Adam found himself in a hole. A regular hole in the ground, surrounding him with dirt. Well not exactly a regular hole, as it seemed too unnaturally round. The top of the pit he was in was at least twice his height of five foot ten and he could almost reach from side to side with his arms stretched out.

Adam had come home after a long day of work to his small single bedroom apartment. After eating a quick dinner and grabbing a shower, he got into his favourite penguin pajamas and went to sleep as usual. During the night he suddenly awoke with a sense of falling. A feeling he had felt many times before as many have. Except this time the falling continued as he was prepared to go back to sleep, not having even opened his eyes. Slamming into the ground, a surge of pain went through his back, causing him to open his eyes, putting him in an alert state.

In very dim lighting he saw a few people standing around him, looking down at him from a short distance away. As he felt the grass under his fingers, he began to quickly get up, only to have two people grab his arms from behind. Being pulled the rest of the way to his feet, Adam was really starting to get concerned at his situation.

All the people around him were wearing cloaks with hoods hiding their faces. He could only assume he had been drugged and kidnapped. “I won’t tell you anything” he said reluctantly, assuming they wanted his knowledge as the head researcher for Black Sphere. Even though there should be no way they knew who he was. Only his two co-researchers, and a few others in the company knew his identity.

With no response from anyone, a figure stepped directly in front of him, placing a hand on his head. Adam felt an odd sensation pulse through his head and down through his body. It didn’t seem to have any effect on him other than a slight tingling as if a small current of electricity passed through him. Confused at not seeing anything in the person's hand that could have done it, he didn't know where it had come from.

After a good few seconds the person spoke softly, with a deep voice making Adam assume it was a man. He clearly heard what was said but could not understand what language it was. He knew only one language, English, but had a good ear for recognizing many languages. The words spoken sounded like nothing he had heard before. The only thing he could make out was slight confusion in the words.

The man turned around and began speaking with another cloaked figure. Adam took this moment to check out his surroundings. He saw he was in a small field with the silhouettes of trees around them. Though he couldn't see much in the dim lighting nor what was behind him as the two figures still held him tightly. Around him were five people, including the two to either side of him. Adam realized he didn't see any of the people holding any sources of light, yet there was clearly some source of light shining in a radius around them.

Looking up he saw more stars than he had ever seen in his life. Adam was puzzled at his situation, and increasingly so at the light around them that appeared to have no source. To make matters worse, he didn't recognize the stars at all. Since he was a kid he had studied the stars frequently and he could name many of the stars and constellations. Yet they were all gone, completely different and unfamiliar to his eyes. Shaking his head, he focused back on the situation around him.

Adam’s concern escalated to fear as he saw a dozen feet away were three more people. One was in the same hooded cloak as the rest holding the end of a chain in their hand. The chain led to the other two with collars around their necks. The first was a man who looked to be in his thirties, wearing what adam would describe as casual clothes, jeans and a black t-shirt forming tightly to his muscled torso. He was surprised the man had even ended up chained, as he was easily over six feet tall and clearly went to the gym, no doubt a bodybuilder with arms over twice his own. The second was a young woman in what Adam thought was a high school uniform. Both had tears in their eyes yet stood still as they waited.

The man who had been conversing motioned behind adam with another unfamiliar phrase, which caused the two people holding him to begin dragging him away. Of course Adam wasn't going to let them have their way. Panicking he began to try to escape their grip, putting all his strength into pulling away from them, only to have no effect on his two captures. Adam knew he wasn't exactly strong but to have no effect whatsoever made him feel like a small child.

After being dragged a short ways he was lifted off the ground and thrown into a hole, hitting the side and falling to the bottom. Absorbing the approximately eleven foot fall as best he could, he landed on his feet and continued down into a sitting position. The force he felt from the fall was more than he expected as pain reverberated through his legs. Though it hurt, it only lasted a couple of minutes and he knew there was no real damage. The pain helped him focus and calm down, intentionally breathing in long slow breaths. Alas, here he was sitting in a perfectly round hole in the ground.

After a good half hour, Adam calmed down somewhat and was sure the group of people were gone. There were many things that happened Adam couldn't explain and this bothered him greatly. Apart from the weird situation, what stayed on his mind was the unexplainable things that shouldn't be possible.

Two new events came to his attention, the first being a feeling of becoming slightly sluggish. After doing a few tests he was certain his arms and body required more strength to move, while jumping required noticeably more effort. He considered the stars and his only conclusion was that he was on a different planet which has stronger gravity. Though only by a small amount, maybe ten to twenty percent more if he had to guess.

Ignoring the frustration at not knowing how he could have possibly went to sleep and woke up on another planet, Adam sat back down and focused on the second thing wanting his attention.

