Fighting a crab the size of a large dog and LOSING, is not exactly the stuff of legend. With every swing and thrust the young survivor became more and more frustrated. This creature could parry, block and tank his strikes like they were simple annoyances. Even with his newly raised Brawn stat Berto just couldn't find a chip in the blasted thing's armor, both literally and figuratively. 

With a Brawn of 12, he felt quicker on his feet, the spear lighter in his hands. Every strike resulted in a now audible impact that echoed through the glass tube. His body didn't ache even though he was trading blows with this thing, in 1 meter high waters for over 2 minutes nonstop. Ironically he considered himself lucky. There could have been dozens more crabs here. At least he only had to deal with one, even if that one was like the "Hero of all FREAKING crabs!", as Berto put it in his head.

Their battle was long.. too long. After 3 minutes, the rookie survivor was bound to make a mistake. Berto's right foot slipped across the slick floor as he tried lunging at the beast. His gable paid off and his strike landed somewhere on the crab but the price he paid outweighed the minor success. The Hermit bashed the young man in the face with the back of its claw, as if it were a shield, sending him tumbling back. Its claws were misshapen. One lean pincer for quick jabs and attacks and a large slow one for defending. Berto was starting to respect the crab warrior but had to find a way to finish their duel in his favor. He could not win a straight fight, that was becoming clearer by the moment.

His heightened awareness suddenly caught something. A dimly lit part of the tube he was in. A coral! A part of the coral reef seemed to be growing into the tube's structure. That would be impossible normally. With the structure comprised and no positive pressure generated from the inside.. it should have flooded. Was it magic? "What isn't magic at this point.." Berto scuffed. The top of the coral was covered in a great pile of rubble and there was a small cave-like section in the coral itself. Berto had an idea..

"Come on! Come get me!" he yelled while swinging his weapon in the beast's face as annoyingly as he could. The Hermit followed Berto as he ran towards the small hollowed section of the coral. Its body was full of knicks and cracks but still retained just over a third of its health points, while the young man was but a good blow away from collapsing. Berto reached the cave first, ignoring *pings* and messages he received along the way. He jumped and stabbed his spear into the devris above the cave and let go of it, turning around to face the crab unarmed!

The beast cornered the survivor into the cave and foamed viciously as its next meal was well at hand. There was no space for Berto to jump over it or squeeze out from the sides. He thought about what he planned to do and regarded it as "stupid" untill he got the confirmation he needed at a quick mental glance. Hydrodynamic Lv.2. 

The moment the Hermit raised its claw against him, Berto caught it and forced his body downwards, feet extended, like going down a slide! While still grasping its pincer, he dove into the water and slid under the crab's legs with relative ease, causing it to flip over! Once his maneuver was complete he jumped up, out of the dark waters, latching onto his jammed spear and pulled down with everything he had.

The spear dislodged with a *CRACK* bringing down a shower of concrete blocks. Berto jumped back with what energy he had left, avoiding the falling debris. The beast was trapped. The young man approached as the dust settled and confirmed that the Hermit was alive behind the rubble but unable to get out. 

The larger of its two claws was floating next to him as he inspected it through the gaps of its concrete prison. "I'm sorry.. It's cruel to trap you in there but I can't let you claw my face off.." he said sincerely and picked up the large pincer. He took a piece of the exposed flesh, ate it and then offered some to the crab through a gap. It was strange but he knew some animals like octopi ate their own limbs in order to survive. The Hermit tried jamming its claw through the gap to get at Berto, but after failing twice it accepted the small offering in a more calm manner.

Mariah: Skill aquired! Tame (C) Lv.1: You have greater understanding of how to approach and possibly tame beasts. Error, Hateful Hermit Lv.6 exceeds your skill's or Player Level's ability to tame.

"Wow.. I got a new skill? Again? AND I can tame beasts!?"

Mariah: It should not come to a suprise to you. With a high Intellect attribute you have an affinity for learning skills and mastering them at an accelerated degree. Invest more in your Intellect and this will only become more prevalent. Additionally.. You have cleared the area of all immediate dangers. You can claim this area as a Safe Zone. This will repel all hostile monsters from wandering in. If you are chased here however the Zone's effect will be nullified.

