Class Selected: Myrmidon

The shadows bend to your will. Stealth, precision, and lethal strikes are your tools. Welcome to the path of the assassin.

The words faded, replaced by another screen detailing his starting stats, abilities, and equipment. The interface was clean, easy to understand, and surprisingly intuitive. He scanned through the list:

Name: Alex (Alexios) Pierce

Race: Human

Class: Myrmidon

Sub-Class: Not Yet Assigned

Level: 14

Experience: 0 / 200

Health Points (HP): 220 / 220

Mana Points (MP): 180 / 180

Stamina: 200 / 200

Attributes:

* Strength: 10

* Dexterity: 16

* Endurance: 17

* Intelligence: 18

* Charisma: 8

Free Points: 4

Followers: 0

Starting Abilities

* Shadow Strike (40MP)

* Poison Blade (30 MP)

* Fade into Shadow (50MP)

* Achilles’ Fury (250MP – costs less as HP decreases)

Starting Equipment

* Shadow Dagger: A lightweight blade designed for stealth attacks.

* Leather Armor: Light, flexible armor that offers minimal protection but allows for agility.

* 5 Smoke Bombs: Creates a cloud of smoke, obscuring vision and allowing for a quick escape or repositioning.

* 10 Gold: Used for purchasing items/weapons

* 2 Health Potions: Used to restore health immediately if not able to wait for health to regenerate

Alex let out a slow breath as he read through the details. He was still slightly concerned about the notice he’d have comparatively less health but figured that by being careful and finding good items he’d be able to overcome that.

As the screen flickered once again, another message appeared:

Welcome to the game.

Your journey begins now.

Suddenly, the world around him seemed to ripple and shift. His vision blurred, and a strange sense of vertigo overtook him. He reached out instinctively, but there was nothing to grab onto.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast field. The gentle breeze carried the salty tang of the sea, and when he turned his head, the shimmering blue of the ocean stretched out before him, meeting the horizon in a perfect line. Tall grass swayed in the wind around him, and the sound of waves crashing against a distant shore was faint but soothing.

He took a moment to absorb his surroundings, feeling the sun on his face and the ground firm beneath his feet. This wasn’t a dense, foreboding forest like he had imagined for a typical fantasy starting area. No, this was something different—open, coastal, with the scent of adventure in the air.

As he looked around, his gaze was drawn to a village off in the distance. Its white stone buildings gleamed in the sunlight, clustered together like pearls on the coastline. At the heart of the village stood a small shrine, its marble columns unmistakably Greek in design. But despite the ancient architecture, the village didn’t have the feel of some forgotten place from history. There were signs of life—smoke rising from chimneys, figures moving about their daily routines.

"Sure looks like Greece." Alex muttered to himself. He had studied enough history and seen enough television to recognize the telltale signs of a Hellenic settlement, but this didn’t look like something straight out of ancient Greece. The buildings looked new and well maintained.

He had only taken a few more steps when something in the grass stirred—a sound too loud to be the wind. He froze, his senses instantly sharpening. The grass shifted, parting like a curtain, and then—

A massive boar burst out of the tall grass, tusks gleaming in the sunlight. Its beady eyes were locked on Alex, and with a deep, guttural snort, it charged.

Adrenaline surged through Alex’s body. His instincts took over as he dove to the side at the last second, rolling across the grass just as the boar's tusks slashed through the space he’d just been standing in. The boar thundered past him, its hooves pounding the ground with raw power.

Alex scrambled to his feet, his heart racing, his hand instinctively reaching for his dagger. He stared at the creature, blinking in surprise. It was larger than any wild boar he had ever seen, its hide thick and covered in coarse bristles, its tusks razor-sharp and deadly. The boar wheeled around with surprising speed, its eyes filled with animal rage, and snorted again, preparing for another charge.

Just as Alex was trying to figure out his next move, an alert appeared in front of him, hovering in mid-air:

New Ability Unlocked

Identify: Allows the user to focus on an individual or item to reveal information. The amount of detail provided depends on the difference in levels between the user and the target.

Alex narrowed his eyes at the boar. Focusing on the creature, he tried to activate the new ability. At first, nothing happened, but then, as he concentrated harder, a small panel of text began to materialize in his vision, just above the boar’s head.

Wild Boar

Level: 10

Health: 350 / 350

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 3

Endurance: 10

Alex's eyes widened and his mind raced. While he was a slightly higher level, this boar was clearly stronger than him, and its health was much higher than his.

The boar charged again, its massive body barreling toward him with terrifying speed. Alex leapt to the side again, just barely avoiding the lethal tusks. His body rolled instinctively, but the boar was relentless. It turned quickly, kicking up dirt as it prepared to charge again. The creature was fast for its size, and Alex knew he couldn’t afford to keep dodging forever as he imagined that either his stamina would run out or he’d end up getting impaled by one of the tusks.

