*ding*

"A bell?" he asked nobody in particular.

No, forget the bell! What the heck was that thing?! Wolves aren't that huge! And where the hell am I?! How the fuck did i get here?!

Trying not to get impaled or strangled by the roots holding him firmly in place, Alex grasped one above him, which was the closest to the ledge in his vicinity, and pulled. It seemed like it would be able to barely support his weight, creaking and bending slightly.

After some minor setbacks and a few scratches here and there he managed to get out of the abyss.

Crawling further away from it, to avoid more unfortunate accidents, he collapsed on the ground. Not from physical exhaustion, since it wasn't that much of an effort to climb 2 meters.

But his mind did not have the spare energy to focus on standing, being occupied with something else entirely. Something he realized during his short ascent to safety. If you wanted to call a place harboring monstrosities like that Reaper Wolf safe.

And this precisely was the current conundrum playing in his mind. Reaper Wolf. A fascinating name, especially considering that Alex never had a knack for naming things.

Even Lily got her name from a rather obvious pattern on her fur, depicting what couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a lily. What made it worse was that she got that name from his neighbor, Jasmine, Lily's actual owner, even if Alex would say otherwise.

And so it came to be that Alex wondered where he got that from. He was sure to never have encountered such a creature before, not in any media and certainly not in person.

He would surely have some recollection of such a creature if he ever witnessed one before his unfortunate meeting with this overly friendly fellow.

Alas, not having come to any conclusion after letting himself be embraced by the ground, he decided to focus on more important matters. Namely, his current location.

By far the fastest method Alex could think of was likely also the same anyone else would've utilized to get their current position. By making use of their integrated neural devices, also known as neurevs.

These essentials of modern humankind worked like those old smartphones used by their ancestors, just controlled via thoughts. One could simply ask and immediately receive all necessary information related to the query.

As Alex tried to communicate with his device, all he got was silence. Not even the usual background noise associated with those neuro-devices from misinterpreting random signals was perceived.

Hoping for an unlikely network failure to be the cause, or some unannounced patch removing the background noise, Alex went on to think about his personal information, to make sure his device was at least partially functional.

Even if he certainly knew that such silence was unrelated to it and could only be the result of his device being broken. Or missing, even if the removal of a neurev wasn't really a safe practice.

Still a likely possibility, considering his current situation. Maybe some kidnappers removed it to make sure he couldn't call for help? Or some very unlikely circumstances led to the device malfuctioning, which caused it to lead him to this place in his sleep?

Neurevs not having any control over a users motor-neurons, due to safety concerns, made this rather unfeasable, but maybe some subconscious effect?

Deciding that any further guesses would only spiral into more absurd possibilities and be meaningless at best, he went on and called for his personal information to be displayed. Simply thinking about your own name generally did the trick, and so Alex thought about himself, hoping to at least get his name as a reply.

What he didn't expect was the result. More silence, yes, but also something different. Something new, or old depending on your perspective. He remembered.

Not some past life experiences, or otherworldly knowledge. No, he just remembered his personal information. That was not the problem.

But the way he got that information was unnerving for him. It was definitely not in any way similar to how a neurevs output was perceived. Not a direct signal, akin to vision, but something more abstract.

It felt less like remembering and more as though he just knew it, which should've obviously been the case, considering it was his information. Nontheless, something felt off.

He knew too much about his self. To make matter worse, he knew things that didn't make any sense, but at the same time conveyed a feeling of certainty, like the knowledge that people have a weight. Nobody would refuse to believe that.

That certainty and the way he perceived the general information as a whole almost felt as if someone sent it directly into his mind, without making use of his neuro-device.

A rather comfortable way to receive knowledge, compared to the slight stinging caused by most brain-devices.

What bothered Alex the most wasn't his personal information, but what was close to it, if you want to call it like that. It felt connected, as if it was all part of the same branch of knowledge. Similar to how thinking about a restaurant might make you think about food.

Trying to get a grasp on all the new information he got, Alex thought about it one by one. That didn't make it any less confusing for him, since most of it was utter non-sense.

Your System is ready.

Welcome! You gained [ Title : [Unique] Alexander Weiss] Title : [Unique] Alexander Weiss Requirements : Alexander Weiss Effect : Gain access to the System You gained [ Skill : [Common] Language ] Skill : [Common] Language Lv.1 Requirements : Understand a language Effect : Be able to understand the most common languages. You defeated [ Reaper Wolf : Lv.12 ] Contribution : 30% You gained [ Experience : 1228 ] You reached Lv.10! You gained [ Free Statpoint : 10 ] You gained [ Free Skillpoint : 10 ] You gained [ Title : [Rare] Statless 1 ] Title : [Rare] Statless 1 Requirements : Reach Lv.10 without the use of Free Statpoints. Effect : Slightly increases the efficiency of gaining Statpoints through training. You gained [ Title : [Rare] Skillless 1 ] Title : [Rare] Skillless 1 Requirements : Reach Lv.10 without the use of Free Skillpoints. Effect : Slightly increases the efficiency of gaining and reinforcing Skills through training. Alexander Weiss Level 10 Experience 204/1024 Classes None Stats Strength 12 Endurance 15 Vitality 12 Dexterity 7 Intelligence 29 Wisdom 18 Free Statpoints 10 Free Skillpoints 10 Skills Active Passive None Language Lv.1 Titles [Unique] Alexander Weiss [Rare] Statless 1 [Rare] Skillless 1

"Uhm..." was everything he managed to formulate when he was confronted with the Systems information.

