Chapter 1: I think, therefore I am... right?

Whoa. It's really, really dark… Where am I?... I was lying on my back in some pitch black place. How the heck did I get here?.. Wasn't I just in that white place? Didn't I die? Did I die twice? That doesn't make sense, how could you die if you're already dead? And what was the old guy doing there? 

Okay okay. Woah… Slow down, think this through. Maybe I hadn't even died in the first place, maybe I had dreamed up the whole white void thing. I mean, that definitely wasn't heaven. A white void was exactly what I would expect to find inside my mind. The semi had probably gone right over me and given me a severe concussion. I was probably sleeping away the brain damage in a hospital bed right now. Yeah. That would explain everything. Alright. Now's not the time to be comatose. I recalled the ancient art of waking up from a dream that was 100% certain to work every time. And pinched myself in the cheek.

...….

...

…

Wait. Where's my hand? Actually… Where's my face? I was shocked. My art of waking up had been defeated. It felt like my hand had just passed through where my head should have been. That definitely wasn't normal. I still felt like I had my arms and head… Probably. I could feel the floor beneath me, but I couldn't feel my body. This was getting pretty freaky. I mean, what if they had amputated all my limbs! I don't have the money to pay for an operation like that! I'll be in debt for the rest of my life! Robot arms would be pretty sick though… 

Okay, remember what your swim instructor taught you. Even if your arms and limbs have been amputated, and you won't ever be able to swim again, don't panic. Listen to the sound of your breath… Oh no! First my waking up technique, now my swim instructor's secret art has been defeated too! I had no breath to listen to. Whatever had happened to me, apparently it had left me without lungs.

 I went back to the stuck-in-a-dream theory, because how else did this make any sense? Where else could something as bizarre as this happen? And with my rotten luck, it had to be sleep paralysis or something. But now that I knew that, I was more curious than panicked. And so I started exploring this body my whacked out brain had cooked up for me.

I felt strange, like I was made of water. I could feel the cool ground beneath my back, but I couldn't sense my own body. If I could smell, then wherever I am is completely unscented. It was also dead quiet, but again, not sure if it was because I'd lost hearing or not. I couldn't figure out how to open my mouth, so I put taste on hold for the moment. The weirdest part was that I literally couldn't touch my own body, my hands just passed through my body parts. That's what it felt like anyway. 

I was definitely alive though, 'cause' I had a heartbeat. It was so strong that I could hear it in my ears as long as I was quiet. This body is definitely not normal.

I strained and stretched and after some experimentation, I managed to stand up. It was pretty difficult, since I wasn't able to see- and I could only feel where my body made contact with the ground. I fell over more times than I'd like to admit before I got the hang of it. My only reference for whether I was actually standing or not was my equilibrium, and feeling the ground only touch my feet. After what felt like way too long, I even re-learned how to walk. It felt more like gliding than walking -as if I was on roller skates- just sliding over the ground without disturbing it.

I bumped into a wall after what was probably three paces or so. What is this stuff? Given that it was too dark to see it, I couldn't tell you exactly what it was. It felt cold and slick like stone, but it was way too even and smooth to be natural. Suddenly a bunch of words were plastered to the outside of my eyeballs. 

|Answer: The surface is made of [venite], a rare mineral that is exceedingly light compared to its durability. It is found rarely on mountain peaks.|

"Gaaaahhh!!" I had been thoroughly jumpscared. "What the heck just happened!?" At least the bright words tangoing across my vision confirmed that I hadn't lost my sight too. More text popped into my line of sight.

|Answer: This message is the effect of the special skill [Query].| 

"Sorry, what? What the heck kind of dream is this!?"

|Answer: [User] is not asleep.|

"That's what a dream computer would say." I responded, unconvinced. There was no reply. "How can you be so sure that you aren't just a product of my imagination?"

|Answer: Analysis shows [User] has subpar imagination, intelligence and-|

"Sheesh! We just met! You didn't have to roast me that hard!" I said, shaking my head so I didn't have to read the rest of the insult. So if I'm not dreaming, then where am I? I was right back to square one.

|Answer: Data suggests User is located in a sarcophagus.| It can answer questions I ask in my head? Its reply surprised me even more. A sarcophagus? How the hell did that happen? That means I'm either about to trip over some moldy bones or find out that I've been buried alive. My mind was spinning with nothing but questions, and it seemed like I wouldn't like many of the answers.

 What kind of sarcophagus is this anyway? Why is it big enough to stand up in?

|Answer: The sarcophagus is standard size|

…

"So does that mean I'm just really short?"

…

|Answer: User's height is approximately 20% of an average [human]| Yeah, that's pretty short alright. I'm never getting picked first for basketball ever again. I wandered around the sarcophagus while I digested all the new information. I had been stabbed. Then hit by a semi truck. I probably died from it. Then I woke up in a sarcophagus. I was really short and strangely numb. I definitely didn't feel like a normal human… 

After a lot of head scratching, I realized what all the pieces of the puzzle meant. Any way you look at it, that had happened. But that's impossible right? I'm a cool-headed, atheist type. I know that sort of stuff isn't real. You might see it all the time in anime or manga, but that doesn't mean it actually happens. It could still be a dream right? I shouldn't immediately accept the word of a disembodied AI chatbot. 

But still…

Am I in one of those reincarnation stories?

There were just too many questions and not enough answers, I'd get nowhere thinking about it all day. I decided that instead of dwelling on all the weirdness, I should focus on getting out of this death box. 

But how the hell do I do that?

|Answer: Data suggests that the most direct route to exiting the sarcophagus is to remove its lid.|

"REALLY? I never would have thought of that. And how exactly, am I supposed to move a giant stone lid when I'm only 10 inches tall?" 

|Answer: The User is physically capable of reaching and removing the lid.|

"Are you sure? I don't think I could be that tall on a good day."

|Answer: Analysis shows that [User] can stretch to 0.75 meters tall.|

  That's… probably enough to reach the lid of a coffin. I mean, it's not like there's any reason not to try. 

So I tried making myself taller. That sounds strange when I say it like that, but I basically just tried standing on my tippy-toes while keeping my heels planted. Like how when you and another kid would stand back-to-back to compare heights, and you tried to somehow make the top of your head taller without cheating. Somehow, I felt my body mass shift. I know I just said that I couldn't feel my own body, but this was different. I was getting skinnier as my body was getting stretched upwards. I got taller and taller and I felt like I might actually be able to reach the roof. Then I lost balance and fell flat on my face. 

I felt a dull pain spread from where I hit the ground, and travel through the rest of my body. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would -faceplanting on rock and all- it kinda felt like the total pain had been stretched out and shared across my body. This body is weird…

I brushed it aside for now and tried again. I stretched and thinned and after a few tries, I felt my head bonk on the roof.

"Hah! I did it! … What now?"

|Answer: The next step of removing the lid is to adhere to it.| I guess that's worth a shot. I pictured myself sticking to the surface, and summoned my inner Spider-Man. It was like when you charged a balloon with static electricity and stuck it to your hair, except I was the balloon. I was surprised by how naturally such a weird thing came to me, like it was second nature. I pushed the ceiling sideways as best I could, and the room was bathed in a dull blue glow. It was coming from the crack between the lid and the box, which was leaking the light and spitting small purple sparks. I closed my eyes and pushed harder. I heard a sound like breaking glass, and the glow went away. 

At least l know I haven't lost all my senses.

