'It's Cold.'

Edric shivered, the hairs on his arms stood up as an icy breeze stood up as an icy breeze brushed by him. 

It felt as if all his body heat was being sucked out by the air around him. In nothing but a shirt, and leather pants his apparel was far from appropriate considering the current climate.

His breath formed a white cloud, he then cupped his mouth, causing the short bristles of his beard to prickle against his raw skin as he blew into his hands to capture the warmth. 

His eyes then narrowed, as he scanned the unfamiliar environment around him.

'Where am I?'

The room was broken down. It felt forgotten, abandoned by the creators that had once cared and loved for it, the holes left by dislodged bricks in the walls and the collapsed roof allowed the cold to find its way in. Many years of neglect had once made this sturdy structure unable to offer even the smallest bit of protection from the elements – It was impossible to be considered a proper shelter at all. 

Edric knew he couldn't stay here; the temperature wasn't just the only indication as well. A thin layer of frost rested atop the debris scattered on the rotten wood floor, causing him to await a cold end as his body heat was slowly sucked away by mother nature.

He needed a plan and needed one fast. Being prepared before tackling a problem was common sense – anyone could tell you that. However, for Edric, it had more meaning. It was an essential part of his life, part of an ever-growing list of guidelines he tried to live by.

Edric turned his head around, continuing to look around the room as he needed information. 

There were two vertical rows of four wooden benches, forming a single aisle. The floor of each aisle had a faded red carpet, it's vibrant color was lost from the dirt and mold that had accumulated over many years.

Edric found himself seated on one of the benches at the front, the centre of it bowing as the rotten wood strained to hold his weight. If he applied more pressure, it would collapse to the ground, taking him along with it. 

Behind him, was a wooden door that marked the exit. There were no other windows or doors inside the room, seeming to allow people to invite people to open it.

Among the piles of rubble, a single object remained untouched by the elements. It was a statue directly in front of him, a statue depicting a figure standing in a neutral position, with its arms by its sides, reminding Edric of a statue once held in his capital of his father.

From the once beautiful decorative cloths and wood furnishing surrounding the statue, which were no more than rags and scraps of rotten wood, it was clear that this building was once a place of worship to this figure, but now it could only be called a relic of the past.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

'Why aren't I bound?'

To Edric, it was simple. He had awakened in a strange place, seemingly placed on a bench. This led to him thinking of one possibility.

'I was kidnapped…'

Edric wasn't going to complain, but it was strange. What kind of kidnapper left their captives seeming unbound and free it wasn't logical at all. However, there was something even stranger happening to Edric.

'It hasn't gone away'

Edric looked to the corner of his vision and sighed internally.

'Insanity does run in my family, after all I am the grandson to that mad emperor'

Ever since he opened his eyes, there has been wall of text appearing in his vision. At first, he had ignored it believing it to be sheer lunacy and figured his mind was playing tricks on him. He believed that it would go away soon as he forgot about it.

It didn't however.

Accepting that it wasn't going to disappear, he focused his attention on it.

________________________________________

[Status Window]

[General]

Name: Edric Godsword

Age: 23

Race: Human

Class: Unassigned

Sub-Class: None

[Skills]

Basic Sword Technique (D Tier Skill)

Basic Archery Technique (D Tier Skill)

[Stats]

Strength: E

Stamina: E-

Agility: E+

Endurance: F

Magic Power: S+ (unawakened)

[Personal Traits]

Distrusting – Does not trust others.

Cold – Hard to approach, unfriendly.

Loner – Prefers to be alone.

Level-headed – Maintains calm.

Fast Learner – Improves quickly.

________________________________________

Edric stared blankly at the screen. While he did not want to believe he was insane, he was starting to wonder if he had inherited his insanity from his family.

'Okay, for the time being let's assume I'm not insane.'

Edric took another look and skimmed over the status window, skipping his class and sub-class, his eyes fell on his stats.

'My magic power is unawakened?'

In this world, magic is seen as a power that no human can wield. Those that have magic power are treated as royalty, even to real royals.

Edric then turned his attention to his personal traits.

'What…'

The descriptions felt like a personal attack to Edric, as it portrayed him as a cold and logical robot. 

However, it made sense due to his troubled upbringing, after all being a Prince in a huge empire left him in situations leading to him becoming distrusting and cold. 

[Would you like to close your status? (Yes/No)]

Following the prompt, he closed his status. When he thought to close it, the status disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

Just as the message faded away, a new message appeared.

 [You can open your status by thinking 'status.']

Edric then gave it a try, he opened his status and closed it. While familiarizing himself with the status operation, an icy breeze brushed past him.

He then shivered; his attention returned to his current situation. Despite knowing a bit more information than a few minutes ago, it wasn't enough. 

As he saw it, there were two options. One, he could stay here and hope that help arrives before he froze to death. Two, he could walk through the door in the back of the room and look for proper shelter.

Without any hesitation, Edric stood up. It was his only viable choice, however immediately as he stood up the coldness of the ground permeated his socks, it was like he was walking with pins and needles pressing the soles of his feet.

As he stumbles across the entire room, he finds a sword laying on the ground. 

[Common Iron Sword – DUR: 10/100]

'I guess this can do…'

Using the sword as a cane to stabilize himself with, he then pulled the door and…

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr 

A large black dog with two heads and a chain around its neck was waiting outside. With its patchy fur and sharp teeth, the dog looked rabid. Upon seeing Edric, saliva had begun to spill from its mouth as if it was eyeing a juicy steak.

'Guess I'm dead huh…'