I have a deja-vu. Argh, my head hurts... And they are noisy again! I don't know if I should be annoyed or happy about that! And ow, I think I hit my head when I fell down...

What happened after I invested in my magic? I remember some weird feeling, like something crawling through my body, uah that was unpleasant. Why do I always have to wake up in a cave with a headache as these guys argue with each other? Why can't I just go to sleep like normal people?

"sigh..." Never mind that now. "I'm awake, and what is up with you guy quarrelling again?"

[The lizard just couldn't behave! He..]

/I already told you a thousand times, I did not do anything! Or do you dare fight me over this lie of yours?/

{My dear do you feel alright? I took care of your body while you were out, and brought you back to the safe cave with water so you could rest}

"What did you just say? You can control my body?" A cold chill creeps down my spine.

{Since your muscles are now strengthened by mana, which I can control to some degree I indeed can control you while you are unconscious, but I would never hurt you my darling.}

"Just don't EVER do that again. this is still MY body! And DON'T calls me darling, that is creepy and wrong, no matter from what perspective!"

{But I thought we got close enough to "entrust" our bodies to each other like lovers are supposed to. Or did you betray me with another girl?}

And while she says that with her always smooth and soothing voice I can clearly imagine her mischievous smile. She is just teasing me. I know it, but I still get a little mad. She for sure knows her ways with human emotions.

"Stop it. It's nice that you have your energy back but we have no time for your teasing Zabula. Gabriel, tell me, what did Dorminil do to make you two argue again? I thought you guys got along pretty well so far"

[We got along because I thought we decided to put the fight DOWN while searching for a solution for this mess, but he broke the truce and started his first attempts to make your body his! he changed you!]

This answer just confused and angered me even more! I never should have saved them!

"Dorminil, WHAT did you do?"

/I didn't do anything wrong! He just has prejudices against me! It wouldn't even matter if something happened! He just would have made up another reason to slander me!/

He said to me with a deep growling voice, like he is seething from anger.

"Just tell me, what did happen. It doesn't matter who is accountable for it. just TELL me! it can't be that bad, since I still am alive!"

They sure know how to make someone mad. They say something was done to my body, but they just don't tell me, what exactly! Saving them was the worst decision I ever made.

/I said it already, and I'll say it again. I have nothing to do with this. If you want to know, then look at your reflection in the water next to you. And remember: I am not at fault here!/

He seems to have calmed down a little due to my words, but he is still almost screaming, what makes him that nervous?

"Sure..." I answer sceptical.

I slowly open my hurting eyes, which I kept closed, as everything seems way too bright in here and hurts my head.

Hmmm? but that isn't right, wasn't it completely dark in here the last time?

Where does this light even come from?

I can't find the source of it..., but why?

Then I guess, I should just take a look at myself in the water as Dorminil suggested to me.

When I look into the water, something looks right back at me with bright red glowing eyes and I quickly jump away from it!

Shit, that thing almost scared me to death!

What was that?

"Zabula, you did see this thing too, didn't you? What was that thing?"

{Now I really don't know how to say this, as I really do not want to hurt you my darling, but...}

[She can't bring herself to say it, so I will! That "thing" in the water was you! You just looked at your reflection!

This is what the lizard did to you!]

I just keep quiet, because I really can't believe, what he is saying.

I slowly approach the water and right then the glow in the water appears again, but this time I don't get startled and try to keep my calm, but how could I? Now that I calmed down, I don't only see the lights, but also the face around them.

That was really me. And in itself there aren't many things that changed about me, there are my same old contours, my short, black hair and in the general average-looking face. But there is just one thing that doesn't fit in there. The eyes.

They are the eyes of a reptile, they are glowing bright red with the blue sclera and a black vertical slit as a pupil.

"How..."

First bewilderment, then panic, after that anger for a certain lizard and at last... despair. The despair of realizing what this indicates.

My 3 hearts are racing and I start breathing roughly, as every single consequence of this starts rushing through my mind. How am I supposed to live with other humans if they will just see me as another monster to kill? The thought of being able to live with humans in the future, and the thought of just living a normal life, just vanished in front of these cursed eyes

"This is bad..." I think out loud.

This destroys all of the plans I ever had!

"Do you even know what this signifies!?"

I shout out so loud it's almost deafening to myself.

Then I just fall down to my knees while gazing into my reflection.

Then I make up my mind. These eyes have to go away.

A short time later I reach out to my eyes with violently shaking hands in an act of desperation.