What is this now? Am I going nuts? Levels? Stats and skills? I have my own title?! Is this some kind of new game-theme for neurevs? And why don't I know how I got here?! This just doesn't make any sense!

Thinking about the origin of his new reality, Alex wondered if maybe his previous hypothesis wasn't as far-fetched as he thought at first.

The neuro-device received some update while he was asleep, somehow automatically applied it, and now it showed him some virtual or artificial reality.

It certainly sounded ridiculous, but not knowing the actual circumstances and looking for something to complain about, that would do just fine.

That's just fucked up... he complained, could've at least asked for permission... or something...

Not entirely convinced that this really was just caused by some game-theme, a malfunction, or a badly designed update, and being more than familiar with this scenario from his life of absorbing everything related to magic from various media, he had a bad premonition.

Or at least that was what others would have had in his situation. With that thought in mind, Alex, on the other hand, was growing more ecstatic by the second at the prospect of finally being able to actually wield magic, even if it was not by his own design.

Could this really be? Could I, after all these years, have finally found a place so wonderful, so mystical that it allows magic to exist?

*hooowwwwl*

The sudden sound pulled him out of his reverie, forcing him to look up from his lying position and to take in his surroundings, only to have him freeze in the next second. Luckily it didn't seem like another giant considered him to make for a fine snack, but it was nonetheless unnerving.

For the first time since waking up, he actually noticed his most pressing issue. He saw a rather peculiar scene. Warm sunlight impacted his skin and a slight breeze soothed his mind, enforcing the strong contrast to the old ruins and dark and eerie forest in front of him.

All around him were broken walls. Vines, moss, and grass having long since overgrown every surface of what once likely was a large multi-story building of unknown purpose.

One of the remaining shoulder-height walls was broken to pieces, rocks and metal scattered everywhere inside the spacious hall, likely having been part of the section now containing a rather sizeable hole. Presumably the same spot the Reaper Wolf broke through, before rushing to his demise.

Alex slowly approached what once likely was a grand entrance, but all that remained were the bare foundations with vague hints as to how the previous layout of this place might once have looked like, before it was left to crumble.

Old, rusty and broken letters, once used to advertise the name of this building, lay scattered on the ground.

LOG NILFE... he read out the letters. Huh... Weird name... Reminding himself of his precarious situation he decided to deal with such random thoughts later, Now focus Alex! You better find some safer place. Wouldn't want to become food after surviving that fall. Still not too sure what to make of this all, though... Well, always hope for the best! Magic, here I come!

While making his way out of the ruins and into the unwelcoming forest, Alex tried to get a better grasp on this so called System.

Pretty plain name. At least I called my magical system... oh, right... didn't name it at all, did I?

*howl*

Another short howl a long distance away reminded him to put more focus onto his surroundings and not to get distracted by anything not related to survival.

A wasted reminder, since he was too ingrossed with finding out more about his new magical add-on.

Experimenting with various words, thoughts and actions, he received not the faintest reply. He was perfectly capable of accessing every information he tried to recall, or whatever it was he was doing to get the knowledge, but he was not able to interact with the System at all.

After a few more failed attempts and minutes spent on not keeping an eye on his surroundings to avoid certain doom, a sudden realization hit him. One that would have been even more painful than his past failures, if it turned out to be true.

It can't be... can it? he asked this cruel world, Did i get transported into some magical world, my long forgotten dreams so close to becoming a reality again, only to be unable to make use of this damn System?!

As this thought slowly took root in Alex's mind, despair slowly crept its way into his heart. A feeling of loss, an all too familiar feeling for him, a feeling he had overcome once, but might not be able to take on a second time.

It was happening again. But now it was even worse, since he was stuck in a world with monstrosities like those wolves. And those were certainly not the worst creatures this place could throw at him, if the System was to be believed.

If he had access to it, so be it. Some monsters to avoid, or even use to advance his magic with wouldn't be overly bad. But like this? Lost, alone and weak? No! There had to be something he could do!

Thinking about his future, he decided to focus on getting out of the forest first. To find civilization and to do everything he could, to grasp at every straw, like he did in his old world, just for a chance to be able to wield magic.

In his old world, he never managed to develop real magic, but here he only had to find a way to use what already existed.

Even if he had to start anew and fight for every opportunity, he had an example to make use of, to analyze, and hopefully he might even be able to master magic without this darned System!

Having walked for half an hour into the creepy woods, while constantly cursing the System for not allowing him to use it properly, imagining his awesome future magical powers and thinking about ways to actually get access to them and making some plans for how to procede.

He stopped and took in his surroundings, contemplating his next courses of action.

So... in which direction should I go to find civilization... He looked around, not being able to find any noticable landmarks through the thick forest.

Argh, can't anything just work out for once! Fuck it, away from that abyss and everything that howls is good enough for now!