Chapter 2: First Steps

Walking through the door felt like passing through a thin, cold layer of jelly. The chill wasn’t just physical. It felt like the high from his last battle had been yanked away, replaced by the creeping dread of the unknown. From triumph to trial, all in one step. Lucian instinctively closed his eyes as the strange sensation swept over him, taking his first step into an unfamiliar world. When his boot landed, it wasn’t on soft grass as he had expected, but on something brittle and uneven. The sharp crunch of crumbling stone echoed beneath him.

Before Lucian could process the sound, a biting wind tore through the air, cutting through his clothes and sending a shiver down his spine. The first step to my new destiny feels awfully cold.

He opened his eyes. To his surprise, what lay before him wasn’t a lush landscape but the dizzying heights of a mountaintop. Rugged stone stretched in all directions, dusted with patches of frost. The sky above was a canvas of pale blue and grey clouds swirling ominously.

Where in the…

The mysterious glint that had caught his eye through the doorway was gone, leaving only wind and emptiness. Before Lucian had time to question anything, a familiar chime rang inside his head, signaling a notification.

“Great timing,” he muttered, squinting against the wind as he tried to figure out how to summon the interface. “How do I open [Notifications] again?”

Right on cue, a window popped up, dominating his vision. This won’t get annoying at all. He skimmed through the text quickly. Most of it was meaningless lore about the world—names and places that meant nothing to him just yet.

“Ah! Here we go.”

The notification concluded with a prompt to open the [World Map]. Before Lucian could tap it, more windows began spawning in rapid succession.

[Congratulations on making it past the Tutorial!]

[Your Map tab has been upgraded to the World Map tab.]

[Accessing the World Map provides a top-down view of Tel Tahkat. Points of interest will only reveal after exploration—]

“Skip. Skip. Skip.” Lucian tapped furiously, dismissing each pop-up faster than they could fully form. “I don’t need instructions—I need Master Cores!” He accidentally read one that mentioned ‘Zone instability reported in regions adjacent to Master Core emergence…’ but dismissed it with a flick. “Yeah yeah, I’ll read the terms and conditions later.” Pausing, he grumbled as a fresh gust of icy wind lashed against him. He pulled a length of cloth out of his [Inventory] and wrapped it around his body. “And maybe someplace warmer.”

As though the [System] had heard him, a golden marker appeared on his newly unlocked [World Map]. “Provera Adventurer’s Guild, huh?” he read aloud, his voice tinged with curiosity. “Finally, some progress.”

The map showed Lucian as a glowing arrow facing away from the guild’s location. He turned around, scanning for a route down the mountainside. Behind him, the narrow ledge rose into a near-vertical wall of jagged stone. The shimmering doorway that had brought him here had vanished without a trace.

Lucian didn’t notice—or care. His focus was firmly on finding the fastest path down. With a shiver, he tightened the cloth he’d pulled from his [Inventory] around his body and began his careful search for a descent, bracing himself against the mountain winds. He planted one boot firmly against the rock face and reached up for a grip, but the searing pain in his side hit like a white-hot knife. Gritting his teeth, he staggered back, his breath ragged.

No way… No freaking way.

With a few determined taps, he opened his [Main Menu], bracing himself for confirmation of what he already suspected.

[Main Menu]

HP: 1/20

Mana: 17/17

“One?! My HP is still at one?!” He bellowed, his voice echoing against the mountain walls. A colorful barrage of curses followed, many directed squarely at the [System] itself. Frustration boiled over. Lucian materialized his warhammer in a flash of shimmering energy and began swinging it wildly at the rock face. Pebbles shattered and flew as each furious blow chipped away at the stone.

Eventually, gasping for breath, he let the hammer dematerialize back into his [Inventory]. Slumping to the ground, he clenched his fists against the gnawing ache in his side. The adrenaline from his outburst faded, leaving only exhaustion and pain. He didn't feel so different now than he had in his life before the tutorial. Dread crept in... maybe he was never supposed to escape that pain...

