Dane started working first thing in the morning. Well, what he thought was morning. With no sun to guide him, he was forced to rely on his own circadian rhythm. Even so, he felt better than he had in years spent laboring in the mines. His stomach was full, and the decay of all those wasted years, swinging a pickaxe endlessly in darkness, seemed undone.

  This was his first taste of freedom as an adult, and although he knew the path ahead would be challenging, he enjoyed being the master of his own destiny.

  He wished his goal of freeing his sister were still within reach. She had only one year left before her proving. Was that enough time to gain the strength he needed to break her out? He didn't even know where this mine was. He could be in an entirely different country.

  Dane decided that he wouldn't dwell on it. Despair would only weigh him down. Regrets and second-guessing were luxuries of the strong, and Dane still had levels to gain.

  He needed weapons. After his feast the night before, he had set the bones of the abyss wolf by the fire to dry. Instead of the usual ivory, the bones were jet black with a faint crimson glimmer when light caught them.

  One of the leg bones served well enough as a new handle for his pickaxe. Shorter than he preferred, but the reduced length allowed him to wield it in one hand. The longer bones he sharpened, scraping them against the stone floor until they became knives. They were flimsy, one-use tools at best, but better than nothing.

  Following the initials he had carved into the wall, Dane retraced his steps from the previous day to pick up the wolf pack's trail. He was still too underleveled to challenge the level 40 beasts outright, but thirst outweighed fear. If he could track the pack, they would eventually lead him to their source of water.

  He fumbled through the dark, lit only by glowing mushrooms and veins of mana stone. A blue crystal caught his eye, shimmering like the ocean. It reminded him of summers in Galveston, of shark teeth in the sand, of long runs on the beach during wrestling season. He reached out and invoked Identify.

  Mana Stone: Water Affinity.

  "Hey, Dia, are these stones kinda the stuff you were made of?" Dane asked aloud.

  "More or less," his spirit bond replied. "Mine were purple. It takes thousands of years for the stones to pool enough mana to gain sentience, even after that, it takes a while for a personality to form. Most are just basic concepts."

  "Have you ever tried to absorb them?" he asked curiously.

  "Of course not! Do you know how gross other affinities taste? I could barely stomach the time affinity," Dia said with the same revulsion she usually reserved for weirdos and losers.

  Dane fell silent.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "… You're gonna eat the gross water mana stone, aren't you?" she sighed.

  "I am appalled that you would think that I would let my spirit companion go hungry while I feasted. We're gonna eat it together," he said, voice bright with mischief.

  He smashed the stone into pieces and swallowed them like pills. Fire tore through his stomach.

  Status Effect: Overcharged

  Warning: If the status effect persists, irreparable damage may occur.

  "Dia, are you going to absorb these stones?" he asked through gritted teeth.

  "Good, that's what you get," the spirit said in a taunt.

  "Dia, we're going to die. Just do it, and if it's that bad, we can spit it out later!" he pleaded.

  The pit of fire in his gut subsided as Dia finally began absorbing the overcharged mana.

  System Error: More than two mana affinities detected. Class type not compatible.Contacting Administrator…Resolution Title Awarded. Moles Don't Eat Dirt; Worms Eat Dirt.

  Due to your curious nature and love for all things digging, you are drawn to steal and use the earth's riches to sustain yourself. Congratulations: you may now survive on inorganic material and maintain the properties of the last rock eaten for up to two hours.

  Warning: Digesting mana stones will no longer grant new affinities. If you wish to be a mage, acquire a magic class.

  Dane clenched his fists. "Am I being singled out by the system?" he muttered. It wasn't his fault; what was the point of being a spirit human if he couldn't cheat the system.

  It was disappointing that he could no longer devour mana stones to chase every affinity, and become a universal mage. Still, the tradeoff was worth it: he no longer needed food or water at all. Theoretically, he could survive in the dungeon forever.

  Testing his new ability, he used Identify on another Water Affinity mana stone.

  Mana Stone: Water Affinity. This tasty snack will slake your thirst for 24 hours. If hydrated, it replenishes your mana pool due to your affinity with water magic.

  One last thing remained on his survival checklist: shelter. Dane gripped his trusty pickaxe and carved a narrow tunnel into the cavern wall, just wide enough to crawl backward into. He draped half of the makeshift wolf-skin over the entrance. It wasn't well-tanned, but it would keep him warm and dry.

  With a base camp secured, he turned to the real task: finding monsters. He wandered aimlessly for hours, tracking signs, leaving no stone unturned. Eventually, the wolf pack's trail resurfaced. He remembered from before that they patrolled in a 100-foot radius. Staying outside that range, he crept along in their shadow.

  The faint impressions of their paws pressed into the dirt ahead of him. He wore the pelt of their fallen packmate, which might mask his scent. He wasn't eager to test how effective it was at covering up, so he still took every precaution to tread cautiously. He followed slowly, so slowly it felt like inches instead of miles.

  At last, the distant roar of water reached him. Mist cooled his face, spraying from a river, smashing against cavern walls. The water glowed pale blue, casting a magical radiance across the chamber.

  There, Dane froze in awe.

  Monsters, wolves, slimes, and even hulking moles drank from the same waterside in peace. None attacked. In school, he had learned that animals didn't actually call truces at watering holes; that was a myth. Yet here it was. A reminder that the world had changed forever the moment ambient mana turned beasts into monsters.

  He studied the flow of monsters coming and going. Three monster types dominated this area: wolves, slimes, and moles. The wolves always returned to the same tunnels from which he had followed them.

  Using Identify, he locked onto each creature. The wolves were level 40, but the moles just had a question mark over their head like they hadn't yet earned the right to know what level they were. From the few encounters he saw, these three animals all had very different forms of navigating the dark. The slimes were the closest to his level. He decided that these blobs of jello would bring him up to where he needed to be. How hard would fighting a few dozen slimes be?

  That could wait until tomorrow. For now, he would establish more shelters near each monster territory. Soon, these mindless beasts would learn that a new hunter stalked the dungeon.