As he got to his feet, Alex's mind raced. He knew he had to figure out a strategy, probably sooner rather than later—there had to be a way to bring the creature down, but head-on combat wasn't it. He glanced around, quickly assessing the environment. Tall grass, the open field, and the distant village. No obvious weapons or terrain advantages. It was just him and his starting gear.

The boar snorted and charged again, kicking up chunks of dirt and grass. This time, Alex didn’t wait until the last second to move. Instead, he sidestepped early and activated Fade into Shadow, partially disappearing from sight as his body seemed to merge with the shadows cast by the tall grass.

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The boar, confused, skidded to a halt, its head snapping from side to side as it tried to locate its prey. Alex’s heart pounded in his chest. He crept through the shadows, moving silently behind the beast. This was his chance.

Activating Poison Blade, Alex's dagger shimmered with a faint green glow as it became coated in venom. He surged forward from the shadows, aiming for the creature’s vulnerable hindquarters. With a swift, precise strike, he plunged the blade into the boar's thick hide, aiming just below its spine.

The boar let out a blood-curdling squeal, its body convulsing as the poison began to seep into its bloodstream. But it wasn’t down yet—not even close. The creature whirled around, swinging its tusks in direction that the attack had come from, its eyes filled with fury. Alex barely had time to leap back, the tusks grazing his side as he dodged.

He stumbled, feeling the sting of the near-hit, but forced himself to stay on his feet, noticing that the attack, whether his own or the boars, seemed to have made him completely visible again. The poison had done some damage, but the boar was tough. Its health bar had only dropped slightly, and now it was enraged. Alex had to be smarter. The only comforting factor was that it did appear to be poisoned as its health bar was continuing to drop.

The boar pawed at the ground, preparing for another charge. Alex quickly checked his mana—he still had enough for one more attack, but after that, he would be running on fumes. He needed to make this next attack count.

The boar lunged again, but this time Alex didn’t move to dodge. Instead, he waited until the very last moment, his muscles tensed. As the boar’s tusks came within feet of his body, Alex activated Fade into Shadow and as he vanished from sight he narrowly dodged out of the way of the attack, leaving the boar to charge straight through the empty space where he had been.

He ran up behind the creature once more, but this time he wasn’t aiming to strike its body. He saw an opening—a narrow gap between the boar’s thick skull and its back. Wanting to stun or confuse the animal, Alex hurled one of his smoke bombs directly in front of the boar’s face.

The bomb exploded in a thick cloud of smoke, disorienting the creature. The boar squealed in confusion, its movements erratic as it tried to understand what had happened.

This was his moment.

With the boar struggling to see, Alex activated Shadow Strike. He moved like lightning, darting forward with his dagger in hand, and plunged the blade deep into the boar’s neck. He felt a surge of energy erupt from the strike, amplifying the damage that the attack had caused.

The boar let out a final, pitiful squeal before its massive body collapsed onto the ground, twitching once before going still.

A notification flashed in front of Alex:

Wild Boar defeated. Experience gained: 100.

Panting, Alex stood over the fallen boar, his breath still coming in heavy bursts as the adrenaline began to subside. His body ached, especially where the creature’s tusks had grazed his side. It was a near miss, but when he glanced down at his health bar, his stomach sank. Even though the boar’s attack hadn’t landed directly, his health bar was already down to almost half. Anything more than a lucky hit and he might’ve been done for.

"Damn, I need to be more careful." The realization hit him hard—the fight with the boar had shown him how quickly things could spiral out of control. He had narrowly avoided taking a fatal hit and appeared to be lucky to be alive.

Alex took a deep breath, calming his racing thoughts. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a basic healing potion, grateful that the game had started him off with a few of these. Without wasting any time, he downed the potion, watching as his health bar gradually crept back up. The warm sensation of the potion’s magic spread through his body, and some of the ache in his muscles faded.

"That was too close," he muttered, glancing back at the boar’s lifeless body.

As he stood there, another notification appeared in his field of vision:

Loot Available: Do you wish to loot the Wild Boar?

Alex blinked in surprise. Right—of course, there was loot. He had fought his first real battle in this world, and rewards always followed victories. He accepted the prompt without hesitation, curious to see what kind of items he’d get from such a formidable creature.

What happened next caught him completely off guard. As soon as he accepted the option to loot, the boar’s body shimmered for a moment, then abruptly vanished into thin air. One second it was there, a hulking mass of bristly fur and muscle, and the next it was gone, as if it had never existed at all.

