I...feel the ground under me. It's rough. Little pebbles dig into my side, and I can even hear the sound of stone grinding against itself. The warmth that I had grown to love has abandoned me and now I can only fill the chill of the wind gently blowing past my face.

A low rumble causes me to lift my head, though for some reason my eyes refuse to open. I can feel my mouth open but no sound manages to escape. I have no voice...how sad.

Something touches my nose...no...I don't have a nose. Regardless, I shy away from the sensation momentarily before something tells me I am safe. Seconds later, ever so gently, the pressure returns. Again the soft vibrations reach me, carried through this small amount of contact.

Mother, I realize. The Squiglies had shown me such a thing. From one creature comes another, and such is the beginning of life.

Life...I...I'm alive...

Something in me stirs, and a feable response to the previous rumble escapes my lips. It was weak, high pitched...mine. In that moment, what felt like eons of loneliness crashed into my psyche. I instantly strain my neck forward towards mother, seeking the comfort I had so long desired.

Congratulations! Upon being born, you calmly seek the warmth of true life. Though you were fearful, you soon found serenity in the prospect of family. Though the tendrils of your previous existence in [Redacted Information] still remain, you whole-heartedly chose to embrace the safety of now.

Your beginning stats are:

Name- Orchid

Age- Infant

Str- 50

Int-170

Wis-230

Dex-10

Agi-15

Attk- Str(2)-Def of Hostile

Def; Blunt- 100. Blade- 1000. Magic- 420

/Some of your stats are seen as 'irrelevant' to your survival, and have such not been included on your status menu. If you should desire to learn of them, please use a scrying spell. This message shall not be shown again.\

/Your soul skills are unable to be shown on a status screen of any kind without divine interference. As such, they are unable to be displayed even to you. This message shall not be shown again.\

Oh, hello Squiglies! Hello Noisies! I call out to my 'friends' as I further nuzzle into the warm side of my mother. There is very little give, and she seems to be even harder than the ground, but I am content nonetheless. 

Over the next few minutes, I begin hearing small coos all around me. With a lack of sight, I'm left to fend for myself as mother gently leads each of my siblings to her embrace.

Title gained; Firstborn. +1 Int, +1 Wis, +1 End per level until maturity.

As each new addition to my family settles in around me, the Squiglies once more appear with the county Squiglies. They're so nice, wanting to cuddle up with us all. 

******

Ah...sleep is so nice. It's like that before-time, but not nearly as long. Sometimes I even see these things the Squiglies call dreams! Not all of them are good, but that's alright, they aren't real! I yawn and stretch out my legs, which basically means laying on my tummy and wiggling them around until they're a bit easier to move. I'm sure it looks kind of funny, but I can't really tell.

Pushing myself out of the comfy position, I walk forward until the edge of my snout is grazing against mother's warm belly.

...

It might be a wall.

.......

Yeah, that's a wall.

...      ............ .......

Ahem! Second try! Picking my head up a bit, I turn it a little to the side and listen very closely for the sound of Mother's breathing. 

Int+1 Wis+1

Sure enough, a deep rumble passes through the nest every few minutes. Slowly, I start to make my way over to her. I have to step on a few of my sibling to get there, but the most they retaliated with was a small whine. Once I am comfortably sure that mother is infront of me, I gently nuzzle my head into her side and plop back down.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Just as I am about to fall asleep once more, I hear some kind of skittering as the edge of the nest, but ignore it as such things happen quite often. Unfortunately...this time it wasn't some little innocent critter.

It started with a screech. High-pitched like mine, but a bit deeper. Regardless, one of my sibling were obviously in pain. I felt Mother move faster than she ever had before. It seemed like just a second before I heard her roar on the other side of our nest. I hear another roar, this one far more gravelly and rough. The next few minutes revolve around the sound of mother charging, biting, and challenging this intruder. In return, whatever was attacking us seems to be cawing at her and trying to rip into her shell with some kind of claw or tooth. At least, I hope that ear-splittinng noise isn't coming from one of them. It sounds like rock grinding against rock with all the strength of the world.

Each roar staggers me, each clash of their bodies jars my bones. Everytime our assailent manages to dig into mother's shell, the sound it produces forces me to push my head further into the ground as a cry of anguish leaves my mouth. Then as I hear the sound of a loud crash right beside my head, the blackness around me shifts, and my thoughts leave me.

Unfortunately, your weakness to sound has resulted in unconciousness. Furthermore, your environment has amplified this effect, resulting in minor damage to your ears. This will heal over time, but for {3 days} you will be constantly assaulted by a ight ringing noise. Then, for {1 month} you will have a 5% reduction to your ability to hear. Should you die in the time that you are in this comatose state, the System will do it's best to mitigate the pain.

