Alan did his best to run for cover as the Mana drained from the air and into the earth below.

It started with a deep rumbling, the cavern itself seemed to ripple, a wave passing through the rock. Even the unstoppable violence of the warriors below seemed to pause momentarily as the ripple passed. There was a sudden stillness in the chaos.

Then the world exploded.

Rock rose up from every part of the caves, spraying outward in a torrent of flashing rubble, tearing through flesh and bone. The brood-warriors unfroze and continued to fight through the flood of rock and gravel, somehow appearing even more brutal than before as they ignored the buckling of the earth and the speeding projectiles that flew through the air around them. The ground moved and swayed violently beneath Alan's feet. He struggled to stay upright and suddenly [Sense] caught a sharp flash of movement in the surface below him. It was too sudden, he had no time. He dove just as the land exploded below him, right where he had been standing just a moment before. A deafening blast roared in his ears, and his body was thrown from his perch into the turmoil of rocks and lizards and death below.

He landed hard against the ground in the midst of the battle. His SP shot downwards absorbing the damage through [Sustain]. He flashed [Sense] outwards immediately while he picked himself up and shook his head trying to clear the ringing in his ears.

Madness all around him. The battle between the hulking masses of reptile warriors had reached a fevered pitch. Lizards tore each other limb from limb, using clubs and claws and teeth in a celebration of violence. Some of the warriors rode upon a type of lizard Alan had never observed before. A giant yet thin creature with massive fangs jutting out of its lower jaw. It plowed through the fighting, whipping its tail and crushing its opponents. [Sense] showed one of the things chewing its enemies alive as smashed other warriors with its heavy claws.

Through it all the earth continued to shake, fissures opening up in the ground, debris spilling from the ceiling. There was no order to the fight. No reason. No sanity.

Alan didn't bother with reason, he ran. Lizard warriors clashed in and out of his [Sense] range, and he single-mindedly bolted for the door trying to avoid being trampled and crushed to death. His hearing still seemed hazy from the explosion before, but he didn't have time to think. Rocks and boulders shot out all around him and pounded against his head, his body, his legs. Before this whole experience would have been an immediate death sentence, but now aside from unbalancing him, Alan was mostly able to ignore the damage with [Sustain] as he watched his SP sink dangerously low. It was at 113/690. Fear powered his movements, and he scrambled through the madness to escape.

This was easily the most dangerous situation he had found himself in, in a long time. Perhaps ever. If his SP hit zero, he was dead. He needed to get out NOW.

He allocated 33 Points, it was everything he had left.

It was do or die. 10 Points to Dexterity to help him move through the swirling chaos of rock and violence. 13 Points to Vitality to increase his SP count and let [Sustain] keep him from being viciously injured. And lastly, he wasn't sure it was the best decision, but even if it was mostly useless later on, the nature of his first Luck allocation had saved his life, so he threw 10 Points into Luck.

In the insanity around him, the world seemed to pulse once as his three allocations hit him. It was the first time he had allocated into different Stats at the same time, and it sent a very physical jolt through his spine that felt like lightning. It was an almost euphoric shock to his senses and reality.

The combined effects strengthed him, balanced him, and gave him an instinctual confidence in the world around him all at once.

He ducked the lightning-fast swing of an approaching brood warrior just as the ground surged beneath the two of them, throwing the creature high into the air and threatening to knock Alan over in the pitch of battle. His Dexterity saved him as he shifted his left foot behind himself, twisting his body and landing upright upon the billowing ground. As he landed, he shifted his feet again, spinning towards the door just as a different warrior stabbed a crude spear through his ribs. The attack pierced deeply, but Alan moved with it, quickly kicking the weapon out, his SP plummet to 30/885 in the process. Thanks to his new Vitality allocation and [Sustain], the attack left no wound.

He sidestepped the next spear thrust as the brood-warrior continued to barrel towards him. The warrior quickly closed the gap. [Sense] showed a mass of teeth and muscle suddenly materialize next to him, threatening to rend him apart. Alan somehow felt his next action before he took it and launched his body low to the ground just as a massive slab of rock flew through the air above him, pulverizing the attacking warrior and anything else that happened to be in its path. A burst of wind following in the wake of the stone blew above him in a bloody mist, and Alan immediately sprang back up into it and continued his mad dash for the door.

It was pandemonium, and madness, and destruction. Alan weaved and ducked and sped through it all. Rock and teeth, blood and death, and so much noise as the earth continued its violent upheaval. His SP hit 0, and suddenly overpowering exhaustion hit him, almost causing him to stumble. The millions of pebbles flying through the air suddenly began to leave bloody marks on his body. Still, he wasn't about to give up, and he ignored the smaller injuries and focused on avoiding the more substantial dangers. His adrenaline pumped, his body moved, and his heart beat so fast it seemed to be motionless. The world was a blur, and Alan balanced on it with his life on the line, too focused to fear, too intent to cower.