The grim truth loomed overhead like the unscalable cliff. He couldn't look up. Instead, he reopened the [Main Menu] to double-check, hoping beyond hope that, by some miracle, his health might be regenerating... or something. Anything.

[Main Menu]

HP: 1/20

Mana: 17/17

“Nope, still one HP.” He sighed, scanning the surroundings, hoping for some miracle escape route. No luck. The alcove was like a cruel test designed to trap rookie adventurers. Steep, unyielding rock walls stretched endlessly on either side, and behind him was a sheer drop into nothingness.

The icy wind gnawed relentlessly at his exposed skin. His body trembled, but whether it was from the cold or despair, he couldn’t tell. Is this it? The end of my big new adventure before it even starts?

Maybe that’s the point, he thought, trying to justify it. A lesson about teamwork or whatever. Yeah, too bad my team’s already dead.

His hand absently drifted toward the pebbles scattered from his tantrum. He picked one up and flicked it across the ground. A familiar chime rang in his ears.

[Items Gained]

[Pebble 7]

He blinked. What? Useless pebbles... Wait. He narrowed his eyes at the rock face he’d pummeled. He'd done more damage than he'd thought. There were indents in the stone. Indents that were almost big and deep enough to fit his hands into, his feet.

Slowly, Lucian rose, ignoring the ache in his ribs and the bite of the wind. His resolve hardened. I can climb that. Maybe just a few more swings...

“So, you’re not dead yet?” a voice interrupted. Lucian jerked his head up, momentarily blinded by a glint of light. Blinking rapidly, he made out the figure of someone peering down from the summit. “Hi,” the stranger greeted him cheerfully.

“H-Hi,” Lucian stammered instinctively. Damn it! That’s never the first thing you want to say to a stranger!

Years of dealing with people in his previous life should have taught him better. Open strong: Who are you? What do you want? Direct questions kept conversations focused and efficient. But “Hi”? That opened the door to useless small talk. Yet here he was, fumbling like a rookie. Over the course of ten agonizing seconds, Lucian must have opened and closed his mouth at least a dozen times, failing to string together a coherent sentence.

“You need help?” the stranger asked. “Because either I can’t hear you, or you’re just wheezing down there. Want me to toss down a rope?”

“S-Sure! That would be great!”

With a brief flash, the figure vanished from view, leaving Lucian to battle the howling wind. His pulse quickened as doubt crept in—what if the stranger changed their mind? What if this was some kind of cruel joke? The doubt shattered when a sturdy rope unfurled before his eyes.

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“I tied it to a rock up here,” the stranger shouted. “It’s the only thing I could find, but it should hold your weight.” Lucian stepped forward, gripping the rope tightly. Then he froze.

If there was one thing he'd learned in his past life, it was that people were never to be trusted, especially strangers.

Why is this person helping me? Why are they even here in the first place? The questions piled up, crowding his mind. Is this some newbie ambush? Level-farming?

“Still alive down there?” the voice called again. “Need help getting up?”

The perfect opportunity presents itself! “Uh, yeah, actually. I kinda hurt myself down here, and it’s hard to climb up by myself,” Lucian called out, making sure his voice carried just the right note of helplessness. Now they’ll have to tire themselves out pulling me up—every little bit counts.

Silence followed, broken only by the howl of the wind. Worst case scenario, they left. Or no… Worst case is they come down here and kill me while I’m vulnerable! His fingers itched toward the Master Shield and Iron Warhammer in his [Inventory]. If it’s a fight they want, I’m ready.

Just as he was about to summon his weapons, the voice called again. “Uh, alright! Just… tie the rope around yourself or something.”

Perfect! Lucian quickly looped the rope around his torso, securing it beneath his arms with a firm tug. “I’m ready!”

The rope strained immediately as the figure above groaned with effort, lifting Lucian a few inches off the ground. “Oof! You’re heavier than I thought you’d be!” the stranger huffed. “Help me out a bit, will ya?”

