I'll admit. It took me quite some time to get my act together and figure out how exactly I was supposed to even move. Being a tini tiny sea snake with no arms or legs to speak of made the act of swimming quite the headache to figure out.
Nonetheless, after a couple minutes of random waddling, I more or less understood that to swim, I basically just had to move my tail from side to side.
A small victory, but one that I gladly took. Then, I had to sit down for a moment.
In life, I wasn't a very sociable, attractive, nor even outstanding person. I hated sports then, but considering the hundreds of fictions I read back then... I don't have much of a choice.
I curled myself up next to my now broken egg, and considered what I wanted to do in this life. I've always loved order and routine, but that would be an ill-afforded luxury here, considering that even the animals in my previous world had to ferociously fight just to scrape by. And in this world that apparently had a system of sorts... Yeah. It doesn't look good.
I could be a supremely venemous snake, if the poison stat adhered to it's namesake. However, that would hardly help me right now, would it?
I had barely escaped from my own egg, and that had been a struggle in on itself. How the hell was I supposed to break all these other eggs to get to the juicy bits inside with mere poison?
I hovered over the various stats, trying to figure out which ones did what. Eventually, the system decided to take pity on me.
Strength - Muscle mass, pure physical strength.
Constitution - The 'defense' stat. Makes your body tougher and increases regeneration.
Dexterity - Basically agility. Makes your body more flexible and increases the body's reaction speed.
Intelligence - The mental capacity of a creature. Allows for faster process of thoughts and more complex thinking.
Wisdom - The magical capability of a creature. Increases mana pool and regeneration.
Poison - Special stat of certain creatures, makes your poison deadlier and more efficient.
I considered my choices, but eventually, the answer was obvious. For as much as I wished I could be a magician... I had no idea how to even see my own mana pool, much less use it.
Hence, I invested 1 point into constitution, and the remaining two into strength.
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[Nameless] [Newborn Snakeling]
Age - 0 years
Level - 1
Constitution - 2
Strength - 3
Dexterity - 2
Intelligence - 1 (?)
Wisdom - 1
[Special] Poison - 4
Skills - (Bite Lv. 1), (Swim Lv. 1)
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Immediately, I felt the effects of the investment. I felt pleasant tingles travel down my body as though someone was massaging me. It felt heavenly, but alas, it only lasted for a scarce few seconds.
When I came back from my high, I couldn't really tell the difference from before, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I eyes the juicy-looking egg next to my own.
It was a tad bit smaller than my own, and the snake inside it didn't seem to be even trying to escape it. Good.
I moved myself over to the egg, warily keeping an eye around me, afraid our mom would pop up or something. It was a stupid worry, but I couldn't help it. What I was about to do felt really, really evil.
Hesitating on how to proceed, I attempted to coil around the egg, barely managing to wrap around it once. Then, I flexed my muscles as hard as I could.
The egg seemed to barely feel my attempts, but I didn't give in. As a marine biologist, I was far, far too aware of the incredibly miniscule chances that newborns of any marine species have at growing up. I didn't want to be helpless when I left this cave.
Thus, I chose to ignore the painful ache across my body and instead focused on pressing down on the egg as hard as I could. Eventually, I felt, rather than heard, a small crack form.
Encouraged, I pressed on even harder. My muscles were basically screaming at me by now, but i didn't give in. Finally, a minute later, the egg gave in.
A delicious-smelling liquid drifted out of the broken spot in the egg. With a vigor I didn't even think I had, I smashed my face against that spot, finally breaking through.
There was a disgusting-looking half-fetus, half-snake in the egg. I had little mercy for such a gross being, and with the delicious smell drifting out from it, I felt my instincts cloud my mind as I was driven to a frenzy.
I dragged the fetus out of the egg before taking vicious bites out of it. I would have eaten it whole, but it was a bit too big for that.
When I finished devouring the entire thing, which must have been at least half my own body weight, I felt as though waking up from a lucid dream.
I stared into nothingness for a few seconds as a couple notifications popped up at the edge of my vision, but I ignored them and considered what I'd just done.
I... Murdered something that hadn't even had the chance to be born. And... I felt nothing.
No disgust, no guilt, no happiness. I felt like an ampty void.
I truly was a monster.
Newborn (egg) Snakeling killed. Exp granted.
Skill (Bite Lv. 1) now Lv. 2
I felt incredibly sleepy now. My stomach felt full, and I could see my body bulging a bit from all the snake flesh I'd devoured. I settled myself down next to my egg as sleep gradually overtook me.
It was particuarly awkward because I couldn't close my eyes. Nonetheless, my mind eventually shut down, allowing me to drift into blissfull nothingness.