Beneath a sparse canopy of leaves and branches, the solitary forest cradled Harrison in its icy embrace. Stirring from a murky haze, his body was wracked by shivers that came in unrelenting waves, brought on by the dropping temperature as nightfall began to swallow the fading daylight.
"W-where am I?" The words slipped from Harrison's lips, becoming entangled with violent coughs as his hand massaged the side of his head – an unwanted souvenir from Fox's savage kick.
His heart took a precipitous nosedive into his stomach as he frantically groped around himself, a feeling of dread intensifying with the realization of key missing elements from his attire.
"Where's my sword! Damn it! That wasn't mine to lose! My father entrusted it to me!" A ripple of panic distorted Harrison's features as his exclamation echoed through the silence of the forest.
The loss of his gloves would have been inconsequential, but the Volcanic Edge was another matter. A treasured possession of his father's, its absence was a weighty problem. His father, he mused, would probably consume what was left of his essence at their next encounter, a thought that left his face a mask of ashen concern.
'I can't return home, I have to figure something out before Father sees me like this,' The thought slipped out with a resigned sigh.
Yet, as a spark of realization ignited within Harrison, his somber demeanor evaporated almost instantly.
'The essence potion! But… What happened to the giant? Where is Fox? Where's Braxis!? Who was it that dragged me into this underbrush?' A barrage of questions stormed his mind as he strained to piece together the fragmented memories of recent events.
'Surely, if I'm concealed here, sheltered from immediate danger, Braxis must have survived. Who else could have brought me here? My last memory is of attempting to rescue the old man before everything went black. It's a hard truth to swallow that I couldn't save him, and now he's probably dead. Why did Braxis have to disappear so suddenly?' Harrison pondered these questions as he rose, dusting off his clothes with a renewed determination.
'I must find the potion and assess its integrity…' Harrison resolved, his senses snapping to heightened alertness as he oriented himself within the unknown expanse of the forest.
As Harrison's vision acclimated to the shadowy landscape, a behemoth form materialized in his sight - the toppled giant sprawled face-down on the forest floor. Navigating around a tree that had been obscuring his line of sight, he positioned himself for a clearer view of the fallen titan.
Disoriented thoughts spiraled in Harrison's mind, 'Who killed the giant? Was it really the old man after all? I can't fathom Braxis managing such a monumental task single-handedly.'
Harrison continued to look around, 'Not a clue about that tree... That frog, equally unknown... But hold on! I remember that!' An element of recognition sparked in Harrison's wide eyes as he focused on the sizable wreckage.
Swiftly scanning the vicinity for any lurking predators, Harrison sprinted toward the debris. "No obvious signs of anything at first glance, but treasures could be hidden!" His words echoed with a tremor of excitement as he plunged his hands into the pile of rubble, digging with a fervor driven by the last vestiges of hope.
Finally, his persistence yielded a reward. His fingers curled around a vial, its crimson contents glinting through a special kind of glass. He dusted off some dirt that it was encased in.
"The potion! The old man must've dropped it when he dodged the giant! How fortunate!" Harrison's voice was laced with relief as he promptly uncorked the vial and swallowed its contents in one swift motion.
'Damn it! What the hell is wrong with me to take the potion here of all places! My mind must be playing tricks on me. I just saw it in my grasp and got too excited, fuck. This throbbing headache doesn't help either. I hope no monsters decide to pay a visit while I'm in my vulnerable metamorphosis phase,' Harrison's thoughts raced as his veins throbbed, darkening to an inky black. His body convulsed on the forest floor, a spectacle akin to a writhing worm.
Minutes ticked by, and Harrison's consciousness began to ebb away. His body continued its unsettling rhythm, pulsating as it transitioned between pitch black and his usual skin tone, blinking in and out of darkness like a solitary beacon in the heart of the forest.
As Harrison's consciousness waned, a figure who had observed the earlier clash began to approach the scene, drawn by the allure of potential spoils. Clad in armor that gleamed under the moonlight, he surveyed the scene before him. Harrison, in the throes of his metamorphosis, lay defenseless. A predatory creature, a nightmarish assembly of razor-sharp teeth, claws, quadrupedal agility, and scales, was slowly advancing on him.
"Fascinating location for a Draconic to undergo metamorphosis. Seems like the battle didn't leave any loot behind and this lad is fortunate that I decided to return at such a crucial moment," he mused aloud, swiftly charging towards the creature. A torch blazed in one hand while his other gripped a sword, the dual threat enough to send the creature scurrying away, its retreat punctuated by an infernal screech.
Unfazed, the armored figure retrieved a container from his back, plunging it into the fallen giant. As he began to drain the creature's blood, his watchful gaze never strayed far from Harrison, lying vulnerable in the midst of his transformation.
His cold unyielding azure eyes looked on at Harrison with immense curiosity. It wasn't long until his container was completely full and he began to walk towards him.
Braxis, grinning broadly now sitting on his bed, surveyed his newfound 'treasures' that he had 'liberated' from Harrison. He laid them out in front of him to inspect each one individually.
'Perhaps sparing Harrison wasn't such a bad idea after all. I could reap the rewards over time...' Braxis reasoned, stowing away his spoils.
'Curious though,' he pondered, 'I've occupied this body for only a short while, and I still know little about the original Braxis. He left no clues in his room either.' He mused, sorting through the world's storyline in his mind.
'Even after all this thinking, none of these characters are familiar. In the lore, Gravis's backstory was sketched briefly - a family massacre and a subsequent rampage, followed by his eventual defeat after a simple quest chain. He was a tough boss, but nothing compared to what came later...' Braxis strove to retrace his steps through the early stages of the game.
Despite his love for replaying the initial levels to the point that he had a few smurf accounts under his belt, some minor details eluded his memory. The considerable time since he last undertook those early quests was certainly a contributing factor.
A sudden thought struck him.
'If I've been transplanted into this world, what's to say there aren't others from Earth here?' His heart pounded in his chest at this revelation.
'I might have more to worry about than just Gravis in the near future. There was something off about his approach last time.' Braxis couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had begun to settle in his mind.
'Let's pray my theory is wrong. For now, focusing on the imminent massacre is key,' Braxis decided. He shook away the web of thoughts ensnaring his mind, surrendering himself to the calm of meditation. His creation of a mana heart was on the brink of fruition.