Aaron picked up a small rock that was on the floor, lightly chucking it down his tunnel, eliciting a similar response. He couldn't see what the creature inside his tunnel was due to any light barely escaping, but he knew it wasn't a large monster. If he had to fight, he figured he could win. Aaron got off his hands, and started walking using his considerably smaller legs with his hands outstretched. Aaron made his way down to the end of his cave, using his hands to find the creature. He couldn't feel the shape of it, but as brought them out closer to the cave's mouth, he noticed it was human. A woman. She started spouting babble at a rapid speed, and Aaron couldn't for the life of him tell what they were saying. It was like it was another language, which, in all honesty, in probably was. She was wearing clothes similar to those of the priests from back home, so maybe she was saying a prayer, or she worked for a church?
Aaron had no clue what to do in this situation. 'Nature dictates that I should snap her in half like a twig, but I was a human before this.' Aaron thought as he reached the maw of his base. 'Screw it, I'll just drop her here.'
Aaron gently placed the woman, still yammering on in her gibberish, outside his base. She had her eyes closed, but a few seconds after she felt the floor, her eyes opened slowly, wondering how she wasn't dead. She looked up at the skeleton, using its arms as a method of movement, and watched as it wandered back into the cave she was hiding in. Why hadn't it killed her?
[Limited Adaptation]
[Enough Data Has Been Collected For (Average)]
Aaron was shocked by this, but he had no clue what it was referring to, nor why [Limited Adaptation] activated. He'd probably find out later, but it was good to keep it in his mind.
Aaron headed to the back of the cave, sitting down and picking up the blue orb, trying to figure out what it did. He held it up, moving closer to the cave entrance so he could get some better light. Maybe he should create a fire to have a light source on hand, since he couldn't see anything being affected by wind down here. At least, he assumed he was down. He placed the blue orb down on the ground, beside his new metal sword.
Aaron walked out of the cave, passing by the woman, who was hiding inside the entrance to his cave, clearly terrified of what was out there. Aaron took a peek out, and witnessed a bird breathe fire on a plant, setting it alight. 'Oh, I know what I'm going to adapt to.' Aaron said to himself, quickly making his way over to the bird.
While it was distracted by burning the plant, Aaron grabbed it by the neck, aiming it at legs. They weren't as useful anymore, and he could regenerate them if the flames were hot. He kept squeezing that poor, unfortunate bird, forcing more and more fire to come out, but all it did was leave a small black mark on his legs.
After around twenty minutes, it stopped producing flames, and Aaron STILL had not adapted. He loosened his grip on its throat so it could regain some of its breath, before going right back to it. It was pure, unfiltered savagery, but it worked. Ten minutes into this session, he finally got the notification.
[Limited Adaptation]
[Adapting to Fire Breath (Weak)... Failed]
[Adapting to Fire Magic (Weak)... Adapted]
[Fire Magic (Weak)]
[Allows user to conjure small-scale fire magic. Higher levels of mastery allow for greater efficiency, stronger attacks and increased firepower.]
'Perfect.' Aaron told himself, snapping the bird's neck in half, since he had no need for it. This one also dropped a blue orb, but no extra equipment this time. 'So, it's random, huh? This is really like one of those games I used to play as a kid.' Aaron realised, noting this change. 'If it's random, maybe rare drops exist as well? Only one way to find out, but that can wait.'
Aaron picked up the orb, and chopped down a tree that looked quite similar to a palm tree, but the insides were a vibrant red, using his paw. He cut it into small pieces, his [Regeneration (Weak)] slowly healing his previous injuries as he took his time.
Soon enough, he headed back to the cave, the woman still hiding in there, but this time her eyes were on him. Aaron assumed this was because he just killed a bird with his bare hands, and he was correct. Aaron didn't know what she was thinking, but Aaron was right on the money. She likened herself to that bird, in that Aaron, or even a lot of humans, could do that exact same thing to her. Aaron bent his arms as he walked in, using his leg to kick a few stones inwards so he could make his fire in a contained area. At around the halfway point in the cave, Aaron, using the claws on his hands as if they were fingers, arranged his rocks in a circle, and tossed the wood into it. They weren't sticks, but they'd work.
[Fire Magic (Weak)]
[Magic Conduit (Weak)]
Aaron conjured up a fireball,which shocked the woman who had been staring at him the entire time. She just watched him subject himself to trial by fire for thirty minutes, and now he's using fire? Either the skeleton was messing with its prey, or it has a unique skill. Both are terrifying, but one is significantly worse for her.
Aaron set the wood alight, now having a light source inside his cave, and began inspecting the two blue orbs he had collected. They refracted light differently, and the hues were slightly different, but nothing all too unnatural, besides their nature. He couldn't tell what they were for.
The human woman slowly made her was over to the fire, sitting down across form him while pointing at the orbs. She began speaking in gibberish, while making similar signs to that of someone wanting to destroy something. Aaron looked at her with confusion, though you couldn't see it on his face.
[Limited Adaptation]
[Enough Data Has Been Compiled For (High)]
'Screw it. Adapt!'
[Adapting to Understanding Of Mystteran (High)...Adapted]
[Understanding Of Mysterran (High)]
[User now has a respectably high understanding of the Mysterran language. Current mastery allows communication through Mysterran.]
[Thought Projection (Weak)]
"Hello, hello? Testing?" Aaron said out loud, projecting his thoughts, seeing if the woman could understand him. All he got was a terrified face.
"What...are you?"