Suddenly, the floating feeling I had was gone, replaced with a sudden weightfulness that felt as if I had gained a few hundred pounds.
My senses return to me as sound floods my ears and feeling returns to my body.
I realize my eyes are closed, so I open them.
A lush forest greets me, and I attribute the noises I had heard earlier to wind rustling said trees. But other than that, the forest is oddly quiet.
Looking down, I realize why I felt like I had gained so much weight - I had. I wasn't sure, what with nothing else as a reference, but I felt much larger than I was before. And with my long body wrapping around the trunk of the tree I'm in, I would bet I'm pretty large.
I notice my wings and feathers as the wind ruffles them; I seemed to be mainly red with blue and yellow patterns.
As my mind settles, memories flood me. It's not exactly a thousand, more like 500; apparently because the previous inhabitant of this body didn't have a very good memory. I go to sift through the memories-
《BLOODLINE SKILL [NATURAL AGILITY] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [NATURAL SPEED] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [DEFENSIVE SCALES] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [POISON MIMIC] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [FIRE BREATH] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [SCENT TASTER] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [POISON RESISTANCE] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [FIRE RESISTANCE] UNLOCKED》
《BLOODLINE SKILL [MAGIC CORE] UNLOCKED》
《[SLITHERING] UNLOCKED》
《[FLYING] UNLOCKED》
《[AERIAL COMBAT] UNLOCKED》
《[MAGIC MOLDING] UNLOCKED》
... You done? The automated voice had cut through my thoughts with the subtly of a raging bull. There is no concern for my thought process like with Kurotto.
__《I could hold back the notifications until you clear your mind, if you would like. This could also help limit distractions during high stress situations.》__
Oh, sure. Thank you.
Kurotto's voice seems to be more distant when I have a body, like a whisper but I understand him clearly? It's weird.
__《You are welcome. You can still use the menu as you were before; no need for physical movements.》__
Oh, nice. I wish for the Main Menu just to try it out.
--------------
-MAIN MENU-
|SKILL SHOP|
|ITEM SHOP|
|CURRENT SKILLS|
|QUESTS|
Skill Points: 0
Tokens: 0
--------------
Ah, the Skill Shop is locked now too. That leaves very few options.
__《Other menu options can be unlocked after further progression.》__
Hmm. Interesting. You wouldn't happen to be willing to shed more light on that, would you?
__《New menu options can be unlocked through various means, including good suggestions that I decide to implement. You can also unlock new options by progression throughout your lives.》__
Soo.. you can just change the menu whenever you want?
__《Yes. However, being patient and progressing allows the menu to be changed to suit you personally. You get to discover new aspects that other players may not have. This is more interesting than starting out with everything, yes?》__
I guess so, sure. I'm interested to see what I can unlock!
Anyway, let me check the options that are available real quick. Starting with Quests.
--------------
-HOST'S QUESTS-
MAIN QUESTS:
|Destroy The Plot|
SPECIAL QUESTS:
SIDE QUESTS:
--------------
Yeah, figured. Just the main quest. Now let's see my current skills.
--------------
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
-CURRENT SKILLS-
|OWNED SKILLS|
|AVAILABLE SKILLS|
|WISHLIST|
--------------
Hmm, I guess Owned skills are ones I've bought, and the Wishlist is what I had added. Let's see what Available Skills is.
--------------
-AVAILABLE SKILLS-
[Painless]
[Spiritual Mentality]
[Natural Agility (Master)]
[Natural Speed (Master)]
[Defensive Scales (Elite)]
[Poison Mimic (Master)]
[Magic Core (Intermediate)]
[Fire Breath (Master)] lvl 78
[Scent Taster (Elite)]
[Natural Poison Resistance (Master)]
[Magic Molding (Elite)] lvl 68
[Natural Fire Resistance (Elite)]
[Natural Comprehension(Elite)]
[Aerial Combat (Master)] lvl 100
[Slithering (Master)] lvl 98
[Flying (Master)] lvl 100
[Stealth (Elite)] lvl 68
[Tactics (Intermediate)] lvl 50
[Trap Conception(Elite)] lvl 51
[Trap Making(Elite)] lvl 51
[Swimming (Intermediate)] lvl 45
[English Comprehension (Elite)] lvl 73
[Lung Capacity (Intermediate)] lvl 48
[Raised Stamina (Basic)] lvl 21
--------------
Ah, it's the skills my current body has access to and their levels. Hmmm. It doesn't seem like they're sorted in any particular order, not even alphabetically. Is there something I'm not seeing?
__《No. The Available Skills are ordered randomly until you choose a method of sorting you prefer.》__
I see. In that case, I'd like it to be sorted first by Milestone, level, and then alphabetically.
