with fright. I can feel that my ball of mana has all been spent. I open my eyes and step forward close enough to grab the tail at its top. I know from my previous life, during my biology classes, that scorpions are supposed to be picked up by their tails. Well, it¡¯s a little awkward when the tail is almost my height, but I believe that the philosophy remains the same. The scorpion must be blinded and stunned from such an attack. I don¡¯t think it witnessed anything that bright in its entire life, and so have it so suddenly must throw it off by a lot. And that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m counting on. I swing the scorpion around, tossing it off the cliff. The scorpion barely hangs on using its stinger as a grapple. I run up and kick that thing off the cliff. I hope you can swim. It falls and plunges to face its impending doom. The scorpion lands with a splash below, and I walk back from the cliff. I think I remember somewhere in that biology class that scorpions can also survive for a considerable amount of time while underwater. I push that thought back. It¡¯s not as if that¡¯d be the same for this insect. With a bigger body comes a greater need for oxygen. I¡¯m sure enough that the scorpion won¡¯t survive for that long. Right? ¡­ Right?!
You have slain Juvenile Cavern Scorpion LV4
I let out a sigh of relief. I close my eyes to recover myself. It¡¯s done. I did it. I open my eyes. I have survived my first battle. It was an exhilarating experience, for sure. It makes me feel so happy and relieved. I''m alive. Cold and solid No level up, but that¡¯s fine. I wouldn¡¯t expect it to be this easy. Level ups don¡¯t come that quick, not even in games. I let out another sigh of relief. I¡¯ve done things I¡¯d never would¡¯ve imagined to have done before I died. I¡¯ve reincarnated into a new world, turned into a beast, fought scorpions, cast magic¡­ Oh right. Magic was also on my list of goals, wasn¡¯t it? I bring myself back to reality. Magic. I¡¯m itching to try some more things with it. So many questions about how it can be applied ¨C I¡¯m practically salivating at the thought of playing with this mystery energy. I need to see what I''m doing first. Mana Sight. I remember how I had the idea to imbue my eyes with magic. I think what happened there was that I had imagined my eyes improving to being able to see magic and it just happened. I already knew what magic looked like and felt like. I could sense it inside of me, and using my innate knowledge on what magic is feel like, I had successfully altered my eyes and gained the skill. Now, what if I do that to my other parts of the body? I smile mischievously at the thought getting even stronger. I look into myself, concentrating on the magic. The mana flows through my body in a natural circulation pattern. It comes from the center of my body, then disappearing back into the center in some unknown way. Why does it do that? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter for now. With my will, I use magic to form a magic barrier, cutting off circulation. So I can influence the flow of mana that way too? It¡¯s only slightly less efficient but didn¡¯t require very much conscious effort at all. Interesting, but no apparent applications right now. I continue to redirect the flow of my mana, focusing it into my legs. Like before, I can feel the mana being infused into the body part. Something is changing. Strangely enough, the mana absorption slows down considerably after the first burst of mana, though it still remains burning mana at a high rate. My legs feel much more powerful though. I look at it. Even without my mana sight, my legs seem to have some sort of blueish aura around it. A thought of my eyes glowing blue when using mana sight pops into my mind. I push that back, trying to focus on one thing at a time. With my mana sight, I can see that the mana is somehow enhancing my legs still, but on the inside, I can¡¯t sense any change currently happening. Curious, I test the strength of the legs and jump as hard as I can high into the air. I let out a high pitched yelp. Sure I knew it was going to be high, but I didn¡¯t really prepare myself for that feeling. Not a very fun thing to test out on a cliff. If I had to put a number on it though, I say I went about one and a half Aarons high into the air. Much greater than the one quarter Aaron I could do before without the enhancement. Alright then! So success! I let my mana resume its natural circulation. Once the mana is unfocused on the legs, my enhanced legs disappear and my normal legs return. Alright then. Not quite success.
You have gained Internal Magic Manipulation LV1
Uh¡­ Kinda success? So that¡¯s interesting. It looks like enhancing my legs, unlike my eyes, requires a constant drain on my mana in order to keep running. I focus the mana into my legs. It enhances, but this time, there was no brief period where the mana has to absorb into my muscles. Looks like the beginning expenditure of mana was a one time thing only. I wonder if that means using my mana sight takes mana as well. I mean, I never really noticed a mana drain whenever I would use it, but my sense of mana could very well just be inadequate at detecting tinier flows of mana. I mean, I don¡¯t really know if it takes mana, but it would make a lot of sense if it did. Okay, so maybe I can¡¯t have permanently enhanced legs then. The utility to be able to jump one and a half Aarons high would probably come in handy for future use though. With enhanced legs, traveling the terrain would become a much easier task for me. With that, I begin enhancing every part of my body. I¡¯m not really sure how strong my arms become during its enhanced state, but I¡¯m sure it would be just a powerful a tool as the enhanced state of my legs. My torso and head didn¡¯t really change much, as expected. All of the enhancements do seem to share a couple of things in common though, such as the soft aura and the enhanced durability. I¡¯m not sure how durable, but it could at least withstand the force of lifting me that high into the air. All of those mana expenditures leaves me feeling absolutely exhausted though, and I feel a little light headed from it.
Mana: 7/50
Gah! Did I really use up that much mana already? I guess I did use a couple of points with the flash and bullet spell from the scorpion battle, but those must''ve been some pretty hefty enhancement costs. I guess I have to sit here and wait. Staring on the cliff, over the lake view. That beautiful lake. This beautiful cavern. Pretty horrible with all of its monsters, but it is unmistakably pretty, no doubt. A yawn escapes from my mouth, showing off my spiky mouth. I¡¯m so exhausted. From the scorpion. From the mana. From this cavern. But it¡¯s not too bad in the end. I smile. My eyes close, and I begin to drift into sleep. -----Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I wake up. The soft dirt serving as slightly better bedding than hard rock. Still, I¡¯d prefer something at least a little more comfortable. ¡°¡­? Is¡­ is it morning already?...¡± I open my eyes, a land of gray greeting me. I sit up suddenly, half-wondering where I am. Then, I remember what has happened. I start to calm down a little bit more, then lay back down. I know that I this isn¡¯t really the safest situation to continue napping in, but I just¡­ don¡¯t feel like moving right now. Just a little more time to myself. Time spent reminiscing about the past¡­ ¡­ Okay that¡¯s enough. I jump up on my feet, ready for the day. I already know what I¡¯m going to do first: offensive spells. Light spell, you¡¯ve done me well, but I don¡¯t think that you could kill a monster by yourself. Now then¡­ I close my eyes, trying to focus on the mana within me like last time. I see it clearly, that mysterious misty blue substance. I¡¯ve seen it plenty enough times before. I already know what I¡¯m working with. Also like before, I will the mana to condense over the palm of my hand. I try to stretch it out as far as I can, but I can feel my control over the mana weakening the farther out I go. Alright, the only option for projectiles at the moment is to manually impart my bullets with kinetic energy. I move the ball of mana back to my palm. I wonder, how much mana is contained in this tiny little ball?
Mana: 46/50
Okay, so there is four mana in this ball. There really should be some unit of measurement I could use instead of just using numbers¡­ I shake my head. That¡¯s beside the point. The next step is to give this mana physical substance. I wonder, the only thing I was able to convert this mana into was energy, but can I convert it into matter? I focus intently. I want ice. Cold and solid. A tiny block of ice forms in the air, which then drops down onto the ground once it¡¯s fully formed. A surprised look appears on my face. I bend down and pick up the ice. It¡¯s a cube about the size of my thumbnail. I bring it up to my eye, inspecting it closely, all while feeling the cold seep into my hand. Well, it certainly feels like ice, and it looks the part too. When I put it in my hand, a blue mist appears around it. The cube is disintegrating. I activate my mana sight. Sure enough, it¡¯s behaving similarly to when my regular mana dissipates. So it doesn¡¯t last forever. It¡¯s more than enough to be used as a projectile though, as it seems to keep it¡¯s physical properties still. It makes me wonder though, is there any way to give the items created this way some permanence? A part of me scoffs at the thought, dismissing it as a groundless theory in creating matter from nothing. The other part wonders how different the laws in this universe are from my own. I give it a try. Again, I focus. I want real ice. The stuff that stays forever and turns into liquid. My mana sight detects the mana circling round and round as well as trying to converge into itself. In the end, no dice. Maybe I¡¯m just not capable yet, or maybe it¡¯s impossible. Back to my ice spell though. Ice is nice, but metal would be better for piercing my enemies. Lead bullets, iron bullets. All are good. The mana converges above my hand. It doesn¡¯t have to be out of my palm, however, using my palm greatly improves my control over my aim and it just comes more intuitively than having a bullet form out of my chest or something like that. Anyways, I focus and, using both my hands, try to form both at once. The mana swirls around me as I fall into a deep concentration. I struggle at directing the mana, trying to focus even harder to move both simultaneously. The mana, however, keeps slipping out of my control and resuming normal circulation. Sweat begins to fall down my face as I finally let out a big sigh and give up on the idea. I¡¯m¡­ not able to control two mana flows at once. The difficulty in balancing both acts at the same time is not something within my capabilities right now. I think, for now, I will have to work on improving those skills. I begin casting a spell to summon iron first. The mana flows much easier this time, and a tiny iron cube forms in my palm, the volume of which is less than what I was able to get with ice. Not the best for doing general damage I guess, but it could be useful when hitting vital points or when trying to pierce something. Next is the lead. Casting the spell this time took much longer, and I ended up with a pitiful amount of metal. Not much to do anything with. Okay, so I found out that different materials require different casting times, with some conjurations being more difficult than others. My next step is to imbue these projectiles with kinetic energy and propel them at my enemies. I conjure up some ice, being an easy material to conjure while still being nice and solid. I aim it at one of the big mushrooms around the lake below me. I hold it up and begin to build up kinetic energy within my palm with levitating the cube with magic. Moving mana and manipulating it to convert itself into energy is much easier than conjuring matter, which is the reason why I can simultaneously manipulate multiple orbs of mana within at the same time. The limit I can do for right now is about three smalls ones or two big ones. I take aim at the mushroom tree, my magic itching to be released. I take a hold of the fully formed ice cube, and like before when I threw that rock, I took one step back. I must not make the mistake on ignoring the power of my body to focus on magic, especially with the power stat. I will imbue this cube with energy both physically and magically. I arch back, and throw with all of my might, spending my mana to convert it into force as well. It soars through the air with such speed that it becomes difficult to see its trajectory. The results look splendid from atop this cliff, but I really can¡¯t see how much damage I have done to this tree. Maybe I should¡¯ve aimed at something closer to me. Regardless, this will be a chance to test out my magical enhancements. My legs glow with mana, and I take off running as fast as I can. I move with astounding speed, being able to cross with a considerable decrease in time. If I had to put a percentage to it, I¡¯d say enhancing added about a fifty percent increase to my speed. I can feel my mana start to drain really rapidly though ¨C much faster than normal casting. Midway to the mushroom tree, I stop using the mana enhancement, instead opting to jog the rest of the way to conserve mana and keep myself fit at the same time. My endurance helps me a lot in that regard, but it unfortunately doesn¡¯t level up. Jogging, I arrive close enough to the tree to see how much damage it has done. The results are as expected from the speed at which it was shot. The ice seems to have landed near the base of the tree. I forgot to consider gravity in my aiming. The damage though is already it more than enough to pierce through flesh and exoskeleton, with it leaving a dent into the shroom that measures about two and a half inches deep. A smile pops up on my face. My first, true weapon. Shall I call you¡­ Ice Bullet? Yes, direct and basic naming for a direct and basic spell. It¡¯s power though, is nothing to be scoffed at. My next test shall be with the iron. I have an idea to form the iron into a spike to further increase it¡¯s penetrating power. While conjuring, I imagine the form of the object instead of just thinking about the material. The result is an oblong cube, shaped nowhere near anything to a spike. Interesting... So do I need to manually shape the object while or after it¡¯s done forming? I will my mana to shape the iron. It¡¯s malleable but takes considerably more effort to shape than other soft material. The result is a¡­ well it¡¯s close to a spike I guess. The ¡°needle¡± portion of it probably won¡¯t cut anything if I press it into my skin, but if launched at high speeds¡­ I raise my palm and aim at the tree again, this time at a more reasonable distance ¨C one where I may find myself in while fighting against monsters. I build up mana and launch the spike into the tree, doing less damage around the area of impact, but going deep enough to the point where I can¡¯t easily see how far it went. ¡­ I think the story may differ. I walk up to the poor, abused plant. Sorry, but you¡¯ll just have to serve as my test dummy for the time being. I look into the hole the iron bullet has made. As expected, it¡¯s too dark to see anything in there. I ponder how I could measure how much it went through the mushroom, and ended up settling on using my spiky fingers. I mean they¡¯re decently long and thin, reaching up to a maximum of five inches for my longest finger. I measure it and I see that the iron bullet actually went up four and a half inches into the tree! That¡¯s much better than I expected, instead of the maximum three inches I originally thought it was going to travel. I smile, feeling pleased with myself for finally finding something I could defend myself with. I feel much more secure than before, like I actually have a chance to survive in this place. Feeling light headed, I sit down in a nearby open area. I check my mana.
Magic: 4/50
Wow¡­ I used a bunch of mana in the span of like¡­ thirty to forty five minutes? I sit down to rest myself for a moment. I breathe out, relaxing myself for a bit. There is still much more work to be done. Light, silver
Magic: 4/50
I sit there in the open, basking in the lake¡¯s beautiful atmosphere. I feel each and every single second pass by, waiting for one thing to change. Even with its beauty, I still get a little bored and start playing with my inner mana to pass the time. Eventually, three minutes pass while I sit there patiently for something to happen.
