With a groan of exertion, Edge scaled the final stretch of slope leading to the grasslands.

When he took that last step out of the ravine, the walls of earth fell away. He grinned as the Ivory Plains appeared before his gaze. Puffy white clouds danced across the azure heavens, the prairie stretching out in every direction for as far as his eyes could see.

Although he was far from safe, leaving those lightless, monster-ridden depths felt like stepping out of a nightmare and into a dream. Looking up at those sunny blue skies, at the world of light he’d thought that he would never see again, brought tears to his eyes.

Edge spread his arms wide and took a deep breath in through his nose, savoring the sunlight caressing his face.

He took in the scents of wildflowers in bloom all around him. Of grass and soil. Of life.

The day was warm, but the wind was crisp, forming a perfect complement to one another. That was when he realized that the grasslands were glowing. Emitting not light, but magical energy, forming a living tapestry of shimmering power.

He’d been here before, but it hadn’t been like this. Edge could see the planet’s magic rolling across the prairie. Taste the vitality in the very air he breathed. Magicytes infused the clouds above his head and the soil below his boots, flowing into every living thing on Ord.

He had heard that binding a core enhanced the five senses, but he’d never imagined that it would be so intense. It was as if the world had been obscured by mist, and now he was seeing what lay beneath.

This wasn’t just the sharpening that came with raising perception, but an entirely new level of depth and complexity. A thousand novel sensations washed over him. A mind-boggling experience that he had no vocabulary to describe.

The colors were scintillating. The scents so rich that he could taste them in the air. The sounds blended to form a living symphony, and that was just the beginning. Woven throughout it all, harmonizing and enriching the rest, was the magic of Ord.

Now that his core was absorbing ambient magicytes, Edge could feel the planet’s energy caressing his skin like a lover’s touch, stimulating each of his senses in ways that he’d never imagined possible.

The air was so saturated with magic that he could see it swirling in the wind, amplifying the cries of animals in the distance. He could hear the chirping of birds. The buzzing of insects. The croaking of alien creatures that had no earthly equivalents. He listened to the music of the breeze stirring the grass, forming an endless roar.

It was one of the most profound moments of his life. A memory that he would treasure until his final breath. With a smile on his face at the captivating, otherworldly display, Edge cast his gaze over the Ivory Plains like he was seeing them for the first time. Which, in a sense, it was.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Before the anomaly, he had merely been piloting his puppet, granting the environment the ambiance of an elaborate simulation, even though the fidelity was true to life. After the disaster, he had been too overwhelmed to focus on anything other than his immediate survival.

But somehow, after looking death square in the eye, he’d come to accept the terms of his new life.

He was here. Really here. Standing on the surface of an alien world.

More than that, he’d found a core, and the boundless paths to power were stretching out in front of him. This was Edge’s true beginning. His origin story. He was writing the first chapter of his new life. Stage-zero and packed with potential.

He stretched out while taking it all in, running his eyes across the grasslands as he decided which path he wanted to follow.

Walking straight through the overgrowth was out of the question. The Ivory Plains were named from the two varieties of tall grass that dominated the biome. One was a white plant that absorbed magic rather than sunlight. It was lush and soft and pleasant to walk on.

The other was a pale yellow. It underwent photosynthesis like most plants from Earth, in addition to feeding on Ord’s magic. Its blades were rigid, tough, and sharp enough to cut flesh. Traversing it was a nightmare for the unprepared. Together, the grasses gave the plains the hue of old ivory or bone, although there was plenty of color to be found.

Out in the distance, he could see three massive pillars of stone jutting against the horizon, part of a formation known as the Guide’s Fingers. There had been two more until the anomaly carried them off to a distant locale. Is it just me, or do they look smaller than usual? He shook his head. There’s no point in worrying about it now.

The fingers were formed from a mineral that glowed green in the dark. They were visible even at night, making it nearly impossible to get lost while crossing the plains. It was only one small item to cross off his long list of worries, but Edge would take what he could get.

Alright, that’s enough sightseeing. Which way should I go? While he was busy climbing back to the surface, he’d reviewed everything that he knew about the area. He was in the southeast quadrant of the biome right now. He needed to reach the settlement on the far side of the fingers, about thirty-five miles as the crow flies.

He had to get back to town as quickly as possible, but it wasn’t his only concern. Edge needed to stick to familiar places and stay well away from any of the regions that had been brought here by the disaster. It wouldn’t protect him from every roaming monster, but they were likely still concentrated around their native environments.

Either way, it was the best that he could do under the circumstances. He wouldn’t be safe until he stepped behind the warded walls protecting Puppet Town and was back among the cored guardians that called it home. Since he didn’t have to worry about starving to death, it would be safer to proceed with caution and make the trip over two days instead of one.

His first order of business was to find something to eat. Edge needed to fill his belly, and eating something rich in magicytes would help refill his reserves. He would be in real trouble if something attacked him while his reservoir was nearly empty.

Such resources were often guarded by dangerous beasts, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. As he journeyed, he needed to grow stronger, which meant that he was going to find himself in battle again sooner rather than later. He could grab a meal and cycle-up all at the same time.

Fighting was a way of life for the cored inhabitants of Ord, and Edge was ready to step into the ring.