A flicker in the corner made Ethan glance up, his rabbit ears twitching slightly under the weight of still-throbbing burns.
The screen hovered quietly in the air in front of him, steady and unreal, its surface etched with strange ruins and sharp geometric patterns that seemed to shift when he wasn't looking directly at them.
[SSS-RANKED SYSTEM
Name: Ethan White
Title: Chosen One
Class: ???
HP: 140/200
Soul Energy: 300/300]
[Stats:
Strength: 5
Agility: 13
Magic: 16
Defense: 4]
[Skills (2):
Water Ball
Stone Shot]
A shiver ran down his spine, part thrill, part doubt. Staring hard at the screen, Ethan fixed each mark into his mind.
The words were unfamiliar - forms he had never seen in Blizzard Online - even if the general shape echoed the game's familiar interface. It felt like recognition, shadowed by something off.
The header stood out. The class field was missing. None of this belonged in Blizzard Online as he remembered it.
Right now, curiosity wasn't something he could afford.
Something about the digits caught his eye.
Strength: 5.
Defense: 4.
A sour laugh built up inside Ethan, yet only a tiny sound slipped out. The figures were terrible. Downright shameful. Once he'd dominated Blizzard Online, tearing through elite foes like they meant nothing.
Stats like that used to make him unstoppable. Now his physical power was worse than that of a beginner who had just logged into the game for the first time.
No. Worse than that. He wasn't even human anymore.
Staring at the numbers, Ethan figured he was weak - way too fragile. A single misstep, maybe just bad luck, could finish him off fast.
Down his gaze went once more.
Agility: 13.
Magic: 16.
Somehow, those figures didn't feel dismissive. Actually, considering what he was - the stats looked oddly strong. Magic being the highest made sense. He could still sense it, an odd heat curled low within, like stored energy ready to move.
Breath leaving his lungs, Ethan braced. Then stillness settled.
Fragile, yes - yet speed is mine. Magic would hit harder when he struck.
Down went his eyes to the part about abilities, then came that heavy feeling once more.
Just two skills.
Water Ball.
Stone Shot.
Simple ones. Both beginner-tier. Exactly the sort of skills players drop after a couple hours playing. He'd seen them countless times in Blizzard Online - used by new players fumbling their way through early quests, or by NPC guards who barely knew how to fight.
And now those were all he had.
Fire, earth, water, wind - those made up most magic in Blizzard Online. Light crept in sometimes. So did darkness. Lightning flashed once in a while. Space bent here and there. Still, they stayed hidden like secrets too wild to be real.
Players heard whispers but rarely witnessed one. Using it? Almost unheard of. Ethan himself had never possessed an element outside the main four, even at the peak of his career.
Water Ball was as simple as it got. Condense water using soul energy and launch it forward. Weak impact, low cost.
Stone Shot wasn't much better. Compress earth into a rough projectile and fire it straight ahead. Slightly higher damage than Water Ball, but slower.
As a Beast Tamer in the game, Ethan had rarely relied on basic magic like this. Beast Tamers weren't known for casting spells themselves. His strength came from creatures tied to him by bond, not books or chants.
These animals fought for him, carried his will into combat, gave him edges he wouldn't have alone. Technically, Beast Tamers could use magic on their own, but it was usually low-level, supplementary at best.
Ethan had always preferred borrowing his beasts' power rather than sending them to fight alone. Part of it was strategy. Part of it was selfishness.
It gnawed at him whenever one of his animals took a hit.
And if he was honest, he just liked being in the middle of the fight himself.
This time, there was no creature beside him. Without a tool to hold, everything seemed out of reach. Not fingers anymore - only gentle pads, an unfamiliar shape, slight, almost floating.
A shape crept forward through the trees, inch by steady inch - the Grey Prima drawing near.
Ahead, the Prima slid closer, waves sliding under its clear skin. A soft glow came from the blue core, showing through the dull bulk. Shivers ran across its outer layer - acid building up once more beneath.
Ethan could already see the surface of its body trembling, the acid inside it gathering again.
It's going to shoot, Ethan realized. Any second now.
He didn't move. Not yet.
Instead, he focused.
Water Ball or Stone Shot?
Faster, that's what Water Ball could be. Cleaner too, with less kickback when fired. There was no guarantee it would do anything meaningful. It might even make things worse.
Stone Shot felt heavy. Real. With a good angle - or just luck - it might tear through the Prima, reach the center, break something vital.
That was the key.
Every creature in Blizzard had a core. Break the core, kill the creature. Primas were among the easiest monsters to deal with because their bodies offered almost no resistance. A clean strike to the core was usually enough.
This time, it wasn't like the others. A Grey Prima stood there instead. Filled with acid inside. Never knowing what would come next.
Faced with no alternatives, Ethan moved forward anyway.
A shiver ran through his rabbit form - no terror behind it, just deep concentration. He pushed himself up, as high as his short limbs allowed, raising a single paw at the oozing shape coming near.
Clumsy that motion was, almost alien, yet a spark within lit without delay.
A sudden heat rose through his ribs. It spread without warning.
Soul energy flowed.
Out came the skill's name, Ethan yelling it loud, voice cracking from effort.
"Stone Shot!"
A burst of high-pitched squeaks emerged instead.
But the system didn't care.
Something stirred just beside his lifted paw. Dirt and bits of rock ripped upward, clumping fast. These pieces folded inward, forming a stretched egg shape - bumpy, unpolished, yet firm.
The projectile hovered for the briefest moment, vibrating with condensed energy.
A sudden rush followed, sharp as a snapped wire, slicing air while racing headlong at the Grey Prima.