Aw...poop. Wait..I don't need to poop...so...pebbles? Yes. Pebbles it is.

Are you going to take anything seriously? Redacted before viewed.

So then, what the moss am I gonna do here? Heh heh...

******

It's been quite some time since I came to this new life, and I must say... this is rather boring. Well, things trying to kill us quite often is hardly boring, but that isn't my point.

First of all, everything is black. Like, everything. I walk around, I bump into things. I try and find that cool rock outcrop from yesterday? No sense of direction. I can see absolutely nothing. Oh, and the cherry on top? Sometimes I even get lost and mother has to find me! I was trapped for hours once! Maybe just several minutes...it's hard to tell time when you have no way to keep it. 

Sigh...well, nothing I can do abou-.......................................................................................................................................I haven't opened my eyes..................................................................

OF COURSE. WHYYYYYYYYY?

Congratulations! After half a month, four times slower than the average for your race, you have finally gotten your first glimpse of the world around you! Int+2! Dex+2! New statistic, Perception(Ptn), has been created! Ptn+ 50! However, you...are quite the slow learner at times. Carefree has gained three levels! Ignorance has gained 20 levels!

Congratulations! For gaining more than 75 points(at once) in either soul traits or bodily statistics before leaving infancy, you have gained the (Un) skill "Fast Learner". Int+15! Wis+15! Ptn+10! Dex+5! All forms of learning are now (x-2+x2) faster for you! At times,in other words very rarely, objects or words related to a problem you are having will faintly glow, suggesting you focus more in that area.

The first environment you have laid eyes on is "Cave of the Rock Giants". Due to the mana coursing through the air, which you have been shrouded in since birth, you gain Def+5 Str+5. All stats now gain a +10 in rocky or underground environments. Due to the synergy of the bonus with your race, this is increased to +20! 

As fate has placed you in such a suited environment for your species, you gain +1 Luck!

Notice: Such a drastic leap in ability can sometimes cause discomfort, so please bear with this necessary smidge of pain.

Siiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhh....thank you Squigli...OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!

Just before I can tell the Squiglies that they are free to do their squigly thing, I feel as though every muscle in my body contracts and expands at the same time. I can feel the tendons and joints creaking with the strain, begging to snap in half to escape this horrible sensation. After about five minutes however, the crippling pain slowly begins to proceed. My pained wails seem to have attracted Mother, as she is quietly rubs her snout against the back of my shell. 

I shake and gasp for breath several more minutes, heedless of the small trails of water falling from my face and onto the cold floor. Slowly though, I force myself to my feet. Mother lets out a worried rumble, but seems to be rather calm about the ordeal. In that moment, for the very first time...I look up and see her face. Brown, craggy skin with more gashes across her body than I can count. One eye missing, seemingly torn out rather recently. She has a wide head, easily twice the width of my body, and three times as tall. Her mouth is angled back with a sort of beak replacing her lips. Another low rumble shows me a thin, needle-like tongue but no teeth. Her shell looks like a small stalagmite mixed with an island, lazily drifing around as she wanders the caves. I see a few small creatures actually living in the rock-like structure, but they simply chitter at me before disappearing. She had a long tail, around 2 metres, with her body being double that. Meters?

Distance...miles...yard...centi.....bah! Whatever. 

Seeing that I am in no serious danger, and maybe even looking a little proud, she turns and begins shambling back to what I asume is our nest. Her legs are easily a metre thick, and every step is accompanied by a small tremor, though that might just be due to my own puny size in comparison to her.  I begin to follow with a small cry, doing my best to make little hops with each step. While I would never be able to jump, I can certainly pounce! For now anyway....

Agi+1

As we make our way back to base camp, I use my new sense to thouroughly explore the path we take. The little clackity-clack of my toe stub thingies (I think they're called nails) on the cold rock is a rather funny sound, though it quickly begins annoying Mother. Regardless, I get to discover so much more now! 

For instance, this mushroom! Hmmm, yes, I've felt this texture before. I rolled around in a rather large patch. Mother had to lick me clean, but didn't seem to mind much. Anyway! It is green! It droops a lot! There is a tiny thing on the top! The tiny thing is glowing! It is pretty! Yes! 

Ptn+1 Carefree+1

And so the next hour or so passed by, with the squiglies popping up every time I found something new or intereting. I found a rock that looked like mother, and she decided to store it in her tummy. She seemed really happy, so I started looking for rocks that look like my siblings. After all, I like being happy, so I should make others happy too!

When we get back though...it's a bloodbath.