Awaken, Moon-Blooded

Awaking to the sound of the system dinging like a smartphone, I opened my eyes to the see the system already turned on, awaiting me.

[Hidden Quest Completed!]

[Try Not to Die]

[Congratulations user, you survived on a foreign planet for over three days! You seemed to be a in a bit of a pickle, so the system activated the quest system early to give you a leg-up! Please note that this is the last time you will receive free assistance. From now on, you'll have to be more careful or you'll actually die!]

[Receiving Reward...]

[Perk Acquired: Survivalist Lv. 1]

[As an expert survivalist and explorer, you're going to be coming across quite a few sticky situations. This perk lets you get around the peskier parts of exploring by converting your body's void energy into water.]

.....

As the perk activated, I could feel my energy begin to drain quickly, but my thirst subsided almost instantly. Although my thirst was gone, my hunger remained. As I lay there, buried by the thousands of pounds of rubble, I realized something. No one was coming for me.

More than likely, they'd thought I was dead and left me here. I guess if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. That was easier said than done, however as I was still pinned in the same space as before.

Wait... if my void energy can eat through organic matter, can it also eat through inorganic matter as well? Curious, I flexed my ability and concentrated a high amount of void energy in my right hand and tried to wiggle it free.

Although I didn't get any results, I kept at it and after 10 minutes or so, I felt my hand gain a little more wiggle room and 20 minutes after that, my hand was free. Finally able to control my own arm, I let out a hiss of relief as I stretched out the joints.

Next, it was time for my left hand. I concentrated all of my energy into both hands, pulling with one and pounding on it with the other. The rock soon crumbled beneath the assault of my fist and I had two hands free.

Now just the legs and I'd be able to move again. Repeating the process twice more and all my limbs were freed from their stony prisons. Umm... what now? If I try to dig myself out, I run the risk of the tunnel collapsing. But then again, I could just fortify my body with void energy. I'll just dig at a very sharp angle, so if the tunnel collapses I won't be sent too far back.

So, I got started. It took a bit of getting used to, jamming my void-coated fingers into chunks of sharp concrete and metal, pulling it out of my way and in the more extreme cases, breaking large chunks off of massive pieces of debris.

After several hours, I'd fallen into a kind of rhythm: hand goes in, grab rock, hand goes out, drops rock, repeat. After a few hours, I experienced my first setback. The tunnel had collapsed like I thought. Fortunately, the rumbling alerted me, so I coated my entire body in void energy and clung to the side of the tunnel with all my might.

The tunnel may have collapsed, but I was definitely closer to the surface than when I started. I would've preferred to have support beams, but I don't how those work or even how to make them. So, I broke myself free again and went back to digging.

After several more tunnel collapses, I felt my hunger start to become unbearable. If I didn't breach the surface and get food soon, I wouldn't be able to continue on. So I continued... digging, digging, digging. I entered a state of pseudo-meditation where I was only focusing on digging, not if I'd ever escape, not when I'd be able to eat, only digging.

Like a mindless drone, I shoveled away chunk after chunk of the rubble. As my body moved on its own, I felt my mind begin to become foggy as if my soul was trying to escape it's fleshy prison. I was ready to let go, ready to end this all until I felt an odd sensation with my hand.

Like a whip, my mind snapped back into place, fully focused. My hand felt... cool. I don't remember the last time I felt a cool breeze, I'd been stuck underground, sweating and moving constantly for who knows how long. I moved it around inside the hole and felt the soft texture of what could only be plants. Have I... have I made it out?

Not wanting to believe it, I closed my eyes and used my other hand to knock away the thin barrier of dirt stopping me from seeing the other side. Gently opening my eyes, I blinked the kicked up dust out of my eyes and poked my head out the other side. What I saw made me catch my breath.

The moon, way bigger than I remember it being glowing with a menacing purple hue. I looked around me, but only saw piles of dirt, debris and heavy machinery. Taking a closer look, it seemed like the machines were here to cover up the rubble with dirt, effectively hiding the existence of the lab from everyone.

They... they would have me die! After I rescued the boy, they would leave me to die! As my anger steadily rose, so too did the brightness of the moon. Creating a positive feedback loop, the moon absorbed my negative emotions and grew brighter, but as the purple moonlight touched my skin, my rage seemed to spike drastically.

Eventually I couldn't take it any longer and collapsed to the ground, crying out in anger.

[Legacy Partially Unlocked!]

[+4 Physique, +2 Mind]

[Race has changed to Half-Moon Blood]

[Congratulations user, you've met the first requirement to advance your legacy! Moon-Bloods are the spawn of minor eldritch gods, akin to lower demons with abilities similar to their creator, albeit on a much lower scale. As a Half-Moon Blood, the user now has the ability to temporarily transform parts of their body into whatever form they desire along with increased durability and physical strength. Some passive benefits include slowed aging, increased control over energies and an affinity to eldritch magic.]

[Skill Acquired: Transformation: Lv. 1]

[The user of this skill has the ability to morph their body in inhuman ways and to temporarily change parts of their body on a genetic level. The user does not need knowledge of genetics to activate this ability, only to picture what the transformation will look like and its functions.]

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Here's another chapter for my lovely readers. I was going to make it a double release, but as they say: "ain't no rest for the wicked"