Chương 16: Skeleton Stress Test

My eyes snap open, and my body rockets up. The pain flashes through my many injuries, and I groan. Along with that, my throat is as dry as sandpaper, and my stomach feels like I haven't eaten for a full day. Chime"Kevin, stop feeling pain." I enjoy the sensation only for a second before I jump to the next problem. System, time. [7. 53 cycles until next phase] What!? Over a full day gone from a simple mistake!? The thought terrifies me.

If a normal tamer made this mistake, they could simply tell their tame to snap out of it and wake up. But if I'm unconscious, there's no one to help me. That was too dangerous. Way too dangerous. I remember the feeling when I first entered meditation. I was able to fight back fruitlessly at first, but it got harder fast. Only after a few moments, I was trapped. Trapped inside myself. Trapped in a prison where thinking of escape wasn't even an option. Ignoring my thought of being my own warden, I think 'Health.'

[Health: 230(144)] I guess there's one good part to this. I reach down and remove the bandages one by one, revealing all of my wounds scabbed over. It only felt like a few minutes ago when I pulled all of the arrows out with a spray of blood. System? [Control Tamed Being(lv. 9) > (lv. MAX)] [Skill evolution available] [Bleed Resistance(lv. 4) > (lv. 5)] [Bleed Resistance(lv. 5) > (lv. 6)] My eyes brighten as my most beneficial and problematic skill reveals something new.

Without hesitation, I tap on the new message and watch as five options show up on the blue screen in front of me. [Force Control Tamed Being] [Force your tamed being(s) using your voice or hand gestures that the tamed being(s) can see to obey the user. Suppression scales with wisdom. Control diversity and depth scales with skill level.] Oh. Apprehension paints itself on my face as I look at the skill. I guess taming goblins or hobgoblins is sort of on the table now? It fills me with disgust.

I might be willing to tame a dog or maybe some other kind of beast given the chance, but having one of those things near me at all times would just make me uneasy. The next option has to be better. [Continuous Control Tamed Being] [Control your tamed being(s) using your voice or hand gestures that the tamed being(s) can see over long durations. Duration scales with wisdom. Control diversity and depth scales with skill level and bond level.] I can definitely see the idea, but after the scenario I just had, my mind screams that this is the wrong direction. Plus, this mostly seems useful if I had to leave one of my tames to protect something or do other tasks while I'm gone for a while. It could also work when sending my tames on missions. I could see myself becoming some kind of mission control center with this skill. Sadly, I still don't have any tames that aren't me, which makes this useless as well.

Because of my circumstances, I don't think I'll be far away from my tame anytime soon. [Empowered Control Tamed Being] [Control your tamed being(s) using your voice or hand gestures that the tamed being(s) can see. Commands that coincide with the tame's desire causes a percentage of the tamer's stats to be copied onto the tame. Percentage, control diversity, and depth scale with skill level and bond level.] Just like the level five class skill selection, one is handcrafted for me and far more powerful than everything else on the list. A basically constant increase in stats just makes the other skills look silly in comparison. I'm definitely keeping this one in my back pocket. I just hope that the increase doesn't end up being something negligible like two or three percent. I check out everything else just in case.

[Intricate Control Tamed Being] [Control your tamed being(s) using your voice or hand gestures that the tamed being(s) can see. Allows the tamer far more detailed and intricate commands. Allows the tame to better understand the tamer's intent. Intricacy, control diversity, and depth scales with skill level, bond level and wisdom.] Wow, this might be a contender. After thinking about it for a few seconds, I have second thoughts. Is there anything I can't already do that I would want to do?

I can already control broad unconscious concepts like pain and can micromanage my own mental state, which might already be too much for me. Plus, the part about helping me understand my own intent is pointless. I am me. Seems useful for a tamer with really low intelligence tames, though. [Widespread Control Tamed Being] [Control your tamed beings using your voice or hand gestures that the tamed beings can see. Allows the ability to control several tames with a single command. Control diversity and depth scales with skill level and bond level.] [+2 Tamed Being Slots] Ah, the classic beast army ability. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Also, I didn't know I could only command one tame at a time. But once again, it doesn't apply to me in the slightest. It's becoming pretty clear that the skill evolutions aren't tailored to me like the rewards from rooms are.

I could think and mull through the options, but only one of them has actual synergy with my setup. I reach over and press down on the magnetic screen. [Control Tamed Being > Empowered Control Tamed Being] All of my wounds renew themselves with a fresh wave of pain.

"Ugh." Dang, command must have reset with the change. Good time to test the new effect.

"Kevin, don't feel pain." Air is pulled into my lungs against my will as not one or two, but all of my stats increase at the same time. Vision sharpens. Muscles coil and solidify. Skin and bones toughen. A well of life opens in my heart. Weight falls off my shoulders. Thoughts speed and jumble up in themselves. A thought pops into my mind, and I think, 'Status'.

