I Am Gandalf

Midsummer.

Night.

The sky was speckled with stars.

At the edge of the forest, a faint glow flickered.

"Crack. Crack. Pop."

Greasy firewood snapped and crackled in the flames.

A tall, burly young man sat cross-legged beside the fire. A bloody, furry bear paw was skewered on a sharpened stick in his hand and roasting over the flames.

The smell of cooked meat spread through the air.

Deep in the forest, pairs of green eyes glinted in the firelight as they stared toward the flames. The wolves sniffed the air and growled softly, growing increasingly restless.

Beside the fire lay the cold corpse of a massive bear, nearly three meters long.

The young man glanced at the pack of wolves deep in the forest, unconcerned.

Ma Teng—no, he should be called Morgan now.

A little over half a month ago, he had come from the Great Celestial Empire to this world, his soul transmigrating into the body of a young man named Morgan.

At the time, Morgan had been hunted down and was about to die beneath the swords of two guards.

The seasoned boxer Morgan fought back with all his strength, killed the two guards, and learned a little about this unfamiliar world from them.

It was a cold-weapon age, much like medieval Europe on Earth.

Morgan and the two soldiers were all from a small town called Fero. Like them, he was also a member of the Town Guard.

The reason Morgan was being hunted was that the original owner had slept with the Town Guard captain's wife—in other words, he had cuckolded his superior.

His superior had then abused his authority and sent soldiers after him for revenge, leading to the scene Morgan had transmigrated into.

After killing the two guards, he couldn't go back to Fero Town.

Morgan looted their bodies and quickly left the scene.

After selling his spoils in a village not far from Fero Town,

Morgan bought a horse and left the village that very night to avoid trouble.

Since the original owner had lived in Fero Town from birth, his sparse memories held almost nothing about places beyond the town.

Morgan had no choice but to ride around blindly, and he'd been at it ever since.

"Crackle."

Grease dripped from the bear paw into the fire, hissing as it hit the flames.

"Almost done."

Morgan sniffed the savory aroma rising from the paw and couldn't help swallowing.

This Giant Bear was the biggest prey he'd caught in days.

He'd only meant to catch some ordinary wild game for dinner, like he usually did.

He hadn't expected the Giant Bear to attack him.

He'd used both bow and sword, and nearly had an arm broken before he managed to kill the beast.

There was no way he could eat a bear that big by himself.

It was summer, so he had to get the carcass dealt with quickly.

A bear that size would fetch a hefty sum, which mattered a lot to Morgan, whose pockets were already empty.

Fortunately, the nearest inhabited place wasn't far away.

Staring at the fragrant bear paw in front of him, Morgan focused his mind.

Swish, swish, swish.

Rows of virtual data, glowing a faint white, appeared before his eyes.

[Time Traveler: Morgan]

[Race: Human]

[Creature Level: Tier 1]

[Soul Power: 1]

[Attributes: Strength +; Constitution +; Agility +; Spirit +]

[Abilities: Common Tongue; Muay Thai LV2; White Crow Swordsmanship LV1; Archery LV1]

[Talent: Intimacy (Special Skill)]

[Current World Exploration Progress: 0.01%]

[.]

"Huh, Soul Power has appeared."

Seeing the clear number 1 beside Soul Power, Morgan's face lit up. "It finally showed up!"

This thing had appeared in front of him after he killed the two guards.

For the past half month, Morgan had summoned it almost every day to check for changes.

But nothing had changed at all.

Yesterday, the Soul Power entry had still been blank.

Now, a 1 had appeared beside it.

After pondering it for days, Morgan immediately understood. He turned to look at the Giant Bear's corpse.

Today, aside from the time he'd spent fighting the Giant Bear, he'd been on the move.

Soul Power had probably come from the bear. It could only have come from the bear.

"Phew."

Morgan stared at the bear's corpse for a while, then let out a long breath.

Before this, he'd spent a long time thinking about the system in front of him and had tried all sorts of things.

Now, it all made sense.

Soul Power could probably be gained by killing other creatures.

But there was a condition: the creature he killed had to be stronger than him or roughly his equal.

At the very least, it couldn't be much weaker. Morgan had once hunted a lone Wild Wolf, but all he'd gotten was a corpse.

As for the rest, Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Spirit probably represented the four main attributes of his body.

The faint plus signs beside them likely meant he needed Soul Power to improve them.

The "Abilities" section below was easy enough to understand. It represented the skills he'd mastered.

"Common Tongue" was probably built into the system.

"Muay Thai LV2" was likely because in his previous life, he'd been a seasoned underground boxing champion.

"White Crow Swordsmanship LV1" was the swordsmanship the original owner had learned in the Town Guard.

"Archery LV1" was the same: a skill the original owner had learned in Fero Town.

The faint plus signs after Muay Thai, White Crow Swordsmanship, and Archery probably meant that improving them also required Soul Power.

"Talent: Intimacy (Special Skill)" was a skill that could improve relationships. He'd have to use it to find out exactly how well it worked.

The last line of the system read, "Current World Exploration Progress: 0.01%."

Taken literally, it probably meant traveling around and exploring the world.

But this world was like the Middle Ages, with no cars or airplanes. How could he possibly travel everywhere?

He'd probably die before he could finish.

Morgan had another interpretation, but no evidence to back it up yet.

As for Morgan's former self, he'd been a seasoned boxer and had gained a little fame.

At most, he'd fought one or two underground matches a month.

The rest of the time, he'd spent training, reading, watching movies, or traveling to relax.

He knew he'd stumbled upon an extraordinary opportunity.

Instead of feeling afraid after arriving in this world, he was excited and eager to see what lay ahead.

This was an age of cold weapons. The value of individual fighting ability went without saying.

And then there was the so-called Time Traveler System inside him.

Just thinking about what he might achieve in the future made Morgan excited.

"Fizzle."

"Fizzle, fizzle."

Suddenly, the fire began spitting grease noisily.

Morgan snapped back to his senses and looked at the blackened lump in his hand. He swore furiously. "Damn it, I burned the bear paw!"

Cursing under his breath, he tossed the charred paw aside and quickly skewered another.

Just then, a sound came from the open wilderness nearby.

Morgan immediately turned his head and saw someone riding quickly toward him.

He kept roasting the bear paw with one hand, while the other had already gripped the hilt of the Cross Longsword at his side.

A tall old man in a gray robe, with gray hair and a kindly face, rode closer, a wooden staff in hand.

He dismounted and walked up to Morgan with a warm smile. "Sorry for intruding so late at night."

"I am Gandalf."

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