Calculating...Tier 5 creature detected.

Experience gained.

??Error Detected??

Setting level: Level six acquired!

Level 1: Obtained!

Level 2: Obtained!

Level 3: Obtained!

Level 4: Obtained!

Level 5: Obtained!

Level 6: Obtained!

A cacophony of lights and sound battered at and invaded the consciousness of the young man as he fell.

An undead knight standing atop a hill of armored corpses banner of an unknown lord in one hand and a gleaming polished bastard sword in the other. Looking down across a battlefield in which only the crows cawed and hopped about.

The swell and rise of music in a concert hall wrought in gold and art, where the stage's sights were matched only by the music, beautiful but alien to the ears.

An aerial view of a castle-like city sitting atop a hill, reminiscent of Mont Saint-Michel in France, the entire city covered in snow and not a single smokestack rising from a chimney. Beautiful but cold and clearly empty of whatever life once filled it.

The roar of some furious beast met by the rambunctious and excited cheers of a crowd, a sand field in a coliseum marred by contestants' blood as even now combatants fight for their lives.

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Then a terrible sense of vertigo, followed by the cold mist of morning fog, as Alyx felt himself falling, the view from which he saw the world now his own. Apparently, in the treetops of what looked like a pine forest, he fell toward the ground quickly, his body freezing up in fear as the ground raced toward him.

With a crunch of impact followed by the sudden darkness of unconsciousness, the young man hit the ground with only the sound of his breath leaving his body. Not that Alyx should be considered remarkably stoic, he was knocked out before the pain registered.

Alyx awoke to birdsong and the warm, gentle rays of midday sunlight filtering down through the treetops above him. Truth be told, an idyllic moment, like waking up from a nap to find out you still have most of the day left, and everything is comfortable, the temperature is just right, your feeling rejuvenated and ready to handle the day.

Alyx took a few moments to blink his eyes open before he registered that he wasn’t in his bed, or even somewhere he recognized, sitting up and brushing the dirt and debris of the forest floor off his arms and out of his shaggy blonde hair he let out a deep sigh.

So… either this is a dream, or I slept through winter straight into the middle of spring. Obviously, the first step in any dream sequence was to pinch himself to see if he felt pain. Unfortunately for him, pinching his arm did, in fact, hurt slightly.

Standing, Alyx continued to brush himself off and started to look around, try and take his bearings.

Ok, let us take stock here. I’m in a forest I do not recognize. It’s...mid-spring? Maybe? I am fully dressed, phone, wallet, keys, cellphone. He said allowed, his baritone voice clear and only mildly laced with anxiety as he patted down his pockets, feeling for said items. Check.

Do I have cell service? An important question, one he promptly had an answer to upon pulling it out of his pocket and checking for a signal. Nope, no cell service.

That’s not too much of a surprise; I have terrible coverage at the best of times. No reason to panic.

As he began to look for a path or trail, Alyx finally realized that the words he heard in his mind upon waking were not just in his head but dancing at the edge of his vision. As if thinking about them was enough to bring them into focus, the words sprang to life in front of him. Oddly taking a bright, almost traffic cone orange color.

Level 1: Obtained!

Level 2: Obtained!

Level 3: Obtained!

Level 4: Obtained!

Level 5: Obtained!

Level 6: Obtained!

Minor Strength? Huh...ok...sure...not weird at all. I just woke up in the woods, I can see words in front of my face, and they look like...stat buffs?

??Error Detected??

Also, what the heck is this supposed to mean? Can I become a new species? Do I want to? How can I avoid becoming something other than human? Can...Can I be a dragon?

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Alyx decidedly didn’t move as he thought about his situation. Being in the woods didn’t bother him, really. He loved nature and had spent an entire summer traveling to various national parks.

No, several problems came to mind that had little to do with immediate survival, which most people might prioritize.

Alyx’s thoughts, however, turned to the fact that today was supposed to be Wednesday. He was going to miss work. If he missed work, he could lose his job, which you know hey may not sound huge being a third shift factory worker. But he had just bought a small house. If those payments tried to pull from his checking account and there wasn’t enough money in there, he could default on his mortgage.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Letting out a sigh, Alyx thought about what he gained from apparently leveling up. He wasn’t sure why he had leveled up. He understood the concept. Having played D and D before, or pretty much any video game.

Shrugging to himself, Alyx decided the how and why it could wait for at least a moment. What he wanted to do now was figure out if his stats was a representation of how strong and coordinated he was before waking up in this forest or if by gaining these levels, he was actually stronger.

Not having any weights on hand, it seemed like the easiest thing to do would be to try jumping. Alyx was never particularly good at jumping very high, and it should be easy to tell if he went significantly higher than normal. At least, that was the thought process he had before the attempt.

At least being smart enough to take his hands out of his pockets, Alyx crouched down slightly before jumping up as hard as he could. In hindsight, that was a mistake. Easily surpassing his one or two-foot expectations, Alyx soared up into what felt like at least fifteen feet in the air.

Oh, no, oh shit!

He called out, arms flailing as he tried to maintain his posture. To no avail, however, as he landed practically face first with a groan of pain.

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About thirty yards away, hidden up in the branches of a tree, two elven rangers watched. One with amusement, the other with unease as a very strangely dressed human, launched himself into the air, only to land with all the grace that could be expected of a typical human.

A bald elf holding a hand over his mouth glanced sidelong at his companion before whispering,” I can’t believe he just did that!”

His companion, a female with brown hair and the taller of the two, shook her head as she watched the human struggle back to his feet. Watching with narrowed eyes, she was much less amused by a stranger wandering through the forest her people called home. “ He may look like an idiot, but he got this deep into our home somehow. Keep a lookout, where there is one human...there are always more.

With a repressed sigh, the bald elf glanced around once more, keeping a lookout even if he thought it was pointless. This human was clearly alone...and obviously some idiot.

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Sitting up once more, Alyx contemplated what just happened. After jumping what had to have been fifteen feet in the air, he gave himself a bloody nose by landing face first. Now not even a minute later, the bleeding had stopped, and his nose felt fine. Not even a trace of soreness, and he had tested to make sure, poking and tugging at his nose.

“I have superpowers” Well, that felt ridiculous to say, not that it made the statement any less accurate.

“Obviously, something I don’t understand has happened to me.” Standing once more, Alyx began to walk forward. Not that he knew where he was going, but finding your way to civilization is deceptively simple. First, you find a source of running water. Then you follow it, and eventually, you’ll find people.

“I’ll probably freak out if I’ve been subjected to some weird science experiment, but the fact of the matter is that I’m probably more physically healthy than I was when I went to sleep last night. So clearly, this can only lead to good things.”

Ignoring the skill called body modification, for now, Alyx decided he’d go until the sun had nearly set and then try and find a safe place to set up camp for the night. Pointedly ignoring the fact that spending the night alone in the woods could, in fact, be very scary, bears are a thing that can happen, you know.

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“Well? He’s heading away from the village. Do we leave him to his own devices, or should we take him down?” Julius, the blonde elf, asked, looking to his companion for guidance. Having always been one to let other people make decisions for him, he saw no reason to stop now.

Nodding her head, brunette hair tossed about by the breeze, Andrea sighed. “We should capture and question him. The warding stones are supposed to keep humans out of the forest. Just because he isn’t going towards home doesn’t mean we can let him wander about. Besides, I still don’t think he could have gotten in here alone. Come on, let’s grab him and bag him, just like old times.”A smirk came to Andrea’s lips as she unslung her bow, Julius nodding as he did the same, willing and able to follow her lead.

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