Now, where should I spend my CP on?

Vitality increases the overall health of a person, endurance makes the body sturdier, mana influences the raw amount of mana a person can store in his body and will decide how well a person can use mana.

Spending on any of the four is a good investment but I need to narrow it down to the one which is of utmost importance in my current situation.

I immediately strike off will and mana from the list. I don't even have any magic related skills, and for some reason, absorption doesn't consume mana. So I'll have to select one among the other two.

If I put the CP into vitality it will increase my health which would let me take more damage during a fight. Endurance makes my body more durable which also helps me in taking hits. 

From the fights so far I wasn't killed in a shot. So I think my body can handle a few attacks at a time. Maybe increasing my vitality can wait for a bit more. Right now I need endurance to keep going forward. I'll have to find a way out of this place after all.

With that question answered I lock in my choice.

< Increase endurance by one point? >

"Yes please."

< ....... Request failed >

" Sweet- wait what? Request failed?"

That was unexpected. Does something like this even happen? Nothing but the basic knowledge was shared with me by the villagers. Can't blame them though. Even they didn't know much about this.

"Let me try this one more time."

I tried to allocate the skill point into endurance but it failed again. 

"Damn, let me try vitality then."

To my dismay, I couldn't do it either. The same was the case with mana and will.

"Okay now this is stupid," I was irritated beyond measure, "why can't I use my character points?"

Without any reference material to compare with, I quickly dropped the issue. 

"Please make this works," I said, hoping the fifth attribute would be a different case.

< Increase coalesce by one point? >

"Yes?"

< Coalesce increased by one point. >

"Thank mother nature," I was relieved that something worked. I immediately used the remaining point to increase my fifth attribute.

Even though I was able to increase coalesce nothing changed much. I felt like before, which was a big letdown. No improvement in physique that I could detect. Well, that was a waste of time. I couldn't believe that the level-ups didn't amount to much.

When I looked for more information about this attribute, I got nothing from the System. 

Dejected, I turned my focus onto my clothes for a change. My dark brown trousers and the grey shirt were ruined in many places. The fights I had turned them into rags. But I have to keep wearing this until I find something better to use.

Since there wasn't much to do here in the tunnel, I decided to venture out into the labyrinth once more.

I retraced my steps back to the place where I killed the giant rat monster, Poison Fang, without meeting any monster. 

All the screeching and growling came from a few yards further inside the tunnel. Carefully I crept closer and closer all the while gripping my stake tighter. By this time it's once sharp edge had become dull and I had to find a suitable rock, to sharpen at least some of its splintered edge.

The tunnel twisted and turned two more times before it finally reached its end. The tunnel had opened up to a spacious area. Not dropping my guard I took one careful step after another till I finally reached the end of the tunnel.

My tunnel was almost 8 feet tall, but the space in front of me was at least 30 feet tall and very wide.

To my surprise, there were trees, bushes, and rock formations that reminded me of the surface. And there were monsters, plenty of them. 

This sort of feels like a forest.

Different kinds of creatures roamed in this dimly lit space. Strange specs of light floated all around, which gave this whole cavern a light shade of yellow.

I could spot many wersoks and a few Paravs were flying above the trees. The giant rat creatures could be seen running around here and there. Along with these, I saw a cat-like creature whose tail ended in a sharp blade-like part, a lizard creature whose scales were deep red, and many more.

"This is going to be one hell of a challenge," I sighed, the sheer size of the place along with the number of monsters reminding me how helpless my situation was.

Sluggishly I looked back into the tunnel from which I came from, an idea started taking root in my mind. I will be stuck in this place for quite some time. What I needed at the moment was to find a place to stay. And what better place than the tunnel.

It was a naturally secure place. There was only one way in and one way out. If I could secure this spot I could easily have a safe place to stay for a while.

And the only way to block the entrance was to put something in front of it. I couldn't move the boulders even if I wanted to, so the only remaining option was tree branches. Even the idea of inflicting damage on my brothers hurt me, but it was the only way.

After surveying my surroundings once more, I made my way to the forest. It wasn't very far, just a few meters away, but the monsters roaming around was a problem. I had to hide behind rocks many times. 

The labyrinth always echoed of many fights taking place inside it. I could see many battles going on inside the forest. Most of them were fighting for food. The one getting killed is eaten by the other and from the looks of it, every creature here was a carnivore.

All the more reason I have to stay hidden. 

I sneaked my way to a tree, constantly monitoring my surroundings. Luckily no monster noticed me and I quickly arrived underneath the tree. It looked like a tropical tree with many branches and leaves. Without much ado, I quickly grabbed the closest tree branch and applied my weight to it.

"I'm sorry about this. But I hope you will understand," I whispered.

