'Shit shit shit'
[ [Dig] Activated]
'C'mon c'mon'
He was too late. The robin snagged his tail and started pulling him.
He only got his head underground. But little did Quinn know. This was all he needed.
[Conditions met Specific Skill Unlocked]
Before Quinn could even read the next system window, his head expanded. Suddenly, the walls of his make shift burrow came crashing in. Or rather, his head started griping the walls.
[ [Expansion] Activated]
The robin was pulling his tail, and he was holding on for dear life. He got stretched.
'Ahhhhhhhhhh'
Quinn felt as though his whole body was being torn in half. However, he was lucky. His body was wet from the rain. Due to this fact, the robin's beak began to slip.
'Ahhhhhh... Just a little longer'
In one motion, the bird went from pulling on a worm to falling onto its backside.
Using this chance, Quinn dug as fast as he could.
[ [Dig] Activated]
[Skill Levelled up
[Dig]Lvl 1 --> [Dig] Lvl 2
Exp: 1 ]
[Exp: Locked]
'Yes!!! I'm gonna be faster now.'
Not wasting any breath, Quinn dug as fast as he could. Now that Dig has risen level, it he could dig slightly faster. And he avoided the robin's second attack.
But the robin was greedy. It nuzzled it's beak into the ground and hooked something into Quinn's tail.
'Ouch... It's using a skill?!?! No, this isn't fair.'
With the robin hooked onto Quinn's tail and Quinn holding on for dear life, the two creatures found themselves at a stalemate. It all came down to one thing.
Endurance.
And Quinn had a measly 0.002. He was already tired.
'Aww, c'mon. Why is it always me?!!'
Quinn was stretched out. Like a tax man stretching someone's wallet thin. The robin kept at it. And Quinn began to slip out of the wet surface of his burrow.
Quinn's tail went from bad to worse. What once was a simple hole with a beak in it now turned into a bloody and bruised mess of injured flesh.
Nature does not discriminate, it is cruel to everyone.
Even the robin.
For their battle was in the domain of a Goliath
BOOM!
The Goliath worm errected from the ground snatching the leaf and in the process hitting the robin.
Quinn's tail was torn clean right off and he screamed. Not noticing that he was now airborne in bird-infested air space. Truly a fish out of water.
Another robin swooped down to catch him in its beak. Opening its mouth it was ready for the meal until
Swoosh Spurt
A bigger bird stole the robin right out of the air.
'There's always a bigger fish huh'
Quinn landed on the ground and wasted no time digging down into safety.
He needed on thing recover. And he knew that if it weren't for the Goliath and the bigger bird, he would've been dead. For the first time in his 2 lives he felt lucky.
...
Quinn awoke to his tail partially recovered. His growth counter went back down to 57% and his Satiety was near 0.
Munching on the undergrowth of some fungi.
[Appraisal: Black Rooted fungus
Effect: Boosts the Dark affinity]
'tastes like burnt popcorn'
Quinn began to wonder about the existence of magic in this world
'Arcane is a stat. Mine is zero but there must be a way to use it'
In the comfort of the soil, Quinn decided to try to feel an imaginary force It didn't work. Seemed like it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.
...
Over the course of the next day, Quinn spent most of his time trying to 'sense' mana and eating parts of the undergrowth he senced other worms eat. No matter what Quinn tried, magic seemed just as impossible as his previous life.
He tried meditating. Focusing on his oxygen absorption through his skin. Even curling himself into a circle to create a path for the magic to flow.
His mind kept wandering off to the Dark Pine Leaf. It gave a magical feeling. Like a special enchantment or magical property. It was the only lead Quinn had.
But alas no leaves were around to try to expand his experience.
And so Quinn only had the life of a worm ahead of him.