I was....inside an egg.
I immediately confirmed my surroundings to understand my current situation.
But what I saw made me even more confused.
『What the hell is this?!! What was I doing inside an egg?!』
I looked behind me and I saw something that looked like the wall of a cave.
So I was in a cave huh.
More importantly, why the hell did I come out of an egg??
And what is up with this cave? Were there really caves like this on Earth?
The cave was covered in places with crystals of various colours.
There was not a single blade of grass anywhere in the cave. Just crystals and rocks everywhere.
I tried to walk forward from my current position.
And that's when I realised something crucial.
As soon as a put strength into my legs and tried to move them, I fell down.
『Ow! Ow Ow!...Huh? Why did I fall down? Also why do I feel like I am shorter than usual?!!』
As I was thinking such things, I saw my hands.
....
.....
...
『W-What has happened to my hands?!!! Why are my hands blue in colour?!! Or rather why do I have such big and ominous claws????????』
My hands were ultramarine blue in colour. I still had five fingers, I think, but from each finger, claws of length of about twice that of a normal human's finger were protruding.
Not only that but both my hands were covered in scales like that of a lizard.
『WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS?!!!』
I tried to walk again but the most I could do was stand for a few moments.
After who knows how many tries, I finally became able to walk slowly.
I came out of the cave and what I saw made me doubt my eyes once more.
It was a huge space which kept continuing further.
I was currently standing in a space which was around 50 meters wide.
The ceiling, ground, walls, everything looked like I was in a huge cave.
The ground was hard and rocky. I could see the same crystals I saw a while ago on a few big rocks.
The walls also had the same crystals on them.
The ceiling didn't have the crystals but stalactites were hanging from the ceiling in a few places.
In normal circumstances, the first thing that comes to one's mind while seeing this place is that it's beautiful.
But currently I'm not in such a position.
I have to confirm my situation and the reason for how I ended up like this.
As I was walking forwards thinking that, I come across a huge lake.
I've been walking for quite some time.
Because I am having to walk slowly to avoid falling down, it took me around an hour to come to this lake after leaving the cave I was originally in.
The first thing I did after the lake came into sight was to see my face and body in the lake's reflection.
...
On seeing my reflection in the lake, most of my doubts have been cleared.
I've had my doubts from the moment I came out of the egg but I just wasn't sure. Rather I couldn't accept it as reality. But after seeing this reflection I'm sure there's no mistake.
『Looks like I died and have been reincarnated in another world.』
Seriously how the hell did this happen?!!
『If I have really been reincarnated into this world, shouldn't I first have an audience with a God or whatever? And then shouldn't I be given an option to choose a cheat skill or something like that?!!』
Well I have read quite a lot of manga and light novels and have also watched a fair amount of anime.
Reincarnation and summoning had always been two popular devices of a light novel.
But never in my life did I imagine that I'd actually be reincarnated into another world.
That too with my memories intact.
Well shouldn't I be happy that I have experienced something which literally requires you atleast one lifetime to witness?
That's true but I still can't accept this.
More importantly, what did I reincarnate as?
After seeing the reflection in the lake, I can be sure that I've been reincarnated as some monster.
『Damn it!!!! If you had to reincarnate me couldn't you have atleast made me a human?!!』
But there's nothing I can do about it.
The reflection I saw, it looks like I have been reincarnated as a ⟨⟨Basilisk⟩⟩.
But I don't think I'm a Basilisk.
My hands, feet and face look different than that of the Basilisks I know of from my light novel knowledge.
Wait....Could it be?!!
Could it be that I have been reincarnated as a dragon's hatchling?!!
No no no, isn't that going to become too much of a cheat?
Besides there are a lot of species which are close to Dragons such as ⟨⟨Wyvern⟩⟩ , ⟨⟨Drake⟩⟩ and ⟨⟨Wyrm⟩⟩.
I've sometimes even read that they can evolve into ⟨⟨Dragon⟩⟩.
As soon as I finished thinking of such things, I heard a voice in my mind.
