You ever have one of those dreams when you're falling but you wake up just before you hit the ground? This was not one of those times.

Gavin's eyes flashed open in a moment of panic. He was falling, a croaked gasp escaped his lips in the moment before he landed face first in the dirt. Numbness punched through his body as he collapsed in a whimpering heap.

Flopping himself over onto his back he stared up at the canopy above, processing what was going on. His body hurt everywhere with a stiffness that chilled him to the bone. It went deeper than just ordinary aches and pains, he had a bone deep wariness that felt like he'd been ground down over years. His vision was a little blurry, as well as a persistent ringing in his ears.

“What the actual shit just happened?” He slurred as his brain lurched into gear, the rush of the past few moments finally coalescing in his mind.

Sitting up he could see he was exactly as he'd gone to bed, dressed only in a pair of stretchy red boxer-briefs, he was covered in dirt and bits of twigs from his fall though he didn't appear to be injured as far as he could see at least.

“Where actually am I though?” He said as he gathered his thoughts.

He didn't recognise any of the local plants. Not the trees, the underbrush or the small orange and purple toadstools sprouting up around a rotting log beside him. While not a wilderness expert he had been possum hunting with his dad a fair bit and was pretty confident that he wasn't anywhere near his hometown. 

“Why am I naked? Was I drugged and abducted? Was I…?” Scrambling to check himself he sighed with relief.

“Guess I better figure out where I am.” he said to the empty air. 

He was on a gentle hill that sloped up and away from him. Below he could hear a creek burbling through thick undergrowth.

“Time to make a move Gav” he said.

Pushing himself to his feet he took his first step straight onto a twig that jammed up into the arch of his left foot. 

“Mother fucker” he swore sitting back down to inspect the wound. 

It was fine, a red dot marked a tiny piece of broken skin. He rubbed the sore spot, closing his eyes against the pain.

Looking around he could see the ground strewn with dense leaf litter, the place was absolutely covered in bits of twigs, leaves, and wait, what was that? He turned his head about to get a better look, but the thing he wanted to look at sat firmly in his periphery.

Without moving his eyes he focused on being more aware of his vision, there was definitely the image of a vitruvian man in the top left corner of his vision, two images, one red one blue superimposed over each other, the red one had a slight discolouration on the foot while the blue one was nearly all the way depleted.

“Kinda looks like a health and mana pool. Am I in a videogame? Wonder if I've got a… bingo!” Gavin laughed as a character sheet appeared, superimposed over his vision.

Gavin Pēne

Race: Human

Class: Artificer

Strength: 11 (11)

Agility: 11 (11)

Endurance: 11 (11)

Intellect: 11 (11)

Willpower: 12 (12)

Spirit: 4 (4)

Health: 8/13

Mana 4/4

Stamina 2/5

Racial ability: User Interface

Class ability: Visualise schematic

Titles: None

Number of unlocked soul powers: 0

Soul powers: None

Soul integration: Level 0, 0%

“User interface?” Gavin said aloud “visualise schematic?” 

He figured whatever world this was didn't have electricians so had given him the nearest equivalent class of artificer. He had no idea what the other things were.

For the second time Gavin pushed himself to his feet, this time taking more care. As he took his first real step a wide grin split his face, he was in a new world, and he was going to get sweet magic powers. He felt ambition bloom inside him, he was going to figure this world out, and he was going to beat it.

He set off again, he figured his character sheet and the vitruvian man in the corner of his vision wasn't all his user interface could do, and with a little tinkering he managed to open up the rest of it.

It appeared to be heavily inspired by one of his favourite games when he was young. The window was split into two halves, the right half had a dark silhouette of a person in the same vitruvian man pose, around him were dozens of slots for items to fit in. Currently he had ‘mundane underwear’ equipped in the relevant slot. Below that was a four by ten grid as well as an eight by one hotbar. His inventory had a single tab labeled ‘unsorted’ with space for more tabs.

The left half of the window was his character sheet and below that was a button labeled ‘journal’. Mentally clicking on it brought up another window, it was a stylised book that had several red silk banner-like tabs labeled as ‘quests’, ‘bestiary’, ‘map’, ‘lore’, ‘recipes’, ‘people’, and ‘notes’ in fancy cursive lettering.

His map was just an image of the area he arrived in and the short distance he'd walked, the rest of the world being greyed out. The spot he'd landed in this world was tagged with a marker called ‘arrival point’.

Striding up the hill he was overcome with a sense of excitement and wonder he hadn't felt in years. A feeling of purpose washed over him, enervating him, all aches and pains pushed aside as a flood of motivation flowed through his body. He fully intended to master this new world if he could, but first he needed to not die of exposure or to wild animals, he also needed to find pants.

Coming to the crest of the hill he could see a glimpse of the ocean through the trees but couldn't make out any more than that. Steeling himself he began to climb one that looked like someone had tried to make a norfolk pine out of eucalyptus tree parts. Hand over hand, he pulled himself up the smooth branches into the canopy until he emerged above the surrounding treetops. There, he had a good view of the surrounding area. 