Then the ceiling started to move. I moved with it, straining to push it away. Cracks of normal, less mystical light poured in, and after a minute or two of work, the lid fell away.

Huh. I actually did that. I thought about my newfound abilities to grow taller and stick to surfaces, and realized what all of it must mean. I mean, what else could it be? At this point, it's obvious that I'm not a human in this dream, and given how small I was, how stretchy and squishy and numb, my mind could only have conjured one creature. It's something you see all the time in video games and books. Actually, this entire situation was remarkably similar to an anime I had watched recently. "I must be…. A SLIME!" 

I looked down to see my blue and translucent jelly form, but saw only a pitch black haze. It was like my body was a 3D area of darkness in a featureless human-like shape. My arms and legs were a bit stubby, and I no longer had fingers or toes. If you looked at me from a distance I probably would have looked like a tiny human silhouette. I ran my hands across my face, and there was only a bump for a nose and some eyes. No ears or mouth to speak of.

"Huh. That's not a slime." I know that was stating the obvious, but I felt like it needed to be said. Words flashed across my vision.

|Notice: User has not been reincarnated as a [Slime]. User has been reincarnated as a unique species, [Living Shadow]|

"So this dream is definitely one of those reincarnation stories then, but I thought I left my edge lord phase behind years ago, why am I a shadow?"

No answer. "Again, why am I a shadow? I'm not some moody emo tween anymore."

… 

 I guess even all-knowing dream robots can't comprehend the teenage mind. I looked around the newly lit up corpse container. It was big–at least to me. It was at least 15 paces across and 5 paces wide, it looked like a tomb for a giant. Looking around, I realized why I hadn't stumbled across any remains; my dream had thankfully not made any dead bodies to fill the coffin. The stone box was completely empty besides a neatly folded sheet of black fabric towards the opposite end and a sword in the middle. This dream is wack. I moved over to the blade and touched it. It was still in its sheath, but it looked kind of like a japanese katana. The difference was that it had a straight edge instead of the normal curved one. The sheath was a fancy, shiny black with a nice dark blue and gold trim.

|Use special skill: [Query]? Yes No |

What? Skill? Didn't you mention that earlier? Let's say yes. At this point I was just going with the flow in this hallucination. The sword was suddenly outlined in a yellow light, and a screen popped up in front of me.

Unique Item Name: Arashitsuki 

Item type: Chokuto type sword

Attributes: 

Perfect edge(Epic)

Magic bane(Epic)

Magic charge(Rare)

Infinity(ERROR)

Quality: Unique

Lvl: ERROR

Materials: ERROR

"Whoa! A stat page!... Why is there a stat page?" 

|Answer: The special skill, [Query] converts important data into the most easily recognizable format for the User.|

"That 'skill' sounds useful, but is the 'most easily recognizable format' for me really a stat screen from a video game?"

|Answer: Yes.|

Meh. Can't really argue there. "But why are there so many error messages? Don't tell me you need an update or something."

|Answer: The [ERROR] message occurs when the answer is unable to be calculated| 

"What about me? Can you make a data screen on me?"

|Answer: Yes.|

|Use special skill, [Query]? Yes No | I pictured yes in my mind again, and another stat page popped up in front of me.

Individual Name: Aisurukage 

Race: Small Living shadow

[Stats]

 Str: 1 Def: 1 Spd: 1

 Mp: 1 Int: 32 Wis: 17

Class: none

Lvl: 1

Health: 10/10

[Skills]

Hoard(special)

Query(special)

Potential(special)

Immaterial(general)

Unified body(general)

Adhesive(general)

Mana: 10/10

Titles: none

Wait. In these types of stories, isn't the main character supposed to start out super strong? But it's my dream, so strength 1 probably means I'm the number one strongest. Yeah. That totally makes sense. How else would I have been able to move that super heavy stone lid?

|Answer: The lid of the sarcophagus was constructed of venite, and thus weighed approximately 2.5 kilograms.|

 "SHHH! Stop ruining my power fantasy! I don't need your creepy mind reading to interrupt my daydreaming!" Sometimes the main character's abilities were what made him overpowered. So maybe these other skills will be as useful as Query is. I wanted to test them out, but before that I wanted to get out of this box. I made my way over to the edge of the box and stretched my arm, barely managing to get a grip on the edge. I sucked the rest of my body up behind me and very gracefully pulled myself up. I looked out to what I expected to be a morgue or graveyard, yet the scene before me made one thing perfectly clear. 

There's no way in hell this is a dream.

This was straight out of a fantasy movie, but it was way too cool for my five brain cells to have possibly created it by themselves. I've never had a coherent dream in my life, let alone one this vivid and amazing. It was simply too real, and coupled with all the intricate details about my body and the AI chatbot, any hope that I was still alive in a hospital bed somewhere shattered. It looks like I really have been reincarnated. 

My first impression was that I was in a forest. Towering trees made a beautiful leafy canopy overhead that looked like it had sunlight shining through it. There were smaller cherry trees everywhere and a pond not too far away. I half expected to see a unicorn trotting in the distance, but when I looked closer I saw that behind all the scenery was a rocky wall, and a few small gaps in the canopy showed that the wall didn't just extend around the sides. It's definitely a fully furnished magic forest, but how is it inside a cave? If I had a jaw to drop, you would have been able to park a car in my mouth.

I inched forward slowly, head-thing turning slowly from side to side, letting the mystical forest vibe seep into my soul. 

I slipped off the edge of the sarcophagus and tumbled down the grassy hill it was on, but the grass was so soft and warm it didn't even hurt. I kind of even enjoyed tumbling down the hill.

I finally stopped barrel rolling at the very edge of the crystal blue pond. I sat up and looked out at the deep blue water.

For once in my life, no witty comments came to mind. I looked down at my reflection, into a dark silhouette with two glowing eyes, and reality caught up to me.

No tears rolled down my shadowy face, but my body shook with quiet sobs. What's going to happen to me? What did happen to me!? What about my life? My school and my friends!? Will I ever be able to see them again? Will I ever be able to go home? Grandpa, what should I do?

That last thought felt like a slap across the face, and I remembered that I would never see grandpa again, even if I did make it home. I remembered that I had already unenrolled from my school in America, and that I hadn't really had any friends since I was little anyway. The life I had known up until now hadn't been very wonderful, and going to stay with aunt Hana probably wouldn't have changed that. I had spent the entire plane ride–hell, the entire time since grandpa died–trying not to think about that. 

I sat there at the bank of a perfect pond, in an enchanted forest, thinking about my life, and wondering why I didn't care about leaving it behind as much as I thought I would. 

It was a long time before I picked myself up. 

I've decided. If I really did get another shot at this, then this time I'm going to live a life I wouldn't give up for the world. I'm going to make this a life to remember.

 First things first though, I needed to figure out where I was.

"What is this place? Narnia?" The expected reply danced across my vision.

|Answer: Observation of location has allowed access to its data; current location is named [Hero's rest].|

"Wow, gold star to whoever came up with that name, but I don't see any heroes. Are they at the bottom of the pond?" I glanced around, looking around the forest for 'resting places', until I recalled where I had just come from. Was that really the 'rest'? There didn't seem to be many heroes in that stone box. Besides, what kind of magic hero sarcophagus can be so easily broken into?

|Answer: Analysis of the sarcophagus shows that it was designed to prevent intrusions from external sources, not extrusions from internal sources.| I nodded as if I understood, and started walking around. 

