I gave myself a moment to admire the sword. It had a long blade forged from a fine steel that glistened everytime any sort of light bounced off its surface. The blade also glowed, shimmering like a star in a dark and moonless night.. The handle was of soft but sturdy leather. Its pommel was made of a unity of red, blue, and green gemstones. It hummed with power.

The sword was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, but that was not saying much. I had never seen an actual sword with my own eyes that was not behind a screen, nor had I ever even held one. The closest thing to a sword I had experience with were knives, and I used them for the purpose of preparing a meal or cutting something up, not for anything else.

Strangely enough, however, there was a peculiar feeling swirling within my mind and coursing through my veins, extending even to the sword itself as I held it with both hands. There was something here. A connection. A bond. The sword and I felt one and the same, as if it was forged specifically for me. Then, as my curiosity was at its height, a strange phrase made from unfamiliar symbols appeared along the length of the guard. Much to my surprise, I understood what it said.

“Swordbearer…” I whispered underneath my breath, “The Sword’s Chosen.”

I did not know the importance of what those titles meant, but I did not linger long in thought. Gazing outward, I noticed that the sky was growing darker and the shadows looming thicker. Dusk was upon me, and soon would the night swallow these lands whole.

I decided to walk down and to continue… somewhere. Everything around me was dead and there was no telling what lurked within the darkness that was soon to surround me. I was, excluding my sword, helpless and without direction. The clothes on my body were the same ragged and tattered shirt and pants from when I lived and died in the streets. They were not exactly suited to withstanding the cold or the elements.

Still, if I were to survive on my very first day in this strange new world, I had to make do with what I had.

As the night came true and darkness reigned, I found the glowing of the sword to be my only source of reprieve. With its shining blade, I was able to navigate the early hours of the night, making my way through the dead trees and their sprawling gray branches.

Without the sun to help me with determining my directions, whether I was going north, south, west or east, I had no choice but to follow a random direction and stick with it. I hoped that it would lead me somewhere a bit better, but the landscape didn’t look like it was about to change anytime soon.

And so I walked and I walked, using my sword as a sort of flashlight to make sure I did not stumble on some exposed roots or rocks or walk face first into a tree trunk. Making things worse, the wind had grown colder, brushing against my skin with a fierce and unwelcome feeling of frost. My spine shivered from time to time with each rough breeze, but I pressed on.

Then my first immediate problem made itself known. My stomach had grumbled and my tongue had begun to dry. I needed to eat and drink something soon, or else I risked dying of starvation and thirst. With my relatively quick death still fresh in my mind, I was not too keen on dying slowly and painfully. I had to act quickly.

I hurried my steps and began to sprint, letting the sword be my guide as I pointed it forward to illuminate the way. The dead forest I was in seemed vast, but everything had an end. There was no way this maze of dead trees and shriveled shrubs and grass extended forever.

Not unless I was in a magical forest of some kind. Speaking of magic, I hadn’t really considered the possibility of it. However, judging by the fact that I had a glowing sword and was resurrected by someone who claimed to not be a god yet acted like one, there was magic for me to discover. This was both an exciting and terrifying thought.

As what felt like several hours went by without there being a change in the scenery of my journey, I had to stop and take a break.

I sat down underneath one of the dead trees, leaning against the cold bark as I placed my sword down on the ground nearby. My heart beat with effort. My breath was somewhat strained. I was not built for this.

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That said, I had been sprinting for a long time and yet my body did not feel like it was going to collapse. Was my stamina worth more than I had expected? Given that living on the streets was rough, maybe I had somehow improved my body in some ways. Maybe.

Still, I had to rest. Food and drink was needed, but starvation took several weeks to kill while thirst took a few days. I still had some time left before it was too late. With this in mind, I decided to take a nap. Though my sword was helping me with its glow, the darkness was far too thick. I would have a better time navigating this dead wilderness underneath the diminished light of a sun I could not see.

And so I closed my eyes and slept, curling myself up as I usually did. It was familiar. It was horrible. But it was what I knew best. The night would pass, and I would continue my journey after.

However, the forces of this world had other plans for me that did not coincide with a good night’s sleep.

A horrific growl startled me awake, causing me to grab my sword and stand. Several pairs of red eyes glowed in the darkness in front of me, their malicious gaze bearing down on my person.

