Alright, home is only a couple blocks away and it won't take long to get there. Hopefully my phone will start working once I'm out of this building and past the eerie fog. If I can leave the building and get past the eerie fog.

Oh wonderful, my terrible habit of overthinking everything is back. Maybe it'll actually be useful in this world and keep me alive rather than waste my time stressing me out for no reason.

I really want to test out my Mana Detonation skill, however, my mana regeneration is lower per hour than the cost of the skill. I don't know if I'm going to come across any monsters again but I'd rather have the mana to use the skill while unsure of its potential than use it and have it be completely useless for the next hour.

That leaves me to test the skills Battle Dance and Rapid Strike. I... don't know how to activate a passive so that really only leaves Rapid Strike and, since I regenerate stamina per minute instead of per hour I'm completely fine testing it. I think the skills name but nothing happens. I say it out loud to the exact same lack of effect. I try a light punch while thinking the name of the skill and I feel an energy I had never noticed before click into place and my half-hearted punch feels like it's being forcefully jerked forward.

Damn! That felt weird as hell but was honestly kind of... invigorating? I can definitely see how the skill could be useful if used correctly, but my attempt was, in all honesty, ugly. I'll have to practice it later to get the hang of it and see if I can use it with any other types of motion.

I move on to the last item for me to play with: my stats! What to increase? I don't have any way of knowing what exactly each stat does but most seem pretty obvious. I'm tempted to put it all into regeneration; after all, it's a special stat. That, and the fact that it seems likely that's what healed my wounds. They aren't just done bleeding, they're just gone. No scar or scab and no left over pain. A bit of soreness but that seems pretty normal I guess.

I choose not to, however. The single point I have in it now has increased my ability to heal from wounds beyond measure already. The fact that I can fully heal from an envenomed stab wound is miraculous; while more would be optimal, it just isn't necessary right now.

After all, my reflexes are what literally saved my life earlier. The very first swing that thing took at me would have flat-out killed me if I hadn't noticed and reacted in time. I can make myself tougher, but exactly how much overkill would that thing have done? Two stat points might not even make a difference. I make my decision and pull up my status screen. I mentally click on Perception and Reaction and they raise to four and three respectively.

All of my senses begin to vibrate rapidly and I fall to the ground overwhelmed. It feels like static is coursing through my limbs and I twitch violently. It's over almost as soon as it started and I take an entire minute to calm myself before sitting up and experiencing my new senses.

I drag my finger across the stone and relish the clarity with which I can hear the light scraping. It's louder to my senses as well, and also... not? It's hard to describe but I notice it more clearly without being overwhelmed by the sensation. This is amazing! I begin to rise to my feet to test my new Reaction but pause halfway; Something feels wrong. A split second later I realize it's a sound at the new edge of my hearing. I wouldn't have noticed it before the upgrade, but something is coming up the stairs and it doesn't seem to want to be heard.

I retrieve my knife after a fearful pause. I notice my stamina is full again and move as silently as possible to the door from which whatever is coming will enter.

Having this increased Perception might not actually have been the best idea now that I realize it. I can hear my heart absolutely hammering away inside my chest, only it sounds like I'm listening to it with a stethoscope. The increase may have come with a bit of protection from being overstimulated, but it is definitely not perfect.

My hand is clamped on the knife and I can feel the muscles start to cramp. I do my best to loosen my grip but my nerves are kicking the absolute shit out of me right now. I wipe the sweat away from my hands and face and try to remember I have skills now and not just a knife. Seriously, I still feel comforted holding the thing when it was damn near useless last time. Hopefully the skills will be more effective.

From the door emerges what looks like a giant, bipedal... pangolin? At least, that's the closest thing I can compare it to from Earth while only seeing half its body from behind. I blink my surprise away and move to stab the monster with a double-handed strike from the knife while activating Rapid Strike. I control it more easily this time while the knife is pulled violently forward and slams into the side of the monster with a clearly audible crunch.

A crunch. The knife didn't penetrate. No, that'd be too good. I cracked a couple damn scales and knocked the thing to its knees. Well, I guess I should be thankful; without the skill it likely wouldn't have hurt the thing at all.

I rush over and brace my hand against the back of its neck where the scales look thinnest. I think of activating the skill and a rush of Ice cold energy flows from the center of my core, through my arms, and finally builds in pressure just behind my hand before exploding outward violently. A burst of blue-white light illuminates my surroundings and slams the monster into the ground almost faster than my eyes can comprehend. My arm is jerked backward, the force of it throws me off balance, and I fall backward onto my ass.

That was... terrifying. Absolutely batshit insane. My own skill overpowered me and threw me back. My arm hurts. It feels like I took the recoil from a shotgun improperly. Hopefully my regeneration stat can heal joint, tendon, and ligament damage. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

That being said: Holy SHIT I need to do that again when I get the-

I hear a low rumble from the monster and notice it attempt to rise. I scramble to my feet and move to hammer the knife home as many times as it takes to kill the resilient little shit. My arm moves sluggishly; I definitely don't have the strength to use the knife effectively here. My heart rate increases and a spike of panic surges through my mind before I shout it down.

Not mentally. Out loud. I'm literally screaming out loud to keep my nerves and, well... it's working. The monster rises to one knee before I'm able to stop freaking out and I do the only thing I can think to do; I dropkick it. It doesn't do much real damage but it throws the monster back to the ground. The fall is hell on my arm and shoulder but I ignore the pain as best I'm able. Being prepared for the fall I'm able to scramble to my feet more quickly than my foe, despite my injured shoulder. I use the extra time to jump into the air with as much strength as I can muster. I come crashing down and violently crush the things head beneath my feet.

I fall again and lay there while waiting for my vision to stop swirling. I get to my feet and notice the thing still isn't dead. What. The. Fuck?

How are these things so tough? This is insane. I begin jumping violently on the monster until I feel it cease its now-futile efforts.

Congratulations! you have defeated Stone Pangolin [lvl 7]

You have discovered the skill Move Silently lvl 1!

Knife Mastery has increased to lvl 5, 6!

Mana Detonation has increased to lvl 2!

Huh, no increase to Battle Dance or my level. Disappointing, but I guess it can't be that simple all the time.Though I did fall on my ass enough that not gaining a level in Battle Dance shouldn't really surprise me. I can't even tell if the skill helped out at all if I'm being completely honest.

Well, I'll look into it later. It's time to figure out what the hell Paths are and if the ones I unlocked earlier are any good. I really, really hope so. Maybe it'll give me a skill that lets me sleep in peace forever, that'd be amazing.

Honestly though, it's probably a damn good thing I can't just pick whatever skills I want, I'd end up wasting them on the most useless shit on impulse. Like sleeping forever; I basically just wished myself dead. But damn am I exhausted, as long as death doesn't hurt it can't be that bad...

Okay I'm moving on, I'll indulge my depressive tendencies later.

Well, let's get on with it, sleep can wait. I'm almost certain I'm going to end up on the receiving end of some freaky monster again that wants to kill me so I definitely still need all the help I can get. I barely managed to survive those encounters with some serious luck and I know damn well that won't hold out.