The cave forest was pretty freaking big, with the roof being probably 50 feet off the ground. The pond was directly in the middle of the cave, and if we pretend the sarcophagus is to its south, then the waterfall and creek that feed the pond are to its east. To its pretend west is a thick grove of cherry trees, and on the north end of the forest cave is… a really big door. Like, an absurdly large door. I get that I'm pretty short right now, but this stone gateway had to be at least 40 feet tall. It was carved with a lot of detail, small and intricate designs covered the entire thing. I'm sure that it tells some sort of story if you look closely, but honestly that sounds like a lot of work and thinking.

I didn't even try to open it, and instead went over to the cherry grove. The trees were in full pink bloom, and yet were also ripe with fruit. It was definitely weird to see cherry trees in such high fantasy scenery, but I decided to roll with the punches, and accept the strange reality for what it was.

I creeped over to a branch that had bent low to the ground and plucked one of the cherries, which was surprisingly difficult to do with no fingers. Some words flashed across my vision.

|Query: Use special skill, [Hoard]? Yes No |

Hoard? What's that? Does it let me eat it? No Answer.

Sigh. Sure, let's give it a whirl. Suddenly the cherries fell into my hand and disappeared, almost like I had become a three-dimensional hole.

"What did that even do? I don't feel any different."

|Answer: Special skill, [Hoard] allows you to store any object with lower Quanta density than you in a pocket dimension. This allows for full appraisal by [Query], and thus access to data on the subject. Additionally, you can manipulate and combine certain subjects while they are stored in this skill.|

That's it, my brain melted. Information overload has reached critical stages, I have to reboot my brain cells now. 

"Wha- What?! Quanta density? Subject data? What's next, a flux capacitor?" I thought I got reincarnated into a fantasy world, not Star Wars.

"Could you maybe explain it a little more clearly?"

|Notice: Adjusting language parameters, [Layman] settings temporarily activated.| A little loading wheel popped into the corner of my vision, then a ding noise played in my head. Immediately after, a new message appeared. |Answer: The requests you made while reincarnating have been turned into special powers that you can use. One of them is [Hoard]. This power allows you to store any object weaker than you, (which isn't much). Then it takes that object and lets you learn everything about it. Finally, it puts that object into a special space created by the ability, where you can combine it with other things and manipulate it.|

I guess when I was in the white place I did ask to "not let go" and "keep my life". Maybe that was the request Query was talking about?

"Thanks for explaining it better, but could you maybe do without the condescending tone?" I sighed, and reminded myself that even though Query could hold a conversation, it was still essentially a robot. I need some friends. When I leave this place, that's the first thing I'm going to do. I'm going up to every stranger and asking them to be friends. It sounded perfectly reasonable at the time, given that I only had floating text bubbles to keep me company. That other ability, Hoard, sounds like a cheat level superpower though. It sounded like an inventory from a video game, but for real life!

"So can I turn those cherries into a jam or something?"

|Answer: Yes. Query: Would you like to proceed? Yes No | 

Fast forward five minutes, and I had enough cherry jam in my Hoard space to stock a grocery aisle. I didn't really have a reason to do this, but any kind of productiveness felt better than doing nothing. More importantly, it helped me procrastinate facing reality. 

___

Once I had enough cherry products to run a bakery, I started experimenting with the skills I saw on my stat page. It was a bit tricky to figure out at first, but once I learned how to activate one of them without asking for help, the rest came easy. Again, it was like second nature to me, and Query kindly explained what each one of them did. 

I had six skills; Query, Hoard, Unified body, Immaterial, Adhesive, and Potential.

Unified body was active all the time, and it meant that my whole body was basically just a single object, no individual cells or organs. That was why when I faceplanted, my whole body hurt. It was also what let me stretch earlier. It made it so that whenever I touched another body part, they would fuse together, almost like they were moving through each other. That was what made it impossible for me to feel my own body.

 Immaterial seemed to be super versatile, because it let any section of my body become… well… immaterial. Solid objects would just pass right through me, and combining it with the shape shifting of the Unified body let me squeeze through the tiniest of cracks. When I pressed myself to the ground, I literally just looked like a shadow without an owner.

Adhesive was pretty straightforward, it let me stick to surfaces. That was what let me grab the roof of the sarcophagus without any fingers. 

Is it just me, or are these skills (besides Query and Hoard) pretty average? It's not looking like I'm going to be the standard isekai hero, huh? 

"Hey, robot computer thing, what does that other skill, 'potential' do?"

|Notice: Accessing data on special skill [Potential] has resulted in access denial. To access data, an increase of User's quanta density is required.| 

"It's locking you out? Something that important definitely has to be crazy powerful," I sat down on a nearby rock, and thought over what Query had said. "What's quanta density? And how am I supposed to increase it?"

|Answer: quanta is the subatomic energy that constructs the building blocks of atoms, and therefore everything else. quanta permeates all space, and any amount of quanta can exist at a given location. User's memories indicate it is a similar concept to [magic]. Quanta fuels skills and spells, allowing reality manipulation. User can be allocated increased quanta density by training, surviving dangerous situations, using skills, and earning titles. These actions increase user's stats over ti-|

I tried to read the whole thing, I did! But I felt like I was right back in science class, getting lectured on how molecules work. I only managed to make it to the park where it explained how to increase my quanta density before my eyes glazed over. I had Query explain it to me a few more times to make sure I understood, and one thing became pretty clear. quanta was literally just magic. I could get stronger and access the 'Potential' skill by gaining more magic. It seemed straightforward enough, so I'm not sure why Query needed to make it sound so complicated. With that out of the way, time to focus on the elephant in the room.

If I really want to make the most of my second chance, if I want to do something exciting and leave no regrets, then I need to find a way out of this cave!

Don't get me wrong, this place is beautiful, with food and water and peace, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before I got bored out of my mind and went insane. If this place had a TV and a Playstation I would be fine for at least 4 months, without them I would be lucky to last 4 days. I spent what felt like hours searching the cave from top to bottom for a way out, and only two real options presented themselves. 

First, the door. That really didn't seem very realistic, because even though I could use Immaterial to slip through cracks, the giant door was completely airtight. Query confirmed it. There was no way I was squeezing past it, and pushing it open was out of the question. The other option was the cave that the waterfall came from, halfway up the cave wall. But there was no telling where it went, and I had no way of easily getting up to it. 

I spent a very long time trying anything and everything to get up to that crevice. I stretched as far as I possibly could, and didn't even come close. I tried climbing, but the walls were just too slick with water for Adhesive to work. I tried to make a makeshift catapult out of one of the nearby cherry trees, but instead ended up breaking off all the branches. I made a ladder out of the broken branches, but it couldn't even hold my 10 inch shadow body before it broke. I'm not a handyman okay! Besides, I didn't have any rope to tie the sticks together, I'm surprised I even managed to stand them up in a ladder shape.

This sucks, I don't even know if that waterfall goes anywhere. I was feeling pretty discouraged right now. I walked back over to the door, wondering if maybe I had missed something, maybe there was some other way to get up to the waterfall. I sat down right against the giant cool stone doorway, and leaned my head back, thinking. 

Creeaaakk.

I suddenly lost my back rest, and my head banged against the floor. Ow.

 I sat back up and looked around. "Wait. Seriously!? This whole time, the door opened that easily!?" 

