Mountains so large I could only see the peaks from this height scraped the sky to my left, farther into the mountain range I could see a volcano even bigger than the rest spewing smoke and ash into the sky. A large plateau came into view underneath me, I couldn’t yet see what was below, a thick layer of clouds obscured my view. Grassy plains dotted with thickets of small trees covered the landscape. I was falling fast but I was so high up it was taking a long time to get down. A small lake sat in the center of the plains, the glare from its reflective waters making me squint even from this high up.

As I approached the ground I channeled kinetic energy and slowed my fall, landing like a leaf on the soft grass in a large open space. I stood in the soft grass looking out at my new reality. It really could be worse. My priority was finding my basic needs, food, water, and shelter. Remembering the lake I had seen I headed in that general direction, hoping the water was drinkable. The air was cool and crisp, it almost tasted sweet. I breathed deep, it was intoxicating. A sudden realization hit me like a freight truck. I expanded my energy senses and fell on my knees at the sheer amount of energy in the air. I greedily began to absorb the energy, I could see a massive vortex forming around me, it kept expanding. Hundred feet, six hundred yards, half a mile, two miles. The vortex stopped around ten miles wide and I felt the most insane pleasure from every part of my body, this energy was rather strange because it wasn't some kind of element. It was pretty much pure energy going straight into nourishing me. I took the book out from the inside of my jacket where I had stashed it. I randomly flipped through pages as I absorbed energy. I stopped on a particular page that caught my interest. It read as such.

Realms are the stages of power achieved after breaking through mortality. Realms are determined by the color of users' aura and aura thickness. The thicker the aura the more powerful. White: Core Formation, Red: Solid Core, Blue: Embodiment, Green: Soul Formation Stage, Silver: Nascent Soul, Gold: Sage, Purple: Immortal. The last and final realm is not just a measure of power, but a sign of your understanding of the world’s laws and your ability to bend them to your will. Black: Singularity. It is unknown what comes after the Singularity Realm.

I gazed into my own body only to find I didn't have a core. So was I not even past the mortal stage yet? How did I use my aura? So far everything else had been just thinking about it. Busy in my thoughts the AI in my head alerted me to what was happening around me.

Look. I did and noticed massive black illusory flames swirling around me for nearly a hundred yards. So apparently I was at the Singularity Realm, I wasn't gonna bet on me being that powerful yet, if it was so easy to achieve this Realm there had to be many people who had achieved this. I realized I hadn't actually seen any signs of civilization yet, but the scale of this place seemed to be massive so maybe I was just in the middle of nowhere or something. I decided it wasn't of any concern to me yet, I should be able to survive out here just fine.

Two days later I had a small one-room cabin built, and my enhanced senses made hunting all too easy. I had begun making new clothes out of skins, at first it was a bit of a learning curve but I learned. The creatures here seemed to be predators for the most part but they all fled as soon as they saw me, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was in the singularity Realm. Animals often sensed things humans did not. The animals here didn't seem particularly strong, they were slow and most claws and teeth couldn't even hurt me. A few left small scratches that healed right away, the lake water was drinkable and quite amazing in taste. I had discovered that the water was also filled with energy, water energy. This world had elemental energy all around. After I discovered water, it didn't take me long to find Fire, Air, and Earth as well. I also found more fighting techniques in the book, as well as ways to use each of the elemental energies. I started to train in these, every day and often through the night. Only stopping every six days to eat some energy-rich foods from the beasts that roamed the plateau. Once every three weeks, I would venture away from my home to explore. I saw many new plants and animals, nothing that was any sort of threat though. I never went past the edge of the plateau, I didn't think I was ready to face the truly strong creatures or people the place had to offer

