Zane tamped down his future aspirations, he had more than enough on his plate at the moment. He was in the woods with no real idea if there were any greater civilization out there. What he did have was a direction, as that feeling lingered in his gut that pulled him North. But before Zane committed to moving throughout this potentially dangerous magical nature, he needed to familiarize himself with exactly what he could do. To start, Zane decided to open up his new status.

Status

Name: Zane Winters

Race: [Human (F) – lvl 1]

Class: Mage (Inferior) (Level up -> +2 Mind, +1 Body, +2 Soul, +1 Free points)

Subclass: N/A

Stats

Mind: 8

Body: 7

Soul: 6

Free Points: 0

Titles

Spectral Walker

Reckless Advancement

Zane mentally clicked on his class, deciding to look at his skills, opening their descriptions.

Mage (Inferior) Class skills:

[Krisis Bolt (Inferior)]

Conjure up beads of raw Krisis that will fly out, causing small magical explosions on their target. (Cost: Low Krisis, Range: Medium)

[Basic Krisis Control (Inferior)]

You have basic control over all Krisis you conjure.

[Magical Sense (Common)]

You have a weak sense of nearby magical objects and what their potential uses might be. (Range: Short)

[Krisis Harvest (Uncommon)]

When you kill an enemy, if there is sufficient Krisis, convert excess Krisis into conjuring an item similar to the level of the enemy defeated. (Cost: None)

While Zane didn't know what the hell Krisis was, he assumed it was this world's equivalent to mana. However, Zane was fairly taken aback by the basic descriptions, but he assumed it was due to the fact that he was supposed to figure some stuff out on his own. Clearly the higher rarity of a skill, the more descriptive it is. Speaking of higher rarity, skills, the sole uncommon skill he had gained looked absolutely incredible. A looting skill right off the bat? This was exactly what he needed to survive his current predicament, granted there were enemies to kill. Right now, he really only had one skill to test, his Krisis Bolt. Zane instinctually knew how to use his skill, and out of his hand formed about 20 beads of white light formed in his right hand. He could immediately feel a slight drain on himself, like his mana pool had dipped slightly. The beads circled around his hand, trailing energy behind them like little comets. The beads stayed grouped up as they circled his hand, following his hand wherever he moved it.

Zane laughed, he just couldn't help it. "This may just be the coolest thing to have ever happened to me." Zane said, giggling as the beads continued to circle his hand.

Now, what good did a cool magic spell do if it didn't do any damage. Zane glanced up, looking toward the tree closest to him. Firstly, he walked up to it and rapped on the bark. The tree was solid and the bark was thick and sturdy. Zane attempted to peel off a piece of bark that was flaking off of the tree, and it took all of his strength to take off ... a splinter. He decided this was an appropriate target for his new skill. First test? Damage. Zane stood about 5 yards from the tree and thrust his hand out, sending the beads of light flying out and colliding with the bark, making somewhat loud magical explosions where they landed. The results? Promising! When the bolt was sent out, the beads flew out into a circular pattern, causing the beads to hit the tree in a near perfect circle. Where each bead landed, a sizable dent was made in the extremely tough bark.

"Alright, not bad, but let's test the range, cause medium isn't exactly descriptive."

