I slowly regained consciousness, my body stiff and aching. As I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on my back in a small clearing, surrounded by a towering forest. The rough ground beneath me was littered with sharp stones and twigs that poked and prodded through my shirt, causing sharp pains to radiate through my body.

The forest was a labyrinth of trees, their gnarled branches stretching up towards the sky like fingers.

I strained my eyes to identify the trees, but they all seemed to blur together in a dizzying array of green. Some looked like oaks, but they were much taller than any I had ever seen, their branches reaching up into the sky like spires.

As I gazed up towards the sky, I was struck by the vividness of the blue that peeked through the dense canopy of leaves. It was a striking contrast to the darkness of the forest, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder and awe at the beauty of the world around me.

But I had to get moving.

Despite my muscles intense protests I finally got up.

"Fuck"

So it had been real. My last hope of it all being a dream was brutally crushed by the unfamiliar greenery around me. The size of the trees only confirmed what that dreadful statue had been saying. They were just too big to exist anywhere on earth. And I've seen some pretty impressive redwood forests in my time. These ones were easily double the height of the ones I was familiar with. No idea how that was even possible with gravity being mostly the same.

First problems already started to arise. No idea what that race fusion did to me, but I was still human enough to feel thirsty. My mouth already felt uncomfortably dry.

I dragged myself in the shade of a nearby tree. It was big enough for me to hide under some exposed roots.

Okay. So I'm in this trial. If the statue is to be trusted, with 5000 other contestants. Only the last 10 are supposed to get out. What do I have to work with?

"Not fucking much", I said my voice strange in my own ears.

I should probably stop talking to myself. There are others in this forest. And they might not be friendly.

I sighed as I began looking through my pockets. Nothing in my back pockets. Some old tissues out front. Also my keys. Fantastic.

My meager haul laid out in front of me, another thought came to me unprompted. I looked around. Nothing. I was alone.

"Status", I said quietly. A transparent blue window similar to the one earlier came into view.

Name: Alexander Kovács Race: Human Hybrid (Night Elf) Strenght: 9 Agility: 17 Dexterity: 12 Endurance: 6 Constitution: 5 Essence: 10

A little window popped up.

Note: 10 is the average value of a healthy human male. The values you see here are a mesh of your human attributes and the values of an average night elf.

I furrowed my brows. Looked like I was doing fairly well in the agility department. I had been somewhat athletic before, but I was pretty damn sure that I wasn't 70% faster than an average guy my age. Likely a boost from my race. Whatever that means. Also my endurance and constitution surely hadn't been this bad before right?

I touched the back of head absently, taking in the implications of that.

And then there was essence. No idea what that was supposed to signify. But the night elf description did mention something about "the darker types of magic", I was supposed to have an affinity with now. Probably has something to do with it eh.

I shook my head. No use thinking about those things right now. I was stranded in this forest. I needed water, shelter and food. In that order. Might as well get going.

From my hideout I didn't have a great view of my surroundings. I still peeked over the roots, to search for any points of interest.

All I saw was Forest. Tall trees with dense underbush obstructing my view. Some of those bushes looked thorny too. Something to keep in mind if I wanted to brave this wilderness later.

So instead I listened.

The forest was full of sound. I could hear the trees, swaying and the foliage playing in the gentle wind. The chirping of unknown birds was everpresent. I hadn't even noticed it before I started conciously paying attention to it. Occasionally I could even hear some insects buzzing around the clearing.

But that was it. I sighed. No rushing river, no babbeling brook, nothing. Would have been too easy.

There was another way to get a better look of my surrounding though. One I'd been avoiding to think about so far because I kind of dreaded it in my current state. But it was no use. I needed a better look at my surroundings. If not to look for any sources of water, at least to see where I even was.

'And look for any signs of non natural activity', I thought grimly.

The trees were perfect for that. Tall they were, but they didn't actually look too difficult to climb. Lots of branches close to the ground.

I sighed. This was gonna hurt.

I picked one of the taller looking trees at random and started pulling myself up. My armmuscles screamed, but I shouldered on. My hands dug into the bark. It wasn't hard, thankfully. The tree was large and with lots of branches close together. Also the bark gave me great grip. Still hurt like hell.

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The last time I climbed a tree had been at a party. Couldn't remember how it came to that, but there was this idiot throwing rotten apples at me from below. His name was Michael, or Marshall or Barney or something. I didn't care when I went down to kick his ass.

Barney turned out to be the son of the local police chief. Needless to say, I came to regret my asskicking.

After what felt like hours I was finally high enough to see anything. I sat down on a thick branch to catch my breath and take in the sight.

It was awe inspiring. The tree I picked was a good bit taller than the rest, so I was just above most treetops. The were swaying gently in the wind, and in a way it almost looked like a green sea.

That was only reinforced by the apparent endlessness of it all. For miles and miles there was nothing but trees. It was both breathtaking, as well as frightening. I was really fucking far away from anything that could be called civilization. On a positive note, there were also no signs of my competitors anywhere. But I probably shouldn't be surprised with a forest this big.

I scanned the forest until suddenly I found something. A large clearing, with a floor that seemed to reflect light. A lake. It was fairly far away, which was why i hadn't noticed it at first.

"Fuck yes", I pumped my fist.

