“I don’t know what the hell that creature was,” He thinks, once again falling into the habit of talking to himself. He continues his clean up as best he can, brushing dust from black pants and lightly kicking a nearby tree to dislodge dust from his shoes.

  “Was that a menu? Or am I just hoping for something familiar?” Marco shakes his head at the thought of being isekaied, “Not even truck related.” He chuckles out loud, thinking about his empty apartment back home lined with bookshelves and a comfy chair.

  Corey and Marco shared an intense love for books, particularly fantasy and more recently litRPG books, featuring a game system of some kind. Corey was always talking about his newest literary adventure, cruising through stories of Healers, Mages, Berserkers and the occasional Ninja Warlock.

  Sighing at the seeming loss of his book collection, comfy chair, and reading buddy. Marco drags a dust covered sleeve over his eyes, wiping away the start of tears, brought on by stress and frustration at his situation, lost in strange woods with no one around.

  Marco’s head snaps around as a branch breaks behind him, toward the greener side of forest. As his eyes catch up with his head whipping around, he sees a man dressed in leather armor stalking closer to him. Medium height, approximately five foot ten inches tall, long blonde hair that looks to be tied into a braid and slightly pointed ears.

  Marco flinches at seeing a humanoid figure when he was expecting another monster. He breathes out a small sigh of relief, hoping that the man is friendly and not in league with the green bone creature that he turned to dust not too long ago.

  “Hail stranger!” says the mystery man in leather armor. Marco puts his hands out, unfortunately those hands are holding the bundle of kitchen knives and a large cast iron skillet. Seeing this the stranger moves his hand to the shortsword at his waist.

  “Sorry!” Marco exclaims and quickly puts the knives and skillet down but keeps them as accessible as possible in case this person as ulterior motives. “I don’t know if I should tell him I appeared in their forest,” thinks Marco as he sets down his improvised weapons.

  “It is alright stranger, no harm done, I apologize for startling you.” says the elfen man as he moves his hand away from his weapon as well. “I am Coron, Ranger of Woodholme,” giving Marco a slight bow as he introduces himself.

  “My name is Marco Vito” Marco introduces himself and lifts his arm slowly to show the claw wounds to the other man. “A strange creature attacked me and left this wound.”

  The ranger flitches slightly when he sees the wound, taking a cautious step forward toward Marco. He unhooks what appears to be a waterskin from his belt.

  “A strange creature?” Coron questions, “Can you describe the creature to me? I was out hunting a skeletal fox”

  “That would describe it fairly well other than the green orb.” Marco tells Coron about the creature. Small, boney and the strange green orb in its ribs.

  “It had a core?” exclaims Coron, approaching more quickly now. “How are you unaware of the creatures of the Deadwoods?”

  “I seem to have lost my way and some memory of how I ended up here.” Marco explains as calmly as he can with an armed man approaching him. “You called this place the Deadwoods? That seems fitting”

  “Lost in the Deadwoods?” Coron questions and slows as he gets within a few feet of Marco. “You are unaware of where you are?” asks Coron, uncapping his waterskin as he gets within arm's length of Marco. He lifts the waterskin towards his wounded forearm, asking permission to rinse his wound.

  Marco nods and then hisses as the cool water hits the small wounds on his arm. “Thank you,” says Marco, appreciative of Coron’s resources.

  “It is nothing, I wouldn’t want you to catch anything from a Cored Skeletal Fox, nasty little buggers.” Coron waves away his thanks, giving Marco some details about what he faced. “We are close to the border village of Woodholme and if you’re willing, I can explain more about the Deadwoods and their surroundings on our short journey to my home.”

  “That would be very nice,” Marco agrees. “Why are you trusting of a stranger in the forest though?”

  “The Sun does not say you are an enemy and therefore you can be trusted at least a little.” Coron says, with firm conviction.

  “The Sun? They can speak to it? It speaks to them? That is going to be hard to fake later on.” Marco thinks to himself as he slowly gathers his gear and shakes out the tension from his shoulders.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Ah,” Marco squeaks eloquently, at a loss for words after Coron's statement. The Ranger nods and starts at a brisk pace toward the greener side of the forest. As they travel, covering a decent distance, enough that Marco is panting and sweating trying to keep up with the blond man.

  About twenty minutes later they arrive in a beautiful lush green clearing with sunbeams spearing the air, Marco shifts his face upward to feel the warmth of the sun and the mental twinge returns stronger than before.

  Sunlight System Activation

  Welcome Traveler! You have been brought here through means of accidental magic. You are currently located in the Outer Deadwoods, a contested region between The Kingdom of Eldermyst and The Cursed Lichdoms.

