Rushing water could be felt hitting Alto, then retreating. It was never too long before they returned. First caressing his fe–
'Hold up.'
Alto took his head out of the sand and began to look around. The sand itself was quite uncomfortable. There were also some grains inside his mouth.
There was a vast beach surrounding the young man. Not too far away, a massive mountain range could be seen going inland. It was strange, it was like the sand transitioned to snow. Then kept going up. There were also some trees. They looked similar to pine trees.
'How did I survive that fall?'
Alto turned around, to a vast expanse of ocean. There were no flying turtles and the sun was high in the sky.
'Wasn't the sun just setting? This doesn't make sense.'
Alto tried his best to remember what exactly happened. The last thing he remembers is being inches away from the water. Then he woke up on a beach in the middle of the day.
"Ah, I get it. There was no flying turtle. I just made all of that up. Then I forgot all my memories of going to this beach."
He had a smile on his face.
"Must have been just a silly dream."
Though, he doubted it. His body felt much different after fighting those creature's. Stronger, faster, more durable. He still felt the same as the dream.
"System…"
The panel popped up.
'Damnit.'
He was still in the fantasy world. The question he continued asking himself, was just how he survived that fall?
He slowly stood up while looking at the ocean. Then he looked down, checking for any injuries. He was surprised to find a red ribbon on his wrist.
Confused, he untied the thing. It seemed to be just a normal ribbon. The ribbon wasn't tied in a knot, it was wrapped around his wrist. He questioned exactly what happened then. He then dismissed the idea for now. He managed to survive at least.
He hesitated then rewrapped the long cloth around his wrist. He then started walking up the hill.
There was a strange line in which the sand became snow. The line wasn't that far away from the water. It was strange, it wasn't that cold. So how could there be snow here?
Alto crossed that line, he immediately felt cold. The temperature drastically changed. He wasn't in proper attire for snow either.
He quickly hurried back to the beach. Then the temperature was normal once again.
Alto reached his hand over the invisible line. The moment his fingers crossed it, they were once again cold.
'Damn.'
Alto ended up walking across the beach, he was low on provisions. So he couldn't travel for long.
After a few hours, he came across a road leading into the mountains. The road disappeared behind a multitude of valleys and hills.
Alto had been traveling for a while, most of this consisted of him thinking while walking across the sand.
So he wanted to try something. Alto hesitated while staring at the road. The road itself stretched all the way beneath the waves. To the mountains themselves. Alto then walked to the imaginary line.
So far, Alto only knew how to use fire magic. While using fire magic. He felt a strange sensation running through his body. It was most likely the mana traveling through it. So Alto had a strange idea.
Instead of trying to summon the heat outside of his body, he would summon it inside instead. Not hot enough to truly burn him, just a small warm flame.
The only issue was his mana reserves. They wouldn't drain too fast due to the intensity of the flame. However, if he didn't make it to some place in time then he would be left to freeze to death.
Alto stepped across the imaginary line. He was hit with a sudden chill. Then he froze, closing his eyes while he summoned an internal flame to specific parts of his body.
It still felt cold. Now though, it was bearable. Certain parts of his body felt cold and the rest felt strangely warm. It was a weird sensation.
Alto continued following the trail. After around twenty minutes, he stopped for a brief minute. He gathered some wooden sticks, and a large piece of wood near the trail. Alto, assumed it must have fallen out of some transport. Then he dug out a small clearing in the snow. Placing the wood on top of it.
Then he drew a runic circle on a piece of wood. Drawing a line out of its small radius. Putting another piece of wood on top of that. Alto, used his remaining mana to light it a blaze.
Luckily it caught fire. Alto assumed that it wouldn't due to it being moist. Planning to summon a magic stone in order to have a sure flame instead.
Alto then repeated this cycle several times.
There was also an issue with the rate Alto regenerated mana as well. It just couldn't be helped.
Eventually a blizzard appeared. Alto could barely see in front of him. Traversing the path. He hasn't fully regained his mana yet. The blizzard turned out to be too much for the small flame.
The sky was grey, the surroundings were gray, snow was hitting like small pellets, the ground was white, and Alto could only see maybe ten feet in front of him. Covering his eyes with his elbow, he continued forward.
Then a small luminescent light appeared. It was dim at first. However, the closer Alto moved to it the brighter it became.
A single small light in a world of grey, Alto continued forward.