Magic: 5/50
That¡¯s what I was looking for. It finally went up after three minutes. So¡­ three times fifty¡­ two and a half hours to regenerate to full. A frown appears on my face. Nice as this place may be, I wouldn¡¯t want to stay here for two and a half hours just sitting down. I guess I should spend my time doing something productive while I wait for it to regen. I get up from where I sat, and start heading towards a more rocky area. I look for sharp rocks that I can use as materials for an axe so I can begin to obtain some of this mushroom timber. I¡¯ve decided that I need a proper base to rest in ¨C no more sleeping out in the open. I reflect on all the times I¡¯ve either slept or passed out in this cavern, and the thought of what could¡¯ve happened if a monster found me fills me with shudders. While looking for a suitable rock, I also keep a lookout on pieces of flint that I could maybe, with the help of a little magic, use as a crude knife. I continue to sift through the numerous amounts of rocks that litter the cavern floor, finding, as to be expected, lots of stone, but little else. I sigh in quiet frustration at the lack of variety. I am literally trapped in a cave, and I can only find a single type of rock. Maybe it¡¯s because of where I decided to search? I keep searching as I wait for my mana to top out again. I wish I could listen to music while doing this. Images of my past life of me enjoying the various wonders of technology flash into my head, and I begin to feel a little homesick. No. I can¡¯t keep thinking of that place. I need to learn to accept reality for what it is now. I let out a sigh and continue searching for my desired stone. Suddenly, I see a black sheen in the corner of my vision. I look up to where that rock was, and I see a familiar dark color. I walk up to it as numerous other rocks pop up into my view, all located around the lake. Oh, so it really was where I was looking. Feeling a little miffed with myself, I collect the rock and start to plan out how I will design these tools. The axe is easy enough ¨C just a wedge would do the job fine. I hold up the piece of flint I found and inspect it. It¡¯s the longest, and narrowest piece of flint I could find. Its shape is absolutely perfect for what I need it to be. I pick up another piece of flint and chip it off at one of the ends. It doesn¡¯t chip. Feeling a little more impatient, I hit much harder this time, and to my dismay, I end up breaking that flint piece in half. God. Damn it. I facepalm myself and look for another piece of flint with similar specs. Upon finding one, I sit down and try to chip it off with more control and care. After a little while of careful shaping and refining, I end up with what some could maybe call a knife. It works¡­ fine enough probably. The edge looks like it could cut and, although it isn¡¯t the neatest knife in the world, it¡¯s at least kinda straight. I stay persistent in my endeavor and continue to chip off more and more, eventually realizing that I really suck at this. I let out a sigh of exasperation, then steel myself for the future troubles I will soon experience trying to survive in this world. Getting frustrated at the problem won¡¯t fix it, Aaron. I gotta just accept the facts as they come and continue to move forward. I pick up another piece of flint, chipping off pieces with the same care as my past attempt. It comes out looking a little better actually, almost usable. Unfortunately, my ¡°almost¡± isn¡¯t good enough ¨C it doesn¡¯t make the cut. I snicker to myself, and then toss the failure into the river and try again. I grab another piece of flint and begin mindlessly chipping away, the motions putting me into a strangely calm state of repetition. The attempt this time yielded much better results, resembling an actual, functional knife. I decide to call this one a success. I think the deciding factor in this attempt was my use of this strange, orange rock that seemed to appear under the shallow waters of the lake. It¡¯s remarkably hard compared to what I¡¯d seen so far, but unfortunately, it breaks very unevenly, rendering it unusable as a knife. My first knife. I think I¡¯ll name you¡­ Knifey. I chuckle to myself at my naming convention. Knifey, what a ridiculous name. Actually, I think I might stick with it, just for the sake of it. I carry knifey around with me, feeling satisfied with myself. I¡¯ll wrap the handle with some of the thick, tall grass around the left side of the cliff, after drying and braiding it. Hopefully, it¡¯ll be strong enough to not fall apart. In case it doesn¡¯t work, I guess carrying it around without a handle might be fine, but I could cut myself easily on the blade if my hand slips. I walk towards the grassy areas, keeping my camouflage ever active. I wonder if that works on these tools as well. I can¡¯t really notice if it¡¯s working because, well¡­ it¡¯s a black knife blending into a black background. I don''t really notice the difference. What I do notice, however, is my lack of pockets. I don¡¯t really have any clothing on me right now. Should I be embarrassed? I am walking around naked, even if the shadowy haze conceals my being.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Come to think of it though, I never really had a need to poop since I came into this world, haven¡¯t I? I look down at myself. ¡­ and find nothing there. Is this¡­ a property of shade beasts perhaps? What even is my biological gender¡­ Can shade beasts even have parents? Using identify told me that they are apparently a rare type of monster that arise from dark areas in places of high mana concentration, so my parents are¡­ darkness? I shudder and shake my head and stop thinking about the topic. Well, moving on from that¡­ dilemma, I arrive at the place where I originally arrived into this lake ¨C the one with the tall grass. I grip my knife and begin to cut off whole bunches of grass at once, gauging its level of effectiveness. After slicing off a nice, big hand full of cave grass, I actually find that the knife cuts much sharper than I¡¯d have imagined. Honestly, with my luck, I was half expecting the knife to fall apart or simply not work. I am pleasantly surprised. I continue cutting off more and more grass. Maybe I could turn this into rope and fashion myself a carrying bag. Or pants. I could also use this as a roof for the small base I will build at the bottom of the cliff. Using the mushroom timber, and maybe with a little help from the medium-sized shrubbery around me, I could end up building a pretty reasonable base. The only matter is its security. Sure I could camouflage it so predators won¡¯t notice, but I don¡¯t think that will be enough for me to sleep safely and soundly. My mind wanders to the boomshrooms that litter the area. Up until my fight with the scorpion, I have never heard a single boomshroom detonate around here. With its prevalence, I could only assume that the monsters here know to avoid its yellow cap. Maybe I could cultivate it around my base? I shake my head. Doing that would mean too much downtime before I get an actual line of defense. Even then, I would need to pack it close to each other, and well, the idea of packing that many explosives close together¡­ Needless to say: A Very Bad Idea. It would probably be very attention grabbing as well. I think what I¡¯ll actually go with is to bury some boomshroom caps around my base, marking them with some sort of twig or something. I''ll probably have to put a stone bowl under each one to prevent the mine from going inert after the cap decomposes and the liquid seeps into the ground. Well, any adjustments can be made when the time comes. While thinking to myself, I end up grabbing a lot more grass than I could carry in my fun time with Knifey, so I just leave the excess there while I bundle up as much as I can and go. I stroll leisurely on the path, soaking up the atmosphere of this place. I still use identify constantly to try and level it up.
Indigo Mushtree A close relative to the Indigo Mushroom, the Mushtree stands much taller and wider than it. It¡¯s different biology, being similar to regular trees, allows it to share the same sturdy quality that regular wood has. Grows underground in areas of high mana concentration and water.
Cave grass The underground variant of grass, just as prolific as it too. This commonly seen grass varies in height in a linear relationship with the nearby area¡¯s mana concentration. Its biology uses mana instead of light and carbon dioxide to respirate and produce its energy. Grows underground.
Lots of interesting stuff to be found here. As I continue walking, I hear a soft rustling noise behind me. I pause in my steps, and I look behind me. It¡¯s too dark to see anything there, but it¡¯s bright enough to see the rustling of the plants as a creature shifts through the area. I immediately grow more wary, wondering what monster could possibly be in there. Cold sweats start to run down my back as I consider the possibility of one of those 10+ level monsters being there. I gently let my bundle of grass onto the ground. Slowly and carefully, I begin to back up from the source of the rustling. Just in case, I begin to gather mana into my hands, ready to conjure up an ice bullet at any time. Suddenly, I see a paw exit the brush and into the open. I grit my teeth. Ice bullet. It forms into my palm and I grab it. Mana still gathers into my hand, readily convertible into energy. I enhance my arm to give it some more strength. I''ll make sure to start this off with a bang. Before I even see the rest of the monster, I ready my arm with the intent to shoot it immediately. The rest of the monster¡¯s body comes into view. Out of the brush, I see an image of a bruised and battered exoskeleton. It¡¯s covered in scratches all over, and its head is bashed in. Those eyes of it still stare at me, grim and lethal. It¡¯s the gray cavern scorpion. My hand freezes, and the gray cavern scorpion jumps at me in my moment of hesitation. Mid pounce, the scorpion changes into a wolf, it¡¯s mouth wide open for my neck. Out of reflex, I block with my arm, and the wolf latches on. Tight. I panic and begin trying to shake off the wolf. I end up making my wound worse in doing so, and the wolf bites down even harder. With my other hand, I bring down Knifey onto the wolf, but the wolf notices it and dodges out of the way. My arm is bleeding profusely. Purple blood spews out of my arm through the holes from the wolf¡¯s fangs. With a flick my wrist, I toss my ice cube into my other hand, moving the congregate of mana along with it. I grit my teeth angrily, and the wolf prepares another charge. Magic requires ideas and a will to guide it. I guide the ice bullet into my enemy¡¯s face. It ends up missing its head and instead lodges itself into its shoulder. Hmph. Unfortunate that the bullet didn¡¯t do more damage. I didn¡¯t have the foresight to drop my knife and actually throw the cube instead of using solely magic. The wolf however, is frightened by the unexpected ranged attack. Its instinct told it that juvenile beasts shouldn¡¯t be able to utilize magic at all and that it should run immediately. It ducks its tail and turns. Oh no you won¡¯t. I¡¯m not allowing this dog to leave alive. My eyes are alight with fury. I redirect the flow of mana into my legs to enhance it and make a running leap onto the mutt. Knifey slips in my hand during the jump and leaves a gash on my palm, but I don¡¯t notice it in the adrenaline rush. The dog¡¯s movements are slowed considerably due to the ice bullet, and I easily catch up to it with my jump. I pin the wolf down, sinking my spiked hand into it. It thrashes wildly in a desperate attempt to free itself. I am unable to claw the beast ¨C my fingers are made for puncturing, not slashing ¨C so the wolf frees itself as I try to lift my hand in the air. As it does so, I flinch for a small moment, and look down to see a familiar body under me. I pause in my tracks, looking at the Aaron on the ground. It¡¯s the old, human me. Singed and still burning, eyes filled with dread and hopelessness. The sight hits me with crushing sadness and shock. Was this me in the building? I am unable to tell if I¡¯m looking at myself or a corpse. The flames continue to engulf me and I lay there, bleeding from my shoulder and from my abdomen. My eyes remain dull and emotionless. I see a tear slid down my face as I burn. The sight stirs something in me, and my eyes start to tear up. I remain frozen in complete emotional overload. The burning Aaron looks at me, and it moves its face closer to mine. A snout appears in the air, and it reaches for my face. I back up quickly and move my hand again in reflex, still with the same shocked expression on my face. This time, instead of my arm, my right hand gets bitten. I stab my fingers into the wolf¡¯s head. It tenses up, and then goes limp. I shake off the dead monster from my hand. There I sit, still in shock from the imagery, while the burning Aaron slowly transforms to reveal a wolf with light, silver fur. Pathetic.
You have slain Stalker Variant Mirage Wolf LV5 You have leveled up 4 ¡ú 5 You are able to evolve through the Dark evolution tree. You have breached Void Realm ( I ) Your stats have increased: Health: 60 ¡ú 150 Magic: 50 ¡ú 60 Power: 4 ¡ú 5 Endurance: 7 ¡ú 9 Speed: 8 ¡ú 10 Intelligence: 12 ¡ú 16 Spirit: 5 ¡ú 7 You have 9 unassigned stat points
The long notification fills up my vision. Suddenly, the shock and sadness gave way to anger and scorn. My face contorts in annoyance. "So this world has stuff like that too then." I use identify on the mutilated corpse. Surprisingly, it works.
Stalker Variant Mirage Wolf A more intelligent variant of the Mirage Wolf, the Stalker Variant Mirage Wolf¡¯s innate power is to perfectly imitate an illusion of deceased organisms the target has encountered before after staying close to them for a certain amount of time. The image changes from those the target feels little emotional attachment for to images that have higher emotional weight for the target, all depending on the amount of time the wolf spends near the target. Found in areas with a natural population of Mirage Wolves and monsters. LV5
Disgusting creature. I stand up, clutching my bleeding arm. It burns with excruciating pain, but I bear through the agony. I look down at the fallen wolf. It¡¯s covered in holes and blood from both mine and its own. My mind heads back to the image of me burning. God¡­ is that really how I looked like? I was about to kick the corpse, but I shake my head. It¡¯s already dead, and being spiteful won¡¯t do anything to remedy my current situation. My arm is covered with purple blood, warm and slick. Moving even just a little sends painful sparks all over my arm. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but I can barely focus with the pain anyways. I ready my magic, and will it to heal my arm. The mana flows in at a steady pace, but visually, it looks as if nothing is changing. I try and be a little more specific with the imagery and will, hoping that it will expedite the process. The mana flows into the arm, being absorbed into it, similar to when I was enhancing a part of my body. The goal this time is not to increase the physical capabilities of the arm, but the recovery aspect. The mana encourages cell growth and clotting, any broken bones are repaired, and foreign matter is removed from the area. The mana flow begins to speed up, and it seems to be moving to different areas than it did before.
You have increased your intelligence by 1.
Mana starts to be consumed at a more rapid pace, and I can certainly feel something happening. Still though, visual confirmation of healing is not present. I guess it¡¯s just not that easy to heal a body part. I grit my teeth in pain as I begin to move towards Knifey. I accidentally cut myself when leaping towards the wolf with the knife. I have to get some sort of grip on this thing soon, so don¡¯t injure myself more than I already have. I shuffle my way back to the tall bundle of grass I let onto the ground. I don¡¯t think wrapping grass around my arm as a bandage would do much good at all, even if I could wrap and tie it with my one arm. And so, I just sit on it. I let out a pained sigh, and think back to that notification from before. Apparently, I¡¯m able to evolve now for some reason. Was it a level requirement? And what about that Void Realm ( I ) thing? It sounds too¡­ doom-y for someone like me. Is ita bad thing that I have breached it? My health seemed to have increased dramatically as well. Well, I¡¯m actually kinda curious about what evolving would do to me. I mean, I¡¯ve been a juvenile shade beast this entire time, so I wonder what an adult shade beast would be capable of? How do I even evolve in the first place?