Alex’s eyes widened in shock. "What the hell?" The sudden disappearance of the boar felt strange, but before he could dwell on it too long, another alert popped up:

Items Obtained:

* 3 pieces of Poisoned Raw Boar Meat

* 1 Boar Hide

* 2 Boar Tusks

Part of him wanted to inspect the items but he knew he couldn’t afford to relax yet. If a boar had been wandering this area, there could be other creatures lurking nearby. And if the wild boar was level 10, then who knew what else might be out there. His early-game status wasn’t going to cut it if he ran into something even stronger.

With no better options and a growing sense of curiosity, Alex began making his way toward the village. The tall grass parted as he walked, and the sound of his footsteps was drowned out by the rhythmic crash of the waves against the shore. As he walked towards the village his thoughts shifted back to the fight. The Identify skill had been a game-changer, giving him information about his enemy, which had probably prevented him from running straight at the wild boar. That ability would definitely be crucial going forward, especially if he could gather more details as he leveled up.

Beyond that he new that his Fade into Shadow skill had saved him, allowing him to escape notice, and was especially powerful when combined with Shadow Strike. But it was clear that relying solely on that wouldn’t be enough. He needed more versatility. The Poison Blade might have been useful, but the attack itself had obviously alerted the boar to his attack and that combined with the fact that it took the poison took time to work was a bad combination, as in a fast-paced fight, he might not always have the luxury of waiting for it to wear down his enemies.

As he approached, the details of the village became clearer. Children ran through the streets, women carried baskets of goods, and men worked near fishing boats beached by the water.

He was nearly at the road leading into the village when an older man caught sight of him. The man had a weathered face, his skin tanned from years spent under the sun, and a neatly trimmed gray beard. Dressed in simple clothing, the man looked like a local—a fisherman or perhaps a farmer. His brow furrowed as his eyes locked onto Alex, and with a quick glance around, he began making his way over, suspicion evident in his expression.

Alex tensed but didn’t reach for his weapon, as he doubted this man was a threat, but because he also didn’t know how the locals might react to a stranger with a drawn weapon. When the man reached him, he spoke in a language Alex didn’t understand. It was a rapid string of words, his tone questioning and cautious.

Greek. The man was speaking Greek.

Alex stared at him, the realization sinking in that he had no idea what the man had just said. He opened his mouth to respond, but stopped, unsure how to proceed. Instead, he simply stared at the man for a second.

Suddenly, a new alert flashed in front of his eyes:

New Ability Unlocked

Universal Translator: Enables the user to understand and communicate in any language spoken by sentient beings.

Alex blinked in surprise. Well, that was convenient.

Alex looked back at the man, his confusion disappearing. “Could you repeat that?” he asked, testing the new ability.

The older man hesitated for a moment, his brow knitting together as if unsure whether Alex was toying with him. But after a brief pause, he nodded and repeated his question, this time with a hint of curiosity instead of suspicion.

“Who are you? What brings you to our village?”

Alex took a deep breath, considering his answer. His name—Alex—felt too modern, too out of place in a setting like this. If he was going to blend in, he needed to adapt and remembering the bracketed name he had seen right above his stats replied to the man. “My name is Alexios, I’m just a traveler. I have no idea where I am.”

The man’s eyes narrowed, but not in hostility. More like he was trying to assess whether Alex—Alexios—was telling the truth. After a moment, he relaxed slightly, gesturing toward the village. “Welcome to our village, Alexios. My name is Dimitrios. You say you don’t know where you are?”

Alex nodded. “I’ve been ... wandering for a while. I found myself near the sea, and your village was the first sign of civilization I saw.”

Dimitrios studied him for another moment, then sighed, his shoulders slumping as if he had been carrying the weight of something heavy. “We don’t get many travelers here,” he said, his voice softening. “Not anymore.”

“Why not?” Alexios asked, glancing toward the village. It looked peaceful enough.

“There are ... troubles in the lands beyond. Strange creatures. You’d do well to stay near the village unless you have a death wish.” Dimitrios looked back at Alexios, his eyes hardening again. “But you don’t look like an ordinary traveler. There’s something about you.”

Alexios tried to shrug off the man’s scrutiny. “I’m just trying to survive, same as anyone else.”

Dimitrios grunted, his skepticism still clear. “Well, if you’re looking for shelter or work, you can speak to the village elder. His house is near the shrine in the center of town.”

Alexios nodded, grateful for the direction. “Thank you, Dimitrios. I’ll do that.”

The older man gave a curt nod and turned to leave, heading toward the edge of the village with the deliberate pace of someone who had better things to do than to waste all day talking to him.

Alexios watched him go, then turned his gaze toward the village. It felt strange, like stepping into a living painting. But this place was real, and if Dimitrios was right, there were dangers far greater than what Alex had encountered in the field.

As he made his way toward the village center, passing villagers who gave him curious glances but did not approach, Alexios felt a spark of excitement.

This was it. His adventure had truly begun.

His path lay ahead, and there was no turning back.

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