Even in the midst of hundreds of feet moving by, Kayn was rooted on the spot.
Kayn stared at the swirling blue portal standing about 7 steps in front of him. It wasn't anything humongous that could take your breath away, but the implication of entering the portal certainly did.
People, ones that didn't seem fully human, walked in and out of the portal like it was just any ordinary Tuesday, but for a first timer like Kayn, his feet just lost their power to walk.
'This is it, I will definitely bring back that bag and devour that cake!'
Kayn finally passed the basic test he needed to register as an Explorer to go into Votum to awaken his dormant core.
The people coming in and out of the portal had claws for hands, another had 2 sets of ears, human's and beast-like ears, while the peculiar ones just became green and three meters tall.
Kayn simply wanted to earn money, not so much that he could be living with 7 wives in a gigantic mansion, but just enough to pay off his parents' debts, one that they took to raise him and his brother, and to pay for his brother's college in a couple of years.
'And that's the reason why I shouldn't worry too much and just shove my ass into that portal.'
Kayn didn't need to hunt dangerous creatures that would give him the ability to fight against the world, he just needed one that could be useful and keep him alive while in the dangerous world of Votum.
With the thought of his family living a happy, simple life, he forced himself to walk into the portal.
Kayn found himself in the wilderness of the Votum world, an occurrence that would happen if one had never exited through a city's exit portal in Votum.
With his government-issued steel sword dangling on his side and hardened leather armor hugging his body, Kayn was ready to at least not be killed by a measly goblin.
Fresh, uncontaminated wind of the world blew past him as Kayn took a mental picture of his surroundings.
Grass field that spans as large as his city back home, lush forest with dozens of meters tall trees standing a distance away from him, a bright, yet warm yellow su-
Crimson red filled Kayn's eyes as a spinning sensation assaulted his head.
One giant red portal, one that was actually 10 times the size of the blue portal he saw before, swallowed him whole before vanishing from the surface of Votum, bringing Kayn along with it.
Kayn closed his eyes as he tried to stabilize his spinning head, kneeling on the ground to prevent himself from falling.
It took a few seconds for the headache to go away, but only a split second for Kayn to jerk open his eyes.
The cool, refreshing wind was gone as heat assaulted his body, the grass beneath him became coarse dirt, and the supposedly light yellow sun turned blood red.
And the one thing that kept Kayn's hair standing on end was the distant growling and shrieks that never stopped ever since he opened his eyes.
"Where the hell am I…"
Kayn tried to remember all the things that he learned in the Explorer preparatory course, but not a single clue told him where his current location was.
"The heat and coarse ground might suggest that I'm somewhere near a volcanic region. However.."
Kayn looked up once again, staring at the sun that was as if it was made out of compressed blood, his ears still hearing the animalistic sounds in the distance.
"Red sun didn't exist anywhere in Votum, at least not the areas that the humans had explored yet… and those sounds…"
Kayn had an urge to shout for help and run around to search for anyone, anything that would indicate that his life was not in danger.
But he had learned that staying calm was the correct response while in an unknown situation.
Kayn looked around his surroundings once again as he tried to recognize anything familiar from the books about the regions of Votum.
On his left was a forest, one that didn't seem lush and full of life like the one in Votum, but one that had ash-colored, dried-looking bark and crimson-colored leaves.
Behind the forest was an upward slope, one that he didn't know where it led to.
On his right was yet another slope. He seemed to be in a small valley or crater in an unknown location inside Votum.
While Kayn tried to see whether he could find anything else, his eyes stopped at a certain spot in the direction of the right slope.
Kayn slowly lowered his body and focused his eyes on that spot.
"Is that a monster…?"
On the way to the right slope, Kayn found a humanoid creature, one that he was quite familiar with, walking in the direction of the peculiar forest.
He didn't see it in the preparatory lesson book or any other book about the world of Votum. But instead,
"Red skin from head to toe, hands with claws on their ends, and two horns on its forehead… Isn't that the thing that's in movies and shows? A demo-"
Kayn's muttering was cut off as he realized that the creature that he had been spying on had moved closer, and its eyes were locking onto him.
It released an inhuman shriek, one that grated on Kayn's ears and froze his whole body.
His hands shook, and his knees were about to touch the ground for the second time as the creature started running towards him.
The creature got closer, and Kayn finally broke free from his daze.
The red skin and the smell of blood woke Kayn up as he thought to run as fast as his feet could take him.
However, the voice that resided deep within his heart kept his feet firm.
"I need to get stronger and earn money… for them."
Kayn drew his sword and steadied himself in the stance that was drilled into him by the martial arts instructor and waited for the creature to come closer to him.
He had been taught that the portal wouldn't transport him into an area where first-timers like him couldn't fend off monsters alone, let alone against a single creature.
Kayn's heart beat loudly as the creature was only about 7 meters away from him.
The adrenaline coursing through his body was the only thing that managed to keep his mind calm and his form steady.
The creature was now close, close enough for Kayn to make his move.
Stepping forward to use the creature's momentum against itself, Kayn swung his sword downward, using his own momentum to make the slash faster than the creature's swing, and aimed at the creature's head.
'I did it!'
The creature's skull was sliced open, and Kayn had defeated his first ever monster in Votum. He then would be able to wake up his dormant core by absorbing its essence.
At least, that was what he thought would happen.
The moment his sword met the creature's skull, a loud clanging of steel reverberated then a sharp pain exploded in Kayn's wrist.
"AGHH!!"
The steel sword launched into the air, and all the strength in his hand vanished.
The creature remained unscathed, and only a superficial cut appeared on the top of its head.
Kayn stared wide at the creature while holding his broken wrist, his body shaking as his mind started to understand what had happened.
His tears almost poured out when he realized that the creature was staring back at him with its blackish-red eyes.
Then a thought ran in his mind, 'This isn't Votum…'