You have the option to evolve into a greater form. Your level is capped until you do so. Your evolve tree: Dark Access evolve panel? (Y/N)
Oh. It just pops up if I think about it then. Fine then, mysterious system, I want to see my options. I sit there and wait. Eventually, the lack of any prompt starts to gnaw at my patience. Did I do something wrong? It¡¯s taking a little while longer than expected. ~Error detected destination:Void~ ~Error resolved. Resuming procedures~ ~Emergency: Detecting breach of system~ Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. My eyes widen in surprise. Suddenly, an unknown atmosphere descends around me. Nothing has changed on the outside, but I know that something has happened to the surroundings somehow. I continue waiting for the system to hopefully patch itself up, sitting indifferently to what seems like a system hijacking. ~Resetting Program:System~ ~Reset Overridden. Pathetic.~ ~System Control compromised~ ~Initiating Program:Divination_? ~Void energy purged~ ~Error resolved.~
Select an evolution:
...what? Was that..? I narrow my eyes. Does this all somehow relate to my entrance into this world? And void energy, isn¡¯t that what I somehow ¡°breached¡±? Did I somehow do this? Or did I just get a defective system¡­ Tch. Whatever. It¡¯s not like I can do anything about it, and these system prompts sure as hell aren''t doing anything about my mangled arm. Let¡¯s just get this evolution process done with. First one¡¯s up:
Shade Beast (Adult): The adult version of the juvenile shade beast. The adult shade beast gives moderate improvements in all aspects over the juvenile counterpart, and gives increased night vision. Evolving into this will transform the user into a black humanoid with spiked fingers, surrounded by an aura of darkness. Silver lines will also appear next to the eyes, siphoning mana into special structures within the eye and giving the Shade Beast a natural ability to apply a light paralysis to any target it looks at. Shade beasts lose much of their stats and skills when exposed to bright light, and loses health when exposed to sunlight. Rarity: Common
So the first one is just the adult version of the me right now. Doesn¡¯t look too bad. Just kidding. That weakness is a bit much, for someone who¡¯s goal is to eventually ascend to the surface. Other than that though, it actually looks like a really big upgrade, being a very general improvement to everything. I might be forced to choose it if all of the other options are worse though. Next.
Shadow Variant Chimera The Shadow Variant Chimera is a rare variant of the regular chimera. The chimeras are a type of monster that lose all natural abilities and lose much of their early stats when first evolving, but is able to slaughter enemies to gain their skills. Race specific skills that are obtained immediately begins the chimera¡¯s body modification process in order to utilize those skills. Shadow Variant Chimeras are limited to only assimilating Dark attribute skills, but increases their effectiveness massively. Chimeras are limited to only being in places with a high enough mana concentration, losing health when the ambient mana is insufficient. Rarity: Rare
Hmm. The chimeras seem like an extraordinarily strong type of monster. I lose out early on, but I¡¯m able to gain access to a wide array of abilities later on from any monster. Seems like its the type of monster that snowballs later on when it already has enough skills to at least kill a monster, even if it¡¯s weak early. Interesting. Next.
Lesser Dungeon Core The Dungeon Core is a unique and rare type of monster that is able to manifest and control a dungeon. The lesser variant has only limited capabilities compared to the matured variant. The user will transform into a crystalline structure and will become completely stationary while having the ability to observe anything that happens within the dungeon. The dungeon can manifest an avatar for itself once it has reached a certain level. The dungeon core does use the same system as other creatures, instead using a completely different system unique to dungeon cores. A Dungeon Core¡¯s life is connected to its dungeon. If the dungeon is destroyed, the dungeon ceases to exist. Rarity: Mythic
What a¡­ weird evolution. I mean, it sounds interesting for sure, but I¡¯m not sure if I want to become an immobile crystal. I could just summon an avatar, but it just doesn¡¯t seem like my cup of tea. Still, it looks like it could be a better option than the adult shade beast. I let out a sigh. Next.
Apostle of the End Freedom from your fate. Massive increase to all stats. No weaknesses. Rarity: Undefined Don¡¯t choose this evolution.
Wow! That¡¯s like, so suspicious! I will totally choose this class now. I roll my eyes and laugh sardonically. Because of that, I grit my teeth from the pain of shifting my arm. Damn it. Next please.
Are you sure?
YES. I¡¯m so sure. Please move. Unfortunately for my dwindling patience, the blue screen does not fade away. In fact, I think the whole system prompt actually locked itself. I try to will it away, and it succeeds thankfully. I lay down on the grass, clutching my arm. It hurts¡­ so bad. My mana continues to drain at a steady pace, and the arm seemed to at least clotted at this point. Still a bloody mess. I exhale and close my eyes, trying to rest while the pain continues to sting. I feel uncomfortable laying down. I want to move, but if I shift my arm another time then I know I will regret it. I let out another breath, letting go of my arm. I move my other arm up to rest against my eyes. The slash on my palm is still bleeding slightly, as I haven¡¯t really directed my mana to regenerate it. I lay there for a moment, and start to cry. From pain, from the wolf, from everything. Damn, I try so hard but everything just¡­ it just sucks. My mind goes back to the image of me burning. When will I ever forget about that? I can never escape my old world, that garbage fire of a life. The memories chase me even here. I don¡¯t even know if I could ever forget. I clench my fist, and begin to sob. Quietly, before a monster notices me here. In my manic depression, I start to laugh. It¡¯s not even funny at all, but I just laugh anyway. It was wrong to think that this would be a better life. I can¡¯t even call it a different life. I¡¯m still the same me, as always. The same, pathetic me. Just with a new coat of paint with some bells and whistles. I sit there, overcome with pain. From my arm and the thought of me. I lay there, not as a juvenile shade beast, but as Aaron Leum. The one who¡¯s inability has him laying in a cave crying. A kid. Should I just accept this as my life? Is there really nothing I can do to change this? I will never become a better person. My past will forever get in the way of my future, and I¡¯m just too pathetic to get over it. Some people make it sound so easy¡­ My mind, yet again, wanders to my past life. I remember what I was thinking when I died. Aaron, who¡¯s apathy kills him. But was it really my apathy? Maybe I was just trying to cover up for my cowardice under the mask of indifference. Because I know that I do care. I care more than ever before. Damn it I just wanted to live a regular life. Why did I have to be born under the Leum name? Why did I have to born as some shadow monster in a cave? Why did I have to be born? Look at me, I¡¯m pathetic. I let my emotions control my decision. Like when I jumped on that wolf. I should¡¯ve just let him go, but I was angry because he reminded me of my past. Really, I was just angry at the sight of me. This world will move on, but I will remain stuck in the same place, as I always have been. And that¡¯s just life. I move my arm out of my face, wet with my tears. I stop crying finally, and open my eyes.
Are you sure?
I don¡¯t even have the will to be angry. This evolution prompt¡­ so persistent¡­ ¡°Whatever,¡± I say to no one in particular. Or to myself maybe. Who cares? ¡°Just give me the class.¡± Suddenly, the world seemed to slow down and darken. A strange force descends upon the area. I can see myself being lifted up from the ground. I don¡¯t really care though. Just letting things happen as they come at this point. All of a sudden, a bright light envelopes my vision, and then disappears to darkness. Is this really what¡¯s suppose to happen when things evolve? Well, it¡¯s not like it matters to me. After all of that, my vision returns, and I find myself in a flat, endless expanse of white. I turn my head side to side, wondering where I was currently. I also notice the pain in my arm is gone, and I look down to then see myself in my old body, before I died. I look up to see a white door in front of me. I let out a yawn. Let¡¯s just get this over with. I know what its like I open the plain, white door and is immediately showered in intense light. I squint my eyes and groan. ¡°So tiresome¡­ ¡° I walk through the door and enter a massive, grand room filled to the brim with eccentricities. The door closes behind me and disappears, leaving me to witness the unbelievable sights in the room. On the walls are shifting pieces of art and clockwork, moving in perpetual motion, with impossible, monochromatic murals that defy the eyes and appear more real than reality itself. Above me, there appears to be no ceiling, instead showing more pieces of art and even floating statues before light diffusion blocks my vision past a certain point. There are various displays placed around the room for close up viewing too. I walk past massive crystalline structures that seem to sparkle with combinations of colors that transcend imagination. I see a massive black cube next to me, that, upon closer inspection, reveal whole worlds of detail, limited only by the resolution of my eyes. Literally entire buildings, people, grasses, clouds. I walk up to a mysterious floating fractal structure, looking at the infinite detail within itself. The whole entire room emits an aura of exclusivity and wonder. The exhibits here seem less about art and more about incredible feats of work and skill or structures that make me question my understanding of the universe. I nod after inspecting the fractal. It¡¯s a novel sight, but I care more about my purpose within this place. I was expecting to get an evolution to some shady class of monster, but now I¡¯m in some sort of museum or something. Seriously, why am I here. I look at one of the murals that cover the walls of this place. Out of curiosity, I use identify, and to my surprise, it works.
Collapsing Star, Aenium¡¯s Nova ¨C By Alfamerian Kazima ¡°¡­ and so, the Eternium has brought us here. The end result of madness.¡± ¡°You were truly the best of them. I regret your loss.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh. If you really did felt any regret, you¡¯d shut down that machine and end your life right here.¡± ¡°I do what is necessary to ensure to the existence of my species, no matter what that cost may be. If you want me to off myself right here then I¡¯ll do so, but the course has already been set in stone, and your end is inevitable.¡± ¡°My end? An action like this will only lead to more destruction. Even the most deplorable existence in the cosmos wouldn¡¯t be ruthless enough to do something like this. You and your kind will be targeted until not even one of your queens remain.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have to do the same to them. All for my people.¡± ¡°You and everyone behind you are insane, and you don¡¯t even realize it.¡± ¡°The void kind beckons. We must continue our growth. Otherwise, our death is inevitable.¡± ¡°¡­ and you¡¯d sterilize an entire solar system to do so?¡±
I continue to read a little more with interest, before moving on to something else. It was pretty good, I¡¯ll admit. The person who drew this has an incredible art style, and it¡¯s good to know that identify still works even here for some reason, even if it won¡¯t do me any good besides explaining what all of the pictures mean. Somehow. I continue to look at the exhibits with mild interest while pondering my purpose, when suddenly, I see a blue speck of light in the corner of my vision. I look at it, and it moves through the air until it stops before me. It shakes up and down for a little, trying to get my attention, and then moves ahead of me. I follow it, having nothing else better to do. The blue spark leads me to an area with gray platforms with weird engravings on them. It pauses a bit before one of them, before floating inside and disappearing in a beam of light. Is it like some sort of teleporter then? I follow inside, not particularly interested in where it¡¯d leave me. I step inside, and light engulfs me as I feel a whizzing sensation within my head. After less than a second, I see that I¡¯m in a different room than before. It¡¯s similar to when I was in the expense of white like before, but this time, it¡¯s black and has gridlines on it. I walk off the gray teleporter and identify it.
