Kingdom and Harem

I exited the tunnel only to get into a larger passage. For someone who spent my latest 10 years in cities trapped office, the natural surrounding of cavern was really soothing. I saw pictures in the magazine or documentaries on TV, but the feeling of first hand was very different. It was worth taking my time and walking quietly along the way, as I might as well see some of the cave’s wildlife.

Regretfully, I didn't have my smart phone with me to capture such amazing view, as the view from the cave mouth out over the surrounding jungle was quite unique, and the jagged stalactites, overhung and dangling creepers of the cave mouth made a dramatic frame for a very memorable photo.

I had not encounter any living beings yet so I calmly walked further. My night vision enabled me to see clearly in the dark despite the view was in blue and white. Gradually, the blue and white view changed into normal colorful view. The lighting is still bad but I am starting to see normal vision. Could it be my night vision was automatically activated in darkness but automatically reverted to normal vision if the surrounding is adequately bright.

The passage led to a large chamber, where shafts of light stream down from large holes in the cave roof to illuminate the bizarre rock formations there. This was another excellent spot for taking photos. After the moderately bright area, I entered a totally dark passage and my dark vision reactivated. This was where the flashlight was essential – not only to find my way but also to admire the remarkable rock shapes and weathering effects. Without phone or flashlight, normal human was doomed but I survived by being an freaking skeleton with night vision. 

On my way to forward, the path was obstructed by a soft and flabby jelly-like thing. Because of its appearance, I felt like it was harmless. It had the same feeling as if a cat was appearing in front of me. But somehow I felt uneasy, my heart was telling me that this thing was dangerous. Could it be this was how my instinct at work? Come to think about it, I did raise my "Instinct" attribute to 5 points in that white room. 

My instinct was telling me this was dangerous and I must destroyed it. I looked at both of my hands that were mere bone. My instinct told me I couldn't kill it without weapon. My eyes quickly searched something in the surrounding but there was no weapon. That slimy object moved slowly to my position. I started to be panic and walked backward. My foot hit something, my skeletal body lost balance and fell. The slimy thing, as if sensing it was in advantageous situation, moved quickly. This was bad, really bad! 

I tried to crawled away but that thing was faster. My hands spontaneously grasped left and right, hoping to lay hold of anything. Just now I fell because stepping on some rock, where was it? The slimy thing reached my foot and leaped. I barely evaded it. 

Where was the damn rock? I crawled to the place where I stepped on the rock but that creature leaped again towards me. My skeletal body instinctively rolled to evade. My bald skeletal head hit something hard. Shit. Why the hell a freaking skeleton could feel pain!

Is it that damn rock? I seized the rock behind my head.  That thing leaped again. Damn. How come this legless thing could be so agile. I wasted several seconds in picking that rock and was not ready to evade. I hit it with the rock. It fell to the ground and seemed to be still lively. I plummeted the rock dozen of times. Finally, it ceased moving and disappeared. I waited for quite some thing and that thing was still not revived. But I still waited and be cautious.

The Tutorial appeared, "You killed a slime. You gained 5 points of experience."

I guessed that creature was called a slime. It was dead for good.  

I stood up with the rock still in my left hand. Another slime was moving towards me. I couldn't run on my skeletal foot so I got ready to launch my rock. This slime just moved slowly even until my foot. I bent down and plummeted the rock, hitting the slime several times until it disappeared. 

"You killed a slime. You gained 5 points of experience."

"You Levelled up."

"You gained 2 attribute points. Please allocate the points to your attribute of your choice."

Now, it was starting to feel like a game. I opened my Status. As I foolishly raised my Stamina and Durability so high, my ability was not balanced. My hitting power struggled to kill even a lowly slime. Perhaps I should add more power to my attack.

I allocated 1 point to "Hand Strength" and 1 point to "Hand Speed". Now, my "Hand Strength" and "Hand Speed" both were at 2 points. I had to be diligently adding these attributes by killing the slimes.