There is only one solution I can think of. Rip them out.

But something stops my hands and I know exactly, who is doing that.

"Zabula, let go of my arms!"

{I can't! What do you think will happen after you rip out your eyes! You'll go blind! You can't survive like this! And we three are going to die as well!}

And right there it was over, all the frustration and desperation of the last days just washes over me. The things I kept to myself so far, pour out of me.

"I even did my best to save you, when you were lacking mana, as I thought you could be really good companions! But I just realized everything! You only care for yourself! You just wanted to use me from the beginning! you just want to corrupt my body until it's yours! And this whole Mind-control bullshit probably was a lie as well! You just wanted my trust so I deliver some mana to you!

If it weren't for you three, our town never would have been under your fight, and I never would have been accused of angering some shitty gods! No..., in the first place humanity would have never experienced the cataclysm! You killed innumerable amounts of people! How could I ever forget this! You are the most self-righteous, eccentric and evil beings this god damn world has ever seen! You three are a very problem this world has! You are the worst that ever happened to this world! And you are even worse for me! Every single thing I hold dear just keeps crumbling infront of me! Time after time! An this is all your fault! You ruin everything! So please... just let me kill myself to free this world and me from your nonsensical wars and your absurd personalities... please!" And I couldn't keep anything in, as tears started falling from my cheeks into the water, I was still leaning over.

The ripples in the water passed through the reflection of my face.

And just like that, time passed. And all that could be heard, were my silent sobs in the darkness, as no one knew any words to say out loud anymore.

And time went on.

____________________________

At least a few hours later. I finally calmed down a fair bit.

I tried to see some positive things in these eyes, and I succeeded in doing so.

So said my first words in a while.

"Well, they really look kinda cool..., I have to admit that."

Bewilderment.

/Huh?/

{Hmm?}

[What did you just...?]

"I just said these eyes look cool, because I just found out, that they really do!"

{And how did you get to this change of mind?}

"I just spent time thinking about the future and realized, this makes more sense than contemplating something I can't change. I have to start seeing some positive things.

I promise I won't start anything stupid, so could you please release your grip around me? After a few hours of this, my body is really sore and I have to take a piss"

[Can we really trust you?]

"Sure, I still might try to kill you, by ripping your asses apart and bashing your skulls, if I somehow get to you in there, but until then, you're safe."

I said as if it is the most normal in this world.

Just then the grip suddenly released and I start stretching everything because everything feels stiff.

"I didn't know threatening you, would make you release me!" I say relaxed and a bit mischievous.

{It wasn't the threats, but the sound of your voice, that made us believe you. There was no trace of desperation in it.}

"And how could you tell, I wasn't acting?" I ask while taking a sip from the lake.

{Didn't I tell you about my Innate talent? I can discern all true feelings, a person has, even if they are acting.}

I had to think for a moment before I could remember she said something about that. Honestly, I didn't pay that much attention at that time, as I did not think this ability could help me survive.

"Ah right, I forgot about that, sorry."

But there was still something missing...

"Dorminil? It's OK you can talk again, you know?"

I say with my sweetest voice.

/So you aren't mad at me?/ He asks carefully.

"Of course I am still mad as hell at you, but I just tell myself, there isn't any use in doing so. So I just got a question for you. What exactly are the effects of the passive ability "Dragon's Eye"?

My system says it aids my optical abilities, but there isn't anything specific."

I ask while slowly walking out of the water room.

/You got the ability Dragon's Eye? That is a really rare ability even among dragons! This allows you to speed up and sharpen your whole perception and gives you the ability to see mana!/

[What the...? You can see mana? that is an ability I definitely need! with that I could max out the efficiency of my mana absorption skill!]

"It's quite nice you two are getting along, but I need your help with something else.

How should I spend my 10 available stat points?"

{What do you mean by saying "spend"?}

Oh no, it's getting weird again.

"Well, just... in which attribute should I invest these points?"

{So you want to tell us, your stat points don't get allocated automatically, but you can choose to invest them?}

Oh, so my system has another use.

"Yes, it seems like that."

[That aside, how did you reach level 6 that fast?]

Aaaand it's getting weirder.

"What makes you think, I am level 6?"

[You said, you invested ten points in mana, and still have 10 left, so you should have had 20 in total.

Since you get 4 stat points each level up, you must have reached at least level 6]

Wait, I should only get 4 points? But I got 20?

"But I'm only level 2..."

/there is no way that could be true! Show it to us!/

"Can't you look yourself?"

