I can hear myself. Or maybe I feel myself? I can’t say for sure, as my consciousness flickers—appearing, vanishing—never allowing me to grasp what is happening around me, or even if I still exist.


    A cold surface beneath me. Steel? Stone? A buzzing noise, the sharp clatter of metal nearby. Piercing touches all over my body, something stabbing into my skin and muscles, reaching my very nerves, my bones—then unbearable pain, fading my consciousness away again.


    Is this the first time? The tenth? I don’t know anymore. I don’t understand.


    Orange light slashes through my closed eyelids. A voice speaks right into my ear. The words are unclear—no, wait. Some of them I recognize… “you can” … “we did” … “you know” … “don’t forget” … “become” … “God.”


    The words sound… strange. Their meaning? Their form?


    What madness is this?! Who am I? Where am I?


    I try to open my eyes, to turn my head toward the voice whispering to me, but I can’t. The surface beneath me jolts violently, slamming my head against metal. Then—weightlessness. I am falling.


    In the last moment, I glimpse impossibly large black eyes on a white, furry face. And then—cold wind, snow—carrying me away.


    And I fall.


    I fall into the night, surrounded by a raging blizzard. The wind howls in my ears, countless gray snowflakes whirl around me, sometimes flying beside me, sometimes breaking away below.


    Terror. Raw, unrelenting. Because when you fall, there is always—somewhere below—a surface waiting for you to smash into. And survival is not guaranteed.


    No time to think—damn it! A white wall of snow crashes into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. It softens the blow slightly but hurls me sideways, down again, and again, and again…


    Like a ragged sack of cloth, I tumble down the slope, grunting each time I slam into the ground—if I still have breath left to grunt.


    At last, a deep snowdrift catches me—not stopping me completely, but slowing me down as I punch through it, like a boulder through thin spring ice. I no longer tumble but slide, until finally—stillness.


    —Oooohhh!—I groan, whether in relief or in fear of what I don’t understand.


    I move my arms. They hurt, but they work. I move my legs. They work too. I run my hands over my ribs, my head…


    —What the hell?!—I shout. I’m bald?!


    It doesn’t take long to realize—I’m completely bald. Everywhere.


    —Damn it!—I blurt out, no idea why, and push myself onto my knees, scanning my surroundings.


    Behind me, the looming presence of cliffs—barely visible through the blizzard, but I feel them, feel something watching from above… lazily, condescendingly, as if observing a bug.


    A shudder runs through me.


    I start descending, toward what looks like towering trees shrouded in a strange mist, flickering with blue and green light.


    It makes no sense—less sense than the snow and cliffs behind me—but it pulls me.


    “Like a trap,” I think absently, yet I quicken my pace.


    Partly to warm up—being stark naked in the cold is far from pleasant. But also… something is calling me.


    The journey takes longer than I expect. I feel no exhaustion, yet impatience burns in my veins, making my muscles itch with urgency.


    I don’t remember ever feeling this way.


    Hell, I don’t remember anything before plummeting into that storm and seeing those enormous black eyes.


    Damn it. Never mind the eyes—first, I need warmth.


    So I run.


    At last, I break into the sparse underbrush. Strange, frail shrubs and small trees glow softly, making the mist around them shimmer.


    I stop, stepping closer to a tree trunk. Its bark is laced with delicate veins, tiny colorful specks flowing along them in neat lines. Every so often, some of the specks detach and float into the mist, briefly illuminating it before fading.


    A slow, colorful firework, repeating over and over.


    “Enchanting,” I think—


    Something lashes across my legs. Sharp pain—red welts strip my skin as if whipped.


    —Bastard!—I snarl, whirling to find my attacker.


    Translation:


    The attack was absolutely silent; not even the air stirred. Snow! There must be tracks! And indeed, on the ground, I saw two parallel grooves passing right next to my legs. Again! Something low and long, with thick silver whiskers, was quickly approaching me.


    Not a chance! I thought and kicked the creature straight in the snout with all my might. Its head exploded from the impact, scattering droplets of blood and fragments of bone.


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    — “That was a glorious victory,” — I hummed to myself and crouched down to examine the remains of the creature. There was almost nothing left to look at after my strike. I concluded that it belonged to the chordate family, as its spine was clearly visible, but the number of legs was beyond my understanding—there were a lot, at least four dozen. Trying to determine how those legs were attached to its back, I tore the carcass open with my bare hands and saw something that grabbed my attention far more than the creature’s anatomy.


    A stone! A small, red, transparent gem, about the size of my fingernail, lodged in the creature’s chest. It seemed so necessary, so familiar! I knew—knew what I had to do with it! I knew, but… had forgotten?!


    — “Aaaaaah!” — I screamed loudly, clutching my head, as images like faded negatives began surfacing in my mind—familiar drawings, like pages from an old notebook.


    Yes, a yellow first-class magic circle, then filling it with runes, embedding another yellow first-class magic circle inside. Good, now rotate it… synchronize the first and second circles… good, now duplicate and stretch it vertically, forming a cylinder with rune-inscribed walls flowing downward…


    And sit inside, holding the stone before me. I knew what I had just recalled. And yet, I had recalled something I had never known. How was that possible?


    The stone before me crumbled to ash, which turned into golden mist and swiftly entered my palms.


    — “Ooooh,” — I groaned. — “That feels amazing!”


    It was a fantastic power, surging through my veins, flooding every cell of my body. I saw thousands of tiny yellow lightning bolts flash over my veins, sinking into my muscles and granting them incredible strength. More! I definitely needed more of these stones!


