‘CHARACTER CREATION

Please select your primary species.’

The words floating in front of me were the only thing I could see in the empty void I found myself in. 

I was pretty sure I had died. Although, I didn’t know how.

My memories of my past life were fractured. I could remember places, foods, sensations, and events. I could even remember books, movies, and video games I liked. However, anything related to my death, friends, family, or social life was gone. I couldn’t even remember my gender or age!

I was a geek though, and through the memories related to that fact, I had realized what was happening. I was being reincarnated!

The words in front of me indicated that I had some amount of choice in what I could be reincarnated as, and the idea of a ‘primary species’ hinted at the possibility of a ‘secondary species’ as well. Prodding the words, hoping for more information, my suspicion was confirmed as a new “window” appeared giving a short description.

‘Your primary species determines your baseline appearance and body layout. If a secondary species is selected, you will become a hybrid, where the features of your primary species are dominant.’

Below the initial prompt was a long list of various species I could choose between. Considering most of them didn’t exist on Earth, I was pretty sure I would be reincarnated in another world.

I considered choosing ‘dragon’, but since I had been human in my previous life, I decided to select it as my primary race in my new one as well. While the option to become a dragon was tempting, I suspected being a giant lizard would make it hard to become a part of any humanoid society. I would choose it as my secondary instead; aiming to become a half-dragon.

‘Humans are a prolific species in most worlds. Their lack of personal power is made up for by being naturally curious, versatile, creative, and determined. Their curious and prolific nature also makes half-humans the most common hybridization.’

Yeah, that sounded about right. 

Slightly embarrassed on behalf of my old and new primary race, I confirmed my choice and moved on.

‘Primary species selected: human.

Feature: Humanoid received.

Optional: Please select your secondary species.’

Without further ado, I selected ‘dragon’ as my secondary species and confirmed my choice.

‘Dragons come in a myriad of subspecies across many worlds. Their natural power, intelligence, and long lifespans place them at the apex of most worlds they inhabit.’ 

‘Secondary species selected: Dragon.

Please select a draconic subspecies.’

From my memories of my past life, I already suspected which subspecies I would go for, but I decided to check its description before committing. 

‘Bronze dragons are a subspecies of metallic dragons known to be inquisitive and possess a strong sense of justice. Their aquatic affinity allows them to live just as comfortably underwater as on land.’

The description matched what I knew, and I confirmed my choice.

‘Draconic subspecies selected: Bronze Dragon.

Feature: Water breathing received.

Feature: Immunity: Lightning received.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Please select from available features to complete your character creation.’

I had expected the ability to swim as well, but I suppose any form of movement had to be learned; I hadn’t received ‘Feature: Walking’ from picking ‘human’ after all. The immunity to lightning was nice though. At least my new life wouldn’t be at risk of ending due to a freak lightning strike. I idly wondered if being a metallic dragon meant I would be a good conductor while browsing the list of features I had available.

There were three categories of features on the list: human features, bronze dragon features, and neutral features. The human and dragon features included traits associated with the respective species, while the neutral ones seemed more generalized. I noticed the amount of human features dwarfed the other two categories, but most of them were completely lackluster. 

Most features had a cost associated with them in the form of points. I had a tally a tally so I could keep track of them. Features like ‘Dragon Scales (Bronze)’ and ‘Flight (Bronze Dragon)’ were really expensive, while ‘Hair Color: Black-Green’ and ‘Eye Color: Turquoise’ were completely free. I picked them all. The scales and flight were, in my mind, necessary, and I figured I’d lean into the aquatic nature of bronze dragons with the hair and eye colors. 

Picking these features made others disappear from the list. Other options for hair and eye color were removed, and ‘Dragon Scales (Bronze)’ apparently counted as a skin color, so options for that were gone too. A few variations of flight from the neutral category disappeared as well.

From the neutral features, I picked ‘Improved Physical Abilities’ and ‘Regeneration (Major)’. They cost a pretty penny, but the combination of being more durable and even being able to regrow lost limbs seemed worth the expense. 

