Ethan dreamed that night for the first time since he appeared on Erde. As a person who enjoyed vivid dreams back on Earth, a sign of a healthy mind, he immediately noticed their lack. However, he did not mind his lack of dreams, writing it off on the exhaustion and how many times he smacked his head against the floor while training with Gloomy.
That night, in the middle of nowhere, he did not notice when he drifted off, and his dream began. He still heard the sounds from outside the cave and the crackling of the fire next to him, but after a brief moment, something changed. He opened his eyes, looked around, and noticed a silhouette of darkness outside the cave.
Ethan felt his heart rate speed up and his palms sweat. He jumped out of bed but found the motion lacking as if the stone floor below his feet was made of rubber. He stood up and tried to draw his sword in defense, alas to no effect. The mana did not answer his call. It did, though, for the silhouette outside - a familiar sword appearing in its hand.
The figure said something to him, its mouth moving, but no sound reached Ethan’s ears. Finally, regaining his wits for a moment, Ethan asked the figure, in half-whisper, “Who are you?” The sounds echoed around him, and the figure repeated the question, moving closer to the cave and pointing a finger to the sky.
Ethan steeled his resolve and slowly walked toward the exit as if compelled to see what the figure was pointing at. He did not feel his heartbeat or sweaty palms anymore as he walked. Nor did he notice the lack of sounds around them as the figure stared at him with its finger raised.
For some reason, he stopped next to it and observed the swirling shadows the figure was made of. It was featureless and had a vaguely human form but no face or gender. The only distinct feature it held was the white tattoos on its hands, resembling the intricate pictures he had on his own arms. Ethan frowned at the resemblance and then looked up to the sky where the figure was pointing.
Where the night sky was supposed to be, with the single moon Erde had, Ethan saw an endless universe sprawled around him. It was so close, as if he was standing in the infinite sky instead of the cave he walked out off. Uncountable stars formed colorful galaxies, mixing to create a grand picture of never-ending flux. Ethan raised his own index finger and touched the sky, causing it to change, the colors blending and forming a new image.
He looked at his finger and felt a connection with the sky as if he could somehow move the stars. Then he looked back at the sky and noticed the colors fading. At the far side of his vision, a great void was sucking them in, distorting the beautiful image he had created.
He gasped and tried to stop the stars from disappearing, only to see his hands dissolve into featureless, intangible, yet intricate shadows. He swayed his hand, and the color parted, hitting the void. The emptiness recoiled and drew back, and suddenly the featureless figure was in front of him again.
Silver grey eyes stared back at him, and the figure said one simple word, “Remember.”
- - -
Ethan woke up with a pounding headache. His mouth was dry as if he had been running a marathon through the desert as he coughed. He noticed his sweaty clothes and tried to get up from the bed but could not initially muster the strength to do it.
His vision was still blurry as he recalled the dream and the connection with the colors he saw and thought to himself, I must be tripping. What was in that meat I ate? Maybe it was poisonous or something?
Rubbing his eyes, he saw that the sun was already up, illuminating the entrance to the cave. He slowly got up from his bed and chuckled slightly, looking around the cave, noting the smoldering coals and the empty, disorderly bed.
He stored the bed, got out his favorite water jug, and downed half of it, slowly walking toward the exit he had dreamt about. Once next to the entrance, he peered around the corner and listened, hearing the forest around him. Then, with no immediate danger in sight, he slowly walked outside.
The forest was just as he left it yesterday evening, albeit more lively, teeming with life. The morning sun shone in his face through the thick branches above, warming his skin with its embrace. Ethan slowly started to forget his dream as he took in the day before him, feeling the immediate connection with nature around him.
Damn, I would kill for a slice of bread, butter, and some ham, he thought and got out some of the fish to chew on as breakfast, still basking in the sunlight. He sat down on the slightly moist morning grass and slowly woke up, taking in the serene beauty the forest held.
Once done with his meal, he recalled the events the day before and got up, patting his pants. “Yea, yea, I know, no more sitting around. Need to go down south, pronto,” he muttered and went back to the cave to double-check if he had not left anything behind.
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Once he made sure no belongings were scattered around the cave and were safely stored in his storage, Ethan set south at a light jog to keep up the distance from his pursuers. While he believed no one was mad enough to try and travel the forest through the night, he could not be entirely sure.