Similar to when the man had sent a pulse of energy through his body, Adam could feel that same energy circulating through his body. He couldn't tell exactly where, only that it was there. Focusing inward, he tried to follow the flow of energy. Within a few minutes he could sense that the energy was everywhere in his body at once, constantly moving. Once he sensed the energy was in his head as well, he realized he had a feeling that was demanding his attention. Focusing on the first one a screen appeared in front of him.

Mana Sense I Unlocked

AP + 1

Adam stared at the blue box in front of him. It was easily visible in the dark yet didn't seem to emit any light.

“And I thought things couldn't get weirder.” He said staring at the window in front of him.

Poking it, he found he could touch it. It was a weird sensation, as it didn't register to his sense of touch but it responded to it. As he poked it, it moved away from him. Grabbing it he could move it around anywhere he wanted. It was similar to the virtual reality menus he had interacted with.

Reading the text he couldn't help but think of a video game. He had tried playing some video games but never took interest for very long, as he was always interested in strategy games, chess being one of his favorites. He always seemed to have one or more projects he was focused on, not giving him much time for games anyway.

“Mana Sense eh”

Was that the energy he felt in his body. This was the first unexplainable thing that made him excited. If he could do magic, he would forgive whatever forces brought him here, almost. If he didn't die in this hole first. Mana Sense seems straight forward, it gives him the ability to sense mana. AP though he wasn't sure what that was. He tried tapping on AP to see if he could get more information and a new screen appeared.

Attribute Point Points used to Increase a physical or mental attribute by one

If this was like a game, would that mean he had attributes like strength and intelligence. Strength would be useful as he already felt weaker than normal, and the people that had thrown him in this hole obviously have much higher strength. He didn't like being so powerless, so weak. Leaving his AP for another time he checked the next alert wanting his attention.

HP - 3

HP he was pretty sure he knew, or at least that it was usually a players health points in games. Tapping on the HP confirmed this.

Health Points Represents the state of the body

He must have lost some health from being thrown in the hole. It’s probably fair to assume that if a person's HP hits zero, they die. Adam couldn't help but feel he was in some kind of VR simulation, but it seemed way to real. Technology wasn't anywhere this advanced yet to be a valid conclusion for what was happening to him. He decided to just play along for now until he could figure out more. Thus, he checked the last notification.

Mana Sense II Unlocked

AP + 1

Another AP, did that mean he would get an AP for every skill he unlocked or increased. Did that mean he wouldn’t get points from leveling up, assuming he even had a level. Maybe he didn't. He decided to tap on Mana Sense this time to see what he could learn from it.

Mana Sense II Sense mana in and around the body.

Range: 1 Meter

Precision: 4%

Adam had only tried to sense the energy, or mana, inside his body, not around it. Sure enough, trying to feel the mana he could sense it within a one meter radius around himself. It wasn't anything specific, the same as inside his body, he could just tell that it was there, only much fainter. He found this skill interesting, but he wasn’t exactly sure what the point of sensing mana was, or what he could do with it.

This new world he was in continued to make no sense to him. If he couldn't find a way back home, he would have to change that. Nothing he hated more than not understanding, well, anything.

With a big yawn, Adam realized he was still in a pit and it was much darker than it was earlier. He couldn't see anything but the stars above him. Knowing there wasn't much he could do right now, he laid down to get as comfortable as possible. Sleep was the best thing he could do. He was worried he'd have a hard time falling asleep on the ground, or in it but Within minutes he was asleep for a second time in one night.

Waking up after what Adam assumed to be at least a few hours, his back and muscles were stiff and sore. Feeling less tired he stood up and stretched. He noticed it was still moderately dark in his hole but he could see some light above him. The sky a dark blue with the occasional star still visible, a light breeze passing over the hole.

Adam decided to see if he could find out what attributes he had and other information about himself. It didn’t take long until he had a menu in front of him.

Name: Adam Ward Level 0: Exp 0/100 Age: 21

Weight: 195.5 lbs Height: 5’ 10” Race: Human (Earthling) Attributes Health: 100/100 [+] [Locked]: ? Stamina: 100/100 [+] [Locked]: ? Mana: 100/100 [+] [Locked]: ? Physical: Mental: [Locked]: ? [Locked]: ? [Locked]: ? [Locked]: ? [Locked]: ? [Locked]: ? Attribute Points: 2 Skills

Mana Sense II: 0% Level Up: 400 Exp Mana Absorption (Locked) Unlock: 100 Exp Mana Manipulation (Locked) Unlock: 100 Exp Mana Materialization (Locked) Unlock: 100 Exp Spells

So he did have a level, but was level zero. What ever happened to starting at level one. He noticed his weight was significantly higher. Last time he checked, he was about one hundred and seventy pounds. His age was also different, he was twenty seven, not twenty one. At least his height was correct.

