Chapter Text
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Building the Strongest Starter Dungeon
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Chapter 1: A Cliche Beginning
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Midgaia, a land of fantastic magic, heroic champions and terrible monsters. A continent that extends from the northern tundra of the Frostbite Plains to the southern tropics of the Sweltering Jungles. A realm that has both civilised kingdoms and dangerous dungeons. A place that still bears the scars of a terrible war that ended an entire ancient civilisation.
In Midgaia, there are four intelligent humanoid races collectively known as the 'civilised people': nomas, elves, dwarves and ogres.
For those who originated from a certain world that lacked magic, Earth, many of them would consider nomas as "humans" in all but name. Given the many similarities in physical appearance, the humans of Earth would be quite justified in making that claim. That being said, there are some differences such as the fact that many nomas are capable of magic with varying degrees of talent. In addition, nomas are generally nomadic wanderers who rarely establish permanent settlements except in certain regions of Midgaia. In fact, nomas lack a true kingdom to call their own but they are both widespread and numerous to the point that most 'half-bloods' throughout Midgaia are at least part-noma. What is more, nomas are generally more varied, and therefore more flexible, in their talents compared to the other three civilised races. Due to their nomadic lifestyles, many of them work as travelling merchants, livestock herders and mailmen.
Elves are, compared to nomas, more slender and effeminate in appearance with pointed ears that vary in length between three to six inches and, among pure-blooded elven men, a distinct lack of facial hair. They are also more agile and graceful than nomas but are less resilient to physical harm. Unlike nomas, elves generally form permanent settlements near reliable sources of fresh water such as rivers and lakes. In fact, many elves are talented in skills that involve water such as swimming, fishing and sailing. That being said, it is not unusual for elves to develop other talents depending on their native homes such as hunting in the forests that surround their primary sources of fresh water. There are also elves who are nomadic wanderers like nomas but as wandering sailors of the sea instead.
Dwarves are, compared to nomas, shorter as they are only close to five feet tall at tallest. However, what they lack in height, agility and grace they tend to make up for them with stubborn resilience with broad robust bodies to match. They tend to form permanent homes in mountains and hills with territories that extend to valleys and nearby flatlands. Many dwarves are talented in skills that involve soil and rock such as mining, blacksmithing, stone sculpting, building houses and farming. It should be noted that dwarves tend to possess thick hair on their heads and, among many men of dwarven lineage, faces. Dwarven wanderers are not unheard off but they tend to be uncommon with the exception of certain professions such as merchants and professional guards.
Ogres are taller than nomas as even the shortest ones are at least over six feet tall. They also possess muscular bodies which grant them great strength and, depending on how their bodies are built, resilience or speed. However, many agree that all that strength comes at a cost as ogres are infamous for their large appetites and simple-mindedness. In addition, ogres possess prominent fang-like canine teeth that may be visible even then their mouths are closed. Though not to the extensive extent of the nomadic nomas, ogres tend to move from place to place to find new sources of food within not only their usual territories in the flatlands but also other locations like nearby forests and mountains. Most permanent ogre settlements are strategic locations where different ogre communities can trade with one another or with other civilised races. As for talents, ogres are generally talented as warriors, hunters, foragers and, unsurprisingly, cooks.
Now, one may think that this story is about a member of the four civilised races becoming a great hero. Perhaps the hero is a half-blood, a member of nobility, a natural-born genius or even someone who used to be a human from Earth in the past life.
None of them is what this story is about.
This story is about a lowly creature, which is not supposed to be intelligent at all, somehow gaining the mind, heart and soul of a human from Earth. This is the story of a being that would build the "strongest starter dungeon" in all of Midgaia: Michael Lin Yuan.
--=<(Somewhere underground within the land of Midgaia...)>=--
Confusion.
That was the most accurate one-word description of Michael's mental and emotional state at the moment. Not too long ago, he had been an "old uncle" who was nearly sixty years old and was dying of a heart attack. The last thing that he could remember before passing out, or rather passing on, was accepting his imminent death.
"So why am I still alive?" thought Michael who then looked down at his current body and mentally added, "And as a slime at that?"
