Chapter 4: A New Dawn

After a while, Adam opened his eyes, and much to his shock, he was lying, and the scaling was not the same as the one it was in the hut; it was made of some sort of dark stone, which was finely carved. Right above his head, there was a tiny purple crystal engraved into the stone, which emitted a dim light.

"What happened? I remember being teleported home and then falling asleep in a chair... Then how did I come down to my room? Was I teleported... Wait... I didn't know it was possible to fall asleep within the game... What is going on?" Thought Adam.

After a brief moment of pause, he sat up and scratched his head, and at that moment, his eyes widened. The room he was in was quite dark and was lighted only by purple crystals installed into the ceiling or the walls. The bed he was in was placed against the wall, and on the other side of the room, straight in front of the bed, was a carved stone door. It had a large purple crystal in it, but this one did not produce light; its purpose was solely to serve as decoration.

"What?! Did I just feel everything? Did I just feel my nails touch my skin and my hair as it passed between my fingers?! This is impossible! Although there were certain feelings the game was able to convey, it was nothing more than some minor pain when I received damage and the weight of the items I had on... It is way too realistic. And I dought that a sudden update just came out WHILE I was online!" Continued thinking of Adam as he buried his face into his palms.

Suddenly he slowly took a deep breath and laughed nervously. Then he slightly slapped his cheeks and then shook his head.

"Let's see... That boss or person.... Or self-proclaimed god, Ardion... Did he really do something?! He did say that he had chosen me, but then again, he didn't know my abilities, so that might have been a bluff... But then again, what did he choose me for? I am most likely overthinking it... I must have played so much, and I need to sleep... I will just log out and have a good night's sleep!" Mumbled Adam.

He then stood up and started staring at the ground for minutes.

"Why can't I log out?! Ever since the launch of the game, One could log out by focusing on logging out, and then a panel would appear with the exit button!" Muttered Adam, with slight anger and worry in his voice.

While he was glaring at the ground, Adam suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the other side of the door, which then slightly cracked and slowly opened. Adam quickly turned his attention towards the opening door. Soon a figure appeared behind the door, the one who opened the door was a seemingly young maid, and as she entered, Adam glared at her over his shoulder.

"What the?! She is one of the companions I created... B-but I didn't give her the order to enter, and they would normally stay still until an order is issued!" Contemplated Adam as he kept gazing at the girl.

The girl stepped in, and once she noticed, she gave out a loud whine and then fell to her knees. She was trembling and was looking at the ground.

"S-sir... I sincerely apologise for the intrusion... I-I was just worried..." Uttered the girl, and although she wanted to continue, she was unable.

"What is going on again?! She is shaking, uttering, and I can feel real emotions in her voice?!" Analysed Adam, and he stepped closer to the girl.

The sudden movement of Adam caused the girl to let out a faint whine. Adam raised his eyebrows and just looked at her.

"What to do... What to do?" Contemplated Adam.

"S-sir?" Uttered the girl faintly.

"You have mentioned that you were worried about me... Elaborate; why were you worried? What happened?" Said Adam as he still kept his eyes on the girl.

"Y-yes, sir! This morning you have been found lying on the ground on the ground floor... Y-you seemed to be unconscious, so you have been brought here. And I was given the honour of being able to look after you, sir!" Explained the girl hurriedly.

"I see... Good work..." Replied Adam after a brief pause.

"Thank you, sir! But I am unworthy of such praise; I just did what every servant should do! It is my duty, honour, and joy to serve you!" Responded the girl instantly.

"This feels... Strange... Even being respected is something that rarely happened to me, let alone something of this magnitude... I don't know how to respond...She is definitely alive; I have no doubt about it..."

"Since I am unable to exit... that means there is nothing from which I could be able to exit... Was that bastard really a god? Did he send me into the game? Or is it another world? I guess I will have to discover that, but this is exhilarating!"

"Now that I think about it, it was way too strange for the developers to find me with that strange offer... That must have been the work of Ardion... That is if Ardion is his real name!" Speculated Adam with closed eyes.

Adam was so lost in thoughts that he didn't even notice that a few minutes had already gone by, and the kneeling maid grew quite worried.

"S-sir... A-are you alright?" Asked the worried girl.

"Oh, yes, I was just lost in thoughts. You may leave; I have things to tend to!" Stated Adam with a nervous tone, which felt more like a rigid, cold tone for the girl.

"Right away, sir!" Replied the girl.

The maid stood up, stepped outside and closed the door without even looking at Adam. After the woman had finally left, Adma took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Just act natural... Just act natural...I... I will just head out and farm a bit to calm down... This is just way too much right now!" Contemplated Adam.

Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Teleport!" Chanted Adam as he opened his eyes.