Teleporter (A12) One of many teleporters, with this one being assigned its own unique tag. It connects to teleporters B3-
The teleporter vanishes, and with it, the rest of the information. There goes anyway of exiting this place then. Ah. So you have arrived. A disembodied voice speaks to me. Hello, can you read minds? I wait for a moment and nothing happens. So you¡¯re one of the silent types then? The voice speaks in a jovial manner. It¡¯s not exactly what I¡¯d expected to be honest. ¡°No, I can speak. Just getting my bearings here.¡±, I say while looking around the place. The voice laughs. It¡¯s a weird sensation, having a laugh echo inside of your head. An interesting response! I expected something much different from you. ¡°I can say the same thing to you.¡± Really now? What did you expect? ¡°You called the system¡¯s attempt to negate your actions pathetic. In bold.¡± I try and sit down on the floor, only for a chair to materialize out of nowhere. It¡¯s quite comfortable. Suddenly, a figure materializes in front of me. Light forms and crystallizes in the air. In front of me is a sparkly, brilliant figure in the vague shape of a human. It chromatic figure makes him hard to look at. After a while, the light dies down and reveals a figure as if someone has roughly sculpted the figure of a human in stone. It has a lack of face, nose, and everything. The figure laughs, its body emulating the gestures in a surreal way. It¡¯s just entertaining to make fun of lesser existences, I guess. Lesser existences? Though I suppose it¡¯s not really the system¡¯s fault, but rather the one who made its rudimentary intelligence. Besides that though, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering exactly why you¡¯re here. Did you enjoy my little museum by the way? What a strange being. So carefree and relaxed. I wonder what¡¯s his situation like for him to act like this. ¡°It was nice. And I actually would like to know the reason why I am here.¡± I rest my head on my palm, which is propped up by my arm on the chair. I let out a little yawn, ready to just leave. The crystal gestures in the air. It¡¯s uncanny how lifelike it moves. Ah, come on. Aren¡¯t you the least bit curious about the situation? I¡¯m sure the situation must be very weird on your end. I mean, to have your panels hijacked and been forcefully transported to a strange yet oddly stylish room. Must be quite a lot I¡¯m sure.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I look at the crystal being. I¡¯m not sure if it even counts as eye contact because it doesn¡¯t really have eyes. ¡°I...¡± I begin, unsure of my own words and emotions. ¡°I just want to¡­ I don¡¯t know. Just sleep, maybe. I dislike all of this fantasy stuff and what it has brought with it.¡± You mean you hate how it showed you of your incapacity to be better. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ uh¡­ not fun.¡± My emotions get heavier as I think back to the mirage wolf. God I sucked back there. The figure, however, snaps his fingers. The next moment later, a table appeared in front of me, with a teapot and steaming hot cookies on top of it. The stranger summons a chair and sits down across from me. He pours himself a cup and lifts it up to his face. Right before he actually pours, he looks and it and then throws it behind him, moving his arms in a carefree way. I actually don¡¯t really care for your melodramatic workings. I mean seriously, I don¡¯t know exactly how you lesser existences think but I say you should really just get over it. The voice sounds annoyingly jovial. A flash of anger appears inside me, which then calms down as I seriously consider his words. It isn¡¯t really that easy¡­ is it really? It¡¯s useless to think of things that don¡¯t matter anyways. I take a deep breath. My thoughts have cleared, and I remain impassioned expression wise. I look down at the open teapot. It swirls beautifully in a way. Everything here all seems so luxurious. I¡¯m not drinking that though. The stranger looks towards me, or at least his head is faced at me. He looks away, somehow looking disinterested. Whatever, the snacks are just formalities anyways. I¡¯m really just here for one thing anyways. ¡°And what¡¯s that? To change me into an apostle of the end?¡± That¡¯s just a means to an end. The end. This man right here is being intentionally obtuse right now. It¡¯s kinda annoying, but I really don¡¯t have anything better to do except for dying in that cave. I continue to talk to pass the time. ¡°What end?¡± Why, the end of the world! The man gestures grandly in his seat while still looking at me. ¡°E-excuse¡­?¡± Okay then. So he¡¯s just crazy. I remain inexpressive ¨C I literally cannot take this man seriously anymore. I take a deep breath, and pick up my teacup on the table. The crystal man makes some gestures with his fingers and the teapot levitates to pour me some tea. Its golden liquid comes out steaming, like ambrosia. One would even hesitate to call it tea at that point ¨C it has transcended into something else. I swirl it around for a moment, sniffing its sweet aroma. I bring it close to my face, ready to drink the sweet, sweet amber. Then, I throw it behind me. ¡°Please elaborate.¡± Hehe, you¡¯re an interesting one, aren¡¯t you? I am a creature of the Void, or veil, whatever you want to call it really. The crystal man looks at me, trying to gauge a response. I remain passive and inexpressive. He then just continues like nothing has happened. That means that I really want to destroy things. In that, I mean worlds, life, history, all that type of good stuff. And as for why? Well, for one thing, it¡¯s fun to do and it provides a challenge. The main reason, however, is actually because these worlds are the creation and source of power for the gods, and us veiled. Well, we really despise the gods. ¡°So you just thrash their stuff?¡± The crystal figure shrugs. With power on this level, rules get bent and things get weird. There are forces out there that ensure that things don¡¯t get¡­ risky¡­ and because of that, among other reasons, the only way us veiled and gods and fight are through proxies. They have worlds that empower them and produce beings that can fight us. We have monsters that we can summon into worlds to overrun them. Some worlds get left behind by both god and veiled, some worlds have one side wins, most are in a constant deadlock that doesn¡¯t progress in either direction. If they win, they have a machine that pumps out champions and heroes and the like. If we win, they lose their world and a majority of their power and we can kill them without things getting risky. I nod in comprehension. I already see where this is heading towards. It¡¯s a pretty unconventional way to battle to the death but the reasons for it are actu- ¡°I¡¯m not gonna help you.¡± It just sounds like too much work. And I¡¯d rather not take orders from people if I can help it. The voice just chuckles, the figure moving to suggest the same thing. This man really needs some eyes. And the rest of his face. Ah. But I haven¡¯t gotten to it yet. ¡°Gotten to what?¡± Isn¡¯t it a thing in your world too? Like how companies get their lesser organisms to work for them? ¡°¡­ With high pay and a safe work environment?¡± No. I was talking about employee benefits. ¡°Oh. Sure then. I¡¯m listening.¡± Yikes. Well, you¡¯ll get power for one thing. I think in the class description that my friend put there it said that it gives massive increases to all of your stats, but more on that can be explained if you join. Oh yeah, you won¡¯t be just under me, but him as well, and let me warn you, he be quite a doozy to some. He was actually the one to write the status panels for you. Is being weird a common trait of your kind? If you¡¯re not satisfied with that, then we can give you the ability to take control of this world and rule it, but only as a veiled. If world building isn¡¯t your thing, then you also have the option to go back. ¡°Go back?¡± The scenery around me changes. All of a sudden, I¡¯m surrounded by skyscrapers and cars. The air smells much less fresh than the cave, but all too familiar. I¡¯m here. Earth. Well, what do ya think? It¡¯s so familiar, but feels distant at the same time. I see all of the busybodies around me, honking their cars loudly in traffic. I smell that same delicious scent of pizza in the air. There¡¯s the occasional plastic bag in the wind. Magnificent. ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯ve remembered it to be, for sure.¡± Yeah¡­ isn¡¯t it¡­ nice?? I mean, you like what you like but this seems awfully mundane. It¡¯s not a bad idea, really. Although this world really is magical, it¡¯s also a lot more dangerous and lethal. I¡¯m sure that anyone would agree if their arm was bitten like mine, or if they saw those high leveled monsters. I also get to enjoy the various amenities of my old life, like the internet. It¡¯s quite nostalgic. I let out a yawn. ¡°Send me back, please.¡± Don¡¯t like it? There are other options too you know. ¡°I¡¯d think so. Still, I¡¯d rather not help you destroy the world. These gods made me too you know.¡± Made you? They abandoned you and left your kind to develop by themselves. All alone in solitude. Look what that has done to you. He¡¯s right. The gods might as well never existed in the first place and I wouldn¡¯t have cared. But one thing that does exist though is life. I dislike mine, both of them actually, but not even I would have the heart to want the death of others because of it. Not without a good enough reason. Will he kill me because of this? I don¡¯t know, but I have already made my mind. ¡°I don¡¯t want to destroy the world.¡± Look, kid. I know that you think that the gods are good people probably because of what your kind is saying, but they¡¯re much worse than you can imagine. For every world they have created, another world is destroyed. Do you think that they care about people like us? ¡°Perhaps they don¡¯t. But this isn¡¯t about the gods.¡± YES IT IS. This has EVERYTHING to do with the gods. Do you want to know what happens when a god wants to build a new world? They destroy the old one, completely and utterly. Everything in that world starts to fade away, until nothing is left, just to conserve their energy. They go to other gods and burn their worlds too, and then EXILE them into the Void, where they are meant to die a slow, slow death. Some survive though, and we come back for fiery vengeance. So which option do you want then? Perish as you watch others die alongside you, or join us and kick some divine ass? Hasn¡¯t this world been cruel to you? Don¡¯t you just want to watch this world burn in a fiery inferno? ¡°...I¡¯m sorry, that must be really tough for you. But for me, I still can¡¯t join your fight.¡± And why is that? Because killing worlds is not the solution. Because it¡¯s to much work. Because people deserve a longer life to live. Because I¡¯m afraid. So many options, so many reasons. It¡¯s hard to choose which mask to hide behind. Really, though, my true reason is much more different. Whatever I choose now, I¡¯ll be stuck with it. But still¡­ There you go again. Typical Aaron, letting his emotions cloud his decisions. You never really change do you? I take a deep breath. Why don¡¯t I want to join him? ¡°Because I know what it¡¯s like to burn.¡± For the first time Because you¡­ know what it¡¯s like to burn? ¡°Yes.¡± The voice sighs, the crystalline figure looking dejected from the response. It then regains a little more composure, and the entity in front of me resumes speaking. I guess an outcome like this is something to be expected, but it¡¯s still a little disappointing for you to resume siding on the gods. ¡°I don¡¯t want to side with the gods either, if what you say is true.¡± I want to believe that someway, in all of this, that there could be a different option other than the destruction of a world. I¡¯m exactly not looking for compromise or peace; I''d settle for just another way to not involve this world. Then what do you want to do then? Without a backing, there¡¯s nothing a lesser existence like you can do. You¡¯ll die a useless death. Eventually, in the future, you will realize it, and then come to us. The option to join is still open. Fight against your fate as another monster to be slaughtered by the god¡¯s toys. It is not too late for redemption. You are not one of them; you come from a different world. You have the potential to become something greater than those go- ¡°Really, I can¡¯t join. There¡¯s nothing that you could give me that would make me want to destroy this world, even if it will fade eventually.¡± Keep on holding hope, Aaron. Keep at it, because if you don¡¯t, then the alternative is a meaningless existence in a disposable world. There¡¯s really nothing convincing you now, is there? Well, that works out fine for us; We¡¯ve been waiting for an opportunity for a long time. A couple of extra centuries or so isn¡¯t very much. The crystalline figure gets up from its seat and snaps its fingers. Light starts to surround me, similar to when I stepped into that teleporter. Enjoy your little life for as long as you can. Soon though, you will join us eventually on your own free will. We¡¯ll be waiting for you. ¡°Goodbye, veiled.¡± Yeah, yeah¡­ whatever. I let the feeling engulf me as I begin to be teleported back to the cavern. This time with a new sense of purpose: find a way out of here. And also think of a solution to this whole mess at the same time. This is it, Aaron. No more time for dilly dallying, serious business is at foot. Business that transcends whatever problems I had before. At the last second, I realize that I forgot something. I can feel the magic beginning to take hold, and I rush to Identify the crystal figure.
Your Identify failed.
The panel vanishes and all of a sudden, I am away from the endless expanse of space. Still in there though, is the mysterious crystalline figure. Another figure, smokey this time, materializes next to it, standing over the dejected form of the void entity. That went exchange went horribly. I know right? Dude probably thinks we¡¯re lame and just wanted to do his own thing. The smokey figure pats the crystal figure on the back, trying to comfort him. Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll join us eventually. We are his only option for salvation. Yeah¡­ I know. The crystal figure lets out a massive sigh. It¡¯s just that, I don¡¯t get how these lower existences think sometimes.
A massive burning pain assaults me. It¡¯s my arm, still as mangled as before. The evolution panel is still open before me, but this time the Apostle of the End has added text says that it can be chosen at anytime at the bottom. I immediately dismiss the panel, the pain almost crippling. I double my efforts at trying to heal it, using up even more mana. Think Aaron, how can you make the spell more effective. Mana flows through the arm, not only stimulating regeneration but also¡­ The ideas flow into my mind. Stem cell division in bone marrow, building a barrier between the wound and the outside, numbing, cooling down the overheating cells¡­ My mana consumption leaps. I¡¯ll only last for a few minutes at max, but the wound seems to be closing at a noticeable rate, if at least slow. This spell will prove incredibly useful for me as I continue to survive in this cave. With the pain temporarily relieved, I can finally start going through the evolution panel, this time with a more clear mind. I''m not entirely sure that evolving will actually fix my wounds, but I can¡¯t spend my time just waiting for my arm to heal. At the very least, I believe that it will lessen its effect. A scratch that may be grievous for a baby may be less serious for an adult. I continue to swipe pass the possible options I have for evolution.
Lesser Dark Elemental The Lesser Dark Elemental gains a moderate increase in all attributes, as well as a constitution that limits the effects of any poison, curses, and other affliction. The Dark Elementals specializes in magical capabilities rather than physical prowess. Lesser Dark Elemental have humanoid figures and is constantly shrouded in a large haze, which is can use as a medium for its spells. Dark elementals can rest in the dark to lower passive mana intake and recover from wounds faster. Dark Elementals require a large passive intake of mana to sustain itself. If it runs out of mana, it dies. Rarity: Uncommon
An interesting class. It¡¯s in the right direction of what I¡¯m looking for. Honestly, it¡¯s not a terrible option, being both powerful and moderately sturdy. The only drawback is to rest in the dark to regenerate mana, but I don¡¯t have to be idle while doing so.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
Juvenile Doom Bringer The juvenile form of the Doom Bringer, an elusive and deadly monster. Its physical capabilities are limited, but it¡¯s magical abilities are boosted massively. The Doom Monster has limited sentience, being completely uncontrollable until it has killed enough sentient races. Only then will it gain a brief period of clarity. When it does not have this level of sentience, the Doom Monster will enter an uncontrollable state where it ceaselessly kills everything on sight. Rarity: Mythic
No. Powerful, yes. Reasonable, no. Though it would make sense for the void entities to make a monster like this if they just wanted to kill the gods¡¯ creations. I continue to read through a couple of more panels, and I can feel my mana starting to run out. Finally, I come across one that fits in enough with my goals.
Juvenile Mana Monster Evolving into a Juvenile Mana Monster will give a small increase in Mana, Spirit, and Intelligence stats while moderately decreasing all others. Juvenile Mana Monsters generally have high evolution potential, the Mana Monster evolution tree branching out to almost all of the different attributes, with the exception of Divine and Unholy. Specialization in Mana Monsters will lead to greater increases in the Mana, Spirit, and Intelligence stats while lowering all others, with the exception of health which cannot be lowered below one hundred points. The innate skill for all Mana Monsters is the ability to siphon mana off of weakened or recently deceased monsters at a rate that increases with one¡¯s Intelligence stat. Mana Monsters are able to shift forms over time, with faster speeds the more evolved one is. Mana Monsters can produce mana over their Magic limit, giving a slight buff to the spells they use, but slowly draining their Health at the same time. Rarity: Uncommon.
Yes, this is perfect. I want to find some way of preventing the eventual destruction of this world, and I¡¯ll need magic to do it. This provides just that, while also providing a negative that doesn¡¯t obstruct me too much. Yes, the lowered physical stats would be pretty painful early on, but I can eventually work around those using spells to compensate for my defense. It also has high evolution potential, so I¡¯ll keep getting more and more magically adept. I laugh out loud in joy, regretting it as I clutch my arm in pain. Damn¡­ keep it together, Aaron, you have work to do. My magic may numb the pain, but it doesn¡¯t completely stop me from feeling my severe wounds. Pain like this isn¡¯t something that I¡¯ll let get ahead of me, though. Not now. I continue to look through the couple of more evolution options I have left. I think they are offered based on what I¡¯ve done before, seeing as how there are only a few evolutions that don¡¯t focus on magic. And the rarity too. There seem to be multiple tiers: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Mythic. There may be more, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve seen so far. I think the pattern with them is that the higher rarity an evolution has, the less it appears as an option. At the same time, higher rarity options are usually very extreme, both for advantages and drawbacks. The common ones on the other hand are usually much tamer. I feel my mana run empty. I look at my arm. Still a bloody mess, but significantly less painful than before. Overall, I¡¯d say it took about fifteen minutes to get to this point, though it may be less because being in pain makes time go so much slower. Not too bad, even if it did take up all fifty points of mana to only mend the severe portions of the wound. I can¡¯t move it around like normal still, but I don¡¯t think that I will be stuck with a broken limb at least. That¡¯s one less thing to worry about then. Good. Very good. I let out a sigh. Well, now I guess I just have to finalize my selection.
