The spirit was fine with staying in its cave. The cave would do the work for it and follow after the things.

Sure enough, the cave went up and then towards the other things. They were making "loud noises" and "shouting" at some other things. The new things looked very strange. They were lots "bones," like what moving things turned into when they stopped moving and what the things it stayed with sometimes "chewed" on.

The only difference was that these bones were moving, and it seemed to recall seeing such bones before too. It hated them, because they kept confusing it. Other bones didn't move. They just stayed there. It was pretty sure it would have remembered seeing bones getting up and moving if it had happened before. Whatever the reason these bones were moving. And fighting the things it was with. The things angrily swung their arms or clubs around and made the bones make crunch sounds. If they got hit in the place with small glowey things then they stopped moving.

The spirit could afford to relax as it watched the bones and things fight each other, because its cave was very useful. The arms attached to it swung around and smashed the bones easily. The things were "winning" and the spirit was developing a taste for fighting (even if it was just watching), as the crunch noises were very fun to listen to. That all changed when the sun attacked.

Then the boom from before happened and suddenly there were things and bones going up and then down, making the expected crunch noises but also snap's and even splat's. Happily it glowed and turned to look at the weird bones that had somehow made the sun become and then boomed the things and other bones. Though it wondered why the bones would boom the other bones, they were together weren't they? When things were together they were supposed to...be together right? The things it was with hit each other but didn't do that.

Also, the sun was up, so how had it come down? It didn't have time to continue that thought anymore, because all of a sudden its cave went towards the weird bones! Was the cave dumb? It had had many caves over, and the first time it changed it had decided, but after that one of the things apparently became a "shaman" and moved it to a new cave when the old one stopped moving. It could move itself, but why bother? It had a good spot to watch and listen, and the caves were generally very good at not becoming dead.

Now this cave was going to fight the weird bones? It was pretty sure the cave would becomed dead when it tried to fight the sun. And-the sun! It was coming! It wanted to move far away from the sun, but the cave went towards it! It was going to die!

XFGHOJLCFGUHKNVGHK!

...?

The...cave was still moving towards the bones? How? The sun had hit the cave...and not made the cave go boom? Well. That changed things. KILL THE BONES! NO BONES OR THINGS TRIED TO KILL IT AND DIDN'T BECOME CRUNCH!

Left right, right left! Hit it with the arms! Make it crunch!

The spirit gleefully watched its cave carrier hit the bones over and over from its perch, until it saw it make a the sun. It was using food to do it! And was going to break its cave! As if it was going to let it waste food like that!

Its gluttony reared its head once again as the spirit flew into the bones and pulled at the food, happily taking it away.

Max Mana +5

The bones raised its hand to hit the cave...and nothing happened. It felt disdain at the way the bones seemed to pause and stare at its hand...right before the cave hit the bones in the head one last time. After the expected crunch it fell.

Level Up +5

What was-

Unnamed Corrupted Spirit Level: 6/10 Species: Corrupt Fragment (G) Affinities: Darkness, Death Age: 627 years Titles: Very Underdeveloped Spirit> Size: 19 lems Status Points: 6 Health Points (HP): NA Mana Points (MP): 19/19 Intelligence 13 Wisdom 11

It stared at the new things. The box was bigger and had more things. But when it wanted to see it felt something whiz through it. Annoyed it turned to look at the disturbance. The cave carrier was trying to grab it. Then again. It could try to navigate the status thing while relaxing in the cave. So it lazily floated back in.

By now the other things had dealt with the bones and were trying to eat them already. As all the things, including its cave carrier, went back into the big cave, the spirit considered several points. The first was that the bones dying had made it more strong. It had heard the things talking about getting stronger like this and now it too had done so. Why had it never gotten a... "level up" before? What was "status points?" Why did status points feel like become strong? They didn't seem to have done anything yet? The "mana points" felt like food. So did that mean how hungry it was? Or how much it could eat? "Intelligence" was...good? So was "wisdom" apparently. That left "size" and "species." Both made no sense to it. Done. Navigated.

Step 3: Check Skills

Check skills? How was it supposed to do that? There wasn't any "skills" box. How confusing.

It decided to look around, and saw that without it noticing the things had moved again. Now they were eating some other things. They had four "legs." The things it was with only had two. Were its things worse? But then those eaten things didn't have arms. And were dead. Its things were better then.

Now that it thinked it. Why was it that these things killing things didn't make it level up again? Did it have to eat other things for it to work? It had eaten the bones. Kind of. But it had never level up when eating before. Was it because the bones had been moving? Next time, it would try to eat from a moving thing.

Right now, it was wondering what the things were doing. They had moved its cave onto the ground and the cave carrier and other things were...what was the shaman saying - "sacrifice?" Was this bad?

* 36 years later *

The things made a point of doing a sacrifice to its cave everytime they killed other things. Its cave carrier seemed to make a point of it. It had heard it tell the other things to "respect the magic helmet, or else." Respect wasn't food or a thing like it, that much it could tell. Other than that? Did it matter? If it wasn't food or telling it more things it was useless. A "chieftain" was a thing that could tell other things what to do. That it could tell. The cave carrier had been the chieftain and the new chieftain got its cave. Why they were calling it a "magic helmet" or whatever it didn't know. Wasn't it just some random bones it had saw a thing putting on its head once and decided to sit inside? It had had a hole where the bones didn't cover at the top and space inside so it had gone into it. How was it supposed to know it wasn't supposed to go into it! The one time it had left the shaman had come after it with the other things!

Now after that time with the bones it was special. They 'respected' it. The chieftain was always talking to it. About "friends" and "enemies" and...more. It told it "stories." About how there were "blue" "skies" in "distant" "lands," where there was lots of food and none of those "abominations." That there was a thing called a "rift" where the "outsiders" came from. That they invaded" this "world." That its "tribe" had been here before the "calamity" that "tainted" this land. It had learned lots of things from the chieftain, so it wondered if that meant they were friends.

And for the first time it wondered...if it could "talk" too, then would the chieftain tell it more? Would the other things tell it stories too? Would it ever see what a "star" was? Blue?

It looked up, unable to see the sky from the cave. Were there more stories outside? With other things?

Spoiler: Status Unnamed Corrupted Spirit Level: 6/10 Species: Corrupt Fragment (G) Affinities: Darkness, Death Age: 663 years Titles: Very Underdeveloped Spirit> Size: 19 lems Status Points: 6 Health Points (HP): NA Mana Points (MP): 19/19 Intelligence 13 Wisdom 11