I run through the forest, hidden from the view of everything that may be here. The quietness is oddly comforting but anxiety inducing at the same time… it doesn’t feel natural, but what isn’t when we are talking about a dungeon?

Wandering around in the forest, I look for something that catches my attention. I have a whole new area to explore and new monsters to fight! I have to train and level, to make this sudden desire satiated. Challenges and battles!

I activate [Stealth] and slowly make my way through the forest, experimenting with my flames as I go. I don’t know what creatures wander through this forest, and I’m bored. I make random shapes with my flames, creating and destroying figures and objects. The amulet is silent. Maybe it is tired from the rant earlier? I shrug. I’ll ask it later.

Thinking about it, this forest is quite good to train… and level, probably? If I can find some monsters to kill, then sure, if not… then I’ll focus on my skills. And get some more, probably? I faintly remember that having a ‘build’ in mind while creating your… fighting style? Is good for the long run… But how?

I ponder over that question. [Memories] has some faint ideas, but it's nothing concrete yet… Meh, I’ll keep that in mind.

Through the forest I walk, with only my thoughts and an unresponsive necklace

…

I stop after a few hours.

In front of me is a clearing with a really tall tree in the centre. Its trunk, so majestic as it is, catches my attention, its leaves changing between black and white. The grey sun shines through the canopy, shadows moving and swaying over the sudden wind. Small animals silently move around in the ground, air, branches, and inside the tree, many being calling the gigantic tree home.

Everything has the same colour. I feel out of place here, vulnerable. I quickly hide myself in a bush near me, and dim my flames even more. Blending in is what I want to do here… I don’t know if there are any monsters here.

I observe the scene, unknowingly relaxing while watching it. Its… nice. I want to make part of something like that one day. Just somewhere calm where I relax and rest, letting my thoughts wander.

I sigh. This is a thought for the future. For now… I need to find somewhere isolated, and even more safe… [Danger Sense] is slowly starting to act up...

I carefully exit the bush and make my way out of the clearing, towards a random direction.

Let’s find that place, shall we?

...

I found a cave after some time.

It’s entrance is covered in grey vegetation, with all manners of plants and trees taking roots on its surroundings. The entrance is partially covered with a big root, but it isn’t big enough to bar me from the passage beyond. A soft glow emanates from deep inside the cave.

I observe the surroundings, looking for anything that could be suspicious. When nothing happens, I’m assured that the area is somewhat safe. This cave is promising, perhaps it can be my shelter for some time?

I pass through the roots, taking care to not touch everything. Who knows what these roots could be as well. The inside of the cave is somewhat underwhelming at first, with grey stone and some cracks in it. The glow is slightly stronger, however.

As I walk, I notice that everything started to change slowly. Small mushrooms started to sprout, moss and smaller plants, all painted in shades of black and white. The light that emanates from my feathers, and the soft glow deeper in the cave let me see it happening.

More and more changes, the mushrooms growing and towering over me, crystals appearing on the ceiling and parts of the walls, and finally… I reach the source of the light. It takes my breath away when I see it.

A cavern, with so many plants, animals, bugs, light, crystals, and more greet my vision. White light illuminates the cavern, lighting up everything in the scene. The light comes from a big crystal at the centre of the ceiling.

Tall mushrooms, taller than common trees. Bushes with grey berries hidden inside. Bugs, moles, worms, birds, and many more creatures mingle around, doing their own things in the ecosystem. Crystals litter the ceiling, reflecting the main light of its elder.

It is beautiful.

I blink after watching the scene for some minutes. It was… overwhelming. I wasn’t expecting this at all! But… I think I found my shelter. I only need to find a more isolated spot where I won’t be disturbed by any creatures…

I search for a place like that while slowly walking around, taking my time observing and enjoying the surroundings. I take everything that I can see and engrave it in my memory. Its one of the first sights that took my breath away in this world… wait, world? So… I’m really not from this world, originally… Good to know.

I walk, and finally find a good spot. Isolated, calm, silent. No creatures come close to it. It’s a small cave, but big enough that I can stand and do things inside of it. Comfortable as well, enough so that I can sleep. Perfect!

I lay down to rest. I’m quite tired after all of this. I close my eyes and simply let myself be. Listening to the almost imperceptible sounds that the countless creatures here make.

Sleep slowly comes, and I just give in to it. Sleep is important, and with what I want to do next… I’ll need rest. As much of it I can get.

Sleep comes, and I give in.

…

Yawn… Already?

I still feel tired… Sigh. Get up, I guess.

