Chapter 1: My New Life
The last thing I remembered was dozing off in class. Classical literature to be precise, never really cared for it. And then that right as my eyes were closing while the teacher droned on, my eyes had flashed white. Now it was just dark. Really dark. As in there wasn't even a hint of light. Even opening my eyes didn't change anything. What the hell gives?!
Was I dead? No. It wouldn't feel like this. I think.
If I was, then I wouldn't be feeling so oddly cramped. There's something around me. Something with a bit of give, but it's hard. The hell is going on?
Heyyy! Is anyone around?! My attempt to scream didn't even make a sound. But while I can't make a noise, I can hear something around me. Shuffling, cracking, subtle growls.
Seriously, what's going on? No way some shut-in, back of the classroom recluse like me would be kidnapped. Whatever it is, I need to escape somehow.
CRACK!
A faint bit of light split through a crack. Nice! Looks like throwing my weight around did something! There's scratching as I push forward but it doesn't really matter. The small crack gets wider as I push and burst right through with a quick shove. Freedom at last!
And now the sight before me is a bunch of lizards.
WHAT?! WHY?!
They're all as big as me, with stony grey bodies and large golden eyes. Forked tongues flick in and out of their mouths as they wander around, and more are popping out of a slew of other eggs. Checking around myself, it's clear this is some kind of nest… made of bones. In a cave.
My body backs away on instinct… and then I feel the wall. Huh? No way I took that many steps. I feel something shift, feeling the sensation of brushing against stone. But it's not my hand. My head cranes back and sees the same grey skin as the lizards around me, moving out to a tail swishing around the broken remains of an egg and against the wall of the cavern. What? My head moves back around to look down. The long body ends in a pair of thin legs, ending at clawed feet that can't at all be called human hands.
Whatever you do… don't panic. Stay calm and think this through.
Maybe this is just some dream. Maybe I conked my head a bit too hard because my head slipped off my hand. I was reading a light novel the night before, so many I'm just having a weird dream until someone wakes me up. Sensei'll probably scold me, but that's fine. I'm used to that.
But when I think about moving, what responds is the tail and these clawed limbs. I can feel the movements going down my body to the tail, and the claws hitting the stone as I shift them around. Yep. I'm the one moving them. This isn't some fever dream.
I'm a lizard. I think.
Something also just feels… weird. Like there's a flow in the air I can just barely feel. I'm not sure what it is.
And I wish I could think about it, but these other lizards – well, I guess they're my siblings? No… no they aren't. I can't think that way. Anyway, I want to think but they just keep wandering around, some of them keep bumping into me! I get you idiots just hatched but let a guy think a bit, will you?! I at least need to gather my thoughts a bit…
Grooaaaa…
And now if only I wasn't feeling so hungry. I guess it makes sense, I did just hatch. But uh… I'm in this nest and I don't really see a way out. And now the question is what do I eat? Lizards are omnivorous, right? But I don't see anything in this nest that looks like it could be food. Shouldn't the parents be around when their babies hatch? What gives!?
Thum, thum, thum…
And that was when loud steps caught my attention. Looking upwards from the nest, I saw it: Large and imposing, a long tail tipped in a thick, blade-like needle waving through the air, feathered wings rippling at its back, the lengthy body held up by strong limbs ending in knife-like claws, and a large head bearing a "crown" of horns and fang lined jaws. Even from down here I could tell it totally dwarfed me and the other lizards as its harsh red eyes scanned around the nest.
All logical sense tells me that this creature is not something I'd consider natural on earth. Like some kind of dragon… or maybe a wyrm would be more accurate. Draconic it may be but whatever this thing is it doesn't give me the same impression. Seriously what the hell is going on?!
I froze when the beast's gaze came to me. It must have found it odd I was separate from the rest of the clutch. But if it did, it didn't seem to pay it any mind as one of its clawed feet shoved something into the nest, and the rest of my "siblings" scrambled over to whatever it was. Food?