"Yes! Hell yes! Of course I'd like t.. wait.. A safe zone? How can a Rift have a safe zone? Are their rules here!? And if there are who makes them?"

Mariah: Yes. Rifts follow a semblance of order. There is a logic to them. They ARE constructs after all..

Berto froze in the water and gulped. "Rifts are.. constructs? Mariah, that.. Do you know what that means? For us here? For the world!? Is someone purposely..".

Mariah: Yes User Berto we understand and everything will be made clear when..

"..When I survive this Rift and escape.. yeah.. I got it the first ten times Mariah. Look.. I'm really greatful, I am.. but.. Ugh, forget it..". The two did not speak again for a while. The young man hated the fact that Mariah was withholding so much from him. He had to know. His entire planet had gone crazy for over a decade. Heroes and monsters locked in a meaningless battle over blood and money while everyone else died of radiation poisoning. He had to know why..

Berto walked to a small islet of dry concrete. The wall panels adjacent to it were cracked open and the heavy machinery inside was exposed. Some sort of power generator but damaged. The engineer started absorbing information and spinning designs in his mind, despite his fatigue. His body was recovering thanks to the Evergreen's blessings but mentally.. he just wanted to collapse.

"One last push.. Ok Mariah, allocate the last free attribute in Intellect.. I'm gonna need it.". 

Once the boost set in, Berto's mind became slightly.. clearer. There was a design. Something he could try. With the use of Craft and every tool he could fabricate, every scrap he could put together he would make this safe zone into a camp. The first thing on the list was fixing up the generator. The lights of the tube were restored but there was no telling for how long. The fuel source wasn't located in the tube and Berto guessed that it should last for a maximum of 24 hours. 

Next up was something even more important than light. Berto took out a coil used for heating water and hooked it up to the power. He managed to repurpose it into a heater. He must have worked for three hours straight to get them up and running. The metal coil fought back against the cold damp atmosphere and Berto curled up on the hard floor right next to it. He felt the magic of his connection to Mariah heal his body, the safety of the zone, the slow hum of the rippling waters. He was out before he had a chance to realise it.

                               • • •

In less than four hours Berto was up and about. Getting to grips with his predicament took longer. Awakening to find himself still trapped in the underwater, nightmarish version of the Capsule Train railway, was the first shock he endured. Somehow, all this was not "just a dream". His body was completely renewed and his mental capacity soon followed. He finished what was left of his meal, taken from the Hermit's pincer, and started exploring. 

That is when the second shock came. Once again, a great body of water separated him from the next section of the railway, much larger than the one before. This section seemed to end in a launching platform of sorts, for submersible crafts. This was completely wrong and did not adhere to the actual railway in the real world. Diving from the platform, Berto braved the cold waters once more, only to find that the closest thing to dry land or breathable air near to him, was a big, well lit, facility almost 150 meters away. 

The facility looked like Argos's domed laboratories on the sea bottom. A third of the way to the facility Berto felt his lungs spasm. The young man barely made it back, gasping for air and spitting out sea water he had breathed in, during his panic. He cursed, shouted and blamed this hell for his suffering.. blamed his luck for getting him here in the first place.

Mariah's daily update dragged him from the darkness he was slowly slipping in to. In retrospect, Berto would realise that, his disembodied guide was subtly protecting him from himself as well as the ever maddening Rift.

* User : Alberto Ferantelli - Level: 3 *

Health: 18/18

Brawn: 12

Agility: 12

Vitality: 11

Mana: 2/2

Intellect: 16

Charisma: 10

Spirit: 11 

Skills: 

1) Engineering (B) Lv.4

2) Bypass (C) Lv.1 

3) Pain Mitigation (B) Lv.2

4) Insight (A) Lv.1

5) Craft (D) Lv.4

6) Swimming (E) Lv.2

7) Hydrodynamic (C) Lv.2

8) Apnea (C) Lv.1

9) Tame (C) Lv.1 

Mutations: None

* Status update complete *

The survivor took in the information with a faint hint of pride. He touched his biceps and could swear that, in a matter of hours as it were, they had swolen in size. Contrary to what his predicament would suggest, he had never felt stronger or healthier. Things were bad but maybe.. just maybe, this Berto could overcome all odds. He already had the tools required to move forward! He only needed time to sharpen them. Swimming, Apnea and Hydrodynamic could get him to the next checkpoint. 