Zane eyeballed the distance he was now standing at about 30 yards, conjured a new set of Krisis beads, and threw them out at the tree. The beads flew out, searing through the air. The beads were fast, moving at about 20 mph. The beads collided with the exact same intensity as the first. Zane repeated his tests at 40 yards, 50, 60, before beginning to see some falling off. At 70 yards, Zane noticed the beads sputtering out before they hit the bark, doing significantly less damage. Zane mentally noted that 60 yards seemed to be the limit to the range of his skill, grinning at the progress he was making. The casting of the skill seemed almost effortless, like he had been doing this for his whole life. Zane conjured up a new set of beads and threw them out, but far slower. The beads flew out at a much slower speed, spreading out from each other as they flew. Zane reached out with his hand, attempting to guide the beads with his Basic Krisis Control skill. As he reached out, he had felt an invisible force that he grabbed onto, and the beads stopped. Moving his hand around, the beads followed where he directed. Deciding to push his control, he spread out the beads into a wide ring that he surrounded himself with. Surprisingly, the beads followed his command, no longer just following his hand, but his mind, his intentions. He grinned as he made them spin around him. Deciding to push his control, he made them spin faster and faster, and at the exact moment he felt himself lose control, the beads flew out from their position flying out and hitting trees and bushes, creating a loud burst of magical energy all around him, causing the birdcalls overhead to go silent. Zane froze, mentally slapping himself for being so reckless. He stopped moving, glancing all around him to see if there were any potential enemies nearby. Zane turned his head, eyes landing upon a bush about 40 yards away that was now rustling. Zane stayed quiet, maybe it didn't know where he was. He crept to the closest tree, attempting to hide behind it, unknowingly stepping on a dry twig, snapping it. The bush rustled even more violently as a figure skulked out of it. Glancing upon the form of the first beast Zane had seen on this new world, his focus narrowed, and a popup appeared that he somehow understood instantly.

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[Flower Wolf Gatherer Youngling - lvl 3 Beast]

The wolf was a shade of deep purple, with blossoming pink flowers spattered throughout the purple fur. The beast was small but muscular, looking about the size of a Husky on earth. The beast was snarling, baring its teeth at Zane, knowing where he was. The beast was higher level than he was, and could prove to be a tough enemy, but Zane couldn't help the grin on his face as he conjured up a bolt. The wolf, reacting to the sudden surge of Krisis, began to run at him. Having a moment before the strike, Zane sent out his bolt, striking the wolf in the face. The wolf yelped in pain, but continued to run, before lunging at Zane. Zane sidestepped the lunging strike, already having a new bolt in hand, and threw it at the wolf as it landed, striking the wolf in its side, blasting away the fur and flowers that were hit. The wolf lunged again, but this time Zane wasn't fast enough to dodge, and the wolf latched onto Zane's leg. Zane stifled a scream, trying not to attract more enemies. Suddenly, an idea formed in Zane's head. He placed his hand on the wolf's head, which was attempting to thrash its head, but failing due to its smaller size. Zane formed a bolt in his hand and immediately shot it off. The wolf's eyes widened as its body went limp and its grip on Zane's leg fell away. Zane felt an influx of what he would describe as mute electricity enter his body.

[You have defeated: Flower Wolf Gatherer Youngling - lvl 3. Experience earned]

*[Class: Mage has reached level 2, stats earned, +1 free point]

Zane fell onto the ground, relieved, he honestly didn't know if that would work, but it seemed like the wolf was on its last legs anyway. Zane sat there, breathing deeply, as the adrenaline faded from his body, leaving a pulsing pain in his right leg. Looking down, the wounds didn't seem deep, looking over at the wolf, its teeth hadn't come in completely yet, meaning it really was young. As he glanced at the wolf, something bright caught his eye. Beads of light, similar to his Krisis Bolt, he assumed raw Krisis, was floating above the dead wolf. Zane stood up, putting weight on his leg, wincing, but able to move, walked over to the body of the wolf. Zane reached out to the wolf, and the Krisis floating above the wolf coalesced into an item in his hand. A purple, flower dotted coat seemingly made of the wolf's fur, yet the fur remained on the wolf. Zane looked down and attempted to trigger the strange identify he had swung on the Flower Wolf earlier.

[Flower Wolf Furs (Common): +1 Body]

"Hell yeah, loot!" Zane said, pumping his fist. "I mean, I'm not gonna pass up free stats." Zane said, slipping on his new coat.

Speaking of stats, Zane decided to open up his stats to see how much he had done already.