    If this creature was a predator, others like it would come, drawn by the scent of its blood. And if not, other predators would. I decided at once, breaking off a hefty branch from a tree to fashion myself a staff. I couldn’t keep fighting these creatures with just my feet, could I?


    Whether it was sheer luck or my own cunning, as soon as I had my weapon, the creatures began swarming one after another. They were astonishingly swift, their silver whiskers leaving countless crimson gashes on my skin, but I was far, far stronger than them. Unfortunately, my makeshift club didn’t last long—after half an hour of slaughter, only splinters remained. And then, I had to fight with my bare hands, which was hardly ideal given that these creatures barely reached my knees in height.


    Over time, the toll became evident—my legs started swelling, reducing my mobility. My wrists and forearms lost their former speed. In short, I was beginning to lose, though I hadn’t yet realized it. Even a pack of rats can bring down a lion if they put in enough effort.


    At some point, I caught myself on a troubling thought—I was only defending myself now. This couldn’t go on—I had to either run or fall here, buried under these creatures. “Just a little more, just a bit longer,” — I kept telling myself. They seemed to be thinning… or were they?


    The sky began to lighten, and where there had been dozens of them, now there were only a few. And the more sunlight crept across the land, the more of them slunk into the dark undergrowth.


    The moment the first rays touched the leaves, all movement ceased.


    Ah, so they were nocturnal predators, I concluded. After waiting a bit to make sure no other creatures would come, I collapsed onto the ground, littered with gore, and burst into laughter.


    — “Ha! Ha-ha! Ahahaha! Die, you damned vermin! Today, victory is mine! And so it shall always be, no matter how many of you come!”


    After resting for a while, I got up to collect my spoils—and there were over a thousand of them! That lifted my spirits. Quickly skinning one of the more intact carcasses, I packed the stones inside and headed deeper into the forest, away from the site of this brutal battle.


    After a few hundred meters, I stopped in what seemed to be a safe clearing and immediately began drawing magic circles with runes. This time, it was as effortless as breathing. I didn’t even think about the size or the speed of the circles—they formed instinctively, like a reflex.


    The moment I sat in a lotus position, the pile of stones rose into the air before my face, crumbling into sand, which instantly transformed into golden mist, flowing into my palms. Within seconds, the pain vanished, and all my wounds healed without a trace. But then, even more incredible things began to happen.


    I could feel my blood changing. The golden mist I absorbed started condensing into tiny golden droplets within my bloodstream. They could grant me an ocean of unimaginable power at a mere thought. My hearing picked up the rustling of insects dozens of meters away. My sight discerned the finest patterns on each individual snowflake resting on the leaves and grass around me. And beyond that, I gained an entirely new sense.


    I could feel every living creature around me. In the forest, meters away. In the sky. Even beneath the ground! More than that, I could estimate their strength, their size, and whether they bore any hostility toward me. Hell, I even realized the trees around me were alive—some of them were carnivorous and wouldn’t mind feasting on small creatures. It was utterly fascinating.


    I played with my new senses for a while before dispersing the magic circles and rising to my feet. Now, I had to decide what to do next. I didn’t know where to go. I had no clothing… though I could feel the cold, it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty—yet. Maybe it was temporary, but most importantly, I had no goal.


    For a moment, I thought that if I just sat still and went nowhere, nothing would change. It was a destructive thought, one I forced out of my mind, knowing it would lead nowhere good. There was only one thing left for me to do—move forward, hunt, and grow as strong as possible. Whatever happens, happens.


    I turned my back on the mountains I had come from. The morning sun was to my left, so I headed south, away from those ominous peaks.


    Days passed. Despite my heightened senses and attempts to navigate by the sun, I most likely wandered in zigzags. As a result, I covered far less distance from the mountains than I could have if I had a fixed landmark.


    During these days, I learned that I could feel hunger and thirst, though faintly. So, I ate snow and raw meat from creatures whose scent didn’t disgust me.


    In essence, my behavior didn’t differ from that of other predators in this forest—except that I killed every creature weaker than me for the stones in their chests and hid from those stronger than me.


    I also discovered stones of orange and yellow hues.


    I obtained the orange ones from a pack of creatures resembling large black cats, nearly a meter tall at the shoulder but with two pairs of hind legs, which made their attacks unbelievably fast. However, their endurance in long chases was poor due to the increased strain on their muscles. The battle against them was fierce, but in the end, I emerged victorious.


    Their meat, by the way, was quite decent.


    I found the yellow stone in the half-eaten carcass of a massive winged beast hanging from the tree branches, its stench lingering for hundreds of meters.


    What struck me most was the difference in energy—the orange stones held far more power than the red ones, and the yellow stones contained even greater reserves.


    Every stone I acquired, whether by hunting or sheer luck, I immediately absorbed. While no drastic changes occurred, my strength and senses steadily solidified and intensified. So I continued, without hesitation, convinced I was on the right path.


    And then, one morning, I woke to distant cries of people and the roars of beasts.


    Instantly shaking off my drowsiness, I sharpened my senses to their limit and, at their very edge, distinguished voices—structured speech!


    This was a battle between intelligent beings and the monsters of the forest—I was certain of it!


    Springing to my feet, I raced toward the commotion, completely unconcerned whether these intelligent beings would be my friends or foes. If they were friendly, I’d learn about this world from them. If they were hostile, I’d beat the information out of them without remorse.


    Either way, it worked for me.