In a lush, vibrant world, millions of lightyears away from Unkeon-4...
A portal opened up 30 feet in the air, and a young boy haphazardly tumbled out of it. Fortunately, he landed in a conveniently placed pile of leaves, and was completely unharmed.
This young boy was none other than Audric. After he had entered the portal on Unkeon-4, he felt himself being tugged in every direction at once. While the feeling wasn't exactly comfortable, it was certainly disorienting.
As Audric got his bearings, the first thing he noticed was...
"Why is everything gray?!"
Indeed. The world at this moment was in grayscale to young Audric. As he turned around to ask the more experienced members of his entourage some questions, he couldn't help but notice a distressing fact:
He was alone. And the portal was gone.
~UNKEON-4, MOMENTS AGO~
As Audric stepped through the portal, the adults noticed something strange. The originally steady flow of magic power being directed towards the portal began to waver uncontrollably.
"Cyrus, what's happening?!"
"I am unsure. The spell has entirely escaped my control!"
Jasper and Cyrus began to panic, while the rest of the adults watched in horror as the portal snapped shut seconds later.
The group slumped in defeat.
"Jasper, any idea what just happened?"
"I have no idea... Unless..."
Jasper began to think rapidly. The only other scenario he had heard of that involved these circumstances was...
"It wasn't a Realm! It was a Gateway Inheritance!" Jasper exclaimed.
"But that's impossible! The corporations should've discovered this while they were mining!" Said Uncle Taz.
"Wait a moment. I can still sense a fragment of my magic power. The young master made it to the other side safely." Cyrus said, calmly.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you know where he is?" Asked Aunt Gina.
"It's too distant to tell accurately, but it should be... beyond the Outer Rim." he responded grimly.
The situation had taken a turn for the worse. The Outer Rim referred to portions of the universe that had not yet received the blessing of Mana. For the young master to be there meant that there was little hope of him returning unless he could complete the Inheritance Trial.
"The young master will have to figure this out on his own. It's up to him now. None of us can interfere."
~BACK ON THE STRANGE PLANET...~
Four hours have passed since Audric lost contact with the outside world. After roughly one hour, he decided to explore and take a note of his surroundings.
The jungle he had unharmoniously fallen into seemed to extend for hundreds of miles. Even when climbing the tallest tree he could find, the entire horizon was encompassed by trees. However, they appeared to become denser and taller towards the south. There was a mountainous area to the north, and the existing terrain seemed to continue to the east and west.
Audric's instinct told him to go towards the mountain. There would be sufficient shelter and plentiful game there, as well as an escape from the burning sun above. Hopefully, he could find water there as well.
As he carefully slid down the tree, Audric heard a faint rustling noise coming from the shrubs under the tree.
He quietly paused his descent and bent over to take a look.
Underneath the tree was a small Skirell (pronounced skee-rell), a type of rodent. They weren't present on Unkeon-4, but Audric had heard about them before, and his eyes confirmed his judgement. However, this Skirell looked different from the ones he had heard of. The main difference was that, instead of traditional fur, this Skirell had scales that imitated fur. To the untrained eye, they may have appeared identical, but to Audric, the two could not be more different.
In the face of the unknown, Audric chose to wait patiently until the strange Skirell went away on its own.
After fifteen tense minutes, the Skirell had apparently found what it was looking for: a large mushroom. It happily scampered away with its prize in hand.
With the potential threat gone, Audric finished climbing down the tree and began to make his way towards the mountainous region, wary of any potential evolved beasts.
He spent his first night high in a tree, and decided to make some makeshift weaponry.
With the materials he had on hand, he could make either a bow or a spear, bur not both. He had to decide which was better for his scenario.
In the end, he decided on the spear. While the bow was safer overall, he didn't have enough materials to make sufficient arrowheads, and he had no idea when he'd be able to find more.
After confirming his decision, Audric pulled out one of his most treasured belongings: a knife, crafted by his Uncle Taz to keep him safe.
However, this was no ordinary knife. While it's outward appearance was very plain and ordinary, there was a small hidden button on the pommel that would showcase the dagger's true power.
Audric pressed the button and a disembodied voice spoke out.
"Please input the construct." Said the voice.
"Spear." Responded Audric.
"Please input the parameters."
"Five feet long, 2 inch diameter. Retractable one-foot blade on either side."
After various back-and-forth design questions, the dagger seemed satisfied and began to shrink in on itself.
It then emitted a blue glow and began elongating to fit the specifications that Audric set, until the dagger had completely transformed into a spear.
This was the real secret of the dagger: it contained a fabricator that could be used (in a very limited capacity) to generate basic items using a store of mana. Unfortunately, this particular transformation had almost completely drained the battery.
Audric hefted the newly-crafted spear. As expected of one of his Uncle's tools, the balance was perfect. It was shorter than the average spear to match Audric's height. He was tall for his age, yes, but six-year-olds didn't tend to be very tall. The spear was almost a full foot longer than Audric was tall.
However, this was a good thing, and this length is what drove Audric to make a spear rather than a bow. He could still keep a distance from whatever may attack him by keeping it at the end of the spear.
A closer-range weapon, like fists or a sword, would have put him in a direct confrontation with the monsters he knew were out here, and he didn't yet have the strength to challenge them head on.
As the sun set over the horizon, Audric couldn't help but have a strange feeling in his chest. He was scared, alone, and afraid, this was true. But deep beyond that, past his physical form, deep in his soul, he felt not fear, nor anxiety, but an overwhelming sense of excitement.
Excitement for the days ahead.
For the battles he had yet to fight.
But, most importantly, for his own future.