Unlike his original body, which was that of a slightly overweight elderly human man of Southeast Asian descent with a number of health issues related to his eyesight, heart and joints, his current body was essentially an opaque gelatinous blob that was pale-grey in colour and had an amorphous shape. He also had a pair of black oval slightly-concave spots which functioned as his eyes and, somehow, they allowed him to see his surroundings better than his previous human eyes ever could. At the very least, he was very certain that the eyes he once had as a human would be of little use in his current location: an underground cave which had a river flowing through it and practically no visible light source other than a few glowing mushrooms that seemed to attract small flying insects.
After thinking for a while, as well as subconsciously extending two tentacle-like pseudopods from his amorphous body to mimic a human crossing his arms, Michael nodded the top of his body to mimic a nodding head and decided, "Well, sitting here doing nothing won't get me any closer to understanding my current situation. I might as well as look around this place while keeping my eyes peeled for trouble. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to find someone who can answer my questions like that Japanese anime I watched about a slime becoming a benevolent demon lord."
Having made his decision, Michael oozed his way along the river in the downstream direction. Though he was merely a private science tutor in his past life, with a love for video games, comics and animated shows at that, he was knowledgeable enough to know that many rivers would eventually flow towards the sea and that many early human civilizations were built around rivers.
A short while later, Michael encountered his first obstacle: a passage that had become too small and narrow for him to move through unless he was willing to get into the river water and swim further downstream.
Even in his current non-human form, Michael's aggravation was comically unmistakable as he wore a deadpan expression and mentally groaned, "Of course I end up at a dead-end with swimming as the only way to continue onwards!" Unwilling to find out if his current body could drown, never mind some of the horror stories he had heard of people getting trapped inside caves during his past life, he decided to travel in the opposite upstream direction. As he made his way back to where he had started, he thought resignedly, "Hopefully, I won't end up reaching another dead-end."
Before long, Michael returned to the place where he had started and was about to travel along the cave in the upstream direction when he suddenly heard voices from ahead. Surprised by the voices, which were clearly speaking in a guttural language that he had never heard before, he immediately hid behind a large rock and peeked out to see who were approaching. He soon got his answer when two naked humanoid creatures with pale grey skin, four digits on each hand, four digits on each ape-like foot and large pointed ears appeared. His eyes widened as he thought, "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that those two were goblins! Female goblins at that!"
Indeed, the two humanoid creatures looked similar to the various depictions of goblins in human fictional works. However, they were clearly not the infamously popular "cute and curvaceous" female goblins of human fiction as they had filthy hair on their balding heads, flat noses, broad mouths filled with sharp crooked teeth, scrawny bodies with bloated bellies, large cat-like eyes and, of course, a pair of saggy breasts each. Their overall appearance gave off the impression of being savage creatures that were constantly looking for something to hunt and devour.
"Yeah, I better not get close to them," thought Michael as he quietly observed the two goblinoids stepping into a shallow part of the underground river to catch some blind cave fish with their bare hands. He grimaced as he watched one of them catch a fish and then eat it raw while it was still alive and wriggling. Though he was most certainly not human in form at the moment, he still possessed his human sensibilities and knew that eating raw meat, especially the stomach and intestines, could lead to health issues like food poisoning and parasitic infections.
After the two goblinoids had had their fill of fish and caught a few more, they made their way back to where they had come from. Michael left his hiding place and thought, "Okay, I now know that I am a slime-like monster in a world that has ugly female goblins. So, the next thing I need to know is if I can use magic and if I have access to a 'game menu'." He then steadied his mind and mentally commanded, "Open menu!"
A moment of silence passed without anything happening. Michael then thought, "Activate system!"
Another awkward moment of silence passed followed by a sound that Michael could have sworn sounded like a cricket's chirping. He mentally sighed and thought, "Appraisal?"
Suddenly, Michael's mind was filled with information and his eyes widened as he realised the following:
Firstly, he was a mutated variant of a monster known as a 'blob'. Unlike typical blobs, which were mindless creatures of amorphous constantly-shifting cancerous flesh with insatiable appetites, he was an intelligent being with the potential to wield magic and, in fact, had just casted his first magic spell to analyse himself. Also, as a mutated variant of a blob with intelligence, he was capable of consciously altering his body at will and could even acquire traits from the things that he had consumed. Similar to typical blobs, he could consume a wide variety of both organic and inorganic matter with little to no ill-effects but he could also be harmed by attacks that caused cellular damage like getting burnt by fire.
