Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Misinterpretation

In the middle of a dark, dank cave, I was squatting on the floor, rocking back and forth while muttering to myself.

"It's only a beetle. It's only a beetle. It's only a beetle."

Yes, perhaps I had been a bit of a baby. It was only a beetle. A beetle with a body thirty to forty centimetres long and with a half-metre leg-span, but a beetle nonetheless. That was sure as hell no creature from Earth, but I already knew I wasn't on Earth, so that shouldn't have been a surprise. It wasn't trying to eat me or anything. It was just munching at the moss, making cute noises as it went. It was probably vegetarian, and the response to wishing for monsters while also wishing that my life wasn't in danger. There was plenty of logic I could apply to reassure myself as I fought to get my heartbeat back under control, but alas, fears weren't always rational. And, given my current position, rationality obviously wasn't the primary driving force of events.

New skill gained: Fear tolerance
Fear is a useful tool and should never be ignored. Nevertheless, fear at the wrong moment can prove a deadly distraction, or be weaponised by those who mean you harm. This skill lessens the distraction caused by mundane fear and slightly weakens the effect of magical fear. Blessing [Wish Fulfilment] reduces skill effectiveness by 50%.

I stared at the words that had popped up unsolicited in my vision. I'd gained a new skill, just because I'd been frightened by a beetle? I glanced back at the beetle, still munching on the glowing moss, but it didn't seem any less scary than the first time. Was that because the skill didn't actually remove fear, because it was low level, or because of the blessing weakening the effect?

I climbed back to my feet and took a deep breath. I needed to calm down and review my situation. From the description of that new skill, I knew I had a blessing that fulfilled wishes. 'Had' being the operative word; from the earlier messages, that blessing had been modified somehow to ensure my life was in no danger. It no longer seemed able to fulfil new wishes. Then again, it hadn't immediately fulfilled my original accidental wishes earlier, either; nothing had happened until I stepped through the barrier. The question of how exactly it behaved would need to wait until more information was available.

Reducing the skill effectiveness was very likely due to my thoughts about not wanting to cheapen the experience. Adventuring without fear would be cheapening it, right? But so would not being in danger. That seemed like a bit of a conflict. Again, there was as yet insufficient information.

What information did I have? Now that I had a skill, would my status display more than my name?

Name: Katie
- Resistance skills -
Fear tolerance: Level 1

Yes, but not by much. That did at least confirm that skills had levels, so it was no surprise that I felt no effect from fear tolerance, between the minimum level and the effectiveness reduction.

So, my situation seemed to be that I was trapped in some sort of RPG-like adventure, and in order to get out I needed to locate the holy sword. At least I'd had a good view of it before starting, so I knew what it looked like. I was in no danger and had no time limit. The outside world hopefully wouldn't even know I was gone. This could be... fun.

I pinched myself, not wanting to let that thought bloom in case it raised some sort of flag. Instead, I turned back towards the beetle. Even if this particular monster was not a threat to my life, that didn't imply that they would all be so docile. It would just mean that I would be capable of dealing with them. But was that 'as I was now', or 'if I level up appropriately as I go'. In case it was the second, it would be best to be prepared.

"Sorry," I said to the beetle, "but if this is an RPG, it's very likely that I gain experience by killing things, and I would rather experiment with something that isn't going to try fighting back."

The beetle continued munching, not so much in incomprehension, but more that it didn't understand there was even anything to comprehend. Then I punched it as hard as I could, aiming for the head. It reacted, but not quickly enough, the chitinous exterior cracking and crushing the flesh beneath, showering me in fragments of shell and pale green haemolymph.

New skill gained: Unarmed dabbler
While weapons are generally superior to fists, some situations require making do without them. Maybe you were caught by surprise while unarmed, or disarmed by a skilful foe, or need to assassinate a target in an area where weapons would be caught by security. This skill increases your competence when attacking with your own body, and gives a slight damage bonus.

