Zeke’s eyes fluttered open, and for a brief moment, he thought he was hallucinating. The familiar, yet stark confines of the cavern where he’d fought his most recent life-or-death battle was gone, and in its place was a vibrant ecosystem full of color, light, and life. After a few minutes of adjustment, he noticed landmarks he recognized, though with his heightened senses, they were all but unrecognizable.

The nearby stream was mostly the same, though it gave off a faint, green shimmer, but the mushrooms that had been the other part of the catalyst bore glowing, blue spots scattered along their caps. And that wasn’t all, either. Moss he hadn’t really noticed before gave off a faint, white luminescence as well, bathing the entire cavern in light. But it wasn’t just the visual differences that struck him; rather, the totality of his senses seemed on the verge of being overwhelmed. There was the faint rustling of smaller, previously unnoticed vermin that had come to feed on the corpses of the slain troll larva. A soft circulation of air emanating from one of the nearby exits. A scent of decay that, while not any stronger, felt deeper and more significant than anything Zeke had ever smelled before. He was so overwhelmed that it was a few seconds before he even noticed a slight pinch on his bare ankle.

Zeke looked down to see that a troll larva, smaller than any he’d seen so far, was gnawing on his ankle. Curiously, it couldn’t break his skin, though. Instead, it worried the same bit of skin with its sharp teeth, committed to getting at the meat underneath. With a sharp kick, Zeke sent the vermin-like creature sailing across the cavern to collide with a stalagmite with unprecedented force. It was dead the moment it hit, though Zeke didn’t feel the familiar influx of energy. When he used his identification skill on it, he saw that it was only level one. He must have crossed some sort of threshold when he’d reached level three, and it was now too low to give him experience.

With that realization, any plans of going on a rampage and killing hordes of the creatures in order to farm levels were dashed. Not that it was terribly surprising, of course. Nor was it disappointing. The Framework wanted to challenge its denizens – a sentiment Zeke could certainly get behind. Beating up on weaklings wasn’t a notion Zeke relished. So, for once, he and The Framework were on the same page.

Slowly, Zeke took stock of his body. He still remembered the unbelievable pain he’d experienced after mixing the mushrooms and mana water, and he was horrified that he’d pushed forward, regardless of the clear damage he was doing. It was like he’d completely lost control of his own actions, and that control had been a driving hunger for improvement at any cost. It was as if his every cell screamed for him to keep going, and his mind – and subsequently, his body – had followed suit. Looking back, it was absolutely the wrong choice, even if he’d come out the other side stronger.

But at the same time, he felt better than he ever had in his entire afterlife. The pain was completely gone, and in addition to his improved senses, he felt incredibly fit. More than that, though, the evidence of his poor decision to keep going was entirely gone. He distinctly remembered his jaw actually melting off, but a quick inspection told him that it was still whole. Looking for an explanation, Zeke opened his status page.

Name

Ezekiel Blackwood

Class

n/a

Level

3

Race

Human (G)

Alignment

Isphodel

Achievements

First Blood, Hasty Evolution

Strength

41

Agility

32

Dexterity

26

Endurance

44

Vitality

43

Intelligence

35

Wisdom

33

Unassigned Attribute Points

0

Upon seeing his statistics, Zeke had to do a double-take. Unless he was seeing things – which, given what he’d just gone through, was a distinct possibility – his power had very nearly doubled since the last time he’d looked at his status. While he’d expected a big jump from a couple of stats – namely, vitality, intelligence, and wisdom, due to the mushrooms and mana water, respectively – he hadn’t expected the sharp increase in his other stats. His strength had ballooned, and he hadn’t even gained a level. As he delved into his sub-menus, he soon found out why. First, he had a new achievement:

Hasty Evolution – Endure the Agony of Evolving Your Race Before Level Ten - + 10 to All Stats, +5% to Endurance

For more than a few seconds, Zeke could only stare at the achievement he’d earned. Not only was it confirmation that he had, indeed, evolved his race, but it also told him where most of the extra stats had come from. Ten extra points to every category was incredibly powerful, and that alone was worth almost five levels. On top of that, he’d received a five percent bonus to his endurance. Right now, it only accounted for two extra points, but it could prove very meaningful in the future.

But that didn’t account for everything, because his racial evolution was also the source of a few points on its own.

Human (G): Humans are the most prevalent sentient race in the multi-verse. However, they are afflicted with unrepentant mediocrity. This is both a blessing and a curse, because while they excel at nothing, they are unfettered by attunements or blatant weaknesses. Upgradeable.

In the sub-menu below that, his racial characteristics were broken down into two categories.

Body (G): Determines physical limitations. + 3 Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, and Vitality Per Level. Upgradeable.

Soul (G): Determines spiritual limitations. + 3 Intelligence, Wisdom Per Level. Upgradeable.

Zeke was floored by how much he’d improved. Even if he hadn’t gotten a title for improving his race at such an early level, he would’ve been ecstatic with the benefits of the evolution alone. Not only did it obviously improve his senses, but it also provided raw stats. But was that the limit? It was difficult to tell, even after he tried to test things out. The massive influx of stats skewed his perception, but he suspected that it wasn’t solely responsible for how much better he felt. Clearly, the racial evolution was more than just an increase in stats.

