***

  HP: 12/12

  SP: 12/12

  Set | Level 2

  Strength: 3 (+2)

  Endurance: 2 (+2)

  Agility: 2 (+2)

  Dexterity: 2 (+2)

  Perception: 3 (+2)

  Intelligence: 2 (+2)

  Willpower: B

  ***

  “Huh… So, everything increases by one point with each Level… And then those numbers in the bracket… After what happened, I was almost certain those numbers got applied to my non-bracket stats… When my SP was being consumed, it meant that the bracketed stats were active… If I’ve got this right, then does that mean I have to activate my Levels like there was an ability to actually be Level 2?” My face twisted with anger. “That’s sadistic. I’m only a tad bit more powerful for twelve seconds. Screw off, man. That’s bull.”

  I poked my head out of my hiding hole. Nothing in sight. Just a passage leading back the way I came and another passage leading into the unknown. The cave walls here were also a little more blue, and whatever was encrusted inside of them glittered.

  I counted my blessings. After running for twenty minutes, I had found this nice and cozy crevice in the wall and ducked inside it for a quick break. Had no idea if this was safe, but I was praying to any god that would listen.

  So far, so good.

  Not knowing when the peace would be disturbed, I returned my attention to my reality.

  First, how were these numbers expressed in the world? I had 2 Agility. Activating my Level, gave me 4, which was a 100% increase. I did not become twice as fast, so the stat gain-to-physical reality conversion was not linear. It’s possible that the bracketed stats had different considerations than the non-bracketed.

  Another point of interest was that HP always seemed to be active. And now, to the most exciting thing.

  I picked up a rock and cut deeply into my leg–deep enough to bleed out. I watched the blood leak out, and then I watched the wound close. My HP went down by 1 point. A smaller cut also healed, but without taking up the HP.

  “Bastards. That’s how it works,” I said with a smirk.

  There was something that was revered in the village. It was called the “Blessing of Regeneration.”

  There were some people in that village of little over a thousand who had the Blessing. But we’re just talking a couple of dozen out of a thousand. The wounds these few would take would heal as if they never happened.

  Heck, once there was a drunk who took a hatchet to his arm. The arm never fully severed, and instead, reattached like it had never been wounded. The bastard that pushed me into the Mauler had the blessing, too.

  But now I understood that the blessing was really HP shenanigans. And if that were true, it implied that those couple of dozen people had gained a Level as well.

  I studied my Checklist again. If the Checklist was the same for everyone, then, maybe the Strobe Fruit was what gave them the Level. Then again, I was sure that more than two dozen people had eaten a Strobe Fruit.

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  If the Checklist was individualized, though, then maybe it could work out.

  I frowned. There was still too much I didn’t know, but at least I had a framework. The numbers meant something. HP was real. Levels were real. And the villagers—

  A faint sound snapped me out of my thoughts. I replayed it, helped by the echo rumbling in my ears. It sounded like rocks had shifted against each other.

  I held my breath.

  The cave was never silent, not really. There was always something—a faint drip, the way my own breath echoed, the way my pulse thumped against my eardrums. But this was different. It wasn’t ambient noise.

  I pressed my back against the cold stone, listening for the sound of steps. I’d accept feeling any vibration if possible. Anything to give me a glimpse of what was to come.

  I caught the sound of stones shifting again. I couldn’t tell where it came from. I contemplated activating my Levels. Would the increase to ‘Perception’ help?

  I exhaled slowly, scanning the narrow entrance to my crevice. Nothing. The passage was still empty.

  Could a Shadow Beast tell I was in here? Maybe a Stalker could pull me out with its thin limbs, but a Mauler? Doubt it.

  Silence returned.

  Then suddenly, a crack came from my feet. My mind barely registered what had happened before something cold and wrong snapped around my ankle like a vice. My blood ran cold–it looked like a diseased black hand, but the wisps of shadows gave away that it was a Shadow Beast!

  It yanked me by the ankle like it was trying to pull me through the narrow hole it squeezed its hand through. My head slammed down hard against the jagged stone from the sudden yank. My skull rattled from the impact, and my vision blurred, but only for a second. I activated my Levels and kicked at the hand. A choked snarl sounded from beneath the stone. The grip loosened, and as soon as it did, it shriveled back into the hole.

  And just like that, silence returned. My eyes darted around. No way was it just going to let me be.

  Rocks suddenly shifted behind me. A hand grabbed the back of my head and wrenched me against the wall. A sound left my throat—something between a gasp and a strangled yell. I lurched forward, only to be yanked back and smashed against the wall. Again, I pulled forward and was pulled back into the wall in response. The smash was powerful. My brain was rattled. My vision was white. It wasn’t clearing up.

  If they weren’t active, I willed my Levels to activate. With all the strength I could muster, I swung my head forward, slipping free. Then, with my vision still white, I followed my memories and escaped my hiding hole, smashing into the rocky walls as I did.

  Vision returning, I ran through the next passage, turning off my Levels to conserve SP for when I need it. I had 8 seconds. My HP was at seven points.

  The narrow tunnels blurred past me. The jagged stone scraped my arms as I pushed off the walls, barely staying on my feet. My lungs burned, my heart slammed against my ribs, and the air in my throat felt wetter than usual. And by this point, I was an expert on cavern air quality.

  Then suddenly, there was more light ahead of me. The tunnel spat me out in a more expansive cavern.

  My legs barely managed to slow me down before I went tumbling over the edge. Breath caught in my throat, my eyes adjusted.

  The rock formations down here were all sorts of strange. One of the most common ones we would find in the hunting grounds were these strange mushroom-shaped rocks. Ahead of me were the rocky tops of those mushrooms, except, these ones were bigger and taller than anything I’d ever seen near the village.

  A cool blue glow radiating from below, I looked down and saw pools of pristine water. It was way too much of a drop thought. A fall like that–it was like jumping off a five-story building.

  I continued scanning the area. The walls curved far above, veins of dim, bioluminescent blue streaking along the ceiling like cracks in reality. At the far end of the cavern, another tunnel entrance sat waiting, so far away. A whole twelve rock caps… The only way forward was across the top of the stone formations, each one many feet thick, their caps slick with moss and tangled strands of fungal growth.

  I cursed my ill fortune and focused my gaze on the obstacle course ahead. I couldn’t help but bitterly laugh. It was like this was a platformer with a clearly designed path for me to take.

  I backed up, then sprinted forward and leapt onto the nearest stone cap. My boots skidded against its damp surface, but I caught myself. I barely had a second to breathe before I was off again, hopping to the next.

  Then the air shifted.

  A low hum vibrated through the cavern, occasionally causing the cavern’s veins to flicker. A deep, groaning sound–my past life identified it. It sounded like a whale’s song. The song filled the air, reverberating against the stone, rattling in my bones.

  I landed on the next mushroom rock and turned. There pulling itself out of the cavern wall like a shadow peeling free was something massive–a truly titanic Shadow Beast as large as a whale.