Kai drifted slowly, glowing faintly in the dim, eerie forest. The trees here were ancient, twisted things, with bark like scales and branches tangled high above, blotting out most of the sky. Wisps of mist curled along the forest floor, moving like ghostly fingers, and his own small light seemed barely enough to push back the dark.

He couldn’t feel the ground; in fact, he couldn’t feel anything. There was only the sensation of drifting weightlessly forward, a dim awareness that his body—if he could even call it that—was more of a glowing blob than anything else.

“Alright, where am I?” Kai muttered. He was still getting used to hearing his own voice echoing in his… wisp brain?

As if responding to his question, the faint System Interface appeared before him again, and a notification blinked in an obnoxious shade of red:

[System Notice: As a new spirit lifeform, your goal is to evolve and survive. Welcome to the Floating Forest, where creatures of various magical affinities lurk.]

Kai sighed, or tried to. “A forest full of magical monsters. Great.”

Before he could ponder his next move, the System continued:

[Current Evolution Path: Wisp]

[Primary Objective: Absorb Essence to Grow]

[Essence Absorbed: 0%]

“Objective? What am I, a quest log?” Kai muttered. It was as if the universe had turned his life into a glorified fetch quest.

“Alright, how do I absorb essence?” He asked, half expecting no answer.

The System flickered again, with a new tooltip:

[Hint: As a Wisp, you can absorb ambient essence from your surroundings or draw it from lesser creatures.]

“Well, if I had a stomach, I’d probably be hungry by now,” Kai mused. “Time to find some essence.”

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Kai floated deeper into the forest, his glow a soft silver amidst the darker shadows. The quiet was unsettling. No rustling leaves, no animal calls, just the faint hum of his own energy.

Then, a faint glow appeared in the distance. Curious, he drifted closer.

Hovering ahead of him was a tiny creature, almost like a blue firefly, buzzing erratically. Its glow was dim compared to his, but Kai had a feeling this was his first target.

[Essence-Infused Insect detected. Absorb essence? Y/N]

“About time!” Kai focused, trying to channel some kind of absorbing energy toward it, even though he wasn’t exactly sure how. To his surprise, the firefly’s glow faded, its essence pulling into him like a slow breath.

[Essence Absorbed: 1%]

Kai felt a small surge, like a faint hum of energy coursing through his tiny wisp form. It wasn’t much, but it was… something. The forest around him seemed a fraction less intimidating.

“Okay, I’m basically Pac-Man,” he murmured. “Guess I need to find more of these bugs.”

Floating onward, he practiced absorbing whatever essence-bearing creatures he could find—bugs, tiny flickers of light, anything that would get him closer to his objective. With each essence absorbed, his glow grew slightly stronger, and he felt a touch more solid, less like he might wink out at any second.

An hour later, Kai hovered in a small clearing. His Essence meter now read [Essence Absorbed: 14%], and he felt… brighter. But the progress was too slow. This was going to take forever.

That’s when he noticed something. Across the clearing, a soft blue light pulsed behind the thick foliage.

“Something bigger,” he whispered, and floated cautiously toward it.

He reached a small grove where, in the middle of the tangled roots, sat a shimmering blue crystal embedded in the ground. It was faintly transparent, swirling with light. Even from a distance, he could feel its energy radiating outward.

[Essence Crystal Detected: Minor Essence Surge Available]

This was it! A jackpot.

He drifted closer and hesitated, realizing he wasn’t sure what would happen if he absorbed all that at once. But, hey, fortune favors the bold.

“Alright, here goes,” Kai murmured, focusing on the crystal with every fiber of his being.

The crystal’s energy surged into him in a rush, a blazing wave of warmth and power. For a second, everything went white, his vision flooded with light as the essence flooded into his tiny form.

When the light faded, Kai felt… different. Stronger.

[Essence Absorbed: 34%]

[New Ability Acquired: Luminescent Pulse – Emit a burst of light to temporarily stun lesser creatures.]

He’d evolved! Or… at least leveled up. But either way, he now had an ability.

“Not bad,” he murmured, trying to test his new skill. He focused, and a soft pulse of light radiated outward, illuminating the trees around him in a brief glow.

Kai grinned to himself. “Alright, maybe this wisp gig won’t be so bad after all.”

As he drifted forward, feeling a new sense of confidence, he barely noticed the soft rustling behind him. But he did notice the glowing pair of red eyes that emerged from the shadows—a creature twice his size, with sleek, shadowy fur and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

“Uh… hey, nice kitty?”

The creature hissed, baring fangs. Kai’s new pulse skill might be handy, but he doubted it’d do much against something that looked this dangerous. He needed a way out.

“Come on, think!” Kai urged himself.

Suddenly, an idea sparked. He floated backward, closer to the crystal he’d just drained, and waited for the creature to get nearer. As it lunged, Kai fired his Luminescent Pulse, flooding the area with a burst of light. The creature froze, stunned just long enough for Kai to dart around it.

With his non-existent heart pounding, Kai floated through the trees, putting distance between him and the beast. When he finally stopped to catch his breath—if wisps had breaths—he glanced back to see the creature slinking away, still disoriented.

“Well, that was close,” he muttered. “Looks like I’ll need to keep evolving if I don’t want to become someone’s midnight snack.”

With that thought, he set off deeper into the forest, determined to find more essence—and more power. This wisp was ready to glow and behold.