The wind had begun to pick up, and as I dragged the wolf's corpse behind me. The occasional roar of the wyvern caused me to jump from time to time. Whatever was out there seemed to be giving the wyvern a hell of a fight. With each roar, the winds had grown fiercer, buffeting my body with sand and pebbles. After nearly an hour of dragging the wolf I couldn't even see ten feet in front of me. The winds had turned into a sandstorm, but by luck I had finally found shelter. A small cave entrance, just big enough for the wolf to fit through. The inside was bigger. Not wide, but I had seen New York apartments smaller than the cave so that was something.

It was dark, the only light being the small orange haze emanating from the entrance. I was relieved to stop dragging the mass of brown fur and dried blood. This must have been the rock knight wolf's cave. Heh, thanks for the free house, buddy. I sat down leaning against the dead wolf. It hadn't been dead long enough to start smelling. The fur, while uncomfortable, was much better than hard rock. My body refused to move now. It was the body of a child and I had forced it to drag a gods-knew-how-heavy beast for at least an hour. It deserved a break. Finally, with at least a modicum of time to reflect and investigate, I opened my mouth and tried to speak. Air was all I could force out. This damn body was mute, but apparently even intent was enough, as that screen reappeared. It showed me my status: malnutrition, of course, but apparently whatever the hell a “core” was, I had a light white one. Surprisingly my physical stats seemed decent. I guess a life like this would strengthen anyone, even a child… or I guessed as much. I had no context for what was good or not.

Next up was the obtaining of a class. I didn’t know the context for those either. I had some idea from the few video games I spent time on between my civil engineering classes, but this wasn’t a game, it was a whole ass world.

[Please select a class]

[Classes available]

[Dagger initiate]

[Hero]

[Huntress]

[Nomad]

[Survivor]

That…. wasn’t many options. Well, I supposed it made sense, could I at least look at them in more detail? And as if answering my thoughts, the status displayed more information.

[Hero] …Fuck that. I wasn’t gonna be anyone’s hero. I needed to simply survive until I figured out… how to get back home?

… wait. Did I fucking DIE?! I began to panic at what that might mean, but packed that away like I was taught to. Time enough for that later… which I definitely wouldn’t put off until I couldn’t.

[Nomad] Those who wander the land, for various reasons, a yearning for freedom, banishment, exile, a journey of self discovery. A nomad walks different paths from the traveler, they avoid civilization and live off the land completely.

[Survivor] Those tossed unto the wilds of the world, yet refuse to merely die by the hands of mother nature. Struggle ye abandoned souls, dig thy nails into the dirt, and crawl your way out of hell, do not submit, do not bend the knee to reality, Survive. No matter what.

[Huntress] Before man learned to tame the beasts, they hunted and gathered. To participate in the circle of life, hunting and being hunted, is one of the highest honors in the eyes of these warriors. To provide sustenance to others, from the death of beasts, is the duty of a hunter. No matter the age, there will always be the wilds, untamed, and there will always be hunters.

[Dagger initiate] You picked up a dagger and swung it around, you can't even be called a beginner. If you desire the path of the dagger, then admit your lack of knowledge and begin your journey from the lowest step.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Jeez, who the hell wrote these…. The dagger one sounded like it was simply insulting me, and the others were just filled with honeyed words… Still, as I looked at these, there was only one option I could truly pick. I was no hunter, and while yes I wanted to escape this hellhole, I did not feel a real desire to explore this world…. I needed one thing, to survive until I could begin to aspire for something greater than that.

[Class Chosen. Congratulations Survivor.]

[Distributing Skills]

[Survival crafting unlocked]

[Animal processing unlocked]

[Toxin resistance unlocked]

[Passive Skills Distributed]

[Hunter vision unlocked]

[Physical boost unlocked]

[Conceal unlocked]

[Launch unlocked]

[Prestidigitation unlocked]

[Active Skills Distributed.]

[Thank you for the wait Survivor.]

Ugh, I held my head as an uncomfortable feeling welled up in my head. Suddenly in the back of my mind was a bunch of new information that I just somehow knew... it was as familiar to me as tying my shoes.

It was time to read those skill and see what this system gave me. [Survival crafting] seemed to have given me basic crafting knowledge. Nothing fancy, but I could make some primitive tools, use vines, sticks, and leaves to make a shelter, how to make a fire with only the supplies found in my environment. Everything needed to keep me alive. It seemed useful enough. Next, [Animal processing]… from the sounds of it, it's just knowledge on how to dress and butcher game. Well, I now at least had the knowledge to cook this wolf, but there was still one last passive given by the class, [Toxin resistance], it was essentially an ability that made me immune to impurities, toxins, and poison to a degree. So I could eat meat and drink water without worrying if it was clean I guess. My lips cracked open as a smile crossed my lips. No death by dysentery for me, at least. Now I would just have to find some water to actually have it be useful. However, these really did give me exactly what I needed. This system seems to have some uses I guessed.

Oh, there were still the active skills I needed to check. The first one was…. [Hunter's Vision], if I remembered correctly. The feeling of a film covering my eyes washed over me as soon as I thought about the skill, my vision had become much clearer. It was as if when I focused on something I was holding a magnifying glass to it. More than that, though, on the floor a faded glow drew my attention. I looked down and noticed that the glow came from marked pawprints. This is what it meant by [Hunters' Vision], huh? I could see tracks and traces of disturbances in clearer detail, though I still didn’t see everything right away. Still, it would be great for catching food. Next, [Physical boost] gave me a temporary boost in all my physical stats in return for a time limit, cooldown, and penalty period. [Conceal], at first when I read it, seemed weak. I would have much preferred something like pure stealth or invisibility, but as I read it over and over, this was much more useful to me. Activating this would make my presence harder to detect, yes, but it really shined in the fact it erased my trail. I wouldn't leave footprints or a scent trail while using [Conceal], and I’d make fewer noises. I didn’t know if there was a skill called [Stealth] but this seemed to be a more low, long term kind of skill, one used for long periods of time. So far this was the best skill out of these I had read. [Launch]... the hell was this about? It was just a skill that let me put extra strength in when throwing things. Some kind of multiplier I could already throw a rock, why did I need a stupid skill for it? Irritated, I picked up a small pebble on the ground and tossed it at the opposite side of the small cave. But as I moved my arm, I could feel strength well up inside it. And the moment the pebble left my hand, it had vanished from my sight. Across the cave, the pebble exploded violently. I…. may have underestimated the launch skill. I imagined what it would be like with a spear… or even a sling! Oh, or a spear thrower!

Speculation aside, it was time for the last active skill the class gave me. [Prestidigitation]. As I read the description my eyes lit up, magic! One of the first skills I got was magic! Sure, it may have been some of the weakest spells. But fire and water on demand! Without thinking at all I held my hand above my mouth and focused on the skill [Prestidigitation]. From seemingly nowhere, a small intricate glowing blue circle appeared right below my palm, and water poured from the circle straight in my mouth. But… I barely made a cup worth of water before the flow sputtered and ultimately stopped, and the circle vanished. I swallowed the water with joy… but that elation didn’t last. I felt goddamn exhausted suddenly. How did doing that make me feel worse than dragging a 6-foot beast covered in rocks for an hour! Did this have to do with my "vacant" mana that was on status? Or was it my “light white” mana core? Either way, I was starting with no talent at magic. But at the minimum I wouldn't die of dehydration now. Water was solved, kind of at least, and shelter was solved for now thanks to the cave.