I read through the text while plucking out the shards of chitin from my fist, and doing my best to ignore the lumps of beetle clinging to my nightie. It wasn't experience points, but it was something. I did find the text rather on point though; this certainly counted as being caught by surprise. That punch had hurt, and I was bleeding a little in places where chitin fragments had pierced my skin. I couldn't keep doing that. If I'd known this was going to happen, I'd certainly have asked to borrow a weapon! Armour too, preferably, or at least some shoes and proper clothes. The irony that I was on my way to fetch a weapon didn't escape me either. How much easier would this have been if I'd been transported on my way out instead of in?

Speaking of armour... I peered at the undamaged thorax and abdomen of the beetle speculatively, but decided against it in the end. There wasn't that much chitin there, it would be hard to do anything with, and given how easily I'd just punched through it, it wouldn't even offer a useful amount of protection, at least against anything that was actually a threat. Instead, I spent my time wiping beetle off my nightie, wondering if there would be any opportunity for a wash in this place. Or, for that matter, where I was supposed to go to relieve myself.

Actually, that raised a more important concern. I needed to eat and drink. And breathe. Given that I wasn't yet dead there was obviously sufficient oxygen and nothing highly toxic in the air, so breathing seemed to be taken care of, but unless this quest was going to be over within a day or two, I would need a water source. The walls were damp to the touch, so water was surely obtainable. I could go without food for longer, but even there, I would rather eat if I could. It wasn't as if I'd had a big meal before entering this place; I'd been plucked out of bed!

Oh, drat, that was another thing; if I was going to be here for more than a couple of days, as well as water, I would need sleep. Was that safe? Even if there was no dangerous wildlife in this place, the thought of one of those beetles, or something even worse, wandering around while I slept was unpleasant. Then there was the temperature. This cave was comfortable, despite my ridiculously light clothing, but would that vary either with time or as I moved around?

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I peered at the dead beetle again. Was beetle flesh edible? I had no means to start a fire here, and given the enclosed space I wasn't sure I would want to even if I could, so a better question would be if beetle flesh was edible raw. Were there parasites or diseases I needed to worry about? After some consideration, I decided that this was a problem best solved sooner rather than later, and gingerly tore out a very small amount of flesh. If it wasn't edible, best to find out now by eating a small amount while I wasn't desperate for nutrients than later on when I was famished.

Then again, my life wasn't supposed to be in any danger, right? That would imply I couldn't starve to death. Or did it only imply there would be plentiful food? But in a real RPG, it wasn't like you had to eat, drink, piss and sleep. Well, not in many of them, anyway. Maybe that sort of thing would just be magicked away? Then again, in RPGs you didn't normally have to worry about getting monster residue over your clothing either, and the stains over my nightie made it clear that was a concern I did have. I was already feeling a little thirsty, so it seemed I wasn't going to be exempt from drinking, either.

On the basis that it was better to gain whatever knowledge I could while I had the chance, I popped the beetle flesh into my mouth and chewed. It tasted pretty awful, but not to the extent that I had difficulty swallowing. Now I just had to wait for a bit to see if my insides tried to make their way outside, and I'd have a better idea if it was safe. In the meantime, I needed to venture out of this small room and find a water source. Or the sword. Either would work.

With a mix of excitement and trepidation, I crept out of the room. I found myself in a narrow passageway of smooth grey stone, branching in two directions, and picked the right-hand turn at random. Fortunately, the lack of sharp or loose rocks meant that I wasn't cutting my bare feet with every step, but it was narrow enough that I had to twist and walk sideways to avoid catching myself on the walls. They were lined with more of the glowing moss, which lit the area up enough to see where I was going. The downside was that there were also more of the moss-eating beetles around, and with the narrowness of the passage, I wasn't able to avoid brushing up against them.

One clicked unhappily at me as I disturbed its feeding, unsheathing paper-thin, iridescent, translucent wings that had no business being able to hold its weight, and buzzing up to the ceiling. I'd have liked to punch them in the hopes of more skill gains, but I didn't want to injure my hand more. Plus, in the narrow corridor there wasn't enough space to be certain of a one-hit kill, and I didn't want injured beetles buzzing around and bleeding all over me.

I worked my way along until I came out into a much larger cavern than my original small cave. The distant walls resulted in very little light, the far off patches of moss across the walls and ceiling giving the appearance of a starry night sky, but I could hear the unmistakable sounds of running water. There was indeed a water source, right next to my starting point, and in such a picturesque location. This adventure certainly seemed to be stuck on easy mode...

