Zack awoke to walls trapping him from all sides. He tried to push them away with no success. Despite being trapped in a claustrophobe's worst nightmare he didn't relent in his struggle. His ceaseless efforts weren't left unanswered.
The wall cracked and a claw pierced his shell. From a small inconspicuous egg, a praying mantis of tiny proportions appeared. The tiny creature fell from a hanging egg deeper into the shrub. Once he had hit the bottom of the shrub and the forest floor he stopped. The little hunter scanned his surroundings with a wariness that screamed intelligence.
Zack viewed the forest that blotted the very skies with fear and caution. His vision was blurry from a distance, but good enough up close. The bushes were as tall as sky scrappers with other plants building-sized when he stood in comparison. It also didn't help that everything was colorless.
His hands were weird claws that folded in on themselves. Using his wide field of vision Zack examined his body. In addition to his new hands, Zack found an extra set of legs. That equaled a total of six limbs, not including the two pairs of wings nestled on his back.
He could both smell indistinct scents and feel the wind curve also flow right on by using his antennas. A wave of sounds were heard, but once more he didn't know what they meant. Zack had been reborn as a praying mantis.
Disbelief and terror slowly began to overwhelm Zack's psyche. He was just an ordinary person, doing ordinary people things. Like dropping out of college, drinking beer with his friends, gaming when he had time, and working a dead-end job. What had he done to deserve this fate, his last moments before death were spent praying in a temple. Zack remembered it with clarity, one moment he was spent praying and the next his heart stopped.
Pushed to the brink, Zack clasped his two forelimbs together and made a prayer to himself. It was something he did in troubling times as a child. It had stuck with him till adulthood and the moment before death. In fact, Zack was praying to himself the exact moment he died.
Ding! 1 Prayer collected!
'That never happened before,' Zack examined the attribute panel with an inquisitive gaze.
---
Name: Zack Huntt
Species: Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis)
Age: 1 Day old
Lifespan: 1~ Year
Lifecycle: Nymph
Size: 6 mm
Prayers Collected: 1 Prayer
Biomass Collected: 0 Biomass
Abilities: None
---
Zack had been reborn as a praying mantis! But how? What was even weirder was that he was able to maintain his consciousness. Does he not need a human brain to think, he couldn't make any sense of the situation.
A blur flashed in the corner of his eyes, right at the edge of his wide field of vision. Something had fallen from the egg. It was another praying mantis, a nymph. Above it were hundreds getting caught further out in the bush.
Maybe this was another human trapped in a mantis as well? Zack decided to try and communicate with the mantis. The mantis stood still like a statue in Zack's approach. Fumbling with his claw he tried waving at the mantis. Zack watched anxiously hoping this was another human trapped in his same situation. It was impossible that he was the only person to suffer.
His wishes were answered, and the nymph mantis waved back! Zack knew he was right, and with glee, he got closer to his new friend. Then it pulled him in for a hug, a rather tight hug. Too tight.
This bastard was trying to eat him! Zack panicked and swung his claws but was thoroughly trapped. The nymph's mandibles bore down on Zack's shoulder. The pain sent shudders through his being. In a desperate attempt to live Zack stabbed his mandibles into the eyes of the nymph.
Not a second later, the attacker went limp and died. The mandible was still embedded within Zack's shoulder though. Any attempts to wiggle out didn't work as the dead nymph's claws grip hadn't let up even after death. Zack noticed more mantis nymphs falling out of the egg towards him. He needed to get away from that egg immediately.
Zack with great hesitancy began biting the dead nymph. Bits and pieces happened to get into his mouth whilst he struggled free. However, it tasted less like a bug and more like a potato chip than he liked to admit.
Ding! 1 Biomass collected!
Zack ignored the notifications as he had bigger things to prioritize. A minute passed before he finally broke free. The nymph's corpse somehow had squeezed even tighter while he was escaping its grasp.
Zack looked at the mutilated corpse and decided he was going to take it with him. Reluctant as he was to believe the attribute panel, on the off chance it was real that meant he didn't have time to be squeamish. What's worst was his lifespan, one year's worth. It was a depressing number, but the chances of surviving even that long were questionable.
Zack sighed as he brought his claws together to pray for the poor nymph he just slaughtered. Even if the bastard did deserve to die for his transgressions.
Ding! 1 Prayer collected!
'Oh...' Zack prayed for the dead guy one more time. He waited, just to be sure prayed an extra time. He patiently waited. Then he stomped on the corpse with one of his four legs. Zack concluded that it must be that prayers could only be extracted once per kill.
Zack watched as nymphs slowly traversed the bush. A few of them even reached the forest floor where Zack was at. That was his cue to leave, Zack latched his claws onto his meal and booked it. Where to? That he did not know, but not anywhere near the egg.