[6 units of Energy obtained]

[48 additional units of Energy required for Core Formation]

Nate smiled as he reviewed the notification from the last beast core. He was pleased with the progress. The ten beast cores had netted him a total of 39 units of energy. He still didn’t know what core formation was exactly, but he had a feeling it would be something good.

With the energy from the beast cores absorbed, Nate began to make some plans. This cave would be an awesome home, but there was one issue still remaining, the thorns. His food supplies were almost done and he didn’t have any access to water. He would have to go back through the thorny bushes if he wanted to use this place as a home. Nate sighed and walked back toward the mouth of the cave.

***************************************

Nate sat at the cave exit with his eyes fixed on the poisonous plants that offered no route for his escape from the cave without exposure to the thorns. He had been sitting like this for a while trying to develop the nerve to go through with a necessary test of the poison. The potential protection that the cave offered was just as equal to the danger of this exit. He pulled up his stats to look again just to check to see if he had missed something.

[Poison Resistance (Passive)(Level 40)(Exp. 12/4000]

“I guess there is only one way,” Nate said as he reached forward and poked his hand on one of the bushes. The prickle of mild pain was quickly followed by a system alert.

[You have been affected by ‘Poisoned’ status]

[All physical and mental stats have been reduced. Vision impaired.]

The thorn didn’t offer much more than a slight sting, but the blurred vision and slight feeling of weakness and blurred vision came almost immediately. He knew he had survived this poison once before, so the lack of notification of class bonuses did not surprise him. Pulling up his user interface, he only noticed a small amount of experience toward the skill and practically no reduction in stats. He was losing about 2 stat points in each stat.

Previously, he had just been hoping for survival and hadn’t had the chance to do any in-depth analysis of the actual poison’s effects on his body. Now he had time to really assess the situation.

“No health is lost now due to the resistance level, but the vision and stat reduction aren’t going to be good if I really get in a bind,” Nate thought.

The minimal effects of the poison weren’t life-threatening by itself anymore but Nate knew that the slight impairment to his vision and stats could be the death of him if he encountered a beast.

So he sat around enduring the effects of the poison until they faded.

“That took way too long,” Nate said to himself. He had sat for three hours until the poison statue was removed. He did manage to gain another level in poison resistance though. Three hours was a serious amount of time to lose for just coming and going out of the cave.

“I wonder if the effects will continue to decrease if I keep leveling up the resistance,” Nate contemplated.

However, his plan soon hit a roadblock. His next cycle with poisoning himself with the thorns didn’t give him any resistance levels at all but he still ended up with blurry vision and decreased stats for the next three hours.

“Well fuck,” Nate said in disappointment. He sat looking at the blockage once more. Little red berries were on the same branches as the thorns. If the thorns no longer work then maybe the berries would.

“Jackass,” Nate verbally accosted himself for the thought. A good way to die.

Nate's idea may have been idiotic but he wasn't stupid enough to completely dismiss it. It would have been nice to get a stat point in Wisdom to confirm.

Nate reached forward cautiously and touched one of the berries. He then plucked a berry off the bush and brought it to him for a look over. At least the skin of the berry isn’t poisonous.

Taking out his knife, Nate sat down the berry on a nearby stone and began dissecting it. The knife cut into the berry and a green ooze started to come out from inside. The knife hit something solid at the berry’s center and slid to the side. Nate looked at the mess atop the small stone then dabbed his finger on some of the berry juice that had escaped.

[You have been affected by ‘Poisoned’ status]

[All physical and mental stats have been reduced by 40%. Vision impaired.]

[Your health will decline at a rate of 2 for every minute until ‘Poisoned’ status removed]

[Health: 108/110]

“Shit,” Nate cursed as he realized he made a mistake. Before he could even finish cursing, his vision went completely dark. He couldn’t see a single thing this time.

[‘Poison Resistance’ has increased to Level 41]

[Health: 106/110]

[Health: 104/110]

[Health: 102/110]

[‘Poison Resistance’ has increased to Level 42]

Nate stumbled to get up and move back further inside the cave. Even though the thorny bushes offered protection, he didn’t want to continue sitting out in the open without being able to see.

After a few minutes of tripping and making his way inside, he found a corner of the cave interior and sat down. He had no other option but to try to just ride this one out.

*******************************

[Health: 28/110]

[‘Poison Resistance’ has increased to Level 50]

[The skill ‘Poison Resistance’ has evolved into the skill ‘Poison Immunity’]

As his vision cleared, the few levels in [Dark Vision] that he had just gained showed their benefit right away. The dark cave was much more illuminated than before.

[Poison Immunity (Passive)(Level 1)(Exp. 2/100)]

Nate’s vision was fully restored following the system alert. The brightness of the sun after being in complete darkness for hours was startling. But Nate’s mind was only on his skill evolution. He immediately pulled up the skill information.

