The forest was quiet except for the sound of Orin's ragged breathing, his footfalls heavy on the wet ground. He had been here for days now — maybe longer, he couldn't quite remember. Time didn't seem to matter anymore.
His focus had been entirely on the strange energy coursing through him, the Chaos energy, that felt so natural yet so alien. It had been taking up his every thought, every moment. At first, it had been a chaotic mess — a storm of raw power that surged unpredictably, pulling him in different directions. But now? Now it was quieter, more like a hum beneath his skin, a constant, vibrating reminder that he wasn't just human anymore.
He glanced down at his hands, still trembling slightly from the latest round of practice. The energy had become easier to summon, easier to control. But there was still so much he couldn't do — so much he didn't understand. Each time he used it, it felt like a gamble. A question of whether he could keep it contained, whether his body would keep up.
You're still human, he reminded himself. But not the same.
He had spent hours experimenting, testing his speed. His reflexes were sharper now, the blur of movement feeling more fluid and less like an accident waiting to happen. His training with the Chaos Spear had improved. The energy would pulse from his fingertips with precision, and he could feel the air shimmer with every release. No more wild bursts, no more accidents. Not like before.
"Chaos Spear," he muttered aloud, focusing this time on the rhythm of it, the pattern of his movements.
The energy swirled, gathering into a pinpoint of red and gold, before shooting forward. The bolt exploded against the bark of a nearby tree with a satisfying crack, leaving a gaping hole where it had struck.
"Not bad," he murmured, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. His stomach growled, and the smile vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He pressed a hand to his abdomen, his breath hissing through his teeth. His body was hungry. More than that, it was starving. And yet, for all the energy he had coursing through him, he couldn't ignore the gnawing ache that had been getting worse with each passing day.
He hadn't thought about food for the first few days — he had been too consumed with figuring out how to survive in this strange new world. The days blurred together, but now, the hunger was a constant reminder. He hadn't eaten anything significant in days. The small animals he had managed to catch — sometimes with his bare hands, sometimes by channeling the Chaos energy into his movements — weren't enough to sustain him. They provided no real nourishment.
It wasn't like before, back in his old world, where food had always been within reach. Orin had spent most of his time in front of screens, ordering takeout, snacking as he played games or binge-watched shows. Here, there was no convenience, no comfort. Just survival.
And now, in the middle of this strange, corrupted world, his body felt the effects. His skin was pale, his muscles weaker than they should've been. The weight loss was noticeable, even though he tried to ignore it. The more he relied on Chaos energy to fuel him, the more his body seemed to break down without real sustenance.
Another wave of dizziness hit him, and Orin leaned against a tree, holding his head in his hands. His vision blurred for a moment, the edges of his sight shimmering like the air around the rift. He fought the urge to collapse, forcing himself to stay on his feet. He couldn't afford to pass out now. Not when he was still so far from understanding this power.
But his body was becoming more and more fragile with each passing moment.
"I need food," he muttered under his breath, blinking hard to clear the fog from his mind. The thought barely registered before his stomach growled again — a loud, insistent reminder of the hunger he'd been ignoring. He needed to find something, anything.
He pushed himself upright, rubbing his temples, and squinted at the landscape ahead. The clearing he stood in was surrounded by dense forest, the trees tall and ominous, casting long shadows in the fading light of the day. Everything about this world felt... wrong. The air itself seemed thinner, colder. But there had to be something edible here. There has to be.
Orin pushed forward, keeping his pace steady despite the nagging dizziness. He had learned to ignore the discomfort in his body as best as he could, but the hunger made it harder to focus. His mind kept drifting back to the same thought: I'm running out of time.
The rift. He couldn't forget about it. He couldn't ignore it, either. He felt the pull of the instability in the air, the growing pressure on his senses. He hadn't fully understood what it was — or how it had appeared in the first place — but he knew it was connected to everything. This corruption, the collapse of the universe. The thin veil between worlds was cracking, slowly but surely. The question was: why?
Focus on food, Orin thought, pushing the rift out of his mind for the moment. His stomach growled louder, making it impossible to ignore.
The sounds of the forest felt strange too — hollow, empty, like the world around him had been drained of life. He spotted some wild berries and knelt down to collect them, but the faint dizziness was starting to cloud his vision again. They wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough.
He could feel the hunger gnawing at him, making his body sluggish, even as the Chaos energy inside him pulsed and hummed. Was it feeding him in some way? Did it replace the need for food? He wasn't sure. But he couldn't rely on it forever. Not with how weak he was feeling.
And just as he was about to turn and leave the clearing, his eyes caught something moving in the trees. A small, brown animal — a rabbit, perhaps — darting through the underbrush.
Orin didn't hesitate. The Chaos energy flared in his palms, the pulse of power quickening his reflexes as he sprinted forward. He was faster than he had ever been before. The Chaos energy was pushing him now, urging him forward, and the blur of his own movements almost disoriented him.
He reached out, grabbed the rabbit in one swift motion, and twisted it from the ground before it had a chance to escape. He barely took a breath before he found a suitable spot to break the animal's neck, the rawness of the kill shocking him for a moment.
But then, he froze.
The blood on his hands... the violence. The hunger. The weight of it all.
His stomach churned.
He had never been a stranger to survival instincts. But now, in this world, it was all so much more raw. So much more real.
But the gnawing hunger in his stomach wouldn't allow him to hesitate. Not anymore.
He quickly cleaned and prepared the rabbit, the Chaos energy not fully able to help with cooking, but it did keep him steady, despite the strange sensations of exhaustion creeping up on him. The small meal didn't last long, but it was something. Just enough to stave off the gnawing emptiness.
For now, he was able to focus — if only for a short while — on something besides the Chaos energy and the rift pulling at him. But he knew the battle wouldn't stop there.