My stomach had bloated to an abnormal degree, I cursed my lack of control as I knew that I had never been as weak or exposed to possible predators in any of my lives as I was right now, unable to even get back on my feet, I decided to take the rest which had been forced unto me and use it to understand my current situation better.
All those chicks that hatched mere minutes ago, were they human as well, and if so were we all part of an elaborate plan, or were we an accident? Perhaps I'm a special case in this rebirthing scenario, a wild card that was introduced into this world? Sure they plowed into the mountain of seeds like a pack of ravenous dogs, but when hungry or during times of panic, humans have been known to do things they would later reflect on as unbecoming... Or was this the next step in a human's journey? Would we all be reborn as another creature and was I just experiencing something many have done before me? These thoughts and theories kept churning through my head, constantly recycling and presenting themselves in a different way each time, sorting through them proved to be an arduous task.
Another scenario popped into my head that terrified me... was I dead? Was this my brain creating a familiar scenario after my untimely demise? I did read a lot of fantasy novels during my time and being in a situation where there was nothing my brain could explain, did it fabricate this reality to explain what is unexplainable?
I breathed in, the sensation of air in my lungs, the uncomfortableness of my feathers which now had seeds caught up in its divots, and my vision which extended far beyond what was previously possible for me all suggested that this was real, I couldn't let my fears control me like this.
I steeled myself and huffed. While understanding my situation would bring me peace, my first goal in this world is to survive, and the longer I do so, the more knowledge I can amass and the safer I'll be. The main theory I had decided to settle on was that I was a wild card, that I was the only human brought here, simply because of the way the system treated me, as a "glitch" of sorts considering my awesome soul power. I needed to get stronger.
Satisfied with my mind finally having organised itself with a clear goal, I once again attempted to stand up, I was shaky but I managed to do the task without rolling over like before.
'System, how do I increase my strength?'
[ Increasing strength is vital to the survival of all magical beasts, especially KRYPTID's. Once you have successfully reached this level, your internal mana quality and intake will increase exponentially. A KRYPTID's biggest flaw is that due to it's strength and internal mana quality, it cannot absorb an enemies status points to add to its own when the enemy is weaker, to get stronger you must fight monsters with a {Status Sum} equal to or greater than your own ]
'Oy what the f*$@'
That is some serious bull.
My plans of EXP farming in a low-level cave or future genocide of Erom worms were all turned to dust, it seems this world wasn't as RPG'esque as I imagined. It lacked the grinding and levelling component, however, it did quantify strength into numerical values which was a comfort.
'System, what is a status sum?' I thought, I immediately answered the question in my head but I looked at the answer of the system just to be sure.
[ A {Status Sum} is the sum of all power levels a creature has, Owner's current {Status sum} is 561.5 ]
561.5 was pretty good! I was about to have a smile on my beak when I remembered the 0.1 I had in constitution, a pebble a child skipped in a pool would probably KO me.
Realising the magnitude of what I had just learned I YET AGAIN started to tremble, I couldn't get stronger without killing monsters with a Status Sum greater than my 561.5, and any monster with that number could probably breathe on me to destroy me due to my horrible constitution and my almost as heartbreaking HP value of 2, my unbalanced stats had come to stab me in the back.
'Okay, it's fine'
'I don't need to worry for now'
'I can just rest for a while right? No need to go on a killing spree just yet...'
I had absolutely no idea what to do, my goal of getting stronger had a huge roadblock placed in front of it.
'System, assess my current strength, checking my individual power levels, and tell me where I can find creatures with a Status Sum above that value, and what the chances are of me being able to win against them?'
The question I asked it was quite a hefty one, I was just testing the limits of the system, after a few seconds of a blank screen, words appeared on the orange square.
[Question Result - Area wide search of 5 Km^2 done]
• Hobgoblin - {Status Sum} = 582 - 623 (Chance of winning: 12.4%)
• Lesser Grass Lizard - {Status Sum} = 570-574 (Chance of winning: 19.8%)
• Enhanced Greater Goblin- {Status Sum} = 622 - 708 (Chance of winning 4.0%)
[Creatures with a Family Tag or one with chances of winning less than 0% have been filtered out]
I felt nothing but despair when looking at those harsh numbers the system presented, chances were that against every single creature on this screen, I'd face a quick but agonising death; furthermore I'm sure that they've all had a chance to grow accustomed to their bodies and knew how to fight, even in my human body I had no fighting instincts. I had turned from a figurative chicken into a physical one, fate has a twisted sense of humour.
While I mulled over my weakness, I noticed that the shadow which was being cast by the seed mountain had shrunk to a terrifying degree, I focused my vision behind me and saw that the chicks had continued eating, some of them looking more like a yellow tennis ball with eyes and a beak than an animal, the closest thing I could describe it as was how a group of termites would plow through a table or a chair in old cartoons.
Rows of circular chickens cheeped and rolled over, some still chewing seeds in between mouthfuls; it was a comical sight that set my mind at ease even with my less than ideal situation.
It's troublesome I know, but I'll do anything it takes to survive, I need to work hard, and from tomorrow on... I'll start my journey to getting stronger!
I waddled through the remains of the once great golden pellet mountains, swerving between the bulbous yellow road blocks and making my way once again towards my hay filled home, I plopped down and rested my head on a cracked eggshell.
This body and mind were weak, but over time I could feel it getting stronger as I matured, for the time being I shouldn't push myself and stunt my growth or something, I decided to get a head start on getting rest. I pulled an eggshell towards me and placed it over my body as a makeshift blanket, I'd accept any protection from the chilly night, even if it was cracked and fragile.
I closed my eyes, and drifted onto dreamland where I kept getting chewed on by movie realistic looking goblins.