As Auron slurped up a handful of Fire Algae, he opened up his screen with a thought and mentally summoned the new abilities he had.

Mana infusion: Connecting to the concentrations of Purple and Blue, one is able to gather mana from their surroundings and infuse it into one's self. (Insufficient connection with purple has limited this ability. Unable to hold power inside without aid)

As Auron read the skill, his previous thoughts were confirmed with the information listed after the skill. He must have needed to get more purple mana in his internal conduit. Zander had said something about that taking months. Reaching inward, he felt a mass of purple mana energy matching what he felt when using stealth, but it was blocked somehow. That abundance must mean that he had enough, but it was locked for some reason. Scrolling down to the next ability, he read the description.

Mana Manipulation: A connection with Blue and Red leads to this ability. Perceive the mana in your surroundings and bid it to your will with more ease.

This ability had made him able to make the wind grenades. The red mana was related to perception. Auron's inspect ability being fueled by the smoldering Red mana in his chest. Another confirmation that Blue mana was the reason he could now understand the connections of his magic as they happen. Auron smiled at his slowly growing pool of knowledge and moved on to the next skill.

Rune-script (Mid): Using a combination of Mana manipulation and infusion craft words of power and implant them on objects. With every tier, a deeper understanding and more words are able to be found. Available runes:

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Strength runes: Can increase the stat value of strength temporarily when carved into an inanimate object. If carved into flesh, the rune will not be as stable.

As he looked from the rune on his screen to his tattoos, Auron let out a little sigh. Rather than let his mind wander about whether or not there would be dangerous side effects, he recalled his lateral thinking ability. Confused at why his manipulation and infusion skills did not disappear, he pulled the description up with a thought.

Lateral thinking:

Thought equals power. Through the mind, the world can be changed and shaped by mana. You have a connection to a world where hundreds of years of trial and error were contained in textbooks and devices carried by each person casually. Entire planets were thought up as fantasy and enjoyed by the masses. Through this connection, you naturally have a different perspective than others who have walked before you. Your mind is a powerful tool. This attribute will allow you to use it to its full potential. You may combine abilities or tools to create new ones. You are also able to use your mind in battles to weaponize whatever you need to win.

Auron's brow creased as he thought about the implications of this attribute. As he realized this was most likely the reason he was able to use a rock so effectively as a weapon, he could not figure out why the combined items still stayed separate. Rather than two entities becoming one, it had felt like the two had opened the door to Rune-script. Auron decided to leave it as was for now and possibly ask whoever he meets in the world that can teach him. Moving on, he realized no other changes were shown.

R**** aura did not appear with the other changes for some reason, and when he tries to access it directly, nothing happens. Auron connected this to the multicolored power that keeps helping him out. When he tried to bridge the gap between mana, some sort of bridge was formed, and when he pushed out of his previous mental block. This blessing had to be the reason for those events.

Becoming frustrated by all of these dead ends, Auron started a running tally for his useful battle skills.

-Wind thrust, and the less powerful wind blast.

-stealth with its limited benefits because it deactivates on movement

-He could now attack with his new dagger

Auron sighed again and laid back, setting his head on his hands. His inspection was also useful for battle but was not as if he could shoot lasers out of his eyes. As a last resort, he could also use his runes once a day too.

Physically he was now more robust, faster, and more durable than ever. Auron did not feel superhuman, but there was a definite improvement from where he started.

Moving on from his mental tally Auron began to think about why he was here. Could he justify his existence if it meant killing just to continue it? Some unintelligent creatures like those rats could be rationalized easily enough, but the goblins and Ogre at least had some level of thought. Now, because of him, their lives were snuffed out. What if they had children hidden away somewhere. The thoughts weighed heavily on Auron's mind.

Jumping up in an attempt to shake off the depressing thoughts, he decided a little project would help him. Finding two more empty orbs around the room, he pulled out his Onyx bone rod and sat down. The gemstones were from the pack Zander took care of. He pinched the bridge of his nose deep in thought.

Once again he had his blessing to be grateful for. 1000% increase and the drops still were not guaranteed. The rate of drops must be abysmal without it. That and his combination ability had saved him many times over. Without this gear, he would likely have been dead already. Pushing the thought out of his mind Auron took stock of his items.

He finished the Algae, but he knew he could always head up to grab more if needed. The few handfuls he had taken did not even put a dent in the plant life growing allover that stream. Even if some more rats came, Auron felt confident he could take them on, or at least flee if he needed to.

In his ring, he had his dagger, and now a total of five clear gemstones he could put spells into.

He decided to go against Zander's advice, and he made four more Wind grenades. Each infusion took him about five minutes, not taking away from his limited total for the day, but he had to space each one out significantly. Each time the mana cost to fill a gem was double the requirement of just using one of his limited casts. "That is not something I can do during a battle. That is unless Zander is able to protect me by throwing around tornadoes." He mumbled to himself.

For the final empty gem, he held it up and peered through it. The wisps were gently dancing around the room, tossing light casually about, the colors dancing into the gem as he looked into it. Auron decided then to use this one for something else. Charging up his healing spell, he then moved it through his onyx rod, and into the gemstone.

Healing grenade created. Creates a blast of healing wind when crushed. Heals 10 hp/s for 30 seconds to everything within a 5-meter radius

Now he was making items able to heal enemies. He pretended to be elated. The friendly wind rogue healer could be his title.*Bing*

Congratulations! You have earned a new title. Friendly wind Rogue healer. This title is self-given, so there are no stat or class bonuses.

