4. Tormenting Paradise

Eat, sleep, suffer, repeat.

Those four words essentially described my life in the past three months. Of course, one could argue to be grateful for this beautiful dwelling filled with food and water and surrounded by cute puppies, but I’d almost rather fight for my life over this torture—no, I was already fighting for my life and my sanity.

Not wanting to refer to them as creatures, I’ve named them “barkers” for an apparent reason. Stupid name, I know, but that’s what they deserve to be called. Every day I would wake up to the hellish sound of groaning and barking. It is hardly quiet for the four hours a day I would spend sleeping. Being surrounded by agonizing outcries twenty hours a day was far worse than my near-death experience. But fortunately, as a newborn, I had an easy time falling asleep despite being in a room so loud that people could develop hearing issues.

About the fresh fruits and berries… Well, they’re tough as nails for someone with fragile teeth. So to eat them, I’d snatch a fruit and smash them against the stone wall with the bit of strength I had. Slurping in the juices was my priority, as they were very delicious and seemed to give me enough energy to survive another dreadful day. That way, I didn’t have to drink the dirty water that the creatures splashed in either.

Then if my living conditions were so awful, why didn’t I just leave and merely come back when I needed food? Well, the issue lay within the exit. It was about two meters above the ground with a steep tilt that was impossible to climb without decent momentum. However, my solution was also one of the reasons I was so close to breaking down. I’ve been learning to walk but have made little to no progress despite my countless failed attempts.

Standing up wasn’t too bad. I had a soft ground and a wall to support me, making standing relatively easy. The aspects I lacked were balance and strength. When standing straight up, I had to wiggle back and forth to stabilize as if I was standing on a wire, only to lose balance and tumble shortly after. On the other hand, if I got in a half lunge or a horse stance where my equilibrium didn’t matter, my lack of strength would make me collapse.

Finally, there was one more thing that bothered me. At random times during the day, I would experience brief pulsating ticks of pain on the right side of my chest, like a tumor crushing my flesh from the inside. The feelings started occurring around four weeks ago and have only gotten worse after every day.

Usually, when you focus on the thought of the pain, it gets worse, so people generally keep themselves busy until it fades away. But for some reason, my chest irritations disappear the moment I concentrate on them. It was almost like a soothing warmth leaking from my chest throughout the veins in my body. When I sat down in a meditating position, the noise from the barkers and the environment quieted down. I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to happen, but it was the only thing I was looking forward to.

Feeling thirsty, I began searching for berries as they contained the most juices. Unluckily, they mainly grew on the other side of the river, which was a bit longer than a meter in width. It might sound like a walk in the park, but it was like a herculean task for me. The depth was as tall as me, and I would struggle to keep my head above water with even a slight current. However, I did manage to get two more points in mobility by learning to swim, which was a nice reward for my hardships. Even with three points in mobility, I wasn’t sure if that was why I was crawling faster or simply just me having improved. For now, my stats came across as nothing but a placebo effect.

I generally traverse the other side three to four times a week as the berries there were delicious and probably nutritious too. Yet, I wasn’t staying there because it was densely populated with barkers for a clear reason, thus too boisterous for me.

“Looks like I’m back at it again, trying to cross this river,” I attempted to say as I hadn’t fully developed vocal cords weren’t yet.

My hands were uncomfortably soaked in the chilly water and rugged rocks, but I still crawled forward and prepared for the river current to float up to a solid swimming position. Then, looking to my right, I saw a big wave coming caused by two creatures brawling. Realizing it would likely hurt me, I tried pushing myself away immediately, but I wasn’t strong enough to force my body out. So, I braced for impact by holding my right arm up to my eyes while my left arm and legs supported my weight. Unfortunately, the wave was much stronger than I anticipated and shoved me towards the bottom, where a sharp pebble pierced my skin and the remains of my clothes.

“Ahhh, eugh!” I wailed as the water muzzled my voice into umpteen bubbles. The water got in my nose and made me choke out of instinct. As it streamed into my lungs, my organs felt like they burned within like scorching lava. I panicked, then lost control. I tried waving my arms and legs around, but they were rock solid, like a sculpture. I tried screaming for help, hoping that the barkers would rescue me, but only more water flowed into my lungs. Then as things went dark, a powerful shock shattered within me that caused enough pain to snap my senses back to reality. As a last resort, I scraped my arms against the highly frictional rocks on the river floor to push out.

“Huff, puff,” I gasped while barfing liquid out of my nose. My arms bled from the sharp river floor, but it wasn’t anything my regeneration couldn’t manage. But, before I could enjoy my longing for air, I had to take care of my chest pains. As usual, I focused every thought on it with my eyes shut. Naturally, the discomfort faded, but it was different this time. Another constant pulse on my right chest was like another heart, beating an essence around my body. Finally, when I stabilized it, I opened my eyes to see a purplish haze around my hands and my newly developed abilities.

- [Attributes] -

- [Profile] -

- [Stats] -

Name

Kyrios

Vitality

4

Strength

0

Level

1

Intelligence

37

Defense

0

Species

Awakened Hybrid Riftborn

Mobility

3

Unspent Points

0

Arcane Heart

Initiate

Stage

I

- [Skill Index] -

Name Level Type Crawling Max Essential Skill Swimming Max Essential Skill Basic Night Vision 1 Passive Skill Basic Regeneration 1 Passive Skill Enhanced Senses 2 Passive Skill Poison Immunity 1 Passive Skill Mana Manipulation 1 Arcane Skill

What!? My intelligence shot all the way up to 37! Did that mean I’m wiser now, or what? That would be strange, though, as all the other stats were related to physical capabilities. Also, did my new skill of mana manipulation provide my insane intelligence stat? Or maybe it was because of my new category called arcane heart. I assumed that initiate stage 1 meant I was a beginner and could improve it through training. Either way, it didn’t matter much as I was more eager about what my arcane heart was. Heart… heart?!

That’s right! I did feel another consistent pulse on the opposite side of my heart. I placed my hand on my right chest and began concentrating on it. A similar but far richer sensation spread across my skin. Just like before, my arms began shimmering with a purple aura. A weak one, but that was to be expected by a complete rookie. Although it was difficult and felt like trying to move a foreign limb, I could drag the aura around with willpower alone. This ability must be mana manipulation, and it wouldn’t be stupid to assume that my intelligence stat was related to my arcane heart.

I tried to concentrate all my mana into my hands out of curiosity. It was a prolonged process, and patience was the key, as I could feel how fragile it was. As many minutes passed, I had finally condensed all my mana into a circle-like shape, albeit nowhere near perfect. Looking at my creation, I about pondered what to do with it. Should I eat it? Maybe play with it, or just reverse the process by spreading it out?

I tried recalling what the mage did a few months ago. I believed he could cause an immense explosion and produce fire out of his hands. It seemed like anything worked with the power of imagination, so naturally, I imagined that the mana-sphere turned into a flame. To my disappointment, nothing happened. As I thought, it wouldn’t be so easy, but I was sure to figure something out with enough time. Also, I think he mentioned something about running out of mana, so I had to be mindful and learn mana management if I planned on using it for combat. Thinking about calling it a day, I crushed the sphere with my hand, which distributed it back out.

“Haha,” I grinned with a slight smirk. Now, this is getting interesting.