When Liam's consciousness floated back to him, he immediately noticed that his entire body was throbbing in pain. The surface pressing against his body was obviously made of stone but the unevenness made him realize he was lying on top of rubble.

In spite of the pain, he opened one eye to see where he was... only to discover he was surrounded by utter darkness.

“Ugh... this sucks...” He said. His voice sounded low and raspy, even compared to normal.

In spite of the pain, he tried to move. As soon as he moved his right arm, a few small stones rolled away from beneath him and tumbled a short distance. He heard them stop only a couple seconds after they rolled away. Based on that, he assumed there was not much danger in simply attempting to sit up.

Carefully, he rose to a seated position. With a sigh, he thought, I've got that flint in my inventory, so hopefully, I can use that to light one of my remaining torches.

The inventory popped into view. Though he did not understand the physics, he could see it in spite of the fact that it did not release any light. Everything around him was still covered in darkness. Either way, he retrieved one of the torches as well as the single piece of flint. He held the torch between his feet while grabbing his dagger from its sheath. Part of him was worried the dagger would not be there, but luckily, it was.

As before, he clacked the blade against the flint, generating a spark. Contrary to his previous attempts at igniting a flame, he exercised far more care with each strike. That being said, he ended up striking the blade and flint together more times than he cared to count before the tufts of pine needles finally caught fire.

Now he could actually see his surroundings. From what he could tell, he was at the bottom of some sort of chasm which was rather unsettling. Had it been underneath the ant den the whole time? Wondering just how far he had actually fallen, he looked upward.

“Holy hell, is that the top?”

Far above, a tiny hint of red light was visible. If the flame was still raging in the cave, then that was probably it. The only thing was: if he had fallen so far, why was he not dead?

Recalling his status showed HP, he opened it. His eyes widened as soon as he saw it.

Status

Name: Liam Foxworth

(Slayer of the Colossal)

Age: 33

Primary Class: Thief (Lv.8)

Species: Human

Lv. 8

Available Classes:

Class Description:

HP

003 / 172

Warrior

Physical melee class

MP

000 / 000

Pyromaniac

Firestarter/Arson

Strength

17(+2)

Dexterity

27

Agility

24

Intelligence

8

Wisdom

16

Charisma

3.1

Luck

2

Available Stat Points:

7

“So much changed. Only 3 HP? No wonder I'm in so much pain... Then there's this pyromaniac thing... I swear this thing is a joke.” Feeling a sharp pain in his left arm, he turned his attention to it. The forearm was purple and swollen. “Guess it's broken. Will my health go back up? I know some games have things like that. Maybe not.”

Shrugging, he sheathed his dagger and stood precariously on the pile of rubble. He closed his status screen and looked around to see which way he should go. Well, he was not able to see much, but he decided it was better to move than to stay still. Taking careful steps to avoid tripping on loose stone, he made his way to a flat area with fewer stones or rubble. From there, he only had two choices. He could go forward into the unknown or go back into the other unknown.

With the torch in his unbroken right hand, he ambled forward. He took a few steps and...

{Rumble}

...His stomach growled.

“Ugh... guess I need to find some food. I've got water, so I will probably be fine for a few days, but after that I'm screwed.”

Ignoring his empty stomach, he trudged onward through the dark unknown. Gray and brown limestone surrounded him on all sides. The air was damp and stuffy. As he continued, the walls and ceiling closed in until he could touch all three by reaching out with one arm. Then it widened again. Then it narrowed until he could barely squeeze through by turning sideways.

While forcing himself through the narrow opening, he noticed movement at the edge of where his torch lit up. He stopped moving. That better not have been another giant insect... he thought.

Since he would eventually have to proceed, anyway, he forced himself to the end of the narrow stretch and into a larger chamber at the other end. He warily waved his torch back and forth before moving forward.

One step later, while distracted by the thought of creepy crawlies, his foot plunked in a puddle. Good thing it was shallow. However, he followed the puddle with his eyes and realized it spread all over the chamber. It was not a puddle but a shallow pool. Minor bumps and hills of stone poked out of the surface sporadically.

Now that he was aware of the fact that water was everywhere, he decided it would be prudent to be more careful with his steps. After all, a deep hole could hide in water much easier than on dry ground. There really were a lot of things to keep an eye out for.

Right when he was about to resume exploring, a sudden movement on the wall to his right caught his attention. Shining his torch in that direction revealed a horrid insect-like creature at least twenty centimeters in length. The thin appearance reminded Liam of centipedes, but this one had hundreds of legs similar to a cellar spider's.

Liam did not hesitate to switch the torch to his injured left hand in order to whip out his dagger. He darted toward the insect and stabbed it without remorse. The increased agility from leveling up multiple times was very evident, for the thing had zero chance of escape from the quick jab.

You have slain Cave Centipede!

Earned 27 exp.

Although the experience was negligible, the satisfaction of ending the life of a hideous insect filled Liam with relief. If insects ceased to exist he would have no complaints. Leaving the dead centipede where it fell, he resumed his trek through the unknown.

Soft splashes echoed off the walls as he sauntered further into the cave. Hopes of finding a river to follow upstream swam around in his mind. Although he had no idea whether or not that was proper procedure for escaping from a cave, it was the only possible thing he could imagine showing the way to the surface.

For a while. the cave did not change much. Water droplets dripped from stalactites into the shallow pool below. His feet made ripples to clash with the ones generated by the water droplets. All was calm. One might even say it was serene.

However, Liam thought he heard something in the distance. Though almost inaudible at first, the sound gradually increased in volume with each step. It was the sound of running water. To him, it was a sound of hope.

Speeding up his steps, yet maintaining caution, he trotted onward. Not much later, and he found himself looking over a ravine. However, he was very close to the bottom.

Water from the shallow pool dribbled over a hill of stones and connected to an underground river that cut through the ravine. Off to the side of the water, he saw a strange creature that looked like a lizard. Its skin was completely white and it had no eyes. Four pink, coral-shaped antennae sprouted from the back of its head. Before long, it skittered into a small hole in the wall. Based on its actions, it was probably a benign animal that could not cause harm. However, its existence indicated there was some type of ecosystem within the caves. The centipede was also an indicator, but Liam had been more focused on killing it than observing what finding it actually entailed.

While thinking about what kinds of creatures might exist in a cave deep within a fantasy world, he searched for a safe way to climb down to the ravine floor a few meters below. No matter what conclusion he came to, he was definitely going to have to get his feet wet.