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
Whatever they're eating it sounds like hard stuff. Well, I guess I don't have a choice. If I'm one of them I should be able to stomach it. Glancing up at the beast still watching from above, I shouldered into the hungry swarm of lizards. And something in me ran cold. What the hell what the hell?! While it was definitely shaped like a pair of creatures, some kind of frogs as large as I was – how big was I anyway? – it was made of stone… no, to be more accurate, it was petrified.
Whatever chunks my "siblings" had torn off proved it, with meaty flesh underneath the stone. Are you flippin kidding me?! Is this really my only option right now?! Why is it even petrified! Yo, mom or dad, I don't care, what the hell are you feeding your kids eh?! Something about this doesn't feel right at all! I'm still trying to process what's going on anyway!
Groooaaaa…
The growling of my stomach sounded like it was in protest. Either I eat something or go hungry, and my "siblings" sure as hell aren't slowing down. This is gonna suck. And so, sucking down my pride, whatever pitiful excuse for fangs I have are bared, and chomp right through the stony exterior of the petrified frog to tear out a chunk. And it tastes… nasty. It's bitter, andnot a good kind either. Heck this is actually a bit painful too! Is this thing poisonous! Again, what are you feeding your kids ya big lizard?! The taste is at least enough for me to stomach but… ouch. It's also way too tough, kind of glad I have these fangs now.
Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Acid Resistance LV1].
Whoa there what?! A voice?! Speaking Japanese to boot?! Where the heck did it…?! But looking around, there wasn't a source in sight, just my "siblings" munching away and our "parent" looking down at us while occasionally shoving more petrified prey into the nest. And the thing was, it was totally mechanical and devoid of emotion. Uh… excuse me? Mysterious voice? You there? Hello? What's this about me getting a Skill? What is this, one of those weird RPG mechanics worlds?
There wasn't a reply to my rapid-fire questions. Just dead silence. So, I kept munching away at the frog until it had been picked to the bone. Another one was among what had been shoved into the nest, so it was the next on the list of things to get devoured by me and the baby lizards. It feels a bit less painful than before, so that Poison Resistance must work. Neat. And if it leveled up, then that means I have it by default, right? Hey, voice, you got anything else for me?
No reply. Fantastic.
But I get it, so you're the systems guide, aren't you? All you do is tell me when I get skills and when they level up. Hmm… well it's not like I'm unfamiliar with RPGs, I was a pretty hardcore MMO junkie before all of this. Always got railed on for running a build that others just considered weird, especially because it was hard to play. But oh the times it paid off were so damn worth it, especially when I got to be smug about it.
Though, isn't it kind of weird for a world to have RPG mechanics at all? Heck whenever I thought about it, in terms of world lore mechanics like levels and skill trees would never really make sense in honest use. Earth never had anything like it, and thinking I'm suddenly in a world that does still doesn't seem right. Heck, there's still a lot I need to know anyway!
The "parent" above me has already told me this isn't earth, and if I'm its progeny I'm probably not some ordinary little lizard. But then what am I? Some kind of monster? And if there's Skills, then is there also Skill Points or something like that? Or do I have to get new ones by just doing things? Because if so that kinda sucks.
Number of Skill Points currently in possession: 30,000.
Seriously?! Isn't that a lot for some little lizard like me to have?! And is it just me because I reincarnated or what? Well if we're gonna be taking this train of thought then alright. I'd like to know what the hell I am to begin with, so an appraisal skill maybe?
Number of Skill Points currently in possession: 30,000. Skill Points required to acquire Skill [Appraisal LV1]: 100. Acquire skill?
If you're gonna give it to me at a bargain like that then hell yes! That's barely gonna put a dent into my stock, so why not start with that? I can figure out any other skills I may want once I know what I'm starting with. Alright system voice, have at it! Gimme that Appraisal!
[Appraisal LV1] acquired. Remaining Skill Points: 29,900.
