Date of Origin
The tsunami wave crashed louder than the sounds of an explosion of dynamite in a controlled demolition. The water washed away the town's buildings like it was nothing more than an architect made out of the sand. It was the extinguishing of existence, of a way of life, millions of people's lives were lost as a result.
It wasn't just the building that got washed away to the sea, it was everything that mankind made up to this moment. In its wakes, we were like leaves floating above waters, as numerous humanoid corpses floated above the ocean seabed.
The painful sensation, as the weight of the ocean, pressed against me. My body sinking into the depths of the ocean, having been trapped underneath the debris, unable to escape. Air bubbles escaped my lungs. With no further alternative options left, I resigned to my fates. My visions fading, submerged by underwater, I glanced back at the fleeting light swirls refracted off the surface of the water.
So this is death, huh? Who knew that I would die by the hands of mother nature. This unnatural tsunami, the biggest recorded wave in history, has swept the entirety of the United Kingdom away, and the surrounding islands. Everything is now submerged underwater. Millions of lives were lost, swept to the bottom of the seabed, with no way to retrieve the deceased body.
Day 001
I felt something. The feeling of being alive. My body is submerged in some kind of fluid. It felt a bit sticky, as it sticks to my bare skin. Trapped in a tight space, surrounded by translucent spherical eggshells.
'Have I been reborn? Is this an eggshell or some kind of pod. What am I? Am I even human anymore?' I thought.
This still does not quell my sense of unrest. I still haven't gotten over my death, but since I was not too attached to my last life. It didn't take me long to accept the new reality that I've been reborn. After experience reincarnation first hand. I am now curious about what I will eventually become. Seeing as how I am submerged underwater, trapped in a semi-transparent egg, I must be some kind of aquatic animal.
'A fish... Maybe not, since I could feel countless limps, multiple legs, and no fins. An amphibian. Not exact, since I have lots of legs, but no individual toes.' I assumed.
Tapping my many feet against the translucent eggshell, I could feel a strange sensation. It's not like the typical sensation of having skin touching against a smooth surface. It's more like wearing exterior clothing, in a sense, it's more akin to armor.
'Am I a shellfish. Maybe a crustacean.' I came to a logical conclusion based on my findings.
It was time for me to emerge out of my shell, as I twist and turn, with my numerous spiney lance-like legs, I pierced into the eggshell interior. It putting a strain on the pale translucent oval cage of organic material. It then ripped apart like paper, piece by piece, it broke.
'I am now free.' I happily exclaimed.
Emerging out from the translucent oval-shaped eggshell, my body floats suspended in the body water. Instinctively, relying on my instinct, my body reacted, as my many arrays of feet start kicking, spurring backward in motions, propelling me forwards. This sort of feeling...
'It is amazing. Now I understand why aquatic life feels so interesting. Its way of life is certainly quite different compare to us land mammals.' I thought.
Swimming across the ocean seabed, my interest in aquatic life is piqued. With my sense of curiosity fulfilled, I raised my legs upwards, seeing many spiney like spider legs. I can only come to a logical conclusion.
'I am a Shrimp. Well, life as a shrimp won't be too bad. It would at least be interesting for a start.' I thought.
Amidst my discovery, a small aquatic critter, crescent body shaped, covered in translucent white shell armor, swims steadily past me.
A creature that resembles a shrimp. It's tiny and young, pure white, with semi-developed shell exoskeleton. Fully black pupils. It's developed whiskers swirling around as it moves. The creature is of the same kind of species as me.
'It was not alone.' I thought as I saw more of my brethren.
There were as many as hundreds or even thousands of us, baby shrimps, floating around beneath the ocean seabed. Thousands of empty or sometimes broken translucent eggshells filled the ocean seabed. It left a moment of awe in me, as I gazed back at my birthplace, the place of my birth.
Sometime later, my small belly began to rumble, as I've felt a slumbering sense of hunger behold me.
'I'm hungry!' I thought.
The first obstacle that arrived after my reincarnation and that is acquiring food. Where would I get the food? What do shrimps even eat in the first place?
'If I recall. I remembered watching a nature wildlife video, that wild shrimps in the ocean would eat plant matter, dead fish, clams, snails and crabs, worms and any other decaying organic matter they find. Basically a scavenger. Pure omnivores, as they would eat anything they would find...' I thought.
'Finding dead carcasses of deceased animals would be quite difficult, but not impossible. However, wandering away from the nest is that a safe idea.' I thought.
An idea suddenly came to mind, as I eagerly swam down deep to the ocean seabed, landing on the rocky ground. My landing then sends a small flurry of sand in all directions. Curious to test the experiment, I eagerly made my made to the area, that is packed full with broken eggshells.
With my small tiny mandible, I start to nibble and devour on the broken bits of the shattered gelatinous translucent eggshells.
[You have consumed the broken remains of the Ghost Shrimp's eggshells...]
[High Calcium concentration detected...]
[Due to being in an early infancy stage, 48 hours after birth, the host will experience accelerated evolutionary growth...]
'Evolutionary growth...' I commented.
[Due to being in an accelerated evolutionary phase. The high concentration of calcium detected in the host's body has hastened the development of the host's exoskeleton. The prerequisite racial skill { Weak Armour Lv1}{ Reinforced Exoskeleton Lv1} { Tier 1 Defence up Lv1} acquired...]
'Well, cool! I've obtained skills and abilities. This is so much more like a game than I thought.' I commented.
Feeling contented, I continued to happily devour on the remains of the eggshells, till I am full. Though the taste may be a bit mild and tasteless, the salty contents of the ocean waters, somehow affected my tastebuds.
'I will have to make do with this for now until I've leveled up my defenses, sufficient enough to increase my chance of survival.' I thought.
As my small belly starts to grow bigger, I'm becoming a lot fatter. Me, a fat shrimp. However, due to the accelerated evolutionary phase, my growth rate is being accelerated, and the calories I've built up are being burned at an extreme rate, converting the excess nutrients into organic material to strengthen my exoskeleton.
Slowly, as I continued to diet on the eggshells, my semi-transparent white exoskeletons then become a lot thicker, stronger, and durable. Enough to be able to withstand many blows. However, there is no guarantee that there is no such predator that could easily devour me in one bite, because of the size differences.
'It is only logical to think of this kind of situation, as the deep ocean is extremely vast.' I commented.
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The skill { Weak Armor Lv1} has become { Weak Armor Lv2}...]
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The Skill { Reinforced Exoskeleton Lv1} has become { Reinforced Exoskeleton Lv2}...]
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The skill { Tier 1 Defence up Lv1} has become { Tier 1 Defence up Lv2}...]
The original semi-transparent white exoskeleton starts to become a lot more opaque, losing the transparency, as I increased the levels of my {Reinforced Exoskeleton} skill.
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The skill { Tier 1 Defence up Lv2} has become { Tier 1 Defence up Lv3}...]
When night vastly approaches, darkness soon covers the underwater seabed. The only source of light in this vast aquatic life area comes from the moon. The crescent-shaped moon, though it gave off the minimalist amount of light, it is still far from enough to light up a path for the nocturnal creatures of the night.
Similar to others, I alongside my other siblings, burrowed our bodies into the grounds. The dirt soil stuck to our bodies, camouflaging us from incoming predators.