“What?” I said in a voice I couldn’t recognize, “Where am I?”
The same voice echoed everywhere.
Igdis. A world among the quadrillions of worlds similar to Earth during the 18th century.
Even though the voice said everything I needed, I was still so very confused. Wasn’t I in space a minute ago, and wasn’t I being burned alive before that?
I asked the next logical thing in mind, “Who are you?”
I am Machina, an AI created to help you survive in this world.
Ok, now things were getting more confusing. Why was an AI helping me? Why was I here? As if the voice could read my mind it spoke.
You have been chosen randomly among 5.6 googols of sentient living organisms to be reborn with a set of desired skills after an untimely accident.
“Like a lottery?”
Correct.
“And who conducted this lottery?”
The being that you may call God.
“So, correct me if I’m wrong, I have been to reborn in an unknown world with abilities that I do not yet know of, all because of a lottery conducted by the All-Mighty God.”
Correct.
“Why?”
There was no response. I stood there awkwardly listening to nothing but the blowing wind and the rustling of leaves.
“You don’t know the answer, do you?”
The voice said, sounding somewhat embarrassed.
I’m afraid not.
I let out a heavy sigh as I covered my face to hide my most probably flushed face and thought of the whole situation. It felt to so dumb every time I remember what I just said. I was in the middle of a forest, in the middle of… I looked up above me, and saw through a small gap between the tree branches, the violet sky…
It’s evening and I’m talking to a voice that was most probably in my head. Is all this just a dream or am I going insane?
Analysing mental state…
Analyse complete.
Character in a state of Panic, Confusion and Dilemma.
Requested to take a few breaths.
Yeah, no shit I’m panicking!
This thing is telling me that I just died and was reincarnated in a different world like in an anime or manga. Any normal human being would freak out. But as the seconds passed, I stopped thinking about it all as if it was a normal thing, surprising me greatly.
Skill: [Unyielding] Protects one’s mind from mental attack, manipulation and negative emotional stress while greatly increasing potent of positive emotions such as bravery and confidence.
After hearing the explanation of this… skill, I was amazed. If this thing could help me keep a clear mind in the worst of situation, it would help me in case of any danger.
Then I realized that I had heard this thing before. The voice said this before I had died. So I most probably had gotten other skills too.
“What are the other skills I have?”
A type of blue screen appeared out of thin air in front of me. I tried to see exactly where the screen was, even face-palmed myself, but even with my eyes closed or in complete darkness the screen was still visible. So I assumed the screen was being projected directly into my visual nervous system. After realising how stupid I must seem, I concentrated on the writings on the screen instead. I had five more skills besides [Unyielding] and something called level.
Level: 1
Skill: [Sage’s Wisdom] Greatly increases intelligence and the level of understanding. Also enables the user to analyse any skill with ease and gain skill points faster.
Skill: [Reap] Lets the user copy the form and skills of any given target. May require to kill the target if the target is not willing to share their skills. [Active]
Skill: [Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] Protects the user from severe heat and cold.
Skill: [Pain Nullification] Cancels out the amount of pain registered by the user.
Skill: [Rapid Healing] Increases the rate of healing so that deep cuts and busies heal in a matter of seconds and removes fatigue and poison effects.
Skill points: 10
After reading all my skills, I was beyond impressed. I had a skill that gave me knowledge, one that protected my mind, two protecting my body, one in case I got hurt and one to get the skills of others. Though it did bother me that I didn’t have any offensive skill to use against any attacker. Though I figured I would get one soon enough. What surprised me the most was that the whole thing seemed more like a game than actual reality. It would’ve been more believable if I was told that I was trapped in a video game. I noticed that there were tiny slots beneath each skill, 10 to be exact.
“What are these slots?”
These slots tell you which level a particular skill is. The level of skills determines their effectiveness. You can increase the level by investing skill points. Skill points can be gained by gaining levels, acquiring skills and completing accomplishments. One can gain levels by killing monsters. It is advisable to level as quickly as possible as the skills may determine your chances of survival in your new world.
These skill points seemed vital. So instead of investing everything right now, I decided to wait and use it when I needed it.
“The skill [Reap] said something called active at the end. What those that mean?”
Skills are divided into two types. Active and Passive. Passive skills are skills that act like innate characteristics like most of your skills. But active skills need to be activated by performing certain actions, thinking about that action or by speaking the skill’s name itself out loud.
“I see”
After mentally trying a few times to make the screen go away, I succeed.
I asked, curious about my height and change of voice, “Why do I sound and feel different?”