『Confirming conditions for the acquisition of Unique Skill ⟨Wisdom⟩. Conditions met』
Eh? What?
『Acquisition of Unique Skill ⟨Wisdom⟩. Successful』
Wait....what? Everything is going too fast?!!
It said something about acquisition of a skill right?
Then skills actually exist in this world!
『Activation of Unique Skill ⟨Wisdom⟩. Successful』
Again?! What is it this time?
『Good morning, Master』
?!!
It's the female voice again. And now it's greeting me like it's usual?
I don't know why but this time it feels like I am connected to the voice.
Well for now I return the greeting.
『Ah, good morning. Umm, would you mind telling me who you are?』
『Answer. I am the Unique Skill ⟨Wisdom⟩. Master is the one who currently possesses this Unique Skill』
『I-I see. I somewhat get it, I think. So why did I acquire this skill?』
『Answer. Master has met the necessary conditions of acquiring this skill. Thus, as a result Master has obtained this skill』
『Conditions?』
『Answer. Conditions of acquiring ⟨Wisdom⟩ are: ⟨⟨Any one who possesses a certain amount of information of the world from before or at the time of their birth is capable of acquiring ⟨Wisdom⟩⟩⟩』
Information? It has hardly been an hour since I was born, so how come I have information of this world immediately after being born?
No...wait...
If this world is a world of swords and magic and has a level system then it makes sense.
After all reincarnation is a pretty common setting in light novels.
Yeah, it's possible for me to have a fair amount of knowledge about this world.
『Okay, I get it. So what can you do?』
『Answer. Currently ⟨Wisdom⟩ is at Lv.1. Thus the only skill usable is ⟨Appraisal Lv.1⟩』
『Oooh!! Here it is!! The ultimate cheat skill of every isekai light novel! Well let's see what it can do. Use ⟨Appraisal⟩!』
Saying this I try to use Appraisal on my surroundings.
But my hopes were splendidly shattered after hearing the result.
『Result. Cave』
『Even I can see it's a cave! Can't you give a more detailed explanation?!』
『Answer. Currently the level of ⟨Appraisal⟩ is level 1. Higher skill level is necessary for a more detailed explanation』
Well she's true. Looks like I have to raise the level to get more details huh.
『By the way, what can you do apart from using ⟨Appraisal⟩?』
『Answer. I can answer most questions when at maximum level but there are only a few questions which can be answered by me when at level 1』
『Seriously? Then I just have to raise your level to the maximum and you will have knowledge of almost everything, right?』
『Answer. That is correct』
『Wow, you really are amazing, Wisdom-sama』
Well I did say I'd raise the level but how do I even do that in the first place?
『Answer. Continued usage of a particular skill for a particular period time results in the accumulation of skill proficiency which further results into the increase in level of the skill』
Wow, is this what she meant by "answering most questions"?
Well now that I know how to raise a skill's level, let's use Appraisal a whole lot!
Ah, right.
『Wisdom-sama, is it possible to appraise myself? If so then I'd like to do so』
『Answer. It is possible』
After confirming from Wisdom-sama, I used Appraisal on myself.
As soon as I used it, a transparent screen appeared in my mind with a few details. I guess that is my status.
By the way this is what my status looks like:
Name: N/A
Gender: N/A
Age: --
Status: Normal
Species: Wyrm
Level: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 10/10
SP: 6/10
STR: 5/5
VIT: 5/5
AGI: 8/8
INT: 4/4
[Unique Skills]
⟨Wisdom Lv.1⟩
[Skills]
⟨Appraisal Lv.1⟩
Hmm?
Ahahaha....there's something wrong with my eyes.
I check my status once again.
.....
『What the hell is going on?!! What is up with these trash values?! I get that I was just born but these value are just too low!!! Why the hell are they all in single digits?!!!』
I was confused after seeing my status.
If put in one word.....I was weak.
『Wisdom-sama, is there something called threat level?』
『Answer. Threat Level is a term coined by humans around 300 years ago. That is the reason why it is not shown in the status screen』
I see, that makes sense.
