The sunlight streaming through the leaves above him was the first sight greeting his eyes as he opened them upon a new world. His eyes quickly closed while continuing to lay down on the plush grass serving as a cushion. Taking a few deep breathes, he worked on centering himself after all that had happened.
A lot had changed in a short amount of time. He went from an office worker trying to better him and his family's life, to being stranded on some strange new world in a different dimension. Tears slowly trickled down his face at the thought of his family. The pain was nowhere near as bad as it should have been, but it was still there. He had left Her behind. She needed him now more than ever, yet there was nothing more he could do for Her.
"All I can do now is try my best to live on. We had already talked about making the best of our lives even if one was to die. I just hope She will find the love and happiness she deserves."
Rictus was glad the god had helped his mind better cope with the situation. He was sad, but not to the level he should have been. It felt almost as if he had already done his grieving and had come out of it stronger and more accepting of his loss. The sad memory of Her would always be there with him, but he knew it would not immobilize or limit him. The boon of better accepting his new lot in life was worth more than the improvements to his body. He now had feelings of peace and fond memories while thinking back on his previous life with hope for his new one.
Slowly, Rictus began to prop himself up on his elbows to get a better look at his surroundings. He found himself in a beautiful little glade with trees as far as he could see. A soft light was streaming through the multicolor leaves casting a beautiful light covering the entire forest in a magical and festive look as the breeze rustled the canopy which was tinted a deep purple color like a Japanese Maple.
He suddenly took more notice of the breeze.
"Where the hell are all my clothes? Did that bastard actually transport me to a random forest in a new world without anything to wear? That's not cool at all."
Taking a look at his now nude body, Rictus noticed some changes. Before, he was a little taller than 6 feet, short brown hair, brown eyes, pale olive skin from working indoors, a little bit of a belly but not too overweight, and moderately muscular. Nothing really too noteworthy, although he had always liked his beard.
His new body was an improvement though. He now sported a nice pair of abs, muscular arms and legs, he even had pecks now. Not on the level of a body builder, but definitely someone who worked out. His skin was smoother and even his hair felt silkier. There was no real way of telling just yet, but he felt a little taller than he was before.
"At least not everything literally doubled…that would have gotten out of hand."
He sighed in relief at a certain part of his anatomy not becoming a monster. That would have been fun in theory, but not so much in practice. He was content with what he had.
The glance over his body reveled another surprise. There was a faint looking tattoo on the middle of his chest which resembled an eye. It had the oval shape with additional lines continuing to flow off the points on the edges, like having two overlapping U's. The iris was squared while the pupil remained circular. Rictus definitely did not remember getting any kind of tattoo before.
The more he looked at it, the more he got a feeling about it. The tattoo had changed him in some way. It was not an obvious change, but he could tell it did. His gut was telling him it helped him with his accuracy and reflexes for some reason. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to test it.
After a quick look around, he found a few small rocks to test his thoughts out. A knot on a tree branch was his target. After multiple attempts at throwing the rock, his was in shock at the results. After adjusting from his first throw, he didn't miss once. His first throw had been a little off, but all the subsequent throws hit it dead center.
Rictus took a thoughtful pose after his little experiment. 'I think I must have gotten this mark from that dark room. It probably happened when I hit whatever that thing was and felt that burning sensation. While I don't know for certain, I am pretty confident it is the reason I was so accurate throwing those rocks. I may not have gotten a major blessing like some of the heroes from stories, but this is still pretty good. Who knows though, it could be even better once I find out more details.'
A bright flash above his head drew his attention. A folded piece of paper appeared and floated down towards him. Despite his initial shock, he wasted no time grabbing it and reading the message scrawled on it.
-'You have been marked by the Eye. This was a blessing of a long dead god who is no longer worshipped in the world. The blessing is one of Sight and Awareness. It should greatly increase your accuracy, reflexes, and coordination. There are some records of it offering a slight level of precognition and insight on the world around you, but those were never confirmed. Seems you received a blessing after all. Lucky you.'
After reading the note, it slowly faded away from existence. Seems the god he met was feeling generous since he got an explanation. It was mighty convenient to get one like that, but he wasn't going to question it. While it wasn't as flashy as magic, it would be an extremely useful tool for staying alive and defending himself. If this world was anything like the typical medieval fantasy worlds from stories, he would need all the advantages he could get.
Looking around, he started taking stock of his situation. "Well, I am naked in a totally unknown environment. I have no food, water, tools, or supplies of any kind nor do I know where to find any of those things. Civilization is an unknown distance away and may not be friendly. The wildlife could be dangerous and the plants poisonous. I do have an enhanced body and abilities though so things definitely could be worse for me."
Before moving on, he tested his physical abilities. A quick light workout showed how much an improvement his new body was compared to the old one. There was an initial worry about getting adjusted in the new body, but everything felt completely natural as if this had been his body all along. There would still be a mental adjustment as he got more used to his capabilities though. If your mind was used to only being able to jump a couple feet off the ground and now you could easily clear twice that, it would take some time before instinctively knowing you could do it.
Deciding he needed some sort of weapon; he found a fair sized branch hanging from one of the larger purple leafed trees. A bit of tugging resulted in the branch being ripped off. The branch would work as a wonderful walking stick and an impromptu weapon if attacked. Rictus pulled the little branches off his new stick as he smoothed it out. It was still extremely rough looking, but it was better than nothing.
