The first thing Trevor felt as he started to awaken was the dull feeling of grass beneath him. He could sense he was laying down on his back, and could feel small beams of sunlight lightly bearing down on him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked through half-lidded eyelids. He was in a lush and green forest, the light shining through small openings within the canopy and wind lightly blowing the leaves and branches.

Trevor remembered what happened to him, from the docks and then to Baz, and he slowly smiled. He was alive, he was definitely alive. It wasn't a dream, he could tell. He reached a hand up to the trees, clawed fingers spread out wide. Wait, claws?!

Getting up into a sitting position, he held out both his arms and hands to inspect them more closely. They were partially humanoid in appearance, with four fingers and a thumb on each hand, but that was where the similarities ended. Each finger had long, sharp claws, and paw pads on his palms. Looking from the tips of his fingers and down to the rest of his body, bright orange and brown fur enveloped everything.

He was completely naked, the only thing covering him was the fur. His legs were shaped in an unfamiliar way, with an extra joint pointing backwards between his feet and knees. Feeling on his backside and face, he caught the shape of a bushy tail and muzzle on each end, and he knew he would find pointed fox ears if he checked the rest of his head. But there was one part of his body that both mystified and horrified him, not able to look away from it.

"Where the fucking shite is my dick?"

He could see his pearly orbs between his legs, but there was some form of abomination attached to the top of it. Shaking his head clear as much as he could, Trevor lowered his hands to inspect the weird furry tube. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.

With awkward embarrassment and a slight blush to his cheeks, he pulled back from his investigations. Trevor guessed that male red foxes were more different from humans than he first thought.

Skill Level Gained!

Knowledge: Biology Increased by 1

He nearly jumped back in shock as the message appeared in his line of sight. Where did those words come from? And what did it mean by "Skill"? As if to answer him, another list of words appeared in his vision.

Skills:

Climbing - Level 22

Swimming - Level 28

Running - Level 31

Stealth - Level 42

Tracking - Level 73

Trapmaking - Level 28

Foraging - Level 26

Skinning - Level 27

Knife Proficiency - Level 18

Negotiation - Level 15

Unarmed Combat Proficiency - Level 33

Dodging Proficiency - Level 20

Unarmed Blocking - Level 14

Unarmed Parrying - Level 11

Gun (Rifle) Proficiency - Level 30

Gunsmithing - Level 12

Woodcarving - Level 4

Sewing - Level 18

Knowledge: History (Earth) - Level 25

Knowledge: Geography (Earth) - Level 26

Knowledge: Geology - Level 34

Knowledge: Math - Level 81

Knowledge: Biology - Level 72

Knowledge: Physics - Level 75

Knowledge: Computers - Level 22

Knowledge: Chemistry - Level 44

Knowledge: Politics - Level 31

"Well that doesn't fucking help me." he said sarcastically.

Trevor studied the list for several minutes, trying to deduce what they mean before discovering the answer. They were literally his skills, assembled in a quantified way to show how proficient he is in each one. He came to this conclusion by looking at each individual "Skill" and then remembered the things he was best at doing back in his old life. Math was always Trevor's best subject when he was in school, and both Biology and Physics were his favorite subjects.

Skills, like tracking, stealth, and skinning, were all from the lessons his father taught him as a child. His father had taught Trevor and the rest of his siblings how to hunt from a young age, said it was good for character building. Trevor disagreed at first, but he grew up to actually enjoy it somewhat. Woodcarving was so low because he tried to get into it as a hobby when he was younger, but quickly grew bored from it. Everything he created would always come out as crude.

He went back over his skills again to assess there usability. Thinking back on what Baz told him about this world, Trevor immediately saw which of his skills were good, and which were useless. Anything that involves his foraging and hunting skills will be a great boon. Gun and knife weren't very good right now, since he didn't have either weapon type on hand. Besides, based on Baz's comment on the "comforts" his old world had, Trevor guessed that guns probably don't exist in this world. That also makes Computers a completely worthless skill. History and Geography are taken out as well, since it directly states those skills are connected to Earth.

Trevor tried to imagine the list disappearing from his view, and the list complied. He ripped some grass blades from the ground and started fiddling with them as he thought. This was new and, confusing, for him, but he was also curious. This was a useful tool to help him keep track of his progress and what he can and can't do. Though he didn't know what levels meant, or why they were used to show his skill proficiency. They were good, but also underwhelming.

Baz had spoken about bestowing Trevor some "gifts" or whatever, but just seeing what he's good at seemed extremely mundane. He thought about the conversation they had, trying to gleam any clue to what these gifts were. He remembered the words, similar to the ones he just saw, that appeared right before he felt that excruciating pain. The memory itself sent a shiver down Trevor's spine. But there was one word that he fixated on. Rather than think it, he spoke the command.

"Open System Interface."

Obeying him, five lines appeared into his view.