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Assuming it was mid morning, he was able to get his bearings. He was near the edge of an endless forest that rolled as far as he could see to the west. To the east was a wide azure ocean broken up by small islands strung out in a meandering pattern. He could see the hills sloping down into tussocks that turned into sandy beaches and craggy black cliffs. 

To the southwest there were what looked like farmed fields, the grass was too uniform to be wild and he could see the shapes of animals silhouetted against the rolling hills. He figured it was his best bet, where there were farms there were people. He could retrace his steps down the hill, find the stream and follow it to the ocean then turn south until he found signs of life.

He was nearly to the ground when his foot slipped on a mud smeared branch. Panicking he threw a hand back to the one he'd just released and managed to slap the next one down, missing his grip. He fell a short way until he jerked to a stop as his other arm snagged on a lower branch as it slammed painfully up into his armpit. Steadying himself he took his weight, looked down, then dropped himself to the ground awkwardly. He staggered and tripped over himself, arms flailing he fell to the ground again. A sharp pain stabbed at his abdomen as he lay there in the wet mulch, winded and wheezing.

When he was sure he was more or less okay, he picked himself up, pulling debris out of a small wound near his belly button. A nasty looking red welt marked where he'd hit a rock embedded in the earth.

Limping back down the hill he passed the point where he'd awoken earlier that morning. From what he could see there was nothing special or unusual about that spot. No flattened circle, no ring of fire, no sphere of disintegrated earth, just normal forest floor exactly the same as anywhere else he'd seen so far.

Before long the trees broke up to reveal a clearing, soft grass and delicate flowers peppered the grove, broken by a stream that ran through the middle. It looked about shin deep and was moving steadily but not fast enough to disturb the silty bottom. Gavin trudged into it, collecting a handful of cool water and scooping it to his mouth. 

“Oh, that's the stuff” he groaned

Splashing water on his stomach he scrubbed the dirt from around the wound there. Without the mud he could see there were a few layers of broken skin but no blood. It'd turn into a painful bruise over the next few days but otherwise he should be okay.

Gavin looked around, the stream was flanked by more bush as it flowed down, it'd be difficult to walk near the water unless he cut back into the woods and kept it in sight or he could walk in the stream and risk slipping or getting stuck in the clinging mud.

“Back up we go I guess” he said as he turned back to climb up the bank he'd just climbed down.

As he turned, something glinted in the corner of his eye, a swirl of light just below the surface of the water. He watched as it swirled, shining more brightly as it coalesced into a small bubble on the surface of the water. It was opaque, glimmering with pearlescent light of slowly undulating pinks, blues and purples. The bubble floated gently down stream towards him, caught in the current of the river.

Not knowing what to make of it, he bent down to pick it up, panicking as 

it pulled him in. His perception of the world shifted, rolling forward into a lake that hadn't been there a moment before. He scrambled to get his bearings, finally pulling himself upright in the waist deep marsh.

he brushed muddy water off his face before taking a look around at his new surroundings. He was in a kidney shaped lake surrounded by a strip of land under a pearlescent dome. Wading back to shore he pulled himself back up onto a bank, trying to understand what was happening.

His best guess was that he was in some sort of pocket dimension. He assumed that touching the dome would let him out, though that was something to investigate later, he didn’t want it to be a one time instance and lose this opportunity to look around.

Standing, he began to navigate his way around the water's edge, trying to discern the purpose of the area. Oddly, he did recognise the plants here, there were flax bushes, cat tails, and a plethora of native grasses he'd seen while out hunting. 

Something wasn't right though, and it took him a moment to place it. There were no animals. No insects, birds, nothing. The place seemed to be a tranquil paradise wasteland. 

He was just contemplating leaving when he heard a splash in the water. Whipping his head around he could see concentric ripples wandering across the lake, but not what had made them. As he watched, another set of ripples appeared as a ‘V’ plowing their way roughly towards where he stood.

Frowning he walked to the side, fear slowly gripping him as whatever was below the surface adjusted its course to track him.

A slimy bullet shaped head emerged from the surface, rows of teeth angled backwards as it snarled at him, slowly, the creature snaked its way out of the water. It was the largest eel Gavin had ever seen or heard of. As thick as his thigh, it was easily as long as he was tall, trailing a slick film of mucus behind it as it slithered towards him.

“Nooope.” Gavin said, turning to flee. 

He took a dozen strides, holding his hand out in front of him. He hit the shimmering wall as if it were solid steel, his hand made a hard slapping sound against it as his shoulder followed through and cracked into it a moment later..

From behind he heard the eel hiss its ire, panicking he began running the perimeter of the lake. He turned to watch the eel, still working its way inexorably towards him. He was going to have to fight it.

Gavin was keenly aware of how much people overestimated their ability to take on wild animals. His uncle had been mauled by a small wild boar, barely escaping with his life, and his old man had his leg torn open by a possum caught in a trap at the time. An eel as big as he was with that many teeth was not something he wanted to get remotely close to.

He looked around for something he could use, spotting several rocks in the soft earth. Racing over to them he hauled them out of the ground, stashing them in his inventory, something that came quite naturally to him. Finding a safe space he could retreat from he stood and waited, watching the eel advance on him with its slow, steady pace.

