Mori was sitting next to the cat, who was seemingly asleep, although he doubted he was even capable of sleep.
Reality was going to be quite hard for him. He was essentially a magic user, without magic.
[...]
[Strength: 3]
[Defense: 2]
[Agility: 1]
How would he even overcome this? He can't use curses to strengthen himself like he used to.
Inscription required mana, and enchanting did too. Inscription significantly less, but the amount didn't matter if he was stuck at 0.
"What will the first room be like?" asked Mori.
The Unkindled, still nodding off, telepathically answered.
For you to find out. Layouts change on every floor, and the monsters and items too.
Mori opened the [Dungeon] menu again, looking all the way at the bottom.
He pressed it.
[Level 0-1]
He was teleported, the room quickly fading out, changing for another similar one.
He was in a tunnel, with tiles similar to the ones before. It really looked like the [0-0] level, but more torches decorated the walls.
He looked behind him, he was at the end of the tunnel, so there was only one way to go.
He walked toward a torch on his right.
Let's try this.
He tried moving the torch, but it barely moved. It was tightly fixed to the wall, and he simply didn't have the strength to pull it.
"Really? Am I this weak without curses?! A fucking torch? Is that the first enemy I encounter that is actually hard to deal with? Screws and nails?!"
The first room was a few meters forward, as Mori spoke up, he saw something walking in his peripheral vision.
He quickly turned, his fists closed tight, ready to react.
It was a skeleton, considerably small, about 4 feet high, aimlessly moving around in that room, to Mori's relief.
It didn't enter the passageway he was on, letting him get back to that torch.
He put a feet on the wall, and pulled with all his strength, the only thing yielding being his own arms.
Describing a wide arc, he hit its skull directly.
He expected it to shatter right away, but the only thing that shattered seemed to be his fist.
Were bones always this solid?
Mori changed strategy, using his fist like a hammer instead to avoid damaging his knuckles further.
The sound of its skull repeatedly cracking, echoed in the empty room for several minutes.
The little thing kept struggling, Mori wondering if he could even damage it.
Eventually, as damage piled up, its skull shattered, the whole body crumbling with a small 'ding' resounding.
Mori quickly opened his profile, but he hadn't leveled up.
He sighed.
Pain was throbbing through his fist. He got up and took a few steps back, examining it.
It was broken, how long would he need to stay in his room for it to naturally heal?
As he looked down, where the skeleton was before disappearing, there was something on the floor.
He crouched next to it, it was extremely small, but it looked like a singular flame.
Something as big as what a cheap lighter from a corner store would sell.
He approached his hand, barely feeling heat coming from it. It was hovering right above the floor.
"The skeleton dropped... fire?"
Mori took a chance, touching it with his index.
It looked liked it consumed itself, disappearing in an instant.
[Kindle: 1 (+1)]
Mori's eyebrows raised, in surprise.
While the skeleton not dropping anything truly annoyed him, if all monsters are guaranteed to drop kindle then it wasn't as bad as it seemed.
He got up, walking toward the shut door.
As he did, it slowly croaked open, leading him to another short passageway.
Torches were on his right, and as he progressed, he took most of them, adding it to his stash.
Further, where the next room was waiting for him, he could see monsters roaming inside it.
Two small skeletons.