Phoenix was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground. She gathered her feet under her for the umpteenth time in the last few hours and looked around. It was dark, almost too dark, and the trees just didn’t look right. There were no leaves on any branches leaving them bare and swaying in a small wind. Looking around even more she found the ground underneath her feet was just as bare, no grass, only cold, hard dirt. Awesome so where the fuck am I? She thought, and saw in the top corner of her vision a small bell blinking rapidly. Not really knowing what else to do, she willed it to open and was rewarded when a bunch of text filled her vision.
Initialization complete, New person detected!
Phoenix (No Last Name Entered)
Race detected!
Chimera!
New stat’s are available to see!
You have entered Monrood Thicket Shadow Woods! ERROR Location incorrect. Unable to resolve the error, please standby.
Phoenix looked at the text in shock. This is SO NOT NORMAL. She thought, talking to herself yet again. The old guy had said that she was supposed to end up in a forest a couple days away from a nice town, but this looked far from what she imagined it would be. She also assumed that she was meant to end up in this Monrood Thicket, however something went wrong and she ended up in somewhere called The Shadow Woods…something a little more ominous.
Not really knowing what to do, she decided to try and play around with the text in front of her. Realizing quickly that it responded to her thoughts as long as it was directed at one of the few notifications she received. The first thing she did was look up what the fuck her race was.
Chimera
This race lived over 2,000 years ago. Please continue exploration to learn more about this race.
Chimera Attributes:
Wolf, Eagle, Panther
+2 Strength, +3 Agility, +2 Endurace
+100% To All Essense Gathered
+2 stat points for every level earned
Stealth Skill Unlocked Due To Race Attributes +10 Stealth
Phoenix took some calming breaths before freaking out once again.
“So I’m a human with animal parts? What does that even mean?” She looked up at the sky, “Light, if you are listening you really fucked me over here. If we ever meet again I’m punching you in the face and I won’t feel bad about it. I don’t care what you are.” She sat down with a sigh and opened up her interface yet again. She pulled up her stats page and took a look.
Phoenix
Chimera (F)
Essence 1
Core: N/A
Vitality: 2
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 2
Agility: 1
Endurance: 3
Wisdom: 2
Perception: 1
Willpower: 0.5
Race Attributes in effect, updating Stats… Standby...
Phoenix
Chimera (F)
Essence 1
Core: N/A
Vitality: 2
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 2
Agility: 4
Endurance: 5
Wisdom: 2
Perception 1
Willpower: 0.5
Skills
Stealth I (Common)
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A rush of light surrounded her for a minute, before the energy settled into her chest giving her a warm feeling. She felt her muscles tighten just a bit, and her breathing got just slightly easier. Huh, kinda cool, now where the hell am I?
Taking a look around the woods again, she realized there really wasn’t much to see. With the dark lighting, she could only really see a few paces in front of her, not making it ideal to navigate, and of course, this stupid new world didn’t come with any sort of map interface to make it easier on her.
“Okay, soldier, now what do you have?” It was a mantra she asked herself plenty of times back when she was still on Earth. It helped ground her in situations that might have otherwise overwhelmed her. Phoenix felt around and realized the tank top and shorts the man had magically conjoined on her before had luckily followed her through the teleportation. She had also acquired a great set of…sandals?
“You’re fucking kidding me, sandals to walk through the woods, I’m beginning to see why Dark wants to take over.” She mumbled under her breath. Just then a howl sounded through the woods causing her head to whip up and search for the noise. I get all these new perks and no one could grant me any sort of night vision? What a rip off. She thought, searching for someplace to take cover. The best she could find was a smaller tree that rose about 20ft up that had enough stumpy hand holds to make it halfway up the tree. Still grumbling to herself she began the climb. About halfway up a chime sounded in her ear, startling her so much her grip loosened and she ended up face down in the dirt.
Climbing Skill Learned!
Congrats on learning a skill the normal way and not through your race traits. Maybe if you hadn’t fallen you’d have a better grade of the skill, but as it stands or doesn’t here’s the basics.
Climbing I (Common)
Phoenix took a second to process before mentally yelling at Light again. REALLY? You had to be THAT snarky about that fall? I’m brand fucking new here, give me a break. She began checking herself to make sure nothing was broken before another howl sounded closer to her, causing her momentary anger and first aid to fall to the back of her mind as she began her climb once again. Finally at a higher vantage point she looked around and realized it did nothing for her. It was just as dark as it was on the ground floor.
Another howl ripped through the forest, and this time she could hear a rustling nearby, which rewarded her with another chime. This one did not make her lose her grip on the tree, thank you very much.
It seemed like the darkness got just a little clearer, and she was able to make out a small black shape hiding behind a dead tree. As soon as she looked at it another chime and message crossed her vision.
Analyze Skill Learned!
This skill allows you to analyze other beings just by looking at them. As this skill levels up more details of the target will be revealed.
Analyze I (Common)
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
There was no snarky comment behind that learned skill which made Phoenix just slightly sad.
