The World of Felander.
The Age of Titans and Dragons.
Gaoman Mountain, where the boundless grasslands kiss the edge of ancient forests.
The great sun blazed overhead, a searing orb of fire scorching the world below like a relentless furnace!
"The Gaoman Mountain Tribe has received a decree from the Royal Court! Fifty eagle warriors are hereby summoned! You have three days to reach the Vast Sea Forest and obey the commands of the God of Thunder!"
High above the jagged cliff, the air thrummed with tension.
A lone eagle figure, his gray-black wings beating powerfully, hovered in the sky. His talons gripped a spear carved from bone, its tip gleaming faintly in the harsh sunlight. His voice boomed, a sharp cry that echoed down to the eagle people clustered on the cliff below.
Down on the windswept cliff, amidst the throng of feathered folk.
Jarius Veyron raised his head, his mind a fog of confusion. His gaze darted around—up to the endless sky, then to the strange beings surrounding him.
"Where… where the hell am I?!"
It didn't take long for the truth to sink in, sharp and undeniable.
All around him stood creatures straight out of a fevered dream—human faces peering from beneath hooked bird beaks, eagle talons clicking against stone, wings draped in gray-black feathers.
They were clad in rough, patched hides, their frames gaunt and wiry, faces sallow from years of hunger gnawing at their bones.
And him? He was one of them—a fledgling eagle person, barely more than a child, standing close to a motherly figure with weathered feathers.
Before he could fully grasp it, a flood of fragmented memories rushed into his skull, snippets of a life that wasn't his… yet somehow was.
"Messenger! Our tribe numbers barely two hundred souls! If all our young and able leave, how are we supposed to survive this forsaken wilderness? I beg you, show us some mercy!"
From the crowd on the cliff, a towering eagle man stepped forward, his broad shoulders straining against his patched beast-skin cloak. His voice trembled with desperation as he pleaded with the winged emissary above.
But the messenger's eyes were cold, his beak twitching with disdain. He didn't even flinch.
"Hmph. I don't give a damn about your excuses. Get there on time, and you might live. Fail, and your pitiful tribe's as good as ash!"
With a dismissive flap of his wings, he shot into the sky, vanishing into the distance. Behind him, he left only the hollow stares of eagle folk, their faces etched with dread.
Nightfall.
A flickering bonfire crackled atop the cliff, its warm glow a frail shield against the creeping dark.
The tribe's last scraps of meat sizzled over the flames, the scent mingling with the bitter wind.
The young warriors ate in silence, their jaws tight, while their kin hovered close—wives, children, elders—all watching with eyes full of unspoken fear.
Jarius stood beside his mother, her presence a quiet anchor. Next to them loomed a male eagle person, his stature commanding even in the dim light.
This was the tribe's chieftain—the same broad-shouldered figure who'd begged the messenger earlier that day.
He finished his meager portion, then turned to Jarius. A heavy sigh escaped him as he rested a clawed hand on the boy's head, a faint smile breaking through his weathered features.
"My son, you've got to grow up strong and healthy, you hear me?"
The words hit Jarius like a gust of wind. He wasn't the same soul who'd once owned this body, but the young eagle's memories stirred something deep within him—a flicker of warmth, a pang of connection.
Then the chieftain turned to the female eagle at his side, his tone growing solemn.
"My love, this war between the Titan gods and the Ancient Dragons—it's raged for a thousand years. Ten years back, our fathers marched off and never returned. Now it's our turn, and who knows if we'll make it back alive? When I'm gone, Jarius' in your hands. Raise him well."
Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, her voice trembling as she clutched at hope.
"Can't we just refuse? Flee Gaoman Mountain, hide somewhere far away?"
"No chance," he replied, his voice heavy with resignation. "The Titans and Dragons carve up this whole damn world between them. Here, we can scrape by, barely breathing. Anywhere else? We'd be hunted down and wiped out."
Her breath hitched. "My love, you have to come back safe. Promise me."
"I'll try," he said softly. "I will."
Dawn of the Second Day.
As the first rays of light pierced the horizon, the tribe's young warriors took flight. Led by the eagle father, they soared westward, their silhouettes shrinking against the vast sky, bound for the Vast Sea Forest.
Back on the cliff, the old, the weak, the women, and the children watched them go. Their arms tightened around their little ones, as if holding them close could fend off the inevitable.
...
Three Years Later.
In a shadowed forest near Gaoman Mountain, the air was thick with the scent of pine and blood.
Jarius perched on a high branch, his talons wrapped around a short stone spear. His eyes—sharp, vertical slits glinting with cold light—locked onto the chaos unfolding below.
Two thick-skinned boars, one massive and one small, thrashed against a trio of snarling forest wolves. The smaller boar was already a goner, half its skull torn away, lifeless in the dirt.