Secondly, like all other monsters, he had a gem-like 'monster core' within his body which contained not only a type of magical power known as 'mana' but also information about his current body and even his very soul. Due to his unique circumstances as a human who had somehow been reborn as a mutated blob, he was essentially immune to a certain weakness that all other monsters possessed: being forcibly controlled by others through their monster cores. However, similar to other monsters, he would die should his monster core somehow be destroyed. One particularly interesting fact about monsters in general was that they were all the descendants of creatures that were artificially created a long time ago.
Thirdly, he could use his magic to form a "game menu" of sorts but it would be more accurate to call it a magical version of a mental notebook. Luckily, the said mental notebook would not lose its recorded information as long as his monster core remained intact so there was little chance of the data getting lost or "misremembered".
Upon learning the three facts about his current body, Michael blinked and thought, "Huh, so magic is actually real in this world." Fascinated by what he had discovered and the potential implications, he decided, "I should try consuming a few things to gain some useful abilities before leaving this cave." Though Michael had no interest in becoming the strongest being alive nor living forever, it did not mean that he was eager to experience death again so soon after his first death.
With his decision made, Michael proceeded to search his surroundings for anything that he could consume and analyse. When he extended his slimy body beneath the rock that he had hidden behind previously, he was able to capture a few creatures that he recognised as woodlice, worms and even a centipede. To his pleasant surprise, he could thoroughly analyse the animals that he had consumed as though his own amorphous body was a highly efficient mobile biological laboratory. He then searched into a crack in the cave wall and found a spider and some cockroaches that were hiding inside the said crack. The next location he checked was the river and, by extending a part of his body into the water to form a net-like structure, he was able to capture a blind cave fish and some tiny blind cave shrimps. Finally, he checked the glowing mushrooms and realised that they were mildly toxic and grew on excrement which likely explained why the two goblinoids had no interest in them. Fortunately for him, he could consume the mushrooms with no ill-effect and even gain potentially useful fungal traits. He also consumed some moth-flies that were attracted to the glowing mushrooms and some small burrowing beetles that lived within the substrate that the mushrooms grew on.
Unlike Michael's current form as a monster, which he discovered had a round monster core that was about half an inch long in diameter and resembled an iridescent-grey pearl during his self-analysis, all the animals that he had consumed thus far lacked monster cores which therefore meant that they were not monsters but rather normal animals.
After consuming and analysing everything that he could find within his immediate surroundings, Michael decided to try breathing underwater by using the abilities he had acquired from aquatic animals. Given the fact that the two goblinoids that he had encountered earlier came from the direction that he was planning to head to, it made sense to be prepared for making an escape into the underground river even if it meant taking the risk of going deeper underground rather than reach the surface. Before plunging into the river water, he grimaced and thought, "I sure hope this works!"
Michael leapt into the water and allowed his amorphous body to breathe by slowly swallowing and expelling water as though he was a sea squirt. As he did so, he realised that he could not only breathe in water but also filter out both organic and inorganic matter from the water that he could then analyse. Feeling jubilant, he did a "fist pump" with a pair of pseudopods and thought, "Yes! Success!"
Once Michael had confirmed that he could breathe underwater, he felt more confident about his chances of survival as he left the water and then climbed onto the ceiling of the cave. Yes, he could attempt sneaking past possible threats by crawling along the bottom of the underground river but he recalled seeing the two goblinoids catching fish and decided that he would have a better chance of sneaking past them undetected if he crawled along the ceiling of the cave instead. Soon, he started travelling along the ceiling towards what he hoped would be the exit while making sure that he was directly above the underground river in case he needed to make a quick escape by swimming downstream.
Since Michael was capable of using magic, he made sure to form a mental image that would allow him to accurately monitor not only how much time has passed since he first started using magic to keep track of time but also a mental map of the underground cave. By using magic in such a way, he was able to tell that he had travelled along the cave ceiling for over half an hour when he encountered some goblinoids again. In fact, he discovered a goblinoid settlement with over twenty goblinoids that included young ones. That being said, it was clear that the goblinoids were primitive as their settlement was really just a collection of filthy nests made of stones and dried bone fragments. Michael also noted one strange fact about the goblinoids and thought, "Is it just me or are they all females? Even the young ones don't have any 'boy bits' as far as I can tell from up here."
