《Earthbound System》 The Test The cool, crisp breeze blows through my new buzzcut. I lay on the grass, imagining what the clouds reminded me of. It was a game I used to play with my mother before she left us at the ripe old age of six. I never blamed her. If I got beat by Dad every night, I would think about leaving, too. Fortunately, I was his prized wrestler, and he never touched my sister and me. That was a long time ago now. It had only been me and my sister since the conscription happened when I was ten. We lived in a communal place for the earthbound. Our new elf overlords weren''t cruel. They gave us rations, clothing, shelter, and education. A few ex-homeless people told us how much better their lives had gotten once the elves came in. I didn''t care; tomorrow was my 16th birthday. I would be a man, meaning I would be gifted the system and must register for the war effort. The sun was still setting, its fiery yellows and oranges a whisper. "You know that weigh-ins are at 5 am?" Rebecca said to Dane "I know. I just wanted to remember Mom a little longer." Said Dane "Can I lay next to you?" "Of course." We lay next to each other in silence until sunset. "Are you scared?" "A big brother is never scared." I tussled her hair like I used to when we were little. "In three years, I will join you in the war effort. Don''t die, okay." "I''m going to live until one hundred and fifty," Dane said with bravado "You better be aiming for something higher than E rank." "Come on, Rebecca, you know that only one in 100 makes it past E rank, and earthlings die on the battlefield too easily." "I know, but who wants to hear that their hero is only an average person." Rebecca teased "Well, we need to go to bed," Dane said with authority. I lay in my cot, the nerves too great to let me sleep. I wanted to become a conscripted warrior. The caste system was unforgiving to those without talent, but I was strong and the best fighter in my class. If I could become a warrior, my contribution points would be enough to have an everyday pre-system life based on what the teachers had said. Sure, I would constantly fight, but that would also mean my cultivation rank would increase faster. The system blessed those who pushed themselves. ¡­ I woke up as the auditors made the first wave of inspections. I scrambled to make my bed, threw on my issued clothing, and gathered the two items they had let me keep when they took us five years ago. They found my sister and me surviving in the wilderness, Glenwood entirely overrun by monsters. I had fought tooth and nail to make sure my sister and I survived, but with every day, the animals mutated and leveled up. We took to running away and hiding. It was hard. I was in the fifth grade, and my sister was in the second; if it weren''t for my dad''s insistence on keeping a 1700s rapier within reach of small children, we wouldn''t have made it. "All of those sixteen or older lineup," said the colossal elf auditor I could not believe how large the elf was. The elf looked like he was most likely a half-bred with shorter ears and a burly chest that looked more akin to a gorilla than anything human. We lined up from oldest to youngest, with me at the end of the line. This was all a dog and pony show. We knew that all the old people would not be conscripted, and it would just be me today. "Next." Said the massive elf I walked up to the scale and stepped on it. The elf glanced down and scribbled on a piece of parchment. I wasn''t exactly sure what I weighed since the auditors never let us see our numbers, but I guessed I was around 205 lbs. He told me to stand back in line and wait for the announcement. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Today, we will be accepting everyone into the military." Said the auditor A collective gasp was heard along the line. This was unheard of. Some of these people were in their 60s. With the system, that age would be more akin to 30 if you could level up. Hand-feeding levels to earthbound was not something the elves did. They would all die. I was about to step out of line to protest. But before I could, Rachel, a seamstress in her early thirties, started to cry hysterically. "You can''t take my grandma to the frontlines." She wept. "Don''t worry, miss, she is not going to the frontlines." "She will be going to the mines." The Gorilla Elf chortled ¡­ I finally noticed all the guards they brought. Usually, they would only have a couple, but today, they had about thirty or so, one for each of us. They marched us like it was the trail of tears; I kept my head down. That day, you could only hear the labored breathing usually reserved for old folks'' homes. It didn''t matter; the only thing I cared for in the world would be safe for another three years. I searched for Rebecca as we walked by, but we didn''t live on the same block. Most likely, I would never see her again, but I would try to make something of myself. I heard that if conscripted warriors earned enough contribution points, they could buy their citizenship. And it stood to reason that if I could buy my freedom, I should be able to buy my sisters. That was my goal, and I would ace this placement exam. The exam consisted of Three parts. The first was reminiscent of an old-world IQ test. It was easy just figuring out patterns. The academy spent all its time preparing us for this test. I was not worried about it; I did well based on how the teachers treated me. If you did poorly, the elves would not bother, assuming that the mines or the graveyard were ahead of you. They would be a little nicer if they thought you had a chance of becoming a powerful cultivator and returning for revenge. Prudence, as the Earthbound were weak half the time, they didn''t survive their first trip to a training dungeon. The second was a combat test where you would spar against another trainee and slay a monster. The third was a magic affinity test. We would grab a stone, and it would rate your cultivation abilities and your magic affinity. From what the teachers told us, we needed to be system users to activate the stone, and the magic test wasn''t something you could train for; either you had it or didn''t. ¡­ I took the IQ test, and let me tell you, I was cocky, it was okay for the first half, but then the patterns stopped making sense to me. I felt let down like a toddler who fumbled his ABCs. I would have to destroy my combat and affinity section. "System initiating" "Happy Birthday" What was going on? They always taught us in school that the system was a gift from the empire. And what is with the messages? Why did the all-powerful system sound more like a doting babysitter than someone who shaped the world? "System renamed to Babysitter." "Would you like to turn personal notifications off?" "No, that''s fine. It just startled me." "Would you like to go through a Tutorial for your new Babysitter interface?" "Sure." "To pull up the menu, just think menu. During your initial tutorial, the interactive areas will be highlighted in blue." "Can I just have the highlights and figure it out myself?" "Of course, Dane McAllister." I thought a menu and a black screen popped up, like the old-world games I only saw at friends'' houses. Can''t the system make a better menu? Navigating the tabs will be rough. When the system prompted him this time, it was a text box like the menu screen. "Would you like to reconfigure your menu?" ¡°Y/N¡± "Yes." After the system interpreted my thoughts, the menu was a single-page Race: Human Rank: F Name: Dane McAllister Exp: 0/100 Level: 1 Strength: 6 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 5 Charisma: 2 Stamina: 6 Intelligence: 6 Willpower: 10 Unassigned Points: 0 Skills (Common) Unarmed Combat LVL 2/25 Axe Proficiency LVL 3/25 Small weapons LVL 1/25 Identify LVL 1/10 (Uncommon) Haste LVL 3/5 LVL 1/100 HP 10/10 MP 1/1 Stamina 10/10 Not bad; I already had some decent skills. It looks like I would be sticking to Axes and a knife. I even had one uncommon skill already. My rank limited my skills: for example, I wouldn''t be able to get a skill past its standard threshold unless the skill was upgraded or I had evolved. I had no idea if five skills were common for someone, so I would need to compare once they sent me to my unit. "Move it earthbound." Said a husky voice that belonged to a dwarf half my height, but the stature he lacked in height was made up in width. I started to shuffle forward again with the crowd. In retrospect, it may have been foolish to dick around with the system in the middle of the crowded sparring grounds. The sparring grounds were an old football field dressed like