Inter-world Migration of a body can be problematic at times and there are chances of total annihilation. So Inter-world Migration of an ether was performed since an ether is more malleable and can slip through the cracks of reality more easily. So with a readymade body in this world, your ether was brought from your previous world.
“And what is an ‘ether’?”
What you may call a soul.
It was a lot to take in. So basically my soul was brought here through a process called ‘Inter-world Migration’ and put in this new body. Though I couldn’t see myself right now, I at least knew I was tall and a bit more mature than I was back on Earth, so that’s a start.
“So what do I do now?” I asked.
I had no idea what to do. In games, similar to this type of aspects, one would have to save a princess or kill a demon lord terrorizing the world or something.
It is up to you. You have been granted another chance. You may use it however you see fit.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
So I can do whatever I wanted. It made me somewhat happy. I was always told to do something every day in my life. Now that I was given freedom of choice, I didn’t know what to do. So the first thing I thought of doing was to find a way out of this disconcerting forest and know more of where I was. The sky was completely dark, and the only light that allowed me to even see anything were the bright shining stars and the two full moon, one smaller than the other. Those two moons were going to be a constant reminder that I wasn’t in Earth anymore.
I started walking in a fixed direction. Minutes turned to hours and I couldn’t see any signs of life except for the occasional hooting of owls and the fleeting shadows of small animals as they ran away from me. I would have normally jumped by seeing even one of those shadows, thinking it was a ghost. But I kept my senses firm because of [Unyielding].
---
After walking for 5 hours straight, I heard the sound of multiple low growls. I stopped short before walking toward the sound with a crouching position. Through the gaps between a few shrubs, I saw three grey wolves as large as a small car, were feasting on what looked like a human corpse. I could hear their crunching of bones and the disgusting sound of flesh being torn and eaten. I would have normally thrown up at the sight of entrails being eaten like this. Though I had never seen these things before, Machina knew exactly what it was.
Dire wolves: Elite wolves that have evolved through the absorption of naturally present Magnicites. They are fast, strong and extremely dangerous in packs.
I gulped after hearing Machina. If these things were as dangerous as it said then I was in no state of fighting them. So I slowly backed away and decided to go around.
Skill: [Stealth] acquired.
Skill: [Stealth] Reduces the amount of noise created when creeping away or towards a target. [Active]
I instantly invested two skill points into [Stealth] by tapping the skill on the screen twice. My steps became quieter and I became more aware of my surroundings too. I felt like Batman.
Suddenly there was a movement to the right of where the wolves were. Two of the bigger wolves, aware of the disturbance ran after whatever it was in hope of more food perhaps, leaving the third smaller wolf as he ideally chewed on the meat like a greedy child. I was glad that I had less trouble to deal with now. But as soon as I silently started celebrating, I accidentally stepped on a twig which snapped under the pressure of my weight. The third wolves heard the noise and raised its head, before growling at me as it slowly approached me.
Fuck.
Before I knew it, the wolf came at me with tremendous speed before jumping at me. I barely had time to jump away to the side. But the wolf had good instincts and tried attacking me with its right paw. It partially succeeded too. Its sharp claws dug into my skin like butter. Though blood gushed out of my wound and shreds of flesh hung from my forearm I knew I was lucky that I even had an arm or worse died where I stood. I had expected to scream from the pain, but I only let out a loud yelp when the wolf cut me. I thanked God and my skill [Pain Nullification] which I knew helped a great deal.
I didn’t have much time to recover. As the wolf landed effortlessly on its feet it made another charge towards me. This time, I feinted by making it look like I was moving to the left before moving right, thus fooling it into attacking the wrong way. As I moved a bright light hit my eye as if the moonlight was being reflected off something. I saw, beside the corpses hidden by the tall grass, a long dagger. As soon I knew I was in the clear from the wolf, I made a mad dash towards the dagger. When I was only a few feet away, I knew the wolf was coming after me. I buckled my knees and slid the rest of the way. I turned to see the wolf already in the air and only inches from me. I held out my arm and peeled my eyes open so wide, that I was afraid it would pop out. The wolf came with its mouth open, its sharp inches long teeth, bare and shining dimly in the moonlight. But instead of meeting flesh, its mouth met my dagger. The dagger went right through the flesh inside its mouth and ripped right through its head. Blood sprouted everywhere before a river of blood ran down my arm.
I was so dazed, I didn’t even register the voice of Machina.
Do you wish to [Reap]?
“Yes,” my voice barely a whisper.
I felt a rush of energy that disappeared as fast as it came.
[Reap] successful
Skill: [Enhanced Sense] acquired.