He lifted his arms above his head, taking the first rock from his inventory he threw it at the ground with all his strength. The rock thumped into the dirt, barely grazing the eel. 

The beast lunged at him, its body lengthening a metre as it threw itself towards him. Gavin dodged to the side, feeling its slick body slap off his back as it flew past. Pivoting, he didn't hesitate to throw another rock, this one slamming into the curled mass of eel as it undulated to face him again. 

The eel seemed to be unphased, twisting on the spot to throw itself at him again. Sweating, Gavin stumbled, crashing down to the ground as the eel slapped past him a second time. He barely got himself righted when it came at him again. 

His final rock appeared in his hands, interposed between them. He thrust it into the open maw of the eel, crushing teeth as its jaw distended to fit around it. He scrambled to the side as the eel dropped beside him, covering his near-naked body in slime as it rolled up over him.

He quickly picked up the first rock he'd thrown, lifting it to hammer down on the eel's head. He felt the two rocks connect with a fleshy thud as he crushed bone. He brought the rock down again and again, not stopping as the eel continued to thrash.

The ground was beginning to thicken with foul goo, causing him to lose his balance as he jelly wrestled the eel for his life. He slammed the rock into thick meaty flesh again and again, stoving its head in and crumpling its vertebrae as it tangled itself up in his flailing limbs.

Slowly the creature faltered, falling off him as its desire to kill him was outweighed by the damage done to it. Grunting in pain he extracted himself from the mass, hauling on handfuls of grass to pull himself clear.

He watched as the eel pulled itself into knots, thrashing wildly as its last spasms of life wracked its dying body.

He watched in silence. He wasn't a massive fan of killing, especially for sport, but this was survival. It was either the eel or him, and he was going to pick himself every time in that equation. Still, he didn't like watching it suffer, but there wasn't much he could do. It was probably already dead, the final nerve impulses making it seem like it was in pain, hopefully. 

As he watched, the eel began to disintegrate, flaking apart as specks of grey ash. An ethereal wind Gavin couldn't feel blew the dust away, dissipating into thin air. Where the eel once was sat a small orb, about as large as a squash ball, nestled in the grass.

It swirled with a twinkling blue light, like looking up from under the ocean on a summer's day. He bent to pick it up, holding it to the light marveling as glinting shafts passed through it. 

[Item: Demon soul]

[Type: Water]

[Rarity: Common]

[Description: Use to unlock Soul Power: Water Breathing]

[Item compatible with user physiology]

“Soul power? That sounds an awful lot like magic powers to me, but water breathing? how gods damned lame.” Gavin grumbled to himself as he shoved the orb into his pocket

He didn't know what was in store for his future, but he knew it was going to involve becoming as powerful as possible, assuming he could find some busted synergy.

The dome of his pocket universe began to crack and splinter while he inspected the glowing orb, the ground beneath his feet roiling as it broke down into the same flaky ash the eel had done a few minutes earlier.

Scrambling, he stumbled for the wall again, relieved to find his hand disappearing through a rift between the cracking shards of barrier. Without hesitation he dived through, feeling a wave of disorientation as he appeared back in the river.

It had grown deeper while he was in the pocket dimension, finding himself flailing in chest deep water as it rushed him down stream. He tried to swim to the edge, but the flow of the river had other ideas, tumbling back towards the middle with each bend. Whitewater washed over him as the speed increased, tumbling him into submerged rocks. He kicked for all he was worth, slamming into one especially large boulder, jarring his shoulder painfully. 

The rapids grew to a crescendo, sending him rolling over a bank of well worn rocks into a widening pool. He landed on a log, toppling over it to fall face first under the water. Thrashing around he fought to right himself, finding the surface he swam up, sucking in lungfuls of air as he was swept out into the middle of the circling pond.

A shallow river wound off at the opposite end, the bottom shallowing out as he swam closer. Finally, his feet gained purchase and he was able to pull himself out of the river. Exhausted, he took stock of himself. 

A ribbon of red trailed its way down his side from a gash he'd picked up somewhere. Probing at the wound on his hip he could feel ragged flesh and torn skin, there was another deep puncture into the meat of his thigh above his kneecap. His shoulder ached, but wasn't too badly damaged.

“Fuckin excellent.” Gavin fumed.  “I'd better get some broken magic powers after this.” 

Bringing up his character sheet again he could see his hit points were getting low and there was now a ‘bleeding-minor’ listed under status conditions 

“Better keep an eye on this.” he muttered to himself.

With renewed resolve he picked himself up, his wounded leg refusing to work properly he fell to a knee. Groaning, he attempted to stand a second time, getting his feet under him with an effort, using the trees to pull himself up. He stumbled and limped along the riverside, ducking back under the larger tree cover when the foliage became too dense in places. 

Under different circumstances he would have really enjoyed exploring the new wilderness, he hadn't been out in the bush since he was a teenager and he found he missed just being outside. Today was different though, he was cold, tired and injured. He needed a hot meal and a cold beer, and maybe something for his wounds.