the Roman Colosseum. You could still see the faint lines of the ground where the stone wasn''t covering it up, but the goalposts had long been destroyed. This would be where I proved myself a warrior. The Test (Part 2) I fidgeted with the small hatchet given to me; the elves would blunt the edge for the combatant match, so I would have to fight the beast first. I looked down at the ground and saw the number 20 painted white. My father never liked watching sports; he told me it was a waste of time when we could train. I always wanted to see the Cowboys play, but I knew I shouldn''t push his patience if I pressed too hard; I didn''t want to see what he would do. I wondered if he had survived; he had a lot of stories from before he settled down. If anyone was made for the apocalypse, it was him. My father, Daniel, was mean, rugged, and always prepared. He spent his entire youth on a ranch raising cattle with my grandfather. He never spoke fondly of his time before us and shut down when I asked him the everyday things na?ve children want to know about the service. I remember the glazed-over look he got when my friends asked him if he killed anyone. Most of the gaps I knew were told to me by my mother before she left. He went into the military after he turned 18 and cut all ties with his family. He would often wake up screaming in the middle of the night. I would go to my sister Rebecca''s room and ensure she was okay. Daniel POV "Welcome to the tutorial of the 7th Universe." Daniel had gone to sleep last night drunk. He would wait for his kids to be in bed first. And break out his favorite bottle of apple-flavored whiskey. He looked around and saw hundreds of other people around him. Dan wasn''t someone who enjoyed his life; he had always felt alive while deployed. Sarah told him that it was her and the kids or his career in the military, so after he finished his last contract, he was done. The couple''s therapist had told Dan that he needed to work through his resentment if they stood a chance of salvaging his marriage. Too bad Sarah had already moved on before the papers had been served. When Dan caught that other man with his wife in his bed, he lost it, and he tried to punch the other guy who was still trying to cover up his unmentionables. Sarah must have loved him because she got in front of her husband and took the punch for him. Daniel spent the entire night with his brother, crying and drinking. The cops came shortly after 3 am to take him to jail. He spoke with his lawyer, thinking he would have to fight tooth and nail for his children. Sarah wanted a clean slate and gave him everything. Sarah was an orphan and had no other family. It hurt Dan to his soul that she didn''t even love his kids enough to try to fight for them. After he was awarded custody, Sarah twisted the knife even more, sending him a DNA test showing that Rebecca was not his child. That night, he gathered every item in his house that reminded him of Sarah and had a fire. "Where am I?" "You are in the Tutorial." "What is a tutorial?" "The tutorial is where a select few from your planet will prepare for what is to come." "What is to come?" "War and Monsters." ... "How long will I be stuck here?" "The Tutorial has time dilation at a rate of 5:1; you will only be absent from your world for five solar cycles." Race: Human Rank: F Name: Daniel McAllister Exp: 0/100 Level: 1 Strength: 8 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 9 Charisma: 7 Stamina: 9 Intelligence: 9 Willpower: 10 Unassigned Points: 0 Skills If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. (Common) Unarmed Combat LVL 20/25 Ranged Weapons LVL 20/25 Small weapons LVL 20/25 LVL 1/100 HP 18/18 Stamina 16/16 "Please select a class and occupation." Dane POV "Number 605, come to the stand to begin your match." I walked to the middle of the field and saw a stone platform 20 feet from an iron cage. As I went to the disk''s center, it started to glow blue. I looked into the cage and only saw yellow eyes with a line for a pupil reminiscent of a feral cat that wouldn''t go near humans. The eyes moved left to right in the cage, pacing in anticipation. The gate clicked, and the crowded stands began to roar. My hand tightened its grip on the faux leather handle of my ax. A bead of sweat rolled down the bridge of my nose. My heart began to race as I stilled my breath. The iron bars fell with an audible clang of metal on metal. The shadows started to roll out of the cage, shrouding me in darkness. I couldn''t see the eyes any longer. The shadows weren''t just messing with my vision but also my hearing. I heard footsteps behind me but felt the scratch of the beast on my chest. It was like being submerged in water, and the audio reverberated around me. Another swipe to my back sent me down to one knee. I needed to get up. When you gave a monster your neck, it always went for the kill. This monster had to be a shadow cat. I knew that until level 5, they would only be able to keep the shadow field active for 10 minutes. This was more than long enough for me to be shredded to mincemeat. I had to keep moving. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up and swung my ax hard to the left. I heard a roaring yowl as my ax found purchase in the shadow cat''s hide. The shadows receded into the monster for a split second, giving me a glimpse of the creature. My ax was in its left back leg; it looked at me with malice. The shadows erupted back out of the cat as it roared again. I began to run, and the feeling of being hunted intensified. "Great job Dane, you just pissed it off!" I self-admonished. My hair bristled again, this time on my left arm. I stopped and shuffled to the right as I saw a blur whiz past me. New passive skill unlocked danger sense echoed in my head. "Hey, system, can you please explain the skill? I can''t stop to read its description at the moment." "No." "What the fuck do mean no?" "My name isn''t System anymore." "Fine, Babysitter, can you please read me any descriptions of newly acquired skills while I am in combat?" "Sure thing, Dane." ¡°¡­¡± "Are you going to tell me what Danger Sense does?" "Danger sense does not meet the criteria of new skill as it was acquired before the command was initiated." "Babysitter, just tell me what danger sense does." "Danger sense (rare) is a passive skill that scales with dexterity and willpower. Your hair will begin to bristle in an area in imminent danger. Please note this skill only works on physical attacks that you can react to until further upgrades have been made." "Thanks." With this new skill, I had a fucking spidey sense. However, the key phrase in the description is that you have to be able to react to it. The shadow cat stopped choreographing and initiated attacks while it was closer; I didn''t have enough time to move, and my neck began to feel wet and hot. I reached back with my unencumbered hand and touched the slick substance only realizing that the cat took a chunk out of my neck. "What is my HP at babysitter?" I said in my head "You are at 2/10" That means the attacks are doing massive damage. If I take another hit, I am done. Just as the hair on the back of my head started to bristle, the shadows began to dissipate, revealing that the shadow cat was only two times the size of a regular tabby. I turned around and saw the helpless cat lunging at me with a smooth sidestep and uppercut Esque strike. I cleaved the Black cat at the waist. The torso and hind legs landed on either side of me with a thud. My body began to feel as light as a feather. The crowd went wild as I fell to the ground face-first. My world went black. ... I woke feeling sore everywhere that the feline scratched me. I looked down at my arms and didn''t even see a mark where I had been attacked. I began to sit, only to be pushed back down by a beautiful elf medic. She hovered her yellow glowing hands over my arms and continued chanting in mage language. This tongue was only taught to spellcasters once they had been given the system and proved they had mana. "Can I sit up now?" I asked "No, you will open up the wound in your stomach. I had to suture it closed until I finished your more life-threatening wounds." The enchanting elf said "What is your name I would like to know who I owe my life too," I said "My name is Marjorie, and you don''t owe me your life. I was doing my job. Why else do you think that I would waste my time on a casteless earthbound like you." Marjorie said with venom in her tone. "Not the angel I thought I had woken up to," I whispered under my breath "What was that?" Marjorie said, elevating her tone to a promised