Greg woke up quite early as it was still pitch-black outside. Although extremely cold, the temperature outside wasn’t at the level that threatened to kill him in mere moments of exposure. He guessed it was in the ballpark of 30° below freezing. Greg assumed he had only slept a few hours though he felt fully rested. Maybe it was the constitution? Greg wasn’t sure but felt that was the case.

He lit up a cigarette and took a swig to renew his buffs and checked his health. He saw that it still didn’t budge from 88% making him almost certain of his theory that [Arcane Meditation] somehow countered his condition. Seeing as how it was still too cold outside Greg used up some of his resources to restore a couple of cigarettes and fill up his flask. Before slipping into [Arcane Meditation] for about an hour or so. Checking his resources his mana was at 98% and his health was at 91. He didn’t get a level in meditation, but he was still content with his resource levels and didn’t feel the need to level yet or meditate any longer to avoid the mental strain.

Checking the sky outside Greg was sure that there was at least a couple more hours of darkness left but felt like the worst of the cold was over. Flicking away his cigarette and taking one last swig Greg took off at a brisk jog in the direction of what he hoped was a city, or maybe something else helpful that he saw yesterday.

While jogging Greg kept an eye on his stamina resource seeing it occasionally dropping down to 99% before going right back up to 100%. Would his other resources behave like that if it weren’t for [Ravaged by Arcane]? He doubted it, according to the system, the rate of regeneration for stamina was determined by Constitution, a stat now sitting at almost 4 or 5 times higher than the other stats responsible for Mana and Health resource regen.

Feeling the cold Greg was surprised not to have received a level up to the resistance. Perhaps it wasn’t cold enough? Deciding to have a run to fight the cold Greg took off at near sprint levels of running. Seeing his stamina still not ever going below 99% he was shocked. Could he sprint non-stop as long as he had stamina?

Not seeing a reason otherwise Greg took off running as fast he could, looking to the sides he realized he was going well above normal human speeds, more akin to a horse galloping. Was this the results of his new attributes? Did he really just break human limits because of some other-worldly system said he could? It was bizarre to say the least but Greg didn’t complain too much especially when he saw the first evidence of a sunrise and yet he felt he still at least an hour to go.

In the end Greg arrived as the first sunrise just about finished. He did end up gaining another level in cold resistance though he was certain he wouldn’t get another unless he found another area that would make it much colder. The green spec turned to be an entire biome change. It was another the strange thing Greg saw, a sentiment he felt would repeat itself seeing as he was on an alien planet. There was almost a line that separated the desert and a jungle like biome, it was completely unnatural, clearly this was evidence of some strange magic.

With sip for courage Greg crossed the boundary to the forest. Greg was in for another surprise as he felt the air change. It immediately became humid and hot, not oven 500° but still much warmer. How did this place not burn down when the third sun came out? Thoroughly confused but curious Greg made sure to remember his surroundings so he could trace his steps back to the tower if he needed to. Looking back, he couldn’t see it, but felt that with the correct general direction and his instincts he could find his place back to the tower.

Greg was glad for the change in scenery but found no evidence of human life. No roads or signs and most importantly, no litter. Humans tended to pollute the entire planet back on earth. No reason to think they behaved differently here. Yet there wasn’t a single piece of plastic anywhere here. It could mean several things; he was in a very remote place in this world or there where no humans here at all. Both options seemed terrifying but the tower in the desert proved that there was most certainly signs of humanity somewhere here, availing Greg’s fears of the worst-case scenario.

Exploring around the area he found no animal life except your normal looking bugs and birds. Though some other creatures he saw where completely alien. Such as oddly shaped birds that seemed to be able to fly despite how disproportionate their bodies where from their wingspan. Plenty of strange insects too that where multi-colored, and clearly dangerous. Almost all the creatures looked to be weary of him. [Arcane Insight] confirmed that most of the creatures where actually quite dangerous, with most out leveling him or some with a question mark instead of a level and giving him an even more dangerous feeling.

The birds especially where eerie, they didn’t seem frightened of him but almost unsure of what to make of Greg’s appearance further improving the theory he was somewhere very remote. His arcane insight wasn’t the most helpful with the birds either. Simply giving him a level and identifying them all as [Jungle Bird], though most clearly had very distinguishing features marking them as different species.

On earth most animals would flee at the sight of a human, especially birds. Finally, one of the birds that seemed like a small barn owl flew right at his head. The audacity of the creature surprised Greg as its talons flew at his face, Greg blocked with his arm the talons piercing through the jacket but didn’t dig into his skin. Greg angrily grabbed it by the neck before it bit down on his hand this time cutting into his skin. Cursing he threw it on the ground and kicked it surprised at his own strength as he felt the brittle bones crack from the kick.

