"Exit, Exit, where art thou exit, my beloved." Kella has been walking for well over 2 hours with nothing to interrupt her except the occasional splashing noise of slime pond that happened every 30 minutes.
On the up side, all her skills went up a level, besides 2 of her skills which she had no way of leveling up those being Beastkin Stomach and claw growth, 1 because she had nothing to eat and 2 hasn't met any more slimes. She's tried and failed to break her claws herself the trees are too soft.
It's worth mentioning the pain from mana infusing is mostly gone now and Kella is now able move slightly faster using it although the effect isn't permanent or perfect but it's a start.
and On the down side that it's getting increasingly boring.
-Another hour of walking later~
While brainstorming ways to make improvements on her mana Circulation skill because she's bored, she had a idea of having two sets of mana Circulating through her instead of one. as she put this thought into action it got twice as hard but she was already doing it subconsciously so it didn't take long to get used it. "*Ding* *Ding* "oh it leveled up... Wait, what now?"
+×+×+×+
+×+×+×+
"Skills can evolve?" Clicking the skill to see how it changed
+×+×+×+
Acquired by circulating multiple sets of Mana throughout the body.
By circulating multiple mana sets through the body, One can greatly increase the effects of circulating mana.
>can increase Mana regeneration speed by up to 50%
>allows to be a substitute for food and water to an intermediate extent
>can very rarely increase one physical stat by 4-8, chances are enhanced when doing intense physical activity.
[Once a the third effect activates, it can't activate again for 16 hours]
[Stats that are 10 times or higher then the skills level cannot be increased]
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'What's with the extra symbol? I'm probably going to need to make more sets of mana to level this up but I don't have enough mana to make another set I'm using 50 per right now. I do feel like this skill is going to save my ass a lot.' Kella thought as She walked.
-30 minutes of walking later~
"Is that A wall?" She ran up to the wall, which went up as far she could see which was around 18 meters because of the tree's Leaves that were blocking her vision
" Why the hell is there a wall surrounding a forest? I'll get my answers if I get out, I'm sure..."
"so do I just follow this wall now and find an exit... I hope so, the last time it was a monster maker."
-30 minutes of walking next to a wall later~
'If I didn't have mana I probably would have gone insane at this point.' *Ding* "mana infusing level up, cool"
-30 minutes of walking later~-
"I might get addicted to this feeling." Kella was massaging her tail to see how it felt, saying that it felt nice would be a understatement. Kella gently massaged her tail while pondering about things "I haven't really questioned why I'm here and somehow even weirder, with almost everything about my body being different.
"Reincarnated maybe, Stuck in a hyber, realistic simulation perhaps, In a Coma or
Kidnapped and experimented on? pick your poison."
"First one sounds like fun, I never liked my job and I also managed to be the last surviving member of my family so nobody is worried about me, I had one nice coworker but that was only superficial.
My boss is probably furious trying to find me, he was the kind of guy to drag someone out their casket to make them work. hahaha." Kella laughed at her own rambling
-30 minutes of walking later~
Looking at the wall that looked sturdy, then her claws. "Why didn't i try the earlier *crack* ahhh! that's why." She held her hand in pain as she pulled mana in her broken claws *Ding* 'at least it worked' She looked at wall with sorrow and determination in her eyes
'I shouldn't put this off it's linked to my only weapon'
*Crack* *Crack* *Ding* *Crack*...
.
.
.
-1 hour of suffering later~
"Finally it's done but It didn't evolve... Maybe not all skills can evolve, That or I need to improve it in a fundamental way." Kella took her mind of the suffering and questioned the requirements for skill evolution.
"At least that's done for now. Let's start walking again."
-30 minutes of walking later~
"What to do, What to do, oh! I know Let's try to control mana outside my body." Kella Said to no-one.
Kella moved mana out of her vains she quickly lost control over it. "This is probably why I almost lost my legs, This won't be easy."
-15 minutes of walking later~-
*Ding*
+×+×+×+
+×+×+×+
"Nice, I'm making progress I can control it for longer this is getting fun!"
-30 minutes of walking later~
"I can Almost perfectly control the mana when it's in my body, now for my goal!"
-30 minutes of walking later~
"I Almost got it that time... What's that?" Kella stoped practicing and checked her surroundings and saw a opening in the wall. "the exit!" She exclaimed and walked faster "Finally I'm free of this empty forest." *Thud* "huh?" Hitting thin air, she stared at exit baffled then a window popped up in front of the exit. 'ummm... Excuse me what?'
+×+×+×+
[Dungeon creatures cannot leave before the conditions are met]
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"Dungeon creature? that's rude but does that mean I'm in a dungeon?" Kella looked up to just see branches and leaves 'I can't see the sky' She then walked to a nearby tree.
"I didn't want to do this because i would need climb so high but I have to check" Kella sank her claws into the tree to see if it would hold her weight, when it didn't budge, she started to climb up the tree.