『By the way, do you know what my threat level is?』
『Answer. Master belongs to the species ⟨⟨Wyrm⟩⟩. Wyrm has a threat level of F and thus is the weakest monster of the world』
『Please stop!!! Don't tell anymore my heart will break!!』
Haa...haa....
Wait, didn't I hatch from an egg? Then shouldn't I be a dragon hatchling or something like that?
『Answer. Dragon hatchlings are creatures born from parents who are of the ⟨⟨Dragon⟩⟩ race. Hence dragon hatchlings also have their race as ⟨⟨Dragon⟩⟩ from their birth. However Wyrms are creatures who have both their parents from the ⟨⟨Wyrm⟩⟩ species. Wyrms can evolve into Dragons after going through a number of evolutions during the process. But the number of Wyrms who have successfully been able to evolve into Dragons have been very few』
I see. It all makes sense now.
To be honest, I feel demotivated.
I'll probably have to evolve many times to finally evolve into a Dragon.
And there's no guarantee that I'll definitely succeed during the process.
Wisdom-sama did tell that very few Wyrms were actually able to reach Dragon race.
Well I have no choice but to give it a try.
All right, Wisdom-sama, our objective during this journey will be evolving into the ⟨⟨Dragon⟩⟩ race.
『Understood』
So the first thing I should do is raising the level of Wisdom and Appraisal.
Well then let's start by appraising this huge lake.
『Use ⟨Appraisal⟩』
『Result. Blast Liquid』
That's it?!!
And it wasn't just a lake? And what's that dangerous sounding name?
Thinking about what the result of the appraisal meant, I had an idea.
I tried focusing on the part ⟨⟨Blast Liquid⟩⟩ and used ⟨Appraisal⟩.
『Result. Blast Liquid: ⟨⟨It is a special kind of liquid that catches fire when a certain amount of disturbance is caused. It is possible to hold it in hands or a bucket but catches fire if it is moved too much⟩⟩』
Yes, I did it!
I figured a better way of using ⟨Appraisal⟩.
『Skill proficiency reached. ⟨Appraisal Lv.1⟩ has increased to ⟨Appraisal Lv.2⟩』
Ooh!! If I keep this up, it'll be easy.
『By the way Wisdom-sama, what is the maximum level for a skill?』
『Answer. The maximum level any skill can reach is Lv.10』
Oh, 8 more levels to go then.
Now, let's see what these crystals are.
『Use ⟨Appraisal⟩』
『Result. Mana Crystals』
『Result. Recovery Crystals』
Basically there were two types of crystals here.
The white ones were called ⟨⟨Recovery Crystals⟩⟩ and the blue crystals were called ⟨⟨Mana Crystals⟩⟩.
I can more or less understand what these crystals are but I still focus ⟨Appraisal⟩ on both the names.
『Result. Recovery Crystals: ⟨⟨These crystals restore the HP of the individual who breaks them. They can also be used to make ⟨⟨High-class HP Recovery Potions⟩⟩ which restore HP of the individual drinking it⟩⟩』
『Result. Mana Crystals: ⟨⟨These crystals restore the MP of the individual who breaks them. They can also be used to make ⟨⟨High-class Mana Potions⟩⟩ which restore MP of the individual drinking it⟩⟩』
These look like they're pretty useful.
Moreover they are used to make high-class potions and they are just lying around here?
I don't get it.
As I was trying to figure out the reason, Wisdom-sama suddenly made an announcement.
『Skill ⟨Hunger Resistance Lv.1⟩ has been acquired』
Huh? What? Hunger Resistance?
Thinking that, I take a look at my status, especially at the SP.
The SP which was earlier at 6 has dropped to 4 right now.
『Umm...Wisdom-sama could you please explain this "SP" stat?』
『Answer. SP stands for Stamina Points. It is equivalent to the hunger of an individual. If the SP of an individual runs out its HP gradually begins to fall even if it is not performing any activity. The only way to restore SP is by eating food』
Damn it! I should've asked this sooner.