Do you want to evolve into Juvenile Mana Monster? Y/N
Just do it, please. As I think that, a blue light surrounds me, and at the same time, burning hot pain. So much worse than the arm, a hundred times. A thousand times. I could do nothing, not even scream, as my body was forcefully molded into the composition of my evolution. My bones, heart, brain, lungs, muscles, all being grown and stretched and broken and bent until the evolution was completed. I couldn¡¯t move from my place, being petrified in a position of agony. Eventually though, the process was completed, and I immediately felt better. So much better actually, like I had a general feeling of elation. I heard that a woman¡¯s brain is flooded with endorphins among other chemicals that soothe the pain directly after childbirth. Is this what that is? I shake my head. No time for useless thoughts and tangents. I have a job and I will complete it. I get up, and I can immediately feel the effects of my evolutions. I look similar to the form I had before, with the shadowy haze and shade beast figure, but this time multiple dark wisps surrounding me, stretching out pretty far. It¡¯s similar to mana, can I retract them? The wisp moves in closer to me, and I can feel their power even more. Come to think of it, the panel description never did mention a Mana Monster¡¯s ¡°true¡± form did it? Maybe it¡¯s just mimicking my shade beast form because that¡¯s what I¡¯m familiar with in this world. Nevertheless, I check my status.
Name: Aaron Leum Class: Juvenile Mana Monster Level: 5 Health: 150 (Void Breached) Magic: 100 Power: 3 Endurance: 6 Speed: 6 Intelligence: 19 Spirit: 12 Skills: Mana Siphon LV1, Identify LV3, External Magic Manipulation LV1, Internal Magic Manipulation LV1, Mana Sight LV2 8 unassigned stat points
Wow, that¡¯s a moderate decrease? It cut my stats by 50%. And it only raised my others by a couple of points. Well, I guess I do still have my void breached health though, whatever that means. And I have my 8 unassigned stat points I could use in a pinch. Still haven¡¯t came across a life or death situation where I had to use those. Mostly just very close to death or agonizing situations really. I take in a deep breath. Time to test my magical capabilities. Ice bullet. A cube of ice nearly instantly materializes in my hand and shoots out immediately without me even throwing it. It impacts the mushroom tree with much more of a bang than before, doing more damage as well. Good, so my attack is set. All I have to do is work on my defense, and I¡¯ll be ready to do some deep mana research. From what I¡¯ve seen so far, mana functions as a resource that can be used as both energy and matter, which is unreasonably versatile by past world¡¯s standards. I¡¯ll be taking advantage of this, tinkering more and more until I can form some sort of mana framework than functions similarly to electricity. Mana itself seems to be very simple to manipulate, which will make studying it a lot easier than normal. If I am to build some sort of structure that can automatically convert steam into mana, I¡¯d have to analyze what happens when mana converts into steam and try to work from there. My biggest tools for that so far is external magic manipulation and mana sight, both of which I¡¯ll have to level by a large amount before I can do any real research. Okay then, I¡¯ll use mana sight indefinitely than. Obviously, not at full power. Maybe I could do something like starting small, and then gradually increasing the amount of mana that¡¯s visible. Eventually, I think I¡¯ll be able to deal with the altered view. It isn¡¯t as if mana blocks light from passing through, but more like alters it in a way. I¡¯d also have to passively use my external magic manipulation at times. I think the most effective way to level it is to use it while in battle. I¡¯ve read that in some books, skills level faster if one is in battle, so maybe that could apply here. It would be a good situation to train external magic manipulation though, as I could constantly replenish my lost mana with corpses through mana siphon, the new skill I got from evolution. Yeah, that''d probably level as well. I let out a deep breath. I¡¯m all set, and my goals are straight. I pick up Knifey and begin walking with the bundle of grass on hand to the lakeside cliff. My whole being is filled with determination. It almost feels exciting. I smile. For the first time in my life, both my last one and now, I finally have a goal to work towards. Rainy night I stay crouched, sneakily hiding in the shrubbery. I stay silent, my camouflage not existing anymore after I evolved into a mana monster. It¡¯s been a couple of days since then, almost a week. I can''t really tell the time exactly so I''ve just been counting the numbers of time I''ve slept. The cavern troll is eating the corpse of a mirage wolf I had slain before. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t a stalker variant like before, but killing it was still pretty troublesome when I couldn¡¯t tell where to aim with my shots with all of the illusions it kept summoning. After I was finished with the battle, I left it at the entrance of the den of this troll, which I¡¯d spotted earlier before I slew the wolf. After that, all I needed to do was wait, and sure enough, the troll came.
Cavern Troll A monster that possesses great strength and stature. It has extremely limited cognitive skills outside of combat but is able to rely on its instinct to overcome adversaries in battle. The cavern troll builds mounds in places it frequents often to sleep in. The cavern troll possess high Health, Power, and Speed with medium Endurance and low Mana, Intelligence, and Spirit. The cavern troll is a variant of the troll species, and is often found deep in caverns with high biodiversity. Full Health Level 10
The identify, after being recently leveled to four, is now able to tell me information about a target''s stats and its current well being. Unfortunately, its use as a way to track health is limited in battle because of its proclivity to take up most of my vision when first summoning it. I smirk. Often people lower their guard during times of feasting, and I¡¯m sure that it will be no different for monsters as well. A thought crosses my mind. Do void entities not care for their monsters in the same way a god doesn¡¯t care for their creation races? Maybe it¡¯s a matter of sentience, or maybe they¡¯re hypocritical. I shake the thought from my mind. No need to ponder the morality of the situation right now. Instead, I have to focus on the opportunity coming up. I ready my iron bullet spell, this time aimed at its Achilles tendon. I¡¯ve learned from past encounters that aiming at the neck is usually met with the monster, though wounded, uninhibited in its movements while also being not dead. The skin around their neck seems to be stronger than in other areas of their body, and I find that areas like their Achilles tendon seem to be most effective when trying to kill them. I take a deep breath, and finally, I shoot. The iron bullet flies through the air at an intense speed. Not quite the level of a regular bullet, but it¡¯s starting to get there. Still, the force combined with the shape of the iron pellet deals great damage to one of the monster¡¯s foot. The troll roars in pain and looks back to find me already running away from it. Luckily for me, it decides to give chase, even with its damaged leg. Not like I couldn¡¯t just come back later and hit him with another iron bullet, but this just saves a little time. And so, the troll chases me as I run through the mushroom forest. I have to empower my legs because of my extremely low speed and even then, I only barely break even in speed compared to the troll. It runs at me with a massive rock in hand, the size of a basketball, and raises it above it its head. I panic and try to run faster. Crap. I didn¡¯t consider that a troll could throw rocks. Oh, narrow-minded me. I forget to account for the most of the probable scenarios. I¡¯ve been fighting with too many quadrupeds. I never really had to deal with someone throwing something at me and I got careless with my planning. The rock is flung at me, and I grab one of the boomshroom caps on me and magically fling it at the rock. Not only the power of my magic has grown, but also my control. With this refined control, I was able to precisely hit the side of the rock, and with a big bang and explosion, the rock landed to the far right side of me. The troll roars and flinches after seeing the temporary flash of light. It begins to run even faster. I gulp, was that not it¡¯s top speed? I think it just got serious. Aw crap, did I make some sort of mistake? I push my legs to run even faster, and is somehow able to match speeds with the troll.
You have increased your Speed by 1
I dismiss the panel and continue to sprint away from the monster. I would celebrate the small occasion and my first increase in speed outside of leveling, but I don¡¯t want to be crushed by this troll. I¡¯ve already tread the path I¡¯m running through and I recognize that I¡¯m getting close to the trap I¡¯ve made before. In there, I¡¯ve buried a whole bunch of boom shrooms and covered them with the sharpest rocks I could find, as well as my failed knife creations. Knifey broke shortly after making it ¨C a testament to my profound knife manufacturing skills. I continue to run as the troll chases me, and I¡¯m starting to get a little tired. I have found no good way to improve my endurance other than empowering my whole body with mana, which is a great way to use it all up in about twenty minutes or so. I push on further and eventually, I arrive at the point where the forest clears a little, the troll monster about fifteen feet behind me. Then, I begin to push my legs to their absolute maximum, pumping in as much mana as I dare. I¡¯ve learned that overextending my legs this much can begin to leave some tissue and muscle damage afterward, so I limit myself from using it for extended periods of time. Healing magic takes up to much mana for it to be worth anything. Finally, I reach the circle sharp rocks and take a big leap forward in the air. I am propelled high into the air ¨C about four to five or so Aarons high. At this height, I may actually take damage from the fall, so I expend magic to wet the ground below me. Sure, it would be slower compared to just slowing down my fall, but it would also be more efficient with mana. That¡¯s actually my main problem right now. Mana is the only way for me to get more powerful at this point, and it¡¯s the only chance for me to find any solution to the whole divine vs void thing. It¡¯s basically my limiting resource at this point, so I must conserve it as much as I can. I land in the mud and my legs come out fine. A little painful, but not broken at least. The cavern troll is about ten feet behind me at this point. I keep running forwards, towards the fungal platform ahead of me. When I set up this trap, I planned an escape route just in case the trap failed to kill the monster. I¡¯m not worried about that now. My survival sense has improved while down here and I¡¯m able to tell what monsters can probably survive or die from, unlike while making the trap when I wasn''t sure. Behind me, I can hear the trap go off. Five boomshrooms, and a whole lotta shrapnel coming from it. My version of a landmine in this world. Regarding the shrapnel, I positioned it so that all shrapnel would move either directly upwards or to the center of the mine when the shrooms where detonated, removing the possibility of it hitting me. Unfortunately, I hadn¡¯t considered what I¡¯d do next when the shrapnel started to fall.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. My arm got cut, and the shrapnel got stuck too. I grit my teeth in pain, leaving it in so to limit the bleeding. I hop onto the fungal platform ahead of me, and underneath it are boomshrooms, which detonate as soon as my weight destroys the outer caps of the mushrooms. The shrooms launch me high into the air, and combined with my empowered leg jump, I was able to land on the top of one of the medium sized mushroom trees. I look down on the troll below me. It has toppled over, bleeding all over from the shrapnel. I raise my hand and summon an ice bullet. I have no spells in my arsenal that will allow me to kill the troll in a timely manner; I have to somehow make this battle last long enough for my spells to tick down its health. And in order to make sure the troll has no option to run away, I have to hit it in one of the only places where it doesn¡¯t have the strong protection of its skin. The bullet flies out of my hand, crashing into the iris of the troll. The troll roars in pain, clutching its face in agony. The troll has been blinded. I ready another ice cube and hold it in my hand. After the troll recovers from the pain, it searches for me, locking eyes with a shadowy figure atop a mushroom tree. Not for long though. My hand begins to glow with intense light which, empowered by my increased capabilities, rivals the light of the sun. I can even feel the heat radiating from my hand, warming it up considerably. I stop it soon, so as to not cook my hand. The troll however, has covered its eyes, still sitting there on the ground. I ready an iron bullet and aim it at its groin. No mercy ¨C especially not here. I look with grim resolve as the bullet hits and destroys the troll¡¯s pride, paying close attention to the timing. The troll flinches, and its last good eye is immediately hit with another ice bullet, rendering it completely blind. I let out a sigh. You¡¯re finished. And so, the roles have been reversed. The troll frantically runs blindly through the mushforest while I give chase, pelting it with bullets¡­
Mana Sight has leveled up 2 ¡ú 3 External Mana Manipulation has leveled up 1 ¡ú 2
¡­ until the fight ends for good.