'Just keep focus and everything should be fine' She climbed up tree and started reaching the branches and pulling herself up from branch to branch.
"Just a bit farther and what the hell are those?." Kella finally got a look above the tree's and saw a ceiling littered with glowing white crystals.
"Those created the illusion that their was a sky. this means one thing." She sank into the branch she was sitting
"I can't leave yet." She said staring at the white crystals
"What even are the conditions?" Kella started going over the possible conditions for getting out.
"Using this being a Dungeon and it refers to creatures plural as a basis I can think of three different ways of getting out" Kella started writing in the tree using her claws
Waiting long enough for a dungeon break.:
Dungeon breaks are Phenomenons that occur when a uncleared dungeon exit barrier brakes and the monster pour out into the outside.
Pros:If they exist I can get out during it.
Cons:but I have no idea if or when that will happen and if I won't starve before then. and if this does work and I get out that way theres a chance I'll get hunted down as a monster.
Killing the boss of the Dungeon.:
Killing the boss of the dungeon can possibly remove the exit barrier.
Pros:This seem like like the easiest to test out.
I think I've already seen the boss but why was it spitting out monsters, what if it isn't the boss?
Cons:Too many unknowns and could possibly ruin my other 2 ways out if I kill the boss.
Wait for people to come in though the entrance:
There's a good chance people can enter this dungeon and if they do, I could probably tag along with them to get out or make them take me out if their unwilling.
Pros:This is more likely and probably faster than the 1st way and I could get a explanation about the things I don't understand.
Cons:I have no idea if what I am is a monster or a recognized citizens in whatever place I'm in. and if I'm not, how strong are the people that are ether going to hunt me down, belittle me or even abduct and turn me into a slave if I'm run into the wrong people.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa..." Ruffling her hair vigorously then almost falling off the branch only to Barely catch herself putting herself back up right.
"What do I try first, I should probably level up to make more mana sets if I'm gonna to try methods 1 or 3 so I don't starve as fast." Kella slowly climbed back down the tree after 3 minutes she was back on the ground.
"Looking at my Claws they do look rather monstrous... oh! I have a idea on how to improve them but let's start walking towards the center while doing this" Kella tried to manipulate the mana in her claws to go to the shape of human finger nails while walking.
-After a minute of struggling~ They started to barely move. "It's working!"
-After 5 minutes~ she could slightly flatten or straighten the Claw. "Getting better."
-After 15 minutes~ she could now control them to a larger decree. "They only look abnormally long now."
-After 30 minutes~ She could now shrink and grow them to the size she wants "perfect!" *Ding*
+×+×+×+
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Kella lips curled into a grin for improving her claws to the point they evolved. "Now let's see it says about it."
+×+×+×+
Acquired by changing the shape and size of one's claws.
Changing one's Claws has a countless number of uses from combat, thievery or even fashion.
>can change one's claws many ways
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"Thievery, what does that even mean?" Kella pondered for a moment before tossing the thought to the back of her mind.
"Let's continue my mana manipulation practice now."
-10 minutes of walking later~
Kella was currently was focusing on her hand as a blue misty substance rose out of it that slowly coalesced into the shape of a small cube l
"Almost Allllmost... Got it!" Kella exclaimed looking at a small blue cube that barely leaked anything. 'I want to control more at once' *Ding* She glanced at the window.
+×+×+×+
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Kella pulled the cube into her body, while obsessing over the thought. "how do i control more mana ." She said then tapped the skill. While she started to climb up a tree.
+×+×+×+
Acquired by controlling a good deal of mana outside the body.
controlling one's mana outside of the body is a basic but important step in the mages path.
> Allows to control one's own mana outside the body
[the further the one's mana, the harder it is to control.]
+×+×+×+
Sitting on a large branch thinking. 'What if I pull mana out of multiple places at once? No That would drain my mana too quickly.
What about holding my mana outside my body while my mana regens, not that ether my mind wouldn't be able to handle constantly controlling mana outside of my body and I would collapse from mental exhaustion before I got enough mana to be happy with at least I believe so.'
She tried to think of better ways but couldn't 'How, How, How, haaaa I need too take a step and stop, obsessing over this won't help me figure it out. maybe I need to look at this differently hahaha differently huh let's try infusing my eyes now to calm down, it should be safer now that I have much better control over mana." Kella gently moved mana to her eyes then slowly covered each part of her eyes her vision got a little fuzzy and she was about to take the mana out her eyes when her vision cleared and showed a mystical site. *Ding*
"Is that Mana, why didn't I see this earlier? oh right mana infused eyes."
Kella saw Massive trails and clouds of Mana in the air surrounding her. "If I missed all of this then." Kella made a cube out of mana watched it slowly lose mana that wasn't visible earlier as she put the mana back in the cube and tried to sense the mana that was leaking out.
This cycle of sensing and moving a normally Imperceptive amount mana repeated for hours.
This act would change her life to her very core.