I slowly open my eyes, still sleepy after resting for some time. I observe the inside of the cave. Nothing changed… I hear a bush hustling some distance from me, and search from where the noise came.

A small beetle-like bug calmly eats the grey berries that the bush produces, its chitin being the same colour as everything else. It doesn’t notice me, but I can see it. Wait, how did it make enough of a noise to wake me up? It 's just a bug-

It jumps between bushes, and the sound I heard before repeats itself. The beetle lands and starts to eat another berry. This time from a different bush.

This is… different. Now I know what made the noise. I sigh. Time to do things, then.

I exit the cave, and stand there, pondering on what to do first.

Hm… Maybe? I glance at the ‘skills’ part of my status.

-

Skills: [Dodge V], [Charge V], [Bash III], [Poison Resistance I], [Stealth III], [Meditation V], [Mana Resistance IV], [Pain Resistance V], [Mana Manipulation V], [Danger Sense V], [Mana Control V], [Mana Shaping V], [Mana Efficiency III], [Mana Compression I], [Overcharge I], [Fire Manipulation I]

-

Some skills to work on, it seems. Maybe the mana related ones first? Sounds good. And… getting new ones, after that? I want to fly still, a skill like that could exist as well… Good! I have a basic plan of action now.

Firstly… Can I change parts of my status? As in, numbers or the order the skills are shown? Something that I’ll test later. But now.. reach the cap with the mana related ones.

I conjure flames in front of me, formless for now, in an idle state. I use both [Mana Efficiency] and [Mana Compression] at the same time. The first consists in using less mana to achieve the same effect; for example, creating a fireball with less mana than it would cost otherwise; and the latter is about compressing that mana, to achieve various effects.

My flames converge and compress, turning more solid as time passes. I use as little mana as possible, using just enough to reach the effect I want to see. It compressed, and suddenly stopped. The results are quite interesting.

A ball of bluish-black flames is in front of me, compressed and solid. It shines with its own light, illuminating the surrounding. I can feel the heat emanating from it, and I notice it is slowly melting the ground I put it on. This is… nice. Can I change its shape as well?

I control the flames and shape it into a different form, into one of a small nail. I feel that it is appropriate here, a small form. I used almost no mana to do the change, and it comes easily for me. Nice! No mana was wasted, and I have a small glowing nail in front of me, made of… starfire? Let 's call it that.

So… maybe I can control the flames without using mana? I have [Fire Manipulation], after all. I try to move the nail using only my skill, but it seems to need mana as well. But, what is the difference between [Mana Manipulation] and that one? Reduced cost or something like that? I shrug. I don’t know… using mana with that skill, then.

I do so, and bring the nail out of the molten ground it is in. Levitation! I start to slowly move it left and right, above and below. It’s quite easy, but hard at the same time. I don’t know why, though. As I continue moving the nail in various directions, I notice small particles of dust falling from the nail, a sparkly bluish-black powder with random white spots reach the ground and burn it. This is new… I’ll name it Stardust, for now.

I can feel my mana being drained quite fast now while I levitate the nail. Maybe this wasn’t the way the skill was intended to be used? I stop manipulating the nail when it reaches a point I consider risky. I don’t want to be without mana, after all. The nail dissipates and turns into dust, which then falls into the ground and scorches it.

This Stardust… is really new. Or is it not? I never noticed it before, though... And wow, this took quite a lot of mana. I never felt this spent before… Meditation time then, as I have more things to test.

I close my eyes and breathe deeply. In. Out. In. Out. I repeat the motion I’ve grown used to after days of using the skill. It became easier to enter the state of mind to use it, and to connect to my river of mana. As I do, I remember that this is the first time I use [Meditation] after evolving… maybe something changed? I open my eyes inside the river, and a glowing cosmos of uncountable stars is what I see.

Wow… It is certainly different. And much more beautiful as well.. I breathe deeper. Ok, focus. I don’t pay attention to the cosmos and just let my mana regenerate, the cosmic river flowing into me. When I feel that the amount of mana I have is high enough to be safe to do anything, I stop with the meditation and exit the cosmos.

I open my eyes again, ready to continue testing more things.

Now… what to do? See what I can do with that Stardust? Or… Finally think about what I want to do in the future? What I seek in this world.

I want to… Explore this world, find more challenges and get stronger. It's a feeling that I discovered after fighting that cloud-like being, Skyla, and I know it is an important part of who I am. Or who I was before.

I also want to find who this person in my memories is, the only one I can remember somewhat vividly. To help the one inside the amulet to find its vengeance, if it helps me.

And to do all that… I need to get stronger. Stronger, so that I may find the answers that I desperately seek.