A dark tear appeared in the room, as if reality had formed a hole. Staring at it, a message appeared.

  [Would you like to accept dungeon rewards before exiting?]

  “Yes,” he said confidently.

  [Weaver of Living Threads increased to Level 25]

  [Living Weave increased to Level 23]

  [Thread Sense increased to Level 15]

  [Adaptive Stitching increased to Level 31]

  [Title Earned: Loomwalker]

  Loomwalker

  A title granted to those who navigate creation not through force, but through awareness and intent. The Loomwalker sees structure where others see material, and understands that survival is woven, not forged.

  Effects:

  ? +10 Perception

  ? Enhances effectiveness and clarity of Weaver of the Living Threads

  ? Improves detection of material flaws, latent potential, and structural stress during crafting

  ? Reduces failure rate when working with adaptive or living materials

  ? Increases growth rate of Weaver-related skills through use

  Pantheon Note:

  Some walk battlefields.

  Others walk systems.

  The Loomwalker does both, thread by thread.

  “Hell ya, level ups and title. I think I earned more in this dungeon than everything else I have done so far.”

  One last message appeared.

  [Title Earned: Resourceful Deviant]

  Resourceful Deviant

  A title granted to those who recognize opportunity where others see excess, and who refuse to leave potential behind.

  Preparedness is not greed. It is foresight.

  Effects:

  ? +5 Intellect

  ? +5 Agility

  ? Increases efficiency when gathering, storing, and repurposing materials

  ? Slightly reduces encumbrance penalties for non-equipped crafting materials

  ? Improves adaptability when crafting with unfamiliar or mixed resources

  Pantheon Note:

  Survivors take what they need.

  Deviants take what they can.

  The Pantheon is now reconsidering its inventory policies.

  “I appreciate the stat gains, but that seemed a little snarkier than usual. I think the system may be a little judgmental.”

  [You have 60 seconds until forcibly removed from the dungeon]

  “Maybe it doesn’t take kindly to stealing?”

  He really wanted to stay longer, and train, but he was out of time. Touching the portal felt like reality shifted around him. The room blurred, and it felt like he was being sucked through a vortex.

  His feet hit a hard surface, and the world around him came alive. He was back at the top of the ziggurat. It appeared to be dusk. After a month in the dungeon, it felt freeing to breathe fresh air. The cool forest breeze felt pleasant against his body. Taking it all in, peace washed over him that he hadn’t felt in a while.

  A blood-curdling screech pierced the forest, knocking him out of his momentary stupor. Peering down the ziggurat, he saw a furry grouping of creatures approaching fast. The apes from before had returned, and they looked as enraged as ever. A group of ten was charging up, probably part of the ones that escaped last time.

  A wide smile broke across his face as he started to run in place, pumping himself up. A rush of excitement surged through his body.

  “Whoa. I forgot how much I liked this. Maybe I am becoming one of those battle junkies. Time to test out all this new gear.”

  Channeling healing energy into his feet, causing the ground to explode with Overheal. He launched himself toward the group, arriving in what felt like the blink of an eye. He appeared in front of the lead ape. Surprise flickered across its face as it reflexively jerked back, and then a punch landed right between its eyes.

  Its head burst like a geyser as its body launched toward the bottom of the ziggurat. As if a war cry had been sounded, the rest of the horde descended on him.

  “Uh oh. Guess I better do something.”

  He struck again, this time infusing Hands of Triage with Vital Conduction. The impact cratered the ape’s chest and sent arcs of green electricity spiking into three of the closest foes.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  One of the apes broke through, landing a punch on him that sent him flying. Quickly he recovered and landed several blows on the primate. Overheal went to work but this one was tough. They exchanged punches and kicks, as green light flashed through the forest. The monkey was able to use a form of earth magic. Pillars launched from the ground during the brawl, cutting and piercing him. With controlled bursts of Emergency Heal he was able to stay in the fight, but his mana was taking a hit.

  Pillars continued to bombard him as damage stacked; each hit knocking him further away from the target. The attacks finally started to waver, as his foe was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from its body. He closed the distance fast and landed several hits. By this time, weak points had been mapped out by Vital Focus. With pinpoint accuracy he targeted those areas with Overheal. The magic quickly destroyed the creatures' insides as blood began to ooze from lesions. One last punch brought the creature down as he yelled in victory.

  Exhaustion brought him to his knee; the gear was helping but it wasn’t perfect. The lower his mana got the harder it was to control his attacks. Overheal bit at his hands from overuse. Calming himself, he allowed Emergency Heal to begin repairing the damage. He downed a mana potion, just in time to, another noise could be heard from the forest and something large was approaching.

