Midnight came again to take its toll.
The fire was extinguished by the same invisible pulse. Chimes that sounded similar to stone hitting the hollow bones of a creature, a wailing voice coming from the deepest parts of a monster's throat, Jack had remembered these sounds all too well during his first encounter with it.
Jack quickly undeployed his tentacle and opted to do the most sensical action.
Nothing.
Each time a hostile intention was directed to him, there would be a notification from this world as if they were telling every animal to be as direct as possible.
It was a weird and suspicious mechanic of this world but questioning it wouldn't save Jack from anything at this moment. Instead, he decided to use it properly as much as he could.
As long as the notification didn't appear, Jack didn't need to worry about anything.
Not to mention, resting was an important and vital process for a new life such as whatever species Jack actually was. Because only when the body was sleeping, the brain flushed the neurotoxin and waste accumulated throughout the day. It also repaired the body and unleashed a growth hormone when the body falls into deep rest.
Although Jack wasn't technically a human to begin with. His body needed the rest time for him to grow. He was still an adolescent in terms of physical age.
Unfortunately, it might be easier said than done.
His eyes were shut but his mind was not. He expected for the worst as he waited for the hostile notification to appear within his vision.
Jack slept with one eye open, his heart racing and pumping adrenaline just in case he needed to start sprinting. Throughout it, Jack was trying his best not to have a heart attack. After a while, he got used to it and committed the peaceful act of sleeping.
What could've gone wrong?
Thankfully nothing bad happened and sunshine sprayed its light onto his face. Technically it wasn't enough sleep but he was the man that didn't want to waste a time when the sun was already knocking on his door.
"Mmhh!" Jack yawned. "Well, now we know that monstrosity won't bother us much if we keep averting our eyes."
Jack then opened his Mutagen Sockets Screen.
[Mutagen Sockets>
Socket: Mutagen {Rock} >> (38%)
Socket: Mutagen {Ignitor Fang} >> (1%)
Socket: Mutagen {Anti-Heat Flammable Fur} >> (7%)]
"It took a long time for the Rock to give me something." Jack sighed. "Welp, might as well add the crystal fragments immediately."
[Socket: Mutagen {Rock} > Mutagen {Spiritual Crystal Fragments}]
[Ironically, Petra means rock or stone in ancient greeks. Now, the Petra Tentacle is anything but rock.]
"Hahah! It's too soon to be judged."
[ Name: Petra Tentacle {Power Level 1}
Type: Grappler >> Fighter {62%}
Length: 124cm
Width: 28cm-12cm
Weight: 16kg
Kinetic Strength: 42kg
Toughness: G
Regeneration: G
Growth Rate: F
Unique Feature: Suction Pads]
Deploying the Petra Tentacle to get some sunshine, he immediately exercised and readied up for his exploration into the mysterious cave. Jack filled his stomach with another roasted meat from the leftovers that he hanged on the tree.
Armed and prepared, mentally and physically, Jack created a torch from the nearby wood, strapped them into a bulk rod and coated the end with his tentacle's flammable mucus.
[Don't you already have your Petra Tentacle, why make another torch?]
"I won't exactly call something that can burn my whole body as a torch." Jack reluctantly laughed.
With each step echoed throughout the dusty and mossy cave, Jack ventured into the unknown with his knife and arsenal of weapons on his tentacle. As he went on, the wall and the ceiling transformed into patterned rocks with numerous geometric patterns that could be seen at every angle.
Two minutes passed and nothing happened as much.
"This is an extremely long passageway. Someone seems to be rather diligent with their base positioning."
[It might not even be an ancient base or facility and more of an artificial path made for a certain location.]
"Yeah, it could be either treasure or a mining zone." Jack laughed. "But if I look more into it, this feels like going into a World Vein location more than anything."
[It seems like the information about this World Vein got corrupted upon my landing in this world, can you elaborate more?]
Seeing Sephiroth getting interested in the topic, Jack grinned as if it was his son finally taking an interest in what Jack likes as well.
"For a refresher, mana is a huge revolution of fuel and source of energy found in our former world." Jack gestured his forefinger. The torchlight cast a clingy shadow onto the ground as he walked. "The concept of this energy was born from one smart nonsense called the Strings Theory!
"It was meant to actually prove how the universe and things originated, just so that they could find more hidden material and dimensions of this world. Sadly it resulted in nothing except for one thing.
"Innumerable metaphysical strings hidden within space and time that could be converted into a tiny fusion reactor! Put many crazy scientists in one room, then wala! Mana was founded and the world stopped focusing on fun discoveries like the giant tube calculating machine and many academies became solely focused on researching this magical thing."
[And they eventually plunged the modern world into the dark age again as they live with the abomination and creation they made to kill each other. I still have that knowledge within my database. Just saying this to prevent you from deviating from the topic any longer.]
"Tch!" Jack clicked his tongue with a smile. "You can say that due to the rising activity of mana conversion back then, natural mana became a thing.
"Kinda like how water turns into ice in cold regions. Apparently, there are some quak-tum gravity things and stuff I forgot that made this so-called mana crystal formed."
[I think what you're trying to say is 'quantum'.]
"And the World Vein is a place beneath the world that has a higher natural mana conversion rate."
[Knowing that we have a similar energy being perceived within this world, there might be a chance that we're really going into this World Vein location.]
"Exactly!" Jack made a gun gesture with his free hand.
Eventually, Jack stumbled upon a figure wearing clothing fit for exploring a cave, complete with a safety helmet alongside a flashlight attached and a sturdy jacket. As he pulled the lifeless humanoid figure, a skeleton was revealed.
"The fabric of these clothes is still of high quality." Jack pondered. "Seems like this poor fella got here about a week before us."