Suddenly Adam turned into purple particles and vanished; instantaneously, he appeared in the little hut. As he arrived, he stepped forward, and a nervous smile formed on his face, and then he scratched his head.

"This... It was a new and strange feeling... It...It sort of tickled... But let's head out now! I must clear my mind!" Mumbled Adam, and he opened the door of the hut.

Beyond the door, he could see a vast, lushes green forest. The forest was filled with bird chatter. Although it was the middle of the day, and due to the dense forest, it shadowed the entire hut. And as Adam set foot on the wild grass, although he was still worried, he couldn't help but smile.

"This is definitely not the game... This feels way too realistic... Also, this is the first time I have ever set foot in such a large forest... This is so nice! But I must stay cautious; if that boss, boy, Ardion, god... whatever he is, transported me here, then I am sure he has some sort of plan with me. Maybe he just wants to toy with me?" Mused Adam as he slowly strolled deeper into the forest.

As he walked, the trees grew scarce, and he could notice footprints on the ground. After about a few minutes of walking, Adam came to a halt.

"Glimpse" Activaed a skill, Adam.

Adam quickly looked around him and then looked at his hands and clenched his fists.

"Strange... I just activated a low-level detection skill, which usually only enhances my vision, but this... Even my hearing was enhanced... I can hear the leaves on the trees moving in this light breeze... This was never a feature in the game!" Thought Adam, with a serious expression.

After a short moment, Adam decided to keep moving; he slightly increased his walking speed, and although he didn't notice it, he was walking without making any noise; of course, he never really cared about hearing his own footsteps in the game, and was usually more focused on the enemies, it wasn't even unusual for him not to hear his steps.

"It seems there is a village, but I doubt humans live here... It has a strange aroma, or smell which surrounds the village..." Contemplated Adam as he walked

"Wait... They are... Half-humans, half-dogs... Are they demihumans?" Analysed Adam.

Although the village was not yet visible, a few meters away from him, he could see two figures hiding behind a tree. One of them was kneeling while the other was lying on the ground. Adam headed towards them; due to his high skills, he was able to get right next to them without them hearing him.

The demihumans were almost entirely humans but only had a few characteristics of dogs; fluffy ears, which were located on the top of their heads, and fluffy tails. They also had very sharp teeth. The one who was kneeling was a young man; he had some minor bruises all over his face and was missing one of his ears. His lushes hair was mostly covered with dried blood, which came from his severed ear. As for the one who was kneeling, she was in worse shape than the one kneeling. The girl had deep wounds all over her body, and she was lying in a puddle of blood. She was strongly holding the boy's hand with both of her hands.

The two of them wore similar clothing, a dark greyish fabric, which was so torn that they were no more than rags. Their hair had the exact same black colour.

"What happened here?" Asked Adam curiously and gently grabbed the man's shoulder.

The boy quickly jumped away and glared at Adam with his dark green eyes. He was shaking and showed his sharp teeth and hand claws.

"Human! So you finally found us?! You really are cruel and heartless!" Shouted the boy furiously.

"Wow, wow, wow! Calm down! The ones whom you should be angry at are not here; at least, I have seen no one other than you two!" Stated Adam and looked at the girl and then back at the boy.

"The boy is level three, and the girl is level five... They are way too weak... I thought that Ardion would put me in a high-level area instantly... So, in that case, since they are injured but not dead, their attacker or attackers are also of a similar level... I should hold back..." Contemplated Adam as he kept looking at the boy before him.

The demihumans stayed still and just kept looking at him. The male was shaking, and the girl was breathing heavily.

"What is this man? He doesn't seem powerful, but my instincts are telling me to run as far away as possible as fast as possible." Thought the boy, and he took a step back.

"Young man! Step away from these beasts! They are my prey, I almost caught them not long ago, but they managed to escape." Shouted a man from a distance.

Adam turned around calmly to face a hunter. The man was wearing old leather armour, which was somewhat battered and muddy. A metal gauntlet protected the man's hands. The hunter also had long, dirty dark blond hair and unattended, slightly missing and sticky facial hair all around his jaw and chin. The man held a bow that was aimed directly at Adam.

"First, I suggest you lower your bow; I dislike being targeted, and when I dislike something... Things will get ugly. Second, what gives you the power to order me around?" Asked Adam coldly, but a barely visible grin crawled onto his face

"You are a nervous boy! You should do as your elders tell you to do! We have been ordered by the local lord to eradicate these mindless lower lifeforms from his domain!" Exclaimed the man with a smile and pulled the string of the bow further back.

"You have no right to..." Shouted the demihuman boy.

At that very moment, the hunter released the arrow, which was hurled towards the boy.