  Trees shook and the ground rumbled as something approached. A massive creature exploded through the canopy of vegetation. A gorilla with four arms and two heads charged toward him, moving at a speed he had never seen before. It was the size of a minivan, and the sight of it made his stomach tighten. He raised his arms to block. The fist landed like a comet, and a loud snap rang through his forearm.

  “Shit.”

  The force of the punch sent him rolling back. He recovered but was met by another punch. An audible crack sounded as he felt his arm become limp. With just a few punches his arm had broken, he continued to block, but the strain was starting to overtake him. Punch after punch he dodged and blocked, but he was still taking damage. Finally, he managed to land a clean blow on one of the creatures' arms, blood exploded from the wound and the creature screamed. Using the momentary lapse, he made distance between him and the ape. Emergency Heal surged immediately as the creature continued its onslaught.

  He managed to land several more hits on its legs, forcing it to stumble. With a single leap, he landed back near the top of the ziggurat, effectively giving himself the high ground. Clutching his broken arm, he attempted to heal it. It sucked mana away quickly as the bone began to mend. He needed to hurry; his mana was almost empty, as open wounds were forming over his body due to a loss of control. Using the time he had created, he quickly analyzed the creature.

  [Analyze: Twin-Headed Quadarm Gorilla]

  Classification: Beast

  Tier: F

  Level: 38

  Description:

  A massive gorilla mutated into a dual-headed, four-armed predator. Each head maintains independent awareness, making feints and blindside attacks unreliable. Its extra arms allow simultaneous grapples and strikes, overwhelming targets through relentless pressure.

  Focusing, he activated Hands of Triage, building force into his hands in a controlled, aggressive swell. Looking down at the creature, he smiled with pure excitement.

  “Here I come.”

  The creature rushed at the same time as he moved. Fist met fist, and loud cracks and pops echoed through the forest with every exchange. Sweat dripped down his face as punch after punch collided with fur and bone. One blow knocked the ape back; it stopped momentarily, before light flashed on its fists as earth gathered around them. With all arms coated in an armor of earth it continued the assault.

  The next blow he blocked snapped his arm again; pain and fear flared in him. He continued to heal but his mana was reaching 15% full, this was a fight against time. At least his health remained relatively full though, one advantage. Unfortunately, he lacked the concentration mid fight to repair the broken arm. The pain was held back for the moment, but he was unable to use his full power.

  His new gear gave him a level of control he had not felt before. What it didn’t do was make up for his mana capacity, the lower his mana got the harder his skills were to control. Emergency Heal kept his body in top shape. Each punch from the beast damaged him, but his healing was somehow managing to keep up, for now. No gear he currently had would solve his mana deficit issues; the longer this fight went on the lower, it would go, and the harsher Overheal bit back against his own body as well. He needed to end this fast.

  The Quadarm was wearing down. Wounds and lesions bloomed across the entirety of his body, signs of the long fight.

  Then their fists met again, and this time the creature winced and stumbled forward. Hector did not hesitate. He willed as much strength into his fist as he could and shot forward, landing a clean hit to the chest. With a scream he forced as much Overheal into the strike as he could. His arm screamed as blood began to pour out of it. Finally, he blasted through the creature’s torso.

  The power and momentum surprised him, as he landed on the ground, rolling to a stop. Turning, he saw it; the creature stood there for a heartbeat with a human-sized hole through its chest, and then it collapsed, unmoving. Slowly and with great effort, he stood up. He was battered and bruised, but he was alive.

  [Level Up: Hector has reached Level 36]

  With a smile, he stared down at his defeated foe.

  “Thanks for the fight. I really needed that.”

  It had been his first real fight in a while, and the control he felt over the energy in his body had increased tremendously. The amount of power he could output because of that control was immense. It made him scared and giddy at the same time. As excitement rose though, he rolled over in pain, as the damage from the battle pulsed through him. His arm was broken, and damage was spread throughout his body. The fight helped him realize he still had a long way to go. The dungeon had assisted though. If not for the constant micro-adjustments he had learned, he would have burned himself early and died.

  Looting the beast yielded little more than a fur pelt. Thankfully, the thrill of the fight was the only reward he needed tonight. With a smile still on his face, he limped deeper into the forest. He was going to need to find a safe place to make camp for the night so he could heal and prepare for whatever else Eden had to throw at him.