“Sure! I’ll see what I can do!” Lucian replied cheerily, even as his mind whispered smugly, And give you an advantage? Ha! Not a chance. He planted his feet and let the stranger bear most of the burden. The rough stone scraped against his back as he was slowly hoisted upward. Lucian smirked, savoring his small victory.

When his head finally peeked over the ledge, he put on a show of “struggling” to climb the rest of the way, dramatically kicking his feet. With one last mighty tug and a final push from Lucian’s legs, he finally managed to clear the wall and flop onto solid ground. Panting slightly, he looked up—and blinked in surprise.

The stranger was a woman.

Lucian wasn’t one to judge based on appearance. He knew plenty of fierce women soldiers back in his previous life. The surprise came from how this slight, lean woman had managed to pull him up by herself. She didn’t look like she had much muscle—at least not enough to pull a full-grown man up a cliff.

Guess that’s how the system works. Doesn’t matter what you look like, as long as you’ve got the stats.

The woman brushed herself off and approached him, her cloak billowing in the wind. The pin holding the upper part of the cloak together glimmered against some unseen light source. Ah. That must have been her on the other side of the door.

But what was she doing there?

Just as he asked that question, the hood blew back, revealing short, jet-black hair whipping freely around her face. Her sharp eyes narrowed with mild irritation. A scar curved across the bottom of her mouth, giving the eerie impression that everything below her chin had once been barely held together.

She extended a hand toward him. “Were you actually trying to climb back there? Because it really felt like I was doing all the work.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t do much,” Lucian said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Got some injuries, you see, and they made it—” The excuses died on his tongue as his gaze shifted beyond the woman. “Whoa…”

It was like nothing Lucian had ever seen. A vast, vibrant landscape stretched endlessly before him, a tapestry of contrasting terrains woven together into a breath-taking view.

Far to his left stretched a dense forest dotted with flickers of red light, shimmering like embers in the fading daylight. At its heart, a clearing held a strange monument shrouded partly in fog. The forest’s borders, however, were locked in an uneasy battle with the neighboring badlands—a rugged, arid terrain that seemed to leech the forest of its vitality where they met. Despite the desolation, signs of life teemed on the cliffs and sands, drawing Lucian’s attention.

Then, his gaze shifted eastward to a bustling port city along the shimmering coastline. Even from this distance, atop the mountain summit, he could almost swear he saw tiny figures moving about its streets. Ships, dwarfed by the scale of the horizon, glided in and out of the harbor. Beyond the city, tranquil grassy meadows stretched out, dotted with peaceful villages. Their gentle slopes offered a stark contrast to the chaotic energy of the lands surrounding them.

Yet none of these wonders compared to the monument rising at the center of it all—a city fortified by towering walls that dwarfed everything. At the center of it all stood a true marvel: a massive black structure with a sleek, lustrous surface. Its towering spire pierced the sky, cradling the setting sun in its embrace. The building was simple yet imposing, radiating an unmistakable aura of importance. Lucian’s gut twisted with certainty. One day, I’ll enter that place. For one reason or another.

“Yeah, pretty amazing, isn’t it?” The woman’s voice snapped him back to the present. The cold bit into his skin again, stinging sharply as the persistent pain in his side flared. He clenched his jaw, suppressing a groan. “It’s why I love coming here,” she continued, her voice carrying a wistful tone. “The brisk wind, the beauty of the land… It just helps me get away from things, you know?”

Lucian grimaced inwardly. No, I don’t know. All I’ve found here is cold and frustration.

“Speaking of which…” The woman turned to face him, a curious edge in her voice.

Uh-oh.

“What were you doing all the way out here without so much as a rope or grapple?” she asked, folding her arms. “Everyone knows to bring at least one of those when you’re exploring. You’re lucky I heard you through the wind as I was passing by.”

Lucian opened his mouth to respond but was cut short by a sudden wave of pain. He doubled over, clutching his side as agony radiated from his wounds.

“Sheesh,” the woman muttered, stepping closer. “You’re really lucky I showed up when I did. Looks like you’re on death’s door.”

