Chapter 2:

After making small talk and introducing himself to the other people going to forage, he went off with two of them to start collecting useful things in the forest. They made sure to leave a very noticeable trail back to the clearing as they went, listening to the advice Clark gave of breaking branches and leaving marks.

The forest itself wasn’t too bad to travel, at least not for Daniel. The trees weren’t too dense, and neither was the undergrowth. The canopy above was rather thick, leaving them in heavy shadow, but not darkness.

The girl of the couple he was with complained noisily about everything though. The dampness of the ground. The occasional bugs. Places where the underbrush was too thick to pass. The overly earthy smell. Not being able to use her phone as a flashlight, since it was already almost out of batteries.

Yeah… she complained a lot at first. Daniel mostly ignored it, but eventually the guy with her, her boyfriend from how close the two were, managed to distract her.

Daniel was mostly lost in thought, though he did spend several long moments on his phone, when he’d been reminded of its existence by the girl. He’d lost his in the original timeline—how he decided to think about the past that now never was—early on and hadn’t touched another phone since. It was nostalgic, but not very useful except for keeping time, being a light source, and for taking pictures.

Even then, once it was out of batteries, that would be that. At least, until he ran into some of the more clever people from Earth out there. Apparently someone had managed to make magic generate the right currents or wattage to charge phones through their chargers. At least, that’s what he had heard. He hadn’t actually kept in touch with other Otherworlders much, except to hear if anyone had found a way home.

But that wouldn’t matter for some time yet. They had to get out of the wilderness first for a chance at meeting someone who could do that. So after taking some time to look at the photos, and cursing his younger self for not being much of a picture taker, he turned it off and put it away. Better to save the battery life.

Daniel turned his attention back towards his two companions as they made their way back deeper into the forest, after having just left what they gathered in the camp.

He hadn’t been paying too much attention when they had first grouped up. But as the two with him kept flirting with each other, having gotten over their complaints, lost in their own little world, Daniel eventually remembered what happened in the original timeline. He’d actually gone to do some gathering as well, and had been with these two, too.

And it was a good thing he ended up being the one going with them again, as their carelessness almost got him killed the first time around. They had ended up ditching him later in the day, to probably fool around—something he didn’t get how they could feel up for, given their circumstance—and Daniel had run into his first Monsters of this world.

Goblins.

Just a small group of E-Rank Monsters.

Something a newbie adventurer could cut their teeth into. Or something that he could have obliterated without a second's thought before coming back in time.

But to the him of ten years ago, having never fought anything in his life? Without a single class, and being completely unprepared?

It had been the most dangerous thing he’d encountered up until that point of his life.

Through luck, adrenaline, and probably more luck, he managed to kill one using a stolen rusty knife and got away from the others, after playing an absurdly dangerous game of hide and seek in the forest with the little bastards. They were cruel, bloodthirsty little beasts, despite their humanoid appearances. To be expected of Monsters, but extra disturbing to him back then.

It hadn’t been all bad though. As that prolonged game of running, hiding and stabbing had earned him his Rogue class. Something that served him well until he finally evolved it and fused the class with his Mage class.

But, of course, there were much less dangerous and easier ways of getting that class, and he didn’t want anyone else to go through what he went through. So it was good that they wouldn’t have to since he was the one with these two again. He’d have to make sure to say something to them after, though not now.

And not how he did it the first time either. Screaming at them while covered in goblin blood probably hadn’t done much for his reputation back then as someone to listen to, instead of a maniac. It hadn’t helped that the goblins had done what Monsters do and took care of the remains, leaving him without proof of his encounter.

That had been incredibly frustrating back then.

But this time around, it might be good if they do ditch him, so he can slip away from the group without notice. Even as he was now, the goblins wouldn’t be much of an issue, so he could use that time alone to do more than just kill some goblins.

It had been an hour or so since they began foraging, going back and forth from the surrounding forest with building materials and other useful things. Slowly they moved further and further away from camp, taking anything that was easy to carry. It was mainly fallen branches and sticks, but the other two also grabbed whatever looked edible, when they weren’t distracted with each other.

Daniel did the same, though he had to hold back on commenting when they grabbed things he knew were poisonous. He would have said something if they had been reckless enough to just try and eat them, but Clark had asked everyone to avoid that and have some careful testing done back at camp when they realized no one recognized the plants around here. Despite being rather lackadaisical as time went on, neither had been that careless so he didn’t have to intervene.

Daniel of course made sure to only collect actually edible foods that he recognized, as well as some special things for himself.

The only thing of major note that had happened during this time was the first class prompt. It had been someone who had some wilderness experience being offered a Forager class by the system. That had prompted a lot of discussion from everyone around, with some people treating it like a game, while others trying to be more practical and suspicious. In the end, the one who got it declined it.

They hadn’t known if they could get more than one class and the guy didn’t want to get locked into a non-combat class if this really was like a game and there were Monsters around. It wouldn’t have been that bad for the guy, as the class limit was five, and something like Forager wouldn’t affect his leveling of a combat class. But it might have been a bit of a waste if the guy didn’t plan on being in the wilderness much and needing to forage.

After this, some people started spending some time trying to unlock a combat class by sparring with their crude wooden spears. They ignored the complaints that they were goofing off by saying that they’d be the ones protecting everyone if it worked and there were Monsters.

It would have been a good idea, if they had someone with actual spear fighting experience to teach them, or they went and fought a Monster. But a couple of untrained people, essentially play-fighting, were unlikely to unlock a new class like that. At least not fast enough to matter.

Daniel hadn’t paid much attention to this or the previous discussion about classes, as he already knew how classes and things like that worked. Of course, he couldn’t really explain any of that to them, without the ability to say how he knew. Not that they’d believe him anyway. He was also rather preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Now though, he had enough time to get his thoughts in order. Both trying to recall as much as he could about what happened during this time, as well as what he needed to do now.

He’d come down on several important things he needed to do, though the most important one he began working on right away. Well, as much as he could while other people were around. No matter how distracted the two with him were by each other, he doubted they would not notice if he started practicing spells.

And that was something he needed to do. Because regardless of what his other plans were, something he had learned long ago in this world was strength was one of the most important things. In a world where there were people who could fight entire armies by themselves and reshape the landscape to their whims like a god, safety and personal agency was an illusion for the weak.

Sure, there are plenty of people in this world who no doubt have lived perfectly normal and happy lives, without ever coming anywhere close to the level of power the top of the world had. But that happiness could have been taken away at any time. By a tiny subset of the population, sure, but Daniel hadn’t wanted to leave things to chance the first time, and now that he knew the whole world would be threatened in 9 years, it was impossible for him to do anything but reach for power.

In this world, that meant getting a class and leveling it up. Well… it was a bit more complex than that, and he still wasn’t sure what the optimal path was, with the option of class evolutions and combinations, and titles, as well as his chance for a fresh start. But it all started with a single class.

And this time, he would fully pursue the class he’d been the most interested in. The most versatile and powerful class—At least in his opinion, though a whole nation agreed with him about this—the mage class. Not only that, but it would be his first class this time, and he’d be able to advance it faster, without another combat class taking up all the experience he’d normally get from fighting.

Interest wasn’t the only reason he decided upon this path, however. The final battle had made him realize a lot of things. Some were wrong, now that he was back in time, but one thing remained true as far as he was concerned. And that was he needed a way off this world.

Coming back in time and having a lot of knowledge of what was coming and when was good. In fact, it might be enough to turn the tides. The Goddess of Light certainly thought so. But…

Daniel had seen the power of the demons and their demonic gods…

He’d seen, from very far away, gods die. Torn apart. Devoured.

He felt first hand just how powerful the forces arrayed against this world were. Even with his arm back, occasionally, he could still almost feel that burning pain as he was seen through completely and his arm taken with a casual swipe.

Daniel wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he was anywhere near the best this world had to offer. But he’d been strong. Properly strong. He and his friend had been A-Rank adventurers. They’d taken on S-Rank Monsters together before. And yet, during that battle, they had been destroyed almost completely.

The S-Rank adventurers and the ones that were meant to lead them to victory had suffered similar fates as well. They struggled longer and took more of the demons with them, but they fell in the end too.

Everyone fell…

Everyone who didn’t run.

Which was why, even given this chance, Daniel was going to find a way off this world. He’d make sure to accomplish the task set to him by the Goddess of Light. But after that he’d leave things in the hands of those far more qualified. Instead, he’d continue on the path he set out on when he’d recovered from the final battle.

And he’d do it a lot more easily this time, without demons on his heel and as an Advanced or Master Mage instead of a Shadow Blade. Of course, he had to become a Mage first as well as get out of this forest.

But since actually casting spells was off the table for the moment, until the two ditched him, he instead focused on controlling his mana. With how little he had at the moment, without even the most basic mage skills, he could release it out in the world while trying to control it, without anyone seeing anything as it took much greater mana concentrations to be visible.

This didn’t give him the Mage class, as the World System would only offer it once he cast his first spell. But it did help him get a better feel for his now much diminished magical power and control.

