And then he realized the folly of letting the darkness overtake him.
The only thing that was keeping him from bleeding out at this moment was his [Basic Heal]. Using it to slowly seal up the numerous stab wounds he had suffered required him to focus— and if he passed out here, he would die.
So Michael forced himself awake, trying to sit up as he groaned.
“Fuck—” the word left his lips.
Although, the pain he felt was not nearly as bad as earlier, he still cursed on instinct, perhaps to give him the drive and energy needed to focus on the notifications that were floating before him.
You have reached Level 7!
+1 Class Skill Point
He had leveled up from killing that skeleton archer. Not just once, nor just twice. But six different times. And each level up had given him something called a Class Skill Point. What exactly was it supposed to do?
Well, he barely recalled his status screen just earlier— his only Class Skill, [Basic Heal], was supposedly at Level 1. And so he could infer only one thing from that.
If he distributed his Class Skill Point to his Class Skill, he could make them stronger.
Michael felt the burning sensation of the multiple stab wounds he had suffered at his side, and he knew he needed to upgrade his [Basic Heal]. It needed to be stronger if he wanted to recover from his injuries and rest.
He remembered how he had to speak to roll for a Class. But surely that shouldn’t be the case for pulling up his status screen, right? After all, this… mysterious so-called Multiversal System was able to sense when he even thought about trying to roll for his Class, so perhaps thinking was enough for this. Otherwise, how else could mute people access their status?
Michael wanted to test that theory, so he focused on a simple thought.
Status.
And the blue box flashed into existence.
Status:
Michael Ark
Level 7
Mana Core Rank G
Race: Human
Titles: None
Title Skills: None
General Skill:
- [Identify] - Level 1 (MAX)
- [Lesser Pain Tolerance] - Level 1
Class: [Basic Healer]
Class Skills (1/3):
- [Basic Heal] - Level 1
- N/A
- N/A
Class Skill Points: 6
Alright, now can I also think about distributing my Class Skill Points? Or will I have to actually speak or touch this screen…
Michael tried to will his Class Skill Points into leveling up his [Basic Heal]. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Which was understandable to an extent, since it was always possible that he might have an idle thought that wasn’t fully intended or well-thought-out.
So he had to actually speak or tap the blue box to get what he wanted. He was tired, and he could barely lift either of his hands up, so he just spoke weakly.
“D-distribute all 6 Class Skill Points to [Basic Heal].”
And just like that, his status screen flickered, before updating.
Class Skills (1/3):
- [Basic Heal] - Level 7
- N/A
- N/A
Class Skill Points: 0
All at once, Michael felt like the effects of his [Basic Heal] became much stronger. Perhaps not better by sevenfold, but it was still far more effective than it was before. He looked down at himself and saw the wound on his shoulder slowly stitch close as the worst injuries he sustained began to stitch itself up.
This gave him just enough energy to force himself to rip off his shirt and forcefully try to stop his bleeding where he sat.
“I’m… not… dying—” he started as he tightened the cloth of his shirt over his side.
And then he was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness which struck him like a truck. It happened so quickly, the young man didn’t even realize he was falling back to the ground until his head hit the dirt floor.
An overwhelming sense of exhaustion took hold of his body, and he slowly faded out of consciousness despite his best efforts at fighting back against it.
***
Michael didn’t know how long it was before he woke up. When he did, he was still bleeding, his arm was still half-broken, but he was not dead yet. So he immediately forced himself to continue healing his wounds, because he was still certain that he could die if he left them unattended.
At first, the young man thought that the reason he had passed out was due to blood loss. Or maybe it was because the adrenaline rush that had helped him kill the skeleton archer finally came to an end.
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Either way, he thought there was a very simple explanation as to why he fell unconscious. Unfortunately, after healing himself for another five minutes, he randomly passed out again.
***
Over the next few hours or so, Michael kept waking up, healing himself, and passing out. This repeated over and over again at least half a dozen times, and he had been at a complete loss as to why it kept happening.
It couldn’t have been the blood loss, and it certainly wasn’t because of some kind of adrenaline dump. Was it his injuries getting to him? No— he was slowly recovering from most of his wounds each time he woke up and healed himself for five to ten minutes.
So what could it have been?
Michael only had a single explanation for it. And he decided to test it out when he woke up again for what felt like the tenth time.
Instead of immediately focusing on healing his wounds, he just… lay there.
Like he was unconscious. Except, he was still awake and full of energy. But he didn’t need to heal himself— at least, not at the moment, since the most pressing injuries he had sustained had already been healed, replaced with scar wounds.
Five minutes passed, and Michael was still awake. Ten minutes. Twenty.
Nothing happened.
And Michael finally understood what was happening.
Although he was not an avid gamer, he knew that in video games, there was only a certain amount of magic that could be cast before the user depleted themselves of mana. And considering that [Basic Heal] was definitely a result of magic and the fact this strange Multiversal System had said it had filled Earth with mana, it had to be related.
Some kind of mana exhaustion.
Because he was using more magic than he could upkeep to heal himself.
And that was why Michael kept passing out.
He closed his eyes and sighed as the realization settled in. This was going to keep happening again and again and again as long as he kept overexerting his magic. However, if he didn’t heal the last of his wounds, he was going to be heavily handicapped if he ever had to face another one of those skeletons— if he was hoping to escape from this pyramid alive.
