I wake up to the smell of grass, the rustling leaves and the sound of nature. As I open my eyes, I can see the clouds moving through the sky while I lay on the ground.
'Where am I?'
I sit on the ground and take a look around, I'm surrounded by trees for as far as I can see. The cold air reaches my body, forcing me to notice my lack of clothes.
'What is going on?'
I have a terrible headache and I can't seem to remember much about myself.
'What is my name? My name is Charles, yes, Charles.'
Remembering my name makes me feel a little bit of relief, at least I know who I am.
'Who am I?'
Trying to go further inside my memories I feel a horrible pain interrupting my thoughts, I feel like it isn't a good idea to try and reach for my memories.
I stand up and unconsciously stretch my body, somehow that feels natural. My body feels well rested, full of energy. Slowly I breathe in and out, trying to relax myself while I gather my thoughts. No memories, no people and worst of all, no clothes. I don't want to go around naked, that isn't proper.
'Wait, why isn't it proper to go around naked? It's interesting that I remember about clothes and morals, looks like I retain some sort of basic knowledge at least.'
I wonder what happened to me. Well, no need to look for answers when I know that I don't have them. More importantly, I should decide what to do next. I could wait here, maybe someone will come for me. Yet, that feels like a dumb idea, maybe no one will ever come and I will just lose my time.
Just one choice left, walking. But where to? No matter where I look, it all looks the same to me. Maybe I should leave a mark here, I don't want to end up walking in circles.
As I look around for a rock sharp enough to leave a mark on a tree, a strange feeling invades me. It is coming from my hands, on the palm of my right hand there is a knife tattooed while on my left there is some sort of rectangular box.
'Is that a tablet?'
Then a tablet suddenly appears out of thin air on my left hand. Within a bluish background it displays some sort of menu.
[LOG]
[STATUS]
[SKILLS]
[QUEST]
[ITEMS]
[FRIENDS]
[MAP]
For a couple of seconds, I can't seem to understand what the hell is going on. A tablet isn't supposed to appear out of nowhere. I am not a magician, well, maybe I am… I don't remember, but I get the feeling that this isn't normal for me.
Well, at least there is a map, I select the [MAP] option by tapping on top of it. A blue dot with a 'P' inside appears, it is surrounded by trees. I'm assuming the blue dot is me, and the visible area within the map are the places I have been, which is almost nothing. The rest of the map is obscured.
'Great!'
It is useless to me. I go back to the menu and tap on the [LOG] option.
[You have been transported to the Initiation Forest]
That is the only message displayed on the log. Initiation Forest? Is this some kind of game? It sounds like a beginner tutorial or something like that. Let's check my status.
[Name: Charles Green]
[Title: -none-]
[Level: 1 – EXP: 0/10]
[Health: 25/25]
[Mana: 10/10]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Vitality: 5]
[Intelligence: 5]
[Wisdom: 5]
[Dexterity: 5]
[Luck: 5]
[Stats points: 0]
That seems balanced enough. Checking the rest of the menu doesn't work, only the [ITEMS] tab display the image of a knife which by tapping shows its description.
[Knife]
[Rank: F]
[Attack Power: 5]
[Description: A simple knife.]
[Currently equipped – Right Hand]
Then I check my right hand and focus on the knife, which same as the tablet appears on my hand out of thin air.
'That is convenient. '
Is it possible to make them disappear? I look at the tablet and while thinking that I no longer need it, the tablet disappears and the tattoo appears on the palm of my hand. The same happens when I try with the knife. I make them appear and disappear continuously, trying to get used to the process.
At this point I'm sure there is a reason for me to have a knife, besides, after using the tablet, this place seems to be some kind of game.
There is a sense of danger building inside of me. I don't know why I am here or even where exactly I am, nonetheless I am not willing to let myself be toyed with.
'What choice do you have?'
That is the question plaguing my mind.
'Exactly, I have no choice but to play whatever this game is. Either that or do nothing.'
A sigh escapes from me as the cold air reaches my body, once again making me remember my nakedness.
"Couldn't you have left some clothes at least?"
The only answer to my question is silence.
I bring out the tablet and check the map. At least I'm not going to get lost while walking. I pick a direction randomly and start walking, and as expected, the blue dot moves with me.
'Let's just keep going in a straight line. There must be an end to this forest at some point, right?'
After walking around 10 minutes I check the map, a little bit more has been revealed. Then a red dot appears on the map, it is in the obscured zone. The red dot is coming fast towards my direction.
'Is it an enemy? Red usually means danger.'
Instinctually I bring out the knife and get into some sort of battle stance.
'Do I know how to fight?'
At least my body reacts as if it's experienced. I wait while looking in the direction of the red dot, until the creature appears in my sight running towards me.
It stops in front of me, It looks like some kind of dog, black in color and red eyes. The creature stands there growling at me while showing its sharp teeth.
I feel my heart beating faster, my body tensing itself, the knife in my right held tightly ready to be used to defend myself.
The creature circles around me as if waiting for the right moment to pounce towards me.
"I'm not tasty you know."
A smile in my face, ignoring the prospect of danger.
That's it for the dog, it runs towards me prepared to taste my flesh. Its speed takes me by surprise and I barely manage to use my left arm to block it from biting my neck.