You have slain Cavern Troll LV10 You have leveled up 6 ¡ú 8 Your stats have increased: Health: 180 (Void Breached) Magic: 150 Power: 5 Endurance: 8 Speed: 9 Intelligence: 29 Spirit: 20 You have 8 unassigned stat points
I let out a sigh of relief. It was worth it to battle a monster four levels above me. I leveled twice and leveled some of my skills too. I laugh a little. Am I perhaps getting a little arrogant? The pain in my arm tells me otherwise. I remove the shrapnel while grimacing and begin to divert magic into healing the wound. I recover myself and begin to use my magic to claw off portions of the meat. Most of the time I spent after evolving was used to build a little infrastructure for myself. I had a house built and carved out some amenities from stone. Just some pots and stuff like that. After using up as much mana as I can, I use my mana siphon skill on the fallen troll. From it, I gain seventy five mana. It¡¯s not much compared to the level of the monster I had defeated, but it will only increase as that skill levels. Using the newly gained mana points, I levitate the carved out pieces of meat around me while walking back to my base at the bottom of the lakeside cliff. Mana is awesome. My house is what I would call a dainty little abode, though that description may have been influenced by my bias. I used cut stone for the foundation, fungal wood for the frame, and some dried mud reinforced with wood as walls. The concept is similar to the idea of rebar and concrete, where the wood gives integrity to the mud. Not sure if it works, but it at least hasn¡¯t fallen on me yet. I snap my hand and a flame is produced, which I then use to light a fire to cook my slabs of meat. I¡¯ve been working on a new way to perform magic, where I am able to load spells into a preset formation which is programmed to activate when given a certain stimuli. In this case: A flame spell, with the stimuli being my fast moving fingers accompanied by a noise with a sound profile similar to a snap. It works, and it¡¯s a step close to building a magic machine. Maybe it could be the basis of programming the machines to do a variety of things. I also found out that those weird rocks that I found while looking for flint near the lake has a special property that allows it to retain and slowly disperse mana. I can¡¯t really control how quickly it disperses mana or how much it holds, but it gives me hope that there maybe could be a mineral that could be the basis of some mana battery. For now though, I am at an impasse. I need to level my mana sight and manipulation skills, which requires me to fight monsters. I need to level my stats in order to increase the control and power of my magic, which requires me to fight monsters. I need to not die in this cave, which requires me to fight monsters¡­ ironically. Point is, in order to do anything, I have to grow in power and capability. I¡¯m still a juvenile, so evolving into an adult should be one of the goals I have. I let out a yawn and stretch, while putting the meat on a slab of stone over the fire. I then lay on my bed, which I¡¯ve lined with the soft fur from the various monsters I¡¯ve fought. Underneath is a bunch of mushroom caps. Surprisingly, they actually lasted me for a good couple of days ¨C no replacing the mushrooms needed. The end result is something that I could actually sleep on, and I lay down there, comfortable. Beside me is a smaller slab of stone that I¡¯ve cut out with my magic. A numerous amount of them actually. In this world, there hasn¡¯t been a single act of human contact in weeks. The loneliness and solitude¡­ it¡¯s getting to me. I thought that the scorpion at the beginning was the worst I had been in my current life, but I know now that it¡¯s not the dangers of natures that get you in a survival situation like this; it¡¯s the crushing loneliness. I let out a sigh, still holding the slab. I don¡¯t want to lose myself in this world. I fear that the longer I am here, the more I will forget myself and who I was. Aaron Leum¡­ there is no use for that name here. I am just a Juvenile Mana Monster. But it¡¯s still my identity, who I am, and there¡¯s no way I will ever let that part of me go. And so, I have the stone slabs. I focus mana into my fingers. Right now, what I am using is a spell that focuses large amounts of force in a small area at rapid speed, consuming moderate mana. I ponder a little about what I should write for today. For the past few days, all I¡¯ve been writing was accounts of what my old world was and who I am before and now. I think I should switch it up. And there, I sat, scribbling away on my slab of stone, in my own humble home. The noise of tiny chunks being chipped off of stone could be easily heard. On the slab was the view of a certain city, seen as if standing from atop a cliff. The night was cold but lit, and you could see the various towering skyscrapers with tiny little stick figures in the background, playing in the snow. The moon rises high over the city, the stars sparkling and shining. On the cliff was a single person, overlooking the entire thing. The name of that person was me. Aaron Leum. A crudely drawn picture, one altered by along the trials of life, but the essence of it still holds true. Cemented in stone, I will now never forget it. City Maceret. That day, tears fell onto that city like a rainy night. It鈥檚 no secret, really. I鈥檓 just obsessed with magic ¡°Without a sun overhead, the only way to tell time is with my internal clock.¡± I keep treading along the strange and lush cavern terrain, quietly talking to myself. Recently, I¡¯ve been growing more worried in this place. Or insane. ¡°I simply have to put blind faith in myself, scratching a line onto the Sleep Slab every time I feel the call to rest.¡± Monsters, killer flora, dangerous terrain. So many things that could kill me. ¡°I keep walking through the forest, just me¡­ by myself. The grass is nice, and the atmosphere¡­ I¡¯m looking for some salt.¡± I¡¯ve been silently rambling for who knows how long now. No one is around to hear me anyways, not even the monsters, which have been lessening in encounters over the past few days for some reason. In my inattentiveness though, I step on a few sharp rocks. ¡°...shit...¡± I let out a sigh. I just want someone to talk to... ¡°Someone to talk too~ Lift me from my blues¡­¡± I sing like a crazy person. Offbeat and a little loony sounding. I laugh to myself. I¡¯m really so stupid... God this place sucks. ¡°Hmm, can I really use God at this point? Maybe veiled, because they were the one who made the monster''s form that I am in?¡± I continue to talk to myself as I tread on through the misty forest I was in. It was quite hard to see, even with the numerous amounts of glowing mushrooms there were. That¡¯s all that¡¯s here isn¡¯t there? Just a bunch of mushrooms, not even edible. It¡¯s been so boring that I¡¯d prefer a monster to fight me right now. Oh well. All I can do is just keep looking. Looking for the lake, or rather, what it used to be. Some may call it crazy to be looking for a dried up lake bed in the cavern. Those people haven¡¯t had to eat unseasoned food for the past week. And it¡¯s not completely groundless either, because this place has shown that it could have rivers and the like. And if there¡¯s a river, there could be places that the river has once flowed through, and then stopped flowing through due to erosion and stuff like that. I yawn and mess around with the little globules of mana around me. I don¡¯t know why being a mana monsters means that you have these little things floating around, but I guess a lot of things in this world don¡¯t make sense. I move it up, down, spin it. Everything you¡¯d do to an object if you had the power of telekinesis, I¡¯ve done it. It serves as a nice distraction.
Your External Magic Manipulation has leveled up LV2 ¡ú LV3.
Oh, I forgot about that. Hooray. Go magic. ...It¡¯s actually amazing how quickly one can get used to such a radical change in how you live life. I guess that¡¯s just how people are: they adapt quickly. Still, the feeling of leveling up is nice, even if my feelings aren¡¯t as pronounced as they were before. I conjure up an ice bullet, and twirl it around my hand. It¡¯s much easier, as expected, and I feel a slightly deeper understanding of my magic. I grab it and expel the bullet towards one of the bigger types of mushtree next to me, hitting it with lethal force. A loud bang resounds in all directions, shaking some of the less stable mushrooms. My body turns to face the direction on the tree. I let out a sigh. ¡°Come out and fight me, instead of hiding like a coward.¡± Out of the massive tree comes a huge troll. It holds a massive, bloody club in one hand. It cracks its neck and then lets out a guttural roar, deafening all those nearby. I blow its brains out with an iron bullet, shot with the power and precision that comes with all of the experience of fighting this monster before. And I¡¯m not just talking about experience for levels either. It pauses for a moment, shaking back and forth, before finally falling to the ground. It lays there, bleeding tremendously. The troll begins to grow fur, its skin turning a silvery white. A snout appears out of its head, and it begins to grow paws as its club fades away. Damage dealt to the illusion for this particular wolf is dealt to the caster as well. Isn¡¯t that so convenient for you, monster.
You have slain¡­
Dismiss. Damn wolves, it¡¯s like all I see is them nowadays. Dealing with the normal ones are so annoying. I tread through the mushforest, a little more irritated. Great, now my mood has worsened. I step forward and my foot suddenly sinks slightly into some white, grainy substance. Very dry. No way. Is it really? Have I really found salt so quickly?
Granulated Bone Powder. Bones ground into a powdery form. This specific pile of granulated bones has been formed as a by product of high intensity, sustained magic. The bones are mixed in origin, including many different creatures. The composite is made of mammal bones, hardened exoskeletons, microorganisms, carnivorous flora, drake bones, cellulose, iron, and gold.
Oh, what an absolutely fantastic substitute for the old and depreciated sodium chloride. Instead, try bones! ¡°What the hell¡­ ¡° I tread on the powdered bones. So this is the result of magic? Interesting. I continue to walk along the fields of bones and dead things, curious about the nature of this place. ¡­ Okay, I know that it could potentially be very dangerous but can you really blame me for this? This is too weird, and I want to at least find out a little about this whole thing. And so, the mana monster forges his own unknown path, accepting the dangers that may come with it. Well, I think that my skills aren¡¯t too bad at least. I mean, I still have those unassigned points that I could put into speed to run away. If I die, then I just die. It''s difficult to care more than that at this point. I continue on, waiting in calm expectation of something to happen. I don¡¯t really expect much, but who knows. I leave footprint engraved into the bones as I walk, only about an eighth of an inch deep. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t be treading on the dead, but like, I haven¡¯t really learned to fly yet. Working on that.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Suddenly, I hear something that stops me in my tracks. Old and raspy, it barely registers as a noise. I focus on it, and I can hear it enunciate its words clearly. ¡°Help¡­ me.¡±, it rasps on, coughing intermittently. ¡°¡­ please...¡± I turn around and look at an emaciated person. Only its arms, torso, and legs exist, the leg portion dwindling off into a long, thin line. I meet its eyes. It crawls along to me. Silently. Slowly. It holds its head down the entire way. I simply stand there while I wait for something to happen. I''m not entirely sure who this man is, and I feel slightly repulsed at the sight of him. It makes me feel a little bit of pity for the poor guy. Once it gets closer to me though, it jumps on me, screaming incoherently. I am latched onto by the old and decayed figure. ¡°PLEASESTRANGERHELPIDON¡¯TWANTTODIEITHURTS¡±, it screams wildly into my face, grabbing a hold of me. I fall back, a scream escaping from me. ¡°Wait! What¡¯s wrong with you.¡± I look into its eyes and see its red pupils dilated, shaking with extreme movements. The strange being keeps shouting into my ears. Its entire body starts shaking even harder. I can feel its grip on my shoulders, squeezing it tightly with its bony, rough fingers. A cold sweat runs down my neck. ¡°ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSTHEYCUTOFFMYLEGSTHEYCUTITOFFITHURTSITHURTS¡± It uses its iron grip on my shoulders to push up closer to my face, closing the distance to less than three inches away from it at this point. Its mouth is opened wide, much too wide for any human, or any thing to be able to do. It rocks its neck side to side and twists it as much as it can. The being digs its fingers into my shoulders, and I start to feel a slight pain from the intensity of it. ¡°HELPMEHELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHE-¡± An arrow flies in front of me and shoots the screaming corpse off of me. Another voice speaks, and thankfully more coherent this time. ¡°By the Almighty, are you alright?¡± A man speaks to me, covered in light leather armor. He wears light green attire underneath all of that leather he wears. In his right hand, he holds a short bow, made simply but with tiny, beautiful stylings to it. Strangest of all though is his wings. He doesn¡¯t seem to be human, instead having strange, red scales instead of skin. A fantasy drake? It looks at me weird. Oh, I seem to be staring. Oops. ¡°A monster? You seem to be very much different from the others though. Can you understand me?¡± My mind suddenly going blank in the face of the social situation, I can only nod. The person is taken aback by the response, surprised to see any comprehension from the mysterious monster at all. ¡°Almighty ones¡­ What a peculiar thing you are.¡±, the drake says, an inquiring look on his face. Is he a drake? Would it be like, wrong to assume that of him? He seems nice at least¡­ The person in front of me grins, he holds out his hand. ¡°Hello, the name¡¯s Vezhan. How¡¯s it to ya?¡± At the last second, he seems to realize his mistake, and pulls back his hand. How could a monster know any people-like mannerisms anyways? As he begins to do so, I grab it quickly, and shake it gently, like I¡¯m touching some sort of rare and exotic creature. ¡°My name is Aaron. Nice to meet you.¡± The drake looks at me stunned. He then lets out a loud, hearty laugh, ¡°Glad to meet you too, pal.¡± He smiles, and I smile because of how infectious it is. He reminds me of an old friend I had who always got along with everybody in the class and was always the one to brighten up the atmosphere. He was really one of the few reasons why I actually wanted to come to school besides academics. He stopped coming to school one day though. I guess leukemia can strike most unexpectedly. Remembering it put a sad yet sweet memory in me. Vezhan looks around and talks to me, ¡°C¡¯mon, weird monster. I know a safer place than here. Follow me?¡± He looks back, an expecting smile on his face. It strikes a node in my heart, reminding me of that ridiculously stupid grin that would appear on my friend¡¯s face. My conscious relents, and my heart is happy to oblige. I give a thumbs up to Vezhan, and he starts to lead me through the bone flats, bow at the ready for incoming monsters. Not referring to me of course. In this distance, we see one corpse crawling towards us. He readies his bow and shoots his arrow. It seems to glow yellow, and my mana sight told me that he was using some kind of special type of magic. I wonder what that was? The corpse falls and fades away into the ground, leaving only dust in its death. I look at it in amazement. Since when do monsters do this? How does magic even play into all of this? So many more questions! Vezhan, on the other hand, averts his eyes slightly, a small frown on his face. I notice it, and is puzzled by it. Vezhan looks at me and looks away, continuing to walk forward. ¡°Poor things don¡¯t deserve this.¡±, he says with a heavy voice. Huh? I mean, they are monsters, right? Like maybe some kind of ghoul right? ¡°What are they then?¡±, I ask. The drake pauses, and chuckles. ¡°Nothing to worry about, really. They¡¯re just some lost and tortured souls.¡± I pause in my tracks, silent. The drake looks back, embarrassed at bringing something like that up. ¡°Uh¡­ sorry, didn¡¯t really mean to bring that up now. Let¡¯s just continue to move on. The place I¡¯m talking about is starting to come up.¡± And we continue on. A monster and a draconian-slash-lizardian dude: Who¡¯s a stranger sight? ¡°You know, you¡¯re actually quite an odd one really.¡±, Vezhan says. He looks back at me. ¡°You don¡¯t really seem bloodthirsty like the others. Why though?¡± I pause and try to think up a response. I don¡¯t really feel like telling him that I¡¯m a human in a monster body. It¡¯s kinda personal, to be honest. ¡°I care more about the magic than the killing.¡± Oof, eek, was that too cold sounding? It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve talked to somebody. I need to ease into this some more. Vezhan continues to inquire about my nature. ¡°So that¡¯s the secret? Magic?