When he woke, it was obvious that nighttime was on its way. The forest was dimmer, and pale beams of light shone through only at odd angles ahead of him. He looked back to the indicator for mana sickness in his status screen, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Mana Sickness: Duration Remaining: 20 minutes

If he could just survive twenty minutes, his health and stamina would begin to regenerate. He just had to stay away from any enemies for the time being, and try not to exert himself.

There were several other notifications he’d been ignoring on his status screen, so mentally willing it to show unread messages, he saw a new list:

Focus Levelled Up (x2) - Level 3

Mana Vampirism Levelled Up (1) - Level 2

Analyze Levelled Up (1) - Level 2

Staff Specialization Levelled Up (1) - Level 2

And then below those,

Congratulations, you’ve discovered the Staff of Mardun’s second ability, Life Drain!

Life Drain (Mardun): Draw the life-force directly from your opponent, absorbing a small amount for yourself. Intelligence increases the amount of life drained from an opponent. Wisdom and vitality increase your ability to absorb the life force into yourself.

Congratulations, you’ve unlocked a skill: Staff Specialization!

Staff Specialization: A staff fighter knows that the ability of his body and mind are only as powerful as the abilities of the conduit they rely on.

You’ve completed your challenge Skillful.

You’ve unlocked the class, Magical Hopeful.

You’ve received one FP for Willpower.

This is just too much. Am I seriously getting level up notifications? Fighting imp squirrels and trying to endure mana poisoning? Great news: I get to live the dream for the day and a half before I die of thirst, starvation, or exposure because there is literally no civilization here. Wonderful. Fantastic.

He pulled up his full stats for good measure, hoping to wait out the mana sickness and stamina regen timer.

Mason Nevels:

Magical Hopeful

Health: 18/20 (1/hr) (Affected by Mana Sickness)

Mana: 0/20 (0/hr)

Mana (Mardun): 0/20

Stamina: 0/20 (1/min) (Affected by Mana Sickness)

Strength: 2 (+3)

Agility: 2 (+3)

Intelligence: 2 (+3)

Willpower: 1 (+4)

Vitality: 1 (+4)

Endurance: 2 (+3)

Creativity: 3 (+4)

Skills: Equip (5), Focus (3), Analyze (2), Mana Vampirism (2), Life Drain (1), Staff Specialization (2)

Magical Hopeful? I guess that about sums it up. I’d like to cast spells, but can’t.

Alright, so what’s going on with my stats… He wondered. He braced himself for another wave of pain, and then channeled Focus and Analyze.

He saw red, and this time his brain felt like it was on fire. There was no question that he couldn’t risk doing that again until he was rested up.

But when he made it through the pain, he saw a new notification.

Your human physiology is still adapting to this world. Focus Points have not been properly integrated into your physique. [Higher levels of Analyze will reveal more information about this process]

“Well… that explains a lot. No wonder I can’t use mana yet. Hopefully this process is quick,” he muttered, sitting up and leaning back against his tree.

Mason waited it out, fighting every temptation to use analyze to reveal more information, and trying not to obsessively watch the counter on his mana sickness. Eventually it passed, and as his stamina ticked up ever-so-slowly, he felt a little strength return to him, and could even feel the myriad cuts and scratches on his body begin to hold together a little better.

He stood up, lifting his staff at his side and trudging on. He tried to listen for the sounds of running water as he walked, and tried to be careful not to engage any more enemies, but as the daylight dimmed his options became increasingly sparse.

His stamina was ticking up slowly, and was nearing its maximum value of 20, so when he finally made it to a section of woods that wasn’t completely overgrown, he began running. Though he was still stiff, and still sore, he impressed himself with how light he felt. Casting a portion of his attention at his stamina, he saw that it was now draining at a rate of a point a minute.

That means I can run for twenty minutes straight. Well, that’s a noticeable improvement.

He ran for ten, covering enough distance to have almost zero idea of where he was in relation to where he started. That didn’t matter though since he was more concerned about finding some place to shelter and resupply than staying put. He hadn’t found anything of the sort, but he was lucky to not have been attacked either. His health had risen to 19, but his stamina was down to 10, and he really wasn’t sure he could endure mana sickness twice in one day.

Okay, I need to try something else, he thought, stopping suddenly and looking around at the dimly lit forest all around. With a deep breath, he channeled focus, and looked and listened as closely as he could to everything that was around him. The darkness somehow seemed lighter, and in the far off distance he heard the faintest sound of running water.

He started walking in that direction, holding his focus for the additional low light vision it gave him, before his head nearly split in two from pain. He dropped focus and the pain went away, but when he checked his stamina it was completely empty.

Focus levelled up (1) - Level 4

Mixed blessings, I guess. It looks like focus drains my stamina fairly quickly. I really need to figure out how to make those focus points work for me.

