Chương 7: Caves (3)

Rowan wandered out of the tomb, heart pounding. He'd been through the tunnels before, but he hadn't seen a thing. This time, he had the glow of the spectral chains to illuminate his path. He'd considered selecting a weapon before exploring the caverns, but ultimately decided against it. He'd survived it while poisoned and completely in the dark, so he doubted it was too dangerous. Of course, he would still pick a weapon, but he wanted to get an idea of the terrain before he chose one.

The chamber immediately outside the sarcophagus' room was massive. With the light provided by the chains, he could see a lot of it, but not everything. Cautiously, he moved around the cavern until he had a good sense of the cave's size. It was easily thirty meters across, and at least twice as long. As for its height, he didn't know, but he could just barely make out the tips of stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

While most of the walls were rough and natural, some portions of them had the same unnatural smoothness as those within the tomb. And upon those smooth patches were more carvings of chains. If he was being honest, Rowan found it all extremely unnerving, especially with how the chains depicted on the walls were currently wrapped around him. He had a good sense of the chamber, but he couldn't assume that all the parts of the cave system were going to be as large.

After all, the tunnel he'd found himself in after landing in the lake was far smaller than this. Looking around the cavern, he found several smaller side tunnels connecting to it. As he moved to check them, Rowan thought. He'd somehow survived and recovered from the poison, but he wanted to know why. He knew it was because of his stats, since they'd gained three points each after he received his class. But stats were still something of an abstract concept to him.

Sure, he understood that they represented strength or speed, but how did they actually translate physically? With the three-point boost, his strength and toughness had both doubled, but did that mean he was twice as strong as before? And how did it work for toughness? Was his skin harder to break? He tilted his head. Had toughness had anything to do with his recovery from the poison? Or had it only been vitality? Speaking of vitality, how did it work? Was it a boost to his immune system?

Or did he regenerate faster? Rowan shook his head, rubbing his temples. He'd left the tomb because all of the new information was making his brain hurt, but the second he got out, he'd started doing it again. After a moment of consideration, he decided to actually test how the new stats affected his body. There were still three side passages to check, but Rowan had already taken a look around all the ones on his side of the cave. So he decided to test dexterity.

He assumed that it didn't just apply to hand-eye coordination and actually boosted his speed, but it didn't hurt to test it out. The cave ground was flat enough, so he began to sprint. He darted across the cavern, pulling to an abrupt stop before he hit the wall. He was definitely faster, but he didn't know by how much. Not having anything to compare his speed to, Rowan moved on to his other stats. He was confident he knew what toughness and vitality did, or at least the basic picture.

Even if he wanted to learn more, he wasn't willing to cut and bruise himself just to test them. That left strength and… mana? This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. That stat confused him. He thought he understood the general idea of mana from the games he'd played, but did the stat mean that he had it? Shouldn't he feel it? He'd also gained [Mana Manipulation] as a skill after he got his class, but he wasn't sure how to use it.

Rowan sighed. He had so many questions and so few answers. Pushing his thoughts of mana and skills aside, he focused on strength. For a second, he considered lifting and throwing the rocks scattered around the cavern to measure his strength, but after a moment of thinking, he decided it would make too much noise. He wasn't subtle by any means, with his glowing chains and running around the giant cavern, but the light and sounds of movement didn't reach too far.

If he were to drop or throw the stones, he feared the noise would carry far deeper and attract unwanted attention. So he did pushups and situps and even lifted some of the smaller rocks that he was sure he wouldn't drop. Just like with dexterity, he knew he was stronger, but he couldn't gauge by how much. It was easier, since he could count the number of pushups he was doing, but Rowan didn't actually know how many he could do before.

He'd usually just done sets of twenty, which had been tiring, but by no means his limit. As for the rocks, he lifted them with relative ease, but without any way to weigh them, he could only estimate. Then, as he sat, panting, his stomach growled. He froze. That wasn't good. In the chaos since he'd been teleported by the System, he hadn't once considered the issue of hunger or thirst. But now, he began to realize how dire of a situation he was in. He had no food. He had no water.

Actually, if he could find his way back to the lake, he could drink from it, but Rowan shuddered at the very thought of touching the glimmering liquid. But his situation wasn't entirely hopeless. He had two quests that had rations as a reward. One was to reach level 20, which awarded System Credits and common gear as well. Alas, Rowan doubted he would get there anytime soon. The other quest, however, seemed much more plausible. Defeat 10 enemies.

Assuming he could find something to fight and that it wasn't on the same level as the Lesser Chimera he'd faced, Rowan thought he could do it. Of course, that meant he needed a weapon. He'd already narrowed it down to two options. The shortsword or the mace. The first option was tempting, as it just seemed like a good starting weapon, but Rowan thought the mace might be better. When he'd first seen his options, he'd been entirely unsure of which option he would choose.

But now, he was leaning further toward the mace. It had spikes for piercing, but also had the weight behind it to pack a solid punch. If the sword had come with a shield to complement it, it might have been significantly better, but on its own, Rowan didn't think it was the best choice. That wasn't to say it didn't have its uses, but he also didn't know how long or heavy it would be. It would certainly have stabbing and slashing power, but what else? What if his opponent couldn't easily be cut?

Then, the decision was made for him. Rowan cursed as he heard the clicking of mandables before a massive ant entered from one of the side tunnels he'd neglected to check. In his rush to figure out what his stats did, he'd forgotten to make sure the rest of the tunnels were empty. Scrambling away from the creature, Rowan inspected it. The insect was four feet long and just under two feet tall. Its entire body was covered by thick, chitinous armor.

Having seen enough, he called up the weapon selection screen and chose the mace. A second later, the weapon appeared on the ground before him. Not wasting a second, he snatched it up, inspecting it for a moment before returning his focus to the ant. Concentrating, Rowan tried to focus on the insect the same way he'd done with the Lesser Chimera. [Ant Worker - Level 3] Rowan felt a tiny bit of tension leak out of him. It didn't change the fact that he was facing a giant ant, but it was only level 3.

Hopefully, it would be much weaker than the Chimera had been. He wanted to hide from the creature, but he knew it wasn't feasible. Rowan wasn't sure how good the insect's vision was, but it was sure to see the glow from the chains on his body. Still, that didn't mean he had to rush into the conflict. He approached slowly, mace held out before him. It was almost two feet long, with a heavy, spiked head. While the head was steel, the haft was wood.

Rowan moved closer and closer to the ant, his hands trembling even as he tried to force them to be still. He didn't want to engage the ant without getting a better idea of its strength, but he was thirsty. He needed the rations. The ant clacked its mandibles and faced him. So, taking one last deep breath, Rowan raised the mace and attacked.