  You are Cursed.

  Analyzing Curse...

  Curse Analyzed... [Sole Affinity: Salt]

  Affinity Detected: Salt Magic.

  “Salt magic?” Marco thinks to himself. “That could be kind of cool, I have been around tons of salt my whole life.” He quickly reminisces about his younger years, working in bakeries and kitchens. Working his way from a dishwasher to Executive Chef of a fine dining restaurant and the salt crusted years in between.

  “And a Curse? That is problematic, it seems just to lock my affinity to Salt though so it should be alright.”

  *Ping* [Salt Magic]: This affinity is rare in The Kingdom of Eldermyst. Salt Magic is the magic of cleansing and banishment. Salt Mages make excellent fighters against undead foes.

  Salt Mages are known for hurling [Salt Bolts] and setting [Salt Circles] to ward away foes. Salt Warriors are vastly more common, having a lower affinity score than their Mage counterparts, Salt Warriors cover themselves in durable [Salt Skin] armor and charge into battle wielding blades of their element or heavy weaponry.

  Your Affinity Score has been calculated: 77%. This score is High, the third highest score.

  Affinity Scores: Low (15-30%), Medium (31-60%), High (61-80%), Outstanding (81-90%), and Exceptional (91-99%).

  Status Screen

  Name: Marco Vito

  Title: None Awarded

  Age: 28 Years old

  Race: Human

  Affinity: Salt (Cursed: [Sole Affinity: Salt])

  Affinity Score: 77% (High)

  All is Fair Under the Sun

  Farewell, Traveler.

  Marco blinks at the sudden influx of data, grimacing slightly at the headache it caused. “The Sunlight System?” Marco thinks to himself, not noticing the knowing look he is getting from Coron. “Maybe that explains why it didn’t activate until I stepped into direct sunlight, maybe the fog was stopping the activation.”

  Marco takes a deep breath, coming back to himself and closing the system windows and taking a good look around the sunlit clearing. Lush green forest surrounds a small field of thick grass.

  Dark brown bark covers the trees that are topped with the strange purple leaves, this time less dry and brittle. Deep purple stars mixed with a small number of lightly glowing silver and gold stars, the silvers have even sharper points and the golds have more rounded edges, the interplay giving the trees an even more mystical appearance.

  “Ah, you came out of that faster than most Traveler.” Coron says behind Marco, who had turned in a small circle while looking around the clearing. Jumping slightly at the surprise noise, forgetting that he has company in the magical clearing.

  “You called me a traveler, so did the Sunlight System Menu screen that just popped up” Marco says recovering from his flinch quickly.

  “If you focus on somebody with the intent to learn about them you will see why.” Coron explains. Marco looks at Coron closes, slightly squinting his eyes and a small tag appears above the man.

  Coron, Ranger of Woodholme

  “What does mine say? Marco, Traveler?” he asks the Ranger.

  “Yes Traveler, this little trick is referred to as [Inspect] and it will be crucial to you as you learn more about this world.” Coron lectures, moving his hands emphatically, “That is if you want to become an adventurer.”

  “Can you tell me more about the system?” Marco asks the other man. “Is it sentient? How does it work? Is it only usable in the sunlight? Does the moon count?” The rapid-fire questions spill out of Marco’s mouth, so excited about a system being real.

  “Yes, I can Traveler, I would prefer to explain on the way toward the Forest Gate.” Coron gestures toward the break in the forest, where if you look in the distance, you can see vine and ivy-covered gray stone walls.

  “Sounds good,” Marco agrees and starts to follow the Ranger toward the vine covered walls of Woodholme.

  Coron starts to answer Marco’s previous rapid-fire questions. “The Sunlight System is semi-sentient, able to perceive but does feel emotions. No one is quite sure how the system works other than the fact that it is usable in Sunlit lands.” Coron begins with the first few questions. “It is less important that there is sunlight and more than the land is considered ‘Sunlit’, which just means it is a land of Balance and Fairness, one that follows the laws of the Sunlight System.”

  Coron takes a deep breath and pauses his explanations to take a sip from his waterskin, sighing gently.

  “So, it would make sense that the moon would not affect the system overmuch.” Marco thinks to himself. As they break through the trees, the green and gray walls tower in the distance, larger and more robust than Marco originally thought. “Wow! That’s the border village? I was expecting something much less permeant.”

  “The village was originally planned to be much less permeant but The Lichdoms have been pushing our borders for the last twenty-five years.” Coron explains as they continue to get closer to the sixty-foot walls. Many types of vines and ivy cover the exterior surface of the wall, some flowering others just varying shades of green.