"So, you're truly okay?" Dani asked again. I reassured her, Ullr barely hurt me back there. The shock of hitting the ground was worse than the hit itself. She finally accepted my words and nodded, looking forward towards the statue in front of us.

"What's that?" Carl split off from the group in confusion and walked towards a circle in the middle of the blackened forest. I ran in behind everybody else, tripping on something that clanked against the ground with a metallic sound.

I looked back to see some sort of axe with rust on it. It was made of shiny, silver metal and had a wooden handle on the end. In the shape of a crescent moon, a charm on the end of the wooden handle swung back and forth as I raised it.

The forest was covered in one large shadow from the bulky leaves blocking out the rays from the sun. I was confused, why were there leaves on the trees if it was mid-winter?

Either way, the only reason I noticed this tool was because it was on the floor and in my way. No reflections hit the metal blade like it was supposed to be hidden.

"Where did you find that weapon?" Domin asked, looking down and reaching out his hand to help me. I didn't respond at first, I only took note of how he described the tool in front of me. Nothing about it was deemed a weapon. Why did he believe that it could only be used against other people?

"Just on the floor. What were you guys looking at?" I asked, catching up to Dani, Carl, and Red. They were peering down into a pond of some sort. It was a perfect circular shape with water in the middle that looked as if it led into the ocean beneath us. Tons of colorful coral of all kinds layered the ocean floor beneath us.

"Why is this here?" Dani was putting her face against the surface of the water, peering in to see what kind of mysteries the pond held. After she was done, she picked her head up and stared at the axe in my left hand.

"Woah! Where did you get that thing? This forest is amazing!" Dani was amazed at the simple things, I almost envied her. I showed off the axe to the entire group now that they were fully paying attention. While I let them pass around the axe to hold it, I analyzed our surroundings.

Trees cut off our view from the beach and ocean, and a large, dirt hill stood even further into the forest. This seemed to be the only clearing out of the whole base of the hill, as everything else was cluttered with trees and whatever other greenery I thought of. Green leaves fell to the ground and put a layer over the dirt, some even piling against the steep slope on the dirt hill.

On the very top of the dirt, hill stood a statue that looked beaten down. The right arm was torn off and several bits of stone were scraped off or chipped off of the face and chest. Other than the vandalism, I could see that it resembled a person with a White Stone. Whether or not it resembled me was yet to be determined, but if my group didn't say anything yet, I highly doubt I looked like that.

"Look! A shark is moving down there!" Dani shouted out, pointing back into the pond. Curiosity got the best of me and I stuck my face close to the water as she did. Domin set the axe up against a nearby tree and looked with us.

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"I wish I could get a better look. It looks stupidly deep under here." Carl commented. I agreed with him. I wanted a better look as well, but what could I do to get it?

I dipped my fingers in the water. It wasn't cold, not like the outside temperature. It was a lot warmer. With that enticing temperature, I stuck my head into the water and opened my eyes, looking down deep into the water to see the coral at the bottom.

It was something I would not forget for the rest of my life. The vibrant blue shade everything had underwater, that coral at the bottom, the animals that littered the ocean, everything was so beautifully constructed. I wasn't the type to appreciate the beauty of anything, but the ocean spoke to me in many ways that the surface couldn't.

I was pulled out of the water by Dani and Carl and scolded by the two for doing something reckless. 'You could've gotten hurt, you idiot,' Dani would say. Carl followed closely behind with a similar phrase.

I wasn't sure why, but watching Dani scold me as she had cared about me made me smile. It was cute, in a way. I sat with a smile as she called me an idiot and all of the synonyms when she finally turned her head away from me.

"S-Stop staring..." She drifted off, looking the opposite way after the murmur had left her lips. I picked up the axe to change the topic. There was something about that girl that made me trip up often.

"So, we can use it as a tool, or a weapon, how about that," I said, swinging it back and forth.

[Authority: 1]

The message hidden in my left eye dissipated almost as quickly as it appeared before I could show anybody else. I accepted that loss and simply held the axe. It's almost as if it felt lighter, but at the same time, heavier. Like I could use it as I should've been able to. I wasn't given much of a hint to how the system works, but what exactly does 'Authority' mean?

"So, we can cut down some trees and make a shelter for us, but it looks like the ceiling the thick leaves make above us would do a pretty good job. Say, if we camp out under or next to the statue, it could be one of our walls, right?" Domin took the lead while leading us to the base of the statue, looking upon it after giving out some ideas.

Looking back at Dani felt awkward, as I caught her staring at me while I listened to Domin.

"We could. I'd prefer to use it as one of our walls." Red said, scurrying up the side of the dirt cliff with her hands until she got to the top, leaning up against the statue. "Hey! There's a door here!" She added.

I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion as I looked from the bottom of the statue up towards the door she pointed out. It was a faint cut in the stone, but there was been a door that we would be able to open.

Red climbed her way to the front of the statue, slightly hanging off of the cliff, and pulled against the stone to try and open the door. "It won't open! I think I need some help," She said.

I climbed up the same path she unintentionally made with her hands and came up beside her while climbing on the side of the statue. With my left hand against the same ledge Red's hand was on, I pulled with her, but it wouldn't budge.

"We need something to pry it... Dani, can you throw us up that axe?" I asked, but she clutched the axe against her chest and shook her head.

"I'm not throwing it up there, what if I hurt you guys?" She responded. Red and I both shook our heads and spent a while reassuring her. Finally, she threw the axe up and Red caught it with no issue at all.

Red pushed the blade into the gap that defined the door and with the two of us pushing the opposite way to pry it open, it finally started to budge. "Nice job!" I was excited to see the success and the new shelter we would have.

I gripped the door with my left hand and was sucked into the room as if there was a vacuum seal in there. The axe was thrown violently to the ground outside and I hit the wall on the opposite side of the door. The door itself slammed shut and all of our progress was erased... except for the fact I was inside the statue now, looking around as torches lit up the room.