I just spent hours trying to get up to that waterfall for nothing! The giant, 12 meter stone door had swung wide open with barely a push. How the hell had I not noticed that when I was checking for cracks to squeeze through? I quelled my self directed rage with thoughts of unicorns and butterflies. Before I collected myself and stood up. 

What could possibly be behind such massive doors? I stared out beyond the stone gateway.

Pitch black nothingness stared back.

___

Wow, getting some serious deja vu right now. The light coming from the forest canopy only illuminated a small space beyond the doors, and judging from what I could see of it, it was another cave. I peeked around the corner, and confirmed that the cave is darker than my grandpa's humor. Not creepy at all. "Heeellloooooo!" I said out into the void. I only did it to break the tension, and honestly I really didn't want anything to respond. I'm not scared. R-Really! I'm not! I like suspenseful things, I watch horror movies all the time! I just would've been surprised if something said hey back, ya know? 

Plunk. 

Ah. A noise. That sounded like water, right? Not some horrible monster.

Plunk.

I decided to make a tactical retreat. I mean, It was probably water, but you couldn't be too careful, right? 

___

With my outstanding intellect, I quickly came up with an ingenious plan to counter my lack of illumination. All I required was the glowing berries that lit up the forest. The berries that were up above the canopy. 

Simple. 

I had only noticed them earlier because I was curious as to how the forest was so bright, even though it's underground. I had figured that they wouldn't be much help getting up to the waterfall and had ignored them. But now that I had to travel through a pitch black tunnel, I knew that they would be perfect for my escape. 

"All right, I might be a little rusty, but climbing trees was my one and only talent ten years ago. If a seven year old me can climb an oak, then I can definitely climb this… tree!" I'd always loved the danger and excitement involved in climbing trees, even when I was a kid. My crowning achievement was touching the very top branch of an oak that grew in my neighborhood park. I looked up at the tree, and realized two things. A. This tree was much bigger than an oak, and 2. I was way shorter than I was when I was seven. I might've been a tiny bit worried about falling, but a strange feeling of excitement overwhelmed it. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I felt like I could climb Everest, let alone this itty-bitty tree. I latched onto it, and started scrambling towards the light giving berries. 

For some strange reason, whenever I looked down to see how far I had climbed, I got a weird wave of vertigo and nausea. Also, by the time I had reached the lower branches of the canopy, my legs had gone all wibbly wobbly. What's up with that?

"I-I d-did it." I figured my trembling voice and shaky legs must be because I was tired from the climb. Or maybe I was trembling from excitement. What other explanation could there be? I'm scared you say? HAH! As if! Only a wimp would be scared of a tree! I confidently took my first step onto the branches. I heard a snap under my foot. "AAAHHHHH! I'M GONNA DIE! NOOOOOO!"

|Notice: User has stepped on a twig.| I looked down and saw that the snap had in fact been a tiny twig that fell from higher branches, and not the limb I was standing on. 

"Phew! That was close. Almost lost my cool there… And I really don't appreciate that snarky tone, you glorified Siri!" And I was starting to think that this was worse than the darkness of that cave earlier. Silly me! This was fun! I strutted over to some nearby berries, determined to brush that brief embarrassment off and change the subject. They really did glow quite brightly. I squinted against the blinding bushel. Wow! It's like staring at the sun! I guess that makes sense if they light up the whole cave. 

|Query: Use special skill, [Hoard]? Yes No |

That'll be a big ol' yes from me! What say the council? 

Yes!

I concur! 

Here here!

Heh. I'm going insane. I really need somebody I can actually talk to. I reached out and touched the berries, squinting my eyes like I had just stepped outside after a hardcore gaming session. This time, instead of just being sucked in and disappearing, the berries were surrounded by a purple and blue haze. Then the light from the berries dimmed as the haze turned into a glowing mystical mist. The berries became completely obscured, and the cloud shrunk and its glowing intensified. It kept shrinking and growing brighter until it was just a tiny glowing ball of gently pulsing light. What just- The ball flew into my outstretched hand and vanished before I could process what I was seeing. 

|Answer: The visual phenomenon User witnessed was the effect of User's special skill [Hoard] storing an object larger than the surface User touched it with.|

"Soooo… Because I used Hoard on something bigger than my hand, the purple mist shrunk it until it could fit in my hand?" I had Query explain it to me more while I gathered more berries. Basically, anything that was smaller than the body part I touched it with could be devoured by my skill without batting an eye. However, anything bigger than that would need to be shrunk down by the skill until it fit, using up some of my spendable quanta. In other words, If I devoured anything too big, I would drain an appropriate amount of magic energy. 

It took a long time for me to wrap my head around it, so I ended up with a whole lot more glow-berries than I originally intended. Oh well, never know when this stuff came in handy. I guess shrinking something only a bit bigger than my hand doesn't drain that much magic. 

Checking my stat page again, I noticed my "Mp" number now said 7.6/10. I'm guessing that Mp was the amount of quanta I could spend on skills and magic, and my maximum was ten. Ten of what metric? I have no idea, but either ten was a lot, or the Hoard ability barely used any of it.

Finally done with my chore, I took my sweet sweet time descending the tree. Sure, Query pointed out that if I used my Immaterial skill, I wouldn't be hurt from the fall, but still! No way was I going skydiving without a parachute. I might be an adrenaline junkie, but I wasn't suicidal.

When I at last touched grass, I took a moment or two to give a hug and kiss to the ground, before getting to work.

I spent the next 30 minutes or so fashioning a torch from the glow berries. It turns out that these things are pretty remarkable, and were called Sanriri berries. Query wasn't kidding about being able to give me data on things I've Hoarded. When I asked, It gave me a well organized spreadsheet on the berries properties. 

Object name: Sanriri berry bushel

Item type: berry

Quality: rare

Functions: Light production, Weave concealment /dampening

Applications: Edible,

Non degradable, Juices provide a constant light source.

These things seem pretty handy if I do say so myself. And they were perfect for what I had in mind. After a bit of fiddling around, I figured out how to get back the things I had stored with Hoard. I regurgitated some berries, and found a nearby stick. With that, I had created a torch! Fire sold separately. 

___

Now that the show was back on the road, I decided to brave the void beyond the doors. It might have been more than a little weird that a literal shadow was holding a light source, but it didn't seem to be hurting me or anything, so it was probably fine. I held my torch as high as I could, and tentatively took a few steps into the cave. The torch worked brilliantly. A large tunnel stretched to my left and right, with stalactites and stalagmites breaking up the smoothness of the cave walls. I turned around and looked back at the doors. For the first time, I realized that these sides of the doors were designed to look like they were part of the tunnel I was in. Like, perfect recreations of the cave surrounding the doorway. Maybe the doors had just been cut from the cave? 

I shook my head, why was I getting caught up on such a small detail? I was literally reincarnated into an alien world, stuck in a tiny, wimpy body, and trapped inside of a cave. This was no time to be oohing and ahhing over cool rocks. I held my torch out further and strained to see as far as I could in each direction. The tunnel continuing to the left looked exactly like the tunnel to the right, so I might as well go to the left. I made an audible gulp, clutched my light source to my chest, and bravely walked off into the darkness. This was getting pretty exciting.

____

At least the cave wasn't very confusing. It was just one large tunnel that seemed to be taking a gradual right turn, and it hardly had any offshoots. I couldn't tell if it was changing in elevation or not, so I decided to stick with my choice and see where it led. The cave was eerily quiet, and even though I've been walking for a few hours now, the only sounds so far are my footsteps and the occasional plink plonk of water dripping from the ceiling. There was no sign of life, not even a bug. As far as I saw anyway.

