His ever so confused mind took leaps and bounds in utter confusion as he began to study his surroundings. A forest consisting of foreign plants and animals spread out for miles, or for as far as his sight could perceive as he looked around incredulously. Once again, a flurry of questions attacked his labyrinth of a mind as he took in the situation around him.

He began to stand up to take a better look before staring again at the unfamiliar change that appeared before him. His hands and feet were dark in colour and looked to be composed of shadows. The tendrils of black scurrying back and forth from his body as he stood there, utterly dumbfounded.

‘Haaaa…. What shit have I gotten myself into now?’ he inquired inquisitively as he began to contemplate on the fact that he was indeed fucked both physically and mentally. His body, a pile of black matter, that seemed to be consisted of shadows, absorbed the light that aimed to reflect off his unsightly, but truly badass and even frightening, body. His form taking on the shape of his figure that wore the Mjolnir Gen 1 variant aimed for scouting and assassination, making it ever more apparent of the potential strength he may come across in the future.

He looked on in disbelief for a couple of moments before finally shaking it off, encasing himself in a more logical and calculative demeanor in order to get a more profound understanding behind where he exactly was as what was trained into him during his period as a supersoldier.

As he further inspected his figure, a sudden blue box appeared in his vision. It appeared so suddenly he managed to become a little surprised upon it’s appearance, his facial expression contorting for a second before turning back to its usual cold demeanor. Afterwards, after having his curiosity piqued, he began to further inspect the blue box that had appeared before him.

Status

Name: Nicholas Gray

Class: None

Race: Shadow Demon

Titles: The Last of the Shadow Demons

Level: 1

Health: 110/110

Health Regeneration Rate: 0.12 per second

Mana: 0/180

Mana Regeneration Rate: 0.11 per second

Strength: 10

Constitution:11

Vitality: 12

Agility: 13

Dexterity:15

Perception: 12

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 18

Wisdom: 11

Luck:4

Unassigned Stat Points: 0

Active Skills: Identify (Active) lvl 1 (57%)

Passive Skills:

Affinities: Shadow element

After identifying this status of sorts, he came to believe it was a numerical representation of his physical and mental strengths. He also came to believe that 10 would be the average amount of strength a normal person should have, although that may not be true. In his case, however, he had been a genetically modified human. This resulted in him having a slightly higher boost in stats, although not us much as he would have hoped. It seemed after transferring to this new body of his, he had lost quite a bit of his physical prowess, which would begin to limit his movements until he could regain them. His mental stats however seemed to be of a decent size, probably due to there being not much change in his neurological patterns. Except for perhaps, the fact that he could now begin to feel and understand his emotions due to the limiter not taking effect anymore.

As he soaked in the new information he noticed his change of race, a Shadow Demon? He further inspected the word Shadow Demon to only be met with more information in the form of another blue box.

Shadow Demons, a rare race thought to have been extinct, until you entered this world that is, who hold a great affinity with the shadows. Their natural skill to assassinate through the use of shadow arts being heavily envied by some, feared by others. Shadow Demons who have lived through years of carnage and violence, as is their nature, can grow to feats of power most can only dream of. Their abilities lay commonly in the form of deception, betrayal, stealth, and agility. Not to say there have been Shadow Demons who have relied on other methods in order to survive and thrive. The records regarding this race are left empty due to years of leave, so barely no one, except the large race of demons, hold information regarding this extinct race. Well, before you arrived that is.

After carefully reading through the blue screen. He began to understand more regarding his situation. Beginning to think he was blessed with this race, due to his innate talent for assassination and stealth, he thought upon whether it was exactly due to his innate talent for this type of combat that he was given this race, and if so, what was it based upon, who was it decided and given by? The title given now also made sense, although he had no idea as to what the title ‘The Last of the Shadow Demons’ did. He’d perhaps identify that as well later after he experimented with a few things first.

As he prodded his brain for more information, a strange *ding* sounded out throughout his head.

Skill Identify has leveled up through a constant action taking place. Ask system about Identify in order to be notified about more information.

Unperturbed through the new experience taking place, he began to think the words,

‘System, what is Identify?’

