The world around me was a blur of black and distant spots of light. I couldn't tell how much time was passing before I felt my vision go white before slowly clearing up into a mess. All around me were young men and woman standing outside, surrounded by massive grey buildings. I could hear chatter all around me, yet couldn't make out what was being said.
"Hey man. You good? You look a little... sick?" A man's voice rang out and I looked up confused by a handful of things. The voice came from this short guy with dirty blonde hair and a fierce face. It took me a moment to register what was happening before I slowly nodded, looking up into the sky.
How is it day here? It was around 2:00 am back where im from. Am I on the other side of Revaro? The man nodded at me before walking off, leaving me along in the crowded space.
Watching my surroundings carefully, I noticed that there would be a massive black ripple every 30 seconds, leaving a man or woman behind each time. Long distance teleportation? Is it someone's origin or trait?
"Hey, I'm tiana. Nice to meet you" a woman walked up to me and introduced herself, catching me off guard. I took a deep breathe before replying.
"Hey, I'm Felix. Nice to meet you too." I called out nervously. She was about 5'8", the same hight as me, but she had long blonde hair, while I had light brown loose curls. Her figure was great but one thing stood out the most.
Her forehead had this mark, like a birthmark but it looked too auspicious. The mark looked like a white feather, standing extremely straight.
"Whats with the mark?" I ask without thinking before her face contorts in annoyance. Shit! Was I not supposed to ask? Is it not a tattoo? Or does it involve a trait? Maybe even her origin?
Yes, while rare, some traits and origins can leave marks on the body, some even adding extra organs or limbs. However, origins and traits like that are 1 in too many to think about it.
"Bye felix" she calls out coldly and walks off a little too fast to look normal. I nod slowly before scanning my surroundings a little more throughly.
There were 3 main buildings with one main distinction between the three. On the front of the one to my left, there was a gold plaque with an anvil with a on it wrench, while a hoe and torch layed beside the anvil. Then, on my right, the same building with the gold plaque showing a sword, shield, bow, orb and spear surrounded by arms.
The final building infront of us was a little bit bigger, along with the golden plaque displaying a weirdly majestic book, who's pages had some symbols I couldn't see clearly.
"IF I MAY HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Suddenly, a deep, masculine voice called out from somewhere in the front of the crowd. Looking forwards, I saw a massive, muscular man slowly walking into the sky. Swirling grey mist congested around his feet with every step until he was over our heads.
"Now that I have your attention, I am the principle, Sol. welcome to the Draven division, new freshmen of the divine flame empire" Sol announced before i felt a massive pressure press down from above me. It was like gravity intensified from all angles. I fell to my knees and watched in horror as hundreds of other new students fell too.
"Your first assessment, to survive in the ruined forest for a week. Good luck" he yelled out as a black ripple, bigger than I've ever seen, spread out from the center of the crowd. As soon as it touched me, I felt my world spinning and I ended up in that dark space with distant stars barely illuminating us. Hundreds of students were flying? Falling? Moving together until I spotted a white light in the distance, until it engulfed us all.
I openned my eyes in a daze, trying to scan my surroundings, only to be stunned scared. I was surrounded by massive trees with dense foliage, thick grasses surrounded me, and a slight breeze sent a chill down my back.
"This is the ruined forest, a forest that held a war against the third ghoul wave. The undead remain here, along with the forest's natural inhabitants. Survive to get a passing grade. To get a better grade, kill the beasts, grow, evolve past your limits" A monotone voice announced from somewhere nearby and I tried to stay as still as possible.
I didn't see anyone nor anything dangerous around me. After another 5 minutes of holding my position, I started to notice something interesting. I felt a constant wave of emotions coming from my surroundings. Some of curiosity, few of indifference, and the majority was of anger.
It was off-putting at first, feeling all these things while having no reason too, but I adjusted quickly. Pushing past these feelings. I needed a weapon, something sturdy yet sharp. Scanning the ground, I found a lot of gravel in the roots, some short sticks, but nothing long enough to use.
Then, I spotted it. There was an arm length stick about 2 inches thick. Not sharp but looked sturdy enough to hurt something if anything. If only I knew how to use koi. I've never felt it, let alone learned how to use it.
Walked up to the nearest tree, I used it as my starting point and tried to hide in the shadows, concealing myself to the best of my ability. Every step I took made a rustling sound, annoying me but there was nothing I could do about it. I jumped from one shadow to another, sticking to the bark of trees like a lizard would.
After 15 minutes of this, I heard it. The first sounds of life but something felt wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like my gut was telling me this was wrong. I slowly peeked my head out from behind the tree and froze in fear.
Standing 4 meters infront of me was an undead. A zombie looking thing with black decaying flesh, a couple rips piking through his chest, leaving a stark contrast to his skin. Then, there were green marks around its body, like something green carved weird patterns into its legs, stomach, shoulders, and face.
Suddenly, a screen popped up
<10% chance to drop a spark. 0.1% chance to drop undead soul>
I froze as the system displayed a status, one that wasnt mine. Was this normal? I've never heard of awakened getting the status of spirits. And what the hell was with the percentages? It tells me the drops of spirits and how likely it was to get them? What are sparks for? Why have I never heard of souls?
The questions kept piling up but that wasnt going to help me kill it, if I could. I took a couple deep breaths as I watched it stumble around. I felt my heart beating fast in my chest, while my arms began to shake.
Then, I bolted. Holding the stick over my head, I tried to take it out in one swing but messed up in the worst way. It was watching me as I ran out from behind the tree and started to stumble towards me with outstretched arms.
Suddenly, I tripped. Falling right in front of it. The stick was under me as I tried to roll, freeing it and scanned for the zombie. To my horror, it was right over me. I panicked and swung the stick at its head as hard as I could. Then, I heard a sickening Crack, and brownish green blood fell on my face before the heavy body toppled over me.
I felt myself convulsing as I tried my best to shove it off me. My hands pushing against its cold, hard flesh. As I rolled it off me, I heard the system called out.
I felt myself taking lots of deep breathes unconsciously before I calmed down. Wiping the blood off my face, I slowly stand up and look at the body in disgust before I return to a tree's shadow. I dont know if its because of plant affinity or preference, but as i lay in the tree's shadow, an overwhelming feeling of tranquility washes over me, calming me down.
Looking up at the tree's crown, I nod before scanning my surroundings for any signs of movement. Noticing nothing, I start to jump between the shadows again. My next objective was a water source. While I don't know the exact amount of time, I know humans need to drink water before they get too dehydrated.
Slowly, I got into a rhythm. Jump between two trees, look around for any movement, listen for running water, move on. I repeated this for hours untill my legs grew numb, my mind was mentally overstimulated by the number of repeated tasks. Then, this distant, constant noise caught my attention. It sounded like a trickle and I recognized it immediately, water.
I darted through the trees, my thirst driving my actions as I spotted the clear fluid running across the forest floor.
"Hey Lucia, I finally found a stream!" A young man called out into the trees, making me freeze in my path. Shit! Looking up, I spot him running to the stream with a desperate look in his eyes. I dart behind a tree and watch as 4 more emerge out from the tree line.
"Nice Caleb, I think we can set up camp here for the night" a woman with a round face and a thicker body called out, making the man from before, Caleb, smile. What do they think they're doing?! They are trying to get killed!
I hurried to climb the tree I was hiding behind, not caring if they heard me or not. One by one, all 5 of them saw me half way up the tree. A weird feeling was clawing at my chest, telling me to hide and protect myself.
Suddenly, I heard something that made my blood run cold. You never want to hear this when youre in the woods.
A howl.