With a quick snap, the branch broke away, and just as fast, I hid in the bush in front of the tree. A wersok noticed the commotion but since it didn't find any monster nearby it quickly lost interest and walked away.

One down, a lot more to go.

Patiently I repeated my cycle over and over again. With each branch or twig I broke down I came closer to getting ready to leave. 

Midway through the process, I decided to transport the branches back to the tunnel. Finding a clear path to transport them one by one took an awful amount of time. When I came back to the tree I was already dead tired. 

"A few more and I'll be done," I kept repeating to myself. 

Once again I took apart a branch of the tree, but this time things didn't go according to the plan. Even though I hid in a bush, something had already spotted me - a Parav.

The nasty creature probably had good eyesight like many birds do. It came swooping down and it was only when its talons were inches away did I notice the sudden attack from above.

I rolled over to one side somewhat managing to reduce the damage to my left arm. 

I had to take out its advantage in flying, if not I'll be dead in no time. The monster came down once again to strike but I easily avoided it by dodging to the left side. Each time it finished an attack, it went back up. The next attack was the same as the two before, a straight dive over my head. I tried to swing my wooden stake but it didn't connect. But its sharp talon managed to scrape my right shoulder.

The monster Parav once again climbed vertically to prepare for another attack while I hurriedly tried to use the pure energy stored inside to heal myself.

Unfortunately, I couldn't. I tried multiple times but I got no response.

Crap, I can't use the energy nor can I attack this monster. 

My mind spun at top gear to find a way to subdue my opponent. And an idea came up.

"This is going to hurt," I said, bracing myself to get hit by the monster. 

In a few moments the attack from above came, but this time I was ready.

At the last possible moment, I jumped forward to intercept the attack. The talons which should have pierced my chest or hands instead hit the abdomen. The pain was severe and I had to conjure my full focus just to keep my mind clear. What this tactic did was to take the hit head-on with my body leaving my arms free and I used them both to grip the monster's right wing.

Because of the sudden immobility of its wing, it crashed into the ground along with me.

I didn't let go of the wing, if I did I would lose the opportunity. The Parav thrashed on the ground, desperately trying to free itself from my grip. But I held on. Standing up on my two feet never felt this hard. With the injury to my abdomen and the thrashing bird in my arms, it was a Herculean task. But I had to and so I did. 

Once I got a stable footing on the ground, I started my offensive. I yanked the monster to the ground in a semi-circle over my head, causing it to crash into the rocky ground. Then I did the other way around. With each crash it suffered, the more I came closer to victory. 

After repeating it a few more times I flung the monster to one side. My injured abdomen couldn't keep up with the struggling monster bird. It was on the verge of death and I needed to act fast. I grabbed the stake which I had nearby and plunged it right into its chest, causing it to die.

< You've killed a level 2 Parav >

The soft female voice in my head confirmed the kill, but I couldn't rest at the moment. The fight had created quite the commotion so I had to get away as fast as possible. I quickly pulled the bird over my shoulders, surprisingly it was light. I rushed into the tunnel without wasting any time.

In no time I arrived at my destination, and with a quick search, I made sure no monster followed me. But I couldn't take any chances so I went to the furthest part of the tunnel. The moment I reached there I collapsed to the ground, too tired to take another step. I grabbed the corpse of the monster and started to absorb it. In a few minutes, I completely absorbed the body and the notification rang in my mind.

< Absorption successful.  >

< Started body recuperation. >

"Thank mother nature," I was finally relieved. The number of near-death experiences I was experiencing recently was not good for my life.

Alas, if only I could avoid it.

In a short while, my wounds healed except the one in the abdomen. The wound almost healed but the pain was still lingering indicating it needed to heal a bit more.

< Absorption has leveled up >

"Well well well, that is a pleasant surprise," something as important as Absorption leveling up was always a great thing.

Once I was done healing I headed out once more. Without much trouble, I was able to collect the branches and twigs needed. Transporting them back took a significant amount of time since each trip required me to make sure monsters weren't around.

By the time I got everything back to the tunnel I was dead tired. My skill took care of my bodily exhaustion but my mind couldn't hold on much longer. But I had to keep pushing myself, I was still in a lot of danger.

The branches and twigs were used to block the entrance to the tunnel. Any monster here would be able to easily push its way inside. But I hoped with the branches blocking their line of sight they wouldn't identify the tunnel behind it. It was a long shot, but that's all I had at the moment.

I had to sleep so badly that I had to take my chances with fate. If I don't rest now I'm afraid I'll fall unconscious in a fight and that would mean certain death. 

With the tunnel's entry blocked from the underground forest, I laid down on the ground behind a big boulder. The battered piece of the wooden staff was placed nearby.

"Hopefully this will be the first of many sleeps here," I said hopefully.

 With all the preparation done, however small they may be, I allowed my eyes to close and I instantaneously fell asleep.