Tony's great moment of maybe being the first human to ever touch this place disappeared pretty fast, and he sat down again. He could feel his body now, but he could have done without the lingering pain in his muscles.

"Black, I honestly don't think I feel good enough to take a walk yet... My whole body feels like a mangled piece of bread!"

"Well, we did force the adaption, but the pain should disappear pretty soon. And while you're still sitting, we could experiment a bit with these game features." His voice sounded excited, and Tony wondered for a moment if it was even possible for him to take any situation serious for longer than a second.

His thoughts wandered through the many different games he had played and searched for similarities that he could apply in this world. Of course, Tony also thought about carious fictions he had read on this topic.

"Since it's a game world, there should be a status, and skills and stuff like that, right?"

"Right, I figured the same. Try... conjuring up a status, since saying it out loud is obviously not working."

Tony groaned inwardly. This sounded like part two of the 'Just-do-it' bullshit, and he feared that snapping wasn't going to help him this time.

Still, he tried to think the word in his mind with as much of imagination and intention as he could muster, and with a slight ding a big, blue window appeared next to the six small boxes still floating in the air in front of him.

It took a few deep breaths for Tony to calm down again. Apart from being in a strange, unknown and undiscovered world, seeing your own status is sonething pretty cool and exciting. He felt like unwrapping a gift on Christmas.

Name: Tony March Race: Human Age: 17 Life Points: 45 --- --- Vitality: 9 Strength: 7 --- Intelligence: 15 --- Luck: 11

... It was pretty short.

"Hey! What's with that 7 in strength? I could do better than that on Earth!" Tony's face heated , knowing that the average number for strength was probably 10 like in most games. Meaning that he was considered 'weak' in this world.

On his breast, Black began to slightly vibrate while he stiffled his laughter. "I guess now... you're officially a nerd!" He gave up on trying to seem polite or caring and just laughed out loud, the sound carrying lightly through the forest.

Tony buried his face in his hands which by now was red like a tomato. "Stop teasing, you stupid ring! At least my intelligence is quite high! If you had a status, you'd probably have just one strength, you piece of stone!"

The laughter subsided as both of them thought about it. Normally, he would either be considered a ring, or some kind of pet or spirit. Maybe he really had a status.

"Maybe I can 'identify' you. Wait a sec..." Tony grabbed the ring between his fingers and held it close to his eyes while Black remained silent. He tried thinking 'Identify' in his head the same way he thought about opening his status, and to his surprise, it really worked. A small window popped up next to the ring:

Black Ring

A dull, black ring with no noteworthy proportions.

Durability: 14/15

Contains: Unknown

"So, this is just a normal ring, and you're, like, possessing it? It says it contains 'Unknown'..." There was a hint of doubt in his voice, since he never saw Black as some kind of ghost but always as the ring. Apparently, his thinking was wrong.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"That 'Unknown' is probably me. It seems thiw world doesn't have a proper name for me."

They both stared at the window a little longer, thinking about the 'Unknown' tag, before Tony had another idea: "It showed my status when I was thinking about opening it, so what if you think about opening yours?"

Just as he finished talking, the ninth window appeared, this time in front of the ring. Black mumbled: "Works just fine..." absentmindedly while he took a closer look at his status.

Name: Black Race: Unknown (Ring) Age: Unknown Life Points: 70 Mana Points: 86.970 --- Vitality: 14 Strength: 0 --- Intelligence: 17.394 Wisdom: 19.629 Luck: 0

Abilities:

[ Possession ], Lv. Max

They stood and stared. At first, Tony thought he had read wrong. Then he tried convincing himself that it was just a joke from this world, or some kind of mistake. And finally, when Black didn't object to those unrealistically high numbers, he broke down.

"Alright, what. the. fuck! What is this!! How the everlasting hell are your intelligence and wisdom that high!? How!! ANSWER ME, you traitorous bastard of a ring!" Tony stopped shouting a moment to take a deep breath and then continue, but Black skillfully spotted the opening and butted in.

"Calm down, Tony March! Geez, you're overreacting! Did you really expect my stats to be the same as some human's? I obviously had more time and opportunity than you to get this strong."

Tony was still breathing heavily and clenching the ring inside his hands while looking at it with suspicion, but he gave up trying to shout the reasons out of it.

Looking back at the status window, he realized two more small boxes beneath it.

'Mana Points' discovered

'Abilities' discovered

"So apparently I can gain new stats and add-ons to my status window just by seing their name." This new discovery helped to distract him from the previous, unbelievable experience, and he thankfully took the chance.

Looking back at his own screen, his Mana Points were 75, and his abilities... there were none. Somehow, it made him feel miserable and a little bit depressed.

Black, who noticed the crestfallen look of his bearer, tried to cheer him up: "Don't be like that. See, you just came to this world, and you have plenty of time to get some cool abilities. So pull yourself together, will you!"

After a few seconds, Tony then sighed heavily one time before responding: "You're right. I can change this window, and I will! ... But before that... how do you close them?" His question made both of them go silent as they looked at the abundance of blue boxes that filled Tony's field of view almost completely.

The problem was solved quickly, since it only took a single swipe of his hand for Tony to clear them all. Black needed a bit more time, since his lack of hands made it impossible to swipe, but he discovered that you coulod also close the windows with tought commands.

"Alright, so we solved this problem. Now what's next?", Black asked after their sight was finally free of blue.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Weeell, because you don't listen to any reasonable advice of my side anyways."

In regard to his stubborness concerning the cave exploration, Tony had a hard time to reply, and chose to simply ignore the comment. "I think we should find someone we can talk to, someone who can maybe help us find a way back."

"Like... a city or a village?"

Tony was surprised at this question: "Do you think something like that exists here? I mean, this isn't earth. There could be anything out there."

Black was silent.

"...Black. Why aren't you answering? Do I need to know something?", Tony asked, obnvious suspicion coating his voice. He thought he had known the being called Black, but apparently he was better off questioning his actions.

He feared the ring held more secrets than he had thought until now.

"You know, you should just walk straight. That way we get out of this forest the fastest. And since you're as strong as a tired toddler, why don't you start walking righht now?"

... He was evading the question! Tony couldn't believe it, but he knew Black was stubborn. He wouldn't get an answer like that. And he was his guardian after all. He wouldn't keep quiet about matters that could hurt him.

So Tony let it go, and instead faced the overgrown jungle around him. He peered through the trees, but was only greeted by more trees ... and more trees behind those. If he wanted to find a good place before nightfall, he would have to hurry.

He hated hiking.

With an annoyed huff, he started walking.