After a long hike, at least twelve hours, I finally found a break in the scenery. It was another massive stone gateway, just as intricately carved as the one that led out of Hero's Rest. I pushed lightly on it, and just like the forest gates, it opened without so much as a whisper. Stupid spooky giant ghost doors, why are you so intimidating? I peered through the crack in the gateway. It was obviously not an exit. It seemed to be a room. That freakin sucks, I walked for the better part of a day in the wrong direction. My bad luck had struck again, and in a really annoying way. The way out of this tunnel is probably on the other end. I groaned when I realized this, and turned around to start the journey back, shoulders slumped. 

Just as I was about to walk away, I felt a cold breeze across where my neck would be. That was the first time I've felt an uncomfortable sensation since I reincarnated, even the river and lake had only been pleasantly cool. But this… this was icy… this made me shiver. If I had any hair on my neck, it would've been rigidly standing to attention. After turning back to the tunnel, I kept turning. I was intrigued now. 

If you've ever seen a horror movie, then you may know the term 'white person syndrome'. This refers to the common and cliche way that characters in horror films who happen to be ethnically white, tend to do really stupid things. For example, the characters may have just narrowly escaped the murderer, and are catching their breath, when Brad realizes that he dropped his wallet. Most people would say, "oh well, I guess I got robbed by an ax murderer." and happily leave it at that. But Brad is in a horror movie and suffers from white person syndrome. He will inevitably decide to face mortal peril in order to rescue his collection of coupons and receipts. This furthers the plot of the movie. 

I am here to let you know that I have white person syndrome. I was born and raised in America, after my mother convinced my grandfather to move with her. I grew up doing stupid things that seemed exciting, like exploring the haunted house on Wilson Avenue with the neighborhood kids. It wasn't like I was extra brave, I still soiled my pants as often as the next kid. But whenever I'm in a dangerous or scary situation, my heart starts beating too loud for me to hear my common sense. A strange smile spreads across my face, and I become the subject of much stupidity.

The icy wind wafting from the room behind those imposing doors made my heart race. What's back there? Why does it need to be protected by the stone doors? Is there treasure? Is there a monster? What is it? I tentatively walked through the doors.

The instant I stepped across the threshold, the whole vibe suddenly changed. It felt like I was underwater. The air itself seemed heavy, and it was harder to breathe. Even though the room felt so oppressive, it also felt…

Empty. 

Dead.

It was like a graveyard, the sterile emptiness of the place was almost palpable. Somewhere deep in my soul, I felt a twinge of sadness for some reason.

|Notice: Atmospheric Weave density has increased significantly.| 

The flashing words broke me out of my trance, and reminded me that there could still be danger. I walked forward into the pitch black room. Unlike when I exited Heroes Rest, the torch barely penetrated the darkness ten feet in front of me. The only landmark in this void was the small bushel of glowing Sanriri berries I left at the entrance. After carefully making my way forward, I stumbled across a lever on a small dias. Don't do it! That is so obviously a trap! I'm gonna pull that lever, and the door is going to close and I'll be stuck here! No way I'm falling for that! Unfortunately for the little voice in my head screaming not to do it, my heart was pounding in my ears too loudly to hear anything resembling common sense. 

Ker-chunk.

 Suddenly I was blinded by an ungodly amount of light. Of course, I had been in the dark tunnel for so long that you could've turned on a desk lamp and I would've been seeing stars. But these were overhead lights that lit up the entire room. I had effectively been flashbanged. I dropped the torch and was knocked on my butt, squinting to block out some of the light. My vision was blurry, but I could make out some large round thing in front of me. 

I managed to stand back up, shaking off the daze and rubbing my eyes to try and adjust to the light. Whatever's in front of me, it's definitely big and round. It looked like… A snowglobe? In the very center of the room was a giant glass sphere on a pedestal. Besides that and the lever, the room was completely empty. Two whole basketball courts worth of smooth floors and vaulted ceilings. 

But the sudden ability to see had done nothing to disperse the gloomy vibes this place was giving off. I still felt like I had just gotten back from the front lines of a war. 

This was seriously creepy, especially that giant glass ball. I was totally getting dungeon boss room vibes, straight from a video game. 

Getting reincarnated was totally the best thing that's ever happened to me. I giggled a bit, something about this place was scratching every fantasy nerd itch I didn't know I had.

I walked up to the sphere. Every step towards it made the air feel a little bit heavier. Like someone was putting a small weight on my shoulders with every movement. I climbed up the stairs to peer into the ball.

Inside the orb was a skeleton, laying down in the fetal position. It was as if someone had fallen asleep inside there and hadn't woken up. The skeleton was almost human, but not quite. It had large canines, and incredibly sharp fingers. I reached out to touch the sphere. The glass looked so perfectly smooth and clean, but there was a faint pattern imprinted on it. 

When I brushed my hand against it, ripples spread across the glass, like I had just touched a still pool of water. Suddenly the silence became deafening. I hadn't even realized there was some ambient buzzing noise in the background until it disappeared completely, along with every other sound. The air took on a different kind of heaviness. It flipped from a depressing weight to an imposing sense of doom. It actually felt like death was caressing my shoulder. So much so that I spun around, expecting to see the reaper standing there. 

Instead, a robotic voice rang out from seemingly nowhere.

"Intruder Detected. Deploying countermeasures."

"Intruder? You talking about me? I swear I wasn't trying to break your shiny glass ball! I'll leave now! No need for countermeasures!" 

|Notice: Atmospheric quanta density is decreasing rapidly.| Suddenly a glowing light appeared near the door. It started expanding rapidly, and changing shape. Two seconds later, a giant lizard was standing there. Because why not? Anything goes at this point. One second I'm walking through a cave, the next I'm trapped in a room with a giant snow globe and a dragon. A really, really big dragon. Its scales were a dark brown, its eyes, horns, and wings a burgundy red. It exuded a regal and menacing air as it eyed me, smoke wafting out of its nostrils. 

Yeah that's a dungeon boss alright. But damn, a real freaking dragon… so awesome. 

I don't know why I was paying so much attention to detail, I should have been running for my life. The dragon narrowed its eye slits, and roared at me. That's probably not good- Its roar suddenly turned into a bout of flames that rushed straight for my head.

I threw myself to the side, watching as the fire literally melted the stone floor I had been standing on. I scrambled to my feet. 

Forget I said anything, this guy is absolutely not awesome! The dragon began stomping towards me, tail lashing back and forth. "Uh oh, this guy is pissed." I said that one out loud, and apparently the dragon heard me. It let out an annoyed huff. Then it let out another flame breath.

Why does he have to be directly between me and the door!? Fighting a dragon while being smaller than a toddler seems even more insane than getting around him and escaping. But I was going to die if I didn't get out of this somehow.

What the hell am I supposed to do!?

The dragon didn't give me much time to think it over. I was scrambling back to standing from the last attack when it stood on its hind legs. It began to flap its wings so powerfully that it generated hurricane level winds. I flew backwards and crashed painfully against the snowglobe. Curled in pain, I briefly wondered how a shadow could be affected by wind.

 |Answer: Although User's body absorbs light in a manner that makes it appear similar to a shadow, the user does in fact have a physical body. User's body is a single cell, with a thin membrane on the outside and a central core on the inside. This makes it incredibly light-| 

"AAGH! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THAT!" The messages were completely obscuring my vision, I couldn't see a thing. I managed to make them disappear after a second or two, but in that short amount of time, the dragon had completely disappeared. I frantically looked around, trying to understand where it had gone. 

