"Ughh..." a young man moaned, slowly opening his eyes.
"What the fuck?" he muttered under his breath, looking around. He was inside a small valley, barely ten meters across, surrounded by trees and bushes in every direction.
'Why am I in a forest?' he thought, trying to stand. But when he looked down, he noticed a small pool of blood beneath him. His heart suddenly started racing as adrenaline surged through his body.
"What is going on?" he said, fear creeping into his voice. He quickly stood up, frantically checking himself for wounds.
'Besides these weird clothes, I don't see any wounds. Is this some sick prank?' he thought, annoyed. Then he shouted into the forest, "Hey! Is anyone there?!"
He waited, but silence was his only answer.
'What the fuck is going on?' he thought again, staring at the pool of blood and the dense forest surrounding him.
'Why am I in a forest? Why is there a pool of blood under me if I have no wounds? Is this fake blood? And what are these clothes? They look like some medieval-era cosplay. Did some crazy fucker kidnap me?'
Panic started to rise, clouding his thoughts.
"Okay, Caspar, let's calm down," he whispered to himself, taking deep, slow breaths.
He stood in place for a minute, gradually regaining his composure.
'Now, let's remember what I was doing before waking up here,' he thought, trying to recall the last thing before this strange moment.
'I was growing a garden in Roblox after a long day at work. I remember trying to sell my raccoon for some money when I got scammed.'
As the memory returned, Caspar cursed under his breath. "Fuck these scammers."
He exhaled slowly, trying to stay calm, and pushed himself to remember what happened after that. But his mind was blank.
Suddenly, a strange voice echoed inside his head.
Welcome to The Celestial Grimoire! As a first-time bonus your first roll will be free!
Free - Well of Magicka - The Elder Scrolls - Source - All practitioners of the arcane know that magicka leaks into Nirn through the Sun and Stars, holes into Aetherius itself. Your pool of magicka is heavily bolstered, rivaling that of the greatest mages in history, as is the potency of any spells you cast. You could be throwing fireballs all day without effort, and you may pour more magicka into a spell to overcharge it to such a degree that the simple Flames spell could rout armies with great effort.
Do you accept?
A new panic entered his head when he heard the strange voice.
'Am I mentally ill?' he suddenly thought. "It would explain why I'm in the middle of a forest out of nowhere. Maybe I had some psychosis attack or something," he said out loud, not paying much attention to the voice inside his head.
But after it stopped speaking and Caspar calmed down again, his mind couldn't help but wander to all the fanfics he had read.
'Maybe I reincarnated, and this is my cheat...'
Now, all his fear turned into wonder.
"Can you repeat what you said?" Caspar asked quietly, hoping the voice could hear him.
A second passed, and then a floating book appeared before him. It seemed to contain the exact words he had heard in his mind. Caspar stared at it in wonder for a moment, then read everything slowly and carefully.
'It's a very good perk for the future,' he thought. 'But it doesn't immediately increase my power, and I don't even know what world I'm in right now. Is this a world where I can learn magic, or will I have to invent every spell myself?'
He thought about it for a bit but hesitated to reject the perk.
'Will the next perk also be free? It said "first roll," so I don't think it will be...'
With that thought, Caspar made up his mind and accepted the perk.
As he did the book vanished and a massive amount of energy surged into him. It didn't feel like it entered his body exactly, it felt deeper, as though it entered his very soul. A rush of overwhelming power overtook him, and Caspar suddenly felt like the most powerful being in existence.
'Is this the feeling of power?' he thought, a smile appearing on his face.
The smile grew wider and wider until he couldn't contain it any longer.
"HAHAHahahaha..."
He laughed maniacally before eventually calming himself.
Caspar then tried to move the Magicka, willing it to do something. Slowly, it flowed into his hand and outside his body, but it dispersed shortly after leaving his skin.
'Hmm... maybe I should imagine a fireball or something?' he thought.
He focused, imagining a small ball of fire forming above his palm while channeling the Magicka into that spot. But after ten minutes of no success, he gave up.
'Let's try it after I find a safer place to practice,' Caspar thought, as the feeling of excitement faded and he remembered where he actually was.
'So, what should I do first? I remember watching some survival videos on YouTube, but I don't remember much...'
He thought for a while, then just shrugged.
'Let's try to find a river or some path. There are always towns near rivers... or at least I think there are.'
Caspar looked around in all directions, trying to spot something useful. When he didn't see anything, he just chose a direction at random and started walking.
'Now that I think about it, it's beautiful here,' he noticed.
He could hear the soft singing of birds, and his skin was caressed by a mild wind. The temperature was just right, not too hot, not too cold. Everywhere he looked, trees with vibrant green leaves surrounded him, and he occasionally spotted wildflowers and herbs.
Caspar smiled and took a deep breath of the fresh air but remained alert, scanning his surroundings for any signs of a path.
'I've never felt like this... even in the small forest near home, the air wasn't this refreshing.'
He spotted a tree full of fruit in the distance and walked closer to take a better look.
'Is this an apple tree?' he wondered, distracted by the bright red apples hanging from its branches.
Caspar looked around and, seeing no one, cautiously approached.
"It is," he smiled as he examined the tree.
'They don't look fully ripe, but beggars can't be choosers,' he thought while picking one of the redder ones and took a bite.
"A little sour, but tastes good," Caspar smiled.
He ate two more and picked a couple to carry with him.
Leaving the tree with a smile on his face, Caspar continued walking in the same direction as before.
A minute later, he spotted a path.
"Success," he grinned and ran toward it.
"Now, which direction should I go..." he wondered.
He looked both ways but saw no obvious signs or landmarks.
With a shrug, he picked a direction at random and began walking, ready to face whatever came next.