Barely even a loss, and I can probably get those points back easily if there's levels too so hardly a thing to worry about. Still, I can't shake off the feeling it's kind of odd to have a system like that to begin with. But, let's put that thought aside for now. Finding out what I am, and hell where I am, is more important at the moment. I guess I need to be touching something to appraise it right? Let's try it out with something nearby first.
My eyes find a bone from one of the frogs, which is as good as anything. These claws are surprisingly good for grabbing onto something. Alright Appraisal, what's the deets?
Bone.
Eh? Seriously? That's all you're gonna tell me? I can see that much! At least tell me more than that will you?!
Bone.
I drop the frog bone and just flop to the ground. It did say the Skill was level one, so it's reasonable to assume it won't tell me much of anything. And I guess if I use it on myself as it is now, all I'll get is lizard, isn't it? Not worth it then. Guess the only thing to do is take random objects and appraise them until it levels up.
Kind of puts a hamper on my plans for now. If I don't know what I am then it's hard to know what to prioritize. Ughhhh! If this is an RPG mechanics world at least give me some kind of menu so I can see my stats! How am I supposed to prioritize anything when I don't even know my baseline abilities?! First I come back as, probably, a monster, and now I can't even do anything to work around it! This reincarnation is unfair I tell ya!
At least I'm not hungry anymore. I look back up to the edge of the nest and my "parent." It's gaze stops at me again, and then it turns away. I wonder what's past this nest. Probably caves going by the ceiling. Actually, now there's that question, do I have night vision or something? Because if it's a cave then it'd be dark, and there isn't a hint of light anywhere. Well, okay that one makes sense. Don't need a skill check to figure that one out. Useful at the least. I wonder though… is this some kind of punishment? Like, some good ol' Wheel of Karma giving me a kick in the ass for how I acted before?
I mean… it's not like I was a bad person. But I wasn't really a great one either. Ahh, man I still remember that stupid nickname everyone in class gave me. "Hitgoroshi-me", murder eyes. It wasn't my fault I was born with slanted eyes. But I also never really got along with anybody easily. Spent a lot of my childhood getting bullied because I didn't talk unless spoken to first. Never struck up conversations, stuck to myself, and thusly I never had a lot of friends and always had people muttering about how "gloomy" I was when they thought I wasn't listening.
So I just absorbed myself into video games and books. At least in those I could ignore reality for a bit and just think about other things. At least until high school rolled around, mostly. I stayed a loner, but… at least I had a good teacher. Ahh man, Oka-sensei'd be pissed if she learned about this. I hope she's okay, and hopefully had better luck than me in reincarnating. Same with the rest of the class, since it's not like I disliked anyone in particular.
Ah man, now I'm starting to get tired. I am freshly hatched after all, and after what I ate, guess I need to sleep it off. I can figure out more once I'm up again. Doubt my new "parent" is going to be idle for long anyway.
Once I was awake again, as I'd guess, the "parent" had returned. But this time, rather than a stock of petrified animals, the ones it dumped into the nest were still alive and twitching. Not moving, but definitely still alive. Paralysis? They do have punctures on their bodies, so maybe they got hit by that needle it has. Hmm… I mean look if I can turn into something like that, this reincarnation may not actually be half bad. If I can get there.
So hey, parent, what do ya want us to do with these huh? I wonder if it's aware of the leveling system. Or maybe it wants to see if its kids have the will to kill something. My "siblings" are just prodding at the animals as they twitch about. Hmm… I know I can see what they are, but I do need to level Appraisal. Let's see what type they are.
Frog. Mouse. Gecko. Penguin.
Eh? Okay the first three outta this group I get. They look like what they are. Though the gecko looks more like a small dinosaur. But… penguin? What I was looking at right now only seemed like one. But it's… weird. The beak of a pelican and arms like a monkey.
That's it, yep, totally not on Earth. Not if a crime against nature like that exists!
Now I had a thought. If the first batch were petrified, could that mean I have that ability too? I mean it only makes sense the offspring would have the ability of the parent, right? If I do, I wonder if that makes me a… Let's test the theory first! Alright ya freak of nature, sorry about this, but it's for the sake of testing what I can do! So… get petrified!
KEEN!
A flash goes through the air, no, from me, and next I know, the twitching "penguin" has had most of its body turned to stone. Holy shit it actually worked! I was able to petrify the thing! Well, mostly. Maybe the skill that lets me do it is low like Appraisal. Eh whatever, it worked! But uh… now it's mostly petrified and paralyzed. Kind of a bad case isn't it? The least I can do is finish it off… besides it got tossed in here to be eaten anyway. So, thank you, freaky ass penguin, for letting me test a theory out. I'll make sure your death isn't that painful.
A good time to test my claws too. They look plenty sharp, not something you'd want to be cut by. Good thing the freaks throat isn't petrified. This'll be quick, I promise!
Raising one of my… feet? Feet. Raising it up, I aim for the "penguin's" neck, the claws coming down with it and dicing right through the neck's skin with ease. If it wasn't for its status, I'm sure the thing would've thrashed, but all it let out was a gurgle as blood pooled out of the new wound. It was dead a moment later. So uh… successful first monster kill? Whatever. Time to eat!
BITTERRRR
GAGH! Come on! This thing too?! Why is a penguin poisonous?! How the hell does that make any damn sense?! Hey, system guide, what the hell?! Even if this isn't Earth on what realm of reasoning does a freaky penguin abomination being poisonous make any sense? I call foul play!
Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Acid Resistance LV1] has become [Acid Resistance LV2].
And just gonna reply to me with that one eh? How damn poisonous is it that it was able to level my resistance up? Not that I'm complaining, but it's a reasonable question. Whatever, moving on! My "siblings" are swarming the penguin now, and I've had my piece of it. Let's gander at the mouse. How much should I bet this thing is poisonous too?
First off, petrify! Because if that's a skill then I'm gonna level the hell out of it! Watch me "parent", I'll be making statues outta these things before long!
Chomp-sting
It's also poisonous! What the absolute hell! Why is a stupid mouse poisonous too?! I can understand frogs, but penguins and mice!? What the hell am I in, some kind of end-game dungeon where every monster inflicts status ailments?!
Actually uh… something about that makes a lot of sense.
So uh… is the gecko poisonous too? Let me take a bite and – sting – it is! Freaking dammit! Hey, "parent", again, the hell are you feeding your kids?! This shit's painful and doesn't taste that good at all! I call child abuse! Is there a monster child-protective-service cause I think they need to be given a call! This is cruel!
I mean sure the resistance skill is making the stinging dull a bit, but I can still feel it for crying out loud. And I don't even know how quickly this stuff levels up. Maybe because I'm a reincarnation it levels up faster for me? I don't know. Man I wish Appraisal told me more than it does. Just gimme me status window already please!
Thump, thump…
Looking up, the "parent" is leaving again. I guess that's going to be its routine. Go out and hunt while we eat and sleep, come on back and toss us more stuff to kill and eat. Maybe that's why it tossed us live prey this time, so that we could kill them ourselves and get stronger in an easy way. Or maybe I'm just trying to make sense of things and giving way too much intellectual credit to a monster.
I wonder where it's going. Hm… well, the "siblings" don't seem to care. I might as well follow the big one. Since the wall of the nest is made out of bones – that's actually kinda creepy. None of these are human bones, right? Well, anyway, I should be able to use them as footholds to get up this wall. And as I do, don't mind me, just going to spam Appraisal to give it some work.
Bone. Bone. Bone. Bone. Bone. Bone.
Yes yes yes, bones bones bones. Just do your work as I climb Appraisal, no big deal, I can ignore it.
Floor.
Oh so informative system guide, telling me the floor here is made out of floor! At least I'm out of the nest now. And there's only a single passage out from here. This cave doesn't look all that natural now that I'm looking at it. Did the "parent" dig this out themselves? It's too smooth to be natural. Hmm… I wonder, if it's some kind of dragon-thing, can it use magic? Maybe it dug it out using magic. Can't image it using those claws to dig out a nest like this. Must mean I might be able to use magic too. Peh, if only Appraisal was high enough for me to see my abilities. Would save me the trouble of asking so many questions about this. And I'd probably be able to learn where I am to begin with.
