Once it was clear that no one else was around, I had nothing else to do besides staying in the cave and recovering. It didn’t hurt to move anymore, but my body still felt stiff. This was likely due to the massive scar covering most of my stomach. Even my belly button was gone.

With a sigh, I sat back down away from the entrance, making sure I couldn’t be seen from the outside. A bit before the end of the cave, there was a small tunnel leading to an opening to the left. That would let me see the sky while still being far enough away from the ground or the top of this cliff. Taking the pole, I headed to that area while carrying my still wet clothes and the rope I found in the crate. I was going to put them to dry. Hopefully, there was enough sunlight hitting that natural balcony for me to dry my clothes and not be naked in the middle of the forest anymore. But that was a really simple task, and there were still a lot of questions in my mind.

‘Ok, now onto the skills. I already more or less understand how to use them, but what are the 5 uses?’

[Some skills, like {Compression} require more Energy to be prepared than to be used. Hence, despite using a single unit of Energy, it allows user to activate the skill five different times.]

‘Why is that?’ my eyes shifted to the pole on the ground. Once I activated {Compression} I felt a similar amount of… something, leaving my body as when I used {Body Regeneration}. But, the actual amount of what I assume to be the particles that covered the pole felt smaller than what left me. Then again, this was all very strange, and I was trying to make sense of things that didn't follow a logic I understood.

[In order to perform complex functions, such as changing the size and shape of an object while keeping its mass, a certain number of system particles are required to link in a network. That network controls the skill to follow user’s wishes and requires a certain amount of Energy to function. To actually perform the physical change in the target object, only 1/5th of the particles in the network are required to spend their Energy, maintaining only the bare minimum amount of energy on each particle to continue helping with the network control.]

‘Right, so when you say 1 Energy is not actually one, but a unit. Like saying 1 meter [3’2"] actually has a 100 centimeters [3’2"] inside it.’

[Correct, the values below 1 Energy are irrelevant for user as any skill will require at least 1 Energy to be used. Unless it’s a passive.]

‘Got it, got it. Do the skills have a description? I want to know what they actually do.’

[Would user prefer the description to be made with flair or purely informational?]

‘Give me the full information, but add some flair to it. Why not?’ I smiled. If the system was asking that, maybe it enjoyed being a bit more poetic about things.

[Acknowledged. Showing descriptions of all current skills.]

Four small blue screens appeared in my view. I knew this was just a hallucination created by the system, but it looked so real. Like one of those holograms in science fiction movies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive

By following an optimized blueprint of System Particles, you are able to reach tier 1 at an incredible speed.
SP required to level up while on Tier 0: - 70%
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Energy Storage - Passive
Reserved Cost: 1 Energy

Every life needs Energy, and those in harsher conditions are able to store said Energy for when they need the most.
Units of Energy stored: 63/100
Energy recovered: 1 unit every 10 minutes.
Current Energy to SP conversion: 6.67% per unit.
Time required per unit conversion: 1 hour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Body Regeneration - Active
Cost: 1 Energy

Even the strongest warrior can be injured in battle, but the body of a champion can easily recover from wounds.
By spending energy you are able to recover from wounds in your body. This skill can be used multiple times to increase its effects.
Duration: 10 minutes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Compression - Active
Cost: 1 Energy
Number of uses available: 0/5 uses

Size makes no difference, what is big can also grow small and the tiny can be a giant.
Changes the size of an object while maintaining its mass.
Weight range: 30 g [1.05 oz] to 300 kg [661.3 lb]
Size range: 20 cm [7.8 in] to 20 meter [21.8 yd]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[In addition, user also has one more skill. However, System is still analyzing user’s species in order to create it.]

‘Species? We are getting a racial skill? Or a human skill?’

[Correct. Analysis is still in progress. Approximate time frame for results: 70 hours.]

‘Ok. And that is going to count as part of the 4 skills I can have?’

[Human skill will be inherited by all human users. Memory will not be used for said skill. However, human skill may have an Energy cost to be used.]

‘That’s fair. I think, but… this also means Eaters have some sort of Eater skill too… shit,’ I sighed, but quickly focused back on the skills I did have, ‘A few questions. I’m leveling up faster now, right? The value in the {Energy Storage}, the 6.67% is about leveling up, right? Is that already with the 70% reduction? For the {Compression}, the weight is fine, but the size feels a bit odd. If the minimum is 20 cm [7.8 in] what does that actually mean? It can be that tall? Or that wide? Also, can skills evolve or improve in any way? Another thing, how do I recover Energy without that skill?’ all the questions I was having came flooding out, thankfully I stopped myself before going to more existential issues.

[User is leveling up at an accelerated pace. The value present in {Energy Storage} is already taking into account the benefits provided by {Quick Tier 1 Evolution}. The size in {Compression} is merely a reference. The pole user had been utilizing, for instance, can have its longer length to be 20 centimeters. However, since objects can have a multitude of dimensions, the size range was defined as a way to direct user wishes when utilizing the skill.]

[Skills are capable of improvement. They can both be evolved into a new skill with different but similar effects, or improved through mastery. Higher mastery allows user to fine tune a skill’s capabilities. Once user has reached any degree of mastery beyond basic, additional information will be displayed in the skill description.]

[User’s body is constantly producing Energy. Currently, user can recover 1 Energy every hour through the skill {Energy Storage}. Additionally, Energy recovery speed can be improved by consuming food.]

‘So this is about how much I eat? What if I just gulp down everything in the crate? Would that make me recover all my Energy at once?’

[User’s stomach has a limit on how much Energy it can convert at once. If that limit is surpassed, user will no longer receive any benefits from eating more food. In addition, consuming more food will not allow user to go past the current 2 Energy limit. Or 3 if passive {Energy Storage} is deactivated. However, such action is highly unadvised since doing so would expel energy stored.]

‘Expel energy stored… that really doesn’t sound pleasant.’

[System believes it will be a highly unpleasant situation.]

[User has yet to inquire about acquiring new skills. Would user like to know that information?]

‘Yes, please!’ I had no idea what to do with the skills I already had, but if this was like any of the other systems I saw in books, I would be swapping out skills left and right.

[There are 3 ways of getting a new skill. First is by leveling up. Every 1 to 5 levels, System will offer 1 to 3 skills related to the actions taken by user. Every 5 levels, user is guaranteed to receive the option to acquire at least 1 skill. Second, user can find another being that has a skill and get it from them. It can either be something shared willingly, or user can kill and consume the original owner to add the skill to System. Third, user can request a specific type of skill from System. In response, System will gather relevant attributes of other skills that were or will be offered to user, or skills acquired through other means to create the skill user requested. This third option will generate something called a Quest, which allows System to constantly scan for sources of information that will result in the desired skill.]