He only had 20 hours of power remaining for light and heating but he could ration. Light only for emergencies and heat only for sleeping or resting. The next thing was water but he had an idea for that as well. The water filters! The Tube had water filters buit in for cooling purposes. Sea water was bad for the pipes so they filtered it. It wouldn't be perfect and would most likely taste like metal and salt, but it would be potable water nonetheless.

He got to work immediately. His hands acted like fleshly tools whenever he came in contact with an item that could be used in conjunction with his Craft Skill. Berto stripped down two filter systems for their individual filters and constructed a leaner device that sucked sea water in using an air pump and ejected fresh, drinkable water from its other end. The water tasted horrendous but it was simple, functional and Berto didn't experience any ill effects. His Engineering Skill rose to Lv.5 after he successfully constructed his third little project and the young man smiled with satisfaction as he could feel his understanding for the craft becoming ever so sharper. 

He was however disappointed when he didn't receive the "Feat of the day" bonus. Building three distinct contraptions should count for something! But then it came to him. It was still the same day! He had no way to tell time here. Especially after sleeping and waking up, he couldn't think of a way to calculate how much time had passed. Next came the rigorous training. 

Clothes off, mask on, Berto dove into the shallow waters of his Safe Zone and swam as if he were being chased by sharks! He held his breath as much as he could bear during his laps, hoping he could raise all three skills in one go. He wasn't wrong, however Mariah soon informed him that by following this method, each Skill's individual progress would be lessened. The simpler the Skill the easier it was to raise it. E rank skills like Swimming leveled the fastest and Berto soon confirmed it. He also swam out and hunted for Hateful Hermits when he felt braver, killing 4 of them for food and experience, both real life and for leveling up.

Mariah: Skill upgrade Swimming (E) Lv.3

Mariah: Skill upgrade Swimming (E) Lv.4

Mariah: Skill upgrade Swimming (E) Lv.5

Mariah: Skill upgrade Apnea (C) Lv.2

Berto swam like a well trained athlete, moving fast through the water and claiming victory over the slower Hermits. He could hold his breath for approximately two minutes while moving at full capacity. It was great.. but not enough to make it to the other side. Bringing back crab meat to his camp, the young man ate and rested. He also found himself sitting in front of the caged-in Hermit again, passing it food from the gaps in the rubble.

Berto spoke to the crab when he felt frustrated with Mariah, gossiping about her as if she couldn't listen to everything he said. He told it stories of his fishing trips with father, embarrassing tales from school.. He even confessed his doubts and fears to it. Berto even learned how to calculate the hours passing, by the crabs' hunting rounds. Two days.. two days passed since Berto woke for the first time in his Safe Zone.

Tame (C) reached level 5 very fast. Mariah thought that it was odd since it was a Charisma based Skill and Berto hadn't invested in it yet. It must have been the genuine feelings the young man had when keeping the creature company. On the second day Berto's swimming skills did not advanve further but that didn't stop him from hunting for experience again. 

Mariah: 735/500 xp. *PING* Level Up! Level 4 reached. 235/750 xp to level 5. User Berto, I have an interesting development for you. A new Side Quest. By having leved 3 times you have accumulated 3 Mutation Points. You are eligible for your first Mutation by having the skills Apnea, Hydrodynamic and Swimming. 

Presenting optional Quest "Rise of the Mariner". The Mariner mutation will make the User a master of moving and fighting through water. Exactly what you need to proceed with your escape and survive the icy depths.

Quest Parameters: Raise Skills, Apnea (C) to Lv.3, Hydrodynamic (C) to Lv.3, Swimming (E) to Lv.7

Bonus: Hunt for prey in the Seas. Slay 20 Aquatic creatures in their element. 11/20 slayed.

Quest Rewards: Access to the Mariner (C) mutation for 3 Mutation Points or 600xp. 

Bonus: 2 free Attribute Points.

Berto paused and looked over his Status. A mutation.. He could mutate? What did that mean? Gills? He looked over at the lights of the far off facility, they shone like beacons in the dark depth. How many sections of this crazy Rift would he have to traverse in order to be free of it? Was the risk even worth it? The world needed to know what Mariah knew. If growing gills was the price to pay.. then so be it.