Whatever. Back to following the probably not-a-dragon!
This divot can't go that far. But it's definitely sizable. Would need to be shoved away quite a lot in order to get away from anything that would possibly raid the nest. Y'know, like other monsters. Or people. Hm, if this is a fantasy world, then would mean there's also adventurers. Ahh, and I'm a monster so that could go badly for me! Craaaap.
Glancing around at the walls, there's also gashes in them. Likely from my "parent's" tail swishing about. And my assumption about magic being used to make the passage might have been true, because aside from the gashes and claw marks, the wall and floor was totally smooth. Totally not a natural part of the cave. I'm still not sure of how big I actually am either. For all I know I'm like twelve centimeters long and things just LOOK big. Then again, those other animals were kinda big too. Especially that penguin thing. So, I can't be that small. Still need a point of comparison. Like, I dunno, a human footprint.
It wasn't long into my thoughts I got out to the exit of the tunnel. As expected, the passage outside of it was far more naturally cave-ish. Rough excuses for a floor of barely navigable path, stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, and nothing but darkness out of my range of vision. Something looks like it's milling around over there. More monsters? Hmm… wonder if Appraisal can tell me anything.
Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Deer. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Wolf. Lizard. Lizard. Lizard. Lizard. Lizard. Lizard. Lizard. Wyrm.
Owowowowow! Turn it off turn it off! Geezus what the hell was that?! I just asked to know if anything was off where I was looking, not to stab my brain with a knife! OW! That was way too much all at once you stupid system! Warn me before doing that next time!
But, one did stand out among that message spam: Wyrm. Could that one have been my "parent?" I mean it's obviously out hunting again so that must be it, right? Maybe I can sneak around and catch it in the act. I might get a good idea of what it can do while I'm at it. Thankfully I'm small enough, seemingly, to dart around the stalactites on the floor until I find a good enough vantage point, a decently sized rock. And now I could definitely see things milling around ahead of me. But, like that weird penguin, nothing that would be caught dead in a place as mundane as earth.
The bats are more like flying demonic rodents than what I'd be familiar with, really fitting the idea of being hellspawn ain't ya? And the deer… I mean they look the part, but normal deer don't come packing horns that look like something you could make a knife out of… well, a decent knife. Granddad used to hunt, had a few knives carved out of antlers for show. And the wolves… well aside from six legs they're normal looking. And whatever it caught as lizards, some of them looked like my "siblings", and others just… not. So I'm a different type for sure. Now what about what got tagged as "Wyrm?" Must be my "parent," right?
And indeed it was! I saw it, prowling behind some large stones, eyes locked on a pack of those wolves I spotted. Around… I'd say six. That's definitely not the thing it'd be getting for me and the other hatchlings, right? No way no how, to big. But, hmm… taking in how big wolves tend to be. Oh… my "parents" pretty frickin big then. I'd say… at least ten meters? Rough estimate without a good reference of my own. How it was hiding, I won't even try and think about.
But once one of the wolves got close, "parent" struck. The needle-tail flew forward and struck the wolf, sending it slack and twitching in a mere moment. Paralysis, like the monsters I'd eaten earlier. Has to be a strong Skill if it made that thing drop to the floor on the first hit. The rest of the pack wasn't so lucky as to be merely paralyzed. One was petrified complete the second "parent's" head whipped around to it, and another got speared by the stinger a second later, falling dead on the length of it. The remaining three pounced together, getting whipped with their dead companion for what it was worth. And once it was done, the remaining three were petrified with a glance.
Yeah… definitely strong. Whatever my "parent" is, if it took down six of those wolves without breaking a sweat, it's definitely not some joke of a monster. Like, "don't mess with this monster if you value your life" kind of strong. And now with its prey dead, "parent" began snapping up the bodies of it's kills. Some of them were downed by it in a single bite each, blood spraying from "parent's" jaws with each bite. And once it was down to the final, paralyzed wolf, it picked it up in its jaws, but carefully this time. Oh… so you are taking that one back.