I’m not dying here, he told himself as he focused on healing himself once more.
This time, though… instead of using the full extent of his Level 7 [Basic Heal], he used it at a quarter of its previous intensity, and his wounds closed much slower. But even as he kept this going for about half an hour, he still remained awake. He didn’t pass out.
I’m surprised it’s this easy to control my [Basic Heal], Michael thought as he looked down at himself. It was almost intuitive. He never thought using magic would ever be so simple. But it was.
He kept going for about an hour, before he started to get dizzy again. But instead of immediately passing out, he stopped using [Basic Heal], letting himself recover for a bit, before he started healing himself again.
This went on for a few hours until he was able to get back to his feet and move without being impeded. Looking down at himself, now that he was able to get back up and moving again, he finally took in the surreality of his situation.
Honestly, now that he wasn’t on the verge of death, he could actually process his emotions that wasn’t just fear and desperation. He wondered how he was using magic so easily— it felt just like another extension of himself. It was odd. He was even in awe.
As a kid, he had always dreamt of being able to escape to a fantasy world away from all his problems. Away from all the screaming of his parents, and to explore a vast world of dragons and mythical monsters with just him and his childhood dog.
Now… with everything that had happened with this whole integration to the Multiversal System… that childhood dream of his could just possibly become a reality.
No— Michael shook his head as he clenched his fists. His arm had already been fully healed. Now, it was no longer broken, although it still felt a little bit numb. This is reality— this world is dangerous now, and I will have to survive no matter what.
The young man couldn’t let himself get swept up by his childhood fantasies. He couldn’t delude himself into thinking this was like an actual game.
At least, that was what he tried to tell himself. But deep inside of him, a part of him couldn’t help but feel excited for what was to come. Even if he was going to have to fight his way through this pyramid that was presumably filled with monsters to survive.
Calm down, he tried to steel his racing heart as he picked up the bow and arrow lying on the ground next to the broken skeleton. I can die at any moment, so I need to be careful…
Honestly, it was lucky that he hadn’t been discovered by any wandering skeletons or other monsters in the pyramid while he had been passed out or healing himself— but that was probably because he had been at a dead end, so it was unlikely for anything to come here.
Michael slowly made his way down the corridor, turning the only corner that was the only direction he could go. If he remembered correctly from seeing the layout of the pyramid before the walls were built, each floor was almost like a labyrinth. It was not going to be easy to navigate his way out of here.
He crept his way through the various dark hallways, his vision of what was ahead barely illuminated by the occasional torches that hung from the walls, until he finally came across a silhouette waiting around one of the corners.
Michael narrowed his eyes when he realized what it was— it was another skeleton. But this time, it was a skeleton warrior of sorts.
Wait, don’t I have some sort of [Identify] Skill? the young man thought with a pause. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to use it. But he didn’t want to make a noise. So he didn’t even try to figure out how [Identify] worked at the moment.
All he knew was that the skeleton was armed with a sword and shield instead of a bow and arrow, so it was definitely going to be physically stronger than the skeleton archer that he had just fought earlier. However, this skeleton’s back was facing him, so it didn’t even notice he was there.
Alright, I have the element of surprise, Michael told himself as he slowly turned the corner and took aim with the bow and arrow. I just have to make sure I hit my target…
He nocked the arrow onto the bowstring, carefully pointing at the skeleton warrior’s back. And when he loosed the arrow—
It whizzed straight past the side of the undead’s head. It glanced back at Michael as he cursed.
“Fuck this,” he said as he threw the bow to the side. “I’m doing it the hard way!”
The skeleton warrior spun around and silently charged at him. In response, Michael also rushed the undead, even as he knew he was going to get skewered by its blade. Regardless, all he had to do was take that attack and bring his opponent down.
And that was exactly what happened. The skeleton stabbed Michael through the side, before he tackled it to the ground. He pinned it there, prepared to pummel the head of the undead for a solid five to ten minutes, like with the skeleton archer. So he began flailing wildly all the while he healed himself.
But after only a minute or two passed as the skeleton warrior thrashed beneath him… its skull exploded as a notification resounded.
*ding!*
You have slain a [Skeleton Warrior - Level 15] - Additional experience is awarded for killing an enemy significantly above your level!
Michael paused as he realized he won. How did he defeat the monster so quickly? It was the same level as the skeleton archer, so it couldn’t have been less durable— in fact, since it was a skeleton warrior, it should have been more durable for the same level.
Was Michael just stronger now? Was it because he wasn’t injured? No, that couldn’t have explained it, because he had just been stabbed through the side. So what other explanation could there have been?
He paused as he considered a possibility— the only plausible explanation for his relatively easy victory.
Did he become physically stronger from leveling up? That had to be it.
Because Michael had leveled up a few times, he was now not only stronger, but faster, and probably even had a larger mana pool than before. Which meant that with this kill, he was going to become even stronger since he would level up even more…
And while the young man was right, he also wasn’t prepared for what kind of boost in power he was about to get.
*ding!*
You have reached Level 8!
+1 Class Skill Point
…
*ding!*
You have reached Level 10!
+1 Class Skill Point
*ding!*
Capstone Level Reached: Class Evolution Available!
Would you like to evolve your Class?
Oh… he thought, raising an intrigued brow. Now what is this?