Agis sat there, pondering what had happened. The giant tunnel created by the worm only served to remind him of the confusing situation. The blue mana veins of the dungeon radiated a soft light around him. He found it comforting to sit there and think while bathed in the warm glow and silence of the dungeon.

--He said he replaced my heart with a core? Why? Why me? I don’t...can’t believe it was just luck that he was here when I fell, and saving my life was just kind will. No, he sought me out. The only obvious reason I can think of is because I can’t access the system. But what does he gain from trying to fix that? I’m unsure...there is too much that I don’t know. Ugh, frustrating. Think..what do I know?

Agis stood up, brushed himself off, and began to pace. He always preferred to think and move, rather than sit.

--For starters, this is the dungeon. The hole I fell into...dove into...obviously is a dungeon entrance. I should have died from the long fall...whoops...but the Sopho saved my life for some unknown reason. He also said he ‘replaced my heart with a core’.

Agis put a hand to his chest, unsure how to feel. It wasn’t that he was worried to lose his humanity by having a core placed in him. No, that would be a blessing if anything. Humanity has only served to fuck over his life. It’s that, A, he had never heard of a human with a core. And B, he was afraid of turning into a weird, freakish hybrid of a monster. Who would want that? A man with three arms and four legs. He shuddered at the thought.

--He said I should be able to access the system now. It’s been so long, how did I do that again? I think I just simply willed it...access system.

A menu of information popped into Agis’s head. He could not see it, but he knew the information, the words so to say. It was like implanting the image of a menu directly into your mind.

----

Name: Agis

Level: 1 (Core)

Might: 8

Toughness: 6

Cunning: 22

Will: 18

HP: 30

MP: 0

Skills: Sprint 1; Stealth 1

Species: Homo Sapien (Human)

Biomass: Invalid

Skill Points: 1

----

The menu began to flicker inside Agis’s head and a sharp pain, as if needles were being stabbed into his skull, fell over him.

“AGHHH” Agis gripped his head and fell to his knees. As he fell to the ground the pain radiated to where his heart, or core, was now located. From there it spread to his body, every muscle, every fiber of his being, felt as if it was on fire. Agis screamed as if his body was dumped into lava. He was now fully on the ground flailing. As the pain became more and more intense, the menu continued to flicker over and over, then information beginning to change.

----

Name: Agis

Level: 1 (Core)

Might: 17

Toughness: 12

Cunning: 25

Will: 22

HP: 30

MP: 10

Skills: Sprint 1; Stealth 1

Species: *#*ERROR$%*

Biomass: Invalid

Skill Points: 1

----

Just as quickly as the pain had come, it faded away. Agis layed there, heavily breathing. He tried to focus on the changes to the menu, trying to take his mind away from the torture he had just suffered.

--’Core’...I guess it’s true. I have no heart, but a core. What does that make me? A monster? A human?

[Error]

The system sent Agis a message, cutting off his train of thought.

[Unknown entity detected. Patching through to communications.]

A heavy pressure fell over Agis, the same pressure he felt when he talked to the Sopho. Only this time, it was much more intense. The pressure was enough to keep him from lifting his head or body up from the ground. He was forced to lay still, as if reminding him of how weak he was in this world. A voice boomed inside of his head, loud yet, calm. Almost stoic like.

[You...you are no longer supposed to have access to the system. I remember taking that privilege away from you…]

There was silence for a moment.

[Hmmm. This is fine, it will be just as interesting. I shall allow it. Go deeper, get stronger. Then, when you are ready, come and find me. I wish to see with my own eyes what you have become. Not human, nor monster. We will talk again then.]

The voice cut off and the pressure immediately vanished. Agis quickly got up and stretched his aching body.

--What the hell...that voice? He, ‘it’, or whatever it is, did this to me? Why!?

Agis let out a long sigh. He wasn’t about to get worked up again. While this information was huge, he wanted to put it off for now. He would take this as new information, and deal with it later. At this moment, he felt as if he needed to continue figuring out the new system information. He felt that the longer he stood in the dungeon pathway, the higher the chances are that he would become food for some monster. He began to pace again, pondering the system and its differences.

--I remember the system being...different. Biomass. From what I remember from school, biomass is the meat from monsters. That’s how dungeon monsters evolve. The core and the MP are new too, MP must be a special perk for having a core. Package deal I guess. Otherwise I would need a mage class for magic, if I was human that is. And the skills...those must be from my constant running and hiding.

Agis began to look back through his memory, trying to think about how his system used to be.

--I had a class system before as a human. Requirements had to be met for one to gain a new class, thus a new set of skills. From what we learned in school, the monster system allows monsters to gain skills and mutations without classes, I guess now looking at my menu, I can earn skill points somehow and maybe use those for skills? I’m not sure. Hmmm. Let’s try this. Spend skill point.

[Would you like to spend your skill points?]

--Yes.

[You can use skill points to purchase new skills or upgrade existing ones]

[Biomass invalid. Stomach inadequate. Stomach can not currently support biomass.]

[Dash: cost 1sp, Increases speed over short distances but increases stamina drain. No requirements.]

[Tunnel sense: cost 1sp, improves sense of direction when underground. Requirements: Spend at least 24 hours underground. All requirements met.]

[Lunge attack: cost 1sp, adds the ability to launch forward at high speed with an attack at short distances. Requirements: Charge and kill an enemy at least once. Requirements not met.]

[Mana manipulation: cost 1sp, basic skill to manipulate absorbed mana. Requirements: Have at least a basic core. All requirements met.]

--Woah! That’s super cool! So I can spend skill points, but have to meet the requirements first? Somewhat like the class system, but instead of classes, I can buy skills! Awesome! . Stomach inadequate though? What does that even mean? I guess the human body just can't take in biomass. I wonder what I need to do to fix that. I guess right now I need something to help me survive down here. Mana manipulation sounds super cool, but I need to hold off on that. It's really tempting, but I need a surefire way to kill something and not die. Since I haven't messed with mana before, it’s too big of a gamble. Tunnel sense would be really nice, but I don't need it to survive. Lunge attack is really nice, unlike dash it doesn't use any extra stamina, but it’s only for attacking, and is locked for now. I guess I will go with dash, it should be useful in multiple situations and help me unlock lunge attack.

[Would you like to buy dash? It will cost 1 skill point.]

--Yes!

A warm sensation washed over Agis’s brain, it was only for a second, but it was almost euphoric.

--That was an interesting feeling… I quite liked it. It makes more look forward to it again. Alright then! I guess there’s only one thing left to do. Go find a monster to use it on.

Agis grabbed a fist sized rock, tossed it up and down a few times, and then headed off in search of his new prey.