“Oh fuck.”

My sword glowed brighter than before, expelling the nearby darkness and revealing the creatures that stalked me with hunger and hate. They looked like very large wolves, but everything about them was wrong. Their skin was torn in places, exposing rotten flesh and bone. Their eyes glowed a deep red. Their claws were as long and sharp as knives. Their fangs were that of daggers. And their fur was curled and shedding.

Where the hell did these things even come from? There was nothing around us but a dead forest!

There were eight of them in total, circling around me as if waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Fear gripped my heart as I gripped my sword even tighter. There was no way I could fight off a pack of demonic-looking wolves with just my own skills, because I had none to speak of!

Yet, as the monstrous wolves growled and spat out blood and saliva with each horrid gurgle, I remembered the words of the old man. The sword was my guide for as long as I needed until I could guide it in return.

The sword, my sword, was a part of me. An extension of me. Just like how I learned how to use my hands and my feet, I would soon learn how to use my sword. But for now, it would instead use me.

That said, how the hell was it going to do that?

Before I could even begin to think of a close answer, the wolves lunged. They came at me at the same time, bearing their fangs and claws as they roared towards me. Quickly, and without thinking of much else, I held my sword tighter than ever before, and swung with a cry.

A familiar feeling took hold of my body as I did, compelling me to move in ways that I did not know and yet felt so natural doing so. The sword cut through the air and into the first three wolves with ease, slicing each of the monstrous creatures into two. They fell to the ground with a whine, dying just as they landed. Before I could even fanthom what just happened, I was already moving.

My feet moved with the smoothness of flowing water finding its way between rocks in a river, allowing me to twist and turn as if I had done this a thousand times before. I jumped out of the way just as the rest of the wolves were about to seize me, causing them to collide with one another as I flew over their heads.

I landed on the ground behind them, almost losing my balance as I did. I regained my footing just as the wolves had reoriented themselves, looking back at me with even more hunger and hate than before. They charged at me, fangs and claws at the ready. For all intents and purposes, I was horrified. But as I stood there frozen, something within me surged, and then I roared.

I met the first wolf with a quick swing, slicing off its head and leaving the rest of its corpse to fly past me. The secold wolf fared no better, finding itself bissected as I leaned back from its lunge and swung across its belly as it flew overhead. Blood splattered and flew, but I cared not. The rest of the wolves came, this time swiping at me with their claws and doing their best to snatch away with my head with their jaws. I raised my sword in defiance, parrying each swipe of their claws and slapping away each attempt to bite off my head.

They were relentless in their attempts, causing me to stagger back with each blow I had to parry. One of the wolves found an opening, scratching me on the left shoulder as I launched my fist into its face. My fist had more power behind it than expected, blowing through the wolf’s skull before coming out the other end covered in rotten brain matter and shattered bone. With no time to feel disgusted, I was quick to bring my sword around and sliced off the front legs of another wolf as it pounced on my back, finding itself without its forelimbs as it crashed into the ground. Acting quick, I ran over to the disabled wolf as its companions raced towards me and sank my sword into its chest, killing it.

The last two wolves that remained renewed their efforts with increased desperation, attacking me at the same time with a ferocity that was akin to the rabid dogs I had to contend with during that one nasty rabies outbreak a few years back. They caught me thrice, their paws sinking deep into my right shoulder, my left breast, and my left arm. I had to jump away to gain some distance.

I did just that, putting a few dead trees between myself and the wolves. Blood dripped down my wounds and pain began to swell. I flinched at the sight of my blood, but I shook my head. There were only two wolves left. I had this. I had to if I were to survive.

The wolves came crashing through the trees, pulling them from their roots and pushing them aside as they charged towards where I was. With a glare, I allowed the same surge of energy from before to guide me once more, and swung hard.

What came next was nothing short of powerful. A wave of white energy surged from the blade of my sword and sliced through the forest in front of me, cutting through both the wolves and the trees with a searing heat that set everything aflame.

The darkness itself was swept away, overwhelmed by the light of my attack and my sword. The wolves and the forest burned bright, and as I looked down upon the sword that saved my life, I noticed something else that was peculiar.

I was also glowing.