Although Michael was tempted to try analysing the goblinoids with magic, he feared that doing so would expose him so he decided against it as he moved past the goblinoids' settlement. Shortly after travelling past the settlement, he discovered a split in the underground cave passage. One passage continued along the same route as the underground river and probably led to its source. The other passage led in a separate direction and Michael could actually feel a light breeze flowing into the cave from it. "Well, that settles it!" thought Michael as he knew a breeze meant that the path likely led to an exit. Even if the exit was small, his amorphous body would allow him to squeeze through as long as his monster core could fit through it.
Having made his decision, Michael proceeded to travel along the passage which had a breeze blowing into the cave. After some time, he saw light entering the cave through an opening which was large enough for an adult goblinoid to squeeze through. Excited to discover what could only be sunlight, Michael hastily made his way towards the opening to get outside.
The all-too-human joy of getting outside quickly turned into shock when Michael realised that the opening led into what could only be described as a blasted wasteland of fractured glassy stone. His shock quickly turned into panicked fear as he realised that his body was already starting to dry up from the intense heat. Understandably, he immediately retreated back into the cave and hid behind a shadow to avoid further desiccation.
"Okay, I'm definitely NOT going out in the daytime!" thought Michael before he proceeded to analyse his body to find out how much damage he had suffered. Although there were no "health bars" nor "hit points" for reference, he was able to figure out that his body was mildly damaged due to exposure to intense heat and desiccation. Though relieved that the damage was minor and not permanent, Michael realised that going outside was dangerous. Yes, he could leave the cave at night to explore but there was a chance that, similar to deserts back on Earth, the night would be as cold as the day was hot and he was not sure if his current body would be able to tolerate the cold any better than the heat. There was also the very real risk of getting caught out in the open on the following day with no way to get shelter, food or water. In addition, there was a chance that the goblinoids would leave the cave at night to hunt which meant they might discover him sooner rather than later if he chose to try exploring the wasteland at night.
Michael's other option would be to travel along the underground river. Should he choose to travel along the river, he would have to make the decision to either go upstream or downstream. Either choice had potential dangers such as going against fast-flowing rapids if he chose to travel upstream and the risk of getting trapped inside an underground lake with no way out if he chose to travel downstream instead. On the other hand, both options might take him to a place that was not a scorching wasteland that seemed almost completely devoid of life.
While Michael was considering his options, he saw a scorpion wandering in front of him and consumed it to both recover his health and to analyse its abilities. To his pleasant surprise, the scorpion could tolerate the harsh conditions of the wasteland outside the cave though its tolerance had limits hence why it had retreated into the cave for shelter. Recalling how he could alter his own body at will, he decided to give the ability a try to obtain a form that was better suited for exploring the wasteland.
"I just need a form that will allow me to move around freely without having to worry too much about getting caught in the open outside," thought Michael as he began to alter his body. "A pair of digging claws and an organ that spits out strong corrosive chemicals would be a good idea in case I need to dig a hole to hide from the heat at daytime or fend off an aggressive attacker. Another organ for silk production so that I can make silk to catch prey or build a shelter for myself. A tough carapace to both protect my core and to prevent my body from rapidly drying out is a must. At least six legs to ensure walking stability with clawed feet that will allow me to climb quickly would be good too... and done!"
Michael's body, which was previously an amorphous mass of grey goo, had turned into a crab-like form with a pair of black eyes that were hidden beneath a dark-grey carapace, six short spider-like legs and a small pair of claws that were pointed downwards for digging. He mentally groaned as he thought, "I have just turned myself into a crab!" He quickly dismissed his aggravation as he thought, "Well, as long as this body works as intended. Might want to get used to moving around in it first though."