Two years went by in relative peace, if not for the AI in my head counting the days I wouldn't have realized I had been here that long. I had never strayed from my routine for these last two years, and I could certainly see the improvement in my skills. It took me a while but I finally figured out I could control what level of aura I released, so I often fought with the beasts to sharpen my fighting instincts. This wasn't something I would have done on earth but here I didn't know what to expect so I had to be ready for anything. Now though, I felt I was indeed ready. I was ready to face what this world had to offer. Looking down at my reflection in the lake, someone I almost didn't recognize stared back at me. I had lost all body fat I once had, I used to have somewhat of a babyface, but that was gone. Replaced by the handsome bastard I now saw. I grinned, back on earth I would've been a real lady killer but here I wasn't so sure. My eyes were what had changed the most, they were now a deep purple. I was confused as to why my eyes color would change but whatever. I packed my only two possessions from the earth, my clothes long since destroyed into an animal skin bag. I also put some rations and spare clothes as well. I went shirtless most of the time but it might get cold so I brought one anyway. With everything ready, I locked up my cabin and started walking across the plateau away from the mountains.

My journey was rather uneventful so far, I had passed through forests, marshlands, and finally a dessert. I had seen all sorts of creatures, many of which seemed intelligent. When I passed by a dark-colored panther it bowed its head and stepped back into the shadows. Many other animals had the same reaction upon seeing me.

That was until I was about four months into my journey, the trees were getting significantly smaller and beasts dumber. At this point, they were stronger versions of earth animals with a few exceptions. Like this slime in front of me. It was just a blob of goo rolling its way through the forest. It was kind of amusing to watch this thing, I followed it silently while concealing my aura entirely. What an amusing little creature, it ambles about without purpose or direction. I nearly laughed out loud when it rolled right off a small outcropping a few feet high. The sound it made when it landed made me finally laugh out loud.

“Who's there?!” a voice shouted. The slime somehow hearing the voice dashed with surprising speed for a blob towards the sound. A young woman jumped out of the brush with a sword and shield to meet it. The blue blob bounced like a rubber ball towards its target: the Woman. Or maybe a girl? She seemed a lot younger than I first thought. She raised her shield making the slime bounce backward. The girl rushed forwards aiming for a small floating object in the blob cutting it in half. So slime's had a core, and a precise attack could break it, killing the slime. Good to know, I had always just thrown the slime at something so hard it was pretty much vaporized. But this was good to know in case I ever had to blend in. I sat down at the edge of the outcropping the slime had fallen off, putting myself out in the open to make myself known.

“Amusing little creatures aren't they?” I asked, startling the stranger. She whirled around and held up her shield in a defensive stance. I had to commend her reflexes.

“Who are you?” she asked, her words dripping in suspicion. I shrugged.

“A weary and admittedly very lost traveler, would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of the nearest good meal and a bed?” I asked with a sheepish grin, I was trying to be polite. No need to make enemies right away. She seemed to relax a little bit but still kept her weapon up.

“The nearest town is a day's travel on foot.” she paused while looking at me with narrowed eyes. “How is a weakling with no aura this deep in the forest?”

“A lot of luck, running, and hiding,” I replied, bowing my head in mock embarrassment. Finally, the girl seemed to let most of her guard down, now the earlier suspicion was replaced by disgust. Whatever for?

“Why do not even have a weapon on you?” she asked. Oh, that made sense.

“Lost it,” I said with a small shrug. She nodded while sheathing her sword and mounting her small shield on her back.

“You may accompany me back to my camp, traveling at night is dangerous,” she said, turning around and adopting a brisk pace into the forest. I followed her, keeping pace quite easily.

“I told you why I’m out here, but what about you?” I asked her. She strained her neck up to look at me, she was quite short.

“Collecting monster parts for the alchemy guild,” she replied, her tone making it apparent she didn't want to speak further. I followed her quietly for about twenty minutes until we reached the edge of a clearing. In the said clearing was a militaristic style camp, many people in armor busily going about tasks to keep the camp in order. Two soldiers rushed towards us.

“Commander, Lieutenant Cullen and the woodsman have returned.” one soldier said with a salute. The girl next to me nodded, then gestured to me.

“He will be accompanying us back to Jericho,” she said. The men saluted and gave my cursory glances. Both assumed a surprised look but didn't say anything. They probably noticed I don't have an aura. I was taken to a small tent, given a meal and a spare dagger someone had. I thanked them and ate my food, I was a little disappointed. The energy was much less concentrated here than at my plateau home. Boy was I glad I could teleport.