threat. "I just said that without your help, I wouldn''t have woken up. And I would still like to thank you, " I said quickly as I began to stand up again. "I told you that you will open your wounds if you try to get up again," Marjorie said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I''ll take my chances," I said coldly, exiting the med bay and looking for the pack I had left next to the entrance of the coliseum. I found my bag trampled, and the health potion destroyed glass shattered in the bag. I rang out as much liquid as possible into my mouth. The tonic burnt every inch of the way down my esophagus. Babysitter message HP restored 8/10. "Babysitter, can I have a permanent visual of my resource pools in my vision." "Of course, Dane." As my health, mana, and stamina took place in the top right corner of my vision, I wondered what other features I would have to implement. "I should probably ask other people how they had their displays when I get a chance," I told myself. The Test (Part 3) I walked back to the rest area designated for combatants; we earned more freedom after the monster fight; while the combatant matches were dangerous, they almost always ended with no deaths. They had guard towers all over the second floor in case we got any bright ideas of inciting a riot with our newly gifted weapons. In my five years as a spectator, I only saw it happen once; after you see an elven marksman explode a combatant''s head with a plasma bolt, people tend to stay in line. There were hundreds of unfamiliar faces; I had hoped that I would be able to put my guilty conscience to bed to see if any of the others had chosen to test for a conscripted warrior spot. The chances were slim. Everyone knew how hard it was to beat a monster. I searched but didn''t see anyone from my neighborhood. I couldn''t help but feel lucky. The elves wouldn''t have wasted the training on me if I had been a year older. I knew plenty of kids barely older than me who went to the proving grounds only to be met with a swift end at the jaws of a monster. ¡­ I looked up through the square-shaped hole of the old stadium. I could make out a cloud resembling the Shadow cat, just a dark grey smudge in the sea of perfect fluffy white ones on a canvas of light blue. The sun was beating down on my face. I had plenty of time to kill until the duels. My number was 605. I wasn''t sure how many people were behind me, but I was prepared to lay there for the rest of the day. "Babysitter, I thought the system was a gift from the empire. How come you came to me before the affinity test?" "Dane, you are a *&^%*%^&[redacted][redacted]." The system glitched when it explained why I had the system early. I tried to push it and get as much information as possible, but the system ignored the prompts each time I approached the topic. "Can I call you Alfred?" "Sure thing, Master Dane." "Dane is fine." "Of course, Dane." "You know what, Master Dane works better. Is there any way you can throw in an English accent?" The silence when I asked that was palpable. "I see that I have a mana pool. Can you tell me what my magic affinity is?" "You have a time affinity with a minor affinity for space, Master Dane." I was ecstatic. The time and space affinity sounded great. ¡­ "Number 605, please report to the platform for your duel; I repeat, number 605, please report to the platform for your duel." The announcer said lazily, undoubtedly because he had been the only announcer in section 4 all day. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I returned to the stone circle in the ground, this time on the other side where they had placed the shadow cat. I saw a tall, skinny-looking person with fiery red hair and wiry muscles standing across from me. He had a tremendously large two-handed sword that he looked like he could barely lift. I would have an advantage over him in maneuverability. A feeling I couldn''t shake was pestering my mind, however. My hair began to stand up everywhere. I looked at my feet, and the platform began to glow blue. I began to run at the lanky man. He was calm and collected. He stared at me like a mountain lion stocking its prey, but his eyes weren''t focused on me. It was almost as if his trance-like eyes were staring through me. When I got within three feet of the skeletal man, my danger sense went crazy. With one smooth motion, barely lifting the massive blade from the ground, my opponent shifted his stance and swung low. His blade was a blur as it came barreling towards my lead left foot. I had to pivot to my right and jump backward for the blade''s tip to only knick my shin. Even with his edge dulled, if that had landed, the match would have been over, as my leg would have folded in half. Before I could regain my composure, a downward strike reminiscent of a smash bros down b attack was coming for my head as the man jumped in the air like an owl swooping in for a mouse. I rolled to the left and felt the monstrous sword plunge into the ground, where I had been moments ago. "Trying to get the sword out of the stone. Are you sure your name is not Arthur?" I joked while the tall man tried to pull out his sword. I knew this was my opportunity, so I gripped the handle of my axe tight, and I swung as hard as I could with a lateral slash that wouldn''t hit anything vital but would leave a nasty mark on his shoulder. Before my hit landed, my opponent grinned at me and pulled his sword hard to the right, blocking my ax head with his sword hilt while still stuck in the ground. The clang reverberated up my arm, and I lost hold of my weapon. The axe fell toward the ground. I lunged to grab it, but the red-haired man abandoned his sword to hit me square in the chest with a front kick. That would be fine with me if he wanted to make this a hand-to-hand match. I stumbled backward and got into a boxing stance. I danced on the balls of my feet, keeping my heels off the ground with my left leg as the lead leg; I turned slightly to the side to make my body a smaller target. The large man had a form more akin to a pugilist from the 1920s, which really gave off "why I outta" vibes. I circled to my left, trying to keep my left foot just outside his right. Then, he began to throw a jab. I ducked in a peekaboo fashion, leaning all my weight on the left leg, throwing my hard overhand left just over his shoulder. He had already committed too much of his momentum to the jab and could only watch as my fist plummeted into his cheek, just shy of hitting its target of the chin. He stumbled to the side as I fully pushed through, just as my father always taught me. I changed my level and hit a hard-nosed double-leg takedown that was basically a tackle. He landed on his back, and his head fell back into a large stone. I quickly went into a full mount and tried to rain down blows. He grabbed my fist with his hand as I attempted the first blow; he squeezed my fist in the palm of his hand. "Fuck you have that farm boy strength, don''t you," I whispered to myself. I was in trouble. I looked at my hand, which looked like a beer can inside a frat boy''s hand. The crazy son of a bitch started to headbutt my fist, turning it into hamburger meat. I gritted my teeth and drove my free fist straight into his throat, feeling the cracking and snapping as I tried to punch into the ground. "Fuck that was a good punch." That is what I imagined he said, with the only sound escaping his mouth being a gurgle. I watched as the tall man began to suffocate, his last breath a compliment to the chef, unable to breathe with his crushed windpipe. The medics rushed out to the field when he signaled for the surrender. I hoped he would live. I went to the medic tent myself, hoping that I wouldn''t have to deal with Marjorie, but since I used the only health potion I had gotten from my time in the wilds. I knew that the chances were high. The Test (Final) In the Medic tent, I was pleasantly surprised to see my favorite healer, Marjorie, was out for the Day. In her place was the ugliest-looking Orc I had ever seen. His long boar-like tusks were pitch black, curling just above his dark green lips. He had a jagged scar running down the length of the left side of his face. His eye was grey and dead from the rough cut that had been cauterized very well, suggesting that a plasma blade made the cut. He, for sure, had seen a tour as one of the conscripted or perhaps even a war-slave. "Welcome to the chop shop. My name is Doctor Green; what are you in for?" Said the Orc. I didn''t even speak, just showing the man my mangled hand. "Thanks, kid, but I''m not hungry today." Doc Green said with a deadpan