Stepping through the swirling portal, William felt anticipation and dread tangle together in his chest. The world twisted, colors and sensations spinning past too fast to track. Then it stopped.
Solid ground. The portal shimmered behind him, already fading. William stood in a dense, primeval forest, the air thick with damp earth and plants he didn't recognize. The trees here were thicker than any he'd seen, their canopy so dense it turned the sunlight into a kind of green twilight.
The same hill where Willow Creek would one day stand, except nothing was there yet. No village, no sign anyone had ever lived here. Just wilderness, stretching out in every direction. This was Aethel before any of it, raw and untouched.
Wonder, and under it, a low current of fear. A stranger in a world that hadn't been written yet. He checked his status, more out of habit than anything.
Name: William Velmont
Level: 3
Class: None
Attributes:
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 16
Mana: 11
Skills:
Chrono Shift (SSS-Rank): Allows the user to open a portal to a specific point in the past. (Details Unlocked)
[Time Remaining: 5 hours, 57 minutes] [You are still learning how to use your SSS skill, so you cannot remain in this realm forever. You have 6 hours before being pulled back to the initial location of the portal.]
Six hours. Not a lot. He'd have to make it count.
He drew his sword, the weight of it steadying him, and pushed into the undergrowth. The forest was loud with things he couldn't see, chirps and growls and hisses layered on top of each other.
A growl rumbled close by, and a pair of eyes caught the light from somewhere in the shadows. A wolf stepped out, fur dark as twilight, fangs bared.
William's grip tightened. He circled it, trying to read its next move. The wolf circled back, muscles bunched, ready.
It lunged first. William got his sword up in time, but the wolf was faster than he expected, and its teeth caught his arm, tearing his sleeve and drawing a thin line of blood. He grit his teeth through the sting and drove his blade into its flank.
The wolf yelped and staggered. William didn't let up. He ducked one more snap of its jaws and drove the sword in again, this time through the heart.
The wolf dropped. William stood over it, breathing hard, blood running down his arm. He'd fought something faster and stronger than him and won, even if it had cost him.
Warmth spread through his limbs. The blue screen flickered up.
[You have slain a Twilight Wolf!]
[You have gained 150 EXP!]
[Level Up!]
He kept moving, the win giving him something he hadn't had before. He wasn't just some skinny kid anymore.
A pack of wild dogs broke from the trees, lean and starving, eyes wild. William fought harder than he thought he had in him, sword moving fast, parrying, dodging, striking back. One of the dogs got his leg, teeth through his trousers and into skin. He kicked it off and finished it before it could try again.
[You have slain a Wild Dog!]
[You have gained 100 EXP!]
[Level Up!]
His movements were getting smoother now. Less flailing, more instinct.
Next came a boar, tusks like ivory blades, snorting hard enough to shake the ground. William dodged its charges, weaving between trees, his speed the only thing keeping him from getting gored. He switched to his bow, loosing arrows into its hide.
The boar only got angrier. One tusk caught his leg and tore through the fabric and the skin underneath. He ignored it and loosed another arrow, this one straight through the eye and into the brain.
The boar dropped like a felled tree.
[You have slain a Forest Behemoth!]
[You have gained 300 EXP!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Then a spider, venom dripping from its fangs, webs strung between the trees. He cut through the silk, severed a leg, then another, and finally ended it. Not before it caught his shoulder, poison burning through his veins.
He staggered, vision swimming, but stayed upright long enough to finish it off.
[You have slain a Venomous Webspinner!]
[You have gained 200 EXP!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
William slid down against a tree trunk, bruised, bleeding, breath ragged. He'd made it through, but it had cost him.
Seven levels gained. Strength and agility up, stamina and mana up too. He was exhausted and hurting all over, but something in him felt different. Stronger. Like he was finally becoming someone who could survive here.