How long have I even been on this island? I’m not sure anymore.
Time has been passing so slowly for me that it feels like it has stopped. Every day is nothing but suffering.
— …Open panel.
═══════════════════════════════════
| [Name]: Rafael | | [Race]: Human |
| [Level]: 01 | | [Magic Power]: 10 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Skills]
| [Armorer]: 05 | | [Weaponsmith]: 05 |
| [Hunter]: 08 | | [Gatherer]: 13 |
| [Builder]: 06 | | [Cook]: 07 |
| [Determination]: 15 | | [Stabber]: 11 |
| [Scythesman]: 08 | | [Toolmaker]: 03 |
| [Immunity]: 10 | | [Spearman]: 07 |
| [Survivor]: 13 | | [Tolerance]: 20 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Magics]
| [Protective Membrane]: 08 | | [Remembrance]: 01 |
═══════════════════════════════════
— I’ve got a new magic… But it seems useless.
In the days after I noticed the infection, I tried cutting off the plant’s magic and drawing it into my finger, but neither plan bore any fruit.
At least it seems to have stopped growing, but it’s still on my arm, causing me to keep draining my magic power every moment.
When I realized the plan wouldn’t work, I decided to seek out a spell that could help me with this, trying to absorb the parrot’s magic stone.
The result? The plant grew a little more, and I ended up with a magic that doesn’t help at all.
— The next stone is the ant’s… I hope something good comes of it.
I swallow a tiny piece of the stone while taking a sip of water. As soon as it’s in my stomach, I start using my magic at the tip of my finger.
— Since my magic power has grown a little, I should be able to use the Membrane for longer… — I think, watching my finger. — Its level went up too, but since I don’t stop using magic, it still only lasts a second.
The headache hits immediately, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath.
— Haa… Now I understand why people in the novel faint when they use so much magic power…
My magic power is still small, so the reaction to using it all is minimal, but as it grows, the consequences will be more severe.
After a while, I open my eyes and look at my hand. The small root is still there, preventing my wound from healing.
This is the only wound I currently have on my body, the others have basically healed already.
— Not that I’ve ever been seriously injured, but the wounds used to hurt all the time.
I still have a few marks, like on my knee where I scraped it on the floor, but I’m not worried about my appearance right now.
— That reminds me, I haven’t shaved in a while… But it barely grew.
I touch my face and see that my beard is still short, which is kind of weird.
— Well, I cut my hair with a knife, and it must have turned out pretty ugly, since I don’t have a mirror around here.
Just when I tried to check my appearance in the water, the ripples wouldn’t let me, so I decided to just give up on that. Survival is much more important than how my body looks.
As I’m having these thoughts, I finally finish absorbing the stone and vomit it up along with the little food I’d eaten earlier.
— …How I hate this.
I look at the plant in my hand, and it seems to be staying the same.
— Looks like I can absorb another stone.
I try to hold and move it a little, but soon the pain shoots through my entire arm. It’s as if it’s connected directly to my nerves.
— Haa…
I keep touching the root, as I always do. Its texture is kind of strange, seeming rough and stiff, but it’s relatively soft.
— If the root is here, where is the flower? Inside my arm?
I squeeze my arm slowly, but I don’t feel anything different.
— It must still be something like a seed.
After a while like this, calming my body, I take another piece of the stone and swallow it. Even though I’ve done this several times, I can’t get used to the pain I go through.
I keep doing this until my body starts to shake and my mind gets a little foggy.
— …I need to eat something or I’ll pass out.
I quickly head to my stash of parrot meat and start frying it. I can’t say I’m eating well, but this meat is better than the shrimp.
— But, in the end, both are still bland because of the lack of seasoning…
As I eat the bland meat, I look at my new magic again. Just from the name [Remembrance], I get the idea it's a magic that makes me remember something.
— Testing it once shouldn't be a problem… [Remembrance]
I feel my mind getting a little strange while I'm eating, but nothing seems to have happened.
— Just what was… Ah, I get it.
After shifting my gaze in another direction, I notice that I can still see the exact spot I was looking at, but everything is static.
— Is this how a photographic memory works? It feels like I took a picture of that moment.
