Darkness.
For an unknown period of Time, every single Human was surrounded by the cold, unfazed Darkness.
Then, came Light.
"Greetings, lowly Humans."
A deep, eldritch Voice emerges from the Darkness, followed by a sudden blinding Light from all directions, and I found myself looking at a massive figure made of Light.
Though I was unable to look away, I could see it was surrounded by many tiny Wisps of Light.
"Mortals, my name is *?*?*?*?*, and I will be giving you a shallow introduction to your new world as instructed by the GRAND ONE."
The figure's Mouth did not move when it spoke, and it seemed like the source of his Voice was deep inside my Mind.
'What the hell is going on?'
I thought while trying to look around, just to find unable to feel my Neck or Body.
"All of you Humans will be transported to a new grand World named Graesia created by the GRAND ONE himself."
The Voice said, after it finished talking, the being snapped its fingers and a golden, semi-transparent Screen appeared before my eyes.
[Welcome, Human Jason Greenwood]
Were the Words it displayed.
'How did it know my name?'
I thought in confusion, what is the Screen in front of me? who is this being of Light? who is the GRAND ONE? what am I doing here?
I had so many Questions, with little to no Answers.
"The Screen in front of you is the Grand System, made by the GRAND ONE himself. it shall serve as your Assistant in your adventures and an important Ally wherever you go."
The being said, as his Light started to fade away.
"That is all I am required to say to you, Humans. the Grand System should Explain the rest to you."
Said the being, with its Light weaker now, I could see a featureless Face with a smiling Mouth instead of just white Light.
"I wish you luck on your endeavors, Humans.
Goodbye"
Said the being of Light as its Light completely faded away, leaving me in complete Darkness once again... or so I thought.
[Greetings Human]
[The finding of a Body for the process of Soul transfer shall now begin]
The Screen read, along with a gentle robotic Voice reading the Words out loud in my Head.
[The System will now randomly choose a Species, Attribute, and Ability]
[Randomly choosing type of Species...]
[Aerial Species chosen!]
That was a surprise, I really like Birds!
Of course, I couldn't think of these things since I was still in Shock.
[Randomly choosing Species...]
[Pteranolon Species chosen!]
[Randomly choosing Attribute...]
[Elite Nutrition Attribute chosen!
[Elite Nutrition:]
[Elite Nutrition is a passive Attribute that allows the User to gain 150% more Nutrients from the Food they consume, and also extract a bit of the Essence left in the Food to empower themselves, allowing them to have a healthier and stronger Body than others of their Species!]
Finally recovering from my Shock, I looked in awe at the screen in front of me, 'that's neat!'
I thought as the System continued.
[Randomly choosing Ability...]
[Apex Body Ability chosen!]
[Apex Body]
[Grade: Gradeless]
[Apex Body is a semi-active Ability that allows its User to manually upgrade his Body using Nutrients and Biomass. there are 9 Grades for Organs and other Body parts in the Apex Body:
[Filthy] [Lowly] [Lesser] [Inferior] [Superior] [Elite] [Royal] [Grand] [Supreme]
[The Average Grade of a living Creature's Organs is [Lowly] and may rise to [Lesser] as it evolves. some Creatures that are naturally more powerful than others may have Organs up to the [Superior] Grade]
[Soul Transfer is ready to begin]
[Soul Transfer shall start in 10 minutes]
[Host may view his status now]
[Status]
[Name: Unavailable(past: Jason Greenwood)]
[Species: Pteranolon]
[Level: 0]
[Age: 0]
[Stats:]
[Health: 150/150]
[Mana: 0/0]
[Vitality: 10]
[Strength: 2]
[Agillity: 5]
[Wisdom: 1]
[Dexterity: 3]
[Endurance: 5]
[Attributes: Elite Nutrition]
[Abilities: Apex body]
[Racial skills: (Currently unavailable)]
[Current end of Status]
[Active Attributes and Abilities can not be used until host hatches]
'Past Name? do I have to change my Name now?'
I thought in disdain, after looking at the Interface for a bit, I got a System Notification.
[Soul transfer shall now begin]
With a sudden Tremor, I began to get sucked down at breakneck Speed toward the Darkness, I could see some Colors in the corner of my Eye but due to the Speed at which I was falling, I couldn't register what I had seen.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
I could now feel my Legs, and.. Wings? I tried to stand up but I could barely muster any Strength in my Legs.
I could move my Wings a bit, but not too much.
while wiggling around, I managed to feel a smooth-wet material touching my wings.
'I'm probably in the Egg now'
I thought while trying to see anything in the grim Darkness inside the Egg, although I knew there wasn't much to see.
Giving up, I tried to cuddle myself and maybe sleep a bit, to pass the time...
'Yeah, I guess it would be nice to sleep a bit ..'
