After thoroughly inspecting every room in his 20-year-old avatar, Vansh decided to step outside for a walk. Given his limitations, he strolled around the perimeter of the house's grounds, with one section of the area leading into the water of the lake.
The lake's water was green because of the heavy algae present on its surface. Moreover, the surface of the lake seemed utterly calm. There were barely any ripples on the surface, and it could mean 2 things. either there was nothing in the lake, or something dangerous lurked below, ready to pounce on anything that touched the surface. So to investigate, Vansh got closer to the water.
He knew that he was an apparition, and nothing could actually hurt him. Keeping that in mind, he put his head in the water, to check what was below the lake. However, he wasn't able to see anything under the water, because it was all dark down there. Due to the large amount of algae deposited on the lake's surface, light was barely getting past.
Since Vansh had nothing better to do at the moment, he searched for a flashlight-like object within the house without needing to physically enter it. He could sense everything that was part of the house from anywhere. Within a matter of seconds, he located a lantern, although its appearance was quite unconventional.
Vansh promptly teleported himself to the lantern, which rested on the dining table. The lantern's design closely resembled a typical one, but it housed a light bulb instead of a candle or wick. To control the light bulb, there was a switch located at the lantern's base.
To try out the lantern, Vansh simply switched it on, and a few feet of area around the lantern was instantly illuminated with yellow light. "Nice," said Vansh as he looked at the lightening lantern with a grin on his face. "Now, I just need a rope to lower it down the lake."
Much like he had discovered the lantern, Vansh also located the rope in an instant. Equipped with the two items he needed to explore the lake's depths, he went back to the place where the lake's water was inside the house's area.
He tied the handle of the lantern with the rope he had and switched on the lantern. Then he put his head again in the lake, and slowly started lowering the glowing lantern into the depths of the lake. The lantern was going down, and with each descent, it was revealing a small part of its surroundings, but even after going down 10-15 feet, Vansh couldn't see any living thing in the lake. However, he was feeling a chill through the lantern and the rope that were inside the lake because they were after all part of his physical body. He felt like he was being watched from all directions, but still, he kept lowering the lantern.
Vansh continued to lower the lantern into the depths: 20 feet, 25 feet, 30 feet, 35 feet. However, when he reached a depth of 40 feet, he noticed a large bubble rising from below. Vansh halted, no longer lowering the lantern, and peered intently at what lay beneath. Suddenly, just a few feet beneath the lantern, two enormous eyelids snapped open. Vansh was taken aback and found himself immobilized as he locked eyes with two enormous red orbs, each as large as car tires. Only the creature's massive eyes were visible. In the next instant, something else emerged from the murky depths of the lake, clamping its jaws around the lantern and extinguishing its light. The creature continued to tug on the rope, causing it to disappear into the depths of the lake.
The instant that occurred, Vansh swiftly withdrew his head from the lake and lay on his back, sprawled out on the island's grass.
"Damn, that was incredibly terrifying," he muttered.
In the meantime, he saw the transparent screen appear right before his eyes which showed his health "995 / 1000". Simultaneously, Manual's voice chimed in, saying, "Your health has decreased by 5 points."
Vansh sat up abruptly, his expression filled with astonishment. As he examined his health on the screen, he exclaimed, "I have health?"
He instantly called for Manual, and asked, "What other stats do I have?"
The transparent screen which was showing the health points, populated other stats on the screen. It showed Health – 995 / 1000, Mana - 195 / 200, Armor - 50, Physical Damage - 20, Magical Damage – 0, and Contracts - 0. Then Manual began explaining each stat one by one:
"
1. Health
Every part of the house constitutes some part of your total health points. Right now your health point is 995 because a lantern and a rope are destroyed or they have been taken far away from the house's area. Furthermore, Health Points or HP cannot be recovered over time.
2. Mana
You can use magic by spending mana points. The more your mana point is, the more magical abilities you can use. A recent magical ability that was used was the lighting of the lantern. Moreover, Mana Points or MP can be recovered over time."
Meanwhile, Vansh chimed in. "Lighting the lantern was magic!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, you used your mana to light the bulb," replied Manual, and Vansh had no other option, but to accept it.
Manual then went on to explain, "
3. Armor
It decides the amount of damage you'll take. For example, if someone is attacking you with 100 Damage Points then you'll receive only 50 damage, which will reduce your HP by 50 points.
4. Physical Damage
It's the amount of damage you can generate using the parts of the house.
5. Magical Damage
It's the amount of damage you can generate using magic or MP.
6. Contracts
You can create a contract with any intelligent race if you want to allow them to live in the house. However, in order for the contract to be valid, both you and the other being should agree."
"Contract, hmmm….that sounds interesting," remarked Vansh. He then inquired, "How many contracts can I make? And what's the benefit of making a contract besides alleviating loneliness?"
"There's no limit to the number of contracts you can make. Regarding the second question, I don't have any information," replied Manual.
"Guess I have to make a contract to find out," said Vansh.
Meanwhile, bubbles began to surface in the lake water within the house's area. Vansh watched attentively as the bubbles emerged, and then suddenly, a massive creature resembling an iguana leaped out of the water. At the sight of the creature, he sprang to his feet, his eyes widening in shock.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" he exclaimed.
Upon uttering those words, Manual responded, "Appraisal is activated. Now you can access information about other living beings that enter the house's area."
In the next moment, the transparent screen appeared before Vansh, and it had all the information on the creature. It wrote, "
Water Salamandar
Threat Level – D
Description – Water Salamandars are very aggressive creatures. They generally live in deep waters where there is low to no sunlight. They can use a wide variety of water-based attacks.
Length X Width X Height – 10 feet X 3 feet X 3 feet
Weight – 200 kg "
Vansh turned his attention to the water salamander, which was delicately licking its scales with its forked tongue, its mouth oozing saliva. Before he could comprehend the situation, the salamander fixed its gaze on him and began to approach slowly.
Right at that moment, Vansh forgot that he could teleport using House Teleportation or he could go invisible by switching off the Avatar Mode. Instead, his human instinct kicked in and he swiftly turned his back to the salamander, sprinting toward the house's entrance.
Seeing Vansh run, the salamander chased after him as fast as it could. When Vansh reached the main door and was about to go inside the house, the salamander pounced at him. But it went right through Vansh's ethereal body without touching him.
Right then Vansh remembered that he was an apparition all along. As a result, he calmed down while the salamandar prepared itself to launch another attack on him. But, Vansh casually walked toward it, knowing that it could never hurt him.
While the salamandar was trying to inflict damage on Vansh through many water attacks, tail whips, and claw attacks, Vansh got some swords and other weapons in the house through teleportation, and then by using the combination of his teleportation ability, weapons, and ethereal body, he killed the salamandar.
When the salamandar died in the house's hall, Manual unexpectedly announced, "Skill unlocked – Devour." In the following instant, the transparent screen appeared before Vansh. It wrote, "Devour - Water Salamander?" Below it, similar to the Avatar mode, appeared two options: "Yes" and "No."
And Vansh selected "Yes" without even thinking for a moment.
As soon as he did that, the body of the water salamandar slowly started drowning in the solid floor of the house. Even the broken scales and spurted blood of the salamandar were devoured by the house, and when all of that was done, Manual said, "New skill gained – Water Gun
New skill gained – Underwater breathing
New skill gained – Poison Claw."
Receiving all of these new updates, Vansh smiled, feeling like he had finally unraveled the secret to acquiring new abilities.