---
The forest was quieter than I'd expected. After the ogre exploded (still not over that), even the crickets seemed shy.
I floated in the center of the crater, a pathetic glowing marble with the life expectancy of a moldy sandwich, and tried to remember how breathing worked. Turns out I didn't need lungs anymore but nostalgia is weird like that.
"Advisor," I said, because talking to my only companion seemed sane at three in the morning, "what now? Do I, uh, have a tutorial?"
[There is no 'press X to continue' for existence. You have instincts, functions, and the ability to embarrass yourself. That will have to suffice.]
Charming.
The first order of survival in any new world is understanding the rules, so I concentrated. Something like a window flickered before my nonexistent eyes a ribbon of text only I could see.
Status Window (Yuto Kisaragi)
Name: Yuto Kisaragi (reincarnated)
Race: Primordial Spirit Core
Level: 2
EXP: 0/100
HP: 60/60 | MP: 240/240
Skills: Absorption (Basic), Analysis (Advisor)
Titles: Idiot Who Died by Jaywalking
Bond Link: Locked
Location: Unknown Forest (High Mana Density)
I stared. "Is that normal? That's actually pretty RPG. I feel seen."
[Correction: You are being mocked through UI design choices. Accept it.]
Fine. If the system wanted snark, it could have better posture.
I needed to test things. Practical. Scientific. Also, my stomach whatever an orb uses for digestion was vaguely annoyed with me. Food or energy, same difference, right?
I drifted toward a patch of luminescent mushrooms. They pulsed faintly, shimmering with mana. I touched one.
A tiny line of light slid into me like someone pouring soda into a cup. The mushroom shrank, then crumbled into glittering particles and disappeared. My MP ticked up.
+5 MP
Absorbed: Mana from Luminescent Fungus
Skill Gained: Minor Mana Conversion (learned)
"Whoa," I breathed which sounded ridiculous but felt fun. "I can eat plants. Gourmet glowing mushrooms, anyone?"
[Affirmative. You can also eat flesh, but please avoid the cultural implications.]
I tried to feel useful. I drifted through the trees, tasting air, sniffing mana currents like a deranged celestial dog. The forest map slowly etched itself in my head: patches of dense mana near the river, a low hum to the north that suggested movement, and a faint, distant signature that read as humanoid but not close.
I practiced my basic absorption on an unlucky bug . Sorry, bug. It fizzed with a sound like a bubble; I gained a small shove of EXP.
Level Up! : Level 3
Unspent Skill Points: 1
"Wow, that was easy," I said, then immediately slapped my nonexistent forehead. "Don't say that. Famous last words, Yuto."
[Observation: You have a dangerous habit of underestimating consequences.]
I needed to know the limits. With a glob of courage and a dash of idiocy, I aimed myself at a small, thorned shrub and pushed into its leaves. Leaves dissolved like sugar in tea. A different kind of energy entered me — smaller, earthy. My essence tingled.
Skill Improved: Absorption (Intermediate)
"Okay, useful." I floated above the river and watched some birds fly by .
Time passed in measurements of tests: a few mushrooms, a moss creature that looked like a walking clump of soda foam (gross but satisfying), and a suspiciously adorable little mana-sprite that squeaked and scattered like confetti when I accidentally grazed it. The sprite left me with a nick of experience and a mental note: "Don't eat the cute ones, they have feelings."
[You appear to have moral inclinations. How… quaint.]
It amused Advisor to be condescending while offering the occasional useful tidbit. "Where are the nearest settlements?" I asked at one point.
[Map detection indicates a trail of faint hearth fires to the northeast. Human settlements exist there. Probability of encountering hunters, rangers, and curious elves: moderate.]
"Moderate. Lovely."
I spent most of the day like this: probing, absorbing, reading the status window, and learning that my survival hinged on small experiments that never, ever looked heroic. Little wins stacked together: an extra five HP here, a new edge to absorption there. By midday, my level had crept to four. I had learned to analyze the material properties of anything I touched; plants, beast hide, even a discarded arrow. The world felt tidy in that way rules, values, outcomes.
