The cave looked normal and my bone charms had guided me to it but it still seemed rather ominous. Quiraion only knew what kind of monster lurked inside, just waiting to gorge itself on me. And I just didn't have the mana to spare for auguring the cave anymore, it was entirely bottomed out and I really didn't want to spend the night out. Going in blind was not a good idea but… really I had only one option and I knew I was waffling.

  Not for the first time that day, I regretted not really knowing what kind of trees correlated to which biomes and what animals inhabited those biomes. Even if only so that I could have a vague inkling of what type of monsters to expect. But no, I was going in completely blind as usual. My augury didn’t tell me about any actual danger in the way between me and whatever I was looking for. In some ways, augury was my strongest skill but more often than not, it was also just slightly better than tossing a coin. Shuddering as I remembered that spider monster, I stepped inside.

  The cave was surprisingly mundane. Maybe I'd expect glowing moss or something but no, it was just dark. The sun was fading behind me and soon, I'd be in almost complete darkness. Maybe I should have picked up a mage class, even if just so that I could burn mana to produce fireworks. Five minutes or so later, I decided that stumbling any deeper with the amount of visibility I had was ill advised and tried to make myself as small and unobtrusive as I could and settled down for a long overdue rest.

  The sound of something skittering around woke me up. I didn't know how long I was asleep but my mana was full so it had to be at least five hours if my math was not completely off. I held my breath and listened. Whatever it was, it didn't sound as big as the scorpion spider I had encountered earlier. Secondly, it didn't seem to be aware of me. And finally, it seemed to be alone.

  My highest stat was perception at 14 and while that might not have been exceptionally high, all my senses were boosted by it and I could make out slightly darker blobs of darkness in the dark. And one of them was moving.

  Cold Blooded activated and I remembered that killing things made me stronger.

  “KILL TO ABSORB THE SOULS OF YOUR VICTIMS.”

  My hand slowly went to my knife, careful to not move too suddenly. Patience was the name of the game here. My fingers closed around an uncomfortably cold handle.

  \\Minor Stealth is now level 4!

  And then, I waited. If the thing came closer, I would strike but I was not going to chase it. It was looking for something, hopefully not fresh Anya meat. Then finally, after what felt like ages, it was in range and my arm moved even before my mind consciously decided to do it. It lashed out and buried the blade in my target, pinning it to the soil as it trashed violently in its last moments.

  \\Spider-Scorpion Hatchling slain

  \\Cold Blooded is now level 6!

  \\Quick Killer is now level 2!

  \\[MUGGER] is now level 4!

  No Knife User level but it was already high from my earlier bone carving. I wrenched the blade out and went back to sleep, still very tired. My dreams were about being overrun by a tide of darkness, hundreds of spider-scorpions burying me under their mass as a cold blue light shone balefully from above.

  When I next awoke, it was morning. My throat was parched and my stomach was starting to protest. I ignored them in lieu of examining my kill with Fossil Identification.

  [Spider-Scorpion Hatchling, spider-scorpions were originally a biological superweapon designed to overrun entire countries but over the course of thousands of years, the modern spider-scorpions emerged as an ecologically sustainable aggressive predator. Spider-scorpions are solitary hunters that use their venomous stingers to kill their prey.]

  I didn't know quite how to feel about that. Spider-scorpions being solitary hunters was good, I will not have to worry about swarms of them. But their origin was concerning. I didn't have the best experience with biological superweapons in my old world and between that and the existence of class paths for factory farming of humans, it didn't paint a flattering picture of the world I had found myself in.

  I was not even close to being hungry enough to consider eating raw spider-scorpion so I shakily rose, Cold Blooded letting me power through the screaming my arms were doing. I trundled deeper into the cave now that it was very dimly lit.

  The cave was not very deep and I soon found myself at its end. It terminated in a wide natural chamber that opened up to the sky above. At the center of the chamber was the skeleton of a long dead animal. It looked like a bear to me. A small rodent-like mammal suddenly tried to run past me and I rammed my weapon through its skull before I could even realize that it was rather cute and probably harmless. It was a snow white rat but with a set of fractal blue lines on its back. It looked like the right size for something the tiny spider-scorpion hatchling would have been hunting.

  \\Mana Rabbit slain

  \\Quick Killer is now level 3!

  \\[MUGGER] is now level 5!

  \\Class mastered [MUGGER]. +1 to CELERITY

  I was proud of myself for managing to stay upright as the pain hit. It hurt less than when I mastered my first class but more than with my second. So assuming the pattern held, gaining physical stats actually hurt more than gaining just mental stats. Just had to grit my teeth, I didn't even have to smile on top of that unlike my old world.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  \\Skill Pain Tolerance learned

  Another passive skill, just dulled pain and reduced its debilitating effects on me while ensuring I was still aware of it. More effective per level but no numbers. I tried to use my Fossil Identification on the mana rabbit (it didn't look like a rabbit to me) but apparently it didn't count when it was still all fleshy even though creatures with exoskeletons counted. The bear skeleton was just a big bear called a cave bear that sounded so normal that I didn't even get a level from it. I should probably learn to ignore the notifications lest I be distracted at a key moment, Cold Blooded should help with that but it was not worth the risk. Anyways, I had a class to pick.

