An arrow sliced past my leg, barely missing skin. I stumbled back with a gasp, heart suddenly slamming against my ribs.
"What the—?!" I yelped, whipping around. Another arrow thudded into a tree behind me.
Panic surged. My instincts screamed move, and I listened—bolting toward the clearing I'd seen earlier. If I could get to open ground, I could see the shooter. Archers were nothing without something to hide behind. But halfway there, it hit me like a falling satellite:
A bow. Someone used a bow.
I skidded to a stop in the damp underbrush, lungs pulling sharp gulps of humid, mana-thick air. A human. It had to be. Or something… human-shaped, at least. My heart fluttered, halfway between hope and fear.
"I'm human!" I yelled into the trees, arms raised. "I don't want to fight—I'm not here to hurt anyone!"
No response. Just the echo of rustling leaves.
Another arrow zipped past me, brushing my arm this time. Not a warning shot. A real one.
"Seriously?!" I hissed, spinning toward the source and heading into the dense thicket.
But when I reached the tree it had come from—nothing. No one. Just bark and leaves.
Then, a crack.
A sharp thunk as a stone slammed into my torso, knocking the wind out of me.
"Ow—what the hell—"
My eyes darted to the middle of the nearest tree.
There, barely visible, was a subtle distortion in the air. The colors of that patch were slightly off: too gray, no proper shadows, no depth. A predator's camouflage.
A shimmer peeled away.
And there it was.
A lizard. No—a chameleon, but the size of a grown man. Its body crouched on a branch, one clawed foot digging into bark. Built like a person, it knelt upright, tail wrapped beneath it like a coil of muscle. Its skin shimmered in gradients of swamp green, pale ochre, and eerie gray. Its eyes gleamed like prisms, swirling with color.
It had no bow.
Its tongue flicked out, impossibly fast, grabbing a nearby stone and launching it at me with a whip.
"Shit!"
Another rock. I stumbled back, arms raised to shield my face.
It wasn't using a weapon—it was the weapon.
A stone hit my hip, another grazed my collarbone. I winced, arms stinging.
"Stop! I'm not your enemy!" I shouted.
But it didn't care. Or it didn't understand.
This thing wasn't going to listen.
The two of us stood there like idiots, barely a yard apart—me dodging pebbles like some tragic slapstick act, it just… flicking its tongue and staring.
Eventually, the thing ran out of stones.
Great. Now what.
With a low hiss, the chameleon dropped from the branch and landed on all fours. It rose—bipedal now. Its claws extended, glinting in the ambient mana light.
"Of course.."
I turned to bolt when—
BEEP
A giant blue notification screen filled my vision.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" I screamed, waving my hands to dismiss it. The system message blinked politely:
Reminder: You have available skills. Would you like to activate one now?
"Yes! Just—ugh—yes!" I growled, ducking just as claws slashed past my shoulder.
Error. System currently updating.
"OH COME ON!" I threw myself to the dirt and rolled as the creature lunged again. "You're gonna get me killed, you outdated corpse of a program!"
I scrambled away, my feet slipping on roots and moss. Another claw swiped at my ankle. I flailed like a drunk ballerina, dodging by instinct alone.
Finally, the screen blinked:
Update Complete. Select a Skill to Copy.
Three glowing cards appeared. I didn't even read them. I slammed my finger into the one on the far right.
Skill Selected: Mana Pattern Recognition
Installing…
"Cool! Great! Now please let it be something that can—"
Nothing happened.
"What the hell is—?!"
Skill Mana Pattern Recognition Activated.
Suddenly the world shifted.
I didn't see more—I saw deeper. The ground, the trees, the chameleon—they all had glowing lines threading through them. Lattices of bright, pulsing energy—mana—forming intricate patterns and pathways across every surface.
"…The hell?"
Another claw slammed into the ground beside me. I rolled away, cursing.
"YOU GAVE ME THIS?" I screamed at the system.
You selected it. The Neolink said
I almost kicked the air.
"Okay, fine! Then tell me what I can do with this!"
Suggestion: Combine with Skill 'Mana Control.' Attempt altering mana flow to disrupt physical integrity.—Neo
"Oh, you mean like magic? Could've told me that before I became lizard food!"
The chameleon hissed and pounced again. I dodged to the side—barely—and fell flat on my stomach. Dirt filled my mouth.
"Gah—!" I spat, coughing, and then blinked.
My hand.
It had a mana pattern.
Wait—my shirt had a mana pattern.
A ripped piece of sleeve fluttered down. I caught it and stared.
I focused. Push. Pull. Twist.
The mana inside the cloth wriggled, warped—and the fabric shriveled in my hand like dry seaweed. I stopped.
It returned to normal.
"Holy shit."
Another claw swiped at my head. I rolled again.
I leapt forward, dodging one more slash, and dove for the chameleon. It growled—a low, alien sound—but before it could escape, I grabbed it. I wrapped my arms around its torso, locking in place.
The creature thrashed wildly, hissing and flailing. Its claws dug into my back and side, but I didn't let go.
I grabbed at its patterns—bright, glowing threads of energy. They resisted like iron cables. I pushed harder, screaming in my mind, trying to bend them. Nothing.
I tried again. And again.
Thousands of commands per second. Do it. Twist. Snap. Bend. Break.
And finally…
Something gave.
The mana shifted. It moved. I shoved it, twisted it violently, sending shockwaves through the creature's body. The lattice of light cracked.
The chameleon spasmed.
And then—
BOOM.
A detonation of gore and energy. Its body exploded in a spray of green-black blood and bits of bone, drenching me from head to toe. My back slammed into a tree trunk, knocking the air from my lungs.
Silence fell.
Chunks of creature sizzled in the moss.
I groaned and pushed myself up, drenched, coughing, the stench unbearable.
I looked at what remained.
Its torso was gone. Only smoldering limbs and a jaw lay twitching in the dirt.
I staggered to my feet, blood clinging to my shirt, skin, hair.
"God… damn it," I muttered, bile rising in my throat. I bent forward, gagging, hands on my knees.
"…I really hope it wasn't edible."