[Mission Complete – Nightmare: The First Night has ended. Dawn dispels the nocturnal terrors, and the nightmare sleeps for now.]
He awoke to the mysterious voice. He opened his eyes, somewhat dazed, and looked around as if searching for something.
"Oh, right, this is..." he murmured, confused, as he stood up and stretched.
[First reward for completing the mission: a rank-up.]
[Upon ranking up, the player's physical capabilities will increase slightly.]
[All non-permanent injuries will also be restored, and your physical condition will be stabilized.]
"Oh, great," he murmured. Although using "Treat Wounds" had partially fixed his body, he still had small and large injuries here and there, so recovery was convenient.
"Mainly, I want to be able to move them properly," he murmured while looking at his arms. Although they looked fine on the outside, he felt some pain inside and couldn't move them correctly. They were the aftereffects of using them as a shield, but it was better than dying.
A warm, golden light descended upon his body. Unlike the first time, when exhaustion and fatigue had rendered him unconscious immediately, this time he witnessed the entire process. The golden light embedded itself into his entire body and began to radiate from some areas, penetrating deeper and deeper inside, restoring internal injuries. He immediately felt his body recovering, filling with vigor.
The process didn't last too long. As if everything had ended, the remaining golden light fused completely with his body. His body strengthened slightly, and he felt stronger than before. It wasn't an extreme change, but a subtle one. Still, it was a good feeling.
"This could become an addiction," he murmured as he watched the light fade.
[Second Reward for Completing Mission]
"Is there a second reward?" he wondered expectantly.
[The System has been unlocked.]
"System?" he asked, confused.
Then, a transparent panel appeared before him.
[Function Enabled: Store]
[You can use the Store to purchase Tier 1 items.]
STORE! he shouted internally with excitement.
As soon as he intended to use the store, the panel changed and displayed a rather long list of mundane objects.
It ranged from weapons like hand axes, rudimentary spears, slings, and short bows—made with basic materials—to consumables like Basic Ration, Minor Healing Potion, Basic Antidote, etc.
The list was too extensive to see in its entirety.
The problem, as expected from a store, was the currency. "Karma Points?" he wondered.
He currently had one hundred karma points, but he didn't know how to get more, so it was risky to spend them immediately.
"But food is important," he told himself as he spent five points on a basic ration.
The ration consisted of hard bread with dried meat. It was bland food with little flavor, but at that moment, it seemed like the most delicious thing he had ever eaten in his life.
"It hadn't been long since I arrived, but it felt like entire days had passed," he reflected.
He didn't know if time flowed the same as in his world, or if, due to everything that had happened, he perceived it as slower, but for him, entire days had passed since his arrival.
Once he finished eating, he looked at the store again.
Among the mundane objects, a few caught his attention.
[Initiate's Ring]: A crude metal ring with a faint rune. It feels warm when channeling magic. Weak spells consume half the magical power.
Cost: 500 KP.
"A good arcane focus costs that much?" he wondered.
An arcane focus was necessary to perform some spells, including projectile spells, so when he lost his staff—his old focus—he also lost the ability to use them.
"How annoying," he murmured.
Although he could use any object as an arcane focus, even a simple ring with no effects, the weaker the focus, the less power he could channel through it.
He spent ten karma points on a normal ring for now.
He took out his grimoire and followed the instructions. He drew a circle on the ground with the glyph to be engraved and placed the ring in the center. Then, he cut his hand and let his blood fall onto the ring.
As soon as the blood touched the metal, the circle glowed with power, and he immediately felt a bond with the object. The engraving on the ground burned and disappeared as if it had never existed.
He took the ring and put it on. "This familiarity is the same as with the staff," he murmured.
Luckily, the ritual wasn't too complicated; if it were, creating another arcane focus would have been problematic.
He sat on the ground and checked his grimoire. "?" he looked, confused.
He hadn't noticed before: his magical power had increased from four to six.
It was only two points more, but for him, it was a significant advancement. "Although I can still only cast one spell, I just need two more points to be able to use two," he murmured to himself, pleased.
He knew that later he would learn spells requiring greater magical power, but for now, this was enough.
He closed the grimoire and continued examining the store, thinking about what to do.
He had found a shelter with water. Using the store, he could get rations, so he had food for a while. There were no pending missions, so he could stay there quietly.
"But for how long?" he wondered.
A full day had passed, and he didn't know when—or if—he could return home.
First of all, why had he been brought to this place?
He wasn't someone remarkable, so it was strange that, of all people, he had been chosen.
Maybe it was just random, and he had very bad luck.
"It's not worth thinking about," he murmured to himself.
If there were no answers, there was no point in dwelling on it.
"For now, the best thing will be to wait for something to happen. And if nothing happens... we'll just wait," he said, not very convinced. First of all, he didn't have much of an idea what to do.
"But first, we should create a space to live more comfortably," he said while looking at the cold cave.