Sorin's first steps in this strange world felt aimless. The field of grass was vast and stretched for kilometers in every direction.
"Well, damn, I might be stuck here for weeks," Sorin muttered in a calm tone.
Despite being a slouch, he'd finally found a goal to strive for, but the more he wandered the wide and empty fields of grass, the more his motivation wavered.
His only hope was finding people.
If there was a civilization, he needed to find it quickly. A military or some kind of guild would also be a boon in order to increase his power.
**
Days passed, but eventually he made it out of the eerie grass fields, and he was met with black rock. His intuition told him that he might find a human civilization beyond the mountains.
He reached the foot of the tall and almost insurmountable black mountain and gazed at it with awe.
His stomach sank at the scope of the mountain; the summit wasn't in sight.
It was impossible to see the top of the mountain from where he was standing, and it seemed like it was endless.
However, the black slopes had a couple of narrow paths cutting through them.
After days of traveling, he found a possible way forward.
He approached the path but stopped before he could get too close.
His intuition was screaming, telling him that what lay on this path would surely be the end of him.
The path through the mountains was shrouded in a veil of darkness so thick even the two suns failed to pierce the path. The atmosphere was cold and strangled his lungs.
Sorin gulped.
He had not encountered any other living things in this vast world so far, but felt that it would surely be his first time and maybe also his last.
Sorin, however, couldn't turn back.
The grass in this new world was infused with restorative properties and somehow quenched both his thirst and satiated his hunger, which was rather strange but also convenient. This was the only way he had survived for several days, but now he would be without it for a while. The grass also confirmed what he had pretty much guessed. Some form of magic was present in this world.
He thought back to the mysterious void being and how they had done something to his body. Could Sorin now use some type of magic? Though the thought was cool, he would still be scared shitless of the vast darkness that lay ahead.
Sorin sighed and turned to face the darkness. "Let's get this over with."
Sorin lit a crude torch, but it was still dim, being eaten by the oppressive darkness.
He pushed forward nonetheless.
The passage pressed in on Sorin on both sides; the walls were scarred with claw marks.
Sweat beads found their way to Sorin's face, but he continued walking forward since that was his only path to salvation.
Hours passed.
At last, he saw the light piercing through the tunnel.
He did it.
The oppressive weight of the tunnel lifted off his shoulders, and he almost dropped to his knees.
Beyond the tunnel was a vast forest shrouded in mystery, and beyond that lay a walled city, rising dozens of meters in the air.
He wanted to cry tears of joy.
"Thank the gods!"
Sorin stood tall and continued walking forward.
And then suddenly, without warning-
CHRRRKKKK.
Sorin froze.
He turned back, hearing that eerie sound echoing from the dark passage.
Chitin ground against the stone wall.
'No. No. No. Hell No.'
Something was moving in the shadows...
Before he could find out what kind of abomination made that noise, Sorin dashed for the forest.
"I don't even want to know what the hell that thing is."
Moving like a blur, Sorin sped past the trees.
Turning around to see the abomination left Sorin in shock.
The monster that burst from the dark resembled a praying mantis. It was the size of a house and had an obsidian carapace, making it look demon-like.
Sorin cursed under his breath,
"Shit, my luck is fucking shit."
Before he could even react, the praying mantis was already upon him and swung at him with one of its long blades.
Sorin dove behind a tree in time, and the mantis' strike sliced the tree like butter.
The tree was sliced in half, and a shockwave rattled the entirety of the forest.
Sorin was momentarily stunned by the destructiveness of the creature, but he remained composed and continued running.
'I just got to this stupid world, and it's already trying to kill me. Please take me back home, God.
No matter how much Sorin pleaded, the reality of the situation was that he would die if he didn't persist.
He was forced to overcome his laziness, but at the cost of being thrown into a situation like this.
Sorin continued to run through the vast forest. The sunlight thinned under the thick branches of the trees, and it made for a truly terrifying sight on top of the fact that the monster was still hot on his tail.
Suddenly, a root caught his foot-
He fell down hard and skidded through the dirt and leaves.
He groaned, but the mantis didn't care for his pain and was on him within seconds.
"Shit!"
His world exploded in pain as the black blade struck his sides.
The impact broke several ribs, and he was sent flying through the trees, blood streaming down his face.
Sorin spat out tons of blood and tried to stand, but it was of no use. His body simply refused to stand.
'I can't go out like this; I need to make it back to my family.'
Sorin grunted and stood up on one knee. He would be damned if he didn't at least go out without a fight, which went against his nature as a human, but did it matter? His desire to see his family again far outweighed this slothful nature, and so he was going to fight no matter how inevitable death seemed.
Seeing the mantis flying towards him with stunning speed, Sorin quickly found a stick lying on the ground near him and took up a sword stance, like the ones he had seen in manga he always read.
It was ridiculous, but indeed better than nothing.
"Come and get me, you disgusting bastard."
The mantis leapt into the air and swung its blade to decapitate him.
At that moment, however, something awakened inside of Sorin.
His desire to destroy the beast was endless, and his body responded to his desires.
Blood roared inside his body, as if it were alive, and then shot out of his body.
Shooting forward like a crimson jet, it devoured the devilish mantis.
The mantis went flying and crashed through several trees with a terrible screech.
Sorin had somehow returned the favor and heavily wounded the creature.
He fell on his butt and stared at his hands, taken aback.
'Did... did I just use some form of magic?',
Sorin thought to himself,
'Do I have some form of blood manipulation? That's great, but how do I even use it.'
Blood flowed back into his body like it had never left.
Satisfied with his newfound ability, he tried to use his blood to summon a blade of blood like in certain comics.
But it was to no avail.
No matter how hard he tried, his blood stayed still.
"Well, crap. I'm screwed." Sorin said in an exhausted voice with an awkward look on his face.
As he said those words, the mantis struggled to its feet. Its claws were mangled, and a gash of blood ran out of its carapace.
Sorin took another stance and was ready to defend himself.
It lunged again-
However,
A glaive whistled through the air and struck down vertically in one clean blow.
Sorin looked up.
The man who held the glaive floated in the air, white tunic, blue belt, and flat black shoes. The young man had perfect porcelain skin, long black hair that spilled over his tunic, and azure eyes as blue as morning sky. His aura pressed down on Sorin like an immovable weight.
The man's voice was deep and held authority, "Who are you and what are you doing in my territory, little one?".
Sweat ran down Sorin's back. If he gave an answer the man didn't like, he would be cut down in a similar manner as the mantis.
Taking a deep breath, Sorin met his azure eyes,
"I'm the man who'll ascend above mortality," he said evenly. "And become the strongest being around."