Chapter 13 - 12 Natural Treasures

Marcus wakes up once again a part of him hoping his experience on Mirrion had all been a dream and that he was still in his hotel room ready to continue his vacation.

'Whelp I am still on Mirrion, still a ghost possessing a dead girls body and sleeping on a pile of rags I call a bed. I am still staying in a cramped damp cellar in the middle of a burned down community. Oh well I have to keep on living eventually I should reap some rewards from all the suffering I have had to endure.'

Marcus got up and went through his daily routine, getting water from the well, cooking some meat and nuts for breakfast, and cleaning off his body the best he could.

'I did not notice yesterday because of how frantic I was but my clothes are in pretty bad shape. My pants have holes all over them and my shirt looks like I have been attacked by a slasher. Unfortunately, there are no other clothes around here and I have zero tailoring skills whatsoever. I still have a couple of weeks before I plan to leave, and I hope I can reach at least level ten before leaving. I guess I should have a quick look at my status before heading out for the day.'

"Status"

Name: Marcus Ferrous

Age: 28

Race: Unbound Ghost (Human Irene Soul Tethered)

Level: 4

HP: 260/260-180/180

MP: 220/220

STR: 10(+8)

AGL: 18

VIT: 10(+8)

INT: 22

SPR: 23(+3)

Stat Points: 0

Skill Points: 1

Unique Skills: Personal Status

Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 1, Magic Circulation Lvl 1, Iron Magic Lvl 1, Disassembly Lvl 1, Stealth Lvl 1, Lightning Magic Lvl 1

Blessing of Iron

Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession, Undying

Possessed Race abilities:

Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds Lvl 1

'Yep, looks good I can see how much progress I have made since coming here. The passive bonus given by my blessing of iron has made it so my strength and vitality scores can still keep up with my other stats. Going forward I need to figure out if I want to keep going with a more balanced approach or just dump all of my stats into magic.'

Marcus spent a great amount of time lamenting about his future decision on whether to continue staying balanced with his stats or pushing everything he has into magic.

'I have decided I should keep the balanced approach as cool as magic is I am currently alone and if my magic is not up to a certain task I will be screwed. Since I currently have to do everything, myself sticking as an all rounder who is focused on magic but not devoted sounds good.'

Marcus went about his day a bit different than usual; he did not head for his pitfall trap but headed deeper into the woods to practice his stealth skill. He soon came across a family of some type of rat which he shadowed for around an hour to practice his stealth skill. During the time he managed to stay hidden from the rat and other beast until he made a mistake and tripped over a tree root and face planted into the ground.

'Ah fuck, that was so stupid I tailed the stinking rats for a whole hour only to trip on a root. Whatever at least I know my stealth skill is pretty affective now, I guess I will head back now.'

Marcus then headed back towards the destroyed community he currently resided in. However, along the way he saw a large boar digging into the ground looking for something. Marcus decided to investigate and snuck towards the boar and saw that it had just unearthed some shining mushrooms. Marcus knew at once that he had to have those mushrooms, as he had read in the newbies guide about natural treasures that could give bonuses to stats, give special skills, or even level people up. He was not sure if these mushrooms were really natural treasures but even if they were not, he had to try. Marcus approached the boar using his stealth skill and right as it was about to take a bite of the first mushroom Marcus leaped out towards it. He cast his new lighting magic spell spark immediately on the boar causing it to spasm and grunt in pain. While the boar was stunned, he took out two spears and jammed them into both of its eyes. The boar reeled back in pain and started to thrash about trying to impale Marcus with its tusks. However, Marcus had already retreated and moved away from the rampaging boar. The boar soon stopped flailing around and began sniffing the air. Once it locked onto Marcus' scent it charge towards him. Unfortunately for the boar this had been a part of Marcus' plan as the boar slammed right into the tree Marcus was hiding behind. As the boar impacted into the tree, it broke the two spears jammed into its eyes but also pushed them deeper into its head. The boar began spasming on the ground from the pain and Marcus came around and began to pummel it with his arms covered in iron skin and electricity. The boar could no longer offer any resistance as it was beaten and electrocuted to death.

'I definitely thought I had gotten stronger, but this gives me some real proof at how powerful I have become. This time I was able to win a fight without the use of a trap and I got out uninjured. My stealth skill is really paying off, without it I never would have been able to catch this boar by surprise. The problem now is that I do not have enough room in my item box to store it, guess I will just take out some of the old equipment I don't need right now.'

Marcus emptied out some space in his item box by dropping old saws and planks of wood he did not think he would ever need. Once he had made some space, he put the body of the boar into his item box and headed over towards the unearthed mushrooms.'

'Wow these mushrooms are quite beautiful now that I see them up close, they are glowing vibrant colors like red and orange and there is even one purple mushroom. I should pick them quickly before another creature comes and steals them.'

After gathering up a dozen glowing mushrooms of various colors Marcus made his way back home to inspect his recent gains.

'I managed to get three red mushrooms, two orange, two blue, one purple, two yellow, and two green. Let me try one of the red ones first and see what it does.'

Marcus began eating one of his red mushrooms and as soon as he took the first bite, he immediately threw the rest of the mushroom into his mouth as he savored the best flavor he had tasted since coming to this world. It took all of his will power to not continue to plop mushrooms into his mouth one after another and check his status.

'Yep, it is as I thought it really is a natural treasure, the red mushroom raised my strength score by one and these things are really delicious.'

Marcus then ate one of each color and checked his status to see what effect each mushroom had. He found that the blue increased his agility, the orange his vitality, the purple his intelligence, the yellow his spirit, and the green gave straight exp.

'Ah I feel great those mushrooms were some of the best things I have ever had, and I basically got a full level worth of stats from them and I am now incredibly close to leveling up again. This has been the best day I have had on Mirrion, if everyday was like this I think I could really like it here. To bad natural treasures are incredibly rare and hard to find, if not for the boar sniffing them out for me, I never would have known they were there. Speaking of that boar I still need to butcher it.'

Marcus took out the body of the boar and began to dismantle it taking great care to not damage the valuable parts, especially the tusks. With the help of his disassembly skill, he managed to get the tusks out and only ruined a small part of the pelt of the boar in the process. However even with his skill it was his first time cutting into a boar and he ruined most of the meat because he made a few cuts to deep into its stomach.

'Well, it is a good thing those mushrooms have already filled me up, and I can still use it as bait for my trap. It really has been a good day and I think I have finally come to accept that this world is my new home. From this point onward I am going to have to take a few more risks but if I am successful, I will be able to get stronger much faster.. The whole world is waiting for me and this is my start line.'