Please Brother Asteroid, don’t squish me!

Quickly looking at the suggestions for how to survive the coming asteroid, Blake realized how well and truly screwed they were. High luck? Even gambling for 100 years wouldn't be enough! Going underground was impossible, as it was only rock and lava. Plus, Blake couldn't even move, much less dig! Even if they could morph their body into a drill to pierce the heavens, going underground might result in experiencing earthquakes and being buried for eternity! The only thing left was obtaining a tough body. Fortunately, as a rock, Blake was already tough to begin with. They would just need to elevate this to an extreme. And what better way to do that but to level up all their perks and buy more from the store!

"System, can I access the Point Store? Filter by perks for me if you can." Blake managed to keep from stuttering their words due to the pain of the volcano raining death from above.

"Certainly. Points Store accessed. Current Points: 1,000,000. You have reached the maximum limit for system points. Please spend your points before receiving new ones."

In the void of Blake's mind, dozens of light blue screens surrounded them. System Upgrades, Perks, Techniques, and Skills appeared before them. Most of the menus were gray out, with the words "Locked. Upgrade System after unlocking relevant module to purchase." in bright red letters. Not having time to care about diving deeper into the System's secrets, Blake focused their mind onto the perks section.

"Let see here. Invisibility, Ghost Sense, Divination, Greater Stomach Capacity, blah, blah, blah. Is there anything here that can help me?" Blake muttered. The screen wasn't ordered in any particular way. It was like someone randomly generated powers and slapped them onto a document before publishing them. None came with a description without selecting the perk first, and some seemed nonsensical to be a perk in the first place. As Blake grew more and more frustrated, they finally found a perk that could help, Magic Vision. Hurriedly selecting it and looking at its cost, it seemed that it was only 10,000 points! As a wealthy, good-looking rock, how could a mere 10 grand stop them from surviving an asteroid? This would solve the blindness problem before they went to try to make their body tougher. Happy to test the perk out, Blake bought it without a second thought.

"Perk purchased. Magic Vision (Lv.1) has been added to the Participant's Status. Please look at the Status for more information." As the System hummed along with the new information, Blake opened up the Status screen and look at the newly purchased perk. Oddly enough, it was grayed out. Curious, Blake selected it and read aloud.

"Magic Vision (Lv.1): Able perceive the flow of magic around the participant. The user is more sensitive to magic changes both in the world and of others. Can be used even without ocular sight or replace it. Starting range is 5 meters (about 17 feet) around the Participant and expands by 5 meters every level. WARNING! Participant is in a world without magic, perk cannot be used until in an environment with magic.

WHAT!? Why even let me purchase it then? I only choose this perk because I don't have any eyes! You were supposed to help me see this godforsaken land, you traitorous perk! Enraged, Blake wished they could stab the Status screen with their mind as they looked with dejection at the greyed-out perk. The only thing stopping Blake from wasting more time was the ticking countdown of the quest and Focused Mind.

"F***. Now all I've got are the other screens available to me. Handbook, what's the difference between perks and skills?" Regretting not asking for more info before wasting their points, Blake was determined to treat points like gold before purchasing.

"Acknowledged. Perks are passive to the user, whereas skills are actively used. Both may be earned through effort or by purchasing. However, skills are vastly easier to earn through effort as opposed to perks. Participant was deemed incapable of learning skills on their own due to bodily restrictions. Skills can still be purchased and used. Further explanations may be forthcoming."

The Handbook guide popped back into existence with a hint of glee in its voice. The straightforward explanation gave Blake some confidence in perusing the Store again. Something that could help increase both defensive perks that Blake owned, and possibly help with the asteroid. Unfortunately, most of the skills required magic and a proper body to channel magic through! Finally, Blake managed to find some skills that had a basis in mental force. What's more, these skills didn't need to have a traditional body in order to be used! These were the perfect skills for a smart rock such as Blake. Zeroing on the Telekinesis skill, the Point Store gave the following description before purchasing.