¡± "It''s no secret really, I''m just obsessed with magic." ¡°Pft¡­ what are you talking about even?¡±, Vezhan says looking at me with a ridiculous face. What? I am shocked. Magic is nothing to be scoffed at by any measure at all. Offensive, defensive, medical, entertainment; It excels in all aspects. ¡°What I¡¯m talking about?¡± I smirk, pausing in my tracks. ¡°I¡¯m talking about this.¡± Something I¡¯ve worked on in my downtime: I conjure up an ice bullet in a very specific shape. A three dimensional Sierpinski¡¯s triangle in fact. With the power of my external mana manipulation, as well as my intelligence stat plus visualization, I discovered that I can manipulate light within these prisms to reflect certain colors of light with focusing other unwanted colors of light into tiny patches on the ground where you can¡¯t really see it. My fractal shape goes on and on endlessly. I generate another one, and another one. I am left with five ¨C the maximum amount of mass that I''ve summoned that I could manipulate at once. Now is this hard part: Decision making. What do I want to see? So many sights, so many things I could see. I could visualize the sky, the cities, the earth and space and stars. So many things that I could only see in my head, I could finally see in real life. But now I have an audience. Vezhan. Hmm. What have I seen that he hasn¡¯t? I want something to knock his socks off. Or maybe scales. The imagery of his scales getting knocked off comes to my mind. Maybe another saying would be more appropriate. Focus, Aaron. Yeah, can¡¯t get too off track. So think ¨C I want to build a hologram by combining the shattered prisms of these fractal structures. They will be suspended in the air around me, and I will make them glow with my magic. What will I show him? I think for a little and the thought hits me. I smile, and the triangles shatter. They stretch out around us for about twenty five feet ¨C the absolute limit I could control anything with my magic currently. Luckily, these fragments are small. If they were any bigger, then I¡¯d have to restrict the area I could disperse these fragments in. The tiny, invisible fragments surround us. Next part is the visualization. I know about light and color theory, so that helps a little. I also know the basics in that I push in regular light and the shape of my prism alters it to show specific things. Now to let my intelligence do the work for once. I want¡­ The Aurora Borealis. Does that exist here? I have no idea. I never even seen it in person ¨C only in pictures. But the stat works its magic, and it appears. About 720P resolution is my limit for now. I hope to increase it so that it becomes indiscernible from real life. I think of it, and the magic does its work. I see the snow, the lights, a cabin in the distance. I see the snow and me and Vezhan standing around in it. The Aurora Borealis shines in the distance, a grand display. Unfortunate that the resolution and maximum size of the hologram is so small, it''s really such a shame. Something of this grandness is not truly represented in a reproduction like mine. Not until I''m able to increase its size at least. Still though, I''m doing it anyway. Cave? Hmph. No, we are in Alaska. The snow hits our bodies and the cold is real. Vezhan looks in awe at the display of art. He then looks at me and tilts his head. To himself, he whispers, ¡°Just who is this monster?¡± Is it a nice monster!? *Vezhan POV* I open my eyes to yet another day in this place. I get up out of my bed and yawn. The dark, empty atmosphere of the place is something that I¡¯ve gotten used to over the years. I walk through my empty room, putting on my leather vest and dusting myself off. Another day of waiting. Another day of patience. I stretch my body and wings, and leave this creaky old room of mine. I whistle to myself as I walk out of my room and into the streets. It¡¯s a place as dark and dreary as the cavern that surrounds it. I let out a sigh. I don¡¯t think I will ever get used to seeing this beautiful town turn to such an empty and dead place. At least I¡¯m not alone in this place though! There¡¯s only the two of us left here, but at the very least I am not left alone. I walk north towards the center of the town. It¡¯s not a very large one, being established more of a military encampment which then turned into its own town through decades of being in military use. I walk along the empty streets, which are lit only by the magical stones that power the emergency lights. It¡¯s dark still, with them giving off only a little amount of light in this lightless cavern. None of the glowing plants from the other regions of the cave has gotten here yet. I don¡¯t think they ever will, not unless a plant shoots their seeds all across the layer of white dust that surrounds the city. The white dust, the end result of the battle. I let out another sigh. We failed that battle. Horribly, and now this is the fate that has befallen our little city. I walk through the streets until I end up in front of a big mansion, the estate of our esteemed elder, Hacian. I walk through the gates, and along the path to the house. It¡¯s a slightly depressing sight to see. The luscious and beautiful plants of the mansion have all turned into dust, a fate that was shared with almost all parts of this city. It¡¯s a sad sight, really, but I hold my head up. One day, the elder and I will be able to leave this place. I smile faintly, one day. I walk the path around the house until I see little shack next to the tall building. I walk towards the small shack and open the door. It creaks, the joints getting worse over the years. The door opens and I walk through. The house is lit by one of the emergency lights, which provides enough brightness to see Elder Hacian sitting down in the same spot that he has always been in. For, er, months now I think. ¡°Hey, Hacian.¡± I greet. There¡¯s no response from the old human sitting on the floor. He¡¯s been like this for a long, long time now. I¡¯m used to it though. ¡°I¡¯m just here just to say hi.¡± I know that he won¡¯t respond, no matter what I say. He¡¯s been dead silent like this. I feel bad for him. I know what and how he feels. This whole entire situation must be even worse for him than it is for me. I close my eyes. On the outside, I maintain a regular appearance. I can¡¯t control everything though, and I let some aberrations slip through. My eyes betray how I feel, so I simply close them. Elder Hacian can see and notice everything, and I don¡¯t want him to know if I¡¯ve lost hope. ¡°Well, have a good morning, as always.¡± I say with a smile, and then leave. Crushing loneliness, hopelessness. My eyes shake and water over. Seeing him, his guilt, it makes me feel even worse. I can feel my shaking hands reach for the article around my neck: a rare, magical pendant. The keepsake of Avelia, who gave me it before she escaped from the town before the battle was lost. ¡°Mark my words Vezhan, I will return, with so many soldiers it¡¯ll make this whole damn cavern shake. So don¡¯t you dare give up. Please.¡± She said the last words with tears in her eyes as she fled away from the town. Thinking about her fills me with hope. It¡¯s been a long while since she made that promise, but it¡¯s a promise that I would wait an eternity for. My shaking hands that clutch around the magical pendant lessen in intensity, until it eventually calms down entirely. I let out a big sigh, and smile. Don¡¯t worry Avelia, I won¡¯t give up now. And I keep walking to the walls. It¡¯s dusty and dreary ¨C that¡¯s okay. I can deal with this. I walk to the armory of the town, a decayed and damaged building. I walk through the door frame and into the building. There isn¡¯t a door as it has probably been blown up or something during the attack by the Demon King¡¯s forces. I walk up to the lockers and retrieve my bow. Magically enchanted, this bow retains its good as new look despite being a couple of years old by now. It¡¯s lasted me this long, and I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be failing me anytime soon. With a sigh, I continue to walk to the edge of the town, towards its battered and damaged walls. Time to make my rounds around the place. There¡¯s no point to it really, but there really isn¡¯t a point to doing much else in this place. I guess being a hunter is really getting to me. I chuckle at the thought of it. Avelia would tease me for being so job focused. And so, I went around the nearby area, scouting out for the lost souls and killing them. It stings my heart, to kill the souls of my fallen brethren, but it¡¯s the least I can do. The curse has hit them too, so they¡¯ll always come back again as those pitiful abominations, doomed to relieve their demise over and over again. They have a tendency to kill any living being around them and convert the people it kills into one of them, but they aren¡¯t powerful enough to do anything to me or the Elder. I keep shooting at them, all of their wailing stops when the arrow hits them, and they become silent. Occasionally, one would smile, as their torturous fate would be paused for at least until they come back again. I sigh, heart heavy from doing this time and time again. I keep at it though, even though they come back always. My friends, brothers and sisters¡­ Suddenly, I see a strange sight. In my vision is a strange looking figure, and upon closer inspection, it¡¯s a monster. Ah, okay. It¡¯s just another monster. Sometimes they would come out of curiosity, but they usually leave as there isn¡¯t anything for them to eat. Strangely though, this monster has gotten so far as to actually move inside the barrier curse. Is it just hungry then? I look at it and see the monster standing still. I look away. Eh, whatever. It¡¯ll probably move back anyways when it realizes that it can¡¯t eat this cursed ground. I continue to walk forward, looking for another fallen soul. I take one step and suddenly, I hear a scream. My head turns to look in the direction of the monster. What? Monsters don¡¯t scream, not unless they¡¯re nearly dead. Instead, that weird monster is just sitting there for some reason, the crawling dead latched onto him. Was I mistaken? Is that really someone from the outside!? I quickly dash using my skills. I even utilize my wings to grant me a boost to my jump speed. As a drake, it¡¯s inconvenient to be down here as I can¡¯t really see well, even with my night vision skill. That means I can¡¯t use my wings or I¡¯ll run into some rocks. The most I can do is just run as fast as I can. I ready my bow and aim it at the fallen. I activate my spell.
Spirit Arrow: Thunder Type. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The user summons a magically manifested arrow, imbued with thunder energy. Its speed and attack is greater with the energy, but has low impact.
The magically conjured arrow shoots out of my bow with great speed, killing the fallen instantly. I quickly dash towards the person on the ground. ¡°By the Almighty, are you alright?¡± The strange person stairs at me. I finally get a good enough look at him. ¡°A monster?¡± I frown. It really is a monster. I feel a bit worse inside, both at my disappointment and my embarrassment from my inability to discern between people and monster. It continues to stare at me. Is¡­ there something wrong? Why isn¡¯t it attacking? It gives off a¡­ strange feeling. I feel my scales filling with heat and embarrassment. But, there isn¡¯t anyone to really judge me for this right? What if it¡­ understands speech? ¡°You seem to be very much different from the others though. Can you understand me?¡± Ugh. I¡¯m stupid. I¡¯m trying to talk with monsters. Strangely enough, the black monster nods. My eyes bulge at the unexpected response. ¡­WHAT. ¡°Almighty ones¡­ What a peculiar thing you are.¡± I think¡­ am I really going crazy? But it can talk though right!? Is it a nice monster!? I feel a bit shaky inside. What is wrong with me? Why am I doing this? I let out a grin and extend a hand. ¡°Hello, the name¡¯s Vezhan.¡± I have to grin to hide my embarrassment. ¡°How¡¯s it to ya?¡± It looks at me. Wait, does it not know what a handshake is? I tremble as I pull my hand back. Suddenly though, the monster grabs on and shakes it gently. ¡°My name is Aaron. Nice to meet you.¡±, Aaron says. ¡­ Oh man¡­ Is this for real? A monster, that can talk. An elevating feeling lifts my stomach. A monster, but also a person I can talk to. No way. This situation. It¡¯s so unbelievable. I laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. You know what? I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s a monster! He seems nice enough! ¡°Glad to meet you too, pal.¡± I say. Aaron just nods in response and keeps staring at me. What are you staring at me for! You¡¯re the weird one! I wonder if it has ever seen a town before. I call out to it. ¡°C¡¯mon, weird monster. I know a safer place than here. Follow me?¡±, I question. The monsters gives me a thumbs up. Ohoho! So he knows that as well! I wonder where he learned all of this! And so, we travel back to the town. I think I can skip my daily rounds for a situation as exceptional as this. I wonder who this ¡°Aaron¡± is like? Why is he so¡­ not like a monster? ¡°You know, you¡¯re actually quite an odd one really.¡±, I say. Aaron looks at me. ¡°You don¡¯t really seem bloodthirsty like the others. Why though?¡± Aaron ponders for a moment, trying to think of a response. So person-like! Finally, it looks at me and responds in a stoic and emotionless tone. ¡°I care more about the magic than the killing.¡± You care more about magic? Why? Is it not something that any monster or person could use at will? What a weird monster, to be interested in something like that. ¡°So that¡¯s the secret? Magic?¡± "It''s no secret really, I''m just obsessed with magic." This man¡­ is he some sort of crazy person? ¡°Pft¡­ what are you talking about even?¡± Aaron looks shocked for a moment. ¡°What I¡¯m talking about?¡± He smirks. ¡°I¡¯m talking about this.¡± The monster begins to conjure up some weird spell I¡¯ve never heard of before. My hunter training makes me clench my bow in caution. I step back a little, but the monster doesn¡¯t seem to be stopping. It conjures up something, and then it breaks. I see a whole mist radiate out from him, and suddenly, the scenery changes. It¡¯s slightly transparent, but I can clearly see the result of this monster¡¯s magic. Snow falls on me. My mouth is agape in awe. It¡¯s like I¡¯m in a whole new world different than mine. A sight like this, from a monster. Just who is this monster? I look at Aaron, and he stands there with a faint smile. ¡°Nice trick you got there, strange monster. I know someone who¡¯d love to experience that spell of yours.¡± I grin, thinking about Avelia. She was born in the north, where it snowed. I¡¯ve never experienced it, but I have heard descriptions of it. It¡¯s not a substitute for real life, sure, but it comes pretty damn close. The monster responds. ¡°Thanks.¡± It comes out a little soft. This dude sounds so¡­ So socially awkward! It¡¯s kinda weird, and I can¡¯t expect a monster to be very experienced in talking to others, but still. It reminds me of a friend of mine who would always act shy around new people. Shy as he was, he was a very good individual to confide into. It¡¯s like he was some therapist. Thinking about him fills me with a little sense of sadness and loss. That war spared little from its wrath. He died protecting his comrades, I was told. My time with him is a sad, yet sweet memory. I will never forget him. And so, we continue to walk. Over the endless plain of this white dust, we see finally see the town in the distance. I pick up speed, excited to talk and show the Elder my new buddy. Near the walls, Aaron asks a question out of nowhere. ¡°Who are you?¡± I tilt my head in confusion. I¡¯ve said that my name is Vezhan, have I not? Aaron continues to elaborate further. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone like you. And you have wings and scales. I haven¡¯t seen any other monsters in this cavern that¡¯s like you.¡± This monster has knowledge in such strange places. He¡¯s never heard of a drake, yet knows handshakes? You¡¯ve been born in a cave right? Why do you know of these things in the first place. Er, how do I explain this. Do I treat him as if he¡¯s some kid? How old is he anyway? How do you define¡­ drake? ¡°I¡¯m a drake. We have scales and wings and can fly. We look like dragons, but we really don¡¯t act anything like them.¡± I take a pause to think. ¡°Do you even know what a dragon is?¡± The monster responds. ¡°Yes. Or at least I think. Big flying scaly monsters right?¡± I stifle a laugh. Really? A monster referring to another monster as a monster? No. This is too weird. Something isn¡¯t adding up here. Well actually, a lot of things aren¡¯t adding up, but this one especially. Hmm. I guess that could be figured out once Elder Hacian sees him. He¡¯ll probably know what to do. He¡¯s way smarter than me. We continue to have a conversation as we walk towards my city. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s pretty much on the point.¡± ¡°Oh. I see. Is that commonly confused or something? You being like dragons.¡± ¡°Oh yeah. All. The. Time. Especially the northern ones, who¡¯ve never seen a drake before.