*yawn* Is it... morning?... It's still... early... I can... pro'ly... sleep... I'll just....phone...
*crack*
What!? I'm up! I'm up!
"Gasha! Gasha!"
Eh?
"Gagraagashra"
I... What the fuck is happening. Where am I?
*CRACK*
...I...I should probably stop moving, whatever that sound was, it didn't sound good. I need to think, I... I.... oh god... I died. That reincarnation, it was real, that weird, well I guess it was a god, was telling the truth, I remember they said I will regret what I did, but how? Anyway, if I reincarnated, I should be born now or still in the womb or... god dammit, I'm such an idiot. I'm in an egg! Which means I can just break out.
*Crack**CRACK**CRACK*
I'm out! It's not that bright, but I'm out and alive. But what am I? I have arms and legs and hands, I am clearly some kind of reptile, but what kind of reptile on Earth seems almost like a humanoid... right, I'm not on Earth but a different planet. I was forced to reincarnate on a different world, with my memories intact, by that god. Looking around, I see roughly fifty eggs, some intact. Since there are so many eggs around, i should be in some sort of pack like species, if not a community.
Looking at the others that have emerged from the egg, I can't see many differences. For lack of a better name, for now I'll name my species reptile-men. Each reptile man has two arms, legs and one tail. Each hand has triple jointed fingers, similar to a humans, however there are only four fingers, which includes a thumb-like one. Each finger has a sharp claw on them. The feet have four toes each with a claw on its end, and are rather long. The tail is roughly as long as the torso with spikes going all the way along their back. Each reptile-man is covered in scales with darker patches on the head. The patches on the head seems to differ between each reptile-man, but each one has a longish snout, comparable to a dog's, with a horn above the nostrils. Above the eyes are ridges, which I assume are like eyebrows which go backwards to form a spike on either side of their head. The most notable thing I've notices is that we can see in the dark, although I can't seem to see any colour.
If the looks and the grouping is any indicator, I should be a part of an intelligent species, hopefully not too primitive. I have noticed that a lot of the reptile-men have started to eat there eggshells. now that I think about it, I am rather hungry. And, if I don't eat my eggshell, it likely will be eaten by the others.*gulp* Here goes nothing.
*crunch munch munch*
Ugh. It's leathery and dry. Not that I was expecting anything else. I don't have much of an option in terms of food right now.
"GRAA!"
That.. Was that a yell? Fuck. Could there be predators around? In the direction the noise came from I can see a few Reptile-men gathering. Should I go closer? If there is a predator, I don't want to be killed by it. But if it's a reptile-man stuck in their egg or some other difficulty, I could help them out.
Out of concern I decide to approach. As I get closer I notice some of the reptile-men seem to be eating something. Did they kill it? Or are they just eating some eggshell. One raises their head and I see blood and bits of flesh on their mouth. As they move away, seemingly full, I see what it is they are eating, a dead reptile-man.
They are eating their own kind, I know some animals on Earth ate each other as children, and even some adults ate the kids. But I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes, let alone being a part of that species. I realised that their were a lot of reptile-men around, with seemingly no adults, but I thought the eggshell would be enough to fill us up for now. I hope that-
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Gah!" Ow! Fuck! I feel a sharp pain on my back as I fall. As I look back I see a shadow approach. Instinctively I reach out with my arm and push them away. I see a flash of red.
Kobold killed. You gain 26 experience
Eh? That's distracting, I need to focus.
Right now, I need to make sure I don't get killed. I can see the body of the reptile-man that attacked. They are lying on the floor, unmoving. Three deep cuts are on their chest, blood pouring out, a familiar nauseating smell fills my nose. My mouth salivates as I approach the corpse and-
*Crunch munch munch*
The meat fills a craving, a desire I never knew I had. The juicy meat and the blood gushing down my throat, the crunch of the scales, I feel something, something liberating. I never knew eating could make one feel so... free.
*Crunch munch munch**Shlurp munch slurp*
----------------------------------------
Ah~, that hit the spot.
As I look back at the half eaten corpse, it dawns on me. I just ate one of my own kind. Why? Why did I suddenly have an unstoppable desire to eat? Why was it so fulfilling? I don't feel bad about it, but I should. I just killed and ate a living, breathing thing, but other than the shock I feel that I've done that, I don't have any other strong feelings about it.
Thinking back, I don't feel much about all the people that died in that explosion either. Is this who I am? Just a heartless murderer, not feeling anything upon reaping the lives of those before me. I know I felt terrible when I was in that empty void, the dread and disgust at what I'd done, the pure hatred that bubbled up when I thought about what the mastermind had done, the misery of not being able to see all the people in my life ever again. But now I feel nothing, is this race not even capable of empathy? Has my new body caused me to think differently. I mean, it's obvious it has, but how much of me has changed. Are my new instincts slowly changing my view? Will I still be me? Am I even me any more?
No!
Of course I'm still me, it doesn't matter what happens I won't let these instincts change me. Maybe it's something else that causes those feelings, I can't believe that just because I'm in a new body, everything about who I am will change, but if I'm already being effected this much, what about when I grow up... Of course! I'm still growing, maybe all my emotions are being suppressed as some defence mechanism. I might be wrong or there might something else contributing to this, but I doubt I would have made it far if I was unable to act due to my regret.
I wasn't taking any of this seriously before. I need to start thinking of how to live my new life. I never thought this was a dream, but i think, subconsciously, I wasn't treating any of this as real. It doesn't matter whether this is real or fake, I just need to live my life my way!
Due to repeatedly reinforcing your convictions, a new attribute has been gained: Willpower(WIL)
WIL+1
Another blue screen! Last time I ignored it because I was focused too much on the... well I guess it wasn't really a fight. I know I saw those during reincarnation, I think I remember doing something with them, but I don't remember anything but the blue, nothing about words or numbers.
The previous blue screen vanished already, and I didn't read it, so I don't know what it said. It wasn't blocking my vision in any way, as the screen seemed to be in front of me, yet I could still see clearly. Even if I close my eyes, it's still there. The problem is, it does take away a portion of my awareness, so it is slightly distracting.
I know what the words mean, but I don't understand what the screen is trying to tell me. I do feel like I have more control over my instincts, though, even if only slightly. If this willpower attribute increasing affects me this much, there must be other attributes which would affect other aspects. That could explain why I so easily... so easily killed that reptile-man. That other screen must have been about some other attribute, probably something like muscle power or strength. If only I could look at them all, like some kind of attribute screen or table, I could probably understand more about what is happening to me.
After I finished pondering on the blue screens, I started wandering around the cave. I noticed the reptile-men closest to the corpses seemed to be more vigilant of each other, whereas the reptile-men in the rest of the cave weren't. It's obvious why, the ones who have seen another killed in cold blood are more aware of the danger they could be in. Although, I did see some digging in the ground and eating the bugs they find. I guess that's another source of food, but if we don't leave here soon, we will run out of food and start killing each other.