For every reincarnation in the past, I had gotten a system so living life was a breeze. It was also boring as hell! This time however, I asked to have no system, only the memories of my past life.
I wanted this life to be challenge, something that cannot be passed with just another click of a system panel. God gave me the gift of Eidetic memory so that was a plus in me book.
The first challenge was simple (not really); compete with more one billion little sperms to go to the egg. It was more difficult than I had expected and my sperm brethren were rude as fuck!
They pushed and shoved each other to be in the first place, only to slam into a wall like substance. They were stupid enough continuously ram their bodies into that place while I stared in confusion.
No amount of biology could explain what I was seeing. It wasn't some sort of obstacle in the tract we had to cross, it was like a mystical power made up of mana. This was a weird birth control.
I knew my mother did not take birth control so I stared in fascination as the mana wall became thicker. I knew how mana worked and even as a sperm, I knew how absorb mana and go through the wall.
'God has played a trick on me?' I think as I go closer to a barren area of the wall. If I start absorbing even the slightest bit of mana, I would get a personalized system, which would show my progress.
In other words, whether I like it or not, I am getting a system. At least there won't be any cheats attached to the system so I would still be the same sperm with added benefits. I sigh before getting my body ready.
Absorbing the first bit of takes longer than usual and since the barrier is getting thicker, it will be harder to get through. Sperms only survive five days and if there are more barriers, I need to strengthen my absorbtion.
I am not even close to the fallopian tube so I need to get a move on if I wanna live. I can already feel tiny speckled mana filling my body and absorbing into my soul. The race will be easier if everything goes well.
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[The universe has determined you as a being with Mana and as such, you have been given a progress system.]
[Current Status:
Name: Undecided
Stage: Sperm
Mana: 0.005
INT: 15 (normal Sperm INT is 0)
STR: 0.2
AGI: 0.5
DEF: none! You die within five days
SPE: 1
Skill: Eidetic Memory, Past Life Memory]
Mana is one of the hardest stats to gain even with a strong cheat ability due to the lack of ways to gain Mana. Furthermore, the best way to get Mana is also the best way to get a Taboo mark (very bad!).
If I want to get my fill, this is currently the perfect way, the problem is my time limit on life. I have no choice but to leave my treasure. I reluctantly go towards the next mana wall.
[You have gained 0.005 mana points]
[You have gained 0.005 mana points]
[You have gained 0.005 mana points]
[You have gained 0.005 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.001 mana points]
[You have gained 0.005 mana points]
I mentally grit my teeth as a sharp pain occurs in my soul. Everyone knows absorbing too much mana with a weak body will only lead to damage, but I have literally no other choice.
I do not know if I can get anymore after this. Luckily, my absorption speed is increasing the more I absorb, and my stats are also increasing as well. I once again move towards my goal.
This is good, considering few sperms have figured out how to get through the mana. Unlike normal bodies, a sperm's soul is constantly evolving and as such, the mana does not damage it.
ā¦
There were a total of five mana walls I had go through before making it into the fallopian tube, which was just a pool of dense mana. There is literally no way a normal sperm could survive this.
I figured out quickly that my mother was supposed to be infertile due to her immense amount mana. The sperms that had followed me used the holes in the walls I created and as such they had not absorbed any mana.
If they go into that pool, they will die without any way of protecting themselves. On the other hand, I am about to face the biggest soul pain of my life. Despite everything, this challenge was fun!
Diving into the pool of mana and feeling my body contineuasly gather horrendous amounts of mana was downright brutal. It practically crawled to what looked like a golden pearl.
The egg did not look like a normal egg but the moment I dug through the membrane, I felt more comfortable than what I had felt in all my reincarnation. It was weird, but I had an urge to sleep.
[You have Changed your fate of dying and loosing to another sperm. You have won and gained +1 Mana]
[Current Status:
Name: Undecided
Stage: Zygote
Mana: 3
INT: 20 (Normal Zygote INT is 0)
STR: 0.9
AGI: 1.5
DEF: 1.5
SPE: 1.8
Skill: Eidetic Memory, Past Life Memory]
[Forced Hibernation until the zygote attaches to the uterus wall]
[The Zygote is faster than normal and as such, it will reach the uterus wall within two days. Please wait until the process is complete]
The notifications of the progress system is all that I hear as I drift of to hibernation. Hopefully my journey is going smoothly since I have no control over it. I don't feel my body anymore.