Rictus climbed one of the larger trees trying to get a sense of direction. Randomly walking around the forest was not his idea of a good time. Climbing a tree naked also wasn't that fun, but it was necessary to get a good view. There were some mountains out in the distance, and a slight break in the trees from what he hoped was a river. Besides those things, it was just trees of various hues of purple and green along rolling hills as far as he could see. After climbing back down, Rictus made his way towards the break in the tree line. He had a real good feeling about going this way for some reason and decided to just go with it for now.
As he was walking, Rictus tried to come up with a simple to do list. 1. Find water. 2. Find food. 3. Find shelter. 4. Find Clothes. 5. Stay alive. There were lots of other little things he would like right now, but survival was the most important. He would have a lot more success finding out more about this world if he was alive.
After trekking through the forest for what felt like an hour or two, he finally came upon a creek. It was only a few feet across, and the water ran lazily. Nothing special, but it looked clean and clear.
"Nice. This will definitely help solve my water problem. Maybe if I follow it for a ways, it will lead me to a town or camp. I think that was mentioned in a survival show I watched before. If it keeps me from drinking my own urine, it's a good thing."
While moving along the creek bank, he came across a bush with some purplish berries. They grew in clumps like grapes, but they had a rough exterior similar to blackberries. Rictus was not normally one to eat random berries he found in the forest, but these gave him a good feeling for some reason. He had already been out here for a few hours. Deciding to take a chance, he popped one into his mouth.
The berry tasked like a tart apple. Not his favorite flavor but not too bad at all. Instead of shoving more of the berries in his mouth, he decided he should wait a while longer just in case they hurt his stomach. Taking a seat on a rock near the creek, he rested his weary feet in the flowing water. The forest floor was covered in a soft grass and fallen leaves, so walking was not too bad. There were still a few sticks and rocks which had stabbed into his feet though so giving them a little break felt good.
Since he did not get sick after waiting, Rictus made his way back towards the bush for a few more of the purple apple berries. "I think I will just call them pabs. Got to love a good acronym."
The crunch of dried leaves caused his head to shoot up. Another faint rustle indicated he was not alone out here. Rictus took a strong grip of his walking stick as he observed his surroundings. A low growl could be heard coming from behind some trees. The creature slowly stalked out while staring him down.
The beast was roughly the size of a large dog. It had 4 legs and was covered in dark greenish looking fur. Sharp claws could be seen on each of its paws. It had a 3-foot-long furred tail slowly moving back and forth like a snake. The neck was almost as long as the tail and ended in a head which was a mixture of a wolf and an alligator. Sharp teeth could be seen poking out of its mouth as it stalked its way towards Rictus.
Rictus stared down the beast as it slowly approached him. Adrenaline flooded his system at the thought of the upcoming fight. He was not a very violent person or a survivalist, so this wasn't something he had experienced before. The closest thing would have been the one time a dog tried attacking his nephew, and he kicked it away. But this creature was no chihuahua.
He noted the monster's muscles suddenly tense as it prepared to lunge at him. When the jump came, he was prepared. Rictus quickly moved to the side as he brought down his stick onto the head of the monster. Unfortunately, the blow just nicked the side of the head since the monster moved at the last second. When the beast landed, it quickly turned around and ran at him. Swinging the branch caused the beast to stop its charge short as it snapped its jaws.
An unlucky swing was caught right in the beast's jaws. A tense game of tug of war followed as they both tired taking control of the stick. Pulling with all his strength, Rictus was able to rip the branch out of the beast's mouth which caused it to stumble about for a second. Not wasting the chance, he swung the branch again. This time, it made solid contact with the head with a loud crack. The beast fell as it let out a guttural whimper. Looking at the broken stick in his hand, Rictus quickly ran towards the creek as the beast was recovering.
A loud growl could be heard behind him as he ran. The beast saw its prey running away and took chase. Once he reached the creek, Rictus quickly scooped up a large rock in his right hand and turned around right as the monster was about to leap. He threw the rock as hard as he could at the pouncing monster while dodging to the side.
Such a close distance assured the rock met its mark. It smacked right between the beast's eyes with a hearty thunk. The monster collapsed on the ground in slight convulsions. He quickly grabbed the rock again and slammed it down right onto the monster's head before it could recover. Two solid hits were all it took before the monster stopped moving. Running high on adrenaline and not wanting to risk it getting up again, Rictus continued raining blows down on its head until a crack could be heard. Blood was pouring from the monster's crushed head and being washed away by the creek. Rictus sat, panting as his hands shook from the adrenaline leaving his system.
Slowly, he rose off the beast and moved further into the creek. The cool water washed away the blood staining his body. Taking a few deep breaths, Rictus finally calmed down from the fight as he took stock of himself. There was a surprising lack of injuries. The fight had been fast and brutal, but he had survived. He just sat in the water for a moment as he thought about everything that just happened.
A cool breeze caused him to shiver a bit. He was a little startled when he realized how late it was getting. The shadows had grown longer as the sun was about to set. Hopefully, he could find somewhere to rest before night was full upon him. The whole situation caused him to sigh.
"This was definitely not how I pictured my first day in a magical world."
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[AN]: Whoa I actually published another one? What is wrong with me? Too bad the next one won't get published for another few months. I did warn you I won't do a lot for this one.