I knelt beside the Skirven.
Its broken scales were dull and cracked, the body already starting to cool. I placed a hand against its side and focused, calling up the familiar prompt.
Mimic Copy — 11 MP
I sighed.
It's getting more expensive.
Still…
The more abilities I have, the better my chances of surviving whatever comes next.
I steadied myself and focused.
Copy.
A vibration built inside my body.
Small ripples rolled across me—up, down, around—like I was being shaken constantly from the inside. The sensation grew worse by the second. My head swam. My thoughts dulled. My perception slipped, struggling to keep up.
Then came the pull.
A violent, unnatural sensation—like being yanked straight into the ground.
Suddenly I was there.
Buried.
My body slammed through dirt and stone, battered from every direction. Every entry burned. Every exit hurt—sharp, wrong, like my body was never meant to pass through earth at all.
The pain stacked.
Then, just as abruptly—
It stopped.
I opened my eyes.
I hadn't moved an inch.
The world was exactly where it had been.
Realization hit.
That wasn't movement.
That was my body learning.
New Ability Unlocked
Burrow Lunge
I exhaled slowly and opened my ability list.
Mimic Copy
Sovereign's Sight (Tier 1)
Claw Slash
Blood Frenzy
Shadow Step
Solar Thread
Pulse Tremor
Burrow Lunge
I stared at the list for a long moment.
…I've gained a lot.
I focused again and opened the new ability.
Burrow Lunge
The user sinks into the ground, vanishing from sight as they tunnel forward beneath the earth.
Cost
Consumes a growing portion of the user's maximum HP.
First use per day: 2% Max HP
Each consecutive use doubles the cost
(2% → 4% → 8% → 16% → …)
The cost resets after full healing and the start of a new day.
Side Effect
Repeated use causes escalating internal strain.
Overuse can quickly become fatal.
Another ability that tries to kill me when I use it
At least the early cost was low.
Still—
I'll have to be careful when and where I use it.
I stood, leaving the Skirven's body behind, and turned toward the darkness ahead. A cold breeze brushed past me, carrying something unpleasant.
I followed it.
I pushed through the wasted land, every step crunching over dead leaves and brittle grass.
The trees thinned as I went.
Darker.
Twisted—like something had wrung them dry and left them to rot.
It didn't feel like a region anymore.
It felt like I'd crossed into another realm.
Nothing here resembled the world I'd been learning to survive in.
Still, the purple pulse on my map kept tugging me forward.
Far ahead, something started to take shape.
At first, vague outlines.
Then sharper forms.
Walls.
As I got closer, the truth settled in.
A human encampment.
Or what remained of one.
The outer defenses were shattered—timbers split apart, deep scratches carved through planks as if something with claws had torn through without resistance.
I stepped closer and dropped to one knee.
Half-buried in the dirt was a banner.
Ripped.
Stiff with dried blood.
I lifted it.
A crest marked the fabric.
Unfamiliar.
Some kingdom's symbol… maybe.
I let it fall.
Then I passed through the broken gate.
Inside, the ground was littered with bodies.
Human corpses lay scattered everywhere.
Some torn apart violently.
Others…
Hollow.
Like something had simply drained the life out of them and moved on.
Monster bodies lay among them—withered, brittle, dried so badly I couldn't even tell what they'd been.
Everything felt cold.
Not just empty.
Spent.
I moved deeper, and something caught my eye.
Shards.
I knelt and lifted one of the fragments.
A broken stone.
The same kind I'd seen in the crater.
So I'm on the right trail.
I dropped the shard and kept walking.
The whole outpost felt old.
Days—maybe weeks—since the fighting.
No fresh blood.
No recent screams.
This wasn't a new massacre.
It was a warning.
I exited the ruins and narrowed my eyes.
Ahead—
A cave.
Wide.
Black.
The closer I got, the wider its mouth seemed.
And colder.
The breeze spilling out carried something heavy.
Death.
So this is a dungeon.
Bodies lay scattered near the entrance—humans and monsters alike.
Claw marks scarred the stone.
Cratered walls showed signs of explosions.
Blackened sections where something had breathed fire.
This hadn't been a single fight.
It had been a war.
I stepped closer.
A sudden gust blasted out of the cave—strong enough to stagger me.
I dug my footing in and steadied myself.
That felt like a breath.
Focus returned.
You mentioned the dungeon core. Where is it?
The system hesitated.
Tell me—otherwise I'm going in blind.
After a moment—
Deepest point of the dungeon.
And how do I find it?
Another pause.
In this case…
Follow the cold. The colder the breeze, the closer you are.
That made sense.
I stepped closer to the cave mouth.
Then stopped.
Charging into a dungeon like this—tired, drained, half-recovered—would be suicide.
I glanced up.
The sun was already dipping low.
Sunset.
I'd lost more time than I thought.
The cold breeze brushed past me again.
Steady.
Patient.
Like the dungeon wasn't going anywhere.
Fine.
I moved off to the side of the entrance and climbed partway up the stone wall, settling into a narrow ledge where I could see everything without being seen.
From here, I had a clear view of the cave mouth—
and anything that tried to leave it.
I rested.
Let my body recover.
Let my mana settle.
I watched the light fade as the world slowly darkened.
Nothing emerged.
No movement.
No sound.
Just that constant, creeping cold.
When dawn finally came—pale light creeping over the land—I stood.
Now.
I stood before the cave entrance again.
I stepped forward.
The dungeon swallowed me.
Darkness pressed in immediately.
My eyes adjusted slowly.
Bodies lay everywhere.
Humans.
Monsters.
Claw marks gouged the massive entrance.
Stone craters pocked the floor.
Scorched walls told stories of desperate resistance.
This place had devoured everything that entered it.
I moved deeper until I reached a split.
Three tunnels.
Each felt different.
One carried warmth.
One reeked of death.
The last—
Cold.
Curiosity tugged at me.
But I didn't hesitate.
I followed the cold.
As I walked, a sound reached me.
Rip.
Stretch.
Rip again.
Flesh tearing…
Then knitting itself back together.
Unnatural.
I stopped and activated Pulse Tremor.
The vibrations were faint—stone dampened everything down here.
But something was close.
Its movements were erratic.
Wrong.
I advanced cautiously.
As I neared a corner, flashes of purple flickered ahead.
Light flared—
then faded—
then flared again.
The tearing sound grew louder.
I leaned out just enough to see.
A Vireloch.
Pinned.
A long, jagged spike had impaled it through the torso, anchoring it to the ground.
Both arms were gone.
Scattered remains of humans and monsters lay around it.
The creature wasn't conscious.
Not really.
The stone embedded in its chest pulsed desperately—forcing the body to repair itself over and over again.
So the fighting reached this deep.
This dungeon is worse than I imagined.
I stepped closer.
The Vireloch's eyes snapped open as it sensed me.
I shifted instinctively.
Ready.
Then the light dimmed.
The eyes faded.
Moments later, the stone flared again.
The eyes opened once more.
It wasn't a threat.
It was…
Stuck.
I approached anyway.
The creature let out a sound—barely a roar.
More like a breath that failed halfway.
I reached the spike and peered into the wound.
The purple stone flickered wildly.
Desperate.
I reached in.
Pulled.
There was almost no resistance.
The moment the stone left its body, the Vireloch's eyes flared one last time—
then went dark.
Gone.
I looked down at the stone.
Cracked.
Fading.
I didn't keep it.
I crushed it in my fist.
A brief pulse.
A dull pop.
Nothing more.
I scattered the shards and moved on.
The cold grew stronger.
The dungeon stretched deeper ahead.
And whatever waited at its heart—
was still breathing.