What the hell?! no way it gave up that quick, I'm easy prey for something like that… 

Just as I was starting to calm down and consider that maybe it had left, the room suddenly got a lot darker. 

Oooooohhhhhhhh….

…

....

Shit…..

I looked up just in time to see twenty tons of scales and teeth descending on my head. With barely a second to react, I somehow managed to instinctively activate Immaterial and not get flattened. The impact of the dragon was enormous, shattering the floor and sending chunks of it nearly across the room. Even in my Immaterial ghost like form, I was flung several feet. Thankfully the dragon lost sight of me. It probably thought that it had completely pancaked me. I slithered my way through the oblivious dragon's legs as a shadow. I popped out of Immaterial form and started gunning for the exit as quietly as I could manage.

I wasn't totally sure I had a heart, but I could feel my chest pulsing with adrenaline and excitement. I got back to the lever, and looked over my shoulder to check if the dragon had seen me, but it was totally distracted trying to find my splattered body among the rubble. I grinned to myself, watching this giant idiot play with rocks, and took another confident step. 

Crack!

Well this feels familiar… I looked down to see the torch I had dropped earlier, cracked cleanly in two underneath my foot. 

Wait! Didn't you just say I was incredibly light!? How does this keep happening!?

|Answer: The odds of User breaking the stick are 1 in 297,048| 

So my bad luck followed me to this life… yeah, that explains a lot actually. I turned around slowly, cautiously, to see two reptilian eyes staring back at me from on top of the rubble. They did not look amused. 

"OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!!" I sprinted for the doors like my life depended on it. Oh yeah, it does. 

The dragon, hereby named Rian, (Based off of a really mean uncle who worked in demolition) roared in anger at being tricked, then bounded after me. 

I only got brief glances over my shoulder, but man that guy could book it. It was terrifying how far a single leap could get him, and the ground shook every time he touched down. If I was still human, this is the point where I'd have soiled my pants and have tears in my eyes. 

I was running as fast as my tiny legs could possibly manage, yet he was definitely catching up quickly. My chest was pounding. 

I could feel Rian's intensely hot breath on my back, and I heard the gnashing of very large teeth. I didn't have the mental capacity to think about whether or not I was going to make it to the door first, all of my mental energy was being used staying ahead of the snapping jaws and flames that were behind me. 

Suddenly the dragon stopped stomping after me, I looked over my shoulder to see his face outlined in a hellish red, flames spilling from his clenched teeth as he sucked in his breath. He wore a confident and menacing look, like he was saying, "Caught you…"

I turned back to see the doors just five paces in front of me, but I knew that the flames would be faster. The orange glow behind me that was growing ever brighter was clear confirmation that there was an inferno riding on my butt. 

Somehow, someway, I managed to reach the door before the flames reached me. I threw myself between the cracked gates and slammed them shut. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking myself safe. I leaned against the doors and chuckled quietly. 

"DAMN that was close. Jesus christ. Pheeeew. Ok. Wow." I rubbed my face and continued muttering as I waited for my nerves to settle down and the thumping in my chest to slow. 

|Notice: Lesser Dragon [Rian] is approaching rapidly.| 

Suddenly the doors exploded, literally blown off their hinges. I was sent flying into the curved wall of the tunnel. Cracks appeared where I hit the wall, and a sharp pain spread across my body. I saw the giant stone doors crash nearby through my now blurry vision. And the shaking ground meant that Rian was stomping towards me. I shook my head to clear up my eyesight, and looked up at the fire lizard that was approaching. I was trapped. There was no way I was going to escape this. I was going to die again, and less than a day after getting a second chance. 

NO! You can't do that!

I got another shot at this! You are not taking this away from me!

I was livid at this dragon, at myself, at the universe! Why would you dangle a miracle in front of my eyes just to snatch it away!? A mix of fear and confusion and anger was swirling in my mind. My back was to the wall and my chest was pounding. I looked around for anything I could use to defend myself, to protect my new life. 

I felt something cold and hard, something heavy. A weapon. 

A rock. 

My rage instantly died as I faced reality.

Yeah, I'm screwed. 

Rian had lost all patience, and was now bounding towards me at a terrifying speed, jaws open. I knew it wasn't going to do anything, but I desperately flung the rock at him. I don't know, maybe he'd choke on it? I was dead meat anyway, so I figured I might be able to get a tiny bit of revenge. 

Then an honest to god miracle happened. I might be an Atheist, but I'm willing to believe for right now that something was looking out for me. That tiny rock sailed straight into Rian's eye. It didn't puncture it or stab it or anything, but it probably hurt like hell. He flinched, briefly closing both eyes in pain. He tried to slow down and reorient himself, but twenty tons of dragon made inertia kick into effect. He slid forward and tripped on a jutting rock. He had already been within ten meters of me before I threw the stone, but when he tripped he was basically right in front of me. So he faceplanted the wall. Hard. He took a step back, dazed and disoriented. 

Then a second miracle happened. 

Eat your heart out bad luck. The shockwave of Rian's epic faceplant reverberated through the tunnel, shaking the floor. Apparently, that was all it took to bring down a gigantic stalactite conveniently hanging above Rian's head. A five meter skewer fell from the ceiling and impaled him straight through the noggin. Twice now, quick thinking and a handy skill called Immaterial stopped me from becoming pudding under a falling dragon.

I extracted myself from under the lizard shish-kebab just as he was breathing his last, and took a good long moment to soak it in. 

Wow. I actually just did that. High fives all around. Aisage the dragon slayer. I will never say I have bad luck again as long as I live, promise. 

I started laughing hysterically at the absurdity of everything that just happened, until I felt like I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. 

Wait, I don't need to breathe. So why do I feel so-

Suddenly I could barely keep my eyes open. 

Whoa, w-what's happening? My vision was going blurry, my head was spinning. I really wanted to lie down. 

|Answer: The User has been bestowed a title, and is going into hibernation so that physical readjustments may be performed and skills may be bestowed.| 

I didn't even register the bright message imprinted on the insides of my eyelids, I was already unconscious.

[][][]

Uuggghh…. My head…. W-what's going on? Where am I? Something was definitely wrong. Iris had been sleeping in her bed last she could remember, but she had woken up to the jostling of a wagon, and her hands were tied to a wagon support above her. She scanned her surroundings through bleary eyes, and saw her mother was similarly tied up across from her on the left side of the wagon. She also saw a person ruffling through some crates towards the driver end of the vehicle. 

D-Did we get kidnapped? How is that even possible? There's no way that someone broke into the- The person found what they were looking for, and stood up with a grunt. Iris quickly hung her head and pretended to be asleep, one eye cracked open. The person walked over and crouched near her. 

"Oi, I know yer awake. It's been days on the road, you need to eat so we can deliver you nice and healthy." The person's rough voice and thick accent made her guess that it was a man, and now that he mentioned it Iris realized she was starving. Even with the gnawing pang in her stomach, she didn't move, and acted like she was still sleeping soundly. 

Her stomach growled loudly, betraying her to her captor. 

"Hrah-ha-ha-ha! Sound's to me like yer stomach ain't wantin to wait for you to stop pretendin, so I'll give you to the count o' ten to wise up, otherwise you won't get none till tomorrow." Her eyes popped wide at the thought of having to wait another day without food, and she quickly realized her error.

"A-a demon!?" she gasped out loud in terror.  What is a demon doing so far from Dethe? What is happening? The demon crouched in front of her had gray skin and a set of tusks. That's an orc, right? Aren't they ussually unable to speak common? 

"Yeah that's right, you got kidnapped by demons. Pretty scary ain't we?" He said with a disgusted snarl on his face. He put the bread in her hands and moved away. He looked over his shoulder at her, wearing a grin. "Not so much as the Demon king though, 'cause that's where you two are going. Say yer prayers now, yer god won't be able to hear you no more when we cross the border." He lifted the flap and hopped off the wagon with a chuckle. 

So many questions were spinning through Iris's mind, and not nearly enough answers.

What happened to brother and father? Why does the demon king want us? Did the kingdom fall? Lord Akme save us, how did this happen!?

"Thank Akme, I was so worried you were hurt. I'm glad you're alright." Iris looked up to see her mother smiling at her, and she felt a sudden and brief sense of relief. Her mother had obviously played possum better than she had, and probably had been awake longer. She might know what happened. 

"Mother! What happened to us? Have we really been kidnapped?" She was on the verge of tears, and was frantically searching for good news.

She nodded, "I've overheard the guards talking about what happened. We were sedated and taken from our bed chambers somehow, although even they don't seem to know all the details. They are merely smugglers who agreed to deliver us for a high price. Eat your bread for now, you'll need your strength." She wore a gentle smile, but Iris knew it was just to make her calm down. 

"Yes mother." Iris looked at the floor and sheepishly ate her bread, her mother sounded so serene and calm that even hearing the harsh reality made Iris feel a little better. After all, her mother was the smartest person she knew, and if she was talking like everything was fine, then she had a plan.

___

"Somebody help! Please! My mother is dying!" A desperate shout rang out from the wagon, and several of the escorting guards ran over. They opened the tent flap to find the younger girl crying, desperately trying to free her hands from her bonds. Across from her was the middle aged woman, she was very pale and was moaning softly.

"Dear gods, we're in a world of trouble now." The orc from earlier muttered, a cold sweat visibly appearing on his face. The other guards, –all demons of various types– agreed, and two of them scrambled into the wagon, questioning the girl and trying to figure out what had happened. 

"Her illness, she hasn't taken her medicine in days!" Iris said between sobs. "Please, I can keep it at bay with my magic, but she needs medicine!" 

The guards quickly cut the girl free, and she rushed over to her mother. Iris touched her mother's chest and started chanting, her hands glowing softly. The guards asked her what kind of medicine she needed, and Iris described a plant they could use as a substitute. Thankfully, the caravan was traveling through a jungle region that it grew in. 

Half of the guards went into the jungle to search for the plant, the other half staying behind to help with whatever they could to make the woman more likely to survive. They were dutifully following Iris's every instruction. 

___

Later in the evening, a cot had been set up and a large fire had been built for the woman, who had started coughing badly. Iris had said that they were running out of time, and they needed to find the medicine quickly. All but one guard had gone in search of the plant. Unfortunately for them, they would never find it. After all, the plant Iris had described grew in tundra regions. 

When the last guard went on a patrol, Iris whispered to her mother that they were safe. Her mother dispelled the illusion magic that was making her pale, and they quickly and quietly slipped into the jungle unnoticed. They were almost out of sight of the caravan when the orc from earlier stepped out from behind a particularly thick tree and caught Iris's mother by the arm.

"Tricky little humans, you thought you could make a getaway? Where you gonna go? Yer in the middle of the jungle, a week's journey from where you came from. Me an' me boys gotta deliver you to the demon king or we'll be payin with our heads." 

"Iris. Run. I'll catch up." her mother was dead serious. Iris knew what that tone meant, and she almost felt sorry for the poor demon who made mother angry. 

Iris turned and ran through the underbrush, dutifully following her mother's instructions. She heard the orc cry out in pain, and she didn't doubt for a moment that the demons would have to pay dearly to make her mother get back in that wagon.

___

After what she guessed was a safe distance, she started wondering what she should do next. She remembered that the only jungle within a week's traveling from the capitol was the Arashin jungle. 

There are many human settlements in Arashin. If I can orient myself, I might be able to find one. At least, I would probably be able to find one. Maybe. It's almost dark now, so if I can get high up I should be able to see the lights of a town. Maybe I can climb a tree and figure out where I am. That's probably what I should do, right?

She looked around for a bit, and found a tree that was quite a bit taller than the rest. Thank Acme her mother had taught her so many things, like climbing. She expertly clambered her way upwards, worrying about what she should do once she found a town. 

She reached the top of the canopy about an hour later, and scanned the moonlit horizon. She saw a warm glow in the distance, but she was still second guessing herself. 

What if that's the demon caravan? No, that's the other way. But will I be able to make it there? Oh, mother, why did you have to stay behind? Should I go back for her? But what if- 

A shout rang out from nearby. Iris made her way to the edge of the canopy and searched the ground, she saw someone approaching the tree.

"A demon! How did they find me!? No, that doesn't matter, if they've seen me, I won't be able to climb down without them catching me. But they'll have to climb all the way up here to get to me… hmm… maybe I can set up a surprise for them." Thankfully, her mother had taught her many things, not just how to climb, but also how to make simple traps.

[][][]

"Ugghh, five more minutes…" something sharp was poking my back, and it was making it really hard to get some decent shut eye. Can't a guy catch a nap around here?

...…

...

…

Around here?... Where am I again? I groggily opened my eyes, scanning the scene around me. The jagged rock that was digging into my back was part of a much larger pile of rubble. I could only see it because of a dull red glow coming from nearby. It was coming from a giant brown and red lizard. That was enough to jog my memory. I jumped to my feet, ready for the dragon to wake up and roast me alive. Thankfully, Rian wass still very much impaled, and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Poor guy must be tired. Aw, look how peacefully he's sleeping. I thought with a snicker. Hey, don't give me that look! This guy tried to kill me all right? I'm allowed a joke or two at his expense. 

But dang! I really need to stop conking out whenever something important happens, this is the third time I've woken up without a clue of what's going on! 

Why did I fall asleep anyway?

|Answer: You gained a title from defeating the lesser dragon individual [Rian] Skills and bodily reconstructions were awarded accordingly for the feat.| 

"Uh-huh…. What does that mean? Bodily reconstruction? I do feel quite a bit taller now. Did my stat page change then?…"

Individual Name: Aisurukage 

Race: Lesser living shadow

[Stats]

 Str: 30 Def: 30 Spd: 30

 Mp: 30 Int: 32 Wis: 17

Class: none

Lvl: 9

Health: 300/300

[Skills]

Hoard(special)

Query(special)

Potential(special)

Impossible Odds(epic)

Manipulate Shadows(epic)

Elemental Breath(rare)

Quick Step(rare)

Hard Skin(common)

Immaterial(general)

Adhesive(general)

Mana: 

300/300

Titles: Dragon slayer, lucky

"Uuhhh… That's definitely a change… Weren't all those numbers ones before? Am I super overpowered now?"

|Answer: Although [User] has acquired several powerful skills, [User]'s physical aptitude is still severely lacking. Estimated combat strength is on par with a-| 

"Nevermind, I don't want to read your snarky report. In my opinion, this stat page belongs to an overpowered main character!"

|Notice: Data shows that opinions have no influence on facts, [User]'s combat strength suggests that-| 

"NOPE! Don't care! I'm getting out of this cave and going on an adventure, so unless you know the way out, I'm not reading another word!" I had just started to march off when I got an idea.

