Strange Oasis

Slice!

Vzzzzt.!

Swoosh!

Lux moved his dagger around in the air in a barrage of attacks, after eating that turtle meat Lux felt like his mastery of the skill Swiper had reached a new height. It even did things that Swipe didn't do, for example, it cooled off his body and fastened the healing process of his wounds.

"If I had this power before the fight between me and that turtle I surely would have won" Lux clenched his fist. He still wasn't powerful enough, all this time he had just been killing small or weak creatures to raise but now he was sure he could catch bigger prey.

"Let's not get ahead of myself, first we need a better place to stay and water to bathe in" Lux sighed. After finishing the cookout, Lux and Aria set off to find water. Over the hours, Lux managed to avoid encounters with any creature using Swipe which was very useful, he then started reaching the point where he left off before in the desert.

Lux looked around and saw something floating in the distance, it wasn't a monster. Getting closer, Lux saw a group of islands floating in the sky. They all were connected with little chains and emitted a purple particle.

"What the heck is this place?" Lux questioned. There weren't any animals anywhere near the place, it was weird and oddly disturbed Lux. Under the islands were huge craters where the islands were previously. Long black vines stretched down to the floor from up top with black roses and bushes inhabiting the area.

Lux wanted to see what was at the top and wondered if he could find any treasure but the islands were so high up that it would take a day to climb up to the top. Shaking his head, Lux continued his journey to find water.

The more he traveled, the more he felt like the cold was leaving him. It was now hot. The sun shined violently against Lux's skin, he had now escaped the cold desert.

He reached a sort of oasis, it had a large lake and tons of greenery around it. Purple fruits hung from the palm trees, Lux didn't even need to check if the water was edible since Aria began drinking the moment they got there.

"This place is too convenient, there must be something wrong" Lux wasn't keen on staying but shrugged it off once he went into the water to bathe. It was so cold compared to the hot environment as Lux relieved himself of his stink. After bathing, Lux washed his clothes and looked back at his wounds.

The blood stopped completely and the wound was sealed completely without leaving a scar.

"Holy, that turtle meat had to be really good if it had such good healing properties!" Lux hung his torn clothes and set camp.

There weren't many monsters near the oasis too, Lux sighed in exhaustion. While lying in his tent, he looked at his stats.

Name: Lux Grey

Age: 24

Level: 23

Experience Points until next level: 54

Levels until next evolution: 50

"Mhm, that turtle raised my stats by 2 levels" Lux smiled, closing his eyes he soon went to sleep.

…

The next morning Lux saw Aria fishing in the lake. There were small copper fish swimming around, it seemed she was hungry.

She slashed her hand at one of the copper fishes as it dove over her attack and plopped back into the water.

"Hehehe" Lux watched as the little girl struggled to fish.

He walked up to Aria and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Let me take care of this".

With his new power, Lux was confident he could catch the fish. Looking carefully at the fish, Lux struck his hand with extreme precision and jabbed one of the fishes out of the water as it perfectly landed into his hand.

Slack!

A small cut through the fish was seen. With the help of Swipe, Lux was able to find all its weak points and strike them when they most showed. That was what Swipe really did, it helps its user with the aim which gives them the confidence to use their full power in one swing.

After a couple more times of doing this, Lux had enough fish to make breakfast for the rest of the week.

Aria ate her fish quietly, she was well-mannered. Lux didn't understand what she was. Was she a player like him who is on a journey to become a god? Or was she a malfunctioned NPC? Lux thought maybe she is a player like him but why would the monarch of play choose her?

She couldn't even talk! It made no sense to Lux.

After breakfast, Lux tended around the oasis and found a small waterfall that led up into a little hill. When he reached the top he found a little pond with vivid orange fish swimming around. Their scales shined in a rainbow-ish kind of look which made Lux tilt his head in curiosity.

Lux used Swipe and caught one of the fish and cut it open. His eyes dilated, the meat was already cooked.

The tender meat was steaming as the savory fragrance lit up Lux's nose. He ate a bit of the meat and almost died, spitting the meat out. It smelled amazing and looked amazing but the taste was so bitter and mushy that it made Lux's skin crawl.

"This stuff is absolutely disgusting!" Lux rinsed out his mouth but accidentally swallowed a bit of the meat.

A sensation filled Lux's body, he felt amazing just like when he ate the turtle meat.

After a while of thinking Lux came to realize that some creature's meat have regenerative properties and could be used for medicinal purposes. Lux hastily stocked up on a ton of the fish and stored them into his inventory.

"Whew, maybe the fish aren't that bad after all" Lux said to himself as he looked into his inventory satisfied.

He walked back to camp and looked around the oasis. With a confused face, Lux stepped out of the oasis and was immediately hot as the sun violently shined against his skin. He then went back into the oasis, his body cooled down in an instant.

It was strange because the sun was still shining violently against Lux's skin and yet he wasn't hot but quite the opposite, he was cold.

"Hmm, what makes this place so special that all this greenery can sprout and thrive without burning up?" Lux asked himself.

He walked around the place but didn't find much, frowning, Lux gave up. Upon going back, Lux looked at the small waterfall where he found the healing fish. It was a cliche thought but it was regular for a gamer to think there would be something behind it; the reason Lux hadn't thought of it because it was so small that you could not fit much into it.

Approaching the little waterfall, Lux stretched his hand through the falling water and felt around the stone wall. He caught his hand into a carved-out sigil, he ran his finger around the sigil so he could simulate the shape in his head.

He swerved his hand around for a minute before recognizing the markings. He smiled.

It was the same sigil as the Ice touch rune he had found in the storage room of the ants although he found it strange the sigil behind a small waterfall.

"Is this what has been cooling this area down?" Lux contemplated the thought and found that it made some sense.

"But why is it here? Who put this here?" Lux was confused.

There were many strange unanswered things in this world and so far on the survival guide he had, it hadn't answered much. Lux hoped that once he finished the 4th step he could gain some intel on some basics of this world.

"Welp, for now I…" Lux felt a chill down his spine, his head felt like it was shocked by a bolt of lightning.

A sentence entered his mind the moment he let go of the markings on the wall. Falling down on his bottom, Lux now knew what Ice touch was. It was remarkable how he knew, it was like he had known his whole life.

Ice touch was just like it implied, it freezes things and is best applied onto gloves, gauntlets, and slim swords like a katana. On impact, it freezes the part of flesh it hits and paralyzes it. When mastering the rune, the user can manipulate ice with the chosen object.

Lux got up and immediately ran over to camp to test out his newly found knowledge. He had no idea how he got the information but was happy he had gotten it.

The problem was that he didn't have a proper weapon to apply Ice touch on, He had wolf gloves but he didn't feel it was enough for the skill. Lux wanted a proper weapon to use with Ice Touch.

Lux scratched his head.