The entire process took no longer than a minute, but for the freshly transmigrator, it felt like an eternity.
As he was lying on the ground, still clad in his own blood, he couldn't help it, and cursed for what it was worth, "Fucking hell! This shit basically turned me into a human oven, while doing the worst acupuncture ever heard of in history! Better be worth the fucking I just received…"
He continued his ranting for another full minute, before he finally calmed down again. He wouldn't normally curse so much, but after a person died, got reincarnated, or transmigrated, whatever it was, and then having to go through such an experience, after such things, everyone had the right to do so.
Finally getting up from his lying position, he reached for the two cards that had been lying on the ground for a while now.
He took both of them in his hands, and then did what the system had instructed him to do; wishing to use them.
[You have acquired the Skill: Mana Burst]
[You have acquired the Skill: Instinct]
With most things from his Starter kit used, he reached for the sword, and took a real look at it.
'It truly is a beautiful sword. And now, it will be my first partner.'
Just when he wanted to fasten it on his belt, probably another small gift from Rob, the blinding white room disappeared.
As everything disappeared, and therefore also the floor he was sitting on, he first noticed where he had actually been brought to…
The sky.
In the middle of nowhere.
Well, he was brought directly into the sky above an enormous ocean, as it seemed.
And right now?
Right now, he was falling.
"AAAHHHH!!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!?"
Panic began spreading through his body, as he was falling, nearly parallel to the ground, faster and faster towards the blue landscape of the sea.
Mere seconds before he would've crashed into the water, and probably would've died a miserable death, one of his two skills kicked in.
The next moment, he had angled himself so that Durandal, which was still held tightly in his right hand, would pierce the water before him.
He didn't know wether it would be enough, nor why his skill had even activated, but he could only hope that it was enough.
And seconds later, after being embraced by practically infinite amounts of water, from all sides, he knew he had survived.
It was also then that he felt an immediate increase in his mood, and his physical strength.
'Is that the Fae blood? They should be nature spirits, or at least been born from the nature itself, after all…'
Not wanting to drown, he swam up to the surface, when he snapped out of his prior fright.
As soon as he breached the surface of the sea, he looked around, trying to find anything, but it seemed to be in vain.
There was nothing all around him, besides the limitless expanse of crystal blue sea water.
But then, there was the smallest shimmer in the air, something no human should have ever been able to pick up.
Normally, even if someone were to have seen something like that, they would just attribute it to be a reflection, but… his senses were telling him that there was something else there, and with practically nowhere else to go to, he picked that direction, and just swam with Durandal being kept between his teeth, for the moment.
His clothes, a loose-fitting blue tunic, simple, rugged, white trousers that were held up by a black belt with a golden belt buckle, sturdy, black leather boots, and a white traveling cloak, were all completely wet, by this point.
The young man, without even a name yet, was swimming forwards, continuously heading into the direction where he had seen the small shimmer in the air.
Even after nearly twenty minutes of only swimming, there seemed to be no progress whatsoever. Everything seemed to be exactly the same. The same sight, the same feeling, everything felt the same.
All of it remained like this, until… after crossing a certain point, everything changed.
From one moment to the other, the previously bland landscape changed and revealed what really was there all this time; an island in the middle of nowhere.
Looking at it from a bit of distance, the island looked beautiful in its own right. It had a horse-shoe shaped mountain range, of which its opening was facing towards him. The outer ends of the mountain chain were plastered with dense patches of verdant forests, while the inner part of the mountain looked like an expansive bay of white sand.
Thankful that there was something here, though, also suspicious of how it appeared seemingly from nowhere, he continued nonetheless, infatuated with the beauty of the island.
He would need to get out of the water. Remaining inside of it would only result; in either dehydration, caused by the combination of the sun and the salty sea water, or in possible damage of his eyes.
Therefore, he did not hesitate when he finally reached the bay of the island, and then proceeded to immediately take off his clothes, to let them dry in the sun.
Wearing wet clothes was truly not a nice feeling.
Having taken off the clothes that he was wearing for the entire time, since having come here, the young man was able to finally get an actual look at his own body.
After giving himself one good look, he needed to admit; he was satisfied, with what he got. While his body, by no means, had muscle definition like a Greek god, it also was nothing to scoff at, at least looks-wise.
Pleased with what he got, he began wondering how his face looked like, therefore he immediately began searching for a reflective surface. The sea water was not really helpful, in that department.
---
Meanwhile, deep inside of the horse-shoe shaped mountain chain, someone else had just been woken up, from a deep slumber. Someone who would've been deathly pale, by now, would his already white scales allow it.