¡± I chuckle, thinking back to Avelia when she first met me. Hmph, typical humans. ¡°Wow, are drakes not commonly known then?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. They just never really bothered to learn much about other races. The northern humans, I mean. I don¡¯t really blame them for it. The drakes are just a subset of the overarching demi race.¡± ¡°The demi race?¡± ¡°Hmm, so you know how drakes get compared to dragons right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, think of it like cats being compared to Fesians, or crocodiles being compared to Vekeans. There¡¯s a lot of them, and in a lot of places. None in the north though, which is mostly just a bunch of humans, you know them right?¡± ¡°Mmhm.¡± ¡°Hmm. Weird one you are. Yeah, there¡¯s basically just a bunch of humans north, with the winter races like faeries or giants in the coldest parts. In other places, you have the dwarves and elves and the like ¨C I¡¯ll tell you about them later. But yeah, it¡¯s mostly just us in the more normal regions here. Or normal to us, actually.¡± We both walk forward, and we arrive in front of the gates. ¡°Oh look, we¡¯re here.¡± I say with a heavy voice. The walls in all of its beauty. Except ruined, and broken beyond its original form. It used to stand tall. Used to¡­ I look at my weird monster friend. ¡°Welcome to my city, Evestio.¡± Broken Family *Aaron POV* The excitement was building up in me as Vezhan and I approached the city, but it was soon replaced with confusion as I saw the old and destroyed walls. ¡°Welcome to my city, Evestio.¡±, Vezhan says. I stood there, confusion filling me. I don¡¯t know, I expected something a little more¡­ maintained. Vezhan sees my confusion and explains the whole situation. ¡°It¡¯s been in this state for a while now.¡± I look at him. A while? He just gives me a shrug. ¡°Come, let¡¯s walk inside.¡± I can hear a hint of sadness in his tone. I kinda feel bad for him. I wonder what could¡¯ve happened for it to be this way? Vezhan and I begin walking towards the gate. For some reason, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any guards. Well, I¡¯m not sure how guards would work if the entire wall is compromised like this. I pause near the entrance. ¡°Hey, what if people see me?¡±, I whisper worriedly. ¡°There are no people.¡±, Vezhan explained. ¡°Not anymore.¡± I stand there, still apprehensive about what people would think of my monster form. I mean, monsters are supposed to be the enemy of these sentient beings according to those void beings. Vezhan walks up to me and grabs my wrist, dragging me into the front of the gate. ¡°Hey, w-wait.¡± Please, I don¡¯t like to be the target of stares. I am pushed in front of the gate, and then I can really see how bleak and empty the town is. The street in front of me is lit only by strange, red lights that glow dimly. It reveals enough to show broken down buildings, some being completely demolished. The road, too, is in a state of disrepair. If not for the area of surrounding bone, there would probably be ecological succession, and plants would grow all over the place. ¡°See?¡±, Vezhan says in a low voice, tinged with a hint of sadness. ¡°No people.¡± I look at Vezhan, and he looks away, his hand seeming to be clutching something around his neck. I feel bad for him, but I can¡¯t help but wonder why he stays. Finally, Vezhan recollects himself and faces back towards me. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡±, he says. And we keep walking past all of the decay. It¡¯s so abandoned and empty, dusty and dirty. I recognize some of what the establishments were supposed to be. A sign hangs above one of the buildings, with what looks like a mug and bed on it. Through the cracks and fallen walls, I can see an open place with lots of chairs and tables. An Inn? I see other things too. Clothing, gardens, big builds for what looks like administrations. This was a whole town once, and now it¡¯s like this. What happened? I look at Vezhan next to me, and his face remains gloomy, but I can tell he¡¯s trying to hide it. I tap his back, trying to comfort him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Vezhan looks at me, a faint smile appearing on his face. What is he thinking right now? ¡°Thanks. Never thought I¡¯d see the day where I get comforted by a monster.¡± He lets out a chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me though. I can deal with it.¡± I let out a smile, on the outside. On the inside though, I don¡¯t think that sentence sounded very confident. We continue to walk ahead at a leisurely pace. The atmosphere around here is bleak and dark. At least it feels a little safer here than the outside. I haven¡¯t spotted one of those so-called ¡°souls¡± as Vezhan calls them. After a minute, I get curious and ask Vezhan about what happened in this town to have it become this way. He stops for a moment and ponders for a moment in response. ¡°Well,¡± he says while resuming walking. ¡°as you probably have guessed already, this town wasn¡¯t always like this.¡± He grips his hands tightly. ¡°The Demon King¡¯s army¡­¡± I look up at Vezhan in surprise. Demon king? This world has those tropes? ¡°A king of demons? Like flying people with horns and a tail?¡± Vezhan looks at me in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t know what demons are?¡± ¡°Well, not really I guess.¡± ¡°They¡¯re corrupted people. A demon is either someone who was born corrupted with demon blood or is turned into a demon through a ritual. They turn bloodthirsty and obey their king¡¯s every command, without free will. They have monstrous and evil powers, and they spread across the land in conquest.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t those just monsters?¡± ¡°Monsters? No, although monsters can be demons, not all demons are monsters. Demons are marked by the distinctive magical aura they give off, and they¡¯re sentient unlike monsters. Oh, well I guess you¡¯re an exception to that though.¡± ¡°How do you turn into a demon then? And does that mean it¡¯s not a separate race?¡± ¡°It is counted as a separate race, according to the system. They¡¯re¡­ a special bunch. In regards to how to turn into a demon¡­ I don¡¯t know, ask them.¡± Vezhan pauses, staring at me. ¡°Don¡¯t ask them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. I was just curious.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a curious one aren¡¯t you? Anyways, we¡¯re here. In this town, besides me, there is only one other person alive. Let me introduce you to the village elder: Hacian. He¡¯s the one who handles all of the political and economic affairs of the town before the Demon King¡¯s army attacked.¡± I immediately pause in my steps. We are at the front of a big building. I know what building it is, I¡¯ve seen it many times before. I¡¯m not so sure about this anymore. I tentatively take another step forward, and Vezhan notices my discomfort. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I hesitate before speaking, unsure about this whole ordeal all of a sudden. ¡°I don¡¯t want to meet this ¡®Hacian¡¯.¡± Vezhan steps forward, to me. ¡°Hacian¡¯s a nice guy, I promise. If you let me explain, I¡¯m sure that you and him both would get along. And you seem like a nice monster at least so-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t. Please don¡¯t call me a monster.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry?¡± I look down, trying to calm myself a bit. ¡°Call me Aaron, not monster. I¡­¡± Had enough people call me that in my life.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°¡­just don¡¯t like to be called that.¡± Vezhan looks shocked, then sorry. He really is a good person. ¡°O-oh¡­ Sorry, Aaron, I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡±, Vezhan apologizes. ¡°It¡¯s all fine. I know that you mean well at least.¡± I look up at Vezhan. ¡°And politicians are not to be trusted. They¡¯re vile, liars.¡± Another voice appears in front of me, behind Vezhan. It sounds like it belongs to an old person, filled with ages of wisdom. It chuckles out loud. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, that one is.¡± Vezhan turns around. ¡°Elder Hacian!¡±, he says in surprise. ¡°Hunter Vezhan.¡±, Hacian responds. He turns his head towards me. ¡°And Aaron.¡± I tilt my head. ¡°You were listening to us the entire time?¡± Hacian scoffs. ¡°You were in my front yard the entire time. I have every right to hear what the two of you children were talking about.¡± "Children?", I look at Vezhan, who appears flustered. ¡°Wha- I¡¯m 22. Don¡¯t look at me like that. Elder Hacian calls every resident a child.¡± ¡°Because you children are still too young. I¡¯ll call you normally if you turn at least as old as me.¡±, Hacian says with a grin, which he then breaks with a sigh. They both stand there, an atmosphere of longing and depression falling over the three of us. It makes me a bit uncomfortable. And by a bit, I mean by a considerable amount. Hacian breaks the small silence first. He looks at me, studying my appearance. ¡°And you, little one, who are you?¡± ¡°I am Aaron, and I am what the system calls me, a ¡®Mana Monster¡¯.¡± I leave out the juvenile part of it though. ¡°Ah, and may I ask how old you are?¡± ¡°14.¡± ¡°Young indeed.¡± Hacian shifts from his place. ¡°Come, follow me into my home.¡± And he walks away. Vezhan follows, and, after a moment of apprehension, so do I. We are led into a small shack, not into the mansion as I have suspected. It makes me wonder, why someone like him chooses to stay in this small place rather than the big building. It¡¯s, although comparatively small compared to the mansion, big enough to comfortably fit about five people. It¡¯s just one room with a majority of the stuff taken out and is very clean compared to the other areas of this city. There¡¯s a rug in the middle, as well as a single emergency light. It feels kinda cozy in here, or it would be if it weren¡¯t for the feel the abandoned town gave. Hacian sits down on the rug while Vezhan sits down on the side. I take the opposite side of Vezhan, and we surround the light in the middle of the room. ¡°This is going to be quite a long while.¡± Hacian says, breaking the silence. I agree with him on that. ¡°Indeed.¡± Vezhan looks at me and Hacian. ¡°May I?¡± We both nod, and he asks his question. ¡°Why do you know how to speak?¡± ¡°I have no idea, honestly. What language are we speaking now anyways?¡± It¡¯s weird how we understand each other. Maybe this soul-transporting thing has some extra properties I don¡¯t really know about. Hmm. I guess there was one time where I spoke to another person who understood what I was saying. That girl who I met in my dream that one time at the beginning of all of this mess. That was pretty strange, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°We are speaking in the Common language. You really have no idea how you can speak?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I suppose I could tell them that I learned how to speak while I was a human in my past life, even if that doesn¡¯t explain how there¡¯s a common language between two different universes. However, I don¡¯t think opening up about everything would be a very good idea. ¡°The demon king. Who is he? And Why did he invade this town?¡±, I ask. Hacian answers this time. ¡°The demon king is an ancient existence. His origins are surrounded in mystery, but it is commonly believed that the demon king is an especially powerful monster with a close relation to the divine. His mission is to spread destruction across the world, and challenges the divine directly.¡± Oh? I thought the veiled weren¡¯t allowed to do that? ¡°Is he not a void entity then?¡± Hacian looks surprised, while Vezhan looks at the both of us confused. ¡°What¡¯s a void ent-¡± ¡°Hush, child. Do not make the mistake of invoking their name.¡±, the old drake says. He then looks at me, scrutinizing me even further. ¡°The Demon King isn¡¯t one of those. Now, tell me how a monster like you know about the beings from nothing?¡± ¡°The beings from nothing?¡±, Vezhan asks. ¡°Void entities? I¡¯ve met one. They seem reasonable, if not for their proclivity for ending the world. Void entities, by the way, are beings who are basically the enemies of gods, I think. Gods create sentient beings; you all. The ¡®beings from nothing¡¯ as you call them create monsters.¡± Hacian opens his mouth. ¡°You¡¯ve met one? Of all the people in the world, a monster meets them?¡± I feel a bit irked at the attitude of the elder. I guess people still think of me as some sort of monster? I let out a sigh. They could actually be right, honestly. Compared to others, I don¡¯t even fit properly into this world. Made by both a god and a veiled, not even seen as existing by the system. What a confusing and awkward state of being. It¡¯s my existence though, and I¡¯ll live it to the best of my abilities. ¡°Is there a world above all of us?¡±, I say, trying to distract myself from thinking too far. Vezhan answers up first. ¡°Oh, the above world? Yeah, that¡¯s actually where we came from. You see, this city actually started as a military base, but after years of being without use, it kinda developed from there. The government on the outside was busy dealing with some sort of internal dispute, I heard, and they kinda left us to do our own thing. Now, we¡¯re our own town, but even though this place is¡­ was great, I still think that there are even better sights to see on the outside.¡± Vezhan lets out a sigh. ¡°If only we could leave.¡± Leave? Can these people not leave? Hacian notices my confusion and explains. ¡°When the Demon King¡¯s army came, we¡­ well, we fell in battle. They walked into our town, one of the 4 generals did, and made gave us an ultimatum. It was to either be converted into one of them or be cursed to a fate of suffering. About half of us chose to be converted, and the other half¡­¡± Hacian grimaces and Vezhan looks at the floor, a pained expression on his face. He continues on his explanation. ¡°The general, he planted a curse on this entire town. Unholy magic that we do not know anything about, working in different and evil ways. We cannot leave this place, no matter what, no matter the method.¡± Hacian pauses to collect himself. I continue to listen intently. ¡°He trapped us in here. Nothing can leave, not even our souls. The general raised a field of white dust where our souls are reanimated into abominations that hunt and seek to kill others while also suffering at the same time. The souls die and are reanimated, then the cycle repeats until this curse finally gives out.¡± ¡°¡­How can something like that even be possible?¡± ¡°The Demon King¡¯s origins are shrouded in mystery, but his existence is less so. His power rivals the divine, and, naturally, the four generals underneath him have unparalleled power. To trap a soul from entering the afterlife, a cruel fate that has fallen on us. And I can¡¯t say that the blame isn¡¯t completely mine.¡± Vezhan starts, ¡°Hacian y-¡± ¡°No.¡±, Hacian interrupts, his voice grim. ¡°I have led this city into a fate worse than death. Every soul here will die a thousand times and even more until the wretched curse will wear off.¡± I see now. Hacian was probably one of the ones who led the city against the siege of the demons. His guilt and his failure, eating away at him. Still, it¡¯s difficult for me not to sympathize with him. He actually cares for his people, something that seems to be rare in most with a position like his. I reach out to pat Hacian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°How low have I fallen,¡± Hacian says, laughing at the mockery he makes himself out to be, ¡°to receive the pity of a monster.¡± My hand freezes, unsure of what to do next. I eventually sigh and return to my normal position. ¡°¡­How long?¡± Vezhan looks from Hacian to me and responds solemnly. ¡°About 6 months. The rest have already died from starvation or the like. We are the only ones who can sustain ourselves with solely magic. I don¡¯t think that this situation¡­ I don¡¯t think that we can lose out on hope yet though.¡± ¡°For the Almighty¡¯s sake child, she¡¯s gone! Never coming back!¡±, Hacian responds, tired of Vezhan¡¯s talk of salvation. ¡°She¡¯s not dead!¡±, Vezhan stands up, shouting. ¡°Someone like her can make her promises and is strong enough to keep them. I refuse to allow myself to lose hope in her. Avelia will come back, she¡¯s¡­ probably just running into difficulties or something, I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°Oh for¡­¡±, Hacian mutters. And it continues on like that, with me on the sidelines, like some sort of broken family arguing with each other. I let out a sigh. Ever since I came here, I was always wondering what those patches of mana my mana sight has detected were, and now I feel like I have an idea what they were. I get up from where I was sitting, the duo not really paying any attention to me. ¡°Please excuse me.¡± They look at me for a moment and then glare at each other. It seems that they¡¯re no longer yelling at each other at least. Then, I walk out of the shack, heading for the outside of the city. I breathe in. I am simply an amateur magician who''s trying to figure out some ancient, complex spell, but I understand that I still have to at least make an attempt at it.