Without a word, she produced a small bottle filled with shimmering red liquid. Lucian eyed it with suspicion as she kneeled down and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. He didn’t dare to take it from her—not yet.

“You serious?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s a Health Potion. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen one before.” Lucian blinked, taken aback. The puzzled look on her face gradually morphed into understanding as realization dawned on her. “Wait a minute… You’re new, aren’t you?” Her expression turned stern.

Damn it! She figured me out. Lucian tensed, preparing for the worst. Robbery. Murder. Level-farming. The growing grin on her face only seemed to confirm his worst fears. Fine. Just try me, I dare you. You won’t get in the way of me and all the Master Cores this world has to offer. His fingers itched as he thought about summoning his Iron Warhammer and Master Shield into existence, bracing himself for the inevitable ambush.

The woman raised her hands, revealing the hilt of a sword hidden under her cloak. Lucian gritted his teeth and brought out his shield first to block whatever blow was coming his way. But an attack never came.

“That’s great!” she cheered unexpectedly, throwing her hands into the air. “Then you must have the quest to get to Provera Adventurer’s Guild, right?” Before Lucian could respond, she rummaged under her cloak and pulled out a bright red apple. “Here, take this,” she offered casually. “And don’t worry, after you hit Level 3 your HP will start to automatically restore after a victory—and you must have won your battle, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here... unless you ran away, of course."

"I didn't run," Lucian grunted.

She didn't seem entirely convinced. "Sure. Anyway, for now, the Health Potion and this apple should give you enough strength to make it to the guild—and you are going to the guild… right?”

What the… Lucian stared, bewildered. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. When was the last time he ate? He was having trouble remembering.

Cautiously, he bit into the apple. The sweet, crisp flavor melted away his tension, and he exhaled in relief. “Uh, yeah. How did you—”

“It was the first quest me and my team got after the Tutorial stage,” she responded. “Where is your team anyway?”

“They… They all—”

“Doesn’t matter,” she interrupted before he could finish, almost as if to save him from the pain. With surprising force, she shoved the Health Potion into his hand. “Drink up! We’ve got a long trek to Provera!”

[Items Gained]

[Healing Potion 1]

Lucian glanced between the potion and the woman, who was already marching down a narrow path he hadn’t noticed before. She seems to know what she’s doing. Couldn’t hurt to stick with her until Provera.

“Come on, slowpoke!” she called back over her shoulder. Lucian sighed and followed, wincing with each step. Her pace was unsettling—too fast, too urgent. It was as though she was racing against something unseen, and that didn’t sit well with the injured Blacksmith.

What’s the rush?

Lucian uncorked the bottle and tilted it to his lips. The liquid was warm and thick, sliding down his throat with surprising ease. Almost instantly, a soothing heat spread through his body, pushing out the remnants of pain like the comforting warmth of a hot meal on a cold day.

[Main Menu]

HP: 20/20

Mana: 17/17

Yup, that did the trick. Maybe this stranger’s not so bad, after all…

With his strength restored, Lucian descended the winding path to where the woman was waiting, her bright smile as unwavering as before. “The name’s Raven,” she said cheerfully, extending her hand. “Raven Vespertine.”

He hesitated for only a moment before grasping her outstretched hand firmly. “Lucian. Lucian Nyx.” Their hands shook briefly, a simple but meaningful exchange.

“Nice to meet you, Lucian Nyx,” she said with a teasing glint in her eyes. “You don’t look nearly as near-death now.”

Lucian smirked faintly. “Thanks to you, I suppose.”

“Damn right,” Raven said with a laugh. “Now, come. We’ve got a bit of a hike to Provera, and trust me, you’ll want to get there before nightfall. The woods around here? Not exactly friendly when it’s dark.”

Lucian’s wariness returned at her ominous remark, but he pushed it aside. He had no reason to trust Raven, yet sticking with someone knowledgeable beat being alone in unfamiliar terrain.

With a nod, he followed her lead. What’s the worst that could happen?