Deep within the heart of a dense, shadowy forest—where towering trees cast long, ominous silhouettes and the underbrush grew thick with malice—space itself began to warp. A mysterious portal tore open, a swirling vortex of energy shimmering with an ethereal, violet glow.
From its depths, a solitary figure was expelled.
It was a young man, appearing no older than fifteen. He hit the forest floor hard, tumbling through the dirt. His clothes were in tatters, torn by the violent journey, and his skin was a map of fresh scratches and dried blood. His face was haggard, drawn tight with exhaustion, and his eyelids fluttered, heavy with the weight of impending unconsciousness. Yet, despite his battered state, he forced himself to stand.
"Ahhhhh… Help me," he croaked, his voice a broken mix of panic and desperation.
He stumbled forward, disoriented. It felt as though an invisible hand had just hurled him out of the vortex. As he regained his footing, the world spun. He looked back, expecting to see the nightmare he had escaped, but he paused.
The forest had changed.
The ominous shadows were gone. In their place, the trees vibrated with life, their leaves glistening in golden sunlight. Flowers bloomed in a impossible array of colors. It was as if the world itself had taken a breath and transformed into paradise.
"Where… where am I?" he whispered.
The last thing he remembered was the humidity of the jungle, the medical mission tent, and the chaos that had ensued. He had been volunteering outside his country. How did he get here?
Panic began to claw at his chest. He frantically patted his pockets, searching for an anchor to reality. His fingers brushed against hard plastic. He pulled it out—an ID card.
[Gabriel Stone]
[Harvard Medical School - Graduating Class]
He stared at his own signature. He remembered the argument with his parents just two days ago. His mother had been terrified of him traveling so far, but Gabriel had insisted. It was a requirement for graduation, a necessary step for his career. They had eventually relented, trusting his judgment.
So why am I in a forest?
Suddenly, a column of white light descended from the heavens, blinding him. Gabriel froze, his limbs feeling as heavy as lead, rooted to the spot by an unseen pressure. Behind him, the portal shrank into a singularity and vanished.
He was trapped.
Just as despair threatened to break him, a voice echoed—not from the trees, but inside his own skull. It was mechanical, cold, and absolute.
[Mana capacity threshold exceeded. Initiating Awakening.]
"Who? Who are you?" Gabriel stammered, squinting against the intensifying light.
[Subject: Gabriel Stone. Awakening Successful.]
The light shattered, leaving Gabriel gasping for air. Before he could process the change, a translucent blue screen materialized in his vision.
[Name: Gabriel Stone]
[Class: Cleric]
[Rank: Iron (Early Stage)]
[Level: 1]
[Stats]
HP: 50/150
Mana: 800/800
Magic Atk: 60–75
STR: 5 | AGI: 3 | DEX: 8 | INT: 18 | VIT: 5
[Skills]
Holy Water (Lv. 1): Recovers 50% Max HP for all allies. Increases Attack Speed by 10%. Recovers an additional 15% HP over 5s. (Cost: 100 Mana | CD: 20s)
Mana Shield (Lv. 1): Creates a shield equal to 20% of Max HP. (Cost: 300 Mana | CD: 5m)
[Talent]
Yang Harmony (Passive): Reverses the polarity of status effects. (Debuffs become Buffs).
Gabriel stared at the floating text, mesmerized. "A cleric? Mana?"
He was so engrossed in the display that he failed to notice the sky darkening above him. The ambient mana in the atmosphere was reacting violently to his presence. A massive sphere of unstable energy coalesced overhead, feeding on the surplus magic radiating from his awakening. It pulsed with an eerie, unstable rhythm.
Gabriel looked up too late.
BOOM!
The sphere collapsed and detonated. A shockwave of pure, condensed mana swept outward, flattening the vibrant flowers and stripping the bark from the trees.
"Aaaaaarrgggghhh!"
Gabriel screamed as the wave hit him. It wasn't just heat; it was raw power tearing at his very essence. His body felt like it was being unraveled thread by thread. The pain was absolute, driving him past the point of agony into numbness.
As his vision faded to black, the robotic voice returned, sounding different this time—urgent, almost alarmed.
[Detecting compatible soul frequency in proximity.]
[Critical damage sustained.]
[Initiating Soul Fusion.]
One Hour Earlier.
On the outskirts of the forest, the silence was shattered by the frantic rhythm of boots slamming against earth.
"Find him! He can't have gone far!"
A man wearing a bone-white skull mask barked orders, his voice reverberating with suppressed rage. He stood in a clearing, surrounded by subordinates in black robes.
"Boss," one of the robed men panted, his arm wrapped in a makeshift scarf sling. "We're hitting the perimeter. This is the edge of the assessment zone. If we go deeper, the examiners will sense our disguise. We'll be disqualified."
The masked man slammed his fist into a tree trunk, splintering the wood. "Damn it! We cannot let him talk. If he reveals what he saw..." He turned to the dark, forbidden section of the woods. "I don't care about the rules. Fan out. Find him and silence him."
The subordinates hesitated, fear of the forest warring with fear of their leader. The skull mask won. They turned and bolted into the forbidden treeline.
...
Deeper in the woods, a dark figure darted through the underbrush.
He was fast, but he was stumbling. A trail of crimson droplets marked his path. He clutched his side, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Vision... blurring..." he muttered, his voice a rasp of exhaustion. He tried to summon a spell, but his fingertips only sparked weakly.
"Damn it! Out of mana. I can't use [Heal]."
He leaned against a tree, sliding down to the dirt. He was young, his face mirroring the one Gabriel Stone wore in another world, though this boy's eyes were filled with the despair of a native who knew exactly what monsters lurked in these woods.
"I shouldn't have been so arrogant," he whispered, closing his eyes as the sound of pursuers drew closer. "I'm sorry..."
Two souls, separated by worlds but bound by fate, were about to collide.