"Someone found me. Is it him?! No no no, it can't be him, otherwise I'd already be dead… But, then which bastard dares to intrude, and scare me to death."
The creature deep inside the mountain, with wings that seemed to be made of solidified light, and whose scales reflected the tiniest bit of lights in a myriad of colors, was angry about being suddenly woken up, and used his magic to find the intruder on his island.
Moments later, after the magic had covered the island in its entirety, it had found the target it was looking for.
"Found you."
---
Still on the same beach he had been on before, the recently transmigrated young man was looking in the direction of the mountain chain. Just a few seconds ago, he had felt something pass over him, and afterwards felt a bad premonition.
Acting purely on what his instinct was telling him, he rushed back to where his clothes were left behind to dry, and even though they were still partly wet, and dirty with his own blood, put them on as fast as he could.
Unfortunately, the moment after he had put on his pants again, his instincts screamed at him again.
Barely having enough time to raise Durandal, he was sent flying without even knowing what hit him.
He flew for at least two dozen meters, before he landed on the floor again, and rolled through the sand. His body hurt, but it wasn't as bad as when his bloodline had changed, so, for now, he could go on.
Getting back on his feet, he raised his sword in one hand, while scanning the surroundings with as much effort as he could, but there was nothing.
Until, his body suddenly moved on its own, barely leaping back, before claw marks appeared right where he had been standing just now.
"Damn. Invisible attacks? Seriously? This is messed up." He had already jumped into motion. There was no reason in remaining still, and being an even easier target.
Still, there were two things that somewhat managed to help him keep a calm mind; his Instinct skill, and his Fae blood. While the second one wasn't doing it, in the sense of the word, it was continuously connecting him to the nature around him, causing his senses work wonders.
As he was running across the sandy bay, from time to time, slash-, claw- or other marks would plaster his immediate surroundings.
At this point, he was already using his other skill, Mana Burst, unconsciously. Otherwise, half of the attacks would've killed him already.
'I need a plan! Anything! Come on, think! Think!' He stressed his mind to its limits, trying to come up with anything really. Anything that would help him survive this ordeal.
'Wait, that's it! Not thinking is the answer!'
"Hahaha, the answer was so obvious…" saying this, the young man finally stopped running, and took a deep breath, even going as far as closing his eyes.
"Okay, either it works, or I'll be dead. Well, I'd die anyway, if I wouldn't try this…"
Then, he completely surrendered the control of his body.
'Is that human so scared that he is already giving up? Heh, then don't mind me taking a bite or two.' the beast thought, as he rushed towards the young man from the air, fully intend on biting of the upper half of the human's body.
It got closer and closer, mere meters separated both of them, by this point. Just as its saliva was already beginning to drip from its maw, the human's body moved.
He raised his right arm, still holding tightly onto Durandal's hilt, before slashing it diagonally to his right. The sword seemed to erupt with such speed that the scaled beast could not react in time, and felt the sword sink into the side of its head, drawing blood for the first time in decades, if not even centuries.
Having already grown unaccustomed to pain, the scaled beast lost control of its magic, revealing its true appearance to the human, as it crashed into the sand behind the human swordsman.
"Huuuhh" he let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. Completely surrendering control of his body seemed to have been the right call. Only thanks to that, did he manage to feel the presence of his adversary.
When the kicked-up sand finally began settling down again, he was also finally able to actually see his attacker for the first time.
"My first ever fight, is against a dragon?!? Who thought that would be a good idea?" he felt exasperated. The knowledge what a dragon was, and often represented was part of the memories he had kept, and quite frankly, he didn't know wether it should've been gone too.
Then, he would at least not feel like a giant joke, right now.
"Whatever. Since that thing can't be dead, I'll just need to cut it so long that it will simply bleed to death… Wait. Wasn't there something called a reverse scale…?"
As he was wondering about that so-called reverse scale, and was looking at the slowly rising body of the dragon, he realized one thing; he wouldn't find it.
The scales of the dragon reflected light not just like a mirror, it reflected them like a crystal, or prism, veiling the surroundings into a colorful mess.
He had been thinking too long, it seemed. The dragon was back on its feet, and glared at him with murderous intensity.
"Human. You will have a slow death, as I take one part of your body after the other. You will pray, ask, and beg for a quick death, but you will die suffering. All because you have dared to SCAR ME! ME, THE GREAT ILLUSION DRAGON, MYRIAD! So human, tell me your name, before it will never be said again."
Pulling the bravery from his every cell, the young man did not falter, and instead met the murderous gaze with equal intensity, "I have cut you once. Now, I just need to repeat it, until you fall. So, bring it on, you giant lizard! And my name…"