expression. "What?! No, can you please fix my hand?" I said in a pestered tone. "Well, kid, I have healing magic, but you need a high priest to fix that. I am going to have to amputate. Don''t worry; with the recent magitech advances, you are getting a better deal. You will have to spend more time working off the elves'' generosity, but what''s another few years of service? It''ll put some hair on your chest." The healing Orc told me. "Do you have any in stock?" Dane said with a long sigh after "Fresh out, I''m afraid, but I will chop that hand off and get you to the magitest with no bleeding and a full health pool." The medic said with his head held high. Dane didn''t want to be a cyborg, as it would have limited his class selections and pigeonholed his future evolutions. There were two theories about why the system despised man''s interference. Many thought it was simply trying to even the scales and balance its game, ensuring no one got too OP. I, however, was in the camp that believed the system could only modify living organisms and, therefore, would channel less energy into those with alterations. "Just take it off. I''ll figure out how to fight one-handed later," said Dane, resigning to his fate. The ditch doctor nodded in understanding and pulled a laser scalpel out of his leather bag of instruments. He began the procedure with precision, taking everything off just above the wrist. Dane was in excruciating pain and tensed every muscle in his body during the exchange. "Kid, you have to stop fidgeting. I need to get a clean cut. Just because I work in a tent doesn''t mean this is a circus." Said the blunt Doctor The Orc began to recite a spell with his eyes closed. I couldn''t make out even a syllable of his mage tongue. The chant, however, sounded and felt more tribal than the elves from earlier that Day. Something about it, however, calmed my nerves and put me at ease. I saw my health bar slowly climb until it was full. "Thanks, Doc," said Dane, genuinely grateful not to have the phantom pain that he had often heard amputees complain about during camp. "You''re welcome, and just a piece of advice: when they place you, if you don''t get a good class, don''t take it. You will have plenty of opportunities to pick and train a new occupation. But if you get stuck with a slave class, you will never make it back home for my healing today to mean anything," Doctor Green said with an amount of sincerity that startled him. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Dane exited the tent, pondering the Doctor''s final words. ... "Number 605, please move to counter 13." A synthetic voice called over the intercom system. I approached the counter timidly as I didn''t know what to expect. "Hmm, this is strange. When I scan your biometrics, you don''t have any readings. Do you have the system already unlocked?" The bureaucratic woman in a suit asked. "Yes, this morning, while walking to the Coliseum, I started receiving system messages," I told the woman, who flashed an expression of shock for a split second. Her face returned to the uninterested clerk he saw when he first approached the counter. "Please go to counter 10 and fill out form 3b, which you can find on the west wall. Next." She said with disinterest, like most people working a menial job. "Number 710, please proceed to counter 13." The synthetic voice called out. They made me complete the paperwork even though we still had to submit our screen for viewing. After living in what was essentially a third-world country, this reminded me of the old world so much that I had to double-check to see if there weren''t cameras set up in one of those old-time prank shows. I walked to counter 10 with my paperwork in my sweaty hand, nervous about the submission of my character sheet to the official. When I got to the counter, I faced a slug-like man with no face. He had three sets of arms and four sets of what I had assumed were legs. However, the legs were too small to do anything other than help the man slide his slimy torso across the floor. He wore a blue jumpsuit, resembling a janitor or mechanic more than an attendant. I felt pressure in my temples, and before I knew it, I had another voice alongside my inner monologue. "Hello, please share screen," the slug said. "Um, sure thing. But how do I do that?" I asked "Think share screen and acknowledge prompt." the strange monster-like man said. I shared my screen and saw it fly over to the attendant. He gathered my papers and stamped them with the elven word for approval. "Please go through door on left." I walked to the door, which slid open with a loud whooshing sound. As soon as I stepped through the barrier, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, and before I could think, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. The world slipped away from me, a perfect dream. ... When I woke up, my eyes began searching for any light in the hot and humid room. We must have been moving because my motion sickness was in full swing. I hurled straight in front of me. "Ahhhh, what the fuck." A young voice in front of me said in annoyance. "Did someone really puke on me? That is not cool." The man who must have been in front of him scratched out. I couldn''t feel my arms or legs. They were bound with my arms being secured tightly to my torso and my legs looser but still would prevent me from running¡ªthe areas where the rough rope touched raw and chaffing. I was disoriented and couldn''t stop the room from spinning. I closed my eyes as hard as possible; I could do nothing. I would have to wait until someone fetched me. For a moment, I began panicking, my thoughts racing about everything that could go wrong. ... A bright light piercing the opening of a cargo bay door woke me the second time. Soldiers in tactical gear walked in and started placing bags on people''s heads and collars around their necks. They got to me, and once again, I was in darkness. "System alert suppression is active; functions are now reduced to minimal." My resource bars disappeared, and I could no longer pull up my system screen. I felt a nudge from behind, which must have been a baton. "Get moving earthbound." The soldier said with finality. I began to walk and occasionally felt a smack to the side that the soldier wanted me to go. I was glad that they tied me so tightly, which helped numb the pain while still being able to feel the pressure from the baton so they wouldn''t hit me in a different place. We must have reached our destination because I bumped into the person before me, feeling someone behind falling into my back as well. "Welcome to your new home, earthbound." A vile-sounding women said with amusement in her tone. The Mines I was acquainted with true despair after being welcomed to my new home. The slave house was nothing more than a hut dug into the ground covered with wooden planks. We were crammed in 13 people per hut, probably 10 more than should have been in the small space. After I was shackled with a slave collar that limited access to the system and was introduced to the slave houses, I was handed a pickaxe and led to the mines on the first floor of the dungeon¡ªmy new career. The dungeon was a dark cavern that continued for miles. We were to grab the purple glowing rocks buried in the hard iron deposits, a precious resource for the war effort. We were told that we were luckier than most. Some mining slaves had to travel into the more dangerous parts of the dungeon, but fortunately, we still had plenty of purple rocks to gather on the first floor. I had asked my benevolent guards multiple times why I was not given the magic test, pleading with them that this was a mistake, but each time, I was met with silence by the indifferent guards. We were whipped anytime I tried to ask other slaves for details about their capture. This, of course, made me very popular with other slaves. However, before the others shunned me, I was able to piece together the common theme that no one knew why they were mining slaves. Some had done well in the combat portions of their test, while others hadn''t. But every one of us had unlocked the system before the magic test. That had to be it; we were anomalies and, for some reason, were being thrown away in these mines. ... During my second back-breaking week, I saw recruits coming down the tunnels. These men and women weren''t wearing collars and had tactical gear on. If I had to guess, they were training in the dungeon. "Get back to work, earthbound", the unit commander shouted at me before making a beeline for me and grabbing my pickaxe out of my hands. I must have stared too