Chương 29: Shut off

Slowly, I stumble away from the torchlight towards the cell door and the light behind it. My body is riddled with weakness. Every step is a hike. The fifty-foot walk takes several minutes. Eventually, I make it to the door. Inside is a small room with torches sprouting from every corner. The right side of the room holds a small fountain, constantly spewing crystal-clear water. On the left sits a single wooden chest. It comes up to my thighs, with the edges plated in metal.

In the center, stands a set of doors, not too different from the one that led to the stairwell. The metal on the door is polished to a shine, with the wood being exchanged for some seamless, glossy material. I push open the door and step inside. The first step compresses the stone under it, sending it into the floor. I dash back into the dark area. The cavern starts rumbling. The rumbling grows into shaking, making me put effort into staying upright.

A stone the size of a sofa slams into the ground a few feet behind me. Another hits to my left, even closer. I pivot on my heels and rush back into the room. The cavern rumbles and crashes. Massive stones fall from the ceiling and explode against the ground, sending up pebbles and dust. With another slam, a colossal boulder crashes in front of the cell door, blocking off the cavern. The rumbling continues for a handful of seconds before petering out. Really? A trap right at the end?

That's e- My gaze snaps to my right arm. Still limp. And empty.

"NO!"

"MY GAUNTLET!" I sprint and weakly punch the blocked door.

"Whyyyyy…" Blood drips from my face as I hang my head in sadness. And my mattress, too! I spent five hours on that thing! With a frown, I walk over and stick my head under the fountain. The cool water washes the built-up blood and grime on my face from days of fighting. My eye closes as I immerse myself in the constant flow. The shower washes away some of the tension dragging my mood down. It almost causes me to fall asleep, but I eventually move over and lie on the ground.

I sweep the mana from my body into the healing skill. After a few minutes, the system sounds in my mind again. Chime Satisfaction washes over me as the drain gets just a little wider. When my eye opens, I stick my head under the fountain and drink until my stomach is full. The second I stop, my mouth rips into the stick of meat from my pouch. The thing is devoured to the bone, and I toss it to the side and munch down on another one. Nothing beats a full stomach.

An eagerness to check the system messages or open the chest screams in my mind, but the exhaustion screams even louder. With one last look, I open my health. [Health: 385(82)] Good enough. My head rests on the floor, and I don't need to command myself as my eyelid grows heavy and lulls me to sleep. I return to the world to an unholy amount of pain pulsing through my head. Wincing, the muscles in my face flare the pain even further.

"Kevin, don't feel pain," I spit through my teeth. The muscles in my face relax as pain leaves and weakness makes itself known. I sigh and rest my head on the floor. Confused, I try to open my right eye multiple times, wondering why it's stuck closed. As I reach to pull it open, I remember. Gently, my fingers brush against my right eye, finding nothing but mutilated flesh and scabbing. My mood becomes somber. There goes a solid third of my field of view. On the bright side, I still have one eye that works.

"Heh" The thought makes me chuckle. According to my will, the blue pane above my head shows a new message. [Mana: 280] Again, my eye closes as I return to the cathartic activity of moving mana inside myself. I take the time to appreciate the complexity of the mana. It moves in one gentle current around the edge of every limb before curving inwards and continuing. Not as one single force, but through millions upon millions of ethereal veins that extend throughout my body.

They're inside skin, muscle, bones, and organs alike. Trying something new, I stop trying to move chunks of mana into the drain at a time. I let my body do the work and take hold of the entirety of the mana flowing inside. Gently, I try to move it all just a little closer to the drain. With a smile, I watch my mana swirl like a toilet flushing. It moves seamlessly, curving into the drain in a much smoother action. To my surprise, the drain takes in mana much faster. Additionally, it feels much easier.

My eye opens after a much shorter rest period. The hunger and thirst don't feel weaker, though. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. In fact, they feel stronger. My arm digs into the pouches behind my back, ripping into the last drumstick, as well as three more bags of jerky. The only thing I have left is a single cloth pouch of jerky. After another two minutes of filling my stomach to the brim with water, I finally get to work.

Grunting, I stand with my still-weak right arm.

"Alright, system, let's see it." [You have slain (II) Hobgoblin lv. 13] [Partial experience granted x2] [Tamer(lv. 12) > (lv. 13)] [Human(lv. 12) > (lv. 13)] [Bleed Immunity(lv. 2) > (lv. 3)] [Bleed Immunity(lv. 3) > (lv. 4)] [Empowered Control Tamed Being(lv. 2) > (lv. 3)] [Danger Sense(lv. 0) > (lv. 1)] [Bleed Immunity(lv. 4) > (lv. 5)] [Heal Tame(lv. 4) > (lv. 5)] I must be setting some kind of record with bleed immunity. [Title mutation] [Survivor(Deactivated) > Unyielding Determination] Heh. Heh heh heh.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. My finger taps on the notification. [Unyielding Determination] [Awarded to those who have had their health reduced to zero and survived] [Grants the skill: Undying Resolve] A feat not many have accomplished, I'm sure. After I finish reading, I press down on the skill. [Undying Resolve] [Grants greater awareness of the soul's connection to the body] Several minutes are spent reading and rereading the line. Uh, alright then? Not sure what this means.

