Beast Plane. Run! Run! And Run Again!

Thrown into another world, Ethan was confused at what he was seeing. All he could see was a vast land. As someone who had lived in the city all his life, his confusion was apparent. The land had no end; besides it was daytime, and sun was scorching hot. The most peculiar thing was, he couldn't even see the sun. All he could see were tree, tall, gigantic trees. They hovered over him, casting their shade over him which should have normally blocked the heat of the sun but that wasn't the case. It was as hot as a desert and as green as a rainforest. He moved forward to explore a bit. He could feel some distinct but dangerous auras. Of course, he was in a beast plane, and he instinctively knew that ignorance could kill him. His clothes were already soaked wet with sweat before he crossed five trees. He felt his energy draining slowly and his sight becoming drowsy. He looked up at the tree he was under when he felt something amiss and got a shock could kill him if he wasn't a bit calm.

"What the..."

[You better run, kid]

Ethan sprinted through the literal forest of Thermalions. He glanced around him and noticed a small one, more like a sprout and that's when he saw their real appearance. The leaves were actually opened palms for absorption of energy. The branches were countless outstretched arms spread in all directions. The yellowish orange fruits were eyes that could see around, a 360 view and that wasn't all. The small Thermalion posed to jump, and it actually jumped. Its stem split into two and its roots turned out to be clawed feet as it chased Ethan. The bigger ones sensing the prey escaping all got out of their places and chased after Ethan. Ethan poured more energy into his body and sprinted through the forest of Thermalions. Some jumped; the sprouts, on him pushing him to dodge with all he had. He used his speed, stamina and perception to the maximum, but it didn't seem to be enough. The Thermalions with their tall and heavy bodies weren't affected in any way. Their speed could be said to be almost greater than Ethan's. Within seconds, they were right on his heels and sucking his energy. As someone who had just recently awakened, he was very tenacious but not for the system.

[Seriously? Is this the best you can do?]

"You blackmailer! Now I'm going to die!" Ethan shouted. He was reaching his limits and considering all the time he wasted standing under the Thermalions, a good portion of his energy was gone.

[Don't care.] A simple but cold answer.

"You..." Before Ethan could finish his statement, a Thermalion sprout jumped and grabbed him. He struggled to escape but to no avail. Its grip was too strong. The beast gave a low shriek; that's when he saw its mouth. A scary blackhole. It seems he was going to be sucked.

"Oh shit!" Ethan unconsciously unleashed his aura which couldn't even be counted as one and unconsciously covered himself in it as protection. His intelligence was at play as he managed to form a kind of shield to protect himself from the energy draining ability of the beast.

Even with that, the Thermalion still gripped him tightly, not willing to let go of its delicious prey. He accumulated the little bit of energy he could get to power his aura and centered it around his right hand and delivered a sluggish uppercut to the beast. The attack managed to injure the beast a bit but couldn't kill it. The only good thing was that the beast released him as it was feeling the pain. He fell down but quickly got up and run with everything he got.

[Hahahahahahahahahaha!]

...

Ethan lied down on a patch of grass under a huge tree to catch his breath. He had expended every ounce of energy left in his mundane body. At least he was able to escape with difficulty, the pack of Thermalions. It even got him wondering what would happen if these beasts appeared back on Earth? But that will be for another day. Now he was checking his stats. At least his struggles should have paid off.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: Ethan Smith Junior

Race: Mixed Human

Strength: 06+02=08

Speed: 09+03=12

Stamina: 11+03=14

Perception: 02+02=04

Intelligence: 22

Affinity Energy: 37

Level: 1[02/10]

Stat Points: 15

Current Form: [Mixed Human]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

'Let's make some distributions!'

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: Ethan Smith Junior

Race: Mixed Human

Strength: 08+07=15

Speed: 12+03=15

Stamina: 14+01=15

Perception: 04+04=08

Intelligence: 22

Affinity Energy: 37

Level: 1[02/10]

Stat Points: 00

Current Form: [Mixed Human]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Nice distribution. But note. From now onwards, getting stat points and automatic points will be very difficult.]

'Huh? Why?'

[Simple. Your stats are let's say, average for a Novice Rank mage. Basically, what a newly awakened Novice Rank has.]

[Getting more will be difficult as they will come in bits or say decimals as yours is calculated by the system.]

[But don't think that you will be weak. In fact, the bits you will be getting are the real definition of power. The whole numbers you were getting are, say, gifts from the system]

'I don't get it?'

[See it as this. You've awakened but you have no Spirit Beast. A Spirit Beast would have filled the gaps but because you don't have one, the system helped you fill these gaps to help you adapt to your surroundings better]

'So, you mean if had a Spirit Beast, these stats would have come naturally.'

[Correct]

'Then if I get a Spirit Beast...'

[Yeah. Where your thoughts are going. The system is to make you reach the top of the world]

'Thanks, Zark.'

[You're welcome. But be vigilante. You are in a beast forest. Danger is everywhere]

'I understand.'

  DING!

[ New Skills Created! Do You Want To Name Them?]

[Yes/No]

'New skills? Zark?'

[Yep. The actions you performed unconsciously with your aura were counted as skills by the system under the Aura Control skill]

'Oh that... I forgot about it. Yes!'

[Defense Aura Skill (Name): ______]

[Attack Aura Skill (Name): ________]

'For the defense, Aura Shell. And the attack, Sky Uppercut.'

[Initializing---Saving---Saved!]

'I gotta practice these skills more and make them stronger.'

[That's the spirit but remember, you have only one use left]

'Crap!'

DING!

[Bonus Quests Initiated!]

* Level Up Aura Control Skill: Create Three New Skills.

* Level Up Sky Uppercut and Aura Shell To At Least High Level.

Time Limit: None.

Reward: Based On Time Spent.

Penalty: None

...

'Nice.'

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

"What the f..." Ethan swallowed his words as he saw the beast before him with its description. Where it came from, he didn't see, or he was too immersed in the system to notice. It was a huge bug, the size of an average dog. Its mouthparts looked like a mixture of claspers and sickles. Its exoskeleton was shiny like metal with a black color with streaks of red in it. Vapor flew out of its nostrils as it flew with its large wings towards Ethan.

"Oh crap!"