Running for over two hours, Ethan left the roars behind. He slumped against a tree and took deep breaths. The bottom of his feet bled for stepping on sharp stones in his way.
Ding! Another ding rang and a blue hologram-like window materialized.
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); height: 20px; width: 89.9752%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 33px">
<td style="height: 10px; width: 99.8479%; text-align: center" colspan="3">
You gained a new Aspect for pushing past your limits: Tenacity (I)
Conditions fulfilled to gain passive skill Sprint.
Do you wish to consume 2 Prana to unlock the skill?
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 10px">
<td style="height: 10px; width: 50.3989%" colspan="2">
Yes
</td>
<td style="width: 49.449%; height: 10px">
No
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I got the Tenacious Aspect and even gained the Sprint Skill. How great. How fucking great. I can run a whole lot more now, can''t I?
His snarky comments reached no one. He covered his face with a twisted expression.
What''s the point of this if I can''t meet Mio?
If given a second chance, he promised to try his best to answer Mio''s feelings and make her happy. Heck, he even swore to respond to Celia''s feelings.
But rarely do people go back to their world in this situation.
What am I even supposed to do here? Kill the fucking demon lord or something?
The grass nearby rustled and two rabbit ears peeked out. The gray-furred rabbit followed soon and rushed at Ethan.
Ethan pushed his hands forward in defense, somehow catching the rabbit by its fluffy ears. It didn''t try to struggle and looked at him with teary eyes.
Ding!
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
You gained a new Aspect for seducing a creature: Charm (I)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Ethan deadpanned and threw the rabbit back into the bushes.
I seduced a freaking rabbit?!
It wasn''t the first creature he met here. Every creature here seemed like a mutated version of animals on Earth like a raven with three eyes, a magpie with three tails, a spider spanning over a meter, and many more. Weirdly enough none of them tried to attack him. A large four-eyed monkey even cleared the logs blocking his way.
This really is another world, isn''t it?
The reality once again came crashing down on him.
Definitely not Earth. Could it be some kind of VR simulation?
He pinched his face and felt pain, nothing different from Earth.
There might even be dragons and ogres in this forest other than your typical goblins.
He didn''t want to imagine what the green little shits would do to a man like him. He would have met Hades if not for Phoenix''s last-minute amusement at his existence.
He suppressed the depressing thoughts for the time being. Moping around will accomplish nothing. He had to find a way to return to his Earth.
Prana… hmm, it used to be Life Force of sorts in the games I played. Does this work the same here? How much Prana do I have?
"System."
"Skills."
"Show Status."
His random calls summoned another floating window beside the first one.
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Ethan Carter
Level 1
Prana Available - 10
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Parameters:
Health - 179/220
Stamina - 62/190
Will Power - 135/135
Strength - 13
Vitality - 22
Endurance - 19 (+1)Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Agility - 18
Intelligence - 14
Wisdom - 13
Prana available - 10
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Active Skills:
-None
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Passive Skills:
-Survivor''s Vigor (Rank 1)
Rank: Rare
When injured, the strength rises by 5%. Grants minor resistance to poison.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Inherent Skills:
-Magic Eyes of Limitless Wisdom
Rank: Mythic
Displays the information of any object or being recorded in the Wisdom Archive.
(Requires 10 Prana to awaken)
-Sealed
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Aspects:
-Tenacity (I)
Quite the tenacity you have there lad.
Grants +1 Endurance.
-Charm (I)
Any female feels intimate to you. Just being near you makes them feel as if they are seeing their lover. It doesn''t work if the target already has negative emotions for you.
Enemies can''t be charmed, got that?
People with higher Willpower can resist you as well, so don''t try to seduce Saintess Elena, okay?
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
What are the comments inside Aspects as if they are mocking me?
This whole thing is very RPG-like. My stats aren''t… bad if the average is ten. Stamina is Endurance times ten. Health is Vitality times ten. Still, why do I have this overpowered skill?
There might also be more Skills under the Sealed pretext, which sprouted a bad feeling. What if someone intentionally summoned him to fight some OP demon king?
He decided to mull over it later.
I have 10 Prana. Let''s get this Mythic Rank skill first. I might be able to analyze the fruits with this.
As he pressed yes, a strange current ran through his body, mainly concentrated around his eyes.