If my SP runs out, my HP will start falling as well.
And I have just 10HP!!!
If HP falls to zero, will I actually die this time?
『Answer. That is correct』
『Don't tell that with the same expressionless voice!!!! I'll die for sure you know?!!』
I need to find food and fast!
Thinking about how to find food, I start looking for an exit from this cave.
After a while I found a huge hole in the wall not far from my original cave [1].
After investigating the hole, I found that it leads to a different path, probably to another cave.
But.....even after looking for food a lot, I found nothing.
I never expected food to be kept in a cave like this for me in the first place.
I decided that I have to kill and eat monsters to replenish my SP.
Just when I thought I was starting to feel tired and exhausted after walking so much, an announcement was made.
『Skill ⟨Fatigue Resistance Lv.1⟩ has been acquired』
『Oh nice....this might barely prevent my SP running out』
「Gshaaaaaaaaaaa~」
Suddenly I heard a strong hissing sound from behind me.
『Haah....finally something showed up』
I turned around to look at a giant lizard like creature.
Well even if a say "giant" it's probably a bit bigger than me.
My body is around 1~1.5m long and around half a metre high and wide.
I had two huge front legs and two hind legs. My whole body was covered in beautiful ultramarine blue coloured scales. I even have a long tail. And my claws looked pretty sharp and dangerous.
So I thought the lizard would be a small fry.
But.....that was my first blunder in this world, that is, underestimating my opponent.
『⟨Appraisal⟩』
This was all I could see in front of me:
Species: Razor Basilisk
Level: 3
I couldn't see any other information on the lizard, which turned out to be a Basilisk, but it was probably because of the low level of Appraisal.
『Well it's just 2 levels higher than me. I can easily defeat a lizard. I just have to slash him wit-』
Even before I could finish the sentence, I saw the tail of the lizard flash once and immediately heard a loud sound of something falling behind me.
As I turned my eyes towards the back, I saw that the huge rock behind me had been cleanly slashed and about 9/10 part of it was fallen beside what used to be the huge rock.
「Gshaaaaaaa~!」
The lizard seemed to be intimidating me by hissing stronger than before. But it was of no use.
Because I was already scared to death after seeing his first attack which wasn't even aimed at me. He just whipped his tail on a whim and the huge rock got cleanly slashed.
『....This is crazy. There's no way I can defeat this thing....and even if I can I wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.』
But....
If I don't defeat this thing, I'll definitely die out of starvation.
If I had to choose between dying out of starvation and dying to an enemy, I'd definitely choose the latter.
The Basilisk also takes his battle stance, possibly realising my resolve to fight him.
Even I have resolved to defeat him, how do I do it?
Seeing his reaction speed, slashing at him is out of the question.
I'd be cut in half even before I can reach him.
Dodging his attacks might be barely possible, but if I take a serious injury it'll be over.
Parrying his attacks might be possible but I'll have to take a huge risk of losing an ar-.
「Gshaaaaaaa!」
The Basilisk launched a second attack aiming at my head even before I could finish the sentence.
I somehow barely dodged it by jumping back.
I would've died without knowing anything if I had made the jump an instant late.
『Tch! Won't even give me time to think huh.』
『Skill ⟨Evasion Lv.1⟩ has been acquired』
『Oooh.....that helps a lot. Thanks, Wisdom-sama. Now I'll have a bit lesser chance to die』
?!!
As I was thinking how to defeat the Basilisk with the minimum amount of injuries possible, I found a solution.
『If I'm not wrong, this is probably the best way of surviving for me.....but I'm not sure if I can hold out that long. At any rate, I'll die if I don't do anything so let's go with it』
Thanks to the newly obtained skill ⟨Evasion⟩, I'm able to dodge his attacks pretty easily now but I'm running really low on SP.
I can't stretch out this battle any longer!!
I start running towards the huge cave I came from. I have to reach and also bring the Basilisk there before running out of SP.
