Feeling like I had gained some form of safety after my mad climb up this amazing tree, I started to stop my climbing. Only to immediately get back to it as I felt the inevitable fatigue from pushing my body so much start to creep in the moment I stopped moving. Something tells me that letting the fatigue set in however far I am up this tree is an absolutely terrible idea, so it looked like I’ll have to think as I climb.
The best place to start will probably be the red blinking dot that appeared in replacement of the red screen I saw when I woke up. Apparently consciously thinking about it was all that was necessary for it to open up back into the original near vision covering red screen. Luckily it seemed almost aware of my current situation as it had increased in transparency to the point where I could both read the text on the screen and see the tree beneath me.
*Welcome human, in an attempt to ease your species integration into the wider universe you, along with the rest of your species deemed eligible have been randomly distributed into worlds that have already been fully integrated. In your status you will find a quest has been automatically generated according to your situation, the rewards from this initial quest will aid you in your continued survival. *
Ok, I thought to myself, I was teleported in my sleep to an alien world where there are giant magical dinosaurs, and at least one insanely large tree. Now what about this quest? Mentally closing the message another one popped up immediately after with the distinct sound of confetti.
*Mission complete “Survive against the king of the forest” rewards will be distributed based off of method of completion*
Another message right after that seemed to be the rewards that this screen was talking about.
*When faced with a powerful enemy instead of honorably standing your ground you fled like a coward. For this you will be rewarded with the title: Master escape artist, and the item, "Sturdy climbing boots". *
Seeing this message, I couldn’t help but scream out towards the idiotic red screen, “You expect me to stand and fight against that huge ass monster. What was I supposed to do against it, give it indigestion?”. I once again closed the message with a bitter taste in my mouth. When a few seconds passed with no indication of any other notifications I started to ponder on the rewards that this screen had said it gave me. Did it just drop the boots into the air for it to fall down sometime during my climb? I would rather like to have some shoes right now, even if I don't have socks to protect my toes. The first message also mentioned something about a status, what is that? Is it like a video game status? Once again, the screens responded to my thoughts by pulling up another screen, this one a much nicer dark blue.
Status
Lvl: 0
Hp: 125/125, Mp: 127/127, Stamina: 45/500
Titles: Master escape artist
Statistics
Dexterity: 5
Strength: 5
Endurance: 5
Vitality: 5
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 5
Luck: 5
Skills
N/a
Rewards
Sturdy climbing boots \\ Claim reward?
Looks like the boots are still available, now I just need to find a safe spot to claim them. It also seems like my past life activities (or lack thereof) didn’t have much effect on my stats since everything was set to 5. Along with that are the strange percentages next to certain stats, which going by game logic should stem from the title the screen had given me, and focusing on the title on the screen revealed the truth in my Hypothesis when it pulled up another screen with some nice flavor text.
*Master escape artist / title*
A master escape artist is someone who constantly puts themselves in dangerous situations for the thrill of it. Using speed, wits, and a fair bit of luck to escape from situations that would seem impossible for others.
Seems like all the initial questions I’ve had upon my rather rude wakeup call have been answered, and just in time to because farther up ahead I can see the edges of a hole in the tree. Hopefully there is enough room up there for me to at least get in a quick nap. Sleep is important after all.
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Grabbing onto the edge of the hole I lifted myself up with the intention of rolling up and falling asleep the moment I got over the edge. Upon getting above the edge though I discovered that tree was obviously more magical than I thought, because instead of a decent sized hole that would be home to some oversized birds, I found a fucking lake. There was a whole lake within the tree, and not only was there a lake but there was also forestry surrounding the lake. I will admit that it was really pretty and all, but I was hoping for something a bit smaller for me to take a nap in. Looking around my immediate surroundings it looks like I had trees to both my sides that were densely packed to the point where it would be impossible to get past them. Leaving me with the path forward that led straight towards the mystical lake…yeah, I think I’ll deal with that later. Right now, I was more worried about my limbs that had already started to shake from the hard work that they’ve been putting in. So, after stuffing my arms into my shirt I curled up next to the closest tree and promptly entered the land of dreams.
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Groggily waking up I felt something weird and soft brushing against my face, and thinking it was one of my many stuffed animals I tried to grab onto it to snuggle myself into it. Obviously, it wasn’t one of my stuffed animals though because the damned thing bit me. Jumping awake with a yelp I immediately tried to throw whatever was on me off, and with a little crazy wiggling the perpetrator was revealed. It was a squirrel. A squirrel that definitely conformed with the common theme of this strange world because the thing was easily over 2 feet long, and that wasn’t even including its tail!
While I was busy gawking at the humongous squirrel in front of me, it was staring right back with seemingly just as much curiosity. Even doing a cute little head tilt. Realizing that there was no way I could continue to be mad at the squirrel with how cute it looked I just sighed to myself and sat back down next to the tree I had slept on. That was when it started to sink in that this was real. I had been forcefully deported from Earth into some strange world where everything is crazy out of proportion. I didn’t really have much going for me on Earth to be honest. Dead parents, no siblings, no friends, and definitely no girlfriend. I spent most of my time either studying in the hopes I could pursue something I actually liked for the next decade of my life, and reading nonsense stories for the slight rush of dopamine it brought me.
Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe this whole thing isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be? Sure, there is the obvious threat of a gruesome death, but the thrill of escaping from an actual T-rex was amazing. I mean haven’t people always enjoyed that risk. People do things like cliff diving, bungee jumping, and will even just jump out of a plane thousands of feet up in the air for fun. It was about right here in my thoughts when the squirrel started to poke me with its cute little nose. Reaching out towards it I gave it a little boop on its nose and it jumped back, and it jumped back terrified, like I had just turned into some eldritch monster or something. Chuckling to myself I opened up the screens once again and clicked on the little button to claim the boots it said it was going to reward me.
The squirrel managed to look even more surprised when a nice clean pair of dark blue boots just appeared on the floor in front of me, as if they had always been there and we had just never noticed. Grabbing them I quickly slid them onto my bare feet, and to my surprise it was actually really comfortable. It fit snugly around my feet, and the inside was soft enough that I thought that I wouldn’t even need socks. Satisfied with the new additions to my wardrobe I decided to quickly test them out. Walking over towards the edge of the hole in the tree with the still curious squirrel following me, I grabbed onto the right edge and swung my leg over. After getting some proper footing it was rather easy getting the rest of my body out the hole, and back onto the side of the humongous tree.
The difference immediately became apparent as the soles of the boots gained a slight glow to them, and I could feel as the boots became almost magnetically attached to the side of the tree. Maybe a bit too stuck since even with a decent bit of force I couldn’t separate my feet from the bark. Looking back down towards the boots revealed that they had gained some weird glowing runes on the part right above my toes. They glowed a very light blue and consisted of a bunch of seemingly random scribbles inside of a circle, that was inside of a triangle. As I continued to stare at it, I couldn’t help but get lost in the strange shapes, searching for a pattern in the scribbles that I wasn’t even sure existed.
Eventually it felt as if the only thing I could see, the only thing I could think of, was the shapes. I could see it perfectly in my mind, even after I had closed my eyes. In my head the scribbles inside the circle started to wiggle around, slowly moving towards something. Then it clicked. I couldn’t describe how or what clicked, but it clicked.
Instead of mindlessly pulling I slowly relaxed my feet, spreading my toes and loosening my ankle. And just like that my left leg was freed. I then put my foot back against the bark and pushed against the tree, and my foot was once again stuck to the tree. I heard another ding in my head but ignored it to further explore my new magical pair of boots. Sticking both feet against the tree I slowly started to relax my hands, and then started to lean back. It felt like I was going against my own survival instinct as I gradually let gravity take hold of my body, but in the end there was no need to worry as my boots held tightly onto the tree stopping me from falling. I felt slightly nauseous with the rather weird change in perspective, and I can only imagine how bad it would be if I looked down. Along with that I could feel how much it hurt my abs and legs to hang like this, but I wasn’t done just yet. Slowly I raised my left leg up off the tree, and instantly felt the strain on my leg, but I pushed through it and took a step forward. And then I took another… and another, and eventually I was walking up the tree. I couldn’t help but burst out into hysterical laughter as I struck a spider-man pose and turned to look out at the rest of the world.
The view was amazing. I could see the forest that seemed to stretch on infinitely, and the multitude of creatures moving through it. I even spotted a few more trees that could compete with mine in height. I thought that seeing how far up I was would be scary, and it was, but the elation I felt far overpowered it. While I enjoyed the view, I checked out on the dinging the noise that was trying to ruin this serene moment for me, and who would have guessed that it was another screen with a notification.
*Congratulations, for gaining a partial understanding of an enchantment far beyond your level you have been awarded the title, “Rune Decryptor”. Since you are the first of your species to gain a title related to the understanding runes you have been awarded an additional item to help further your education, “Runes, Enchantments, and Arrays” *
*Rune Decryptor / title*
*You have begun to understand the components and products of basic runes*
*Runes, Enchantments, and Arrays / item*
*A beginner book on the basics of runes, enchantments, and arrays*
As if the joy from walking up a wall wasn’t good enough, the screens had decided to give me even more things to mess around with. I was especially interested in the book because who hasn’t wanted to read a book on actual magic once in their life. Plus, I found myself strangely drawn towards the weird shapes that make up the rune on my boots, so I look forward to gaining a deeper understanding. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to make my own enchanted gloves to match the boots. Happy with my little excursion I slowly walked back towards the hole in the tree, then stuck my leg onto the edge and swung my entire body through the hole, sticking my foot onto the roof to stop my momentum. I then proceeded to walk on the roof above the squirrel who was once again looking at me like I had just told him Santa isn’t real.
Walking back down the wall onto the floor, the glow disappeared the moment I put my foot back on solid ground. I turned towards the squirrel, only for it to run away the moment I made eye contact with it. While it was rather sad that I wouldn’t have a little buddy to entertain me, I doubt anything could worsen my mood after walking on the roof and walls. Actually, scratch that. I got about two steps before I started to perceive the pain radiating throughout my abdomen and legs. Apparently, my cool boots couldn’t do all the work. Leaving my muscles to pick up the slack, and while my muscles somehow felt back to one hundred percent after I woke up, my one hundred percent isn’t the best.
Deciding it would be safer to take a rest before anything else I sat down once again and waited until my body had recuperated enough to move without violently shaking. Once I felt ready, I started to walk towards what is probably the most magical thing I have seen yet. Because I still have no clue how, or why there is a lake, that is inside of a forest, that is also inside of a tree. But I sure as hell planned on finding out.