Transmigrate to another world

As I charge the thing, I lower Blitz and, when in range, swing under Drog and pierce the bird's neck. The head and Drog fly off as the body falls to the ground. I reach over and separate the beak to free Drog.

"Are you okay?"

Drog says, "Yes, master. Thank you, master."

"How did you get away?"

Drog says "I don't know, I didn't feel it until it attacked."

"Well, if you're going to explore, be careful. There may still be more of them."

Drog grunts and says "I hope there are!"

"If you kill any, bring the bodies back."

As Drog wanders off in search of revenge, I set about butchering the one at my feet while Ruby keeps watch. When I pull out his beast core and clean it up, I hand it to Ruby along with two others from my bag.

"Here, absorb these if you can."

Ruby looks at me quizzically as I give them to her. She absorbs them with no problem and I sigh.

Ruby says "What?"

"I can't absorb beast cores anymore."

Ruby says "Why not?"

"I think it's because I'm a demon now, I can probably only absorb demon cores."

Ruby says "Those are going to be hard to get."

"I know!"

I go back to searching the ruins with Ruby watching my back. As I remove a pile of rubble, I find a small piece of glass. The fact that it was buried among the rocks and didn't have a scratch on it piques my curiosity.

"Observe!

"MAGIC ITEM!"

√ Crystal of Vision.

- Reveals what is Hidden

I hold the crystal up to my eye and look at Ruby through it. Through it I can see an aura around Ruby that I assume identifies her as a spirit. I then start looking around with the crystal and see two areas glowing, one is in the ruins and the other is on the cave wall.

I go to the one in the ruins first and I can make out a glowing rectangle and to one side a small dot that also glows. As I push the small dot with a claw, I hear a click and the secret compartment opens. Inside is a beautiful axe of a black metal I don't recognize.

When I lift the axe I am surprised by its weight, which makes me think it is adamantite or something similar. From the design it seems to be meant to be a two-handed axe but to me it is too small for that. Meaning it was made for a smaller but very strong being, which makes me think of dwarves.

"Observe!

"Item!"

√ Adamantium axe

- Damage +10

- Durability 998/1000

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations! The Observe skill has reached level 9.

√ Observe

√ Level 9

- Intelligence +9

- You can identify objects with the study.

It's not enchanted but with the material and craftsmanship it easily could be. I keep it in my pack for the time being, a good axe could come in handy. I glance around the rest of the ruins before checking the spot on the cave wall.

Before I head that way, I hear a scraping noise coming from one of the tunnels. A minute later, Drog comes out of the tunnel dragging a dead bird. It has several wounds almost healed, it looks like the bird defended itself well. I walk up to Drog.

"Good boy!" and I ruffle his fur.

He looks happy and starts to wag his tail, but he notices, growls and moves away from me. I start butchering the bird, and as I work, I toss Drog a few choice pieces, he catches them out of the air and devours them.

"What are the tunnels like?"

Drog says, "It's a maze, it looks like the tunnels go on for miles. And most of them are deeper."

"Ugh, I don't want to spend days exploring!"

Ruby says "Then don't. We can leave. We know how to get back here if you really want to, later."

"Right. I'm really sick of being underground."

I walk to the cave wall that hides the secret and using the crystal after a minute I find the rock switch to open it. I push the rock and a part of the wall opens. It reveals a spiral staircase leading down, I lean out to look, but can't see the bottom.

With the secret door open, a steady wind of hot, dry air blows out of it. Wherever it goes, it's probably not a very pleasant place, so I push the rock again and the door closes. I'll be back at some point to explore, but not now.

My mind made up, I put the glass in the backpack and head back to the river. I wait for Ruby and Drog to return with the amulet and Blitz before diving back in and resuming my journey downstream. I swim along with the current wanting to get out faster.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations, the Swimming skill has progressed to level 7!

√ Swimming

√ Level 7

- Strength +7 Endurance +7 Resistance to cold +7 Hold your breath: Stamina x 2 Minute Stats.

- You are a strong swimmer.

After swimming for half an hour, I see a light above the water again. I swim back to the side and hold on to a rock to maintain my position while raising my head above the water. After so long underwater the sunlight is blinding but wonderful to see at the same time.

⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.

- Congratulations. You have completed a mission.

- Escape from the sewers.

- Objective: Survive and find a way to escape from the sewers.

- Reward: 10 stat points.

Finally!

I climb onto the riverbank and stand with my arms outstretched enjoying the sunlight. When my eyes adjust and I can see the beautiful blue sky, I start to cry with relief and joy. Then I feel like someone is punching me in the back and I hear a human voice.

Hunter says "Ha! I got it!"

I feel myself fall forward and darkness awaits, my last thought before the darkness engulfs me is for Ruby!