After taking a few experimental steps with his new body, Michael was relieved to find out that it responded well as though he had always been a crab-like creature. Since the sun was still out and he had no intention of recklessly testing the limits of his new form, he decided to instead travel back to the intersection. There was the other path to explore after all and he might be able to find more creatures to consume and analyse for useful traits. Unlike before, he chose to travel along the cave floor as he wanted to make sure to check his surroundings for anything new that he could consume. To help with his search, he grew a short pair of antennae on his "forehead" that allowed him to detect chemicals in the air. His vigilance was rewarded when he detected some dried lichen which were actually still viable and merely needed water to become active again. Consuming the lichen not only granted him the ability to enter a state of dormancy to survive a desiccated state but also allowed him to photosynthesise like a plant. He even discovered some crickets that had entered the cave from outside for shelter and he was able to capture and consume them by ensnaring them with silken webs that he could spit from his "mouth".
Before long, Michael returned to the intersection and then made his way further upstream with the intention of returning within two hours to see if the sun had set. Though he had not felt the need to rest thus far, he knew that he would have to rest at some point and he would rather not try exploring the wasteland outside the cave while tired.
Nearly two hours later, Michael returned to the intersection after confirming that the passage that led further upstream went much further than what he had managed to cover within a single hour of travelling in one direction. Though tempted to explore the passage further, especially since he had not encountered anything of note while travelling upstream, he also wanted to explore the wasteland outside the cave since there had to be other forms of life aside from the lichen, crickets and scorpion. A quick check at the cave entrance revealed that the sun was still out so Michael decided that he should find a place to rest and wait for at least a another hour. He decided to rest inside the underground river water and changed his body again to take on a form that was closer to his original form but with a round rock-like shell on his back for both protection and camouflage. His snail-like form could also breathe underwater and even draw nutrients from the water.
As he settled down onto the river bed to rest for about an hour, he thought, "I may not know how I have gotten myself into this situation but I plan to make the best of it. Hopefully, I will be able get some answers before long." His eyes closed as he allowed himself to drift off into sleep.
Little did Michael realise that his presence on the world of Midgaia had not gone completely unnoticed...
--=<(Meanwhile, in a different part of Midgaia...)>=--
Deep within a massive church, which a human from Earth would justifiably describe as "grim" and "Gothic", a tall and unusually thin ogre dressed in a black hooded robe prayed to one of the six deities that the civilized people worshipped: Necros, the god of death and destruction.
As he prayed, he received a revelation which caused his sunken blue eyes to open slowly. He then rose to his feet and, in spite of his near-skeletal appearance, spoke to the shadows of the seemingly empty prayer hall of the church with a deep and powerful voice, "Youngest of the shadow reapers, please come forth."
A masked young woman with visible elven ears appeared from the shadows and knelt before the thin ogre and asked, "How may I serve the god of death and destruction, Father Ohgrim?"
Ohgrim Thanaros, one of the six archbishops of Midgaia and the highest-ranking living representative of Necros, answered, "I need you to go to the Glassed Wasteland. I have received a vision of a soul, one that is not of this world, existing among the living there. Seek it out and determine its nature and intentions."
Surprised by the order, the young woman's elven ears twitched involuntarily as she spoke with uncertainty, "I am... unsure if I am the best suited for the task, Father Ohgrim. I have only recently passed the trials to become a shadow reaper. Surely a more experienced member, especially one who is skilled in spying and assassination, would be better suited for the task."
Ohgrim smiled as he lowered the hood of his hooded robe, thus revealing his bald head and pale skin, and said, "Under normal circumstances, you would be correct, my child. However, aside from the fact that the soul does not originate from this world, there is little to no indication in the revelation that it wishes to cause harm beyond what it needs to survive. As such, I believe that it is possible to reason with it and let it live its life in peace before it returns to Necros' embrace, as all living souls inevitably would. Besides, as you yourself have stated, you have only recently passed your trials and I believe that this mission will be a good experience for you, Karamo."
Karamo, a young half-elf woman who was an orphan, dared to look up and gaze upon Ohgrim with green eyes as she spoke with conviction in her voice, "Then I shall do as you command, Father Ohgrim."
Ohgrim nodded and said, "While I have faith that the time of your passing will be long after you have completed this task, do not hesitate to ask for aid from those who are trustworthy. The Glassed Wasteland is a harsh place for even the strongest among us and yet I have a feeling that the soul from beyond this world will not perish so easily even if it somehow ends up right in the middle of that wasteland."
"Then, with your permission, Father Ohgrim," said Karamo as she lowered her head. She then seemingly disappeared within a blink of an eye after Ohgrim nodded in permission.