Not shortly after, a wave of blue appeared in front of him, clarifying his many questions about the skill Identify.

Identify lvl 2 (11%)

A skill commonly used to evaluate materials, weapons, and people.

It is a useful and versatile skill useful for different classes and races of all types, and if used right, can provide a great advantage in battle. It’s also a basic skill given to people upon arrival. Once the skill levels, the amount of information seen and the level limit at which you see of the opponent or equipment increases.

Nicholas skimmed over the skill Identify, noting down the utility of the skill.

‘So things like this can happen to as well?’ The occurrence of the skill window, verifying what he had thought.

‘It is like one of those games that are based in the virtual world that those rich kids play isn’t it?’ as he pondered over the similarity between this world and the virtual world. He began to discover how very similar it was, the concepts, and ideas, all so very similar. He then began to contemplate whether that would work.

He stood there, eyes closed, or whatever he thought were eyes, as he began to reach deep in the confines of his body. As he searched within his body for something different, something vibrant, he found a deep dark blue liquid substance, his mana.

He didn’t know if his mana was normal or not, but it reacted to his touch, spreading across his body at an overwhelming speed. His senses suddenly filled with the touch of mana as the natural mana seethed into his pores, filling up the heart of mana that displaced the area where his heart should have been. His heart was his mana, and with his mana, his life.

As he began to take in the new feeling of warmth birthed from his mana, a notification appeared before him.

Skill Mana Manipulation has been awarded through great insight regarding the manipulation of energy known as mana.

Before he could react to the small blue box in his field of vision, the sounds of bushes and trees being brushed aside rang into the Shadow Demons hearing as he swerved his head towards the sound. Although he was taking in this new thrilling experience of mana coursing through his body, it seemed something nearby had caught onto the scent of that very mana that perspired from him.

He took action as he seeked cover from the gradually approaching figure, aiming for the closest tree that would provide him with safety at its canopy. He climbed up the tree with the experiences he had gone through during his time as a soldier. Jumping from branch to branch, he reached the tree’s canopy, blending into the safety of its shadow as he slowly scanned the field below.

There, where he had stood, were 3 wolves baring their fangs in an intimidating fashion as the leader of the group smelt the place where he lay. The wolves had shiny gray coats and a small long frame in order to make fast and small movements. Sharp claws aligned along the paws of their feet acting as natural weapons. Used by the monsters to kill oncoming prey.

The leading wolf called out to the two other wolves lying in wait behind the cover of some bushes. The two wolves staying low to the ground as their snouts twitched in response to the mana flow in the area. There eyes looking around dastardly in an attempt to find the offender who dared to cross into their territory.

As the Shadow Demon stared at them from the safety of the trees canopy, he noticed the disproportionate size between the two wolves and their leader. The leading wolf was at least the size of 2 men, whilst the other wolves were half that size.

As he tried to use identify by chanting it through his mind and manipulating his mana, as he learnt to do after he had found his status, blue boxes appeared before him providing information against the wolves before him.

Alpha Gray Wolf lvl 7

???

Gray Wolf lvl 5

???

Gray Wolf lvl 4

???

Gray wolves, as their appearances and blue boxes stated, seemed quite high leveled for him right now. Their lvls being higher than his by at least 4 to 7 times larger. The amount of information provided small in contrast to the information provided in relation to his race and skills. Although, this was stated before upon the description of the skill Identify itself.

As he further inspected the 3 gray wolves that lay beneath the tree he took refuge in, they seemed to be more active, their noses twitching in quite the peculiar fashion as they smelt around the bark of the tree, circling around the area in a vain attempt to pinpoint the thing that released the scent of mana.

He began to contemplate whether to try and overwhelm them with skill in contrast to their vast disparity between level and strength. Or to wait, and lay low until they had left. He thought upon the benefits and demerits of these actions before coming to the conclusion that he had around a 40% chance to out maneuver them with his own disparity of skill between him and the wolves. His obviously being of the better through the meticulous training he had gone through day in day out. Also, the chance to gain more strength upon leveling up was just too good to pass up, although there may be unknown variables that may come into play later on, either effecting him for the better or for the worse.