long at their entrance. He began to hit me with the flat side of the tool brutally again and again. He must have beaten me for 12 minutes before he was satisfied. I lay there in a pool of my blood, my left eye sealed shut. I was half dead and could barely move. The silent guards picked me up and handed me back my tool. Gesturing to my pile of crystals, urging me back to work. Something broke inside of me as I went back to work. I could only think, what did I ever do to deserve this? Being born on a planet that was a part of the expansion of some godlike system. Why did my mom leave? Why did my dad leave when I needed him in the wilds? The only conclusion that I could draw was that everything was pointless. Nothing had a more significant meaning; the strong would take from the weak. If I were ever to get out of here, I would need to get stronger. I couldn''t be sure, but I put all my eggs in the basket that my pickaxe would give me levels of axe proficiency. Every strike, I put my soul into it, picturing my captors in the stone and that piece of shit commander. I began to find the best way to flow from one move to the next, creating my efficient style. I practiced the same three-hit combination 14 hours a day for 600 days. Lateral slash in an 11 to 4 o''clock position with my left foot as lead, switched my feet with a 4 to 11 strike, and finished with a 12 to 6 overhead chop. Our rations were nowhere near enough to sustain our daily efforts. I wasn''t the most muscular person at the start of confinement, but I was stringy now. I probably looked more like my opponent from the combatant match than I would have liked. With the atrophy of my muscles, I had to use gravity and the weight of my pickaxe to keep up the long days. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ... On the second anniversary of my enslavement, it was a typical day. We ate our ration in the chow hall and were escorted to the section of the mine that we went to day after day. I began practicing my strikes, swinging at the rocks in the three-hit combo I had perfected. Every swing felt good; I could have sworn that the ground shook under each blow. That can''t be right. I slowed down, but the rumbling persisted. I raised my head to see that everyone in the area had fled. I heard a crashing sound, then the floor beneath me opened up. When I landed, I was in the fetal position. I looked up to see falling stones from above coming straight for me. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn''t move. A boulder that was about six feet by six feet lay directly on my legs, crushing them almost into a paste. The loud crashes from the collapse were finished. I was safe now, but still had to figure out what to do about my legs. I tried to move the stone, but it wouldn''t budge. I scanned the immediate area around me, the only thing beside me was the rubble which fell with me, and my now broken pickaxe, the only thing remaining was the head. I lay at the bottom of that hole for hours, waiting for someone to come back to the area where I had taken my fall. I was once again reminded that I was weak and worthless. It felt like another day. However, my sense of time was skewed. I saw movement at the top. My lips were dry and cracking. I tried to call out, but the only response to my horse cries was the boards being laid down on the slivers of light that could make it to me. "Jesus fuck why am I always stuck in the dark." I began laughing hysterically, but didn''t even recognize it when it became sobs. I grabbed the pickaxe head and knew what I had to do. Like a coyote caught in a trap, I struck my legs with my new handheld pickaxe, my version of gnawing off my leg to free myself. Most of the area was numb, but on my third strike, I learned that if I hit too close to my knee, I still had plenty of nerves alive and well in my legs. Over the last couple of years, I grew more indifferent to pain than I would like, so even though the scene was gruesome and I should have been hesitant, I wasn''t. I was free after about an hour of hacking away at my legs. I had lost a lot of blood. "Shit I forgot to tie a torniquet," I said while starting to feel woozy. I started to rip at the rags that I passed off for clothing. I had to braid three pieces together, as when I used one piece, the cloth was too dry and rotted, not to shred when tied hard enough to stop the bleeding. I began to slide my body across the floor, refusing to accept my fate. As I army crawled across the jagged floor, I began to hear what sounded like a heartbeat, badump it grew louder BADUMP. As I was crawling, the noise became more rapid until all of a sudden it stopped. The floor beneath me began to glow blue, a familiar stone platform I hadn''t seen since the combatant match. The blue light transitioned from the familiar blue to a deep royal purple. "Happy Birthday." The system rang out in my head. The Mines(Part 2) I lay on the stone platform, stunned. This was my first time interacting with the system since I was collared. Once I came out of shock, I immediately tried to pull up my character sheet. "Error system interface running on minimal settings." "Damn, still not working." Just then, a system prompt popped up. "System message: a dungeon spirit would like to open communications." "Y/N" I had nothing to lose; I was gonna die in this dark cave. I had no food or water, and I had lost too much blood. "Yes" "Hello, fragile human, my name is Khronos. I am the spirit of the dungeon and the personification of time. I have a request for you." The dungeon spirit''s voice boomed in my head. "The spirit''s nature is to bond with a monster and supplement their affinities. Unfortunately, the fate of any space and time spirit is not to create that bond; no monster has such an affinity. It is too late for me. However, my offspring is still young. Will you meet with them and see if they can form a bond with you? "the ancient-sounding spirit said. "I don''t know what does the bond do for me?" I questioned. "You would fuse with the spirit, becoming one. However, in your case, I am not sure what would happen. Spirits do not bond with those of the ascended races. I am sure you would have some benefits. Meet with my child before you make a decision. A bond should be formed on compatibility, not benefits. Diastima, please come out where the human can see you." A majestic ball of spectral purple light arose from the floor. I half expected this tiny ball of light to start saying, "Hey, listen." It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. As I lay on the floor, the light came closer to my face, touching my forehead. When the light touched me, I saw a vision of a beautiful woman dressed in a flowing silk gown, her face and body pitch black with orange and blue nebulas in them, she was in an evergreen forest. "What''s up, dude? Do you got a name?" the beautiful woman said with a dumb valley girl accent. The only thing missing was the smacking of chewing gum. "Yeah, it''s Dane," I said hesitantly, still shaken by the dramatic entrance. "Where''s the rest of you?" The woman gestured to my hand and legs. "I lost my hand in a duel. And I had to cut my legs off in the dungeon cave-in," I said, gritting my teeth at the painful memories. "That sucks, do you mind if I rewind them, as much as I want to bond with a cripple, your not my type unless I don''t have to bend over to look you in the eye." She said in that ditsy tone. "Um, what are you even talki..." I couldn''t even finish before the crazy woman waved her hand. I felt excruciating pain in both my legs as her magic had made both of them pop back into existence. I watched them as they went from mashed-up ground beef, snapping and popping as the bones reformed into their original shape before the fall. