Eryndor, Unknown Forest, Day 1
Lucas's pencil snapped mid-sentence. The exam hall was silent except for the scratch of pens and the occasional cough. His eyes burned from staring at the calculus problem, a mess of integrals that might as well have been ancient runes. He was failing, again. The weight of another semester wasted pressed on his chest like a lead blanket. He was 22, a college dropout in all but name, and the only thing keeping him in that chair was his mom's voice in his head: "Just try, Lucas. You're smarter than you think."
He wasn't. Not smart enough to pass, not driven enough to care. He leaned back, rubbing his temples, when the world shifted. A pulse, like a heartbeat, thrummed through the room. The fluorescent lights flickered, then died. Gasps echoed from other students, but before Lucas could stand, the floor vanished.
He fell.
Not a stumble, not a trip, a freefall through darkness that swallowed sound and light. His stomach lurched, his scream caught in his throat. Seconds stretched into eternity until he hit the ground, hard, his breath exploding from his lungs. Dirt and leaves crunched beneath him, the air thick with the scent of pine and something metallic, blood?
Lucas groaned, rolling onto his back. Stars glittered above, framed by jagged tree branches. This wasn't the exam hall. This wasn't even Earth. His heart hammered as he sat up, scanning the darkness. A forest, dense and alive with rustling leaves, stretched endlessly around him. His backpack was gone, his phone nowhere in sight. Just his jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, now smeared with mud.
"What the hell…" he muttered, his voice trembling.
A sharp crack split the silence. Lucas froze. Something moved in the shadows, a hulking shape, its eyes glowing like twin embers. A low growl rumbled, vibrating through the ground. Instinct screamed at him to run, but his legs felt like jelly. The creature stepped into a shaft of moonlight, revealing a wolf-like beast the size of a bear, its fur matted with dark stains, its fangs glistening.
Lucas scrambled backward, his hands scraping against roots. "No, no, no," he whispered, his mind racing for a plan. There was no plan. He was no hero, no athlete, just a guy who couldn't even pass calc.
Before he could move, a translucent blue screen flickered into existence before his eyes, like a hologram from a sci-fi flick.
[System Notification: Welcome to Eryndor, Exile. Soulforge System Initialized.]
[Status: Lucas, Tier 0, Soul Core Unrefined. No Aspects Unlocked.]
[Quest: Survive the Night. Reward: 10 Soul Shards. Penalty: Death.]
Lucas blinked, his brain struggling to process. "System? Exile? What is this, a game?" The words felt absurd, but the screen didn't waver. The beast growled again, closer now, its claws digging into the earth.
[Warning: Tier 1 Shadowfang Detected. Combat Recommended.]
"Combat?" Lucas hissed. "With what, my bare hands?"
The screen pulsed, and a new line appeared.
[Initial Aspect Available: Resilience. Accept? Y/N]
Lucas didn't think. He jabbed at the air where "Y" glowed. A warmth surged through his chest, like a shot of adrenaline, but deeper, as if something inside him had clicked into place. His muscles felt denser, his fear still there but blunted, like a blade dulled by resolve.
The Shadowfang lunged.
Lucas dove to the side, the beast's claws raking the air where he'd stood. He hit the ground rolling, his body moving faster than he'd ever managed in gym class. The Aspect, Resilience, was doing something, keeping his limbs steady despite the terror screaming in his mind. He grabbed a jagged branch from the ground, brandishing it like a club.
The beast circled, its eyes locked on him. Lucas's heart pounded, but the System's words echoed in his head: Survive the Night. He didn't know what Soul Shards were or what an Exile was, but he knew one thing: he wasn't dying here.
He swung the branch as the Shadowfang charged, catching it across the snout. The beast snarled, staggering, but didn't fall. Lucas backed up, his breath ragged. The branch was splintered, useless now. The beast shook its head, blood dripping from its muzzle, and prepared to pounce again.
Then the screen flickered.
[Combat Analysis: Shadowfang Weakness Identified - Eyes. Strike with Precision.]
Lucas didn't question it. He grabbed a sharp rock, his hands shaking but guided by that strange warmth in his chest. The Shadowfang lunged, and Lucas threw himself forward, aiming for its glowing eyes. The rock connected, sinking into soft tissue. The beast howled, thrashing, and Lucas scrambled back as it collapsed, twitching.
Silence fell, broken only by his gasping breaths. The screen reappeared.
[Quest Progress: Shadowfang Defeated. 5 Soul Shards Gained.]
[Soul Core Refinement: 5/100 Shards to Tier 1.]
Lucas dropped to his knees, the rock falling from his hand. He'd done it. He'd survived. But the forest was still alive with distant howls, and the System's quest wasn't over. Survive the Night. How long was that?
A rustling came from behind him. Lucas spun, expecting another beast, but instead saw a flicker of light torches moving through the trees. Voices followed, sharp and commanding.
"There! The Exile's mark glowed on the System's map!"
Lucas's blood ran cold. He glanced at his arm, where a faint, rune-like symbol pulsed beneath his skin. He hadn't noticed it before. Exile. The word carried weight, danger.
The voices grew closer, and shadows emerged armored figures with weapons gleaming in the torchlight. One stepped forward, a woman with a scar across her cheek, her eyes narrowing as she spotted him.
"An Exile," she spat. "Kill him before he taints the village."
Lucas stumbled back, the warmth of Resilience fading as panic surged. He'd survived the beast, but these people weren't monsters they were human, and they wanted him dead.
The screen flickered one last time.
[Warning: Hostile Soulforged Detected. Flee or Fight.]
Lucas turned to run, his legs burning, but the forest seemed to close in around him. The woman raised a hand, and a wave of energy rippled toward him, locking his muscles in place. He fell, gasping, as the group closed in.
"Bind him," the woman ordered. "The Lord will want to see this one before we execute him."
As rough hands seized him, dragging him through the dirt, Lucas's mind raced. The System, the Exile mark, the Soulforge it was all real, and it was going to get him killed. Unless he could find a way out.
[Quest Updated: Escape the Hunters. Reward: 20 Soul Shards. Penalty: Death.]
The screen faded, and Lucas's vision blurred as a cloth was tied over his eyes. The last thing he heard was the woman's voice, cold and final:
"No Exile has ever escaped the Lord's justice."