--------------
-AVAILABLE SKILLS-
|Master|
[Aerial Combat (Master)] lvl 100
[Flying (Master)] lvl 100
[Slithering (Master)] lvl 98
[Fire Breath (Master)] lvl 78
[Natural Agility (Master)]
[Natural Poison Resistance (Master)]
[Natural Speed (Master)]
[Poison Mimic (Master)]
|Elite|
[English Comprehension (Elite)] lvl 73
[Magic Molding (Elite)] lvl 68
[Stealth (Elite)] lvl 68
[Trap Conception(Elite)] lvl 51
[Trap Making(Elite)] lvl 51
[Defensive Scales (Elite)]
[Magic Core (Elite)]
[Natural Comprehension(Elite)]
[Natural Fire Resistance (Elite)]
[Scent Taster (Elite)]
|Intermediate|
[Tactics (Intermediate)] lvl 50
[Lung Capacity (Intermediate)] lvl 48
[Swimming (Intermediate)] lvl 45
|Basic|
[Raised Stamina (Basic)] lvl 21
|Other|
[Painless]
[Spiritual Mentality]
--------------
Much neater. Now, let's see here... this Keyuu knows English? And why does it say 'Comprehension'?
__《Languages are generally composed of three different skills. Comprehension is one's ability to understand the spoken language. Writing is one's ability to read a written language. Finally, Speaking is one's ability to speak the language out loud. Some languages may not have a written or spoken aspect, and thus do not have the corresponding skills available.》__
Got it. Seems like a logical way of ordering things to me. Though, this means you can know how to speak a language without understanding what you're saying?
__《Correct. Think of a parrot, for example; often times they do not know what the words they speak mean, they just mimic humans.》__
Oh! I get it now. So this snake knew certain words, but couldn't speak or write in English. I guess that makes sense, since speaking English would be really hard without lips or the proper tongue or teeth. And vocal cords, as well. Though, since I have feathers, maybe I have a bird's vocal cords? Wishful thinking, I suppose. It'd be hilarious to startle anyone thinking I'm a dumb animal.
Anyway, I should get back to what I was doing before. Let's see what this body's been up to.
..Hmm, she started out with a tough upbringing; no matter the species, it seems babies still start out weak. She spent decades fighting her way up the food chain, especially against other Keyuu. It seems they don't inherit a flock mentality. This body of mine managed to defeat Keyuu way older than her due to her enhanced intelligence. It seems she was on par with a human intelligence-wise which is rare for her species.
Basically, she ruled via cunning, trickery, and traps.
So, she became the top dog in her territory- which was very large considering her speed. When nothing presented a challenge for her after a few hundred years, she decided to cross the ocean and see what was beyond it.
That explains the [Swimming] Skill.
She spent a good while crossing the ocean. The only reason she wasn't killed was because none of the surface dwelling creatures were strong enough to hurt her. Even with the terrain disadvantage, she figured out how to use her wings and long body to swim through the ocean. She drank the blood of her enemies to survive, which is metal as fuck.
Finally, she arrived at this continent. Which was an odd experience as the land didn't appear until she was standing on it. I should investigate that later. Here, she's noticed there's no creatures anywhere near her level unlike her home. But, there's something more interesting; humans. Unlike the mindless beasts of her home, they use strategy to take down creatures stronger than them. Just like her.
So, she watches them from afar. The only reason she's not spotted is due to her ability to hide from creatures much stronger than humans. Though, her skills were a bit rusty.
She learns their language and finds herself interested in the intricacies of human society. She becomes something of a social scientist, wandering from settlement to settlement to find the differences between each community. Because of this, she knew a lot about human society which is useful for me.
It seems that, on this continent there are many different human settlements and cities- though she didn't risk going into the bigger cities as there was no brush to hide in. There is a bigger one near one edge of the continent and the settlements get smaller and smaller as they branch out. I assume the large city is where the humans first arrived and settled- which indicates there may be other continents with more humans.
Anyway, it seems the humans have almost colonized the whole continent, since there's even a settlement on the opposite beach to the capital. Which honestly isn't that impressive, considering this continent is about half the size of this body's previous home. I'm not sure how to measure how large either are, since my body is really fucking fast so I can't measure the length in human traveling terms. However, I will say it would take me about a day to go from one side to the other, compared to the two to three on the previous continent.
Other than that, the continent is ruled by a monarchy. It's the same type I'm familiar with; a succession of blood via the male line. However, since there aren't any other monarchies around it's common for the royal family to find spouses in any way they can, no matter their monetary worth. Though, it's frowned upon to marry someone with no 'worth' such as magic power, political power, intelligence, beauty, etcetera. You also have to gain the King's blessing for marriage.