“Why are so many things locked?” he questioned to himself.

Did he have to level up to unlock more attributes, even though he unlocked mana sense without leveling. There was too much he didn't know. He had two AP but didn't see any gain from adding them to his health, stamina or mana right now so dismissed the menu.

Adam began to dig his way out of the pit, hoping to pile dirt underneath him at the bottom of the hole while building a ramp up and out. He was able to dig but with much less effect than expected, as the dirt was hard and compacted significantly.

Three hours of digging later along with many breaks to recover his new found stamina, he was able to climb out of the hole. His fingers numb with dirt nearly covering every part of him. Resting on his back for a few minutes, Adam saw the bright blue sky above him, a large yellow sun twice the size of the one he was used to on earth. This helped reinforce his idea that he was on a different planet. He still didn't know how but he couldn't deny the evidence.

Paying attention to his stamina increasing for a while, he learned it recovered by four points every minute. Standing up with his stamina almost full, he looked around once again. The small field he was in was surrounded by trees, nothing special as far as he could tell, though he didn't know much about trees. They were tall and had green leaves. In the distance he could see the occasional tree that was much taller and more unique even to him. They were thrice the height of the surrounding trees, while the branches curved up and outward in a one hundred eighty degree range. It appeared like the tree was trying to hug the trees it surrounded and shelter them from the skies.

Noticing all the trampled grass where the events occurred last night, he walked over and continued to follow the obvious pathway into the forest. He did not want to find the people from last night but he did want to find civilization. Wilderness survival was not something he had bothered to learn, thinking he would never be in such a situation. Especially since the only places he ever went was his apartment, work and the occasional restaurant. Maybe even to visit his family sometimes but he never left the city and wasn't one for traveling.

Luckily the path that was traveled was very easy to follow. Unfortunately it was covered in sticks and rocks that poked at his bare feet as he walked. After half an hour of walking, Adam realized he didn't see or hear any wildlife. No small creatures, birds, or insects. Even better, he hadn't run into anything dangerous with all the noise he was making with every step breaking small branches and rustling leaves in the absolute quiet forest.

Starting to get hungry and a little bored, Adam tried to see what else he could figure out besides his health, stamina and mana sense. He had four skills all categorized under mana. First was his mana sense at level two which he already knew gave him the ability to sense mana. The next three skills were locked and all he could see was their names. Absorption probably let him absorb the mana around him into his body while manipulation would let him control mana. You would have to be able to control mana to use it in a spell he thought seemed practical. Not that he had any spells. Materialization he wasn't quite sure about, how would he materialize mana if it was already there. Unless his body could create mana, though he was doubtful. Even if there was a lot of new things he couldn't explain, he still strongly believed in the laws of physics he knew, including not being able to create something from nothing.

Adam continued walking down the path for another twenty minutes before he saw the trees clear and the path leading to a dirt road. A short distance to his left was a man and woman pulling a small cart behind them, heading away from him. A bit farther down the road was a large ten foot wooden wall with the road leading to a slightly larger wooden gateway.

Looking down at his dirt covered pajamas, he was an unusual sight. He thought he might as well try to see what happens. So he began walking towards the gate. After ten minutes he caught up to the two people pulling the cart. Passing them he saw they noticed him and were giving him weird looks, whispering to each other. He wouldn't be able to communicate with them anyway so he continued on, arriving at the gate a few minutes later. A guard stood to each side of the gate, until he got closer and both of them stood in front of the gate blocking his way. They both wore chainmail armor over their chest along with a partially rusted sword at their waist. Nothing more but simple clothing.

The guard to Adam's right said something to him, then both guards began to laugh. Adam just continued to stand their with a blank look on his face. After a few seconds the guards stopped laughing and the right one gave a heavy sigh, speaking again with a hand held out. He could enter with an entrance fee, Adam thought. That was better than simply getting turned away or worse. Not that he had any form of money or knew how much to give them even if he did.

He heard the people with the cart coming up behind him, and stepped aside to let them pass. With a quick conversation, the woman reached into a pouch at her side and pulled out two small rectangles and passed them to the guard. Then the guards stepped aside to let them pass. As far as he could tell the two rectangular coins appeared to be copper, and the cost of entry was one copper per person.

Nothing on him but his pajamas, he couldn't even offer them something of value. He turned around and headed into the forest, with a shout heard behind him. Not being pursued he began working his way around the walls, hoping to find a way inside. After an hour of walking and finding nothing but a wooden wall that he knew he couldn't climb, he gave up for now. The sun was getting high in the sky now and he was getting hungry and thirsty. Worst of all his feet were getting sore, with a couple small cuts he had received on sharp rocks.