[Poison Immunity is a passive skill that allows the user to resist all effects of weak and moderate poisons. Poison effects of strong poisons are decreased by a quarter.]

“Guess I don’t have to worry about the bushes anymore,” Nate chuckled to himself, “That sure was convenient”.

In a good mood because of his new skill, Nate pulled up his user interface to check his progress.

—————————————————

Name: Nathaniel Redsun

Level: 9 (Exp. 980/900)

Health: 28/110

Energy: 32/0

Primary Class: Calm Survivor (Level 10)

Class Skills:

Survivor’s Need (Passive) (Level 10)

Survivor’s Awareness (Passive) (Level 7)

Survivor’s Resistance (Passive) (Level 13)

Secondary Class: None

Stats:

Speed: 12 Agility: 12

Stamina: 20 Strength: 13

Intelligence: 18 Perception: 22

Wisdom: 18 Will: 22

Stat Points Available: 10

General Skills:

Silent Presence (Passive) (Level 6)

Dark Vision (Passive)(Level 17)

Pain Resistance (Passive)(Level 15)

Bleeding Resistance (Passive)(Level 2)

Infection Resistance (Passive)(Level 6)

Poison Immunity (Passive)(Level 1)

Burn Resistance (Passive)(Level 1)

Fear Resistance (Passive)(Level 11)

Archer’s Sight (Passive)(Level 11)

————————————————

“Oh, I even have some stat points still available too,” Nate said to himself, “I guess I’ll go ahead and use those now too.”

Looking back over his stats, he decided to put most of his stat points into his physical attributes. His thought behind this move was expected need to hunt for more beast core. Any physical improvement offered better safety when facing beasts.

His physical stats had been lagging behind, so it was time to bring them up. Nate pulled up his user interface after distributing the available stat points to bring up his speed and agility to 15 and his strength up to 17.

He paused before making his way down the interface to confirm his stats. He hadn’t noticed it the first time, but his experience points had exceeded what he needed to level up. However, he hadn’t leveled up.

What the hell. A feeling of frustration overwhelmed Nate. Since the moment he awoke the system, he had always felt lacking in knowledge. He had only been taught basic information in his time in the city so everything he knew had been pieced together. He was on a journey without of map. He didn’t know if what he was experiencing was normal or unique, right or wrong, beneficial or hurtful. He didn’t know anything.

Nate continued to sit with numerous thoughts running through his head, but eventually just pushed everything aside to get about the next task. If he didn’t know what to do, he would just proceed forward with his best guess. That was all he could really do anyway. If something bad happened because of him taking the wrong path, then so be it.

“Maybe this has something to do with core formation?,” Nate said out loud as he tried calmed himself down, “Or maybe Level 10 is a milestone of some sort. Maybe I need to meet some requirements to move through the restriction. Honestly, I do not know, but I can keep getting energy from beast cores to see what would happen. I should just continue on since I have a feeling something big will happen when I form a core. Maybe not, it could kill me”

Nate continued rambling on and on to himself until a random system alert brought him out of the self conversation.

[A skill, ‘Duality’, has been created]

[‘Duality’ has increased to Level 1]

The system alert was followed by intense pain in his head. It felt like something was splitting his brain in half. Nate scratched at his scalp. It felt like something was going to burst out of his skull. Nate passed out on the floor of the cave.

“Damn,” Nate cursed as he woke up face down on the cave floor. He had dust and cave dirt all in his mouth.

“What was that all about?” Nate spoke with his voice echoing in the cave.

New skill. The thought echoed in his mind. But it did not feel like his own thought though. It felt alien.

Despite the creepy feeling, Nate went with the thought and pulled up his skill menu to look at the new skill.

[Duality is a passive skill that allows the user to develop two separate conscious entities within the user’s brain. Dual conscious development at 10% completion]

“Wow,” Nate said after reading. This was just too much for one day. Two new skills, a new home, and almost dying, twice. His overwhelmed feeling just continued to increase.

Rest. Again with another alien thought. Nate didn’t like the feeling, but he subconsciously seemed to agree. He was mentally exhausted and he felt it.

With nothing else to do, Nate picked himself up and made his way back into the cave interior. Although he had been incapacitated several times in the cave already, he needed to make a place to rest that was a little more secure to put his mind at ease.

In the rear of the cave, Nate found a little alcove on the cave wall that was off the ground and a little larger than his body. The place looked perfect for a resting spot. Using his hands to sweep off the dust, Nate arranged things to make the little ledge more comfortable. He then climbed in and lay down.

Laying on his side looking out over the dimly lit cave, Nate felt a little comfort in the fact that he found a home. What little comfort he had disappeared, when a stray foreign thought hit him. Home.