The last important feature I picked was more of a gamble since the description wasn’t very precise. ‘Horns (Empath)’ was supposed to ‘improve my mental defenses and other esoteric senses’, but it wasn’t exactly clear what that entailed. The main reason I went for it was because the geek in me thought having horns sounded cool. I could have gone for the cheaper, and purely aesthetic, ‘Horns (Bronze Dragon)’. But the points I would have had left couldn’t afford me anything interesting anyway, and improving my ‘mental defenses’ sounded good. 

I spent my last few points picking up a few cheap but useful features before moving on, excitement building within me as I was about to start my new life in a new world.

‘Features selected.

New Human/Bronze Dragon hybrid species created.

Well… I guess I’m a girl then. I couldn’t remember what my gender was in my previous life, so I supposed it didn’t matter. Before I could consider this further, another message appeared in my awareness:

‘New Quest automatically accepted: Change Destiny

Quest description: Change destiny. Good luck.’

That surprised me. I hadn’t thought I would be given a quest. And now that I had, I was left confused at how vague it was.

I blinked, and my whole reality changed.

----------------------------------------

Suddenly, there was light. 

It didn’t take me long to figure out what had just happened. I had just been reborn. Thankfully my consciousness hadn’t awoken until sometime after the fact so I didn’t have to live with the knowledge of what it felt like to be born. It couldn’t have been that long though, considering my size. I didn’t know enough about the speed babies matured to make an accurate assumption, especially considering I wasn’t quite human anymore. My guesstimate was somewhere between yesterday and a month ago.

Looking around I seemed to be laying in a crib in a nursery with several others. The room was surprisingly high-tech compared to any fantasy worlds I could think of including dragons. There were several pieces of tech on the cribs and walls, very few of which I could identify the purpose of

Thanks to my improved physical abilities I managed to sit up with some effort. I looked down at my arms and saw my skin was covered in tiny bronze scales. They were so small that unless you touched them or looked really close, it would look like I had ordinary skin painted bronze. 

Reaching up, I managed to feel my horns. In contrast to the slight scale texture of my soft skin, they were completely smooth and solid. So smooth in fact that it felt unnatural; no texture whatsoever. They originated a few centimeters above my eyebrows and curved gently backward and out to each side before curving slightly back up at the tip. Glancing at the one-way mirror on the wall, I could see they were almost completely black, with only a slight bronze sheen.

With the ‘Flight (Bronze Dragon)’ feature came a tail to help with stability. It seemed to be a continuation of my spine and it was easy to move it around. Stretched out, it was a little over three times the length of my stubby legs. I wondered if the proportions would change as I grew.

I managed to look over my shoulder to see my new, fancy wings. They looked pretty much like what you’d expect the wings of a newborn dragon to look like. It was a little difficult with my stubby baby arms, but I managed to grab hold of one. Moving it around a little, I managed to get a feel for the muscles I needed to use to move them. After that, it was easy to flap them about as new instincts were discovered.

Of course, even as tiny as I was, the wings would have to be several meters long to carry me relying on the laws of physics alone. But I could feel myself drawing on some kind of energy on instinct and guiding it to permeate them. 

Flapping my wings experimentally, I was surprised when I actually lifted off the ground!

It took some mental effort, but flying was surprisingly instinctual. I was tempted to fly around and explore the room - maybe meet my fellow babies. But I could already feel my muscles getting tired and decided to float back down again to rest.

Just as I landed I heard a “whoosh” as the door opened and a figure clad in a beige tunic and pants and a brown robe entered with a shocked expression, and I swear I could somehow feel his surprise. 

“Anita! What are you doing!?” I guess my name is Anita then.

I raised my hand and waved. “Ah-oh!” It was supposed to be ‘hello’, but apparently, my ability to speak was not quite there yet.

The middle-aged man rushed over to fuss over me and check the instruments on my crib as I considered my situation.

As a proud geek, I recognized those robes instantly. And now I saw my situation for what it was.

The energy I had used to power my wings was the Force. I was in the youngling nursery in the Jedi Temple. I had felt my caretaker's surprise. And he was a Jedi.

So, the Star Wars universe then. Now I knew what destiny I had to change, and I just had to figure out how.