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Hmmm, that''s weird. Why didn''t your hand grow back? When did you lose it? Never mind; I''ll rewind you until it comes back, " she said, truly confused. The feeling was strange. Unlike my legs, my body felt better when she began to do her spell. I looked at my arms and legs; they grew fuller, and I felt stronger. I was able to stand up again on my own. It wasn''t until the end, when my hand came back into existence, that I felt the familiar pain snapping and popping as it reformed and healed from the fight with Skeleman. "There you go all better, but I had to go so far back, I feel like a pedophile. Can we stay friends?" Dia said "What is your name?" I asked with a single tear of joy trickling down my face. "I am Diastima. But my friends call me Dia. It''s nice to meet you, Dane." She said in genuine kindness that Dane had not known for a long time. "What are you?" I asked "Me? I am a dungeon spirit; Dad says we are just mana deposits that gain sentience." She pointed at the crystals that Dane was familiar with, as he had been mining them for two years. "Is he even your dad if you are just collected energy?" I questioned, genuinely curious, how they formed their dynamic. "Well... Usually, I would have formed by myself, but my dad collected all of the mana that created me. He even put it in some of his stores to give me the time affinity. In a way, we aren''t related, but he taught me everything he knew about the world and some of his magic. If he isn''t my dad, then at the very least he is my uncle, " the spirit said with an answer that sounded like she was explaining something she had never questioned once. "How will we know if we should create a bond?" He felt like a fish out of water with all the spirit stuff that had never been taught in his primary school. "We can''t. Or, um, I should say couldn''t. To form a bond, you have to match affinities perfectly. You don''t have much affinity for time magic, but are exceptionally strong in space. But with me dumping most of my time affinity in that rewind. I say that we are a perfect match. I have one question: What will you do with your life? There is no way I will be tied to a loser," she explained, waiting silently for my reply. I wanted to tell the spirit I wanted to leave the dungeon and return home. I wanted to live a peaceful life, caring for my little sister. But the rage and fire inside of me would not let me lie. "I am going to get stronger. I will kill everybody who had a part in throwing me into this dungeon. And when I am done, I am going to kill the emperor and free my world from their tyranny." I said more as a vow than a statement. "I''m in," Dia said With both of us in, I returned to the platform where I had the conversation with Khronos, now back in the cavern and out of Dia''s mind space. Going from a tranquil forest back to the caverns that I despised was jarring, reminding me of only bad memories. I watched the purple bubble draw a magic circle with plenty of rune magic made entirely of the ethereal mana. Dane watched as the circle began to pulse, the faint lines becoming solid with each beat. "Dane, stand in the circle," Dia said I proceeded to stand in the circle in the spot that felt right. I began to feel warm for the first time since I was brought to this dungeon. Dia floated across from me, and after the pulsing of the magic circle stopped. I felt a tug that pulled me towards the spirit; She floated closer to me, eventually touching my head. I was oddly calm all my years overthinking each worst-case scenario, quailed by the spirit''s embrace. The raging storm in my heart was finally at peace. System notification: Slave collar must be upgraded to resume suppression effect. Title earned: First of my kind Description: You are the first of the ascended races to bond with a spirit. Spirit magic is unlocked; other magic pathways are now closed off +50% amplifier to all stats +25% boost to space and time magic casted by the user Race: Human (Modified) Rank: F Name: Dane McAllister Exp: 0/100 Level: 1 Strength: 9 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 8 Charisma: 3 Stamina: 9 Intelligence: 9 Willpower: 15 Unassigned Points: 0 Skills (Common) Unarmed Combat LVL 5/25 Axe Proficiency LVL 24/25 Small weapons LVL 3/25 Identify LVL 1/10 (Uncommon) Haste LVL 3/5 (Rare) Danger sense 1/1 LVL 1/100 HP 10/10 MP 100/100 Stamina 10/10 The Dungeon A wave of relief struck me as I was finally able to look at my character page again. I was thrilled my gamble paid off; I almost maxed out my Axe proficiency. It was a small reward, but it reminded me that the past two years weren''t a complete waste of time. "Please select a class." I was met with the familiar blue screen. "Due to your unique race achieved before race evolution, your basic class options have been upgraded two rarity levels. Please select from the list of options below." I was offered four class options. I decided to read each class description so that even if I didn''t like the name or stat point distribution, I could make an informed decision; I wasn''t someone who could go off vibes alone. It must have been my overthinking nature, but I didn''t want to wait until my next race evolution to undo any mistakes. I wouldn''t have the security blanket of the elves anymore. I would be branded a runaway slave, and there would be no place safe from their grasp. Mining Slave (Epic): The Mining Slave has few things he enjoys more than digging. He cares not for things like prestige, money, or power. Finding solace in the dirt, he strips the earth of her priceless gems. The class receives +1 constitution, +1 str, + 2 dex, and +25 unassigned points. Absolutely not, fuck that. There is no way I will specialize in digging slave. I''m not eating any onions or dodging yellow spotted lizards. Frenzied Axeman (Epic): The Axeman is simple but not bovine. He enjoys swinging and chopping his axe into wood or flesh. This class receives a bonus skill: "May your path always be berserk." This class receives +1 str, +1 dex, and +5 unassigned points Well, that''s better, but the unassigned points aren''t that great. Magi (Legendary): The Mage is well-versed in the Arcane. Using nothing but their intelligence and willpower, these spellcasters make great scholars and fearsome foes. The Magi, a unique variation, find bliss in the guidance and journey. This class receives 15% loot drops while in a party. The class receives +5 Int, +5 willpower, and +5 Unassigned points. I have spent my whole life training to wield an ax. If I choose this class, I would have to give up everything I love about combat. Big Dick Arcane Warrior of Space and Time (Mythical) - The wand and sword are long and mighty, however they typically end up shaking it too much. This class receives -2 Int, -1 Wil, and +25 unassigned points. Choosing this class changes the Character''s name to Richard. The system could not have given me a Mythical class, which was utter garbage. I had to sit, sulking because I had no choice; I knew what to do. "What''s wrong, Dane?" Dia said from the recesses of my mind. "I have to pick a class now that I have magic, but my best option is a slave class," I said deflatingly after finally telling someone else about my situation. I wasn''t sure if this still counted as talking to someone else since we technically became one. Was I just a crazy hobo who spoke to himself now? "Well, it''s not all bad, you get a class change when you evolve to E rank, so we will just need to get you to level 100 fast so you can choose something else." Dia comforted me. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I accept the class Mining Slave. Are you sure Y/N Yes Warning: Selecting a class will lock you in until your next class evolution at E rank. Do you still want to continue? Y/N. Yes Congratulations on your new class, Mining Slave (Epic). A red box popped up instead of the familiar blue. System Error: Slave classes capped at common rarity. System Error: Contacting administrator. Resolution: Mining Slave (Epic) upgraded to Master Prospector (Epic) Congratulations on reaching LVL 2 +1 con, +1str, +2dex, +25 unassigned points. ... "Dane, are we leaving the dungeon?" The spirit asked with a feeling of remorse behind those words. "We have to eventually, but I need to start leveling up. The commanders of the mining operations will most likely be in their mid-40s. If I am gonna bust out of here, I need to be able to sneak by or take them out in combat. But the first thing on my list is I need to find water and a place of shelter," Dane said through their bond link. I walked the increasingly narrow and winding tunnels, feeling the edge of the smooth stone on the palm of my hand and fingertips. I saw mushrooms that gave off a green bioluminescence, which I promptly picked up as a makeshift torch. Status Effect: Paralysis (5mins) I could move slightly, but my body was fighting with each motion I tried, like trying to run in water or scream in a dream. My stamina was draining alarmingly, so I stopped fighting it and sat down, trying to conserve my resource pools. While I wait, I might as well distribute my stat points. I figured my best bet was to put all my unassigned points into the Constitution. I wouldn''t have access to a medic or health potions unless I learned how to make them. That was a ridiculous thought. Who learns how to be an alchemist in a cave, let alone a dungeon? Of course, I could always pick them up