Tony and Eric tumbled out of the shimmering golden portal, landing unceremoniously in the middle of a dense forest. Tony groaned, pushing himself up from the damp ground while brushing off dirt from his suit. His eyes darted around, scanning the environment.
"We really came to another world..." he muttered, his voice a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
The scenery surrounding them was breathtaking. Towering trees surrounded them, their massive trunks stretching skyward, with thick vines twisting around them. The dense canopy filtered the sunlight, allowing only a few scattered rays to illuminate the forest floor. Lush greenery sprawled all around them, with tall grass almost reaching their knees. It was a picturesque scene, reminiscent of the Amazon rainforest.
"Huh..." Tony exhaled, placing his hands on his hips as he observed his surroundings with an unimpressed look. "I mean, it's nice and all, but this looks just like a rainforest. I was expecting something... you know, more alien."
Tony let out a small sigh. "Like a place made out of lava or something."
Eric, on the other hand, saw something entirely different. His sharp eyes perceived a world brimming with energy. It was everywhere flowing through the trees, the wind, even the ground beneath their feet. Though subtle, it was undeniably powerful and exceptionally pure.
With a smirk, he turned to Tony and scoffed. "You country bumpkin. Of course, you can't tell the difference."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"You can't see it, can you? This world is practically overflowing with energy."
"Seriously?" Tony's eyes widened as he tried once again to observe his surroundings with a more analytical gaze. "Damn it, I don't see anything. You're messing with me, aren't you?"
Eric scoffed. "Yeah, sure. If you say so."
Eric frowned. Something was off. "Neith, what's going on? I thought our bodies would adapt to this world, letting us use its energy."
Neith—the system Eric had long since named—responded in her usual calm, mechanical tone.
[Boss, both your and Tony's bodies have successfully adapted to this world's fundamental laws. However, you may need to learn how to channel its energy before you can fully utilize it.]
Eric narrowed his eyes. "So, we're connected to this world's energy, but we can't use it yet?"
He tried to reach out with his senses. He could feel the energy—like an invisible current flowing through everything—but it refused to bend to his will. He could push against it, but that was all.
"Tch... looks like I can barely nudge it," he muttered. "It's there, but it's not responding easily."
It almost like pushing air with your hand, you can displaced it, but you can not say it is air manipulation or something.
"Damn it, so we still have to figure it out on our own," he muttered in annoyance.
Tony, who had been attempting to feel the energy himself, cursed under his breath. "What the hell? This is like trying to start an engine with invisible fuel! You said I'd be able to use it, but all I'm getting is nothing."
Eric shrugged. "We have to learn how people here use it first. Otherwise, you'll have to develop your own method."
Tony let out a dramatic groan. "Great. Another thing to add to my never-ending list of work. So, what's the plan now?"
Eric glanced around, his mind already working. "Simple. We gather intelligence. We need to understand the structure of this world—how its energy works, what kind of civilizations exist, and whether there's anything valuable enough to take back with us. If there's nothing worthwhile, then consider this a glorified vacation." It's not like we came to other worlds every day."
Tony rolled his eyes, not impressed. "A vacation in the middle of a forest? How luxurious."
While speaking, Eric focused inward, attempting to manipulate his own power. His abilities had already undergone a transformation after adapting to Marvel's laws, evolving into something akin to a self-sustaining dimension, His powers had always been adaptive, shifting to fit the rules of whatever world he entered, and in the process becoming stronger. Now, after stepping into this new world, he could sense subtle restraints pressing against him, like a thin veil limiting his reach. It wasn't particularly strong—he could break free with minimal effort—but he refrained from brute-forcing past it and instead waited for Neith to finish its analysis, who knows what kind of world he is inn, if he attracts some big guy, that will be too much fun, don't even think about anything else, he has to just run away with Tony to save their life, then 5 months will be wasted.
So, he just waited for Neith analysis to complete, before taking any kind of action.
Sure enough, the analysis didn't take long to process the information.
[Analysis complete. World data has been compiled and matched against previous knowledge. Displaying status window.]
Eric nodded and brought up his status screen...
As expected, the system didn't disappoint.
A translucent blue screen materialized before Eric's eyes.
[Status Window]
Name: Eric William
World of Origin: Marvel 616
Traveled Worlds: Solo Leveling, Naruto
Energy Level: 2C [Multiversal]
Intelligence: Gifted
Current World: Naruto
Inventory: Exchange Card x2
Eric's lips curled into a smirk as he read the results. "Hah. So this is the Naruto world, huh? Interesting."
He is not particularly happy about it, but this world is not that useless either.
Anyway he can't be lucky every time, he travels to other worlds.