As I think about this and eat, I start to forget the place.
— So it has a duration… And it was really quick.
I don’t know if it’s because of my magic power or the magic itself, but the magic lasted barely 10 seconds.
— I don’t know if it’ll be useful in the future, but I’ll set it aside for now.
With that, I finish my meal and rest for the rest of the day, only resuming absorption of the stone when I start to get hungry.
[…]
— How much time is left, a week? Just a week… — I murmur, lying in the hammock. — Open Panel.
═══════════════════════════════════
| [Name]: Rafael | | [Race]: Human |
| [Level]: 01 | | [Magic Power]: 20 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Skills]
| [Armorer]: 09 | | [Weaponsmith]: 09 |
| [Hunter]: 08 | | [Gatherer]: 14 |
| [Builder]: 08 | | [Cook]: 12 |
| [Determination]: 20 | | [Stabber]: 13 |
| [Scythesman]: 08 | | [Toolmaker]: 05 |
| [Immunity]: 20 | | [Spearman]: 07 |
| [Survivor]: 17 | | [Tolerance]: 25 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Magics]
| [Protective Membrane]: 15 | | [Remembrance]: 05 |
| [Trail]: 01 |
═══════════════════════════════════
— …Really?
I look at my magics and see that I’ve gained a new one. It seems just as useless as the parrot one.
— Just how this magic works? [Trail]
After activating it, I watch my body and the surroundings, but nothing happens.
— …Did I get it wrong?
I don’t know exactly what this magic did, but I didn’t notice any difference.
— Trail magic… Does it create a trail? Or something that helps locate me?
Thinking about these possibilities, I look around again, but I don’t see anything different.
— …Guess the level is too low to have any effect.
Unlike membrane magic, which I managed to control instinctively, or memory magic, which was easy to figure out, trail magic gave me no clues.
— Let’s put that aside and get some water…
I get up from the bed and prepare to leave. My body is already exhausted from this life, just like my mind, but now that time is ending, I have the motivation to keep going.
— Soon this hell will be over…
I grab my new gear, which I crafted using the remains of the parrot. Its beak became my helmet, while the claws were sharpened so I could throw them when necessary.
The battle against the parrot taught me that it’s always good to have backup weapons on hand at all times.
In fact, its feathers were used to improve the bed, fix up the cabin, and decorate the place.
— The meat is running out… I need to hunt another one.
I still have the trap I made earlier, but after its failure, I’d rather try hunting the old-fashioned way.
— If I can catch one off guard, it’s a win for me.
I keep heading toward the spring, but I don’t find anything along the way.
— Nothing here… Should I go a little further?
The woods are denser if I go further, and I haven’t explored much of this area.
— If I stay near the edge, there shouldn’t be any danger.
This is probably the last time I’ll go looking for food, but it’s necessary so I don’t starve before I’m rescued.
With that in mind, I slowly explore the surroundings when I start feeling a few drops falling from the sky.
— When did the sky get so dark!? I need to take shelter!
I start looking for a place to hide from the rain as quickly as possible, since it intensified in seconds.
— Why, of all the days I’ve spent on this island, does it have to start raining today!?
Walking in a straight line to avoid getting lost, I finally find a place that can shelter me.
— A cave! Please, don’t have anything inside…
I approach the cave and stop at the entrance, afraid to step into the darkness and have something appear.
— This spot is good enough… Hm? — My thoughts are interrupted by a sound coming from inside the cave.
A strange noise echoes, like the metallic clang of claws scraping against stone. My whole body shivers, and instinctively, I reach for my scythe as I slowly back away into the rain.
The sound grows clearer and clearer, and inside the darkness, two glowing spheres reflect the little light that remains. A black carapace with enormous pincers that open and close with snaps reminiscent of sharp blades, and a curved tail ending in a stinger the size of my arm, dripping venom. A colossal scorpion, nearly two meters long, emerges from the darkness.
— …This is overkill!
[To be continued…]
[???]:
— Your world really has some strange magic, you know.
[+++]:
— What do you mean, strange? I’m not the one who created these magics.
[???]:
— I know… Never mind.