As mediocre as my new life was, I refused to die so prematurely. I had no combat experience as Frank, but my new body would have it instinctively.
But that was for later. As I was now, defending myself was a death sentence. The creature that carried me, in this case, a scandalously large bird, was not child's play. After capturing me, it had pecked me several times, violent enough to knock me out and dissuade any possible escape.
My HP had gone up to 150/200 in the blink of an eye. Starting a fight in the sky, even if I came out on top, would be equivalent to a fall of several hundred meters, unlikely to survive.
As it sped off to its nest, I glanced at the bird, searching for any information that might aid my escape.
Congratulations! You have acquired the Observe skill (level 1).
Race: Dark Snowy Owl
Height: 30 feet
Weight: 1 ton.
For more information, the skill requires upgrading.
"Fuck," I cried mentally, "this is completely ridiculous, physics and anatomy mean nothing here, how many hearts does it have?" How dense are its bones, and its wingspan in flight? And unlike me, it didn't seem mutated.
So many questions, too bad the answers were the least of my worries. The snowy owl was flying quite fast, and given the piercing cries it was producing and the ones it was receiving in response.
I guess we were near his nest and I was going to be a snack for his chicks.
One thing was for sure now. I didn't have the skills to beat this monster. Making any kind of plan would be more useless than anything else. The only alternative was to improvise and flee as soon as possible.
And damn it! I did it.
The second he landed in his nest, loosening his grip on me, and his chicks opened their greedy gullets to tear me apart. I slipped out like a flash, much to the displeasure of the mother who let out a high-pitched screech of anger.
The chicks, however, were not very happy about my escape. Like a well-coordinated gang, they surrounded me to cut off my escape, while their mother advanced dangerously toward my position, all the while avoiding stepping on her children.
For such behemoths, they were fast. For a scientist like me, it was just bullshit that I still had trouble conceiving.
In extremis, I avoided a vicious blow from the mother that pulled me out of my thoughts; the annoyance could be read in her posture and the way she snapped her beak furiously. Taking advantage of the interlude, I dove at full speed on her, wanting to inflict a bite that would hopefully weaken her.
"Shit," I swore, I had just bitten her paw, and it had produced nothing conclusive. It was like biting into lead, it was painful as hell for my fangs and a waste of venom.
It had been less than a minute that this had lasted, and it was obvious that I had to take a drastic measure, finish eating or go for broke, the choice was quickly made. The nest was located on a cliff, rugged as can be. Only crazy predators would venture there.
Taking a random direction to confuse my attackers, I suddenly turned toward the chick I was aiming for. It was a bit isolated and quite close to the precipice that I hoped would be my salvation.
None of them expected this. Before the mother could even react, I put all my energy into jumping into the void, my rings wrapped tightly around the chick.
Its breed seemed cut out for resistance; if it could not cushion my fall, I would know my second death in less than 6 hours. Despite all the urgency of the situation, I suddenly began to think that my survival was assured, I was reincarnated, and the Deus Ex Machina would surely save me.
Even if I had no ears, I could feel the wind whistling furiously around me. The toddler's mother, though fast, was too big to dive after me, where I was falling. As I went down, the space got smaller.
And I felt this narrowing when I bumped into a rather rough wall. Alas, it was only the first in a long series of bounces on sharp stones, on thorny branches.
I hadn't even reached the ground and I was already a wreck, the system interface flashing wildly as my HP soared. My only consolation was that I was still firmly attached to my prey, who had died in the meantime with his throat crushed by constriction.
My entire body was sore and littered with injuries as I woke up hours later, having lost consciousness. If it weren't for my regeneration and my dampener, I would be in pieces right now, probably dead. The last thing I remembered was that my HP had dropped to 10/200.
********
The place I had landed in seemed even darker and more gloomy than the one I had woken up in. There was heavy humidity in the air, a heavy silence, and the environment seemed frozen in time, it was both awkward and creepy.
As I writhed in painful moans, the equivalent of a gurgle sounded in my stomach, signaling that I was starving.
My serpentine side couldn't stem the disgust I felt at the thought of eating the baby snowy owl.
But if I didn't want to die, I had to be pragmatic. Snakes eat in bulk anyway, I don't think taste matters.
Approaching my meal, which had landed a few meters away, I quickly coiled myself around it, before another one came to claim it.
It was smaller than me, so swallowing it wouldn't be too difficult.
"This is disgusting," I thought to myself, as my entire body stretched to accommodate the meal.
Honestly, I wish I could eat shitty-tasting food instead.
Now that I had eaten my fill, my healing should speed up. But to do that, I would need to find a safe place to digest. I doubt the snowy owl is at the top of the food chain. Even though I am in a fantasy world, I doubt the evolution of predators differs much, aside from their special abilities.
Luck smiled on me this time. I didn't have to look far before I came across an epic tree.
"You'll be a perfect hiding place," I thought to myself, as I climbed up to hide and rest.