Stats

Mind: 10

Body: 9

Soul: 8

Free Points: 1

All of his stats had advanced up 2 points each, due to his new furs boosting his body stat. He considered putting his free point into Mind, but Zane didn't know how these stats worked, and he at least wanted to save them for his level 10 class change. Finished mulling over his stats, Zane glanced back at the dead wolf, considering taking it with him for food. Zane shook his head, there were far too few available sticks viable for firewood, and for all he knew this wood couldn't be lit ablaze. No, he needed to follow the soul compass, as he had coined it, to wherever it lad. While he didn't know where it led, he just felt like it was somewhere he could walk to, and as focused on the feeling taking him north, he received a prompt.

[Quest Received - First Steps: As you take your first steps in a strange new world, you have a feeling you can't describe guiding you. Follow the feeling to its destination. (Reward: ? )]

A quest, this really was just like a video game! At least now Zane had a true goal, and a direction to walk. Taking off north, Zane made sure to be silent. Zane on his trek had seen a couple more Flower Wolf Younglings scouring the forest. Zane had gotten the drop on a couple of level 3s, and had been able to take both of them down in 3 bolts, but no loot had dropped. He continued on when he saw his first level 5 enemy.

[Flower Wolf Gatherer - lvl 5 Beast]

Zane considered avoiding the beast, but he needed a big step forward in order to level up, as he could already feel the amount of experience coming from the level 3 wolves giving less and less. The beast was sniffing the ground, obviously gathering something. Zane conjured a bolt, when he thought of an idea. Zane tossed out the bolt, but stopped its movement almost instantly. Zane cast another bolt and threw it on top of the other when he stopped that one too. Zane could feel his control of the two bolts slipping, so he knew this was his limit, at least for now. Zane grasped control over the bolts, and threw them as hard as he could, guiding them towards their target. The gatherer turned just to catch a face full of Krisis, exploding all over the beast's face, eliciting a pained yelp, before a deep growl as it charged. Zane had already conjured a new bolt and launched it at the charging wolf, but it sidestepped it. Zane's eyes widened at the reaction time of the wolf, but almost reflexively, Zane wrenched his beads to the right to follow the beast, and they actually responded to his intention. The back half of the wolf got caught by part of the bolt, startling the wolf, causing it to trip. Zane, taking advantage of the beast's fault, rushed over to the wolf, planted a foot atop the wolf's neck, and took a bolt and threw it into the side of the still wrangling beast. After the bolt landed true, the beast heaved, and Zane found his foot being pushed back, putting him off balance. The wolf lunged, but Zane caught himself before he fell, but the wolf was flying toward his neck. Too late to dodge, Zane put his hands up to the inside of the wolf's mouth to block the strike. The sharp teeth that connected with his hand pierced his skin, sending a new wave of pain up his arms. Just then, Zane caught eye of a cloud of something emanating from the flowers on the wolf's back, which floated over to Zane. Zane held his breath but was already straining himself keeping from getting a neck full of teeth, so he lost concentration and took a deep breath of the cloud. The effect was immediate, and Zane could feel himself losing consciousness. Zane gritted his teeth, the pain in his hands the only thing keeping him awake. Zane was panicking, what an embarrassing way to die in this wolf, dead to the fourth enemy he saw. This place was magic right? He could be creative with what he had. Pushing his Krisis Bolt and Basic Krisis Control to their inferior limits, and he conjured a bolt in his right hand. He cast it, but instead of sending it to hurt the wolf, he used his control to bring the beads to morph around his hand like a glove. Just like that, something had clicked, and a notification popped up in the corner of his vision, but he didn't have time to check it out. Zane repeated the process with his other hand, and he could feel the snarling teeth be forcefully removed from his hand. Zane clamped down his hands on each side of the wolf's mouth, and put his new body to the limits, straining to pull the beast's mouth backwards. He let out a cry of effort, still fighting to stay awake in the field of sleeping powder, and he felt the jaw of the wolf snap in his hands, bottom jaw hanging limp in his hand, and the body of the wolf that was still on top of him ceasing its struggle. Another notification popped up in the corner of his view, but Zane could hold on no longer, as sleep took him by force.