He began walking back the way he came while keeping hidden further in the trees. Fifteen minutes before he would arrive back to the gate he found one of the larger trees he wanted to call a hugging tree. It was even more unusual than he expected now that he was up close. The trunk of the tree wasn't one giant cylindrical shape but curved around a large area in a crescent moon like shape, allowing Adam to enter inside. The trunk was still extremely thick, more so than most trees he had seen on earth. The area inside the tree was similar to the size of his apartment, except with circular walls.

Adam knew he found his new temporary living quarters. He couldn't get into the city right now, and didn't want to sleep out in the open. He could block off the six foot entrance to the tree and setup something more comfortable to sleep on. With that decided he now only needed to figure out food and water.

He headed out searching for what best to make a door and bed, while keeping an eye out for food and a source of water. The first thing he found was a large gathering of giant fern like plants. He touched the leaves and was surprised at how soft they felt. It was perfect for his bed. The problem was each leaf was twice his size, with a stem three centimeters thick. He tried breaking it off but found it very resilient. Bending the leaf over, he tried breaking it farther up where the stem was much thinner. Success happened only once he tried breaking it off half way up where it broke with great effort even though the stem was only half a centimeter thick. Adam couldn't help but feel increasingly weak, even the plants were stronger here.

Now knowing where he could break them, he spent the next hour breaking the giant leaves off and bringing them back to his tree. He set them up near the back of the space, lining them up one way then the other, alternating back and forth. He made his new bed to be a six by six foot square, and piled the leaves up as high as he needed to feel comfortable.

With his bed made, Adam went out into the forest again. He was starting to get too hungry to focus on much else but food. After what felt like hours to Adam, though he knew it had barely been twenty minutes, he was getting frustrated at the complete lack of anything edible. Finally he found a bush with large red berries, or maybe fruit with them being larger than he could fit in his hand. Grabbing one with both hands, he pulled it free. With only a small hesitation over worrying if it was poisonous, he bit into it.

It was extremely juicy but tasteless. not exactly gross, but definitely didn't taste good either. After waiting a minute to see if there was any negative effects with no response, he continued eating. Eating three of them, he finally felt full and his thirst quenched. Each one had a plum sized pit in the center, which was perfectly round. He had tossed each away as he finished. The Bush was still full of the fruits, so he removed his shirt and created a bag of sorts to carry the fruit back with him. He managed to fit eight of them inside the shirt, then headed back.

Once back, he placed the fruit on the ground near his bed and put his shirt back on, as he considered what to do about a door. Then he dismissed it. With the forest fairly dense there wasn't much wind, nor was it cold. He hadn't even seen or heard a single animal.

Adam sat down on his bed of leaves and concentrated on his skills. He considered mana absorption first but didn't see the point in trying to absorb mana when his mana was already full. So he thought about mana manipulation. He knew he had mana inside his body thanks to his new ability to sense it, but how would he manipulate it. Feeling the mana in his body, he simply tried to will it to move. Nothing happened.

After two hours he was making little progress. How was he supposed to move the mana inside his body when it was clearly moving already. He had even tried manipulating the mana around his body with no success. Taking a deep breath Adam considered what other options he had to manipulate mana. He was pretty sure he had to be able to control the mana inside his body, otherwise why was it even there. Clearly that wasn't working though. After the first hour he began to feel like he could get a hold on the mana for a fraction of a second, but since it was already in motion it just continued to move out of his grasp.

With a new idea, and a little bit of hope he once again began to grasp at his mana, and the moment he felt the hold, he tried pulling on it as hard as he could. Except this time he tried pulling it outside his body. He smiled as a faint line of golden light came out of his chest, only to lose control in that instant. The mana disappeared from his sight in a small wisp of particles that floated down into the ground.

Checking his mana, it had only dropped by one. With a few more attempts he was able to draw out a single mana from his body and maintain it. Though it took effort, he was able to keep it from disappearing and even move it around to his thoughts. After moving it around for a few seconds, a new notification appeared.

Mana Manipulation I Unlocked

AP + 1

Mentally drained and his muscles stiff, Adam got up to stretch and eat another fruit. Peeking outside, the sun was getting closer to the horizon, shining directly through the trees, a few rays making it into his eyes. Flinching away he retreated back to his bed to lay down.

Falling asleep proved difficult as it sometimes did, even if he was more than tired enough to fall asleep. He couldn't help thinking about the new world he was in, and that there were people who could so casually throw him in a hole, presumably to die. He wanted to get back at them somehow but knew it was impossible. They were clearly much stronger than him and would make sure he was dead next time. After a few more hours of thinking, Adam finally drifted off to sleep with his skills on his mind.