Chapter 1: The Awakening
Alex woke up with a start, his eyes snapping open to a sky fractured by twisted branches. The air was cold and heavy with dampness, carrying the earthy scent of moss and rotting wood. Panic set in immediately, coiling around his chest like a snake. He wasn't in his room. He wasn't even in the library where he'd fallen asleep after another exhausting study session. This place was alien—shadowed, dark, and filled with a silence that carried its own weight.
Pushing himself up on trembling arms, he took in his surroundings. He was in a dense forest, the trees towering over him with gnarled branches that reached out like skeletal hands. The ground beneath him was covered in a layer of moss and fallen leaves, and there were no familiar sounds—no hum of distant traffic or birds singing. Just silence, broken only by his ragged breathing.
"What... Where am I?" he muttered, voice cracking with the weight of confusion.
Suddenly, a soft chime echoed in his head, and a glowing panel appeared in the corner of his vision.
[System Activated]
Class: Novice Necromancer
Skills Unlocked: Summon Lesser Undead (Level 1), Inspect (Level 1)
The floating text left him stunned. It looked like something out of the video games he used to play. He blinked, half-expecting the screen to vanish and the world to snap back to normal, but the glowing text stayed, pulsing faintly.
"Skills?" he whispered, focusing on the word Inspect.
Inspect (Level 1)
Description: Allows you to identify basic details about objects or creatures. Accuracy and depth increase with skill level. Cooldown: 5 seconds.
The words felt comforting, almost like reading an instruction manual in the middle of a chaotic situation. He turned his attention to the other skill, Summon Lesser Undead.
Summon Lesser Undead (Level 1)
Description: Summon an undead minion from a nearby corpse. The strength and type of summoned minion depend on the quality of the corpse and the summoner's level. Mana cost varies. Maintenance cost of 5 mana every 30 minutes required to sustain the summon. If mana is depleted or withdrawn, the summoned entity disintegrates.
Alex swallowed hard, the reality settling on him like a weight. Requires a corpse. That implied more than he wanted to think about right now. He was alone in a strange forest with nothing but two basic skills and no understanding of where he was or how he got here. The idea that he might need a corpse to survive sent shivers down his spine.
He stood up slowly, taking stock of his body. He was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt he'd worn before, though both were now dirty and torn in places. His satchel, the one he used to carry textbooks, was gone. He felt exposed and unprepared, but at least he was unharmed.
"Okay, think," Alex said aloud, the sound of his own voice oddly reassuring in the eerie quiet. "You need to find water, food, shelter... and figure out what the hell is going on."
He glanced at his surroundings, trying to spot anything that might help. The forest was dense, each shadow crawling with the possibility of movement. He activated Inspect on a nearby tree to see if it could give him more information.
Inspecting...
Blackbark Tree
Properties: Common in forests infused with dark mana. The wood is resistant to decay and can be used to create simple magical constructs.
The description confirmed one thing: he was in a place where magic was not only real but woven into the very environment. That realization sent a mixture of fear and excitement coursing through him.
A rustle behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned quickly, heart hammering in his chest. Out of the undergrowth, a creature emerged—a small, wolf-like beast with patchy fur and eyes that glowed a sickly green. It looked half-dead, ribs protruding and a long, jagged scar running down its side. It let out a low growl, saliva dripping from its fanged mouth.
Alex's mind raced. He was defenseless, with nothing to fight back or run to. But then he remembered: Summon Lesser Undead. His eyes darted around, searching desperately for a corpse. Just a few feet away, he spotted a decomposing bird, half-buried in the leaves.
He stretched out his hand, focusing on the dead bird and willing the skill into existence. "Summon Lesser Undead!"
Mana surged through him, leaving a cold, tingling sensation in its wake. The bird twitched, then jerked upright as bones snapped into alignment. Its eyes glowed the same eerie green as the beast in front of him, which now hesitated, sniffing the air with a mix of curiosity and aggression.
The summoned bird, small and broken as it was, flapped its wings erratically and lunged at the wolf-like creature, pecking furiously at its face. The beast snarled, snapping its jaws but missing as the undead bird darted out of reach. The moment of confusion was enough for Alex to act.
He felt a subtle, continuous pull on his mana as the bird fought, a steady drain that seemed manageable for now but would become a problem if prolonged. He glanced at the mana counter in his vision: 80/100. It ticked down slowly, only a single point lost so far, but he knew that maintaining the summon over time would tax him further.
The Rotwolf snarled again, swiping at the bird but getting a talonful of undead feathers instead. With a last screech, the bird latched onto the creature's face, driving its beak into an eye. The beast howled and staggered back, shaking its head violently to dislodge the attacker. Blood and ichor splattered the ground as the Rotwolf finally retreated into the underbrush, its growl fading into the distance.
Relief washed over Alex, but it was short-lived. The bird hovered, its glow dimming slightly as it awaited orders. The steady pull on his mana continued, a reminder that the bird was tethered to his will and power.
"Return to rest," Alex whispered, willing the mana connection to end. The bird froze, its green glow fading as it crumpled back into the pile of bones and matted feathers. A small ping sounded in his mind, and the drain on his mana lifted.
Mana Remaining: 78/100
Experience Gained: 2 XP
[Summon Lesser Undead] Skill Proficiency Increased.
Alex sagged against a tree, heart thudding against his chest as if it wanted out. The battle had only lasted a minute, but it had left him exhausted and on edge. The forest pressed in around him, the dark shapes of trees feeling more like watchful sentinels than simple flora.
"I need more mana," he murmured, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. His mind was already strategizing. If he summoned a minion again, he'd need to be smart about conserving his power. With a drain of 5 mana every 30 minutes, he could maintain a lesser undead for hours in a dire situation, but it would leave him vulnerable if he had to cast other spells or defend himself.
The forest was darkening, twilight casting long shadows that seemed to stretch toward him hungrily. He pushed himself to his feet, every muscle aching. The small victory had taught him something crucial: he wasn't entirely helpless. But it had also shown him how little he knew about this world or his new powers.
As he stumbled forward, Alex knew that survival would depend on finding more corpses to use and learning how to manage his mana wisely. The night was coming, and with it, new dangers. But for now, he had a plan—find shelter, replenish his strength, and prepare for whatever else awaited in the darkness.