The moss wasn't growing on the ground, so leaving the wall would reduce the light around me, but I was sure I could handle the occasional beetle popping out of the darkness. I carefully made my way forward, feeling out the floor in front of me as I made my way towards the burbling. The floor remained firm and smooth enough for my bare feet, and I moved forward with surprising ease. I could hear other noises around me; a buzzing I recognised as the beetles' wings, the quiet munching of them grazing, and a gentle tapping I couldn't identify. Perhaps a beetle walking around?

I made it to the water with no difficulty, able to see dim glints of light reflecting off the running surface of a small brook, flowing chaotically over the uneven rock. Kneeling down to drink, the water tasted fresh, and was cool and refreshing. Again, there seemed to be no problem; it appeared perfectly drinkable. This place could do with a bit more light, but otherwise things seemed to be going well. I had a plentiful water source, along with a supply of beetles to provide skill levels and potentially food. The cave I started in would even be a reasonably safe place to sleep; given the narrow passage, nothing much bigger than me would be able to reach it, and if I could block the entrance somehow, I could make it even safer. This area would make for a great base while I got my bearings and tried to work out the rules of this adventure.

As if summoned by my optimism, a low growl started up mere centimetres from my ear. I spun around, staring into the darkness for the source of the noise, and saw the points of light reflected in the large slitted eyes in front of me. And saw the glint of the fangs, the ivory white perceptible against the black silhouette behind even in the darkness.

Fear tolerance advanced to level 2

I turned and ran, stumbling in the darkness, but fairly sure of the direction of the crevice that led back to my safe little cave. Whatever that was had been bigger than me and wouldn't be able to fit. While I'd convinced myself that there shouldn't be anything dangerous here, those fangs had been far too deadly to ignore, and a temporary retreat seemed like the most sensible course of action.

I heard the sounds of soft but rapid footsteps behind me. It was chasing me!

Fear tolerance advanced to level 3

It was catching up, and I had a sudden, pressing desire not to let it, but I could already make out the patches of moss and occasional beetle on the cavern wall. I was almost there. I tried to reassure myself that my life was theoretically not in any danger. I didn't know exactly how that would manifest, and it obviously wasn't by there not being any big scary monsters around, but there should be something. Whatever this monster was, it hadn't attacked me at first, despite getting so close. It had alerted me, and then waited for me to get a head start. Perhaps that was it. Maybe if I stopped now, it wouldn't actually attack me, and would just continue acting scary. It was comforting to imagine, but I had no intention of testing the theory.

I reached the crevice, twisting and diving towards it in a single fluid motion, just as a snap sounded behind me, along with a loud crunch that seemed to echo from everywhere. I fell over into the crevice, suddenly unable to balance, slamming into the floor. The impact stunned me as pain bloomed throughout my whole body. More crunching came from outside the crevice, and through my daze, I stared back into the form of the large, black, wolf-like creature, which was chewing on a leg. My leg.

I felt the blood pooling around me, and that was enough to drag me out of my stupor. It had torn off my leg! I must be bleeding like crazy, and needed to stop it imminently or I would bleed out. Indeed, the red smudge at the bottom of my vision was rapidly shrinking. But in this narrow crevice, I couldn't even crawl properly! It took precious minutes to drag myself back to my starting cave, where I pulled off my nightie and tore strips off it, tying them tightly around my leg, which had been severed just above the knee.

The wound was a mess, the break in the bones not at all clean, and the flesh violently torn. With the adrenaline fading, and significant loss of blood, I could do nothing but sit there shivering. No threat to my life?! What the hell? In what way was that not a threat? Was it my own fault for being careless? I never should have ventured into that cavern without a light. There was plenty of moss here; I could have bundled it up into some sort of torch. Was I going to fail now? Did I treat things too much like a game, because I thought I was guaranteed victory? Now the shouty-guy who summoned me would never get the sword... Would the humans be killed by a demon lord because of my own stupid wishes and hubris?

As the shock kicked in from the blood loss, my thoughts about how many people my stupidity had just condemned to death slowed and stopped, and I slipped into unconsciousness.

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