Time to scram then! Don't want something like that deciding to off me because it knows I left the nest. It's nothing but danger for me if I'm not careful about it. Thankfully I don't think I was noticed either, but no harm in being careful, so I made my way back to the tunnel as quietly as I could.
Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired Skill [Stealth LV1].
Ah, well thanks System, not sure I even wanted to get stealth but nice to know I have it now all 'cause I went sneaking around under my "parent's" supervision. But that also might mean something was looking for me. Now I'm wondering if these things know when Appraisal is being used on them. Like, maybe monsters have some kind of sixth sense for when they get analyzed like that? If so… man that just makes trying to level the skill even more dangerous! I'm better of appraising random objects than I am monsters if that's the case. Guess I should at least test the theory then.
Thankfully, I made it back to the nest well before "parent" did. And my "siblings" are none the wiser. There are advantages to having human intelligence I suppose. Though now I'm noticing they're surprisingly tidy… or something else came by. We should have two parents, right? I've only seen the one. But either way, the eggshells were all shoved to the side, and the bones of the monsters we'd eaten were now new parts of the nest. Ew… whatever, I need to get used to it, for now.
It wasn't long after I'd hopped back into the nest "parent" returned with the still paralyzed wolf in two. There was a new puncture on its body, so looks like it had needed another dose of poison. The poor thing was tossed into the nest, and my "siblings" swarmed around it. None of them made a move, since in the two meals we'd had since hatching this thing didn't at all look normal. Well, time to test my Appraisal theory.
Wolf.
Despite being paralyzed, I caught the wolf's eyes dart to me as I touched a claw to its head. So you do know I'm looking at what you are huh? Not sure if you're aware I'm just getting info or think this is some preemptive move to an attack or not. You probably think it's the latter, don't you? Well… I guess it kind of is. Sorry buddy, but this is for my survival and possible experience points! You're probably mostly dead anyway. Plus my "siblings" are already trying to gnaw through your fur. I'll make it quick before they torture your sorry butt.
Slash!
My claws got through the fur on its throat far better than the fangs of my siblings trying to get through the rest of its fur. Rest well wolf, I hardly knew ya, but you were valuable in testing a mechanic out. May you rest well as food in our stomachs and EXP for my growth.
Experience has reached the required level. Individual Elroe Basilisk Riku Shiratori has risen from Level 1 to Level 2.
What freakin what?! A level up? Was the difference between me and that wolf actually that big? Eh?! If so then why the heck is my skin peeling? That doesn't seem normal! Hey, System! Heyyyy! Molting should not happen this soon ya know?!
All basic attributes have increased.
Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.
Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Petrifying Demon Eye LV1] has become [Petrifying Demon Eye LV2].
Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Petrification Resistance LV1] has become [Petrification Resistance LV2].
Skill Points Acquired.
Whoa whoa whoa, would you slow down a second?! I can barely process all of that! You're going too fast System! But, only one skill level up huh? And I saw a mention of a race and my name! Don't think I didn't notice that one, System! Still, the race is more my concerned. That's what I am, huh?
A Basilisk.
It makes sense the more I think about it. A lizard with eyes that can petrify whatever it looks at. I'd been suspecting it since I first tested it out. It's one of those answers you come to but want confirmation for. And if I'm a Basilisk, I can guess what that leads me to assume my "parent" is. Because the step up from a Basilisk is easy: A Cockatrice.
Sure as hell doesn't look like any cockatrice I've read about or seen in video games, that's for damn sure.
But… that's the situation, isn't it? Me, Riku Shiratori, formerly a Japanese high school student, killed in a sudden flash of light while coming close to napping during class. Now, reincarnated as a basilisk in a mysterious cave, and being watched over by a freaking cockatrice of all things.
So what?