I can barely endure the pain from having the dog attached to my arm. Waving my arm trying to make the creature fall doesn't help. Then I remember the knife on my right and stab it in the dog's body. It lets go of my arm while retreating a couple of meters, bleeding from the side.
I look at my arm, the creature tore some of my skin in the process. It noticed my distraction and attacked again, this time going for my legs, but I'm prepared for its speed and manage to dodge to the side. If I was faster I could have kicked it after dodging its attack.
The look within its menacing red eyes make me shiver.
'How can this creature hate me so much?'
It doesn't feel as if it's looking at me as a prey, somehow it makes me feel as if its whole purpose of existence is to get rid of me.
I breathe in and out, slowly, trying to calm myself, I have to end this soon. I can't help but hold the knife tighter, as if my life depends on my next move, at least I think it does.
Once again the mad dog dashed towards me, maybe because it was injured previously but its movements look slower than before.
'Dodge, kick, follow and stab. Dodge, kick, follow and stab.'
In my mind I repeat over and over my plan of action, and as the creature gets closer I manage to dodge by a hair width, following with a kick to its injured side, it cries of pain but I don't give it time to recover as I dash forward and stab my knife right through its eye.
My respiration is agitated, I don't know how many times I stabbed the creature, its head now a puddle of blood and meat.
'Was I always this violent?'
That's the worst of this situation, I'm not even sure if my actions are a consequence of the place I'm in or if I always have been like this, someone who enjoys the thrill of the battle, the killing… I can't help but wonder who I was.
A few minutes later, after I'm calm enough, I take a look at its body and I'm disgusted at myself for what I did, how could I do that to a dog? I wonder if I'm more of cat person…
"HAHAHAHAHAHA"
Tears leave my eyes as I remember the feeling of stabbing a living creature, then I remember its gaze filled with hate, I know that it had to be done if wanted to live…
"But why me? Why am I here? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
The sound of movement from behind me brings me out of my depressive thoughts.
I turn around to find a naked girl trying to hide behind a tree, she is shivering, I don't know if it's the cold air of if she is afraid of me.
'Who am I kidding? She is afraid.'
As my eyes meet with hers, she drops to the ground, it looks like her knees gave out from the fright. Her body looks frail, black hair and pale skin. She looks no older than 14.
'What about me? How do I look? How old am I?'
I look at my body, I'm relatively fit and I don't feel like I'm that old.
"Hey girl… How old do I look?"
She looks at me with her big grey eyes, I can tell she is terrified but she is taking my question seriously.
"Eeee… Eighteen?"
'Eighteen she says, yeah, that feels about right.'
"Am I handsome?"
This time it looks like she is thinking hard how to answer.
'Is she trying not to offend me? Am I that ugly?', my eyebrow raises, 'I can't be that ugly.'
"Eehhhmmm… Yo…youu… you are handsome…"
She doesn't sound convincing.
"Buuut… you also look… uhhmmm…"
There is a pause right there, I give her a few seconds to find the word.
"Speak"
Her shoulders tremble when she hears my voice.
"Sca…scaaa…scary… you look scary"
My mind pauses for a moment.
"Oh…"
'So that was it… I'm so handsome it's scary. Yes, that sounds about right.'
I turn around towards the corpse of the dog, I bend down to pick up my knife. Couldn't I have just make it disappear and then reappear in my hand? I should try that later.
As I grab the knife with my right hand, my left presses on the body of the dog and I feel some strange energy entering my body… suddenly the corpse turns to dust and disappears in the air.
'What the h*ll?'
I bring the tablet out and check the log.
[Young Mad Dog defeated – 5 exp.]
[Dog Meat x 2]
[Dog Bone x 1]
[Dog Skin x 1]
So I'd have to beat another of these creatures to level up, it doesn't look like I have a choice either.
I look over my shoulder and find the girl standing closer to me, she is using her arms to try and cover her small chest. Once she notices my gaze, I can see her trembling body.
'If she is that scared, why is she coming closer?'
I stand up, turn around and look at her. Her eyes are teary while looking at me, her lips open trying to say something but the words don't leave her mouth.
"Speak…"
She looks straight into my eyes, for a second I lose myself in her eyes, a captivating grey color.
"Uhhmm… are you not going to hurt Nina?"
'Nina? Is that her name? Why does she call herself Nina?'
"I assume you are Nina, right?"
She nods with her head.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
This little girl doesn't look convinced by my words.
"Really? But you look like a bad guy…"
"Hahahaha"
She stares at me with curiosity, looks a little bit more relaxed.
"If you think I'm a bad guy, do you think it's okay to say it directly to my face?"
Her mouths opens in disbelief realizing her mistake, she takes a step back.
"Nina didn't mean to… Nina is sorry… please don't hurt Nina…"
Then she drops to the ground and starts crying as if her world just ended. And I can't help but laugh to myself, this girl is amusing.
"I'm not going to hurt you Nina, I promise."
Then I grab her face by the chin and make her look directly into my eyes.
"I promise."
Her eyes widen and a beautiful smile appears on her face.
I extend my hand to help her stand up and just when I'm thinking she is calming down, Nina throws herself into my arms, hugs my body and starts crying.
"Waaaahhh… Nina was scared… Nina alone in the forest."
I pat her head trying to comfort her.
"It's okay now, you are not alone anymore."