Despite the distance I was confident I would be able to reach the lake before nightfall. The sun had not yet reached its zenith. In fact, it seemed to rise a good bit slower than on earth. I decided to ignore the scientific ramifications of that for the moment. Instead I was grateful for the extra time it afforded me. If my calculations were accurate, I had about 13 more hours of daylight to work with. Though it was hard to judge how long it would actually take me to reach the lake. A couple hours at least, considering the dense underbush, maybe even more.

My hope was to reach it early, so I could search for a shelter for the night. If the days were longer here, surely the nights would be too. And I had no intention of spending the night exposed. Who knew what kind of alien creatures would come out at night? So far it seemed fairly peaceful, but not the right kind of peace. More like a grace period. The calm before the storm.

Better get going.

I took one last look at the swaying sea of treetops, before begining my descent. It was much easier than the ascent before. My muscleache had lessened considerably, so the descent was swift and much less painful. I also noticed my increased agility for the first time. My whole movement just felt smoother, more elegant than before coming here. Climbing from branch to branch, digging in my feet for better grip, felt natural.

Just before the forestground became visible, I noticed an odd smell in the air. Almost.. like smoke.

My heart instantly started beating faster. Smoke meant fire. And fire meant people.

Much slower this time, I resumed my descent. I crawled on a thick branch to get a better look at the clearing. There was plenty of cover in the form of leaves but they also obstructed my sight.

Slowly the clearing came into view. There was a fire, lit on the forestfloor. A man and a woman were standing around it, talking quietly to each other. A mixture of joy and fear overwhelmed me for a moment.

People!

I crept further along the the tree branch. The man was a giant. Easily two heads taller than me, with modern clothes that clearly weren't made for his size. He looked like an asshole. I would have laughed if not for the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

Conflicting thoughts shot through my head. He probably was a spartan. One of the races offered to me earlier. Which would mean he was human like me right? Should I approach them? I was scared, but they looked pretty normal. And they seemed to have some sort of alliance already. A part of me instinctively wanted to jump down and greet them.

I growled and firlmly clamped down on that feeling. I reminded myself that I didn't know them. This was a death game. I couldn't just trust the first people I crossed paths with. Instead I chose to just observe further.

The woman looked much more normal than the guy. I couldn't detect any attributes that would give away any otherworldlyness. Not that this necessarily meant anything. She did have a bow on her though. A good bow. Nothing you could just whip up on your own in a couple of hours. That put me on guard. Either she had been here longer than me, or she had somehow found a way to obtain items.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud thuck. The arrow barely missed the woman and struck the tree behind her. A shower of splinters left no doubt about the strenght of the impact.

To their credit, they reacted instantly. Both abandoned the fire and jumped behind trees, getting cover. They frantically looked around searching for the shooter. I noticed the man was already limping.

The woman must have found something as she nicked an arrow and fired it in the undergrowth. She never got to see if it hit, as suddenly two massive brown bears jumped from the bushes behind her. They split of, one going for the guy while the other barrelled full force into the poor archer. She was lifted off her feet and flung through the air, hitting the forest floor with the telltale crack of broken bones. She didn't give up though. Somehow she got another arrow hooked, and hit the bear right in the snout.

It yowled pitifully as dark red blood covered its face. But it didn't stop. The bear reached the woman and started mauling her. She didn't even have time to scream as it brutally tore her apart. Blood sprayed everywhere under the onslaught.

I had to hold back a gag as I quickly looked away. The man was doing slightly better. He was bleeding of his right arm but somehow managed to keep the bear at bay with an improvised spear. Basically just a big sharpened stick. Whenever the bear lunged, the spartan kept angleing the spear in a way that the bear would skewer himself if he commited any further. The bear still had the advantage from the surprise attack, but wounds were accumulating on its fur. I noticed how the guy was also primarily aiming for the snout. It seemed like a weak point.

The stalemate didn't last. The other bear had finished his opponent, and came to help his buddy. The arrow was still stuck in its snout, but it didn't seem too concerned as it launched itself at the spartan from behind. The man dropped his spear and doubled over. As soon as he was on the ground it was over. Both bears pounced and started tearing him to pieces. Dread went through my veins.

I turned away. I couldn't watch anymore. It felt like every horror movie I ever watched, at the same time, right in front of me. I could feel the cold sweat on skin, as realization set in. I was so fucked.

They can't get to me.

I told myself like a mantra. I was save up here. They don't know I'm here. I'm just a small unimportant kid. Fear kept me glued to the branch.

I need to relax. Panic doesn't help me here. Fucking hell.

I finally mustered the courage to move. Just back slightly to be be covered better by the foliage.

With a titanic effort of will I managed to set my feelings aside for the moment. I needed to think logical now. There was time for feelings later, I told myself.

Something was wrong here.

The killing was gruesome, but almost eerily coordinated. As if they were working together to take down a dangerous prey. Now, I had never actually seen a bear before, but I was pretty confident that they didn't hunt in packs. This was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen.

I wasn't really religious, but right now I understood why others were. I sent a quick prayer to any deity that was willing to listen. Imagine I fucking went down there. I had no illusion about my chances against those bears.

Below me the bears had finished off the guy. I did my best to ignore his parts strewn all over the clearing.

They gathered around the fire, as suddenly they started to shudder. Their whole body was shaking. Limbs were shortening, fur looked like it was being sucked back in their skin. It looked exceedingly painful.

They stood on their hindlegs, as more and more of their bear nature fell away. As sudden as it had started, it stopped. The bears had vanished, and two feral looking men had taken their place. Still hairy, still with claws on their hands, but unmistakeably humanoid.