He quickly reached the river and continued jogging south, occasionally trying his [Warpstep] to keep up with the practice. Unfortunately, the ability still disoriented him, sometimes causing him to stumble or even fall. The best Ethan could tell was that the only way to get hold of it and start using it in combat was for him to keep practicing.
As for why he traveled next to the river, Ethan reasoned that humans on Erde were undoubtedly similar to those back home and were bound to build their cities next to a water source. Hence this river had to reach a town at some point.
As there was no one to consult, and he was not willing to get captured by the people who had made a ruckus yesterday, he ultimately decided to go on his own. Ethan’s only worry during his run was that the forest was teeming with monsters, and he was bound to run into one at some point.
I would be sad that there is no way for me to escape peril, he thought. But wait, he stopped and recalled the loot he observed yesterday but did not finish before drifting off to sleep. He pulled out the window of his storage space and looked at the list of items again, noticing a compass.
[Compass of Peril] (item, unranked, rare)
Alerts to the presence of non-human entities.
Works only on entities up to master rank.
He observed the item resembling a simple compass, without any arrows pointing to the north or any other direction. “Huh? How does this thing work then?” he asked, turning it over in his hands. The compass was a simply built tool, carved from stone, without any visible buttons or wires.
Ethan turned the compass around and put it against his ear, hoping to hear some mechanical noises from inside. Instead, the compass gave off a startling, high-pitched screech just before it touched his ear. Ethan hurriedly put it back in storage, noting that the sound did not disappear but continued to screech. However, it did not make any tangible noise around him. Instead, the sound simply resonated in his mind slightly.
Rubbing his ear, which had gone deaf, he said, “What an awful noise! Which idiot created a thing that alerts to dangers by giving off more noise to attract said danger.” After finishing his rant, he froze and looked around.
He listened closely but could only hear the distinct burbling noise of the river next to him. Ethan stayed still for a full minute, awaiting something to jump at him out of the bushes, but nothing came. Finally, he sighed and breathed out in relief. Well, not every situation tries to kill you, he thought.
Only then did he notice that the compass had stopped screeching, even from his storage space. It baffled him how the item could make a muted sound from wherever his power stored the things.
Not willing to wait longer and lose more daylight, he took off to the south again, following the river. His run was replaced by a quick walk twenty minutes later as Ethan got tired of jogging, noticing his stamina bar moving dangerously below half.
The compass got him thinking, as there was nothing better to do in the middle of the forest, with no animals, people, or anything else of note in sight. It caught up to him that he had been reckless, spending all his time with Gloomy, hoping to get stronger and maybe get some more abilities quickly.
One aspect of this new world he had disregarded up to this point was crafting. And everyone back on Earth knew how powerful the items humans crafted over the years were. And some magic to crafting simple tools, and the results would be encouraging.
But what could he do with no guidance or information on the new world he was in? The windows that kept popping up were only as useful as far as he could throw them, giving him the bare minimum information to make sense of the world around him. Guidance to new worlds, my ass, he sighed.
He understood that he lacked a mentor—someone to help him adjust and see things through. He had a couple of such people back on Earth: his stepfather Jorge, his kendo instructor, and even his unlikely mad boxing instructor. However, since coming here, he felt he had been missing something. Something that was not the bare necessities or security for his well-being.
Now he understood that he lacked companionship; the days spent training with a magical shadow and nights sleeping in the darkness alone did not benefit his social skills. While some magical weirdness existed around him, Ethan was still a social creature. Well, no need to cry over it now. Only I can forge the path ahead. As I always had, he thought, shaking the thoughts off.
His lack of mentoring aside, Ethan knew that he had a long way to go to catch up to the people in this world. He understood how far behind he was from the brief fireworks display he saw next to the ritual. Some people likely trained for deadly combat, swinging swords, firing arrows, and slinging spells. On the other hand, he was a simple young man away from his homeland who had not spilled blood since the incident when he was younger.
He needed to learn, to read and memorize those books on beasts he had found and stored in his storage, and most of all - he needed to train. Unfortunately, the countless hours spent with Gloomy were insufficient to make him fully stand up to the dangers around him, the man called Clay being the first real example.
That reminds me, I have not gotten a chance to try out the new aspect ability, he thought, crossing another fallen tree and stepping into the river that branched off to the side. Just as he put his foot down in the water, the muted screech of his compass hit his ears as a tentacle wrapped around his ankle.