However, Zeke didn’t have time to rest; despite his obvious strides toward greater power, he was still stranded deep within enemy territory, and he knew that, even with his increased stats, it wouldn’t be an easy task to escape the troll-infested caves. After all, if there were larva here, then it stood to reason that adults wouldn’t be far away. And after seeing how vicious the infants could be, Zeke had little desire to face a full-grown troll, even if he knew that was probably where The Framework was leading him.

So, after limbering up a little, Zeke quickly made his way to one of the cavern’s six exits. Though they were far from uniform, the exits shared certain characteristics. First among those was that they all led gradually upwards, just like the passage from which he’d come. Even if logic didn’t dictate that he was heading toward the surface, that fact would’ve been hint enough at his eventual goal. In addition to the grade, their sizes weren’t terribly dissimilar, with the biggest, measuring at about nine feet from floor to ceiling, only half-again the size of the smallest. The other’s sizes were scattered within that same range.

It was the differences that Zeke focused on, though – the biggest of which was the airflow. With his increased sensitivity, Zeke could feel a slight current of air emanating from each of the exits, but one was obviously stronger than all the others. And that’s the direction he decisively chose. Soon, he was on his way away from the cavern that had given him so very much.

Unlike his previous trek through the tunnels, Zeke’s newly enhanced senses bombarded him with stimuli. From the subtly glowing mosses to the sounds of insects scurrying away, he was very nearly overwhelmed with too much information. However, it didn’t take him long to learn to filter out the things he didn’t need, pushing them to the background where they didn’t affect the forefront of his mind.

This almost proved deadly when, after almost an entire day’s worth of travel, he found himself at an intersection, where he was confronted by a pair of trolls. Both parties were surprised, because, at first, none of them reacted. Instead, they just stared at one another in confusion. Zeke used [Inspection].

Troll Adolescent – Level Four

It was as he’d suspected the moment he’d laid eyes on the creatures. Both walked on two legs, and though they resembled their younger brethren, they had clearly evolved. Gone were the short, stubby legs, replaced by much longer limbs. They were still small – only about five feet tall, in fact – but their arms were far too long, and they were tipped with lethal claws. Their faces remained much the same, though some small details had changed. Chiefly, the adolescents had tiny, pointed ears on the sides of their heads and a few extra teeth jammed into their mouths.

But most striking was a glimmer of sapience in their eyes. Zeke had no idea how he recognized it, but it was clear in an instant. These creatures weren’t the dumb beasts he’d fought before. They were intelligent life, and judging by the crude clubs they carried, they weren’t about to let him off without a fight.

Time reasserted itself as Zeke sprang into action only a moment before the adolescent trolls raised their clubs. Zeke was on them before they had a chance to further react, his fist erupting with devastating power.

On the surface, Zeke knew how much his stats had improved. His strength had doubled since the last time he’d fought. However, even he was surprised when his fist connected with the first troll’s jaw. In the space of an instant, the lower half of the monster’s face practically disintegrated, sending blood, scaly flesh, and shards of bone rocketing toward the wall. Zeke didn’t stop, though, sending another punch into the creature’s stomach. To his surprise, instead of simply knocking the wind from the troll’s lungs, his broke through the thing’s belly and into its guts, not stopping until it hit the troll’s vertebrae. With a bestial roar, he grabbed ahold of it and yanked as hard as he could, ripping the spine from its body. It was dead in an instant, collapsing into a twitching heap as soon as Zeke let it go.

Barely a second had passed, and already, one of the trolls was down. If the remaining monster had been slightly more intelligent, it would’ve fled while Zeke overwhelmed its comrade. Instead, it could only stare in surprise and horror as Zeke dismantled its companion. That hesitation proved fatal as Zeke soon turned his attention to the unlucky troll, a grin creeping across his blood-spattered face.

Only a handful of seconds later, and he’d taken the remaining threat down. This time, he’d simply collapsed the thing’s skull with a well-aimed punch. As he stood there looking down on his handiwork, Zeke couldn’t help but feel a sense of pleasure. Not that he’d killed intelligent creatures. That part he studiously ignored. Rather, he was more than pleased with the effect of his new stats. Before his racial evolution, his strength had been stuck at twenty-two. It had increased by a fair margin, but it felt like the effect was far greater than the sum of the stats. Perhaps as the stats got higher, they simply meant more. As always, though, he really had no way to know. But what he did know was that his chances of escaping the caves had just greatly improved, which was all he could really ask for.

With the threat tended to, Zeke took stock. He hadn’t been hurt at all, so he didn’t need to rest and recuperate – which was a first for him. He hadn’t even activated his [Leech Strike], which was a mistake that would’ve meant death in any of his previous fights. He’d have to remember it next time, because he wasn’t so naïve that he thought the rest of his journey to the surface would prove so easily conquered.

That in mind, he remembered that the pair of trolls had been armed. After a quick survey of the tunnel, Zeke found a sturdy, wooden club. Standing on its end, the tapered club was nearly as long as its previous wielder was tall, and at its widest end, it was probably seven or eight inches across. Judging by its size, it should’ve been an unwieldy piece of knobby lumber. However, with his vastly increased strength, it almost felt too light. It had a strip of leather from some unidentifiable animal wound around the narrow end to create a grip. It wasn’t exactly a baseball bat, but it still felt familiar nonetheless.

And didn’t Oberon say that he had some sort of proficiency with blunt weapons? He was eager to find out what, precisely, that meant. So, armed as he was, he set off down the tunnel, hunting for more trolls on whom he could test his newfound might.