His health was barely affected, he was angrier at the torn sleeve of his coat. At least he could repair it. The fight had a positive effect and the rest of the birds scattered once they realized he wasn’t easy prey. He also checked his notification not surprised that the system would let him know once he killed something.

Congratulations! ‘You have defeated a level 22 Jungle Owl! Bonus experience gained for a 10-level discrepancy or higher.’

It would appear that the system would give him the actual species name if he killed them. Greg pulled out a cigarette and sighed, it was annoying how blood thirsty this place seemed to be. Though he seemed to luck out with the high constitution stat as the bird had trouble getting into his skin. Looking up he saw that the first sun was getting closer to the zenith a sign that the second would start to rise soon.

Greg wasn’t sure what effect it would have here in the jungle. Clearly the plants and animals somehow survived the three-sun heat strikes but how exactly, he wasn’t sure. As he was contemplating Greg saw a flash as something charged right at him. He felt a claw rack against his coat shredding it and even causing him to get a small scratch, similar to a house cat scratching you. With a curse he dismissed the coat to prevent further damage and looked at his assailant.

[Jungle Cat – Level 19]

Greg wasn’t thrilled at the idea of another fight. What the hell was up with this place, why did everything try to kill him? The cat snarled and lunged at him again this time he managed to get in a decent glancing blow his strength stat high enough to cause the cat to lose balance and smash into a tree. Deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble the cat retreated.

Having enough jungle experience Greg decided to call it and head back. He couldn’t walk more than a couple hundred feet without being molested. It was clearly too dangerous; he would go back to the tower and level up as far as he could before coming back out here again.

Mind made up he started hiking his way out and a few minutes later Greg felt his back explode in pain. Gasping Greg turned around seeing two cats, the one he clearly fought came back with help. This time instead of a level all he got was a question mark and much greater sense of danger than he felt ever before.

Cursing his luck Greg turned tail and ran. He wasn’t sure how he would get himself out of this. From the corner of his eye he saw the new cat lunge toward him, he slid to the left dodging the cat only to feel his ankle get locked in vice of the other cats’ mouth. Greg stomped with his other foot with all him might and felt a satisfying crunch as the cat let go with a whimper.

This however gave the other cat another chance to pounce toward Greg and he took a gnarly cut to his arm as he batted away the cat and placed a swift kick to its side. The cat hesitated before attacking again, clearly hurt from the exchange. Greg took the opportunity to run finally making it to the desert where he could fight the cat in an open field instead of worrying about an ambush.

To his surprise the cat just stopped on the border and growled angrily at him. It took only one hesitant step onto the sand before retreating with a hiss. Greg finally understood the mystery, at least in part. There where now two suns out and the desert was hotter than the jungle was on several orders of magnitude. Clearly living creatures where not meant to be out in the desert. Greg needed to get back to the tower quickly before the third sun came out and he would be forced back into the jungle where he clearly wasn’t strong enough to survive.

The problem was his ankle that was mangled from the other cat. At least he got the kill notification, so he got his revenge already. His health was down to 68% meaning that he actually didn’t sustain that much damage despite the several wounds he received.

The other cat was still on the edge hissing angrily and Greg felt a sunburn starting to develop. He had that to worry about too, cursing he moved a further way off from the jungle and took out his flask and cigarette. Without much ceremony he downed the drink and smoked trying to memorize the flavors and experience as much as he could in this situation. Once he felt his skill [A Connoisseur’s Memories] click in and even got a level out of it. He brought up the level up option and accepted. He dismissed the notification asking him to level again and felt the familiar warmth traveling through his body.

Luckily, but as he suspected the wounds vanished into thin lines and Greg felt pretty “topped” off. Though he did feel some mental strain. Looking around Greg found the entrance to the jungle where he initially came in. Looking up he saw he had still a few hours before the third sun would show its ugly head. He felt it was less time than what he used to arrive here so with that Greg started sprinting back to the tower pushing himself the entire time. Early on he got a great idea and put his 3 free stat points into Dexterity hoping the slight boost of speed might make a difference.

Greg had no problem running the entire time, his stamina not dropping much to make a difference. The only problem was he felt some more mental strain with time. But that was due to the sunburn getting worse and his health dropping as a result. By the time he arrived Greg was covered in blisters from the burns and his health was down to 46% percent. The third sun was about to start rising and he felt much worse than when he was 16% health at level 1. He didn’t understand until he saw one of his new conditions on status. [Sun Poisoned] Luckily Greg gained several levels in [Heat resistance] bringing it to level 8, it clearly prevented a lot of damage.

Annoyed regardless of his gains Greg went down into the cellar. He enjoyed the cool temperature in the room and slipped into [Arcane Meditation] as he thought about the day’s events.