Continuously dodging his attacks resulted in ⟨Evasion⟩ increasing all the way to Lv.5.
The Basilisk's attacks are also growing dull and dull after every strike. Probably because of frustration.
Right now he's just flailing around his razor-sharp tail.
After that first attack, I understood all too well why it is called ⟨⟨Razor Basilisk⟩⟩.
After a lot of running while dodging, I arrived at the place where I'll carry out my plan.
The Basilisk has also come all the way here pursuing me.
I move closer and closer towards the huge lake while dodging it's attacks.
And right now....the Basilisk and I are facing each other. There's a distance of 2m between us and the lake beside us.
Yes, you must've figured out my plan already.
It will take atleast two instantaneous jumps to cover this distance of 2m between us even for the Basilisk.
At the instant the Basilisk does the second jump, I'll do a side-step and splash him with Blast Liquid from the lake.
Yeah, I'm aware that my fingers would catch fire as well. But it's better than losing an arm from the Basilisk's attack.
As I was thinking so, the Basilisk played his trump card and made an unexpected movement from its place and closed the distance between us within an instant.
『Wha-?!!!』
I reflexively tried to parry it's attack with my right arm, moved to the left and splashed him with the Blast Liquid from the lake.
「Gshaaaaaa~?!!」
『Damn, it hurts!!! How does an attack from a damn lizard hurt so much?! The fire hurts like hell?!!!!』
All the fingers of my right arm had been chopped off and my left arm was literally burning.
But my plan succeeded.
The amount of Blast Liquid splashed on the Basilisk was a lot more than what is burning my left arm.
『Skill ⟨Pain Resistance⟩ has been-』
『Shut up!!!!! Make announcements all you want after I make out of this alive!』
Wisdom-sama was making some announcement but I ignored her.
I was completely convinced that it was my win....but the Basilisk did something unexpected yet again.
It cut off its front legs and tail using its razor-sharp tail.
Or rather he cut off the parts which were burning and now he's burning no more.
『....You've got to be kidding me.』
Right now I'm the only one who's burning and just like that the tables have been turned on me.
Just how desperate are you to kill me?!!
「Gshaaaaaaaaaaa~!!!!」
The Basilisk did a battle cry.
Hey, I'm already on death's door, don't you get more fired up than this!!!
『Notice. Basilisks possess the skill ⟨Petrifying Glare⟩. It can turn the enemy into stone』
As soon as Wisdom-sama finished telling me that, I noticed that the Basilisk's eyes became sharper than before and started glowing in a red hue.
And then a blinding red light fills the entire area.
...
When the light fades away, I saw that my left arm was petrified solid but the rest of my body was unscathed.
『Heck, that was close! If Wisdom-sama had not warned me at that moment, my whole body would've been petrified solid by now. I managed to put my burning left arm infront of his glare right in time.』
I obstructed the Basilisk's ⟨Petrifying Glare⟩ by my left arm which in turn took the full brunt of the attack.
But that turned out as a plus for me.
My left arm which was on flames a moment ago was now petrified solid. Which means I can continue this battle without worrying about the extreme burning pain.
「Gshaaaa~?」
The Basilisk looks confused.
Well it's obvious considering the turn of events.
Now, time for round two!!
The Basilisk infront of me right now was extremely frustrated when he understood that I am still alive.
But this was a wrong move from his side.
Normally he would've been able to win easily if he kept using his ⟨Petrifying Glare⟩ but he got worked up and started physical attacks using his mouth.
As soon as I understood that, I charged up to him.
The Basilisk being sure of his victory, took the bait and tried to bite me.
But I ducked down and stabbed him with my literally rock solid left arm under his neck.
「Gshaaaaaaaaaaaa-?!!!」
『You were wide open! With this its my win!!』
After a long battle of attrition, I finally won.
『Haa.....haa...』
My plan was to defeat the Basilisk with the minimum amount of injuries.
But....my injuries are way past severe.