A lot of specific information, but apparently humans love gossip and the Keyuu has been here for a good decade or so.
Some more common knowledge is the way humans classify creatures. There are animals, who have no magic core (which produces magic, obviously) and are basically like Earth animals. Then there are Beasts who have a small magic core and are like animals with Elemental affinities. Things like deer with branches for antlers, phoenixes (called fire birds here, apparently), and fire salamanders. Then there's Monsters, who have a bigger magical core and are their own creature. Keyuus are monsters, and so are dragons, griffins, unicorns, etcetera. These creatures can also have an Elemental affinity but are more likely to have multiple, and tend to be mixes of different animal or beast species.
Other than that, there isn't any specific alphabet categorization or anything.
As for magic, it seems that unlike creatures - who draw from a power source within them and thus can get tired from using it - humans use magical focuses such as wands and staffs that draw from the magic around them. They use words to focus the energy into a predetermined spell. Any human can technically use a focus, however there are schools that teach humans to write in runes and create their own focuses and runic items. Such a thing requires patience that not everyone has, and is more of a college course than a children's school.
The magic cores of beasts and monsters can also be used in foci to make them more powerful. Using runes, a human can be bonded to a core and allowed to use it like a creature would; with mere intent rather than words. However, this also makes the human have the same weaknesses as a creature as they get tired when the core runs out of energy. They can also get thrown into a temporary coma if the core is broken.
So only the strongest cores are deemed worth the risk. And with the rarity of monsters around here.. I'm a prime target.
Well.. not exactly.
The Keyuu spent a while sizing up the humans here, and it seems that they're complacent. With the rarity of monsters around here, they haven't met enough danger to properly grow stronger.
She, however, has been around monsters stronger than anything these humans have seen ever since she was born. Even if they were to all gang up on me, with this muscle memory and power I could probably take them all on.
That's not mere arrogance, either. Looking back on my new memories, I remember this snake taking out creatures ranging from packs of straight-up dinosaurs (who tend to wield elements as easily as breathing), to large semi-sentient dragons, to other creatures even deadlier that I don't recognize from my original world - and don't have the names for.
Sure, sometimes she would struggle, but she would ultimately win in the end. And that's with beings MUCH stronger than whatever army these humans could conjure up.
So, I'm not worried. Besides, if I complete my mission quickly then I won't even have to worry about dying. I'll just be brought to the next world.
Speaking of, it seems this Keyuu is at the village Alexie is probably from. It's not in sight right now, considering the fast-flying snake simply moves miles away from whatever village she's watching when she sleeps. But her memories tell me that this village has a lot of tamed beasts roaming around- and I assume that would be the place a girl with a beast taming ability would be from.
Though, it is just assumption. So, Kurotto, could I be graced with the information of where I'm at in the plot?
__《Yes. You are currently a couple hours away from the point where Alexie bonds with the Keyuu. I will not, however, confirm or deny whether the village you are thinking of is correct.》__
Yeah. I figured.
It's still highly likely that this is the place, though. Before I stop my thought processes and get on with life, let's see if my memories hold the answer to what this 'bonding' is that Kurotto keeps mentioning.
Hmmm.. The Keyuu didn't know the answer herself, but found out from humans. Apparently, since humans have no core and thus don't have their own magic, Monsters can use their magic to latch onto a human and give them a core of their own - albeit one much smaller.
This process creates a bond between the two, one which allows them telepathy and a sharing of abilities. The main benefits for Monsters to create bonds are; increased Elemental affinity (as humans tend to produce cores that are equally attuned to all elements), increased intelligence, and - as with any animal - stable food and shelter provided by their bonded.
However, the downside is that if the human dies, they lose that part of their magic reserve. And if the monster dies, the human dies as their core - now an integral part of their body - dies with them.
Definitely two vastly different downsides.
As for Beasts, even though they have magic cores theirs are too small to share with a human, plus beasts aren't intelligent enough to even know how to do it.
There's a bit more to it, but apparently my previous inhabitant wasn't as interested in the details because she had forgotten or ignored the rest of the details. Mostly because such an idea had immediately caught her interest and caused her to go full hyper-focus into it. Which you would think would lead her to learning more, but no apparently she jumped straight to the 'find someone to bond with' part.
She __really__ liked the idea of bonding with a human, apparently. Which is why she is currently at a beast taming village where she supposed that the humans here will know what to do with a bond better.
I guess her bonding in the main plotline wasn't completely the fault of Alexie's ability.
And so, with my curiosity partly satiated, I decide to get on with things.