{No, we can only control mana, but this system is something beyond that, so it only responds to you.

If you open it with the intention of us not seeing it, then we can't see it.}

"Ok, that's good to know, then I'll show you."

Status!

____________________________________

Name: Civitas

Race: [Error]

HP: 10/10 | MP:10/10

Class: none

Level: 2

XP: 5/200

Vitality: 1 | Strength: 1 | Agility: 1 | Dexterity: 1 | Intelligence: 1 | Willpower: 1 | Magic: 1

Available Stat Points: 10

Passive Skills: Sword-Mastery Tier 1, Dragon's eye,

Active Abilities: none

Innate Talent: [Error]

LOCKED

____________________________________________

.... {/[ How could this be?]/}

[So you're telling me, not only can you level up by killing something, which is way faster than normal people going through hard training for years, but you also get 5 times the amount of stat increase?]

{If my calculations are correct, you should overtake someone, who started with high base stats of about 20 in every stat, and grows with 4 points per level, when both of you reach level 8! From this point onward you'll be ahead of any of your peers!}

[The weakest start,...]

/But the strongest potential.../

"Sounds pretty nice, I have to say,..." Do I now have a chance of surviving out here?

"But I'm really, really hungry, as I didn't eat anything in the past five days. So could you please hurry up and suggest something to me, so I can start hunting?"

{I think dexterity is important...}

[And Strength of course!],

/The most important thing right now is Vitality, you can't keep being this fragile!/

OK so... I guess I'll split the points between those three. The leftover point goes into vitality, as this is the stat that boosts my survival probability the most.

So my stats are like this:

_________________________________

HP: 50/50 | MP:10/10

Class: none

Level: 2

XP: 5/200

Vitality: 5 | Strength: 4 | Agility: 1 | Dexterity: 4 | Intelligence: 1 | Willpower: 1 | Magic: 1

__________________________________

I think my first target will be a rabbit. I fought one of them before, so I can judge my growth.

Luckily I could quickly find one after just a few minutes.

My time to shine has come, as I rush up to the rabbit, that seems to be really startled by my sudden attack!

And I swing down with all my might to deal as much damage, as I can!

#Sneak Attack!#

#You killed 'rabbit' + 4XP#

A nice and clean one-hit, that's what I want to see!

I have a big and victorious grin on my face!

But of course, I'm not allowed to be happy, as they just can't stay silent...

[Did you just celebrate this? Ahahaha, you know, this is the weakest even among the animals, right? There really is nothing to be happy about. I could tell you about glorious fights I've won against giant demons and even bigger dragons!]

I want to hit him... I want to hit him so hard, but I can't!

"... let's just head back to the secret cave with the water. Dorminil you said, you could use fire magic through my body, so you can cook this rabbit, right?"

/Sure, even if that's a waste for my almighty flames!/

When we finally returned to our temporary base, I started to gut the rabbit.

I never did this before! It was bloody and gross and... I think I turned it into shredded meat... Fuck.

I collected some wood that was laying on the floor, on our way back.

In these caves, there are surprisingly many plants! They remind me of the manapple trees, but they sadly bear no fruits.

After I arranged it a bit I gave Dorminil a signal and he then took control of my right arm.

He just points my palm at the sticks. First, it just smokes a bit, then the are some sparks and finally, it ignites! I felt something moving that could have been mana in me but it was way too fast to pin down, sadly...

I hoped to be able to learn something from this demonstration, but he just casts way too fast!

But that isn't important, as I can already smell the hearty smell of the roasted meat!

I'm just way too hungry!

A few minutes later all of the (shredded) meat is well done and I can eat.

Bon appetite!

And as I take a big bite, a message pops up in front of me.

#New energy source, #

# (1/150) #

Hmm? What does this thing want to tell me?

I guess I could take a look at my status to see if something changed.

Hmm, everything seems to be unchanged.. wait!

Right there at the bottom line!

_______________________

...

LOCKED Progress: (1/150)

_______________________

So I somehow started unlocking something. Nice! every progress is good progress!

And like this, I can finally go to sleep like a normal person, with a filled stomach and quenched thirst as well. Although it's just a hard cave floor I'll sleep on, I am happy with that.

But there is even one more lovely thing!

The lovely voice of these god damn LUNATICS in my head that won't stop arguing about the way I prepared the rabbit! This was my first time gutting something! Now they argue, who should teach me proper gutting! And they don't stop. How am I supposed to sleep like this?

Argh, what did I do in my previous life to deserve this!?