In a densely packed forest with towering trees, leaves formed a canopy that blocked all light but a few rays of sunlight from peeking through.
The air was humid, carrying a faint metallic tang, and the silence was creepy as there was no rustling of animals, no buzzing of insects, nothing but an unnatural stillness.
When suddenly the silence of the forest was disturbed as a boy appeared out of thin air.
One moment there was nothing, and just the next moment there was a boy standing there as if he had always been there.
The boy was just standing there looking around him in confusion. His face was filled with fury. The boy was none other than Alden.
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"F*ck, I need to focus," he muttered as he slapped his cheeks.
The memory of his father's expression before he was sent here was fresh in his mind. Every time he remembered his father's face filled with concern, he felt anger boil inside him. He clenched his fist involuntarily as his heart thumped with rage.
'I need to calm down,' he thought as he took some deep breaths to regain his calm, not thinking about that anymore.
He looked around as he could see many twisted vines coiling around the tall trees. The sound of leaves of rustling due to faint wind sounded like some unknown whispers.
'What is this place?' he wondered, cautiously taking a step forward.
Suddenly a translucent blue screen popped in front of his eyes as a sound soon followed. The sound seemed detached and robotic. It was the sound of the system.
---
[WELCOME TO THE AWAKENING TRIAL CHALLENGER]
[TRIAL TYPE—INDIVIDUAL TRIAL]
[TRIAL GOAL—SURVIVE THE FOREST FOR 30 DAYS]
---
"Thirty days?" He muttered as his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at his trial goal.
Before he could process the implications, the screen shone ominously before vanishing as another screen popped up in its place.
---
[CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON]
1. SWORD
2. SPEAR
3. BOW
---
He looked at the option, as there were only three. He soon chose the sword, as it was the only weapon he had experience with.
He looked at the sword. It was just a plain sword, its cold blade shining with a cold light. He swung it a few times to check its balance.
It was a well-balanced sword and light enough to wield comfortably. He quickly sheathed the sword at his side.
After he was done choosing the weapon, the screen vanished before being replaced with another window showing his detailed information.
---
===========[STATUS]=============
Name - Alden Draven
Mana Core - NOVICE (Beginner)
Potential - ???
=====[Mana Tome]=====
The Eclipse Codex
Mastery- Novice
======[STATS]=========
STR - G
AGI - G-
INT - G-
VIT - G
END - G-
MANA- 200/200
=======[ABILITIES]=======
1. Spirit Eyes (Unique)
Description:????
===============================
He saw a blue screen floating in front of him as it showed his information. It only showed basic information and skills. This was his status screen, which he would be able to check whenever he wanted.
As he looked at his status screen, his gaze was attracted by the question marks in front of his potential.
"Why is my potential hidden?." He couldn't understand why his potential was under question marks.
He soon put it at the back of his head as he couldn't do anything about it currently.
He then analysed his stats.He understood the meaning and use of each sta, as strength, agility, vitality, endurance, and intelligence were self-explanatory.
Mana, however, was different—it represented something more, as it represented the total amount of mana in his mana core.
He felt the cold and mystical energy swirling within the sphere within his dantian. The sphere was His mana core, and the energy within was mana.
There was no special ability and soul ability section in his status window, as that would only be awakened after awakening, and that too only if he was lucky and completed the hidden quest to increase his chances.
Next, he looked at his Abilities tab, expecting it to be empty, but he was wrong, as there was one skill there.
'Spirit Eyes,' he muttered as he recalled the memory of Ellara transferring her soul ability to him. Looking at the skill, he couldn't help but remember her. This skill was proof that he was not alone in this world.
But it seemed it needed some hidden conditions to activate, as it was currently in a dormant state.
He took a deep breath, trying to process everything he'd just seen.
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After processing everything, Alden started wandering the forest, cautiously searching for a safe space to rest.
His senses felt sharper, his body slightly lighter than before, and he moved with more ease.
The creepy silence of the forest was still unsettling. When suddenly the silence of the forest was disturbed by a faint rumbling sound.
He looked around trying to find the source of the sound, and soon enough he found it.
He saw a huge creature walking towards him. The creature resembled a tortoise with a hard metallic shell covering it. The shell had many small spikes growing on it that shone ominously.
The tortoise looked at Alden with its glowing yellow eyes as Alden felt his body freeze. His heart started pounding as he saw the tortoise walking towards him.
'Shit, shit, shit...' he cursed under his breath, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword.
He looked at the sword at his waist and then at the tortoise, then again at his sword, and started running in the opposite direction.
"No way in hell am I fighting that thing."
Alden muttered as he ran as quickly as he could.
The tortoise soon saw him running and let out a thunderous roar. As soon as Alden heard the roar, his body suddenly froze for a moment as his instinct screamed at him to move.
"Move, f*cking move!" he screamed as he tried to move his body. At the last moment, his body tilted a bit to the side, and soon a small spike flew past him, slightly grazing his arm.
'Thankfully, the injury wasn't so deep, he thought as his body soon regained its control due to the sharp pain he felt in his arm.
"You've got to be kidding me; it can shoot spikes too?" Alden spoke as he started running again without even looking back as he zigzagged through trees.
The tortoise kept releasing the spikes one by one, but Alden soon understood the pattern: it seemed the beast could only release one spike per minute. He used that gap to increase the distance between him and that beast.
But just as he thought he was safe, he tripped on a vine and fell hard onto the ground.
The tortoise, seeing its prey had fallen, seized the opportunity as it fired another spike.
Alden barely twisted his body slightly, but the spike impaled his left shoulder. He let out a scream as pain shot through his body.
"Damn it!" He hissed in pain, clutching his shoulder as blood trickled down.
Just as he was thinking about what to do, his eyes started shining in a mysterious blue colour.
[Skill: Spirit Eyes is Partially Awakened]
As soon as he heard the sound, a refreshing feeling spread around his eyes as the world around him shifted.
He could see strange auras all around him as the skill information was poured into his mind, and amidst the chaos, a small blue orb of light appeared in the distance. It seemed to urge him to follow it.
Despite the intense pain in his shoulder, Alden forced himself up, his eyes locked onto the orb. Stumbling forward step by step, he followed it until it led him to an enormous tree.
The orb disappeared into the tree.
Alden's eyes widened in surprise as he couldn't sense the orb anymore. He quickly went towards the tree it had disappeared into.
As he tried to touch the tree, his hand passed through it as if it was made of air. He quickly retracted his hand instinctively, but a moment later he understood what it was.
"It seems this is some kind of hidden space," he muttered as he quickly entered the tree without any hesitation.
In the forest, as Alden disappeared, the tortoise arrived at the spot where he had disappeared. The tortoise looked around dumbfounded as it couldn't find the easy prey it had been pursuing.
The tortoise leaked a dissatisfied grunt as it soon turned around and started walking back.
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