The larger one, maddened by grief, didn't care about the gashes raking its hide. It lowered its head, tusks gleaming, and charged.
One wolf went down, impaled through the chest. Another yelped as its belly split open, collapsing in a twitching heap.
The last wolf lunged, sinking its fangs into the boar's neck for the killing blow.
That's when the air split with a piercing eagle's cry.
Jarius launched from the treetop, wings snapping open as he plummeted. His spear flashed, driving straight into the wolf's eye with lethal precision.
The beast howled, then crumpled.
[You have killed a forest wolf. EXP +10]
He didn't pause. Spinning mid-flight, he spotted the wounded wolf struggling on the ground. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the spear.
It sang through the air, burying itself in the wolf's throat.
[You have killed a forest wolf. EXP +10]
The fight was over in a heartbeat—clean, brutal, and fast.
Only then did three young eagle boys flutter down from the trees, their wings still shaky with inexperience.
"Jarius, you're unreal!" one gasped.
"We hadn't even hit the ground, and you'd already taken them out!" another chimed in.
Jarius flashed a quick grin, nodding.
"Soren, Lirien, Laith—grab some of the haul and head back. I'll keep watch here."
"Got it, Jarius. Stay safe!"
They called, hefting the two boars between them before taking off into the sky.
Once they were gone, Jarius swept away the wolves' bloody stench with a few deft moves, then returned to his perch.
He settled on the branch, staring out at the sun dipping low in the west, its amber light bleeding across the horizon. With a flick, he shook the gore from his spear.
"Open panel."
[Name]: Jarius Veyron
[Race]: Eagle Person
[Age]: 9
[Attributes]: Strength 5, Constitution 4, Spirit 9, Agility 8, Charisma 3.
[Level]: Locked (Sealed, to be unlocked after the game starts)
[Skills]: Throwing (Proficient), Spear Technique (Proficient)
[Skill Points]: Locked (Sealed, to be unlocked after the game starts)
[Talents]: None
[Quest System]: Locked (Sealed, to be unlocked after the game starts)
[Game Start Countdown]: 3650136 days,5 hours,35 minutes.
That damn countdown stared back at him, and Jarius' lip twitched in frustration.
Reincarnated as an eagle person, dropped into a world on the brink of collapse, and the game system was still offline.
"Am I an NPC or a player? Who even knows at this point?"
He let out a long, weary sigh.
"The system's useless for now. Guess I'm on my own. At least I've got attributes and skills to peek at—not a total loss."
The sunset painted the leaves gold, a fleeting beauty in this harsh land.
Jarius snapped off a twig, twirling it absently as he muttered to himself.
"Nothing better to do, so let's run through it again."
"Three years in this world, and I've nailed it down—this is the ancient era of 'Felander World,' the chapter of Titans and Dragons."
"Back when I played the game, it was the fifth chapter, the rise of the human empire."
By then, this age was ancient history. After some big, messy war, the Titans vanished, and the Dragons holed up on Dragon Island."
"There's barely anything on this time period. All I've got is one memory: three years before the Titans and Dragons threw down for the last time, the God of Thunder, Yatri, offed the Ancient Dragon Emperor's favorite kid—the Blue Dragon King, Alileitos."
"That's the guy who kicked off the blue dragon lineage."
"That was the spark."
"The Dragon Emperor lost it, threw his whole army at the Titans, and they tore each other apart. Gave the goblins a nice opening to crawl out of the muck."
"Back then, I didn't give two feathers about the eagle people's story."
"But right now? They've got a royal court lording over hundreds of thousands of them across this ancient world. They're still counted as an 'intelligent race.'"
He glanced down at his scrawny, feathered frame and sighed again.
"Eagle people… by the fifth chapter, they're just weak-ass monsters. Kicked out of the 'intelligent race' club. Players don't even get the option to roll one at character creation."
"And honestly? They suck. This teenage eagle body—I've tried every trick from later eras, and I can't awaken a shred of extraordinary power."
"No talent, no nothing."
"If I can't even hit that baseline, the future's looking grim."
His brow furrowed as he chewed on the problem.
"But there's that one story from the fifth chapter—a legend."
"Some random turtle soaked in Titan blood back in these ancient days and climbed all the way to demigod status. Lived long enough to mess with players."
"I figured I'd try the same trick, awaken something special."
"But three years here, and the word is Titan blood doesn't empower you—it fries you to a crisp. No exceptions."
"So how'd that damn turtle pull it off? Survive the blood and come out swinging with godly power?"
Jarius sank into thought, his mind drifting back.
"I did that turtle's quest once. If I dig deep, maybe there's a hint buried in there somewhere…"