Kai blinked his eyes dazedly and helped himself to his feet, head spinning wildly from being thrown around, place to place. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first transportation, which he had no idea or control over, but it was still a wild ride nonetheless. He could feel his stomach churning and thus he felt a little lightheaded.
"Hmm..So I'm in a video game?" Kai asked himself, holding his hands outward to try and steady himself, while his eyes flickered around the yet again, unfamiliar surroundings.
The thought of finding himself in a game type world was appealing to Kai. He had always enjoyed novels where a character was reincarnated to a video game or a world with a system. Kai thought that this was immensely exciting, as it unlocked a number of possibilities! However, now that this was happening to him for real, Kai couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The novels or video games always showed the terrifying dangers of new worlds so Kai had to be extremely cautious in this new place called Lycoris.
Looking around, he discovered that he was in a forest which was filled with tall pines that seemed to touch the grey skies.
The pines were the only living things to greet Kai in that forest and that was giving him an eerie feeling. The only sound he could hear was his own breathing. Faint mist surrounded him from all sides, causing Kai to become unable to make out anything further than a meter ahead. A typical forest would be full of wildlife, with birds and squirrels making home in the trees. There would also be insects, perhaps an ant colony? Yet now the soil was as lifeless as the forest around Kai.
Kai began to think about what was happening to him. That robotic voice claimed that he was in some kind of video game, called Lycoris? So what he needed to do was to get stronger and survive - for how long? He racked his brain, trying to remember all the information he had about games from his world.
Recalling what the system told him, Kai stated confidently, "Open stats,". At that moment he did not care that he must have looked like a lunatic, speaking to himself in an empty forest.
————
Name: Kai
Species: Human
Titles: None
Class: Mage
Subclass: None
Level: 1
Tier/Grade: F
Attribute points : 10
STATS
HP: 7
STR: 2
INT: 9
MANA: 5.5
WIZ: 6
STAMINA: 1.5
AGI: 1
Energy: 10
Locked Stats:
CHARM: ???
LUCK: ???
Race: ???
Coins: None
Equipment: None
Skills: RANDOMIZING
REMARKS: "So weak…if you fought another human, they would surely defeat you"
————
"Ok..Ok..Ok… tsk weak?" Kai asked, scratching his head at the tiresome system.
[Skill Randomizing Complete]
[Lightning Bolt (Uncommon) LVL 1]
[Description: Fires a charged bolt at a required position. If an enemy is hit by Lightning Bolt, surrounding enemies may also be damaged.]
[LVL 1: 5 MANA per usage]
[30-50% increased damage of STRENGTH stat]
[Hits up to 3 additional enemies]
[Lightning Damage: 1-15]
[Mana Manipulation (Common) LVL 1]
[Description: Mana is all around you, this skill helps you control it and shape it to your will - a basic skill of all mages]
"Interesting…both skills are quite strong in their own aspects. So looking at my stats, and if I remember correctly, they can be increased by leveling. For now I have a few stat points…but I don't think I will use them any time soon. Save them for emergencies." Kai thought to himself as he glanced at the notifications that popped up in front of him.
He then decided that the smartest thing to do at that moment was to try out his skills. He started off with [Mana Manipulation]. Unsure of how it worked Kai decided to speak out his skill name "Mana Manipulation" but nothing seemed to happen.
"Looks like it's not going to be that easy".
So Kai began to concentrate hard, his eyebrows furrowing in determination. He wasn't sure of what he was concentrating on exactly, but he tried to feel his surroundings, attempting to spread his consciousness outwards. And after a few minutes of pure concentration, he could feel something stir slightly in his chest, and the next second, a small blue sphere appeared in his outstretched hands.
"Wow" Kai whispered to himself as he got closer to the Mana ball he created. It was blue and occasionally flickered and pulsated against his hand. Kai began to wonder what had happened. The uncomfortable feeling he sensed in his chest was gone now, but Kai couldn't help pondering what it was.
"Well some light novels suggested that their characters have Mana cores or something like that. Maybe that's what it was?"
Nodding to himself, Kai decided that he would try to test out his theory later on. He then chose to look at the description of [Lightning Bolt] back in his stats. Like the name suggested, he could fire a bolt of lightning if he used the skill. But there were so many things it could mean, it would certainly have different uses depending on how it was performed. For instance, if it was let out from his hand, it would go in a straight line, thus obliterating everything in its way. But if it was fired from the sky like it did in some video games, then it would hit only one specific target. And if that was the case, then would this lightning strike pass through surfaces? For example if he was in a room with a ceiling, would the lightning bolt go through the ceiling, or appear in the room without destroying anything. The description of the skill didn't mention how it worked, so Kai could only choose to experiment. But he wouldn't waste his Mana just to fire at a tree, he wanted to find a target. So that if he slayed it, he would still get some experience points.
But then again, the forest was practically empty. He would need to move somewhere else if he wanted to find any wildlife. So Kai picked out a direction and started to walk cautiously into the mist. Into the dangers that lay ahead.