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
-Magic Eyes of Limitless Wisdom Rank 1 (0.0%)
Rank: Mythic
Displays information on anything recorded in the Wisdom Archive. Restricted to Iron-rankers and below.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Only this window remained in vision, everything else became pure white. Giant pillars of glowing silver replaced the trees. A yellowish hue covered the ground and the sky became a tint of green.
Was this the infamous Elemental Sight?
Then again his hand seemed a shade of purple, red, and pink, which raised a doubt.
Red should be the fire or blood element if there was any. What about purple? Darkness? Void? And pink? I don''t know any element associated with pink… How do I deactivate this sight?
"Deactivate."
"Shut down."
"Seal Magic Eyes of Infinite Wisdom."
He tried rubbing his eyes, blinking and closing for a few seconds, but nothing worked.
What if it is the type to always stay active?
The thought of seeing red figures everywhere filled his heart with coldness.
What should I do now?
"Show Status."
His status remained the same. However, the Willpower went down to 115 from 135, then 114 another moment later.
So this consumes Willpower. I should wait for it to deplete.
He focused on listening for any sound.
Drip. Drip. Drip. He picked up a sound similar to water dripping but in a far larger quantity.
A river?
His other senses worked far better than before, letting him hear sounds of ants crawling near his feet.
He kept an eye on the slowly draining Willpower bar and stamina rising at 11 to 12 points per minute.
10… 5… 3, 2, 1…
The colors exploded in his vision and everything returned to normal. He heaved a sigh of relief and noticed his other senses getting weaker.
It''s normal, I guess.
He opened his status and checked on the new skill''s description. There was still no mention of this sight.
A bug? Maybe it will show if I level it up. How to use this information skill?
He raised a brow and swept his gaze over the trees.
"Activate Magic Eyes of Infinite Wisdom."
"Analyze."
"Inspect."
"Scan."
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); height: 10px; width: 89.9752%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 10px">
<td style="width: 100%; height: 10px">
Star Spring Tree
Rank: Common
A tree that can thrive under the hottest of climates.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Scans are the activation key, huh. Hot climate? This place isn''t particularly hot.
Ethan activated the ability on a crow cawing on top of its lung.
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1); height: 10px; width: 89.9752%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 10px">
<td style="height: 10px; width: 100%">
Grim Raven
Level 3
A subspecies of Crow famous for crying when death calls out to someone.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Ethan gulped. This crow was surely not referring to him, right?
It''s time to move.
He jolted to his feet and turned to his right.
Hope this is a river leading to some civilization.
He sneaked around the trees for several minutes and came across a change. The trees became scarce and the soil became more rigid and darker.
He followed the same direction and finally came out of the forest. An intense heat attacked his face. Several steps ahead was a flowing river of... magma falling from the ravine between two valleys.
He took a step back from the heat. "Fuck."
Following this will lead to nowhere, he had a gut feeling. The other side had several caves carved into the mountains spanning for miles. His gaze stopped on the castle towering over the mountains. The red and golden design of the floating castle could only belong to one entity.
Phoenix…
The curious bird most likely observed him from her base with some mystical spells.
The bird is keeping a human in a cage.
He chuckled at the thought.
A cave should be a good place to spend the night. The boulders could block the entrance. Most of the creatures wouldn''t cross the magma river.
How do I get there though? Charm another animal… it could work if a giant bird l gets attracted to me…
He rubbed his stomach.
I feel hungry. There are fruits here but what about the water?
He let out a sigh. Watching anime over the survival guide was a big mistake.
He returned to the forest and climbed a tree with orange-like fruits hanging, tempting him to pluck them. It seemed similar to an orange but the texture was a little rigid.
"Scan."
<div>
<div>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgba(35, 49, 92, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%">
Dreamnight fruit
Rank: Rare
Fruit of the Sugarshield tree that thrives on Dryad''s nectar. Has a rare taste that changes according to the eater''s desire.
Effect: The abundance of life force inside it can cause a nauseating effect on people with Willpower lower than 100.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I can eat it.
He pocketed three fruits and climbed down. There was no lack of dreamnight trees here.
Now where to go?
Grrrraawr!
A series of growls reached him. He didn''t dare to dally any longer and bolted away to search for some small animals.