Chapter 5: Things Lurk
=========
[ Adrian 'Ryan' Godborne ]
==========
Title: [Harbinger of Chaos]
Magic Affinity: [Primordial Chaos]
Chaos Energy Level: [0]
----------
Stats
----------
Strength: [2] | Agility: [1] | Endurance: [3]
Intelligence: [10] | Chaos Reserve: [5] |
Magic Potential: [0] |
----------
QUEST > [Beast Raid survival] (Info>?)
----------
Skills > None
----------
Ryan stared at the blue screen for a while. He re-read it over and over again, then he closed his eyes and opened it repeatedly. Maybe he was just seeing things, but no matter what he did, the floating blue screen remained in front of him.
"Damn it, I've finally gone insane."
Ryan let out a bitter smile, one followed by a resigned sigh, as if giving into the madness. After all, it didn't really matter if he had gone insane; a lot of things didn't matter to Ryan currently.
He looked away from the screen to see the people who walked over to him—young men who wore makeshift armor. One only had a chest plate, and the other had the iron boots and helmet, as if they had split a full set of armor among themselves.
[Initialization Reward Given]
[+1 Chaos Shard has been added to your inventory]
[Would you like to use it?]
'Chaos Shard? What's that?'
Ryan wonderd as the blue screen obscured his vision, then his mind began to piece things together. 'Inventory?' Was it like some kind of game, perhaps? He never had time for games, but he knew a couple of terms. Perhaps the blue screen to his left displayed his stats?
"I really am crazy."
Ryan felt dumb for even considering it, but he also thought, nothing has been normal since he woke up in that forest. If he had truly somehow been sent to another world, why would a game-like blue screen appearing before him be crazy?
"Hey!" One of the men in makeshift armor exclaimed, jolting Ryan and causing the blue screens to disappear from his vision.
"Stop dazing off; we are leaving for the Azkai province."
Ryan turned to look at him, a man who appeared to be in his twenties, his face bore scars of battles fought and somehow survived, and his eyes reflected a rough past. He didn't look happy, and, looking around, perhaps no one did.
"Yeah," Ryan's voice was now a dry rasp, one devoid of hope or any other emotions, in fact.
The man with the chest plate unchained Ryan from the pole he had been chained to, then, dragging on the chain, he directed him to a carriage. As they moved, Ryan watched as the other slaves were unchained and freed to go. Just a while ago, they too were as pitiful as him, but like always, he ended up being the most miserable around yet again.
The carriage they took Ryan to was very much like the one he was brought here with. It seemed to be used primarily for transporting goods, and the grains scattered around its wooden floor supported this.
Ryan climbed atop the carriage, sitting on one of the boxes, his clothes still damp from the rain of the previous night. They took his chain and fastened it to the iron bar in the carriage.
The two men climbed atop the driver's place, one of them grabbing onto the rope that was bound to the horses. With experienced control, he tugged on the rope, setting the carriage in motion.
"The last thing I wanted to do today is pass through Hellbound Forest," one of the men sighed in frustration.
"Truly, of all the provinces, why did they choose to imprison him there?" The other nodded their head in agreement as the carriage exited the town.
"Well, they say that place won't survive the coming beast tide, and no one is doing anything about it. Perhaps dying to those monsters is part of his punishment."
"Well, hopefully, we don't die to them as well on our way there," the other man sighed as he leaned back.
"That's why we are going this early; there are rarely any beasts when it's not dark," the driver offered some solace, maybe to himself more than to his companion.
"Rarely isn't never."
Ryan sat, his gaze fixated on the landscape as he listened to their conversation. He was sure he also saw "beasts" mentioned somewhere on the floating blue screen, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to make it appear again. Staring strongly at the air, blinking repeatedly—nothing worked.
Hours had gone by since they began traveling. It was now mid-afternoon, and the sun was pounding down on Ryan, enough to completely dry his clothes. They had entered a forest about an hour ago, and Ryan assumed this was the Hellbound Forest they had been talking about. With how they quickened pace upon entering, they really did fear something here.
"Fuck, man, I hate this place. I'm getting a weird feeling; it's like I've been hearing things since we got here," one of the men said.
"No, you aren't. It's just in your head," the driver offered some comfort.
It wasn't in his head...Ryan had been hearing it too—low shrieks and growls that were barely audible. They were most definitely not alone in this forest.
"Calm down," the driver began. "They don't come out this bright in the d-" The driver choked on his words as he saw what emerged from the forest, blocking their path.
It had similarities with a tiger but barely. It stood at almost ten feet tall, and its dark fur seemed to have glowing green lines traced across it. Its head was crowned by a horn, and its two large teeth shot from the roof of its mouth, dripping with saliva, and its eyes a venomous green.
[F Rank Mana Beast In Proximity]
Ryan's heart pounded in his chest as he turned from the terrifying creature to the blue screen that popped up before him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone