Nathan didn’t know what to do. His thoughts were jumbled up, his leg was at the forefront of his mind. There was something wrong, something hard to comprehend about the injury. It was almost dreamlike.

The numbness wore off quickly. He was expecting pain, but it still knocked him completely off guard. Waves of pure agony traveled up his leg. It was all he could do to even hold his thoughts together.

Through the pain, faint movements caught his attention. Nathan struggled to fight off the dizziness he was feeling, and realized that the beast was still alive, struggling around on the ground. He must have damaged its brain severely, because it was unable to move even with its healthy legs.

Nathan, meanwhile, was struggling to keep himself from passing out. If that happened, he’d bleed to death or be killed by the beast, and he was not exactly fond of either. So, he gripped the rock he was still holding and crawled.

His leg protested by sending ripples of raw pain up to his brain, but he managed to keep it down enough to focus. The distance to the beast was short, yet the journey seemed unending.

As soon as he came within arms reach of the animal, he started smashing at it again. The sound of the river was overpowered by dirty squelches and grunting.

It was exhausting work. Before long, the dizziness came back and demanded his attention. Nathan didn’t want to listen, but he had no choice. With one last swing, he fell backwards onto his back.

Right before he fell unconscious, a brilliant warmth enveloped him and chased the pain away. It was the most euphoric thing he’d ever felt.

…

Nathan awoke to a pulsing headache. As soon as he was lucid, he curled up into the fetal position and held his head like he was trying to hold together a cracked egg.

Some time later, the pain had finally receded enough for him to bear the light. He looked around, momentarily confused at his surroundings before remembering everything that had happened.

His eyes shot over to his leg, the one that had been torn apart.

It was fixed. He wiggled his foot around, astonished at the change. His pants were still torn to threads, but all of the flesh underneath was completely intact.

There was blood all over the sand and rocks, most of which was his. The beast was laying where he’d left it, but the bloody mess made him turn his head away just as fast.

And it was after that, after he came back to his senses, that it decided to show up.

[Acknowledge this message to choose your primary trait.]

“The fuck?” He curiously waved his hand around and shook his head, but the text immediately followed. It’s like a dog, Nathan thought. Or one of those eye floater things.

He decided to take the progression at face value, just like he’d been taking everything else. The thing had probably been, in at least some part, responsible for his sudden recovery.

“Now, how do I acknowledge it?” he mused. “And why is it seeking validation from me? That’s not healthy.” As soon as he said that, the message blipped out of existence, and another popped up in its absence.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

[Proposed primary traits are based on combat preference.

Smasher (99% match)

Tank (81% match)

Weapon Maniac (34% match)

Assassin (27% match)

Only the four highest matches are listed. Acknowledge a trait to proceed.]

Nathan scanned the options. Smasher? Seriously? What kind of name is that?

“Can I get some more information?”

[Smasher: Development will increase kinetic capabilities tremendously, although highest bonuses are only rewarded when using blunt weapons.

Tank: Boosts endurance and vitality for heavily increased survivability.

Weapon Maniac: The master of unconventional weaponry. Increased learning speed and bonuses for all objects used as weapons.

Assassin: Increased learning speed for all assassin-related skills. Physical damage done while hidden and/or targeting a vital spot will receive a heavy bonus.]

He read everything over and frowned. “Why are all of these based on combat?” No answer came, so he shook his head and tried to figure out which one he wanted to pick.

Assassin was the first one that he crossed off. It was safe to assume that he wouldn’t have the drop on someone, at least in the forest. It seemed completely impractical. While it may increase his stealth, it probably wouldn't fool any predators that wanted him.

Weapon maniac was a good choice if he was going to fight anything again, although it seemed like more of a jack-of-all type.

Tank seemed somewhat useful. If something attacked him, it wouldn’t be able to chew him up easily, but on the other hand, it didn’t increase his other capabilities at all. He definitely didn’t want to use his leg as a distraction again.

Smasher was the weirdest of them all. It had an awkward name, but its description was rather vague. Since none of the others seemed to include any survival benefits, he was more than a little intrigued. Fighting other things didn't exactly appeal to him.

Ten minutes later, he was still running through the options in his head. The sun was starting to set, which meant that he had slept for at least around six hours.

“Well, nobody likes indecision.” With that, he focused all his thoughts on Smasher. The text in front of him melted apart and dissipated.

He waited a minute, but nothing else happened. Is...is that it? He was expecting another message, at the very least, but he got nothing.

Maybe I have to actually try it out? He picked up a rock and swung it at one of the huge boulders by the river, and it impacted with a weak thump.

“That didn’t feel any harder.” He shook his head. “Whatever. I need to figure out what I’m going to do tonight.” Nathan hadn’t been able to find any signs of civilization that day, so he had to modify his plan.

Thankfully, after waking up, he wasn’t hungry or thirsty at all. He attributed that to the...well, whatever had happened while he was asleep. It was beyond useful, and would surely increase his chances of survival.

Finding a place to stay the night was easier than he thought. If the messages he’d gotten were anything to go by, he had found himself in a place where violence was everywhere. So, it was pretty obvious that he didn’t want to stay on the ground overnight. Especially since he didn’t even know how to make any sort of fire or shelter.

That night, he slept in a tree, only a couple dozen feet from the river. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but that was a small price to pay for life.

Like with most things, what had happened that day only hit him when he was preparing to sleep. Everything that was unbelievable, that he had brushed aside or ignored, came back to hammer at his sanity.

“I’m pretty sure this is a different world, though,” he mumbled to himself. “That’s cool.”

Nathan prided himself on his mental fortitude. He had gone through most of life alone, and that wasn’t any different now. Oddly enough, that thought brought him a sense of satisfaction.

He fell asleep quickly, and most of the night passed uneventfully. Periodically, he would wake to a cramp and instinctively turn to the side, nearly tumbling out of the tree. It scared him half to death a couple times, and further, while he was conscious, he heard consistent howling off in the distance.