As he did this, he also made sure to keep an eye out for any magically saturated woods or plants. They’d be very helpful for a number of reasons, and would bolster his incredibly diminished magical prowess. Something very much needed until he could gain the Mage class and level it up a bit.

By the time the couple finally ditched him, much further into the canopy covered forest than they had reached previously, Daniel had a nice assortment of magical ingredients, as well as a strong desire to finally cast some magic and to start on his plan.

Making sure to go in the opposite direction that the two had snuck off to—though really they hadn’t been that sneaky, and his younger self must have just been rather distracted to not notice quickly enough—he found himself a small clearing to work in and cast his first spell since coming back in time.

It was just a simple light cantrip, uncreatively named Ball of Light. A spell so simple that anyone with even a lick of talent would be able to cast with time. All it took was a gesture, some mana, some intent, and the word ‘light’ in ancient Draconic. He could have done it in the past without any of those, just pure mana control and will, but he decided it was best to stick with the basics for now, until he could get used to his diminished capabilities, along with his tiny mana pool.

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In his cupped hand, a small ball of light appeared and floated. Even under the relatively sparse canopy of the trees above, it wasn’t all that bright. Yet, it was enough for the system to count it as a spell.

Ding!

Congratulations! You’ve performed your first spell and have unlocked the Mage class! Do you wish to accept?

Daniel smiled and accepted with a thought. Then he felt his awareness of his mana expand, as well as his awareness of the mana around him.

Ding!

Congratulations. You have obtained the Mage Class!

Ding!

You are a level 1 mage.

Ding!

You have unlocked the skill: Mana Sense

Mana Sense wasn’t as useful as some of the other beginner Mage class skills at the moment, but it would certainly make finding magical ingredients faster. And while the Mage class could be leveled through combat, it could also simply be leveled through learning and exploring magic. With his years of experience with magic, it shouldn’t take him too long to level up at least a couple more times in a short amount of time.

Though even now, he could feel his tiny mana pool drain far too quickly for his liking and cut off the spell. His stomach also decided to show its displeasure to him with a growl. It had been a while since he’d eaten, and using up his mana like he had been doing made that worse.

That would be the main thing holding him back from leveling quickly. His small mana pool and the hunger that draining it would cause. Though thankfully he had a solution for both of those problems.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out some berries he’d picked and kept discreetly, and popped them into his mouth. Then he took out a large mushroom with a blue cap, which wasn’t particularly appetizing given its color and smell, before sighing and eating that too. It didn’t taste good but it was food.

And beggars couldn’t be choosers.

After he finished eating what he gathered, he felt better rather quickly and his mana pool recovered as well. Though that had more to do with the properties of what he ate, instead of actually having gotten enough food to be satiated. He was now eighteen again and his body had the hunger of a teenager. Several handfuls of berries and a large mushroom wouldn’t normally be enough to fill him up.

But since those berries and the mushrooms were magical, it was enough. Infused with mana that permeated this wild forest, it filled his body with mana which absorbed some of it as energy. The rest of it was slowly absorbed by his mana pool, restoring his own mana reserves without tapping into the energy of his body.

That made it so he’d be able to replenish his mana pool quicker and without hunger pains for a bit. It also made the mushroom and berries poisonous to those who couldn’t do magic, or didn’t know how to use up their mana. The build up of mana in the body from eating it was… dangerous to say the least. Death was probably the nicest outcome if too much of it built up in the body, even if the mana in the mushroom was far more ordered than pure mana.

But none of that mattered to him as he’d be using up all the mana they had and more. He’d be keeping an eye out for more when he got on the move again, since they were so useful for him at the moment. They would be much more potent distilled into an actual potion, but he didn’t have the gear or time for that.

For the next little while, Daniel stayed in the clearing, practicing spells as well as preparing for what was to come. He made sure to keep an eye and ear out for the other two, in case they wandered over, as well as for any signs of goblins or other Monsters.

The first thing he did was make another spear with magic. One that was more suitable than a sharpened random stick like the one he’d gotten from camp. He’d still keep that one with him as a backup, and probably only take that one back to camp as it’d be hard to explain the one he made, but for the moment a much better spear would be a lot more useful. And to kill two birds with one stone, he used far more spells than necessary to do so to level up as well.

He started by using a basic wood shaping spell to straighten out a promising fallen branch he found, as well as get rid of any internal imperfections he could feel. It was a first tier spell, making it harder to cast than a cantrip. But with his experience with magic, it was still relatively easy to cast without any skills to aid his control. Admittedly it did take him two tries, but he also wasn’t trying to cast in battle or anything and could take his time.