"Hilarious system. You are just the best." Auron spoke to his screen. Hearing nothing back from the system only served to remind Auron of how alone he was in that moment with Zander resting in his tattoo. Sending the grenades into his ring, he practiced taking one out at a time or switching the healing with the damage grenades with a thought. "This ring can also be used offensively, or defensively I guess too." He mused. With that, he had an idea and walked over to the tower shield. Not even attempting to move its weight, he set his palm down on it and willed it into his ring. After a moment, he was successful.

Ring storage 11/20

That was not right. Auron frantically checked his inventory. He had 5 of the grenades, which each take up a spot, the dagger, the rod, and his old pants. The total should be nine, with the shield added. He did a mental assessment of his inventory and found not only that his old pants were gone, but also that his new shield took up four spaces. Four entire spaces ate up by the all too heavy shield. Auron was not pleased.

Attributing his growing frustration at small issues to a lack of sleep, Auron began searching for a safe place. Wind magic did nothing for the ache that set into his muscles from a lack of sleep, or the growing cloud hanging over his mind from the abundance of death. There seemed to be something missing inside of him. His full mana and health bars were no indication of the void he had felt from all of the fighting and magic use. Even though it had only been a few hours since the last time he slept, Auron needed the rest desperately.

Using investigation on the walls in the room left him disappointed that there was not another hidden switch anywhere to be seen.

Mumbling to himself about the lack of quality sleeping arrangements in this dungeon, he picked one of the last standing rock houses and laid on the floor. He laid there for a while in an attempt to rest his body and zone out to give his mind a rest also There had been no activity since Zander had left to rest, and Auron let his guard down a little. Unwittingly he fell asleep right there; a lack of something in his body took over. Any of the reasoning that would normally be coming from his mind telling him this was not safe was shut down.

Auron's body thrashed in the house as he responded to a dream.

He was alone surrounded by darkness. For years and years, he was stuck. He could not move or speak, and his only sustenance was glowing energy feebly flowing into his abdomen from an outside source. While he could not move or speak, his awareness flowed in and out, hating the prison he was in. He may not have been able to move his lips, but in his mind, he was screaming. The screaming sounded louder and louder until it was so loud it woke him up. He jumped up and clumsily summoned his dagger, ready to ward off whatever was making that sound. He then felt that his throat was sore and realized it was him making the sound.

Waking up that way pushed his anxiety to the edge. He began to pace back and forth, looking down at his hands he couldn't stop them from violently shaking. Reaching inward, he stilled and cast stealth. Moving his hands to his face, he held his head and wept. The events in the dungeon, all of his thoughts of killing and mortality, and the vivid terror of the dreams were too much for him to handle.

Only a few minutes had passed since he had laid down, so the monster's bodies were still being dissolved into the floor. Auron walked out of the hut and looked around at the carnage, losing any ounce of composure he was still clinging to.

Falling to his knees, he began to beg Zander to come back out. When no response came, he sent his begging elsewhere. A familiar haze began to surround his mind.

Dungeon Madness attribute activated. The architect of this dungeon is the owner and master of this domain. You have given yourself freely to the power of madness in an area surrounded by death and blood. If afflicted, one will be turned into a berserker until all surrounding creatures are destroyed, or the afflicted reaches less than 30% health. Adventuring is not for everyone.

Auron's eyes rolled back into his head as he felt all of his worries drip away. With this feeling, he gave in to all of the anger and confusion he was attempting to push away. He dropped any and all need to worry about himself, the morality of his actions, or any of the other depressing thoughts scratching their way around his brain. Doing this felt like a betrayal on some level, to himself, his upbringing, or even Zander, but he couldn't be bothered to care about that currently.

Looking down at the dagger in his hand, he tossed it into the air and caught it. Laughing, he began the descent to the next room. Zander be dammed, he was going to do whatever the hell he wanted.

Disregarding all caution, he confidently walked to the next doorway. If he was in his right mind, he might have noted that the way to the next floor was wonderfully carved stone steps leading to a straight hallway. Along the walls were beautiful patterns of lines cut in a way that captured the essence of nature. Wisps were covering random swaths of the ceiling, Their colorful orb-like bodies dancing around each other while shedding light.

Auron skipped down the steps playfully, not spending any time appreciating the artistic wonder of the carvings. Stretched before him was the hallway lasting for several meters. Jogging down only took him seconds as he reached an ornately carved stone doorway.

Throwing away caution, he places his foot on one side of the doors and attempts to push it open with a kick. Even with the force of the kick, the weight of the door slows the speed at which it opens. If Auron was surprised by the weight of the door, he doesn't show it. Taking a step back, he waited.

Feigning patience Auron tapped his foot and bobbed his head as if he was listening to rock music. When the door fully opened, he strolled led in. Taking a look around, he walked into what could not be described as a room. The generously sized area could have held four or five of the room he just came from with the huts. The stone floor was replaced with loose gravel. Each step had to be taken strategically to avoid sinking slightly with the shifting of the rocks.

If Auron had taken the time to look at the walls in here, he would have noticed the beautiful carvings were replaced with fist-sized holes smashed into them. Spaced between these holes were larger ones he could easily fit into.

Auron had only one thought. He was looking forward to a fun fight.