Ray couldn't believe it.
Even now as he lay there, in the soft, lush green grass beneath him, his chest rising and falling in shallow, frantic breaths. He still couldn't wrap his head around it.
Reincarnation. Rebirth. Transmigration.
The very concepts seemed absurd, ripped straight out of fiction. And yet, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, the facts remained.
He was no longer human.
The thought sent a shudder through him as the weight of it settled heavily in his heart. It was as if reality told him that whether he liked it or not, he had to face it.
Breathe in. Breath out.
Ray focused on his breathing, its rhythm becoming more controlled and measured as he began to compose himself. Panicking wouldn't help. What he needed now was to think about his next steps.
With a grunt of effort, Ray pushed himself up onto his feet. His six limbs moved in unison, working instinctively as if this body had always been his. There was an unsettling fluidity to it, a sort of grace that matched his streamlined form.
Ray swayed slightly as the weight of his new form settled onto his limbs. It took time—a few awkward stumbling seconds—but eventually his limbs found their rhythm and got accustomed to his weight.
Even then, as part of his mind was preoccupied with his physical changes, the rest of it still spun with questions and doubts.
How am I supposed to survive here?
Deep down, Ray knew that he had no answer. Even with the body of a human, he simply lacked the experience and knowledge that came with outdoor survival.
Goddammit, if only I took her offer back then. Maybe then I would have gotten some survival experience, Ray thought as he was hit with a tinge of regret. No, now's not the time to think about such things. What I was doing back then was just as if not more important than outdoor activities.
Soon a strange sensation crept into his awareness. It was a faint buzzing sensation at the back of his mind, like a repetitive text notification.
What is that? he froze, his attention focused on the strange feeling. It wasn't the first time that he'd felt it. No, it had been there minutes prior, just after his body escaped out of that damned eggshell. But he'd been too overwhelmed at the time to notice.
Now that there was no ignoring it. Ray paused, and after a brief moment of consideration, he instinctively reached out to it.
Ding.
Another soft chime rang in his mind in a repeated succession. His body froze, eyes wide as words appeared before him in the form of a bright red screen.
Red huh? That is never a good sign.
The words were soon accompanied by a voice that illustrated its intent. The voice's tone was cold, mechanical, and devoid of all emotions.
[Activation of the guide… complete.]
Ray stared blankly at the strange screen before blinking twice. What in the world did that mean? Activation of what exactly? And most importantly—why him?
Before he could formulate a question, the screen changed, now presenting him with a new words:
[Do you wish to check your abilities?]
[Y/N?]
Ray's eyes fell on the new screen, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to understand the meaning of said question.
Abilities? He had no idea what the screen meant. No, it was more so that he had a semblance of an idea, but it was simply too ridiculous to consider.
If the screen meant what he thought it did, then this meant that his situation was closer to a game or novel than he thought. But even then, he was unsure. Since he simply lacked the information to form his own conclusions.
The last thing he wanted to do was treat this whole scenario like a game just to die a fool's death. Whatever this was, Ray concluded that it might hold the key to understanding what had happened to him… and how he would advance from now on.
But first, there was no time to dwell on it here. He was too exposed. He needed to find cover first.
* * *
Ray's eyes darted around, scanning the dense forest ahead. His gaze shifted between the towering trees to the sparse underbrush as he searched for anything that could provide him some semblance of cover.
As he stood, Ray knew that staying out in the open was a death sentence. And such a statement was no overreaction since he knew all too well that any predator could easily spot him—his newly, premature form, stark against the green terrain.
The last thing he wanted was to be caught by a strange creature lurking about just beyond his vision.
Ray's heart raced in his chest, his pulse quickening with each passing moment. Yet, despite the tension, it only took the cool breeze of the expanse brushing against his scales to calm him. It was then that something caught his eye.
There he saw a cluster of bushes, each one dense and leafy, just a distance away. While a single bush proved to be too light on its own. Together, they proved to be thick enough to provide ample cover.
The sight of the thicket sparked a glimmer of hope inside him as he slowly began to move. His limb's movements remained somewhat awkward but slowly afterward gained a sense of rhythm and momentum. The weight of his body soon began to spread evenly as he skittered across the grassy terrain like an insect.
As Ray approached the thicket, instinct took over. He lowered his body closer to the ground, his reptilian form now bleeding seamlessly with grass beneath him. To his surprise, he also moved with an eerie silence, his steps barely audible even to his own ears.
Such a thing was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. 'At least now, I wouldn't attract unwanted attention easily,' he thought as he advanced.
Once he reached the thicket, Ray cautiously inspected it, his eyes narrowing as he assessed their safety. Satisfied, he tucked himself beneath the leafy canopy.
Inside, he began to inspect the ground below him, his claws pressing against the earth as if to test its texture.
Alright, this could work.
Without a moment's hesitation, he began to dig. The entire process was tedious and painstakingly slow, as not only were his claws not designed for the digging process but also that it took large amounts of concentration to carve certain soft patches of earth into something desirable.
Occasionally, the surrounding branches of the thicket scraped slightly lightly against his scales, but he wilfully ignored the discomfort and dug undeterred.
After what felt like an eternity, he had finally dug a hole in the middle of the thicket. The hole itself was designed to be just large enough to hide his lower body. While the rest of his body remained above ground as it was well camouflaged by the dirt and foliage.
Safe, Ray sighed as he sank into the shallow pit.
* * *
Time slowly passed as Ray remained in the pit. Every rustle of leaves and every faint movement drew his attention like a potential threat. But luckily nothing approached.
Soon the red screen flashed again.
[Do you wish to check your abilities?]
