A wide column of white light erupted from the small metal box, its diameter expanding to many times the size of the small box. The light stretched like an immense tower into the sky. It was so bright it hurt to look at. Noah was engulfed inside the pillar of light completely, it was like being caught in a powerful current made of lightning. He felt an abrupt pull, something yanking him off his feet, he was weightless for a second, his feet left the ground, and he levitated, suspended inside the pillar of light.

  The forest was gone. The men, Hesjevik—all of it, gone. He was somewhere else, somewhere wrong. Terribly wrong. The ground beneath him was like metallic crystal, smooth and bright, but it shifted under his feet, rippling like water and constantly changing shape. He stumbled, catching himself on a jagged edge that hadn’t been there a second ago.

  Noah looked up, and his breath caught. The sky was dark. The stars were too close, and they moved fast. No. It weren’t the stars that moved, that made no sense. It was him. He was moving incredibly fast. The ground shifted again, rising, and he realized he was on a gigantic mountain, or something like one, its surface constantly changing, folding in on itself, growing and contracting.

  At the base of the mountain, there were millions of shiny, crystal-like pebbles that formed a huge path stretching out ahead.

  A river.

  There were things in the river, deep down, too far to make out clearly. But he could tell they came in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes, swirling around like they were caught in a strong current.

  He forced himself to stand again, his legs trembling, his vision blurring. The light pulsed around him, growing brighter and hotter, forcing him to squint as his eyes burned. The mountain shifted again, and he fell, but he managed to land on a newly formed valley as the surface continued to change.

  Light exploded again, brighter this time.

  What is this? What’s happening to me?

  His thoughts were frantic, scattered, but he forced himself to focus.

  I don’t want to die.

  I won’t die here. Not again.

  It wasn’t a grand, heroic thought. It was small, desperate, clinging to the edges of his mind like a lifeline. He wanted to live.

  I will live.

  And then, something shifted.

  It started deep inside him, like a spark catching in dry grass. A warmth, different from the light’s searing heat, spreading through his chest. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t gentle either.

  It was alive. Like something waking up, stretching, pushing against the walls of his body. His vision flickered, and for a moment, he thought he saw something, lines of light, faint and pulsing, threading through the air around him.

  And then the words appeared.

  They weren’t in his head, not exactly. They were in front of him, floating in the air like they’d been burned into the energy stream itself. The letters were sharp, angular, glowing with a soft blue light that felt almost cold compared to the raging heat around him.

  Anima awakening…

  System initializing…

  Analyzing host...

  Anomaly detected: no mana core present

  Unable to process mana through standard protocols

  Searching for alternative energy pathways...

  Warning: Mana exposure at critical level

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Risk of fatal overload: 99.7%

  Noah stared at them, his breath speeding up.

  What system? Mana? Core?

  Then it hit him.

  This can’t be—It’s impossible.

  He’d read hundreds of stories about people who awakened to something like this—another world with a System, where mana was the life energy. That’s what this energy is, mana. Wait. It’s the same color that the mountain, the river. Are the rings made of mana? It seemed like that, as if mana were like water, it could have different states, solid, liquid and whatever this light was. People used this mana to fuel their skills to fight and survive.

  But the people in those stories had mana cores to absorb and manipulate mana. And he didn’t have a core.

  Great, just what I needed. Not only was I reborn into a House that betrayed me and sent me to my death, but I also had to come back defective. Perfect.

  An explosion of pain blasted inside Noah.

  Noah’s body felt like it was on fire. It was deeper, sharper, like every nerve was being scraped raw with a hot wire. He couldn’t scream, though. His throat was locked tight, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth felt about to crack. The energy stream roared around him, a glowing, violent river of energy. It just kept pouring into him, through him, like he was a broken dam trying to hold back an ocean.

  I’m going to die.

  The thought hit him hard, like a punch to the gut. His heart was racing, too fast, too loud, drowning out everything else. His hands were shaking, fingers digging into the rock, but he couldn’t feel the texture anymore. Just the pain. Just the mana tearing through him, filling him up until there was no room left for anything else. Then something snapped in him.

  I don’t care. I don’t care what it is. I’m not giving up. I’m not dying here.

  I have to keep going. I have to fight. I won’t let it take me.

  The shifting crystal beneath him tilted, throwing him forward. He caught himself with his hands, the surface cold and slick, but it rippled under his palms, folding inward like it was trying to swallow him.

  But then the words changed again, he struggled to focus as his head felt like it was splitting open.

  Alternative energy pathway identified: Meridian network (rare+++)

  Reconfiguring host physiology...

  Probability of host survival: 0.1%

  The pain was everywhere now, not just in his body but in his head, his bones, his blood. It felt like his veins were on fire, like every drop of him was being boiled from the inside. His skin prickled, his muscles spasmed, and his teeth clenched so hard he thought they might crack. Noah just wanted it to stop. He’d give anything, everything to make it stop.

  I can’t do this. I can’t— But he stopped himself, shaking his head, the motion sending a fresh wave of agony through him. No. Now is not the time to think like that. I’ve been through worse. I died. I died, and I’m still here. I’m not giving up now.

  He forced himself to stand, his legs shaking. The mountain—or whatever it was—shifted again, sinking beneath him, and he stumbled. The light around him pulsed, brighter, hotter, and he squinted, his eyes burning.

  It hurts. It hurts so much.

  Pain. Everything was pain. He was made of it, consumed by it.

  I have to stay awake. I have to survive.

  This didn’t feel like the mana stream. That had been bad, but this was worse. This was deeper, like something was tearing him apart from the inside. He screamed, finally, the sound ripping out of him, raw and ragged. His vision went white, then black, then white again, and he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed. His body felt like it was breaking, like every bone was cracking, every muscle shredding. He could feel something moving inside him, shifting, growing, like roots spreading through dirt. It wasn’t natural. It wasn’t right. But it was happening, and he couldn’t stop it.

  I can do this. I have to do this.

  I didn’t wake up in this world for nothing. I have to live. I will.

  The pain ground him.

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  Reconfiguration in progress: 42%

  Probability of host survival: 0.01%

  He didn’t understand it, but he could feel it. Something was changing, deep inside him. Lines of heat, sharp and precise, threading through his body. They started in his chest, branching out like veins, but they weren’t veins. They were… something else. Something new. He could feel them pulsing, glowing, like they were alive. They stretched down his arms, up his neck, into his legs, weaving through his muscles, his bones, his skin. It hurt. It hurt so much. But it was working. He could feel the mana shifting, flowing, like it had somewhere to go now, like it wasn’t just burning him anymore.

  Reconfiguration in progress: 78%

  Probability of host survival: Calculating…

  The pain was too much, but he was still alive. He was still here. He could feel the mana moving through him, faster now, stronger, but it wasn’t killing him. Not yet. He clenched his teeth, and forced himself to breathe. It hurt, but he could do it.

  I will survive this.

  The thought was a mantra, and he clung to it, even as the pain spiked again, even as the system kept flashing warnings in front of him. He wasn’t going to die. He wasn’t going to let this beat him. He was going to live, and he was going to be stronger for it.

  If I survive this—if I can take this much mana, this much pain, and still be alive—then maybe I can make it in this world.

  Something shifted in his mind’s eye, new words appeared, sharp and clear, floating in front of him.

  Reconfiguration of host physiology complete

  Anima awakening complete

  System online

  Welcome

  Tier: 0