Ch 13 - Talking to Yourself

The door appeared and Ren promptly entered it.

Inside he found the same grasslands and distant forests and mountains. 'Why should I ever go out into the jungle again if I have this paradise here!'

Quickly Ren started walking towards the forest. Soon, Ren ran into an invisible wall and smacked his head right before falling onto the ground.

[Current dimensional area restricted due to lack of energy. What you see is a projection based off of hosts preferences and memories.]

"Could have told me earlier." Ren said bitterly. "What's the current size limit?"

[Current dimensional limit cannot exceed a 30 meter radius.]

"Great"

At this time a green display popped up in his eyes.

[Goal: Locate a suitable connection point - complete]

[Reward: +1 wisdom, +1 Endurance]

"Sweet!" Ren exclaimed. He didn't feel any different which confused him. "Ugh, how does the system change my stats?"

[The System will record which stats have been improved. The host can decide when to implement all changes when inside the dimensional space. WARNING: May take some time for completion. It is recommended to wait until more stat updates are approved.]

"So I still have to wait huh. Typical."

Ren sat down. He didn't know what to do now. He had escaped from the demons and found a connection point for the dimensional space.

But that all seemed useless to Ren at the moment. What could he do here, alone, without help?

"Focus Ren" he slapped himself. "Remember, if you want to survive you'll need your three things. Food, water, and a weapon. You have shelter from danger, a bonus; plus you have a family waiting at home for you! You can eventually return to them, but you gotta get stronger first!"

It is a sad thing when a man talks to himself, but given the situation maybe it wasn't so bad.

He was alone, the girl he liked had most likely been eaten or had her soul torn apart, he may never see his family again, and he was in a hostile, unknown place.

Not only that, but his mental and emotional state were a mess, having experienced gruesome horrors normal people wouldn't. This was definitely a new low for Ren.

Ren spent the night in the dimensional space. The next morning Ren decided to fish.

It was the closest and safest food source. The only problem, how do you fish?

Ren didn't have a fishing rod, nor did he know how to make one. That left spear fishing.

Making a spear took the better half of the day. Finding a sturdy stick as the base, peeling jungle vine and braiding it for twine. And the most tedious part of all was breaking a small rock into a sharp point. Finally tying the two components together tightly. By the time the finished product was complete, Ren was satisfied.

[Identifying...complete]

[Basic Spear:

+ 2 meter reach

{Crafted by ????}]

[Sign creation? {Yes,No}.]

"Yes"

[Attaching signature...complete]

[Sign creations by default? {Yes, No}]

"Sure". Ren was proud of his work. If anyone ever had the chance to admire it, he wouldn't mind a little recognition. It fed what little vanity he had left.

Ren spent the next two days attempting to spear a fish. There were many in the pool created by the waterfall, but the technique was not easy. By the end of those two days, and after a lot of tears he finally succeeded in spearing his first fish.

[New skill learned: Thrust]

[Thrust - deal additional piercing damage. Proficiency : low]

"Why tell me what I already know? Of course I learned how to 'thrust' a spear."

[Skills can be activated by the System, guiding the movements of the host to further improvement until mastery.]

"Huh, neat. How do I activate it?"

[To activate a skill, the host must focus on which skill he would like to perform.]

"Got it."

Ren focused and thought about the thrust motion he had been practicing to fish.

As his body moved he began to see faint red lines, outlining the necessary motion to complete the thrust. He also felt a clarity he hadn't before with the motion, as if it wasn't him guiding his arms to thrust.

'Much less effort than before' Ren thought. Pleased with the result.

Ren's successful fishing rate increased dramatically after learning the skill. By the end of the day he had caught 7 fish, a feast!

Ren cooked his prize inside the dimensional space and ate until his stomach was content. After eating 5 of them he couldn't continue.

"What a waste" Ren sighed. He didn't know how to keep the food from spoiling, a danger he had been taught about from his mother.

Once again the system came to his rescue.

[Energy detected. Would you like to convert {cooked fish} into energy? {Yes, No}. Energy amount detected: 0.5]

"2 fish for 1 energy point? Yes!"

[Converting...conversion successful]

Ren watched as the extra fish he had caught turned into a fine, sparsely dust before disappearing into the air.

"I'll collect energy and make this place a safe haven!" Ren cheered. "Bring it on Grinner, you got nothing on this!"

***

The weeks passed quickly.

Each day Ren would fish all day, eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, and sleep when tired. Doing that had got him about 78 excess energy points.

And an additional 6 from the connection points 'kinetic energy', whatever that was.

In all honesty, Ren was surprised there were so many fish in the pond. Was their reproductive rate that high?

All together this brought Ren's total energy to 85, a sizable amount.

Aside from that, Ren's negative status effects {Injured, Mental Strain, and Emotional Strain} had finally disappeared.