[Y/N?]
Ray hesitated as he mulled over the screen. Was this a trap? Could he trust the screen's intention? He didn't know. But sitting in the thicket without taking action wasn't going to help him either.
With a sigh, Ray mentally selected Yes.
The red screen disappeared for a brief moment, then reappeared again, this time with a mixture of words and numbers present. A cold mechanical voice soon followed and spoke.
──────────౨ৎ──────────
Level: 1/5 (Rank 1) | Vitalis: 1
Status: Alive [Normal]
HP: 16/16
Strength: 6 | Constitution: 8
Agility: 14 | Mind: 16
──Inherent Traits──
[Fangs +0] ; [Claws +0] ; [Scales +0] ;
[Eyes +0] ; [Tongue +0] ; [Legs +0] ;
[Tail +0]
──Core Attributes──
[Play Bite] ; [Claw Swipe]
──Blessings──
[Sight of Self]
Species: Hatchling Lacerta Agilis
──────────౨ৎ──────────
Ray stared at his attribute window, trying to make sense of the attributes and traits listed. He was no stranger to fantasy novels, especially ones involving systems, but seeing one in real life felt surreal.
Level one, huh? And… Vitalis?
He had never heard of such a term. But just as he was mulling over it, another screen appeared. This time anticipating his thoughts:
〖Vitalis〗
[Description: This is a point system that can be used to improve aspects of your physical form.]
Once the system screen rang true, it soon disappeared before reappearing again with a list of information:
〖Inherent Traits〗 :
[Fangs +0 : Sharpens fangs and improves their ability to tear and crush. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Claws +0 : Sharpens claws and improves their ability to cut and tear. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Scales +0 : Hardens your scales to improve resistance to mundane physical damage. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Eyes +0 : Improves eye sight of the user's four eyes. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Tongue +0 : Increases sensitivity to scent. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Legs +0 : Improves leg strength of the user's six legs. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
[Tail +0 : Improves balance and striking power. (Costs 1 Vitalis)]
Ray paused as his gaze lingered on something unexpected.
Four eyes?
He blinked, confusion setting in. Since when did I have four eyes? It hadn't even occurred to him. Slowly, almost experimentally, he began blinking each individual eye, starting from his nasal base upward—until he confirmed it.
That is going to take some getting used to.
Forcing the odd sensation aside, Ray turned his focus back to the list of traits, each one offering different enhancements to different parts of his body. The thought of improving his body was tempting. Especially since he didn't know how dangerous this world was yet. But would a single point truly make a difference?
Ray mentally cycled through the options, weighing them against each other carefully. He only had one "Vitalis" point to spend, but the question now was what trait would be the most useful right now?
First, he asked himself what the most important thing was at the moment. The answer was obvious; it was his survival. The only way to survive would be to pick an upgrade that would serve him long-term.
As amazing as combat-oriented traits were, they simply could not help him, especially since his stats were too low. Plus, taking combat-oriented traits to aid him in battle this early in the game would only be suicide. What he needed now was some versatility.
With that in mind, the traits that fit his desired category were legs, tongue, and eyes.
Ray's eyes, while not perfect, could still see with similar if not the same clarity as his human eyes, so he didn't need to focus on it at the moment.
This now left legs and tongue to be left up to consideration, and between the two, the only right answer would be his legs. The aspect of increasing his leg strength simply outweighed the trait of detecting scents. Not only would this upgrade affect his agility, but it could also affect his strength.
[Would you like to increase Legs from +0 to +1?]
[Y/N?]
With a mental command, he selected Yes.
[One Vitalis has been spent…]
Soon a sudden warm surge spread across his skin, starting from his underbelly onto his claw. The feeling was brief, yet even with such a sensation, he couldn't tell if his body changed or not.
Ray looked at his status again, and as he half-suspected, he saw no change in his stats. His stats remained as they were before. Painfully weak.
Great. I not only have weak stats but weak traits as well. Please. Please let me have an OP skill of some kind. Just something to make this situation easier. Like that slime from that novel I like.
A new screen soon materialized in response.
〖Play Bite〗
[Description: A weak and playful bite which only delivers small amounts of damage than intended.]
〖Claw Swipe〗
[Description: A clumsy, beginner-level swipe that lacks both strength and precision.]
But his hopes never came true.
Fantastic. My attributes are just as pathetic as the rest of my status. Why did I expect anything out of a newly hatched lizard?
Frustrated, he took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing thoughts before moving on. And like before, the previous screen was replaced with a new one.
[Sight of Self]
[Description: ██████ blessing which provides information on anything the user lays their eyes on.]
Staring at the screen, Ray couldn't help but smile. It wasn't much, but it was something. Sure, his blessing wasn't overly destructive or defensive by any means; however, it did provide him with something that he considered far more important: information.
With information, anything was possible, so long as he played his cards right.
As Ray's thoughts swirled, a final string of screens appeared.
[Instillation of the guide… confirmed.]
[Activation of the guide… confirmed.]
[New information will now be provided.]
Then as if the guide had been waiting for this, it delivered one final message.
[Goal: Become strong. Become the best there is. Aim for the top.]
[Reward: Acquiring the right to fulfill three wishes.]
Ray's eyes narrowed.
Three wishes? That felt… ridiculous. Still, with those wishes, he could wish for anything. But could he truly trust it? What if the guide was simply planning to take over his body once he reached the pinnacle? Not only that but wasn't such a request ridiculous? How was he supposed to do that when he was this weak?
Ray sighed, his reptilian form shifting about uncomfortably in the dirt. You know what fuck it. Let's see where this crazy new world takes me.