I started working first thing in the morning. Well, what I had thought was morning with no sun to tell me otherwise, I was relying on the good old circadian rhythm. I felt much better than I had in my years in the mines. I had a full belly, and the years of decay that my body underwent while just day after day swinging my pickaxe were undone. This was my first taste of freedom as an adult, and I had to say that while I knew it would be tough. I liked being the master of my destiny. I wish my goal of freeing my sister were still on the table. She had one year until she would go through her proving. I wasn't sure if one year was enough time to gain the strength I needed to bust her out. I still didn't even know where this mine was; for all I know, I could be in a different country. It was best not to think about these things; if I started to despair, I wouldn't be able to do what I needed to keep pushing. Regrets and second-guessing are luxuries of the strong, and I had some levels to get.

  I needed to get some functional weapons, so after my feast last night, I set the bones of the abyss wolf by the fire to dry out. Instead of being the usual ivory, the bones were jet black, and when the light hit them just right, you could see a hint of crimson. I used one of the leg bones as a new handle for my pickaxe. It wasn't quite as long as I was used to, but the reduced length made it easier to wield with one hand. I sharpened the rest of the long bones on the stone floor. Each became a knife; they were flimsy and only suitable for one hit, but it was better than nothing.

  Following my initials on the wall, I retraced my steps from the previous day to catch up to the wolf pack. I was still too underleveled to try and kill the level 40 wolves, but the need for sustenance outweighed my fear of fighting them. I would track the pack and follow them to their source of water. I fumbled through the dark, the only light being the occasional mushroom glow or some mana stone deposits. I walked up to a blue glowing crystal that reminded me of the ocean, my dad would take us to Galveston every summer, and I would look for shark teeth. During the wrestling season, we would run on the beach. I used identify on the rocks. "Mana Stone: Water affinity".

  "Hey Dia, are these stones kinda the stuff you were made of?" I asked my spirit bond

  "More or less mine were purple, but it takes thousands of years for the stones to fade and the mana to become free to pool up and become a spirit," Dia replied

  "Have you ever tried to absorb them?" I asked inquisitively

  "Of course I haven't, do you know how gross other affinities taste. I could barely stomach the time affinity," she said with a revulsion reserved for weirdos and losers.

  "..."

  "You're gonna eat the gross water mana stone, aren't you?" Dia asked resignedly about what was gonna happen next.

  "Of course not. We are gonna eat it together." I said with mirth.

  I smashed the stone into manageable pieces and swallowed them like a pill. My stomach felt like it was on fire.

  Status Effect: Overcharged

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  Warning: if the status effect persists, irreparable damage may be done to the user.

  "Dia, are you going to absorb these stones?" I said through gritted teeth

  "Dane, I told you. They are too yucky." The snide spirit said

  "Dia, we are going to die. Just do it, and we can spit it out later if it's that bad." I pleaded desperately

  I felt the pit in my stomach subside; my little spirit was absorbing the overcharging mana.

  System Error: More than two mana affinities detected, class type not compatible

  Contacting Administrator

  Resolution title awarded

  Moles don't eat dirt; worms eat dirt

  Due to your curious nature and love for all things digging, you are drawn to steal and use the earth's riches to sustain yourself. Congratulations, you may now survive on inorganic material and maintain the properties of the last rock eaten for up to two hours.

  Warning: Digesting Mana stones will no longer be viable for gaining affinities. Get a magic class if you want to be a mage, Master Dane.

  Am I getting singled out by the system? It's not my fault that I am the only person bonded with a spirit and wanted to cheese the system.

  Well it sucked that I could no longer eat every kind of mana stone to become a universal mage. However, I think it is worth it not to eat regular food and water. I could theoretically stay in the dungeon forever. I noticed that when I used my identify on the Water Affinity mana stones, the next time. Mana Stone: Water Affinity. This tasty snack will slake your thirst for 24 hours. If you are hydrated, it replenishes your mana pool due to your Affinity for water magic.

  I had one last thing on my survival checklist that I needed to take care of: shelter. I grabbed my trusty pickaxe and carved a nice little tunnel into the wall just big enough to crawl backwards and cover myself with my new, poorly-made wolf skin. I wasn't a leather tanner, but the pelt would keep me warm and dry. With base camp set up, I had to start searching for low-level monsters to level up on. I had no tracking skills, so I wandered around aimlessly for a few hours, leaving no stone unturned. I started to see signs of the wolf pack again; I figured I might as well follow the trail since I hadn't seen signs of other life.

  I knew from my previous encounter with the wolves that they had a radius of about 100 feet that I had to stay out of so as not to be detected. I spotted the faint impression of the beasts sniffing the ground. I was wearing the pelt of their fallen friend. I would seem like another wolf if they managed to sniff me out, but I didn't want to put that to the test, so I followed slowly to the point that it only seemed like I covered inches rather than miles. After tailing them for what must have been the better part of the day, I heard a river roaring. I felt the moisture of the mist that sprayed from the water smashing into the cavern walls. The water glowed light blue and lit up the cave with a magical radiance. It was there that I witnessed something extraordinary. There were plenty of other monsters around the water hole, but none of them were attacking each other. I had learned in school that animals didn't call a truce at watering holes, even though that was a common misconception. It put into perspective that our world had fundamentally changed when ambient mana turned our animals into monsters. I watched the different kinds of animals come in and out of the cave to sip at the stream. From what I could tell, this part of the dungeon only had three primary monster types: the wolves, a green slime, and moles. The wolves didn't go to different tunnels; instead, they returned to the part where I followed them through. I used identify on each monster, and it might sound cliche, but I would need to farm the slimes since they were close to my level. I guess that could wait until tomorrow, for now, I will work on making a new shelter near each of the monsters' territories. It was time to teach these mindless beasts that a new predator was in town.