『Experience threshold reached. Level increased from 1 to 2.』
『Hm? Yeah, defeating that damn lizard is bound to give me a huge amount of experience. ⟨Appraisal⟩』
And all my injuries have also been perfectly healed?!!
Man, leveling up is great~!
I use ⟨Appraisal⟩ on myself to check my post-level up status.
Name: N/A
Gender: N/A
Age: --
Status: Normal
Species: Wyrm
Level: 2
HP: 30/30
MP: 30/30
SP: 1/30
STR: 20/20
VIT: 20/20
AGI: 18/18
INT: 10/10
[Unique Skills]
⟨Wisdom Lv.1⟩
[Skills]
⟨Appraisal Lv.2⟩ ⟨Hunger Resistance Lv.2⟩ ⟨Fatigue Resistance Lv.2⟩ ⟨Evasion Lv.5⟩ ⟨Pain Resistance Lv.5⟩ ⟨Fire Resistance Lv.3⟩ ⟨Petrification Resistance Lv.1⟩ ⟨Physical Resistance Lv.2⟩
There's not much increase in the stats but its still better than earlier.
More importantly, my SP is barely left.
But the thing that catches my eye the most are the skills.
So my ⟨Hunger Resistance⟩ and ⟨Fatigue Resistance⟩ both went up by one level when I was running and dodging from that damn lizard huh.
And I guess ⟨Pain Resistance⟩ ⟨Fire Resistance⟩ ⟨Petrification Resistance⟩ and ⟨Physical Resistance⟩ were all acquired during the battle beside the lake.
Well I really do appreciate gaining more skills but for now I need to eat this Basilisk and restore my SP soon.
『⟨Appraisal⟩』
I use Appraisal on the Basilisk to confirm whether it's truly dead and also to check it's stats.
Species: Razor Basilisk
Status: Dead
Level: 3
HP: 0/50
MP: 30/30
SP: 0/50
STR: 70/70
VIT: 50/50
AGI: 0/80
INT: 40/40
[Skills]
⟨Razor Tail Lv.7⟩ ⟨Quick Step Lv.5⟩ ⟨Petrifying Glare Lv.10⟩ ⟨Poison Fangs Lv.7⟩ ⟨Petrification Resistance Lv.10⟩
Uwaa.....there are some really terrifying skills here.
⟨Razor Tail⟩ must've been that tail attack. On top of that its level 7, no wonder it's so strong.
⟨Petrifying Glare⟩ and ⟨Petrification Resistance⟩ has been maxed out. Well it's the signature ability of Basilisks so its obvious.
⟨Poison Fangs⟩ must've been the one he was about to use when he jumped in to bite me as a last resort.
It was planning to poison me even after being petrified?
As I thought, it was one heck of a nightmare fighting such a monster.
But the skill which piques my interest the most among all the others is the skill ⟨Quick Step⟩.
Judging from the name, it must've been that abnormal movement skill he used to close the distance of 2 metres in an instant.
If it really provides instantaneous movement like what I see, then it might be an extremely useful skill in battle, especially when I need to escape.
But there's no way it would be so convenient right?
Well I have to eat and restore my SP first.
I move towards the dead Basilisk and start tearing off the flesh from its body to eat.
『Damn, these scales are too troublesome to remove. I'll just peel the entire skin off and eat the inner flesh.』
I took a bite into the flesh.
....
If I had to explain the taste in a single word then it would be,
Terrible.
It tastes terrible.
I feel like I am chewing rock-hard burnt tyre.
Well I have no choice but to eat it no matter how horrible it tastes.
For the sake of surviving in this world from now on, I will have to go to any extents possible.
After eating the Basilisk completely, my SP finally came up to full.
Fuu....It took me two hours to eat the whole Basilisk.
『Huh? What's this?』
After I finished eating the whole Basilisk, I realised that I have found a fist-sized stone from around its heart.
I wonder what this is...
______________________________________________
Author's Note:
1. It means that the huge hole was found near the cave in which our protagonist broke out from the egg.
______________________________________________