A step after another

— "I feel so exhausted... Yet I don't feel any pain at all. Actually, I don't see or feel anything at all. Am I dead?" Suei asked himself.

Time passed by, but there was nothing to indicate how much time had passed. It could have been a minute or a day; everything seemed mixed up.

— "What happened again? Ah yes, Kaom killed Charlie and placed a curse on me. Then I stole a symbol he stole from me. Gosh, I feel so exhausted, I'm falling asl—" Suei fell asleep from exhaustion.

[Activating the curse of the sovereign. The character Suei will begin with the curse: permanent statistic down.]

[The key opposes this decision, the curse fails to apply.]

[Activating the curse of the sovereign. Magic manipulation is permanently locked; the character will never learn magic.]

[The key opposes this decision, the curse fails to apply.]

[Activating the curse of the sovereign. The character will lose all innate talents and will be unable to learn any talents.]

[The key opposes this decision, the curse fails to apply.]

[Activating the curse of the sovereign. The character will be reborn in the weakest creature possible, transformation into a lesser demon enabled.]

[The key... does not oppose this decision. The curse is permanently applied to the character.]

[The curse of the sovereign has ended. Transportation to the deadliest cave of Galear.]

— "Ugh, my head, it hurts." Suei held his hand on his head; something felt off.

The ambient atmosphere was cold, and there wasn't a spark of light anywhere. Suei's vision adapted to the darkness somehow.

— "Am I in a cave? Let's find a way out of here." Suei walked with his hands in front of him.

In the distant cave, droplets could be heard. Where there is water, there is life.

— "Is somebody there? I need help, I'm lost!" yelled Suei, but only the echo of his voice responded.

Suei began to think something had happened to his body; his legs felt shorter, and so did his feet. So much so that he stumbled on a rock, falling down a ravine he did not perceive.

— "Damn, what happened?!" tumbled Suei, landing head-first in a puddle. "So that's where the sound came from."

It felt like an eternity since Suei had drunk anything, so stopping by to drink didn't seem like a bad idea. In a time of need, he would never drink from the ground, but here it was more of a survival instinct than anything.

[The key neutralizes the effect of the parasite in the water.]

— "Who talked just now?! Where are you??" stumbled Suei. "Did it say the water was infected? But I didn't taste anything weird."

Doubtful, Suei blamed the fall for some hallucination. He could feel it—there was no one around. Still feeling thirsty, he drank again from the puddle.

[The key neutralizes the effect of the parasite in the water. The character gains parasite resistance lv.1.]

— "I heard it again! But now it said something different! I guess the water has something in it?.. I better be more careful. Let's continue looking for an exit. Am I going crazy, talking out loud like this?" Suei got up and walked in the opposite direction from where he fell.

Since he arrived in this strange cave, Suei's eyes had adapted quite well to the environment, so much so that he could now decipher obstacles in his path, making him wonder if he had such good eyesight before.

— "Hey, some mushrooms grew on the walls! Remembering the puddle, I shouldn't eat those, but I feel so hungry." Suei's stomach growled.

How long had it been since he ate something? Maybe a few bites wouldn't be dangerous. And in case something happened, this weird voice would neutralize it.

— "Here I go! Aaah!" Suei gulped down the mushroom.

[The key identified the mushroom as persistent damsel. The effect of long-term poison has been neutralized. The character gains poison resistance lv.1. The level of poison resistance went up by 4.]

— "This is dangerous!" Suei spit out a few remains still in his mouth.

Focused on his mistakes, something slipped behind him. The growl of an imposing beast echoed on the cave's walls. Just in time, Suei dodged the beast that leaped at him.

— "What is that?! A wild dog in this cave?" Suei startled but stayed alert.

[The key identified the beast as terror wolf, a renowned beast known for its merciless wounds left on its prey.]

Glowing red eyes could be seen in the darkness, making it easier to follow the beast's movements.

— "Don't tell me you're trying to eat me? Or maybe I'm in your house? Fine, fine, I'll just leave." Suei tried to stop the beast by talking.

But there was nothing stopping the beast from its objective. It needed to eat, and Suei became its prey the moment it smelled him.

— "Oi, voice in my head, help me. There must be something I can do to avoid being eaten here." Suei was now cornered against a wall.

[Answer: thanks to your natural attributes, you can transform defensive skills into offensive skills. For example, poison resistance can become poison touch, with the same level.]

— "I don't understand anything. Can you teach me to do it? I don't think this monster has the patience to wait for me to instantly learn it," Suei said sarcastically.

[Of course. Just imagine doing it, and you'll be able to.]

— "Like it would be easy to do... Just think, hmm," Suei wondered.

At that moment, something changed in Suei's body. A layer of poison began to flow over his skin, a faint acidic smell escaping from it. The terror wolf, which was about to attack, suddenly took a few steps back, growling aggressively.

— "I have no intention of hurting you, but if you get closer, I'll have to," a smile appeared on Suei's face.

The starving terror wolf lost all hesitation the moment Suei spoke. Leaping forward with its mouth wide open, Suei reacted just in time, crouching to the left while punching the creature's body.

[The poison successfully applied to the beast.]

A faint yelp could be heard from the terror wolf, now limping on three legs. It was now a battle of life and death as the creature refused to back down.

— "It pains me to end it like this, but I have a place I need to go back to," Suei concentrated even harder.

More poison began to flow over Suei's body. He marched menacingly toward the dire wolf. The moment the beast leapt again, one touch was enough to make it fall dead on the ground.

[You successfully defeated the terror wolf lv.1. You gain 12 EXP.]

[The key is proud of you and grants you an additional reward. Are you willing to take it?]

— "Of course I do! Anything that can help me survive this hellish place," Suei rubbed his hands together.