World Isekai

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.

He fell backward, quickly getting up again.

"That's bullshit. This dungeon is fucking pay to win. How am I supposed to progress without a weapon? And how can I get a weapon without money? Can't even get this torch?! Really?!"

He tried pulling on it, then noticed something.

[Stash?]

He pressed it. The whole torch started to light up with a soft orange hue.

It looked like it was turning into ember, as it slowly disappeared from the wall.

Mori smiled, opening his [Dungeon] window, quickly rotating to the [Stash] tab.

The torch was in it, occupying the first slot. There was a few options, but taking it out of the stash was greyed out. The only thing he could do is use it in the [Floor Planer].

Makes sense, getting items out of stash while on the dungeon floor wouldn't be a smart design. All I need to do is exit, take it out and re-enter. Now that I think about it, there was one more of those in the room I woke up in.

Mori quickly scrolled through the tabs, going back to the dungeon floors.

The floor he was on was lit up, [0-1]. His room was greyed out, however.

He tried his best pressing it, or finding anything that could be pressed that would bring him back.

But nothing.

So that's how it is. Something that feline forgot to mention.

Mori slowly approached the first room, staying at its edge.

On the opposite side was a large door, closed.

A single skeleton roamed the room, to his relief.

It wielded no weapons, so it would most likely turn into a fistfight.

What are my options anyways? The only way is forward.

Mori entered the room, the skeleton barely even noticing his presence.

Truly the first level.

Mori walked toward it, making the least noise possible as he approached it from behind.

He was slightly crouching trying his best to sneak up to it.

As he reached it, he quickly pushed it to the ground with all his weight.

He was on top of it, sitting on its back.

The skeleton was startled, tried reaching him, but his arms couldn't turn backward.

Mori smiled, closing his fist and bringing it backward, before taking a good swing at it.

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)]
Embark on a quest with m,vl_em|p_yr

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.