After Karamo had left the hall, another shadow reaper appeared behind Ohgrim and asked, "Permission to speak, old friend?" Unlike Karamo, who wore a set of simple dark-grey clothes, mask included, with black leather guards on her forearms and shins, the other shadow reaper wore black clothes with dark metallic guards on his forearms and shins as well as a dark metallic skull-like mask.
"You may speak," replied Ohgrim.
"While Karamo may be stronger and wiser than she believes herself to be, she is not wrong about her lack of experience. She has lived in this church for her whole life and has little knowledge about the world beyond the Frostbite Plains. At the very least, I believe it will be best to let one of us follow her to ensure her safety."
Ohgrim could not help but smile as he replied, "Is that genuine concern for her safety that I hear in your voice, Daniel?"
Daniel Herdson, leader of the shadow reapers and a close friend of Ohgrim, huffed and said, "As if you're any exception, Ohgrim. Don't think for even a minute that I have failed to notice your habit of passing extra biscuits to her even at her current age."
Unable to deny the claim, Ohgrim chuckled and said, "Very well, old friend, you may send one of your senior disciples to keep an eye on Karamo with the intention of both keeping her safe and to further assess her worth as a shadow reaper."
"I know just the person to keep an eye on her. Now, if you will excuse me," replied Daniel before disappearing as though he was never there.
Ohgrim sighed as he shook his head at Daniel's habit of disappearing before receiving any permission to do so. Yes, it could be argued that Daniel's attitude was rather irreverent but Ohgrim was never one to care too much about "proper decorum". After all, every living being in existence was fated to die in the end and the archbishop of Necros had better things to do than make himself look more important than any other genuinely pious worshipper of the Elemental Pantheon. One such matter of importance was getting in touch with the other five archbishops of the Elemental Pantheon to discuss about the soul that had somehow entered their realm from beyond. Even if he was fairly certain that the soul meant no genuine ill, it did not change the fact that "interesting times" were likely to be just around the corner.
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End of Chapter
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Author's Notes
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This chapter has undergone some minor text edits for consistency. Nothing major.
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Glossary
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Daniel Herdson:
- Leader of the shadow reapers and a close friend of Ohgrim Thanaros. He is of noma descent and has a habit of disappearing without asking for permission.
Elemental Pantheon:
- A pantheon of six gods that the civilized people of Midgaia worship. One of them is Necros, the god of death and destruction.
Karamo:
- A young woman who is a half-elf and a shadow reaper who has recently passed her trials. She has been sent out to investigate a mysterious soul that originated from beyond Midgaia.
Midgaia:
- The main setting of the story. It extends from the northern Frostbite Plains to the southern Sweltering Jungles. It also has a wasteland known as the Glassed Wasteland.
Michael Lin Yuan:
- The main character of the story who used to be a human on Earth before being reborn as a mutated variant of a blob in Midgaia. His Chinese surname is chosen based on their meanings: 'lin' (林) means 'forest' while 'yuan' (源) means 'origin'. Plus, the resulting word combination flows well for a name.
Noma (Plural: Nomas):
- Essentially the "humans" of Midgaia, nomas are very similar to humans from Earth in appearance but there are differences in both culture and physical features that will be explored later. The name of the race is inspired by the Greek word: 'nomás'.
Ohgrim Thanaros:
- One of the six archbishops of the Elemental Pantheon and the highest-ranking living representative of Necros, the god of death and destruction. He is an ogre who cares little about "proper decorum", is a close friend of Daniel Herdson and has a soft spot for Karamo.
Shadow reaper (Plural: Shadow reapers):
- Essentially elite agents who work under the archbishop of Necros. They can be described as, in human terms, ninjas. Their weapons are primarily sickles, chains and various knives though it is not unheard of for shadow reapers to wield other weapons.
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List of things Michael has consumed
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- Some 'cave woodlice'
- Some worms
- A 'cave centipede'
- Some 'cave cockroaches'
- A 'cave spider'
- A 'blind cave fish'
- Some 'blind cave shrimps'
- Some 'glowing cave mushrooms'
- Some 'cave moth-flies'
- Some 'small cave beetles'
- A 'wasteland scorpion'
- Some 'wasteland lichen'
- Some 'wasteland crickets'
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End of Author's Notes
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