For sharpening the tip, he chose another spell to practice: the Cutting Cantrip. Not very powerful, but less mana intensive, and just another spell performed to help him level quicker. Then, to finish things off, he cast a fire cantrip to carbonize the tip.

And then he was done. It still wasn’t much, but he wouldn’t need all that much to kill a goblin. They might be far stronger than their size would suggest, but for someone of Daniel's skill, a wooden spear that wouldn’t break would be enough. The spear he’d gotten from camp might have worked out too, though Daniel hadn’t wanted to chance things that much, given just how weak he’d become since waking up in his old body.

With his weapon taken care of for the moment, he decided to quench his thirst next and used a minor water conjuration spell. Which was really more like a water condensation spell, pulling the water out of the air into something drinkable.

Then, with all his other immediate needs taken care of, he decided to practice one of his favorite minor cantrips. The Cleaning Cantrip.

It hadn’t been long, but trudging through a forest without any enchanted gear or special skills, as well as a much poorer level of fitness than he was used to, made him rather grimey. The Cleaning Cantrip didn’t fix everything, but it certainly made things better.

And on and on he went, going through his repertoire of minor spells and cantrips. Sometimes, due to his sloppy mana control, the spells failed, wasting the mana that went into them. He had to go through all the mana he’d gotten from the food before he finally cast his tenth spell successfully and leveled up once again.

Ding!

Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 2 as a Mage!

Ding!

Congratulations! You’ve obtained the Control Mana Skill!

Daniel sighed in relief as he read that message, and reached for his mana again, just to get a feel for how much the skill was helping.

It was certainly better, his mana feeling more responsive and his grasp on it much tighter. It was still a far cry from what it was before, but that was because he was at a much lower level now. Still it would help him from wasting too much mana and cast a bit faster, which was good. But what he really wanted was the Mana Pool skill. That would finally increase his mana reserves beyond the tiny bit it was now.

Emptying and refilling it would have it growing, but only by so much in a short amount of time. The only way to grow his mana pool quickly and his overall strength was leveling. Both to gain new skills and to improve the benefits of the ones he already had.

…And the slight sound he was hearing off to the side might just be what he needed to get started with leveling faster. After all, even for Mages, combat and struggles made leveling a lot faster. Especially since his only class was Mage.

That was one of his main reasons for avoiding getting any other classes for the moment. A single class leveled up as quickly as he could would be the most useful in the short run.

Quickly and quietly, Daniel got up, picked up his new wooden spear, and carefully made his way into the underbrush. Using his new found mana control, he carefully cast a spell near and dear to his heart, Shadow blend. Wisp of mana exuded from him before taking on a dark hue and covering his form. To an outside observer, the shadows around him would seem to seamlessly meld with him, keeping his form indistinct.

It was probably the only shadow spell he could cast at the moment. Relying on the purely literal aspect of shadow magic, it had no destructive qualities and instead easily allowed him to hide. It also didn’t cost much mana.

Daniel felt them before he saw them, as his mana sense’s range had increased as well with his leveling. Four small and weak mana concentrations, around E-Rank, moved towards him. Or at least, where they must have last heard him, as he had not put effort into hiding his presence earlier. After all, he wanted them to come for him. Both to give him something to potentially gain experience from, and to keep them from wandering off and finding someone else.

After a couple of more moments, he saw them.

Short green humanoid beings, with bald heads and grotesque long noses and crooked teeth grins. Barely taller than a human child, but with far more strength in their bodies than their size would suggest. Their ears were large and pointed as well, and wore nothing but ugly dirty loincloths. Each one was equipped with a makeshift or rusty salvaged weapon. Two knives, a club, and an axe.

And each one was a Monster.

Not in the sense that they had no morals, and were evil, though they were pretty much those things. But in this world, Monster was a very specific term. It referred to beings, either a creature created purely from too much ambient chaotic mana, or were some other form of life driven to madness by the raw power of mana.

And honestly goblins were some of the most horrific examples of the latter.

Daniel hadn’t given much thought to goblins for the longest time, after he had reached a level of strength that few of their kind could ever reach. Most goblins were E-Rank, with the strongest only ever being reported at B-Rank. Even then, that B-Rank was an extreme oddity, and he couldn’t quite remember where he’d heard about it. It wasn’t until he started looking into ancient magics, and ancient societies, desperate to find some kind of magic to get him off of this world, that his attention was brought to them again.