from drops, but health potions were rare. I had killed 37 monsters while surviving in the wilds, and I only saw one during that time. The monsters in this dungeon were most likely much stronger than what I faced back home, and I didn''t think I would be farming those elixers of life anytime soon. Upgrade constitution from 8 to 33. Y/N Yes. HP increased from 10 to 42 I began to hear clacking on the stone floor. It sounded like a dog on a hardwood floor. There were too many distinct clacks; it was either something with many legs or a group of monsters making their way to me. Most monsters down here would have lousy eyesight and utilize their sense of hearing or smell. I knew it was only a matter of time before they discovered me. I was a sitting duck waiting for whatever monster was fumbling around in the dark to come and eat me. I looked at my timer, still waiting for the effects of paralysis to wear off. I still had three and a half minutes until I could move again. I heard the breath of the beasts echoing off the floor. The pack of what looked like blind wolves was finally in range for my identification skill to work. Wolf of the Abyss level 42. HP error. MP error. Alert: Threat level Monumental. Recommended course of action: Run. "Dane, we can''t move, but I prefer not to be puppy food," Dia said "I''ll think of something, but can you walk me through how to use mana?" All at once, everything that Dia had known about magic was flooding into my head. My brain felt like it split in half with the centuries of mana practice that the little spirit went through with Khronos. Then the information stopped, and the pain subsided. I drew my hands up with my palms facing the ceiling. Mana manipulation was complicated to describe; it almost felt like the relief a deep breath would cause. I felt the tingling move from my core to my arms and hands. Once the energy was gathered, I was left to shape the power using my will. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere safe. The ground beneath me opened up, but instead of crumbling like the cave-in I had witnessed, this was as if the ground just vanished. MP lost 100 points. I fell back on top of the platform where I met Dia, and when I looked up, I saw one of the Abyss wolves leap through the portal that I must have opened up. I stopped channeling my mana and put my hands up to protect my face in anticipation of the blow the savage wolf would land, but it never came. Congratulations on defeating an opponent over 30 levels above you; you have gained additional EXP. Level 2 changed to Level 10 Title earned: It''s not cheating if it was an accident, right? Willpower +15. May you have better control and not lose your spells in the future. I acknowledged the prompt and looked around the scene in the royal purple light from the platform. It dawned on me that the Abyss wolf had been bisected into two parts because I closed the portal on the beast mid-jump. "Fuck looks like it might be easier to level up than I thought," I exclaimed with excitement. Just then, I began to feel lightheaded, and I fell to the ground lucid and aware but trapped inside of a body that wouldn''t move. Status effect: Mana Starved (3 days) The Dungeon (Part 2) My regeneration was slow for mana because of the mana-starved status effect, and my recovery rate was ten times slower than if I hadn''t drained my entire pool during my first spell. I expected a headache or decreased health when overexerting mana, but it was not like draining physical stats. The best way I could describe it was that whatever had tethered my soul to my body was weakened when I overexerted. Dia said nothing, but I could feel her tugging me to keep me centered. If I had gotten mana-starved without her here, I wonder if I would be an ethereal spirit wandering around the dungeon until my three days were up. I had nothing better to do, so I lay practising mana manipulation. Having the practice downloaded into my brain matrix style was one thing, but it was another to feel out my pathways. Spirits were mana, so it was much easier for them to wield magic. I had to force it through channels and could feel it slowing down depending on where I was pushing it. Dia constantly got frustrated and gave up trying to give me instructions, because "you just got to feel it" wasn''t enough of an answer for me. Still, I was making progress with pure mana manipulation. Master Prospector was a physical class so that the system wouldn''t give me any spells. Acquiring skills/spells outside intervals of the standard 10 levels was rare, my danger sense was an oddity. You still had a chance to develop skills without them being a gift from the system, but you need an innate talent for them, and sometimes years of practice before anything concrete materializes. I felt the flow and began shaping my mana in various shapes; Triangles were easy, but anything with more than three sides grew increasingly complex, and when I tried to add a third dimension, I would constantly lose the spell. I wanted to increase my mana pool, but Dia told me that the only way to do it was to use it and recover continually. If I had chosen the Magi class, I would naturally have a bigger mana pool at each level. I still dropped my unassigned stat points in an even spread to avoid neglecting one area. My charisma was lacking, and I figured I should get that up to snuff in case I ever had to sweet-talk my way out of a situation. On day two, I got an idea to create mana strings and try to use them to pull things towards me. If I couldn''t move, I would at least be able to search my immediate area. The hardest part about the strings is that they were thin, but if I made them thick enough to pull something with some heft, I wouldn''t be able to extend them far enough to grab most of the things near the edges of my room. I began to braid the strings together, making a mana rope. The durability I gained was outstanding. However, I lost the ability to snake it under things. I began stretching it and thinning the mana towards the tip, which solved the issue of being unable to shimmy it underneath stuff. On day three, I started to feel dizzy every couple of minutes. My lips were chapped, and my skin felt tight. I was dehydrated. I needed to drink something, or I would die on this platform. I saw the corpse of the Abyss wolf lying about five feet from me; it was too heavy to drag using the Mana rope. But it was the only sustenance close to me. The headaches and dizziness from dehydration made me lose my mana more than once. Just then, I got a brilliant idea: what if instead of using the mana rope to pull things to me, I made the rope inside my body and used it to move? It wasn''t easy to wrap my head around it. I could feel the rope stretching out my mana channels, an agonizing feeling, but I was desperate. I could finally fill my body with mana rope, but moving was unnatural. I had to start small by willing my arms to fold on my chest. The hardest part of the ordeal was dragging my hips up so my knees would slide and I could inchworm to the carcus. The freezing, jagged stone floor scraped at my skin, eroding the first layer of skin, leaving the front of my body carpeted with burns. It took me two hours of sliding on the ground with about fifteen breaks in between before I reached the body. I forced my head to lie in the black blood. It was a weird sensation, like I was in control of my body, but with all of my mana manipulation training, it felt more akin to grabbing someone else''s body and forcing them to do it. In a way, that''s what I was doing, but it was still weird. For example, your breathing is automatic until someone mentions it, and then you must inhale and exhale manually. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. I began to lap up the blood from the dismembered canine. I wish I could say I was disgusted with the taste, but I was delighted after almost four days without anything to drink. It was honestly the best feeling in the world. The sticky liquid that tasted of pennies went down like a fine wine. "Dane, I know we are dying and all, but you are absolutely repulsive." Dia chimmed in while I drank my fill. The following day, I woke up and could finally stretch. I quickly learned that it was a mistake because though I had pretty literally feasted on the blood of my enemy, I was still dehydrated and began to cramp in every single muscle that I inadvertently flexed out of habit. After coaxing my muscles out of their flexed, aching state with Mana rope massages, I stood up. I gathered the mushrooms I had picked for my makeshift torch and noticed they were entirely dry and felt more like wood than a dried mushroom. I used my skill to identify them. Mushrooms of Langourous Intent: This bioluminescent fungus contains a potent neurotoxin that causes a paralytic effect when picked. The effect will remain until the spores are exhausted and the bioluminescence fades. It looks like I won''t need to worry about getting paralyzed again. My stomach ached with hunger. I tried to bite down on the mushrooms, but my efforts were only met with a chipped tooth. I looked at the wolf corpse beside me, but I could already see maggots and insects picking apart the beast. I couldn''t eat that raw; I would probably just be heaving whatever I consumed back out. I began to look around the cave to see if there was any quartz I could use as a striker to try and ignite the mushrooms, so I could at least cook one of the less maggoty areas of the wolf. I found what I was looking for, though it wouldn''t spark like flint, you had to use what you could get. Adapt and overcome, as my father always told me. I tried to spark the mushrooms with my pickaxe head and the quartz, but couldn''t get the woodlike shroom to ignite. I then started to rip out all the fur from the beast and used that as a makeshift fire starter. After several strikes, the fur caught flame, and with a couple of heavy blows, I was able to get a good fire going. The wolf meat tasted acrid, like something that would poison you. But, I had to regain my strength, so I greedily ate my fill. The best meal I''ve had since the apocalypse started. Water I started working first thing in the morning. Well, what I had thought was morning with no sun to tell me otherwise, I was relying on the good old circadian rhythm. I felt much better than I had in my years in the mines. I had a full belly, and the years of decay that my body underwent while just day after day swinging my pickaxe were undone. This was my first taste of freedom as an adult, and I had to say that while I knew it would be tough. I liked being the master of my destiny. I wish my goal of freeing my sister were still on the table. She had one year until she would go through her proving. I wasn''t sure if one year was enough time to gain the strength I needed to bust her out. I still didn''t even know where this mine was; for all I know, I could be in a different country. It was best not to think about these things; if I started to despair, I wouldn''t be able to do what I needed to keep pushing. Regrets and second-guessing are luxuries of the strong, and I had some levels to get. I needed to get some functional weapons, so after my feast last night, I set the bones of the abyss wolf by the fire to dry out. Instead of being the usual ivory, the bones were jet black, and when the light hit them just right, you could see a hint of crimson. I used one of the leg bones as a new handle for my pickaxe. It wasn''t quite as long as I was used to, but the reduced length made it easier to wield with one hand. I sharpened the rest of the long bones on the stone floor. Each became a knife; they were flimsy and only suitable for one hit, but it was better than nothing. Following my initials on the wall, I retraced my steps from the previous day to catch up to the wolf pack. I was still too underleveled to try and kill the level 40 wolves, but the need for sustenance outweighed my fear of fighting them. I would track the pack and follow them to their source of water. I fumbled through the dark, the only light being the occasional mushroom glow or some mana stone deposits. I walked up to a blue glowing crystal that reminded me of the ocean, my dad would take us to Galveston every summer, and I would look for shark teeth. During the wrestling season, we would run on the beach. I used identify on the rocks. "Mana Stone: Water affinity". "Hey Dia, are these stones kinda the stuff you were made of?" I asked my spirit bond "More or less mine were purple, but it takes thousands of years for the stones to fade and the mana to become free to pool up and become a spirit," Dia replied "Have you ever tried to absorb them?" I asked inquisitively "Of course I haven''t, do you know how gross other affinities taste. I could barely stomach the time affinity," she said with a revulsion reserved for weirdos and losers. "..." "You''re gonna eat the gross water mana stone, aren''t you?" Dia asked resignedly about what was gonna happen next. "Of course not. We are gonna eat it together." I said with mirth. I smashed the stone into manageable pieces and swallowed them like a pill. My stomach felt like it was on fire. Status Effect: Overcharged Stolen story; please report. Warning: if the status effect persists, irreparable damage may be done to the user. "Dia, are you going to absorb these stones?" I said through gritted teeth "Dane, I told you. They are too yucky." The snide spirit said "Dia, we are going to die. Just do it, and we can spit it out later if it''s that bad." I pleaded desperately I felt the pit in my stomach subside; my little spirit was absorbing the overcharging mana. System Error: More than two mana affinities detected, class type not compatible Contacting Administrator Resolution title awarded Moles don''t eat dirt; worms eat dirt Due to your curious nature and love for all things digging, you are drawn to steal and use the earth''s riches to sustain yourself. Congratulations, you may now survive on inorganic material and maintain the properties of the last rock eaten for up to two hours. Warning: Digesting Mana stones will no longer be viable for gaining affinities. Get a magic class if you want to be a mage, Master Dane. Am I getting singled out by the system? It''s not my fault that I am the only person bonded with a spirit and wanted to cheese the system. Well it sucked that I could no longer eat every kind of mana stone to become a universal mage. However, I think it is worth it not to eat regular food and water. I could theoretically stay in the dungeon forever. I noticed that when I used my identify on the Water Affinity mana stones, the next time. Mana Stone: Water Affinity. This tasty snack will slake your thirst for 24 hours. If you are hydrated, it replenishes your mana pool due to your Affinity for water magic. I had one last thing on my survival checklist that I needed to take care of: shelter. I grabbed my trusty pickaxe and carved a nice little tunnel into the wall just big enough to crawl backwards and cover myself with my new, poorly-made wolf skin. I wasn''t a leather tanner, but the pelt would keep me warm and dry. With base camp set up, I had to start searching for low-level monsters to level up on. I had no tracking skills, so I wandered around aimlessly for a few hours, leaving no stone unturned. I started to see signs of the wolf pack again; I figured I might as well follow the trail since I hadn''t seen signs of other life. I knew from my previous encounter with the wolves that they had a radius of about 100 feet that I had to stay out of so as not to be detected. I spotted the faint impression of the beasts sniffing the ground. I was wearing the pelt of their fallen friend. I would seem like another wolf if they managed to sniff me out, but I didn''t want to put that to the test, so I followed slowly to the point that it only seemed like I covered inches rather than miles. After tailing them for what must have been the better part of the day, I heard a river roaring. I felt the moisture of the mist that sprayed from the water smashing into the cavern walls. The water glowed light blue and lit up the cave with a magical radiance. It was there that I witnessed something extraordinary. There were plenty of other monsters around the water hole, but none of them were attacking each other. I had learned in school that animals didn''t call a truce at watering holes, even though that was a common misconception. It put into perspective that our world had fundamentally changed when ambient mana turned our animals into monsters. I watched the different kinds of animals come in and out of the cave to sip at the stream. From what I could tell, this part of the dungeon only had three primary monster types: the wolves, a green slime, and moles. The wolves didn''t go to different tunnels; instead, they returned to the part where I followed them through. I used identify on each monster, and it might sound cliche, but I would need to farm the slimes since they were close to my level. I guess that could wait until tomorrow, for now, I will work on making a new shelter near each of the monsters'' territories. It was time to teach these mindless beasts that a new predator was in town.