At the very least though, Mason had heard the water. He began picking his way there delicately in the darkness, using his staff to guide him and gauge for danger or uneven footing.

He heard it better than he could see it. Not quite a rushing torrent of water, but he was safer for that. The water moved steadily in the distance, glinting marginally from the reflection of the moon over the water. His throat was dry and sore, so he didn’t hesitate at all to move to the water for a drink, but before he crossed half the distance his foot caught on something and he fell.

Utilizing focus to see better in the dark, he looked back at what had tripped him to see scraps of cloth around smooth, white… “Fucking hell it’s a dead guy!” he shouted, scrambling away from the corpse. He stood up then, looking around as quickly as he could before focus wore off, and thankfully saw no more corpses. What he did see, was a rough smattering of damaged gear, and a collapsed tent.

He almost cried from pleasure as he forgot his thirst, instead scrambling over to the tent and trying to assess the damage. Focus wore off, so he picked through the wreckage with his hands, hoping there would be no more skeletal surprises.

To Mason’s pleasure, the tent was largely intact, and it looked like whoever the corpse used to be, they had spent a decent length of time here. The ground beneath the tent was levelled out and padded with dry wild grasses, and along the tent were piles of dirt and stone that he could only assume were meant to prevent the stream from flooding in.

He did his best to raise the tent back up to its full height, and though he failed fairly miserably, the final product was definitely something he could sleep in. Even better, he realized that if he could endure a rougher first night’s sleep, he could use the wild grasses to start a small fire in the pit the non-survivor had dug out.

As he worked, clearing out the campsite, scavenging the gear, and trying to find a way to start a fire, several indicators popped up in his status menu.

You can now choose a new challenge. Choose Bloodlust or Wanderlust

Though neither option was clear, he wasn’t about to go wandering about after having just found a place to rest. He chose bloodlust, hoping that it would prepare him for the dangers to come.

Bloodlust Challenge: Claim the lives of fifteen creatures. Bonuses will be awarded for utilizing your class skills.

I’ll have to research these challenges when I get my stamina charged back up. Maybe in the morning, I really need some rest. And I’ll really need some food then too, this guy had nothing left.

As light broke, Mason dragged himself off of his poorly covered floor and out of the tent, finally taking a good look at his surroundings. The stream was a little wider than he had suspected at night, but still not worth calling a river, but nonetheless it cut a path down the tree line as far as he could see, and made for as good a starting point for the day’s exploration as he could ask for.

His stomach rumbled angrily, he imagined as much from being empty as the stream water he had drank the night before. Food would have to be one of the first things he solved today.

First, though, he wanted to finish taking stock of his campsite. He activated Focus and Analyze, scanning the area as his stamina drained almost completely in moments.

There was a small, unadorned dagger that he had missed several feet away which he pocketed. He also noticed a small pile of cut wood, but no axe. There were some patched and faded bags filled with survival basics- flint and steel, stitching tools, and a small canteen- tucked into a crevice of the fortifications for the tent.

And ultimately he knew he had to register the body. He allowed his analyze to take over, and thoughts came rushing into his mind quickly. The body had been dead for a long time- that was obvious by the lack of any flesh. But the bones were not what he expected a corpse to look like.

The skull was broken, but shaped oddly enough that he had doubts it was human. Similarly, the bones, though anthropomorphic, didn’t seem arranged the right way for a human, and faint lines of blue light crossed them in webs. He wouldn’t have noticed the webs at all if not for his focus ability, and even then they almost looked like an illusion.

You are are in the process of unlocking a special Focus ability. Raise your Focus level two more points to fully unlock.

Well that might explain it. Maybe.

He sat down and closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind and breathe while his stamina regenerated. Twenty stamina seemed like a lot when he was running, but it was almost a pittance when he considered that a minute or two of Focus could drain it entirely.

A short rest later, he felt all of his stamina had returned, and he resisted the urge to immediately use Focus again. The more he did, the hungrier he got.

Glancing at his status screen as he stood up, he noticed something new.

You’ve unlocked the skill Recovery.

Recovery: While you rest, your health, mana, and stamina restore slightly faster. The effects of this ability improve through willpower, endurance, and vitality.

Mason begrudgingly considered how much these abilities changed the basic mechanics of being alive. This world may not be an easy world so far, but it looks like suffering leads to pretty clear benefits. I can take advantage of this.

Stamina full, Mason set his mind on food. He began walking away from the stream, and into the woods, dagger at his hip, packs on his back, and staff in his hand.

Before he crossed under the treeline he shot a glance back at the corpse with the broken skull. It struck him again that not only did its existence mean there were alien humanoids to be wary of, but that there was something stronger than them out there lurking as well.