I am Gandalf

Midsummer.

Night.

The sky is dotted with stars.

At the edge of the forest, a faint firelight flickers.

"Pop. Crackle. Pop."

Grease-soaked firewood snaps and pops within the flames.

A tall, sturdy youth sits cross-legged beside the fire, roasting a bloody, fur-covered bear paw skewered on a sharpened wooden stick.

The scent of roasting meat spreads continuously into the surroundings.

Deep within the forest, pairs of glowing green eyes reflect the firelight, watching the distant blaze. They sniff the air and growl incessantly, appearing quite restless.

Beside the fire, the cold, massive corpse of a Giant Bear, nearly three meters in length, lies still.

The youth glances sideways at the wolf pack in the forest, completely unconcerned.

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

Over half a month ago, he arrived in this world from the Great Celestial Empire, his soul transmigrating into the body of a youth named Morgan.

At that time, Morgan was being hunted and was on the verge of dying under the swords of two guards.

As a veteran fighter, Morgan rose up to fight back, killing the two guards and extracting some information about this strange world from them.

This is an era of cold weapons, similar to medieval Europe on Earth.

Morgan and the two soldiers both came from a place called Fero Town; like the soldiers, he was a member of the Town Guard.

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

The superior then used his public office to settle a private grudge, sending soldiers to hunt him down, which led to the scene where he transmigrated.

Having killed the two guards, he certainly could not return to Fero Town.

After thoroughly looting the bodies, Morgan left the scene quickly.

After dealing with his spoils in a village not far from Fero Town, he bought a horse and left that village overnight to avoid trouble.

Because the original owner had lived in Fero Town since birth, his meager memories provided extremely limited knowledge of places outside the town.

Morgan could only ride his horse aimlessly, wandering until now.

"Sizzle."

Grease dripping from the bear paw hits the fire, making a sizzling sound.

"Almost done."

Morgan sniffs the meaty aroma wafting from the bear paw and cannot help but swallow his saliva.

This Giant Bear is the largest prey he has caught in these past few days.

Originally, he had only intended to catch some random game for dinner as usual.

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

Using both his bow and longsword, Morgan nearly had his arm broken before he finally managed to kill the massive beast.

He certainly couldn't finish such a huge Giant Bear by himself.

Since it is summer, he needs to process this Giant Bear as quickly as possible.

Such a large bear could sell for a significant amount of money, which is very important for Morgan, whose pockets are already empty.

Fortunately, he is not far from the nearest human settlement.

Looking at the fragrant bear paw before him, Morgan focuses his mind.

Swish, swish, swish.

Lines of virtual data emitting a pale white light begin to appear before his eyes.

[Time Traveler: Morgan]
[Race: Human]
[Biological 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 actually appeared."

Looking at the data "1" clearly displayed next to the Soul Power column, Morgan's face lit up with joy: "It finally appeared!"

This thing before his eyes had appeared right after Morgan killed those two guards.

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

But there had never been any changes.

When he looked yesterday, the Soul Power column was still completely empty.

Now, the data "1" had appeared next to the Soul Power column.

Having pondered this for so many days, Morgan reacted immediately and looked toward the Giant Bear carcass nearby.

Aside from the time spent battling this Giant Bear today, he had spent all his time traveling.

The source of the Soul Power was very likely from this Giant Bear, and it could only have come from this Giant Bear.

"Whew."

After staring at the Giant Bear carcass for a long while, Morgan let out a long breath.

Before this, he had spent a long time pondering and thinking about this so-called system, and had even made quite a few attempts.

Now, he understood everything.

Soul Power: It should be obtainable by killing other living beings.

But the condition is: the strength of the killed creature needs to be stronger than his own, or at least comparable to his own.

At the very least, it cannot be too much lower than his, because Morgan had previously hunted a lone Wild Wolf.

Other than obtaining a carcass, he had received nothing else.

As for the others, Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Spirit should represent the four major attributes of his body.

Looking at the faint "+" signs appearing after each major attribute, they should be what require Soul Power to be strengthened.

The "Abilities" data below is also easy to understand; it represents the skills he has mastered.

"Common Tongue" should be something that came with the system.

"Muay Thai LV2" should be the reason for his past life as a veteran underground fighter.

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

"Archery LV1" is the same; it is what the original owner learned in Fero Town.

As for the faint "+" signs appearing after Muay Thai, White Crow Swordsmanship, and Archery, presumably, strengthening and upgrading them also requires Soul Power.

"Talent: Intimacy (Special Skill)" is a skill that can improve relationships; what the specific effects are will only be known after using it.

And on the last line of the system before his eyes: "Current World Exploration Progress 0.01%".

Taking it literally, it should mean traveling the world and exploring it.

But this world is similar to the medieval era of cold weapons; there are no cars or airplanes, so how could he possibly travel the whole world?

It is very likely he won't be able to complete it even if he walks until he dies.

Morgan has other interpretations of this, but for now, he has no evidence.

Come to think of it, Morgan's predecessor was a veteran fighter who was somewhat famous.

At most, he would only fight one or two underground matches a month.

The rest of the time was spent either training, reading, watching movies, or traveling to relax.

He knew he had encountered a miraculous opportunity.

Instead of being panicked upon arriving in this world, he felt an eager sense of excitement.

This is the era of cold weapons, where the importance of individual martial prowess goes without saying.

And there is this so-called "Time Traveler System" on him.

Thinking about his future achievements, Morgan felt thrilled.

"Sizzle."

"Sizzle, sizzle."

Suddenly, the sound of oil popping from the campfire in front of him grew loud.

Morgan snapped back to reality, looked at the charred lump in his hand, and flew into a rage: "Damn it, the bear paw is burnt!"

Cursing as he tossed the burnt bear paw aside, Morgan quickly skewered another one.

Just then, a sound suddenly came from the vast wilderness outside.

Morgan immediately turned his head and saw a person riding a horse, approaching quickly.

With one hand roasting the bear paw, Morgan's other hand had already gripped the hilt of the Cross Longsword beside him.

A tall old man with a kind face, wearing a gray robe, sporting long gray hair, and holding a wooden staff, rode his horse closer.

He dismounted, stepped forward, and looked at Morgan with a gentle smile: "Forgive my intrusive visit late at night."

"I am Gandalf."