ShadowRabbit (F)
Essence 3
Phoenix leaned closer to take a look at the small figure now hopping out of the bushes. It looked pretty much like a normal rabbit back on Earth, minus the inky black fur that it seemed to sport. Watching it a bit longer, she noticed it was digging frantically in the earth as if it knew something was buried there. Suddenly, a massive figure jumped out of nowhere and snatched the poor creature in its jaws. Phoenix started at the sight, and nearly fell out of the tree again, before quickly righting herself.
ShadowWolf (F)
Essence ??
She caught her breath, and stayed silent praying that it hadn’t seen or heard her. Who knows? Maybe wolves can climb trees in this world. And the fact she couldn’t see what level it was meant stay the FUCK away from it. She watched it settle down and finish its meal, including the bones. What kind of witchy shit magic is this place? The wolf trotted off back into the darkness leaving Phoenix alone once again.
“Alright, Soldier, you’re in a new place with no means to defend yourself. You have a tank top, shorts, and some kind of sandal bullshit on your feet. What’s your plan?” She whispered to herself as her brain started working on solutions.
“First, you have to find something as a weapon. Second, find something better than sandals for your feet. Third find out where the fuck you are, if there’s any people around and if there are people, are they friendly or not. Fourth, you gotta gather more essence, clearly won’t survive at level 1 so I gotta kill something. Maybe that should be third on the list. I’ve learned and have the skills to survive on my own for a while, there’s no need to go out finding people until I’ve gained some strength and can defend myself.
You need to rest and close your eyes for a minute so your brain is fresh for the day or night ahead. How the hell do I keep finding myself in these situations?” With her plan in place it seemed like the next best thing to do was make sure she didn’t fall out of the tree while she closed her eyes. Using an old army trick she ripped off the bottoms of both legs to her shorts leaving them hanging at the middle of her thighs, and tied them around her ankles. If she did end up falling, it would catch her around the ankles and leave her arms free to pull herself back up if needed. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she was ready to attempt some rest and closed her eyes, praying nothing that could fly would attack and kill her in the middle of her rest.
A screech awoke Phoenix, causing her head to jerk up in surprise. Her hands shot out to the side, catching only air before she realized where she was. Quickly, she reached down to steady herself, gripping onto the small branch that held her up for support. Great, I thought maybe this whole new world thing had just been a nightmare, I was so wrong. She thought, before looking around. The light in the forest had not brightened in the slightest, and without being able to tell what time it was, there was no way to know just how long she had been asleep.
Looking down, there didn’t seem to be any more movement from rabbits, wolves, or otherwise, and she sat back in relief. Going over her mental checklist, she looked around for anything that would work as a weapon. On the ground floor there were twigs and branches laying under pretty much every tree, but without a knife she would be hard pressed to find anything sturdy and pointy enough to make a spear. There was, however, a nice solid branch that was just about the length of a baseball bat, and looked sturdy enough to hit something with and not break on the first try. Just can’t use that against a damn wolf if it comes back looking for more tasty treats. She thought, considering the best course of action.
Well, can’t sit around waiting in a damn tree forever, I’ll die one way or the other, might as well be on the ground floor fighting. She made her decision and undid her ankles, stuffing the two strips of cloth in her waist band. The descent from the tree was harder than before, granted that before referenced her falling out of the tree, so she considered this a win. It seemed the universe agreed with her as it added another level point to her Climbing skill.
She quickly grabbed the branch she had spotted from the tree and gave it a couple swings.
Weapon Acquired!
By sheer creativity you have turned an old, sad stick into a less old, sad stick. Great job!
Phoenix rolled her eyes at the sarcastic message. She took the two strips of cloth from her waist belt and tied them around her feet, securing the sandals a bit better. Now at least my steps will be relatively more silent. I gotta find some water and maybe some food too. I don’t know how long I'll last without either of those two even in a new magical world. And so, she picked a random direction and began walking, dragging the stick behind her as she went to leave a trail to get back if needed.
About two miles later, she was rewarded with the sound of running water. Cautiously, she continued to approach, raising the stick over her head in case some animal had also had the same idea. Through the darkness, she could make out a faint river running a few feet in front of her. On the river’s edge she could see a small figure sitting by the waterside.
ShadowRabbit
Essense 2
She debated for a split second leaving the rabbit alone, however realizing that was the best way to gain levels and get stronger, she dismissed the idea of letting it go easily. It was supposedly stronger than she was, but that didn’t mean much at all. After having survived some of the worst wars known to Humankind, as well as the purge of most of the Earth, one measly rabbit wasn’t going to scare her away that easily.
Dropping into a crouch, she continued to move behind it, stepping as lightly as she could to avoid altering it of her presence. A faint ding sounded in her ear, but she ignored it. Only standing a foot behind it now, she raised her club to attack. A swift, forceful blow came, but what she didn’t count on was that the rabbit would still be standing even after that blow. Even more, this was NOT like the rabbits back home. No, this rabbit had fangs, yes fangs, and very, very, sharp claws. Neither of these features had been visible on the other rabbit. Even better? This demon rabbit was now very pissed off and wanting revenge on whoever had interrupted its bath.