[Vitality: 16] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 17] [Endurance: 14] [Fortitude: 14] [Intelligence: 12] [Wisdom: 17] [Perception: 23] [Unassigned: 1] Sadly, I can't see the increase in stats, which is strange. Based on the feeling I got, it's maybe five or eight percent? I'm assuming that's the maximum bonus right now. My desire not to feel pain should align with the command enough to make it happen. My eyes shine with realization. System, health and stamina. [Health: 230(145)] [Stamina: 225]"Huh?"

It didn't increase my health or stamina either. What does increasing vitality or endurance with the skill even do? I stroke my beard as I think. I felt the increase of both of the stats. My body is lighter and has shed a bit of its weakness. Are temporary stats invisible or something? I raise my arm and flex, enjoying the extra strength rippling in my muscles. The effects are definitely still there, so I know it's working… I spend a few seconds flexing and staring at my arm with a smile.

Yet another benefit of being superhuman. Looking back up the system panel, I put my one free point into vitality, just to speed up my recovery. I stand up and work the aches of sleeping out of my body. I really shouldn't be fighting, buuuuut… The corners of my lips pull up. Maybe a little reconnaissance couldn't hurt. As I stand up, my stomach growls for the second time. It makes sense when I think about it.

Being unconscious for over twenty-four hours while also bleeding a good amount tends to drain you of hydration and nutrition. I pull out another bread stone to eat, but I feel reluctant eating it with such a parched throat. My drinks from the bag of food I brought with me are empty. I grimace as I remember the only source of water I have found in the dungeon so far. I walk backwards through the tutorial area, all of the corpses still lying where I first put them down.

Strangely, they still don't rot or have any bugs feasting on them. The dried blood almost makes them look crystallized with empty eyes. I turn and pointedly ignore them as I move to my destination. On the side of the fifth room, stands a two-foot bowl of dirty water. Mixed in it is a faint red coloring from when I washed my gauntlets in it a few times. I look at the water in disgust. I don't want to drink it. I really don't want to drink it. Chime I look up in confusion. System. [Enhanced Skeleton(lv. 2) > (lv. 3)]"What?" I look puzzled at the message. Why did that level up now? Is it because the bone in my leg is healing? I 'tsk' as I realize I should have been limping here instead of walking normally. The bone was almost cut in half.

"Ah!" Clarity comes to me as I remember an important role that bones have. Producing blood. But blood doesn't appear from nothing. My gaze shifts to the dirty water. I step to the edge of the bowl while bolstering my resolve. With a face full of both determination and disgust, I reach down into the water and begin shovelling it into my mouth. I worry about harmful things like bacteria and parasites.

But combined with my superhuman body and no evidence of rot on the goblin corpses, I have a feeling that everything will be fine. I can taste a hint of iron on my tongue and the feeling of small grains against my throat, but I continue. I only stop when the feeling of thirst subsides. Afterwards, I dip a couple of bread stones in the water to soften them up before waiting for it to seep in. There's only two options going forward. There are only three pieces of bread left after the two I'm about to eat.

I can either rest for about a day and eat the bread while I wait, or I can leave while injured to hopefully unlock a new skill to help my recovery. Or I could take the third option. The bad one. My gaze shifts to a goblin corpse only a few feet away. There are sticks scattered everywhere in almost every room I've been to so far. I'm sure with my powered-up body and a bit of time, I could figure out how to build a fire. And cook the goblins. Only a few days ago, I would have been appalled at my own reasoning.

But the more I think about it, the more reasonable it becomes in my mind. The body needs protein. Especially in the world that I now live in. If I were starving to death and someone put a human body in front of me, I could pretend to be against it. I could act like it was against my morals. I might even attempt to say no. But I know my mind would already have been made up. I'd do anything to survive. No, I will do anything to survive. The watery bread goes down my throat much more easily.

I'll keep both options in the back of my mind while I scout. Depending on what I find, I might be forced to eat goblins and recover to face them with a chance of winning. Or I could find an easy fight that allows me to speed up my recovery with more level-ups. So far, every time I level up with an injury, my vitality increases to some extent. I have already been in two fights without any levels, so it shouldn't take much for me to gain another one. I hang my head in sadness.

If I were this injured as a mage, it wouldn't matter. I could just open a cell door and toss a big old fireball in their faces. The thought makes me smile, but my smile fades slowly as I remember that such a thing might never be in my future. I haven't even awoken my mana yet, not to mention the several sets of meditation wasting my limited time in the dungeon. My annoyance grows the further I fall behind the curve. After finishing my bread, I go back to my home room with the wooden door.

I should probably sit down and meditate to make the most of my time while injured, but I decide to do something that's a little more productive. I carry both of my gauntlets with one hand and the best shield I have with the other, just in case I see another archer. Of course, I don't plan to use either weapon, but I will not be caught unaware and die without something to defend myself. The wooden door opens and I slip through, limping into the unknown.