[In the Dravos forest]
Bang!
An explosion caused a small crater to appear in the middle of the forest and threw a young unconscious man on the forest floor, leaving him lying next to the crater it created.
The young man began to roll over in a disoriented manner and then suddenly shot up and vomited. His vision was blurry at first, but once he purged everything from his belly, he began to see his surroundings with greater clarity and subconsciously observed that he could not recognize anything around him.
However, due to the agonizing pain, he could not process any of this information. The young man grabbed his head due to a sharp pain that made him feel like his head had split open.
In an attempt to alleviate the pain caused by his stomach, which felt like it had been turned inside out, he laid flat on the ground again.
As his body attempts to return him to a state of unconsciousness to recover from its current state, his mind runs wild with countless thoughts on his current situation.
'Why do I feel so messed up?'
'What am I doing here?'
'How did I get here?'
'Wait-'
He opens his eyes, and they display what seems like a hint of fear for a moment, then change to a cold and calculating look as the young man jolts back into a seated position and starts to scan his surroundings even more carefully while fighting off the agonizing pain his body is feeling.
He realizes that there is a large crater where he appeared and a large amount of metal debris strewn across the land. He sees that this must mean that the area is some sort of battle zone, and even if it isn't, the scene laid out in front of him clearly shows that the area is dangerous.
While scanning the surroundings, he notices that the trees' shadows are quite long, which prompts him to look at the sun. This leads him to realize that there is not much daylight left, and he knows that he would not want to be in an unfamiliar environment in the dark with 'who knows what.'
"Okay, I just need to call…" the young man says as he tries to come up with a plan, but then he is left bewildered as he cannot finish his sentence. He gives a puzzled look for a second and then gets up on his feet.
"Damn, how hard did I hit my head? Well, it seems like I'm on my own for this one," said the young man.
The young man let out a sigh and composed himself. He then raised his head and thought to himself.
'Let's go'
Just as quickly as this thought had been conjured up in his mind, he felt a strange aura building up in his midsection; it felt as though it was alive and pulsating and grew larger with each beat.
Instinctively, he stood still and did not make the slightest movement, fearing what might happen if he did. However, sweat began running down his cheeks, and it was clear from his expression that he believed that there had been some sort of bomb placed in him.
Just when he thought he was finally going to explode, he felt the strange aura move down through his body like a wave, first through his torso, then his legs, then out through his toes and into the ground.
For a moment, he eased up and made some subtle movements, relieved that the immediate threat seemed to disappear into thin air, but then immediately froze with visible shock and terror. At that moment, his senses snapped to attention, his body tensed up, and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins.
He knew something was watching him.
Suddenly, he hears a chilling howl echo through the forest. He quickly turns in the direction the howl originates from, and almost simultaneously, he feels his leg about to be torn to shreds by what looks like a wolf from hell in the opposite direction.
He reinforces his body by flexing his muscles and prepares himself to parry the attack in the blink of an eye.
He clashes with the creature and manages to reduce the damage taken by moving along with the creature's attack and redirecting its momentum to send it flying away from him.
Just as this happened, the young man noticed another wolf-like creature approaching from the rear,this one seeming even faster and more cunning. In a trance-like motion, he grabbed a blade from the back area of his belt and slit its throat, his face registering a hint of surprise when he realized he had the weapon on him.
While still processing this, he notices a strange display on his retina, similar to the status windows that he saw in games he played as a young boy.
[Karna absorbed]
{
Title:#?#?#?#
Strength: 8+1
Agility: 9+1
Stamina:10+1
Karna:-
}
"Hmph, so that's how it is, huh..." said the young man.
The young man stood up with new vigor and looked at the foes with a fire burning in his eyes.
"Well, it seems like the universe has leveled the playing field!" The young man shouted, looking at the wolf-like creatures in front of him.
The young man looked confident and full of energy, but only he knew the suffering he was actually going through. He had not fully recovered from the state he had recently woken up in, so his movements were slightly more sluggish, and the wound he had taken from the initial attack that caught him off guard was beginning to take a toll on him.
However, the young man seemed to be an optimist once he realized there was some mechanism that worked for him (or at least he thought so in this dire moment), and he thought that he may just survive this ordeal.
He charged at the remaining wolf, and his dagger clashed against his claws. With his newfound speed and strength, he found that he could move a lot more swiftly and avoid the wolf's attacks. He quickly became accustomed to his new ability and took advantage of it, while the wolf, which had already gauged his abilities, fell due to its inability to make adjustments to these measurements on time.
[Karna absorbed]
As soon as he dispatched the wolf, he got another increase in stats, and simultaneously, two more wolves appeared. With adrenaline already flowing through his veins, he charged at these enemies, and in a symphony of clashing steel and howls, his fighting prowess came out victorious.
[Karna absorbed]
[Karna absorbed]
After slaying the final beast, he fell to his knees, and stark laughter broke out.
Amid his celebration of his recent victory, a deafening roar broke out.
[silence]
The once joyous atmosphere turned tense as the ominous sound echoed through the forest.