An ancient civilization from before the great demon invasion of the past. Hell, before the barely discussed, and oftentimes censored, war of the gods. A civilization of great magical power and innovation. That spread to several of the five major continents, and he even found records that they might have traveled to other worlds—That was the main reason he looked into them.

Yet in the end, such a powerful nation and people fell. All the texts he could find weren’t really clear, but somehow, despite their affinity towards mana, or maybe because of it, they gradually grew corrupted. Didn’t maintain the necessary precautions despite building their cities on enormous concentrations of chaotic mana. And in the end their civilization fell apart, and all that was left of them were the ruins of their once great cities, as well as their Monstrous descendants.

It really was really just another example of the horrors of this world, that existed alongside all the wonders. And made a good lesson for mages too. To not get over confident when working with raw chaotic mana.

Not that that mattered right now for Daniel.

Regardless of their ancient legacy, he just had to kill these things. To hopefully level up further and keep them from hurting anyone else. Monsters couldn’t be reasoned with. Even the rare Monsters who regained some reason, usually at least C-Rank or higher, were far too malicious and hateful to be trusted. They had to be killed.

And so he killed them.

The first goblin, one of the ones with a knife, moved closer to Daniel’s hiding spot, its nose snuffling as it tried to follow his scent.

In a quick long practiced motion he struck out from the underbrush, stabbing the beast in the eye and into its brain, killing it in a single moment. Then, as the other goblins screamed and started to react clumsily, he threw his spear at the goblin holding an axe…

Only to miss the chest and merely glance it on the shoulder.

Daniel stared, shocked for less than a second before he cursed his stupidity and quickly cast a overpowered Ball of Light. That blinded the goblins who had strong night vision, and he reached down and grabbed the dagger of the fallen goblin and went to kill the next closest one, the one with the club.

Still cursing himself, even as he dodged a wild blind swing from the club wielding goblin, he ducked in and slit its throat. He’d put effort into getting used to his magic again, but hadn’t thought enough about his loss of his Rogue skills and far less trained body. He may still have the instincts of a deadly fast moving fighter, but reflexes and dexterity weren’t being enhanced by skills any more, nor years of training. He should have done some practice throws and tried to get more used to his old body, but he’d been overconfident.

Picking up the goblin’s club, having to ignore the instinct to use the goblin as a projectile, as they were heavier than they looked, he wielded both weapons and circled the last two goblins. They were still rubbing their eyes, but peeking out as often as they could to keep him in sight. Both backed away, getting further from each other.

Not willing to give the little beasts the time to recover, he charged, smacked the flailing axe out of the hands of the injured goblin, and buried his dagger into its eye. Then he jumped to the side to avoid the lunging goblin with its rusty, no doubt filthy blade, and smashed its head in before it could recover.

The brained goblin smashed into the ground, but a combination of its sturdiness and Daniel’s own lack of strength meant that it wasn’t out of the fight. It rolled on the ground and surged to its feet.

Then Daniel was there and smashed its head again, this time with both hands holding the club.

When the goblin fell to the ground this second time, it didn’t get up again.

He did a quick survey of the clearing, to make sure that there weren’t more than the four goblins he remembered, before he relaxed after a long tense moment.

Ding!

Congratulations! You’ve reached level 3 as a mage!

Ding!

Congratulations. You’ve killed your first Monster using skill and stealth. You’ve unlocked the Rogue class. Would you like to accept this class?

Despite his lack of injuries, his level increase, and relative ease in which he killed the things, his heart was beating heavily in his chest. It honestly felt pathetic, being so weak again. That he felt winded after fighting some goblins that he could have killed by the hundreds just a while ago really hit home his lack of strength. Especially since he failed at making such a simple throw earlier.

All that made it really tempting for him to accept the Rogue class now. But he’d already decided his path. Going Rogue now might be familiar and bolster his normal fighting style, but it would hamper the growth of his Mage class and vice versa as he used both for combat. And if he didn’t pay attention, then his Rogue class would overtake his Mage class again, and make it harder to get the Mage advancement he wanted in the future.

The path of the Shadow Blade hadn’t been enough in the end, and going down it again was foolish. Even with his knowledge of the future, he wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference as a combatant against the demons. No, he would go with the plan he decided on. He’d focus on magic, and be the one to find a way back home to Earth. Either that or at least get off this world and to another one that didn’t have a potential doom hanging over it in 9 years.

But first… he needed to deal with the here and now.

Daniel grimaced as he looked down on the four corpses and what he would need to do next. Good thing he had a cleaning spell. But he couldn’t wait until he had enough mana to not have to do stuff like this manually again.