I was reincarnated into a bat...
I know, tragic.
At least I can fly. I also have a status and everything too.
But I'm still a goddamn bat...
I miss having arms and legs...
Well, shit. Okay, drowning in self-pity won't change anything.
Since I have a level and a status, I shall shamelessly assume this is a different, magical world.
And well, everything can happen there, right?
I might even have a slim chance to turn back into a human.
How? Well, I don't know, maybe if I get stronger and gain more levels?
I'm just coming up with my own baseless assumptions, but hey, a man lives with hope.
To reach my goal, I need to take one step at a time. Firstly, I'm sure hanging on this stalagmite upside down and snoring won't help. Welp, time to move my sorry ass and explore the cave.
Whoops, I almost fell! Huff, I'm still not used to flying.
It's really dark here, but my vision is also a bit unique. I can make out contours and silhouettes of the damp cave walls.
I can also detect sound vibrations and avoid danger by not flying close to the source.
The cave isn't empty. It's full of lizards, bats, rats, centipedes, spiders, and other 'eww' type large insects, so I've gotta be careful.
...
Hmm?
My vision registered odd, black, slimy sludge on the wall nearby and silently appraised it.
I'm a simple ma..., I mean bat.
When my appraisal detects question marks, I humbly fly in another direction.
...
A wise man said, know yourself, know your enemy.
Name: - HP: 1.9/19 Species: Bat Gender: Male STA: 1.1/1.4 MP: 0/0 Level: 0/5 Exp: 0% Skill points: 0 Stat points: 0 Trait: Nocturnal (+10% All Stats. Condition: Night, Darkness. Enchanted night vision) Stats: STR: 0.21; AGI: 0.6; DEF: 0.03; TEN: 0.00; WIL: 0.25; PER: 0.77; Skills: Night vision: 15; Vigilance: 6; Slumber: 5; Flying: 11; Echolocation: 8;
Unfortunately, I can't see the full status of anything other than myself. However, I can see the HP bars of the most things, which is convenient.
I'm not going to dive into battles straight away. That's just suicide, I thought.
For the past three days, all I did, was silently observe the different species.
My subjects of observation are habits and fighting styles of the cave's inhabitants.
There's never a lack of battles here. Everywhere you look, there's something fighting to the death. They're all ruthless, trading flesh for flesh, blood for blood.
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The primal rules of nature are just that simple, and ruthless. There's no place for the weak here.
I've come to a conclusion after observing everything for days. Every species without exception have their strong points and weaknesses. For example, large ants have a very tough exoskeleton, spiders are good at laying traps and so on. Even rats, that are average in all aspects make up for having no specific advantage, with their numbers. Otherwise, they would have gone extinct a long ago.
As for bats, their advantage is their maneuverability and high perception. Not many creatures have high perception. I find it funny how an unsuspecting creature sometimes gets ambushed. 'How could it not notice?' I wonder sometimes, but they just don't have a high perception is all.
I'm glad I didn't start hunting right away, but there's a limit to how much I can delay. I'm getting hungry, after all.
I need to find my first prey.
With my intelligence, patience and high perception, I'm sure I'll find something to eat. There shouldn't be any problems if I'm careful.
Or so I thought...
It's rather hard to find something weaker than a bat, which means I'm basically at the bottom of the food chain.
Because they are weak, bats usually fight in flocks, but there's high competition for the acquired food. I'd be lucky to snatch a bite for myself. I'd rather go solo then.
Skill acquired: Sneak
That's what I've got after playing ninja and stalking this and that. I've still not found an easy target though.
After another round of searching, my labor bore fruit and I found a slick, sneaky slimy snail slithering, camouflaged like a chameleon. If I wasn't careful, I wouldn't even detect it.
Otium snail Level 0 HP: 1.2/1.2
After observing the sneaky snail for a while, I've learned the pattern of its life.
It travels ever so slowly most of the time and stops by purple glowing crystals from time to time. It stops traveling for about an hour every day. I assume it's the time it sleeps. Before going to sleep though, it finds a very secluded and safe place, where the shadow of cave wall protrusion falls.
I decided to attack when it sleeps. I tested some waters by approaching at certain distances from time to time, but there was no reaction coming from it.
Reminded by the rumbling stomach I courageously dive down with fierce momentum, opening my tiny mouth for a bite.
My teeth sunk into a jelly flesh of the sleeping snail.
Skill acquired: Bite
< -0.2
I tore a small chunk of flesh from it, but didn't retreat and carried on fiercely attacking.
< -0.1
Skill acquired: Scratch
The frightened snail attempted to hide into the shell, but I grabbed its vulnerable eyeball and nibbled on it.
< -0.3!
A red drop of blood appeared above the snail's shell. I guess it was a bleeding debuff.
The injured snail hid into the shell, which was too hard for me to break with my poor strength.
A light bulb flashed in my mind as I grabbed the shell with my feet and attempted to fly up in the air.
It's goddamn heavy!
I complained in my mind, but didn't give up and managed to fly high up. Grinning viciously in my mind I dropped the shell on the ground.
*Splat
< -5.1!
+10% Exp
Achievement: First kill
+10% Exp
Title acquired: Cunning (+10% DMG. Condition: Sneak attack)
Skill acquired: Deception
Title acquired: Bully (+2% DMG. Condition: Weak enemy. -1% DMG. Condition: Strong enemy.
Achievement: Overkill (+1% crit rate)
Achievement: Ultra overkill (+2% crit rate)
...
Damn, an impressive stack of notifications for the first kill.
I don't like the bully title though. I wonder if every single creature has it as that's how everything operates here.
The commotion notified the ones I couldn't afford, so I quickly snatched bits of flesh and flew away.
I sweated profusely, seeing a snake slithering out of the hole and feasting on the mashed up snail.
Thankfully I was fast and grabbed my share. I won't be hungry for a while. This body of a bat doesn't require much food anyway.
After a tiring fight, my stamina was reaching a critically low point, so I found a decent place and fell into slumber.
Slumber was a skill for a reason. It helped me recover fast.
Even in slumber, my perception wasn't completely cut off too, hence I had a sweet nap.