I thought sluggishly as I slowly closed my Eyes... not that it would make a difference, the Egg was as dark as it can get.
...
Moving a bit, I started stretching my Wings and Legs
'How much time has passed?'
I asked myself, there wasn't any way for me to notice the passage of time...
'Should I just try to break the Egg already?
I felt much stronger than before, and also bigger. the Egg was quite uncomfortable because of my new larger size.
'Sigh, you never know until you try.'
I thought, sighing in my mind...
'Wait, did I just sigh in my own mind?'
It seemed like the entire situation was beginning to affect my Sanity a bit...
'I just need some time to adapt'
I thought speaking with a hopeful Tone in my mind.
*Peck*
I pecked the Egg, straight in front of me, because I didn't have much space to move my head due to the size of my Beak.
*Peck*
*Peck*
*Peck*
*Crack*
My Mind filled with hope as I heard the weak cracking sound, the Eggshell did not break yet, but it was beginning to crack.
'This is progress! It didn't even take very long!'
'I must continue!'
I was determined to break the Eggshell as soon as I can.
*Peck*
*Peck*
*Peck*
*Crack!*
This time the crack was much louder, and Sunlight began pouring into the Egg.
'I made a hole!'
It wasn't very large, barely the size of a Tennis Ball, compared to the Egg which was about twice as large as a Watermelon.
After pecking the Eggshell a bit more, The Hole expanded to the size of a Melon, already wide enough for me to put my Head out of the Egg, but I should not put my Head at such a risk when I can't defend myself with the rest of my Body inside the Egg.
After pecking for a while, the Hole was finally big enough for me to leave the Egg.
Sticking my Head out of the Egg, I looked left and right.
'As expected, I'm in a Nest.'
I thought as I stepped out slowly. there were about 4 other Eggs in the nest, some of them bigger than the others. Looking back at my Egg, I can see it was the second biggest, with the first being a golden-white Egg which was about 20% bigger than my own.
the moment my Body was completely out of the Egg, I got a System Notification
[Congratulations; Host has hatched]
[Attributes and Abilities are now available!]
[Racial Skills are now available!]
[Obtained Racial skill: Peck!]
[Obtained Racial skill: Glide!]
[Obtained Racial skill: Improved Vision!]
[Obtained Racial skill: Grab!]
[Obtained Racial skill: Glide-fishing!]
[Congratulations! Host is now level 1.]
'Racial skills huh?'
I thought as I looked at the Interface, these looked like normal Skills a Bird would need to function well.
'System, display my status!'
I thought out loud.
[Name: Unavailable(past: Jason Greenwood)]
[Species: Pteranolon]
[Level: 1]
[Age: 0]
[Stats:]
[Health: 150/150]
[Mana: 0/0]
[Vitality: 25]
[Strength: 5]
[Agillity: 15]
[Wisdom: 3]
[Dexterity: 6]
[Endurance: 10]
[Attributes: Elite Nutrition]
[Abilities: Apex body]
[Racial skills: Peck-1, Glide-1, Improved vision, Grab-1, Glide-fishing-1 ]
[end of Status]
'System, can I ask you a Question?'
[The Host may ask the System Questions, but the Host will not always receive an Answer.]
'Alright, well, why did my Stats increase?'
I asked in my Mind.
[The Host's Body grew in the Egg, which resulted in an increase in Stats. Please note that growth Stat-boosts are only available until a certain Age.]
'Are there other ways to increase my Stats?'
[Host may increase his Stats by Leveling up, Evolving, Gaining Attributes, and using the [Apex Body] Ability]
While reading the Words on the Interface, I started approaching the Edge of the Nest, Looking down I could see we are on some sort of Stone Pillar about 300 meters high up in the Air...
'What the hell?!'
I screamed in my head.
'Since when do birds make their nests so high up?!'
I spoke with a shocked tone that no one but me could hear.
walking back towards the center of the nest, I decided to calm down and try to exercise a bit in order to gain better control of my new body, which was very stiff due to me not being used to it.
'its so difficult to move around with these Wings'
I thought to myself, when suddenly;
*HIYAAAAAAA!*
A loud Cry that sent shivers through my Body was heard coming from not too far away from me, along a sudden Shadow that covered my entire body.
Looking behind me, I saw a monstrous Bird-like Creature spreading its Wings, it stood at about 1.9 Meters tall with a Wingspan of about 6 Meters.
With Panic in my Mind I tried to examine the Creature, it had clear Skin that seemed to reflect the Light around it, with a dark-orange colored Beak, and a sharp look in its Eyes.
In its Beak was a Small fish that seemed to have been killed not too long ago, due to the Water that still dripped from its Body.
After exchanging looks for a bit, the majestic Creature suddenly lowered its Head and stepped forward while trying to gently push the fish towards me with its Beak, as a sudden possibility ran through my Mind.
'Could it be...'
'That's my Mother?!'