ā¦.
I wake up around the time when my body has dug into the uteran wall. I don't know where the fuck I am but I am pretty sure I just landed in a pool of manaā¦once again. However this time, I can feel a slower absorbtion.
By the time two week passes and I become an embryo, the blastocyst keeps me alive by slowly giving me mana. Otherwise, I would dead due to the amount of thick mana surrounding me.
I still cannot feel my body at this stage despite how hard I try to concentrate. Maybe this is due to the new stage in my progress or something else all together. I have experienced this in the past.
Outside the body -
"How is that possible?" My husband asks wide eyed as we sit in around the table with his family and my family. Me being pregnant, in any way is impossible because of my awakening.
We awakeners, give up our right to have children in exchange for powers. The grade of our powers are chosen at random and both me and my husband are S rank. My baby should be impossible.
Ever since I got the positive pregnancy test, I have been thinking, I would have a miscarriage right then and there. I am still thinking it will happen. How can a baby survive in my body?
"What do I do?" I ask my family and they look at me with no answers to give. How can they give me an answer when this never happened before. I want to keep my baby but how can I?
"All we can do is give you the best care in the world, and keep you away from Mana. Xavier, you cannot use your skill near your wife and neither can you. None of us know how the mana will effect the child" grandpa sighs and rubs his head.
"We also don't know how long the pregnancy would be since this has never happened before" my sister tells me and I look at the six month old baby sitting on her lap in jealousy. I want the same thing as her.
Even if I adopt children, this is my only chance to have a child that is blood related. How can I loose this? I must be careful. Stay away from excessive amounts of mana. I look at my husband and he nods.
Let's be real, every Awakeners wants a child, even one, but that is impossible. Any child they had before would be killed due to the link to their parents. Sometimes, people don't think about what they lost before they actually loose it.
The depression people go through is the hardest. Awakeners are veterans not when they become strong but when they realize just what they had to give up to get the power they had gotten.
It all nice and good they could save people by going into dungeons and getting lifesaving artifacts, but what about people who gained F rank talents? What hope do they have? They cannot even go into a dungeon without killing themselves in the process.
Almost 80% of the awakeners are F rank so what is the point? I sigh and shake my head out of the bad thoughts and touch my belly. Please, please come out healthy and alive. I want to be a mother and is that too selfish to ask for?
ā¦.
Inside the body -
Once I grew a brain and a spine, I finally felt my body again! The one thing I noticed was that I grew faster than normal babies. I could keep track of the time through the progress bar and my development was way too fast.
If I had some sort of disease, I could erase it after getting out of my mother's body, but until then, there was no way to do that. My tiny heart beats a tiny bit faster due to my fear of dying prematurely, but I decided to ignore that fear.
[Current Status:
Name: Undecided
Stage: Zygote (week 3)
Mana: 15
INT: 29 (Normal Zygote INT is 0)
STR: 4
AGI: 7
DEF: 8
SPE: 2
Skill: Eidetic Memory, Past Life Memory, Mana absorbtion]
Mana absorption was the new skill I obtained after absorbing so much mana at such a young stage. This had made it possible for me absorb more in a short period of time. If my growth rate keeps going like this, I am going to give my mother a heart attack from pure fear.
ā¦.
I reached the embryo stage within the 6th week and I was bigger than normal so my mother must be showing at least bump. The biggest milestone of the century was the fact I could move my arms and legs occasionally which felt good after so long of being practically paralyzed.
Outside the Body -
As time went on I started to feel a bit more hope. The doctor had said my baby was growing faster than normal babies, which might be due to the mana. However he was not sure. That being said, my baby was active and healthy and I was beyond happy.
With every successful doctor's visit we held a small party and I had a good laugh seeing my husband cry tears of joy. The family had practically showered me in care and love and many people from the outside world had given me presents of congratulations.
There was a leak in information and by the time we caught the suspect, everyone knew an awakener was able to get pregnant. My family had to inspect every gift before it made it into our house, just in case it had mana in it. Our baby was doing well, and I did not want them to ruin her chance of survival.
ā¦.
Inside the body -
I startled awake at the sound of notification coming through the system. It was weird since I hadn't done anything other than moving around. I don't even purposely absorb mana anymore. The placenta feeds me a constant stream of mana.
[You have changed your fate and escaped death from excessive mana from the outside world. You have gained mana infant core as a reward]