It was a pebble, the kind you don't think a lot about. A small rock lying on the side of an unassuming lake, close to a small village.
The pebble didn't think. It wasn't alive, to begin with. It just existed.
That went on for millennia on end, and it was fine with that. Pebbles didn't like things, nor did they dislike them. They were just there.
That was until... something changed.
Heledruin flew through the skies, his wings were enormous, his body was gargantuan, his red-golden scales reflected the sunlight, he was, by all fantastic terms, defined as a Dragon. Were it not for the uncountable injuries on its body, he would be a magnificent creature, an apex in the world.
"To think that I would come to an end like this..." He thought.
Heledruin was old, in fact, he was thousands of years old. By definition he could be already considered an Elder Wyrm. He was one of the greatest of dragons.
But even he, was, in the end, bested.
Heroes were myths. The world was governed by greed and benefits and through the last centuries, dragon products were skyrocketing in price.
Their species was strong, but few, and as the saying goes. One fist can't rival two palms.
His wings failed and he plummeted down the sky, landing in that small, unassuming lake, water flew everywhere, as his enormous self came to a halt, heaving his last few breaths. His body was big enough that he still stood high, even though he touched the bottom.
"System... Status... Simplified" He thought.
---
[Heledruin]
Race: Fire Dragon | Stage: Great Wyrm
HP: 122/6730 [-12/s]
MP: 0/12600 [LOCKED]
Status: Bleeding[Severe], Mana Seal [LOCKED], Passive Healing [Nullified], Magic Regeneration [SEALED][Warning, critical HP levels reached. Death is imminent]
---
"It's the end, then..." He looked to the skies... The clouds still moved like normal, the wind still blew by his scales...
"I'll miss this place..." His eyes started closing, embracing the darkness on the other side. His blood dripped from his body and onto that small pebble on the riverbed.
The Great Wyrm heaved one last breath, and his body went limp.
The world, however, indifferent as it may be, is still fair. And from death, also sprouts life.
Dragon's blood is extremely sought after by it's magical properties. It can be used in various applications, one of them being the creation of golems.
As the blood dripped onto that small pebble and absorbed into its smooth surface, so did the magic. So that pebble, who was... Inanimate, had it's first thought.
"..?" It perceived something. It didn't know what it was. But it perceived something.
"..!" It perceived... something hard under it. It was... the ground! It was on the ground! But what was the ground?! It was indeed something, but it didn't know what it was. Wait.
"..!" If the ground is something... then... I am something!
"Am." It realized. It didn't know what that meant, but it seemed to have a lot of significance, so it thought it again.
"Am!" At that moment, something appeared in its view.
---
[The system has acknowledged you]
[Congradulations, you are the first of your species.]
[As a reward, the following trait will be provided]
[Precursor]
---
"..?" What is this something? The pebble thought. Wait. Why is it shiny? Everything else is dark.
"I like" It thought. It didn't think in words, it's just an approximation of the feeling. It liked the shiny thing. It wanted more shiny thing.
"More" It thought. And like that, more shiny things appeared. It didn't know what they meant, or what they were. But they were shiny, and it liked it.
---
[Showing additional description]
[Precursor]
You are the progenitor of your species, the first in this world to ever be born as you are. As such, the system is interested in your progress. A bonus of experience will be provided, to facilitate your species' dissemination.
Status: Doubled Experience and points gained until the third evolution.
---
"I like" It thought again. But... Wait.
"Like?" What did it mean to like? What IS like?
"..." It pondered.
[Skill Acquired: Basic Thinking]
WOOOOSH!
A surge of thoughts passed through the little pebble's mind.
"I am" It thought. And it realized the meaning behind that.
"I like" It looked at the shiny thing. Thoughts surging up in his mind, it realized.
"Not like" It looked at the darkness surrounding it.
So it remembered, there was something underneath it.
"Is shiny?" It pondered. And tried to look down. It tried and tried and tried again, focusing all of his attention on looking down.
[Skill Acquired: Perception]
WOOOOOSH!
Its mind was bombarded with shiny things, colors, and a lot of things it didn't understand. His head hurt. But wait. What does it mean to hurt? What is hurt?
"Not like" It thought... Then it became worried.
"Am hurt?"
[HP: 1/1]
Another shiny thing appeared. It liked the shiny thing. It forgot his worries.
It looked down again. It saw the ground. It was red. It didn't like it as much as the shiny thing.
It looked up. It was dark. It didn't like dark.
It looked around. There were shiny things in the distance, but it couldn't see them very well.
It wanted to see the shiny thing.
It put all of its effort, trying to see the shiny thing, but it couldn't. Then it realized. It could see well if it was close. It needed to get close to the shiny thing.
[Basic Thinking leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
"Get close." It thought. It liked the shiny thing. The shiny thing appeared when it was right.
So it observed. And thought.
"..."
A gust of wind blew, and a small round thing to its side moved.
It was amazed. It paid full attention to the movement.
[Perception leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
It didn't understand what it meant to move. But the shiny things appeared again, making it realize it was doing something right.
So it tried to copy what that thing did. It tried and tried and tried again.
A surge of something stirred inside him and...
[Skill Acquired: Roll]
Another shiny thing! It means it is doing right!
So he kept trying with all his might and soon, after moving for a long time, it was now in a shiny place. More shiny things appeared in its sight.
[Roll leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
There was a shiny thing here. It moved slightly. But it's movement was different from the round thing. And as he observed it, it didn't feel right.
"Not like." It thought. Then it started to roll in another direction, this shiny thing was bad, the dark thing was bad, so it didn't like them. Then it should get away from them. It then realized.
"Not like. Get away."
[Basic Thinking leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
Things were starting to make sense. It was simple to the small pebble.
"Like, get close. Not like, get away." It made sense, and it liked it making sense. So it thought.
"Like things make sense."
Satisfied with its new conclusion. It looked around again. It seemed to be able to see things better. It wondered if it had to do with the shiny things appearing.
It looked around and saw something green. It didn't really understand what colors were, but green was different than red, and it liked it more. So it rolled in that direction.
And it rolled through the hot sand, it felt warm to the small pebble. It felt nice.
"Like it" It thought.
[Perception leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
It liked feeling things, and then it wondered what the green thing would feel like. It rolled and rolled and rolled.
[Roll leveled up by 1, thanks to the Precursor skill, it leveled up by 2.]
The green thing filled its sight, the green thing was big. It was impressive. It liked green.
So it rolled more into the green thing's direction.
From afar one could see, a small pebble rolling into a dense forest. An ordinary sight, one could say if you kicked the pebble or pushed it. But the pebble was moving by itself. Making it a strange sight. Not that anyone could see it.
One may wonder. What would Heledruin think if he knew about this pebble, now alive thanks to him? Who knows, maybe he would be happy. He did, after all, enjoy the world around him, and he enjoyed shiny things as well.