The snow was thick and cold as death.
Ethan felt the biting chill seeping into his body before he even opened his eyes. His face was half-buried in the soft snow, the cold gnawing at his skin. Pain throbbed through every muscle, as if he'd been crushed beneath a mountain.
He didn't remember falling. Only the battle. The chaos. The rift in space swallowing him whole like the maw of an insatiable god.
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking several times to push away the fog of unconsciousness. Above him, the stars hung in their usual places, fixed and unchanging, but something felt different. Shadows flickered between them—trees. Towering trunks sliced through the sky, twisted branches clawing at the starlight like skeletal fingers.
He was in a forest.
It took him a moment to sit up, every bone in his body protesting. His breath condensed in the frigid air, forming small white clouds. He struggled to his feet, brushing the snow from his arms, trying to shake off the numbing cold creeping through his skin.
The landscape around him was as silent as it was beautiful. Colossal trees surrounded him, some so tall their tops vanished into the darkness, while others were gnarled and hunched, their branches heavy with snow. In the distance, jagged mountains loomed like silent sentinels, their slopes wrapped in a silver mantle of ice. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying promises of storms and solitude.
He pulled his hood tighter and clenched his fists.
— "I need to find shelter… or build a fire."
Then a scream shattered the mountain's silence.
— "ETHAN! HELP! HELP, BOY! QUICKLY! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"
The sound ripped through the stillness like an explosion. Ethan's heart jumped.
He knew that voice.
— "Oh no…"
— "SAVE ME! I'M ON THE BRINK OF DEATH! A TRAGEDY BEYOND MEASURE, AN IRREPARABLE LOSS TO THIS WORLD! MY LEGACY CANNOT END LIKE THIS! MY ENEMIES WILL LAUGH AT MY REMAINS! AND THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!"
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment, pressing his fingers to his temples.
— "Of course it's him…"
The Sorcerer.
For a brief moment, Ethan considered ignoring him.
He was alone in a world where everything tried to kill him. Creatures could mimic human voices. What if it was a trap?
— "YES, YES, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING! 'WHAT IF IT'S A CREATURE IMITATING MY ABSURDLY SUPERIOR CHARM?' BUT OF COURSE IT'S NOT, ETHAN! THE ONLY THING THAT COULD MIMIC ME WOULD BE… ME! AND EVEN THEN, I'D DO A BETTER JOB! NOW, HURRY UP BEFORE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ME IS DEVOURED BY THIS CRUEL FATE!"
Ethan rubbed his temples, feeling the onset of a headache.
— "I really should leave him hanging until tomorrow…"
But against his better judgment, he started following the voice.
Trudging through the dense snow, he finally found the most ridiculous scene he'd ever witnessed.
The Sorcerer was dangling upside down from a tree. But not just any tree—it was shaped like a twisted cross, its branches curling at impossible angles, faint purple light pulsing beneath its bark.
Ethan froze.
— "Right… I really should stay away from this guy."
The Sorcerer swayed slightly in the cold wind, arms crossed, looking thoroughly bored.
— "There you are, my hero! Quickly, stand right there so I can drop myself—and you can break my fall!"
Ethan blinked.
— "That's definitely going to break my bones. Why don't you just get down yourself?"
The Sorcerer sighed dramatically.
— "Why else would I be hanging here, Ethan? I'm out of magic! No mana! I spent it all protecting you from that damned rift!"
Ethan ignored that part and began piling snow beneath the tree. Better that than serving as a human mattress.
— "And Magnalith? Is he dead?"
There was a pause—too long.
The Sorcerer didn't answer immediately.
— "I wish, kid. But that bastard was clever. When he realized he was losing, he used his own body to warp space, scattering us all."
A different kind of chill crept over Ethan.
— "But he's dead, right?"
The Sorcerer raised an eyebrow.
— "Magnalith doesn't die. As long as one of his roots survives, he can come back. But it'll take time. Plenty of time. Time enough for us to worry about other things."
Ethan mulled that over, then asked:
— "Is there some kind of system to classify these corrupted beings? That giant toad we fought was strong, but Magnalith was… something else entirely."
The Sorcerer grinned, clearly pleased.
— "Good question, boy. Yes, there are classifications. Magnalith was a level six abomination, first stage. That toad was just a level four colossus, stage two. Huge difference."
— "Level six?" Ethan felt a shiver. "So… what's the highest level?"
The Sorcerer's grin faded. For the first time, his expression turned completely serious.
He stared at Ethan for a long moment, as if deciding whether to say more. Then he shook his head.
— "It's better if we don't talk about level seven."
Silence settled between them. Ethan swallowed hard.
If even the Sorcerer—the most bizarre, chaotic being he'd ever met—didn't want to talk about it, it was probably best not to ask.
— "All right, it's ready. Now jump."
The Sorcerer inspected the makeshift snow pile and arched an eyebrow.
— "Clever boy."
Then he simply floated down from the tree, landing softly.
Ethan stood frozen.
— "You COULD do that the whole time?!"
— "Recovered a little bit of magic while we chatted. But thanks for the effort! And as a reward, I have a gift."
With a snap of his fingers, a cauldron appeared out of nowhere, steaming with a greenish mist.
Ethan just stared.
— "You don't even have pockets. Where do you keep that cauldron?"
— "Professional secret."
The Sorcerer rummaged inside, pulling out random objects—a never-rotting apple, a monocle that only showed internal organs, an hourglass that flowed backward.
Finally, he pulled out something that seemed useful.
A slingshot.
The wood seemed alive, faint runes flickering along its surface. Ethan took it, feeling a strange vibration at his touch.
The Sorcerer grinned.
— "This is the Slingshot of Possibilities. It could be the most useful thing you've ever had—or the most dangerous. Depends on you."
Ethan examined the slingshot, feeling an odd shiver.
— "So… I can basically cause chaos with this?"
— "Calculated chaos, my boy. Calculated chaos."
Ethan chuckled.
Maybe he could survive in this world.
Or at least have some fun trying.
The two of them started walking through the snowy mountains, following an uncertain path filled with endless possibilities. The wind whispered between the trees, and for the first time, Ethan looked around and saw the beauty of it all.
Jagged peaks rose like crystal spires, reflecting the pale glow of distant stars. Golden lightning streaked across the horizon, pulsing like cosmic heartbeats.
He sighed.
It was beautiful.
Maybe, just maybe… it was bearable to be here.