Level & Characteristics

Abilities

Skills

Messages

System Configuration

Trevor immediately picked the option on the top of the list.

Name: Trevor MacFerris

Age: 19

Species: Beastkin (Fox)

Level: 13 (93/130)

Strength: 10 (-3 due to Species Shift)

Agility: 16 (+4 due to Species Shift)

Constitution: 10 (-3 due to Species Shift)

Mind: 15

Perception: 12 (+2 due to Species Shift)

Charisma: 9

Attribute Points: 130

Another screen, as he's just decided to call them, that shows his capabilities through a numbers system. Apparently, his new race is called a Beastkin. Pretty accurate and self-explanatory. He does hate that the change in race decreased both his strength and constitution attributes. There was that "Level" thing again as well, but it didn't have any Skill connected to it. Maybe it was his overall personal level. Possibly, but he couldn't tell what the numbers next to it means. Probably his progress to their next level, he guessed. Trevor decided to leave the Attribute Points for later, there were other things he wanted to check. Closing out of that screen, he switched over to Abilities.

Abilities:

Mana Attunement: Level 1 - Major - Your body and mind have attuned to the very essence of mana itself, allowing you to control and shape it. The amount you can control is determined by your Mind attribute and the level of this ability. You also gain 10% resistance to Mana-based attacks and damage from Mana environments.

Mana Conversion: Level 1 - Supreme - Divine Blessing - You have reached the epitome of mana manipulation. You can transmute mana into any other element. The element you change the mana into gains a 15% bonus to all damage.

The Sight: Level 1 - Minor - Divine Blessing - You have the ability to see things that you normally shouldn’t. You gain the power to see the name, level, and species of any other living being.

Forest Pathfinder: Level 3 - Major - Racial: Divine Blessing - You have been given a great gift only available to your species through the benevolence of Baz. Through a deep connection with nature, you may travel between trees and other plants by touching them. The distance you may travel is determined by your Perception attribute and the level of this ability. Once per day, you may also increase one of your attributes by 25% for 5 minutes while in an environment with plants.

Enhanced Memory Retention: Level 5 - Major - Through dedication and practice, you are able to remember things more clearly. Gain a 30% bonus to learning and improving all skills. Level 5 Improvement: You can use half of your bonus and give it to someone else when you teach them or help them improve a skill or ability. You must have the skill or ability yourself and it must be a higher level than the person you are helping for this to take effect.

So this is what Baz meant. He had to admit, some of these are impressive. Three of these held Trevor's attention the most, making him giddy with excitement. The mana Abilities were amazing, but the Forest Pathfinder Ability? He couldn't contain himself any longer and stood, taking a few unsteady steps but quickly regaining his balance, and went next to the nearest tree, placing his hand on the trunk. Nothing happened, which was somewhat expected.

Trevor tried to think on how he could activate the Ability. Thinking back on the fantasy stories he used to read, there were plenty where the wizard or another type of spellcaster had to focus in order to create the effect they want. Doing that, Trevor focused on the ground next to a tree a straight line in front of him. The Ability said that Forest Pathfinder had a limited range, so he decided on an area 10 meters away from him.

He felt his arm be pulled into the tree, his body quickly following. Trevor was surprised by the sudden movement, but he felt strangely calm. He wasn't scared as his senses were overwhelmed, literally feeling like he was the tree, and even the forest itself. He could sense every leaf, branch, shrub, and piece of bark, all working together. It was amazing, but as quickly as the feeling came, it went away.

Trevor was shunted back out, still standing and with his hand on the tree. The scenery in front of him was slightly different from before, and turning back he could see the exact spot he was standing at a moment before. A minute passed, the only sound being emitting were the rustling leaves and wind. The silence was abruptly ended as Trevor raised his arms in the air and shouted as loud as he could with excitement. He just teleported!

He ran around in celebration, literally bouncing with each step. It took him a few minutes before he could calm himself, but his heart was still beating at a rapid pace. Not only had he teleported, but he had done it using magic. He gave a prayer of thanks to the god. He would live up to the deal and live the best second life he could possibly have in this world.

Those thoughts gave him pause as they went through his head. He took in several deep breath to slow his heart rate and to think more clearly. His emotions went from confusion to complete horror as he remembered all the conditions. Trevor's legs felt weak, giving out from under him and making him fall down. He turned over onto his back, looking back up the canopy with disbelief and fright.

"Did I fucking agree to become the hero of an entire world?" he whispered to himself.

He didn't have to ask, he knew the answer. Trevor covered his face with his hands as he let out a long groan. He wanted to say how foolish and idiotic he had been, but he knew it didn't matter. If he were given the choice again, under the same circumstances, Trevor knew that he would still accept. It was either life, or oblivion, and that was a shit choice to make.

Something bad was coming to this world, one that even a god feared and said would wipe out all life here. And Trevor had signed himself up to stop it.

"...I am going to die again."