That time I got reincarnated in another world as myself 2.0

The sensation of falling jolted Adam awake.

His instincts kicked in before his mind fully processed what was happening. His feet hit the ground in a crouch, muscles tensed as if expecting an attack. His breathing was uneven, his heart pounding in his chest.

Something was wrong.

The bed he had fallen asleep in was gone. The familiar walls of his bedroom had vanished.

Instead, he was surrounded by towering trees with crimson leaves, their branches heavy with crystalline fruits that shimmered in the early morning light. The air smelled different—not like the city, not even like the forests back home, but ancient, alive, as if the land itself was breathing.

Adam slowly stood, his fingers brushing against the rough bark of a tree beside him. His mind raced.

"Where the hell am I?"

He looked up at the sky, trying to gauge the time. The horizon was bathed in soft hues of orange and purple, signaling the transition from night to dawn. Nocturnal creatures were retreating into the shadows, while the forest slowly stirred with the awakening of its diurnal inhabitants.

Then, his gaze caught something in the distance.

A massive tree, unlike anything he had ever seen.

It stood at least 400 feet tall, its red bark contrasting sharply with its golden leaves that seemed to glow with an otherworldly aura. The tree looked almost illusory, as if it didn't fully belong in the same reality as everything else around it. Ethereal yet imposing, beautiful yet unnatural.

Something about it unsettled him.

His eyes drifted across the forest, noting a clear pattern—the closer to the tree, the more the foliage turned red; the farther away, the greener and more familiar the landscape became.

"That tree is the center of the forest," Adam concluded.

And if that was the case, then moving away from it would likely lead him out of the woods.

He had no idea how he had ended up here, but finding civilization had just become priority number one.

Just as Adam prepared to move—

ROAR!

A deep, guttural snarl echoed through the trees, shaking the very air. It was a sound of raw, predatory fury, and it sent an uncontrollable shiver down Adam's spine.

Without thinking, his body moved on instinct—he dashed toward the nearest tree, his fingers gripping its rough bark as he climbed with practiced ease. Years of running from fights, scaling fences, and evading trouble had made him fast. He barely made it to the higher branches before the beast emerged from the undergrowth.

A creature stepped into view.

It looked like a fusion of a lion and a saber-tooth tiger, its muscular body covered in thick black fur, lined with sharp, bony spikes running along its back. The most unsettling feature, however, was its tail, which burned with a living fire, flickering and twisting as if it had a will of its own.

Adam's breath hitched. He knew this beast.

The Ember-Tailed Sabretooth.

The realization struck him like lightning. He had seen this creature before—in the book his grandfather had given him.

And that meant—

This isn't Earth.

His mind reeled, but there was no time for shock. The creature sniffed the air, its glowing red eyes scanning the area. For a moment, Adam feared it had sensed him. He held his breath, pressing himself against the tree trunk, muscles coiled in tension.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the beast snorted and moved on, vanishing into the undergrowth.

Adam exhaled shakily.

That was too close.

As he steadied his breathing, something materialized in his hands.

A book.

The same book his grandfather had left him.

Startled, Adam nearly dropped it. His eyes widened as he inspected it—it was identical to before, except this time, the bookmarks were gone.

His grip tightened around the cover.

"The book followed me here? Or… did it bring me here?"

As he pondered the thought, another surprise awaited him.

With a mere thought, the book vanished.

Adam blinked.

He imagined it in his hands again—and it reappeared.

"Well, that's convenient."

Testing it once more, he made it disappear again before finally climbing down the tree. The danger had passed, but his priorities had changed. He needed food, water, and—most importantly—a safe place to rest.

And he needed to figure out just how real the rest of that book was.

One Day Later

Adam had managed to set up a makeshift camp in an uninhabited cave near a small stream.

He had gathered familiar fruits—some he recognized from Earth, others from the book. The crystalline fruits from the red trees intrigued him the most. He picked one that was blood-red, rolling it in his palm.

Still, he kept his guard up. If one creature from the book was real, then who knew what else was lurking out there?

That night, he read through the book again.

New pages had appeared.

The text now detailed something crucial—the process of unlocking and utilizing spirituality, also called ether, the foundation of magic and mysticism.

How to Awaken Spirituality

Step 1:

Clear your mind. Focus. Reach inward to the deepest parts of your soul and draw from the energy contained within.

Step 2:

Visualize three points—Mind, Body, and Soul—then create a bridge connecting them. Once the connection is stable, form a fourth point in the center to act as a container for the produced spirituality.

Step 3:

Extract energy from both the surface and depths of the soul. Stabilize it using the mind and body, then channel it throughout the body, beginning from the heart and ending at the brain.

Adam's pulse quickened.

This was it. The first step toward becoming a true Mystic.

He closed the book, inhaled deeply, and sat cross-legged on the cave floor.

"Alright… Clear my mind. Focus."

His breathing slowed. His thoughts emptied.

Then—

A falling sensation.

It was as if his consciousness had plunged into an endless abyss, yet at the same time, he felt something familiar, something ancient stirring within him.

Power.

He reached for it. A liquid-like energy pooled in his hands, weightless yet dense. Following the instructions, he visualized three orbs—his Mind, Body, and Soul.

One by one, he connected them with golden threads of energy.

The moment the bridge was complete, clarity washed over him. His senses sharpened, his mind felt lighter, and forgotten memories resurfaced with ease.

Finally, he created the fourth point—a container. Unable to comprehend true fourth-dimensional shapes, he settled for the shadow of a tesseract.

He siphoned energy from the deepest and surface layers of his soul, feeding it into the Tesseract until it brimmed with power. Then, he stabilized it—channeling it from his heart throughout his entire body, ending at his brain.

For a brief moment, Adam's eyes flashed red.

His hair became healthier, softer, his skin smoother, nearly flawless. Every muscle, every fiber of his being felt renewed, strengthened.

He had taken the first step on the path of Mysticism.

And this was only the beginning.