He spun with the rock that crashed into his side painfully to avoid the worst of the damage. He sidestepped a brutal swing of a club as the terrain tilted and threw him near two brood warriors that were tearing into each other. He ducked and dashed through a mad melee relying on speed and instinct to carry him through.

He [Sensed] the tail of one of the monstrous lizard creatures coming at him at an impossible speed. It was too fast, and he couldn't avoid it. He brought his arm up in a vain attempt to block it. It all happened in an instant. The tail slammed into him. His world was restructured into a jumble of confusion and pain as he was propelled through the air along with several warriors by the sweeping blow. He tumbled onto the ground and felt hard rock tear into his shoulder as he landed.

He teetered for a moment and picked himself up. Or tried to.

Instead, he slipped and fell back down to the earth unbalanced. He almost couldn't process what [Sense] was telling him. The pain of it had not hit him yet. Below his left elbow, the arm he had tried to use to pick himself up, ended in a pulverized mess. He was sure his side had been injured by the attack as well, but he couldn't focus. His arm. He couldn't make sense of it. He screamed.

Still, he could not stop. He picked himself up with his other arm and continued to run. Screaming. The pain which had not been there before came back full force as he processed the injury. But he couldn't focus on it. He couldn't. He was not safe yet. He needed to get out. He screamed. He ran. His MP was running low so he stopped flashing [Sense] and focused entirely on the area around him that did not consume MP. He felt delusional, almost separated from his body. As if he was unrelated with what was going on around him. As if he merely watched some other broken boy careening through a swarm of lizards converged on bloody slaughter.

And just as it seemed it would never stop, as if he would never be free of the brutality of the battle, he was through it. The ground beneath him evened out and stopped convulsing. The worst of the bloodshed between the brood warriors was behind him. It seemed almost calm compared to the thick of the battle, but he was not out yet. Not by a long shot.

He was standing in front of a group of lizard shaman. They must be preventing the earth around them from being overly disrupted as they continued waving their hands in the air. Intent on the Skills they were casting, they had yet to notice a thin dark young man running, unguarded in front of them.

Alan kept moving towards the door behind the shamans. If he stopped, he might never get moving again. He pumped his legs. His concentration was slipping, and exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him. He put everything into running towards the damn door. It was his goal. His purpose. His desire. If he could just reach the door...

He fully expected a shaman to notice him at any moment and to crush him in a wave of earth and stone.

Instead, he ran right by the group unnoticed. The noise and disorder of battle, combined with [Hide] and their lack of sight, must have made him all but invisible to them as he flew past in a flurry of fear and burning desire to survive.

And he was at the door. He was not the only one. The massive door was slightly ajar, revealing a small opening through which several shamans were fleeing. Alan joined them and continued to be ignored as each creature was intent on its own survival. It felt a bit strange to finally reach the object of his study for the last few months and immediately run past it, into whatever waited beyond.

He barely spared it a thought as he ran through it. He didn't want to die.

The moment he passed through the door a cold wind crashed against his body blowing his hair and tattered clothing behind him, finally causing him to stop.

It was cold, and wet, and abrasive. There was suddenly water flowing on the ground below him. The noise from the raging struggle behind him was cut off, and he heard a boom of thunder echo through the cave. He imagined he could see, vaguely making out the hard details of the rock around him. And most of all the smell. A damp, musty, moldy smell. The smell and sound of rain. The sharp yet solid scent of wet earth. It was a sense of being outside.

He collapsed to his knees. A fleeing shaman shoved him from behind frantically as it passed him by, knocking him onto the ground. Waves of pain passed through him unnoticed as he landed on his dead arm. Still, Alan did not move. He could not. His body wouldn't listen any longer, and his mind was overwhelmed. Too much was happening. His MP was too low, so he could not [Sense] outwards. His SP was zero, so he was not protected. His arm was no longer recognizable. His body was past being exhausted.

But he wasn't dead yet.

He concentrated his will and began to crawl haltingly up the tunnel, streams of water flowing around the fingers of his good arm. One handed, he dragged his body onward leaving a trail of blood in his wake. A brilliant flash of light appeared high above, outlining the texture and jagged rock in a moment of detail, soon followed by a crackling rumble that ricocheted into the cave around him.

A storm. Alan was crying. An actual storm.

He continued to struggle upwards, pulling himself over the wet earth.

Each movement hurt. Each centimeter was an achievement. Suddenly a wave of something passed through Alan, causing him to lose consciousness momentarily, but he picked himself up and continued to crawl onward. His good hand slipped against the wet rock, cutting a gash in his palm. Blood mingled with dirt and water on the ground of the empty cave. Alan continued to crawl. To move towards the outside.

He looked up and actually SAW the cave around him. Vague outlines in the darkness shone in his eyes. It was beautiful. It felt wonderful. He was almost outside. He was almost free.

His allocation drawback HIT.

He stood no chance.