I lost my one-shot protection for this? Is that the inky blackness that I was surrounded by when I almost died? I couldn't form any thoughts of resisting, but my ethereal body kept moving against the pull. Was that the command affecting me even in my soul? Also, that confirms the existence of the soul, which is cool. Still, this makes the control tame skill the most comprehensive thing I have. It digs so deep and has so much impact. It has more control over me than I do. My eye moves up as more text appears.

[Vitality: 22 > 26] [Strength: 18] [Agility: 19] [Endurance: 17] [Fortitude: 24 > 25] [Intelligence: 12] [Wisdom: 21 > 22] [Perception: 27 > 28] [Unassigned: 1] All in on vitality, huh? It makes sense. I toss my free point into vitality. The wave of healing erupts from my body, making me stop and enjoy it for a few seconds.

[You have discovered a reward] [For finishing the free roam section of the solo phase, additional rewards are provided] [For being in the first 20% of beings on your planet to finish the free roam section of the solo phase, additional rewards are provided] [For being in the first 10% of beings on your planet to finish the free roam section of the solo phase, additional rewards are provided] [For being in the first 5% of beings on your planet to finish the free roam section of the solo phase, additional rewards are provided] [For being in the first 1% of beings on your planet to finish the free roam section of the solo phase, significant additional rewards are provided] [Accept(24) / Bank / Consolidate] Top one percent!?

Really!? How!? On cue, another message appears. [6. 11 cycles until next phase] About eighty percent of the time I've spent in the dungeon has been resting and recuperating. If someone took a nasty injury without having fought for their life before… It might have terrified them enough not to continue. And still, the top one percent means there are eighty million people as fast as I am or faster. Wait, does that count dead people? Is there another reward above one percent? How high am I above one percent?

There's a big gap between being in the top nine-tenths of a percent and the top one-tenth of a percent. Shaking my head, I continue reading.

[After completing the free roam section, the user now has access to the open world portion of the solo phase] [The open world section will simulate the conditions of a world with early induction within the system] [Rewards may continue to be consolidated] [Rewards will continue to be represented as chests located around groups of enemies, strong enemies, or key areas] [Difficulty, along with rewards, will increase the further the user moves away from the intermission point in the dungeon, increasing further around and inside larger settlements] Settlements?

This really doesn't sound like a dungeon anymore. Open world, though. Sounds interesting. Curiosity claws at me, but I shut it out and return to the rewards. Twenty-five. My mouth waters in greed, but with only one gauntlet… I take the weapon off and put it on my right hand. Sadly, the weapons weren't ambidextrous. They were made perfectly for each of my hands. There goes my dominant arm. Being right-handed makes all of this so much worse. With only one gauntlet on, everything feels… Off.

The weight, the balance, the comfort. It's just not right. Reluctantly, I return the gauntlet to my left arm. With my right, I reach up and tap on 'Accept'. [You have earned 1 (Gold Crate)] [Accept / Bank] A smile grows on my face. Sounds expensive Again, I tap the button that leads to riches. Inside, I hope for a replacement for my right gauntlet. Even if it's only a single, magical gauntlet, I would be happy. Please don't make me punch with lefty.

Last second, I remember to stick my arm out, in case the reward is fragile, like a potion. Without any exciting effects, a single, small item appears in my palm. My excitement is replaced by curiosity. I bring it up and inspect it with both my eye and my skill. [Magical Earring] … Yup. It's an earring. In my hand lies a single earring. One sharp hook, connected by tiny, thin chains to three grey orbs, only a couple of millimeters wide each. That glow. With my hand extended, I hold it out by the hook.

The three orbs dangle motionlessly. My expression is conflicted. I was never one for jewelry. An exception can be made this time, because the thing is clearly magical.

"Kevin, feel no pain." After making sure my command is active, I reach up and pierce the thing through my earlobe. Before the integration, the fear of needles was rooted deep within me, but without pain, it doesn't mean much anymore. A few seconds pass, but nothing happens. I tap it a few times, but still no change.

"Why can't these things come with a manual?" At the very least, a piece of paper that said "earring of fireball" would be appreciated. With no physical hints, I retreat to the only magical place I know. I focus inward on the mana current in my body. Near my ear, mana flows as normal. No indication that the earring is supposed to do anything shows itself. Referencing my only skill that uses mana, I try to move the energy inside my body towards the earring.

The second the intent touches the metal of the earring, it becomes starving. Mana is sucked in greedily. Slightly panicking, I wrench the mana away, and the item stops immediately. The mana slowly returns to its natural flow, travelling around the earring like it isn't there. My eye opens to the expanding blue screen. [Mana: 280(12)] If it does anything, I probably don't have enough mana to meaningfully invoke it. I don't think it does anything unrelated to combat.

I also doubt it heals, given that's something I can already do. Hold on, does it even run off my mana? Maybe it runs off of ambient mana or something. Does ambient mana even exist? There's too much I don't know. The earring was eager to take my mana, so I'll just leave it at that. With a deep breath, I walk over to the doors that get increasingly beautiful every time I see them. With a somber expression, I open and close my hand that no longer wears a gauntlet. Damn, I'm going to miss that.

I reach up with both hands, and an explosion of light bursts through the open door.