When opening my eyes after waking up, I only see darkness.
I can still feel my headache, and I'm laying on what seems like cold, uneven stone. In the distance, I can hear the regular splashing of droplets on stone. I guess I'm in some kind of cave? I wish I could see something...
As I slowly get on my feet, I feel a wave of dizziness washing over me. I feel around the cave, trying to get a sense of my surroundings. The walls are rough and jagged, and the floor is slippery with moisture. I can hear the sound of water dripping from the ceiling, and the air is damp and musty.
Just when I start getting nervous about how I should escape this cave, I notice a little bit of light shining through a small crack in the wall in the distance. If I can get there, I can escape!
I begin carefully and slowly to make my way towards the light source. How did I get here anyway? And where is this place? The last thing I can remember was the incredible pain of the medicine, which the woman was injecting me. I'm sure I was dying, so how can I still be alive?
Maybe I've actually died and am now in one of those Isekai stories, where the main character gets transported to a fantasy world. With this ludicrous thought being stuck in my head, I ironically say "Open status", not expecting anything to happen.
However, to my surprise, a holographic display appears right in front of me.
"Name: Arthur Young
Title: None
Strength: 11
Magic: 3
Agility: 14"
The heck is this? Is this actually happening, or am I hallucinating? Well, it doesn't really matter for now, since the holographic display actually lights up the cave a bit. Using this to my advantage, I can now walk way faster in the direction, where I originally saw the light. But I can't help but think about what kind of world this is. If the status menu mentions magic, I'm sure this is a fantasy world, but even with the display still floating in front of me, I still can't believe it. I wonder if this world also has dragons and other fantasy creatures – at this point, I really wouldn't be surprised about that anymore.
I've almost climbed to where I first saw the light, and now I can clearly see a crack in the wall and behind I can make out a light blue sky. Nearing the crack, I can also see, that it's located at a plateau above a dense looking forest.
While I'm squeezing myself through the opening in the wall, I try to make myself a better picture of the surrounding. Since I'm located on a plateau, I can see some mountains in the distance, but other than that I can just see the huge forest, which stretches in every direction.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Finally stepping out of the cave, I can breathe some fresh air, at last! I still have no idea, where I am, or what this world is, but staring into the distance I am still in awe at this sight. In the distance, I can even see a huge looking bird – no wait, it looks like a dragon! It is really far away, but if he gets closer I might have a huge problem!
Not wanting to take any risks, I quickly start descending from the plateau into the forest. No matter how stupid it might be, I'm now absolutely certain this is a fantasy world...
Concerning my stats; they seem to be a bit low, but I have no reference, what might be considered normal here. But don't people, who get summoned in Isekai always get some cheat abilities? Maybe I randomly find some super strong sword with immense stats here in this forest.
Heh, enough daydreaming. For now, I'll have to find a safe place for the night, I'm sure there are a lot of bad monsters, like goblins, around here. If I find a river, I might be able to find a village, if I follow it downstream.
As the sun already starts setting, I enter the forest; always going downhill in hopes of finding a river. The trees are dense, and the underbrush is thick, making it difficult to navigate. I have to constantly push branches and leaves out of my way as I make my way through the dense foliage. Since I also need to be wary of any monsters, which might attack me, I have to move even sower than I'd like.
While the last light rays are still visible, a clearing becomes visible in front of me. A few single light rays shine through the trees and enlighten a small patch of grass in the center of the clearing. Stuck there is a sword, which seems to glow in the golden light of the sun.
Coming closer, I can see the incredibly delicate design of the hilt and the blade. It looks so beautiful that it looks more like a decorative sword, than a real one, but knowing I'm in a fantasy world, this might actually be a really strong sword... I wonder if I can appraise it? Drawing the sword out of the ground, I try it.
"Appraisal" – Another small holographic display pops up in front of me.
"Name: Super Strong Sword
Physical Strength: 1000"
What the hell is this?! It actually is the overpowered sword I was wishing for? And what's wrong with this name?
While still being fascinated by the sword, I hear an unexpected scream for help from someone! The scream seemed to come from relatively close nearby. Since I now have a powerful weapon, I'm sure I can help whoever cried for help.
This situation seems somehow familiar...
Rushing over to where I heard the scream, I can make out a girl ducking on the ground while covering her head with her hands. Surrounding her are what seems to be goblins. So they really exist here!
While I have no idea how to use a sword, I'm sure the Super Strong Sword will be enough to slay these goblins. Blindly, I dash into the crowd of enemies, holding the sword like a baseball bat, not sure of how I'm supposed to take them down. However, when I grace the first goblin with the blade of my sword, it instantly dies.
I haven't even really hit it, but the wound from the blade seemed to explode with blood as soon as it grazed the goblin... The name of the sword sure didn't lie!
After realizing how big my advantage really is, I dash towards the rest of the goblins. But the goblins also seem to realize the situation. They instantly start fleeing into the forest, which is pitch black by now. And while they seem to navigate the undergrowth easily, I have no chance to keep up with them.
So instead of running after the goblins, I turn to the girl, which gets dimly lit by the moonlight.
"Thanks for saving me."
"No proble...", wait. This voice sounds familiar.
"Are you Kaitlyn?"