Around dusk, I tried something dumb: mimicry. Maybe, if I practiced long enough, I could make a sound that wasn't just an internal narration. Maybe I could speak to others without the Advisor doing the whole "tv announcer in your brain" thing.
I rolled along a moss patch, spun in place, tried making a noise by vibrating my core. The result was… a pathetic hum. But in the distance, a flock of tiny birds took flight like a confusion spell and a tree loosed a cascade of leaves that blanketed me.
That was when I noticed footprints.
They looked human-sized: heel, toe, deliberate. They crossed a shallow stream nearby and then… stopped. The direction matched the northeast that the map had shown.
"Someone passed by recently," I mused.
[Analysis: Footprints not left by large armed units. Likely a single traveler or small party. Tracks include three-toed prints not consistent with common beasts.]
"Three-toed prints?" Now that was interesting. I followed them slowly I was still a marble, so stealthing looked ridiculous, but it worked: the forest animals barely acknowledged me, assuming I was a spirit or some trick of light.
The footprints led to a small clearing. There, beneath an overturned cart, an animal whined. It was small, not a Nerulian something closer to a deer foal, except its fur glowed faint blue. A hunter's arrow had grazed its flank, and it shivered. Someone had clearly been here and left in a hurry.
I couldn't speak to it or move like a person, but I could absorb the corrupted matter lodged in its wound. I concentrated and placed a careful touch on the faded arrowhead. The wound hissed and closed, the glow steadied. The foal blinked and nuzzled at the air where my light hovered.
"Whoa. Did I just play vet?" I said. The feeling actually helping warmed me more than a level-up ever would.
[Observation: Actions that do not maximize EXP can still yield intangible benefits such as social capital. Consider this in future calculations.]
"Social capital?" I snorted. "I'll take free friends over XP any day."
The foal stood and trotted into the trees, leaving a bright hoofprint like a promise. I felt oddly proud.
Night fell fast in the forest. I found a nook between roots and curled into myself, dimming my glow to conserve energy. My status window showed comfortable numbers. I reviewed my skills and discovered a locked protocol under the tag: Emergency Evolution Protocol (Locked). Nothing to do but wait.
I mulled over the day the experiments, the gentle venom of Advisor, the tiny acts of weird heroism. Reincarnation wasn't a movie montage; it was a long series of small mistakes and little recoveries that somehow assembled into competence.
I drifted toward sleep or whatever the orb equivalent was when a distant sound snapped me awake: a staccato crack far beyond the trees, followed by the soft thud of something heavy moving through underbrush.
Footsteps. Many of them.
I concentrated. The mana spike was faint but solid, rhythmic and purposeful. Not beasts. Human-sourced aggression feels different, Advisor had said. This hit like armor plates.
"Should I… avoid them?" I asked.
[Recommendation: Exercise caution. However, persistence will yield information and possibly allies. Your choice.]
"Of course I choose caution," I lied. My core pulsed faster anyway. Curiosity is a curse. Also, it's fun.
I floated to the edge of my little camp and peered through branches. In the far clearing, a line of torches flickered and the shapes of figures moved near them. They were too far to see clearly. Some bore long weapons. Someone barked orders.
I tucked myself back, dimmed my light, and watched.
If last night was all about explosive failure and today was experimentation, then tomorrow would be the first time I would meet the real, living people of this world. I wasn't ready to decide friend or foe. I just wanted to be better than "Idiot Who Died by Jaywalking."
[Prediction: You will accomplish this through a mixture of stubbornness and fortunate sloppiness. The latter occurs as often as not.]
"Fantastic," I said into the dark. "That's reassuring."
The forest hummed. Above, the stars blinked like distant system notifications. I closed my awareness and let the night fold over me, storing small victories under my metaphorical mattress.
And somewhere in the distance closer than my tired brain wanted a horn blew once, clear and low, like a question.
The torchlights in the clearing drew patterns menacing, organized, and definitely not lost. Someone had come through the trees with purpose. The question was: were they hunters, refugees, or trouble?