His face went numb, ears ringing he can barely hear anything else, eyes filled with a burning sensation, just moving them while they're closed grants him excruciating pain, let alone opening them. "-what the hell happened?-" Damian ponders as he struggles to get up gasping for air, till he was reminded with a blunt force to his left side and a crack was heard in his left arm "-shit-."

-29 HP

As the boy fell back to the sands, his mind cleared, and everything flashed right back, "-oh yeah...that fucker, if I want to survive, I need a way to defeat his ugly mug, but how?-" Damian quickly assumed ways to solve his predicament. But he can't use -focus- because it requires him to look around, and that is out of the question, and he needs a few seconds to stay still, which he doesn't have. "-I do have that, but how useful is it?-"

-38 HP

"-damn it, no time to think, just do it.. -Mana sense-" even with the lids covering his eyes, he began to see streams of gray floating around him and slowly expanding to cover the surfaces around him. As the waves touched the sand, it slightly faded from gray to light brown. The same happened with the torches, but this time the color shifted to soft orange, and the sword that was thankfully still in his hand turned dark gray. Slowly the stream covered a space relatively close to him, forming a silhouette of a humanoid form.

The figure approached the boy as he was on his knees, till it stood to his left. It raised its left arm spreading its fingers and aiming its palm at Damian's head. A small portion of the gray stream around it shifted and started gathering inside the open palm, then gradually changed color to orange "-fool me once shame, on you.-"

Filled with anger, Damian quickly leaned towards the Goblin and sunk his teeth into the goblin's left wrist, placing as much pressure as his jaw can apply. "AAAAAARGH" The Goblin howled in agony with wide yellow eyes trying to flee the bone trap it found itself in, "-fool me twice, shame on me-" but the boy wouldn't have any of it as his teeth pierced so far, blood spilled in his mouth and out.

When the Goblin realized that these cuffs are too stubborn to just let go, he lifted his spiky club to the side, intending to break this human's neck, but he was too slow to act."-oh no, you don't!-" Damian swiftly raised his sword severing its right arm, adding to the injuries and removing a limb in the process. "GRAAAAH!!" the Goblin shrieked even louder as it jumped back desperately to run away.

Blood gushed from where the Goblin's left arm was supposed to be. Its struggle continued for about a minute till the boy's sword struck upwards through its chin and out of the back of its skull. Damian kept pushing his sword up till he was certain the Goblin was now, nothing more than lifeless corpses, then and only then did his strength leave him as he fell to the tainted sands.

489EXP gained Loot gained

Test subject 741 blood x1

Mana Potion x1

You have gained 2 LUK. You have gained 3 END. You have gained 2 WIS. You have gained 1 WIL.

Silence overcame the arena for a few seconds till one of the arena doors opened, and two guards roamed on the sands till they reached the fallen victims, as they started checking them for any signs of life left in them. Even with Damian's eyes still closed, he could still see them due to his -Mana sense- being still active. Of course, with the blade still planted in the Goblin's head, they haven't bothered to give him a second glance. They immediately carried the boy after seeing how shallow he was breathing to a nearby room a few minutes away from the arena.

As the guards brought him in, another figure waited in the room, "A human? I guess there is a first for everything. Put him on the bed, quickly, please" Damian was not sure if it was just him or was it the ringing that was still gnawing in his ears, but the voice sounded quite feminine. The bed he laid on was comfy. He would've enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the pulsating pain that was still torturing him.

"Now let us see what we have here," the figure spoke as it sat next to Damian, "-yup, it's a girl, and quite young by the sound of her voice-" Damian thought as he struggled to open his eyes. Still, to no avail. "oh dear, his injuries are quite severe. He will stay in the infirmary till he gets better," the female elf said, "The warden said no prisoners are allowed to remain in the infirmary." one of the guards objected but was met with a harsh tone "tell the warden that I don't see this prisoner getting better anytime soon. Thus I will permit this prisoner to stay whether he likes or not" she issued.

As soon as the guards left, the female elf started strolling around the room grabbing bandages and vials along with other items and placed them on a table next to Damian's bed and sat back next to him. "nod your head if you can hear me" the female talked to Damian who replied with nodding slowly, "Oh good, good, now can you tell me your name?" she asked, Damian tried to speak at first. However, his mouth felt like a desert with the sun at its peak, but he still managed to talk through it. "D...Damian," a sour and dry voice, replied.

"Damian? Good good. My name Kimara and I will treat you. But to do that, I will have to straighten your broken arm first. Aaaaaaand that will be painful, so what I need you to do, is bite on this piece of cloth till I'm finished, do you understand?" she spoke in a somewhat quick manner but still manageable enough for the boy to understand.

Damian nodded, and the next thing he knew, a cloth was forced between his teeth and Kimara pulling on his arm without a second thought. "GAAAFFFT!!!" suddenly, a sharp pain overwhelmed him. It was like his arm was being torn off instead of being put back on, even though it lasted for several seconds, to Damian, it felt like ten minutes.

-20 HP

"Good good, now the easy part is finished, now for the painful... I mean the hard part," the female said with a somewhat reluctant tone. The boy shook with a nervous expression, "Don't worry, it will only hurt for about five to fifteen minutes," she said with a comforting voice, "(WHAAT!?) FAAT!?" but Damian felt this girl might be the end of him. Kimara Drew closer, standing in front of the bedside where his headrests, and puts one hand to his right ear while the other is on his left. Suddenly Kimara starts speaking in a foreign language.