"Telekinesis (Lv. 1): Allows the Participant to tap into their mind and move objects. Can move 2 kg (about 5 lbs) for a meter before out of range. Skill is based on Participant INT, with usage formula being Uses per Hour (UpH) = INT ÷ 2. Further levels increase the efficiency, weight manipulation, range, and complexity of the skill."

"Perfect! With this, I can move out of this hellish landscape and find shelter! A hole, cave, anything is better than being pelted by whatever it is that's hurting me constantly!" Blake understood the dimensions of their body perfectly. They easily weighed less than 2kg, which means that they could lift themselves up and go wherever they wished. As Blake went to purchase the skill, an error rang out.

"Point Store notice: Due to the skill "Telekinesis" not being a phenomenon seen on this planet previously, points will have to be compensated to bring about skill to a novel environment. Skill will cost 500,000 points to be used by Participant. Continue?"

At this point, Blake wasn't shocked by the continuous roadblocks in front of them to survive. With a sigh, the skill was purchased and information on how to use the skill flooded into their mind. Steeling themselves with resolve, they began to lift themselves up and in a random direction. To Blake, this seemed to resolve the pain that they had felt since arriving. Plus, a hot wind could be felt pushing them upwards, carrying them even further than the skill allowed them to do. Not wanting to risk using up the last use of the skill, Blake released the ability when they felt like they had reached the limit. Immediately, a falling sensation surrounded them.

"Huh, this is a bit further than I was expecting to fall. Where in the world did I spawn- AHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The pain rushed forward with new vigor as Blake felt the heat intensify, intermittent with massive heaves of wave-like motion and crashing into something solid. An observer of this unfortunate rock would have seen a strange phenomenon of the stone seemingly committing suicide by jumping into the volcano. Blake's body was tossed around by a sea of magma, smashed against the walls as if nature tried to permanently paste their body into the side of the forming mountain for all of eternity. As the hours passed by, Blake continuously tried to escape unknowing that the pit they were in was well beyond the capability of their new skill.

Eventually, the System rang out with a notification.

"System Notice: Both perks "Heat Resistance" and "Physical Damage Resistance" have reached the maximum level. Would you like to upgrade them for 10,000 system points each?"

"YES!!" Blake screamed. The torture of the past few hours was incomparable to whatever consequences to upgrading the perks could be.

"Acknowledged. Perk "Heat Resistance" has been upgraded to "Extreme Heat Resistance (Lv.1)". Perk "Physical Damage Resistance" has been upgraded to "Extreme Physical Damage Resistance (Lv.1)".

Immediately, the pain subsided to a manageable level. While to the average person it would feel like the equivalent to painfully pinching themselves, Blake at this point found this pain to be negligible. Sighing in relief, Blake glanced at the time left for the grace period.

"1 hour left for the grace period to end, then the asteroid hits. If I even make it to that time." Woeful of their fate, Blake simply continued to try to escape their predicament.

As the grace period ended though, a change overcame Blake. They began to feel heavier as time went on in the volcano. Unable to see, they didn't notice that their rock form had become unable to be melted by the volcano. Thus, like creating a candle, every dip and jump into the magma added more and more lava to their form. A shell of cooled volcanic rock formed over Blake, becoming bigger and bigger over the hour. Eventually, just as the asteroid was burning through the atmosphere, Blake was calmly sitting, wedged in the side of the volcano in their new boulder form.

"Ah, its here. I've done all I can to prepare. Hopefully I will reincarnate into something more fortunate than a rock next time."

Just as Blake finished the thought, the asteroid hit. Shockwaves tore through the planet, as part of the crust was ripped from the surface and launched into space. Volcanos around the world exploded, including the one Blake was in. As the force finally knocked them unconscious, the world gained two new things. A pair of moons, and an unseen force injected directly into the planets core. This combined with the rotating core, magnifyed and compounded until it become inseparable from the planet. Permeating into everything, a lone system notification rang out, uncaring to the now passed out Blake as they flew in the sky from the exploding volcano.

"Quest Complete. Rewards have been given. Change in environment detected. Classification found for phenomenon: Magic Source Meteor. Congratulations to Participant for being the first to experience a new phenomenon. Perk Obtained: Source of Magic."