Spinning around, it jumped onto Phoenix’s chest, the force of it knocking both of them to the ground. Its claws began raking down her chest, causing her to grunt in pain. She could hear her former drill sergeant’s voice in her head. Are you serious right now, soldier? You’re getting mauled by a rabbit, figure out its weakness and FIGHT BACK! With limited options and no experience fighting with a rabbit, she did the only logical thing and made to grab it with her hands. Making contact, she shoved it off her body causing it to land only a few inches away. It was already gearing up for its second attack as Phoenix looked around wildly for her makeshift weapon.
It was laying only a few feet to her left and she dove for it, ignoring the rabbit hissing at her. Text tried to flash in front of her, but she dismissed it with a thought, focused only on surviving whatever it would do next. She could see its muscles bunching up as it prepared to attack yet again, and did the only thing possible: Phoenix got in a hitting position and wound up preparing to swing at the rabbit. As it lept at her, she swung the stick as hard as she could. Three things happened at once, a loud crack was heard on impact as the stick snapped in two, Phoenix lost her balance as her momentum carried her into the swing, and the rabbit turned into a furry baseball and landed a few feet away from her in a heap.
The stick in her hand now, had a nice pointed edge after breaking so taking no time to rest, she ran over to the still figure and stabbed it multiple times until she received another notification.
ShadowRabbit Defeated!
Essence Collected. Race Attribute in effect, +100%
Phoenix sagged to her knees in relief. She looked around warily to make sure the fight hadn’t attracted any more animals before laying down on her back and attempting to catch her breath. As the adrenaline wore off, she could feel a stinging in her chest and opened up her other notifications.
Stealth Skill Leveled Up!
You added old rags to your feet and managed to sneak up on a rabbit, you’re impressing only yourself.
Stealth I -> II (Common)
Health at 75%
Bludgeoning Skill Learned!
Not only did you manage to hit something with your old stick, you managed to hit it twice!
Bludgeoning I (Common)
Level Up!
Essence 2
+3 Stat Points
Satisfied with the gains she made, Phoenix pondered where to put the stat points. It was clear all of her stats were sorely lacking, but decided it was best to level up vitality and strength first. Can’t keep improving if I die too quickly, or can’t hit hard. Throwing 2 in vitality and 1 in strength, she dismissed the notifications. It seemed collecting essence also helped her heal, as all her previous scratches had vanished once the rabbit died. She sat herself upright to take a better look at the ShadowRabbit. Its fur was inky black like the other one she had seen. Inspecting the teeth she realized that on top of the two long fangs it sported, all of its teeth were razor sharp. Its claws were just as bad, coming to needle-like points. Phoenix shuddered at the brief memory of how they had raked into her chest with no effort. The rabbit was more muscle than fat, but honestly it was better than nothing in terms of food.
There was no way she was going to start a fire, so the best thing she could do was skin it as best she could with her broken stick and eat the meat raw. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. Only able to stomach three bites of the meat before almost throwing up, she took a few sips of the river water and looked around for any place suitable enough to rest.
Gathering a bunch of old sticks and branches that had broken off of the trees, she built a small shelter against a tree about 50 feet away from the river. She looked at the rabbit carcass and realized it would only attract predators. So she picked it up and walked several paces away from her camp and threw it as far as she could before heading back and settling in her makeshift camp.
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I am so regretting my decision to eat that raw meat, and apparently the creek also had something against me too. Phoenix thought as she vomited up bile for the 10th time in a row. A few hours, or what felt like hours, after she had eaten the rabbit her body revolted. It started with small stomach pains, and had become a full blown food poisoning fiasco. Which in turn had rewarded her with another notification.
You have obtained food poisoning from eating raw meat! -30% Health
Duration: 2:00:00
You have obtained poisoning from drinking tainted water! -30% Health
Duration 2:00:00
Due to the fact that there wasn’t anything else in her system, she was forced to throw up bile and dry heave. How do I always find myself in these situations? She thought as another round of dry heaving came up.
It had only been 30 minutes since the notification had popped up, and thinking about another hour and a half with this debuff made her stomach flip even more. Flopping over on her back she looked up at the dark sky. I wish I could just see the stars. I should have never agreed to come to this world. Death would be better than this shit. She thought.
“Common soldier, you didn’t think you’d get out this easily did you?” Phoenix turned to the voice and found her former drill sergeant standing over her. She knew she was hallucinating but at this point it didn't matter, “Sarge…I’m trying my best.” She replied.
“Your BEST? You think this is your BEST? You fought through Mother Nature’s culling and survived wars beyond my wildest dreams. You’re really going to let yourself go due to eating something you shouldn't have? I didn’t train you to be that weak! You came to this world to make a difference, right? Now FIGHT!” He yelled at her. She groaned, flopping over to her side as more tried and failed to come up out of her body.
“I came to this world to make a difference. I came to this world to make sure it didn’t get destroyed like mine did. I came because someone asked me for help, and that’s what I do. I’m not going to let some fucking poison from a fucking ShadowRabbit keep me down. I WON’T GIVE IN! I’M A SOLDIER GOD DAMN IT AND A FUCKING GOOD ONE!” She yelled to herself as every muscle spasmed.
Text flashed across her vision before everything went black.