The mana around her starts to enter her hands as it turns to a soothing light-green color, then slowly channels itself to Damian's body. Giving him a warm and refreshing sensation with a slight numbness, "-this isn't half bad I can totally get used to this-" but the boy spoke too soon. Seconds later, the warm and refreshing sensation turned into the feeling of burning insides and frozen skin. Also, the numbness evolved into the stabbing of needles in every pore on his body. "(FUUUCK!!) FAAAAAAAAAAATT!!", And it only intensified with each passing second. With the overwhelming pain getting stronger, Damian did his best to utter one word in hopes of finding sanctuary from what he can only describe as a nightmarish torment "(UPDATE!!) AFFHTEET!!"

Your update will start in 10 seconds... 9 Seconds...

"-No damn it! Start now!-" even with his eyes closed. He could see the small window. Damian felt despair, as he had to count the seconds as if the Gamer's core was enjoying his struggle.

5 Seconds...

Damian's pain got so intense to the point he started cursing Kimara, though luckily, she couldn't understand any of it through the cloth choking his voice. In addition, he was cursing in his native language.

1 Second...

"-Finally!!-" Damian was glad the countdown was over, and he will sleep through the rest of the hellish treatment...or is he?

Loading update (0/100%)

"(FUUUUCK!!) FFAAAAAAATT!!" needless to say, Damian had gone through ten minutes of the treatment before he went into hibernation.

Slowly Damian opened his eye to find himself standing on a vast amount of calm water as far as the eye can see, and far away stars are shining in the black sky above. "tsk, that idiot killed me. I knew she would be the end of me," Damian complained as his palm struck his face with frustration, "You're not dead. Your consciousness was merely sent into your Inner Core, that is all," a deep voice echoed from the darkness, as the boy turned, he witnessed green smoke forming into existence, slowly taking a human-like shape, two faint blue orbs glowed instead of a pair of eyes.

"Inner core?" Damian asked with a wary gaze. The green figure floated near, circling around the boy "we spoke before Damian, remember?" it said as it approached the boy, inspecting him with its glowing eyes, "no, I don't, and who are?" Damian asked. "it has been a long time since I had a conversation with someone else." the green smoke said with joy apparent in its voice.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but my patience is wearing thin," Damian spoke with angered gazes towards the dark fog. It floated away a couple of feet after sensing his anger "forgive me. It was quite lonely here, so I couldn't help myself " the boy took a couple of steps towards the creature, causing ripples on the water with each step.

"Answer my questions," Damian demanded, "Oh, of course, I am the keeper of your inner core, And for your earlier question. The answer is, the inner core is your personal guide for..." the green smoke stopped in the middle of its explanation as it looked around, "for what?" Damian asked with narrowed brows, "I'm afraid our time is up. I hope we could talk more next time" the keeper spoke as it dissolved into nothingness. "wait, where are you going!? Come back here!" the boy demanded. Suddenly everything shook violently, and his body fell into the water. As Damian opened his eyes again, he found himself on the bed in the infirmary, "well, good thing I'm not dead." suddenly, a blue window popped in front of Damian then others followed.

Update complete

This update includes the following:

1.Every Title earned will have one or more abilities.

2.All Titles, Stats, and skills are now -Scannable-.

3.Skills are now separated into three categories. (Combat skills, Non-combat skills, and Titles) And can also be viewed in the Skills menu.

4.Rank system is now added to the Stats menu.

5.Mana pool is now added to the Stats menu.

6.Health, Stamina, and Mana are now viewable outside of the Stats menu.

7.Inventory slots can now be equipped.

8.Quests are now viewable in the Quest log.

You have earned the title -Survivor-.

Passive: you slowly regenerate health over time when injured.

You have learned the ability -Devour-. Active: you will gain a random ability from any object or living organism you eat. You have learned the ability -Acid drool- Passive: your saliva can break down any material it comes in contact with as long as -Devour- is Active.

Damian's heart pulsed in thrill as he examined every single word on the hovering screens. ''-I was expecting a mage class, but this is helpful too. Could it be because I haven't used my abilities? I need to get used to this.-'' Damian pondered before bringing the -Stats- menu into existence.

Name / Level Damian.A.Walker - 11 Rank / Title Bronze prisoner - Survivor Stats Health 210/210 Stamina 220/220 Mana 150/150 Strength Endurance Intellect Wisdom 20 21 15 14 Agility Perception Willpower Luck 22 24 15 13

''-Using Mana is going to be a nice boost in the long run, and it seems like I got to bronze rank just by killing that goblin. That's a good start if I say so myself, but I almost got killed in the process. I need to get a lot stronger if I want to survive at all. Getting used to this ability is my best chance to do so-'' After gazing at his stats, Damian summons another menu.

Skills Combat skills Gamer's core Scan Dash Focus Wild sense Terror gaze Mana sense Meditate Devour Acid drool - - Non-combat skills Cooking Elven language - - Titles Goblin Slayer Survivor - -

Damian eyed the skills with keen interest. The new skill -Devour- will be quite handy in learning skills. Without delay, the boy opened his -inventory- and pulled a vial with thick red liquid inside. This vial contains the blood of the hobgoblin that Damian killed not long ago. ''-I know this might taste worse than anything I have ever drunk, I just hope it gives me what I need, well bottoms up-''

You have learned the ability -Pyrokinesis- Passive; You have gained fire affinity. Therefore you can create and manipulate fire at 3%.

After a hesitant moment, the boy drank the whole content in one gulp. Surprisingly it tasted like thick pineapple juice. Even though Damian wanted this ability, nevertheless he was quite shocked it was so easy. ''-Well, that went better than I expected... I wonder what else I can eat-'' Damian thought eagerly, as he scrolled through the items in his inventory.