"...Can I stash Rian in my inventory?"

|Answer: [User] has enough mana to fully put draconic individual [Rian] into the [Hoard] pocket dimension space.| 

"So… yes?" 

|Query: Use special skill, [Hoard]? Yes No | And with that, I had a dragon tucked away in my pocket, ya know, in case of emergencies and stuff. 

___

Two hours later, and I was still familiarizing myself with the new skills and strength my body had while I walked. I was definitely taller now, a growth spurt of a whole 30 centimeters, putting me at 40% of the average human height. The extra length in my stride made the walk back to Hero's Rest a lot quicker too. I was stronger than I looked too, even though I was still only as tall as a toddler, I'd guess that I'm almost as strong as I was before I died. I guess that's not really saying much though…

But anyway! The skills were pretty tricky to figure out. I asked Query to explain them, and some of them sounded simple enough, but others were so technical and confusing it could have been written in another language and I wouldn't have noticed. Like that Shadow Manipulation skill! It's so complicated that it'd take me two years and a PHD just to understand the words that Query was spouting. So I tried experimenting with the easier ones as I strolled through the tunnels. In case you were wondering, yes, I did go back for my broken torch before I walked back into the cave. It was now less of a torch and more of a flashlight. 

Also, can we talk about the "Lucky" title I got from beating Rian!? Somebody has a real sick sense of humor to give me a title like that! I lived my entire life being luck's punching bag, and now it wants to turn the tables and say sorry!? It's not like I don't appreciate not having bad luck anymore, but did the universe have to wait until I was getting chased by an honest to god dragon? I could have used that back when I was hit by a semi truck! 

Or when I was stepping off that airplane to Tokyo…

Or when grandpa died…

Or when mom and dad…

… 

... 

...… 

|Notice: Readings suggest several life forms are approaching.|

"..."

|Notice: Readings suggest several life forms are approaching.|

"Huh?" I looked up, and realized I didn't recognize this part of the cave. It was more wet than the parts I had been in, with pools of water near the edges of the cave. The stalactites and stalagmites were way longer than any I had passed so far too. 

Did I pass Hero's Rest already? I heard splashing footsteps in the distance, and suddenly I didn't feel very safe anymore. The footsteps were quickly getting closer, I don't think I could have escaped even if I ran. The tunnel ahead of me was getting brighter. 

Suddenly a form rounded the turn in the tunnel and came into sight. It was humanoid, but obviously not human. It was hard to tell in the gloomy light, but it had long pointed ears, gleaming white tusks that reflected its torchlight, and glistening fur covering its broad shoulders and thick arms. It was also really tall. Like at least two meters. It came to a lumbering stop as it saw me, and held its torch forward. I could see it a bit better now, and I could see its spiked club and leather armor better too. 

I was stunned by the menacing figure in front of me.

It called out to me in a weird language I almost recognized. I took a moment to process, before it hit me.

I bursted out laughing. I couldn't help it. Here was this giant, imposing creature that looked like it could kill me with its pinky finger, and it was talking like a freaking minion from Despicable Me! 

"Bo dank yu pwede-" The creature stopped, and put on a confused face, as it looked at me rolling on the ground, crying with laughter. Some of its companions rounded the corner as well, then wore similar expressions of confuzzlement. They asked the first creature something, to which it shrugged. Then they grunted and started walking towards me. 

I finally managed to sit back up, still wheezing between breaths. "Hey guys, sorry about that. You mind if I just pass on-" They obviously didn't understand me, or if they did they just didn't care. They raised their weapons, whooped, and rushed me. "-Oh crap."

They came in fast, WAY too fast. It felt like one second they were just walking towards me from ten meters away, and the next they were right in front of me. I panicked, and almost reflexively used one of the skills I had figured out on the walk. I used Quick Step, which let me move to a nearby area so fast I might as well have been teleporting. It's pretty cool, but it also used up a ton of mana, so I could only use it like three times in a row. The weird hairy goblin things swung their weapons at where I had been so hard that the ground cracked.

Dang! What have those guys been eating!? Should I run? No, they'll catch me for sure… Oh! A light bulb flickered on in my head, I had an idea that I was pretty sure would work. The creatures had stopped looking around in confusion, one of them had noticed me standing behind them. I quickly activated my skill before they reached me. One of them swung his weapon straight for my head.

Did it activate? I can't tell if it worked- The club made solid contact, in a way. It did connect, but instead of bashing my brains in, it passed right through the space where my head was. 

Okay, maybe Immaterial is more powerful than I gave it credit for…

The creature was thoroughly bamboozled at what had just happened, and the others stopped and stared too. The creature tried again, and again another time. Still nothing happened. Then a look of realization came over the creature, and after that a look of Oh shit. The giant furry goblin man turned around and said something like "bak shoonga!" in a harsh whisper, then they all looked like they were going to piss their pants. 

Yeah, that's right! I'm a ghost! Or whatever you said! For good measure, I used Elemental Breath, the only other ability I had figured out on my walk. It's pretty darn useless, as it just makes me vomit out some really dark smoke that doesn't seem to do anything. But to these guys, that was the last straw. They howled in fear, and scrambled past me. Their arms flailing above their heads ridiculously. 

I crossed my arms smugly. "Yeah that's right! You idiots better run!" Honestly, I felt pretty cool right now. I had just chased off some monsters that were way more powerful than I was, and it felt pretty good. It kinda felt like I earned that victory, in a way I hadn't against Rian. Rian almost killed me, and only a stroke of pure luck had saved me. It hadn't felt nearly as satisfying. 

Satisfying? Wait. Did I enjoy that? Did I actually have fun while those creatures were trying to kill me? That's.. Not normal right? I shook my head. 

Having fun while being attacked? That's ridiculous. I'm an adrenaline junkie, not a masochist. I like scary and thrilling stuff, not fights to the death. That feeling was probably just some lingering frustration towards Rian being resolved. Right?

___

It wasn't much more walking before the tunnel started to light up again. I rounded one last bend, and there it was. 

Freedom.

And the sun, beaming straight into my eyes. 

"Gahh!" I flinched away and rubbed my eyes. I hadn't expected to see the sun yet, being some 10 meters into the cave still. "Jesus! How many times am I gonna fall for that!?" I carefully looked up again, shielding my eyes. The sun was reaching so far into the cave because it was either early morning or late afternoon. I didn't give it too much thought though, the huge amount of blood splattered near the cave opening was pretty distracting. There were bits of torn off flesh and some scraps of cloth scattered around as well.

"Dang… What happened here?"

|Answer: The organic matter belongs to [Bugbears], the same lifeform that [User] encountered earlier. Analysis suggests that they were harmed by an unknown creature.|

"Maybe when I saw them earlier, they were running into the cave to get away from whatever did this to them."

|Notice: [User]'s conclusion is logical.|

"Whatever it was, definitely gonna have to be careful about not running into it." 

|Notice: [User]'s conclusion is logical.| With that ominous thought looming in the back of my mind, I stepped out of the cave.

"Hold up… Am I in a jungle?"