  I could pick something focusing on endurance or something for navigating and surviving in the wild. Or I could just pick [BLOODMAGE] like I wanted to. I had realized that at this point, any single class wasn't going to help me escape in time. I was going to be here for at least a few days, I needed to move slowly and minimize the actual danger I was in.

  If the bleeding could be induced at range then I could use it on any animal like creature and use my stealth to wait until it died. I was not sure how well it would work on spider-scorpions and other arthropods that didn't exactly have blood in them. The loss of fluid could kill but I wouldn't want to gamble on that being close enough to blood for my class. And it was all conjecture based on just hopes and dreams. I didn't even know what that fluid was called, the trouble with having to abandon school even before I went to high school.

  Another problem was that my mana regeneration was slow and every hour I used blood magic was one hour where I wasn't auguring to find my way. Mana was already a scarce resource for me and [BLOODMAGE] was another persistent drain on it. At close range, I was not great against anything that wasn't small animals or unsuspecting people and the non-mage ranged classes all relied on weaponry that I didn't have and would run out of ammunition for even if I went back to the two skeletons and made some. It had to be a mage of some sorts or something with a separate fighter that I controlled. Something like an unmanned drone or something. I looked at the other offerings on display that seemed good. I had a new 15 level class that I was sure was unlocked because of the spider-scorpion I'd killed

  \\SWARMCALLER NOVITIATE (0/15)

  A SWARMCALLER NOVITIATE understands that the most successful form of life in the world is that of the insectoids and that's for a reason. She can tame insectoids to make them do her bidding. She can further enhance her minions’ ferocity by sacrificing her mana.

  At higher class levels, SWARMCALLERS can bring down apocalyptic swarms of insects on those that dare oppose her or she can command a few titans that can even wrestle with drakes. Or maybe, even darker paths await a SWARMCALLER that eschews the weaknesses of the mortal races.

  MASTERY BONUSES:

  +2 to VITALITY, ACUITY, WILLPOWER AND ATTUNEMENT

  I looked at it and knew that my choice was made. Poor [BLOODMAGE], it was supposed to be my second class but now I was on my fourth.

  \\Class [SWARMCALLER NOVITIATE] selected

  \\Skill Tame Lesser Insectoids learned

  \\Tame Lesser Insectoids: 1

  You can attempt to tame insectoids to take them as your vassals and soldiers. Unlike other tamer classes, SWARMCALLERS don't get Empathic Bonds or similar skills. For swarm and eusocial insectoids, you can tame them en masse.

  The chance of failure increases based on the swarm or colony size, maturity, intellect and power of the target and other minor factors. You can only possess one discrete unit of tamed insectoids at a time, be it a single insectoid or a single swarm or colony. Taming can't be broken by a swarm unit unless the tamed unit is or becomes at least six times as strong as the tamer. Removing or losing this skill will make you cede control of everything you have tamed.

  Injuring or weakening a target makes them more susceptible to being successfully tamed!

  Uses 30 mana per use.

  //WARNING: Active skill slot limits exceeded. You can replace a skill or refuse to equip your new skill. Unequipped skills can’t be equipped again for a period of time determined by their power. Unequipped skills do not confer any benefits but exist and count for consolidation purposes only.

  \\Skill Insectoid Physiology Knowledge learned

  \\The skill Basic Earth Education has partially consolidated with Insectoid Physiology Knowledge into the passive skill Diverse Insectoid Physiology Knowledge.

  \\Diverse Insectoid Physiology Knowledge: 1

  There are few types of life more numerous and varied than insectoids. Across worlds, you have encountered different insectoids and have understood how they each thrive and where they fail and now your knowledge will expand even more. With this skill, you gain an instinctual understanding of how mundane and magical insects function, their strengths and weaknesses.

  With each level, your repository of knowledge expands and you learn about stronger and more esoteric insectoids.

  \\Spell and Technique Lists unlocked due to picking your first spell using class. Spell And Technique Lists contain spells and techniques that independently progress from both skill and class levels. Learn them through tutelage or experimentation. They don't improve or consolidate like skills and successfully improving or merging them will just create a new and better spell or technique. They are however considered skills for determining if other skills or traits affect them.

  \\Swarm Magic spell list unlocked.

  \\Swarm Magic Spell list

  Hasten Swarm: 25 mana

  Molting: 50 mana

  Those were a lot of notifications. I replaced Intimidation as I had planned with the tame skill. It was low level and low quality enough that it would be made available again in a bit over a week if I wanted it back. The knowledge skill was weird, it gave me knowledge about random insects in the same way I had known how to make bone charms. And that the fluid that insects had in them was called hemolymph and it would count as blood.

  \\Lesser Bone Augury is now level 26.

  I was once again outside the cave as it held nothing else of value for me. The cave was useful when I needed to relieve myself but that was it. In any case, I was done with hiding and jumping at shadows that I was convinced were stalking me. I finally had an actionable plan and method now.

  I was hunting for the small dog sized Spider-Scorpion that I had fled from twice. It should have grown big and strong from its meal but not so far that my skill wouldn't work on it. Unless it had killed and eaten at least three more humans since when I last saw it. Modern Spider-Scorpions didn't grow into behemoths like their ancestors anymore. I knew that. I also knew that spider scorpions preferred to rest after eating large meals. I would make sure my mana was full when I confronted it. That gave me two attempts at taming it before my mana would dip too low.

  \\Diverse Insectoid Physiology Knowledge is now level 3!