As soon as I heard that, I retracted my arm, creating a disgusting squishy sound before jumping to my feet. I thought I was going to throw up, but I realized I wasn’t even slightly disgusted or concerned about what I had just done. I was rather calm and that scared me. If a skill based on emotions could do this on its initial level, I shuddered at the thought of what an attack skill at its highest level could do.
I wanted to throw the dagger away, but I knew now survival depended on it. I rubbed the blood of the dagger with my tunic and looked at my skill to get my mind away from the mess I had made.
Skill: [Enhanced Senses] Improves the users five senses, letting them see further, hear better and be more sensitive.
The skill did exactly as it did. I could see the tiny insects dancing in the distances between leaves, hear their soft, continuous buzzing more clearly, smell and taste the iron of blood and the faint wisp of wildflowers mixed in the air and feel a drop of sweat roll down my neck that I previously didn’t realize was there.
I couldn’t help but smile. Now I could sense danger, so it shouldn’t be long till I got an attack-oriented skill. But for now, I needed to avoid danger at all costs. But I couldn’t help but think. How did the wolf not sense me? Like last time, Machina answered my question.
The Dire wolf was young and still new to the skill. The skill [Stealth] also helped mask your presence from its skill.
So I most likely killed the young of the wolves that ran after that prey. I felt a bit bad, but the feeling quickly went away. If I felt bad for animals like these, I wasn’t going to live long. It tried to kill me anyway, so it got what was coming to it, where I killed it instead.
I knew the two other wolves wouldn’t be back for a while though I wouldn’t want to try my luck against two more of those, not to mention bigger.
I searched through the entrails of the human corpse to see if he or she had anything useful I could use. After a minute of searching through the tall grasses and not throwing up, I found a small backpack lying a few feet away from the body. I swung it over my shoulders and wanted to leave, when my eyes, fell on the wolf’s lifeless body. Its fur, looking silky and lustrous. I did not doubt that they were soft as well and would make for good clothing. I could maybe even sell it for some money as well if I didn’t have any use for it. I took my chance and with my dagger in hand hastily skinned the wolf all the while repeating the phrase, ‘Survival of the fittest’ in my mind. In within 20 minutes, I was done and received another notification from Machina.
Skill: [Hunter] acquired.
Skill: [Hunter] Increases the speed and efficiency of tracking, killing and skinning of wild animals. [Active]
With the wolf’s skin in hand, I ran away as I felt a bit proud of myself for taking my time in skinning the wolf. I touched the grey glossy fur and felt the softness but not the warmth. The skill [Thermal Fluctuation Resistance] must’ve taken my sense of warmth somewhat. It did make me a bit sad as the skin, in the end, it would do nothing for me but make me feel comfortable and maybe look stylish if not barbaric.
After running for 10 to 15 minutes, I stopped. I was out of breath and need to take a second to regain my stamina. My arm was almost fully healed thanks to [Rapid Healing] but was still smeared with now dried blood. I opened my screen to check my skills once more but was surprised to see something else.
Congratulations! You have levelled up to 7. 14 skill points gained.
Accomplishment achieved.
Kill your first monster [2 skill points gained]
Kill a monster above 10 levels than you [5 skill points gained]
Level up for the first time [5 skill points gained]
Reach level 5 [5 skill points gained]
Gain a skill [2 skill points gained]
Invest in a skill for the first time [1 skill points gained]
Total skill points: 42
I was dumbfounded after reading the text. I had gained so many skill points just by doing a few things. I read it over and over again to see if I wasn’t reading it wrong. I was now level 7. That was a huge boost by killing just one wolf. But wasn’t too excited when I read that the wolf was 10 levels or more above me. The reason I was able to kill it was of pure luck.
I invested 5 points in [Enhanced Sense] so that I knew I wasn’t running right into an unknown beast’s jaw head first. Right after investing, I could feel my area of perception increase drastically and my sensitivity of each sense sharpen. I wanted to increase the levels of my other skills, but that would be a waste if I didn’t use a specific skill too much.
I opened my backpack to see what I was carrying. There were a few rations, a set of extra clothes, some bandages, a handful of unknown herbs, a big pouch filled with 50 shiny gold coins, a deep blue crystal the size of my fist called a ‘Magicite crystal’ according to Machina, another dagger but this one smaller than the other, two rolled-up papers tied with a red thread and a bunch of digging apparatus. At the bottom, I found a piece of metal with engravings on it bigger than a dog tag. Though I knew it wasn’t a language I knew, I was somehow able to read what was written on it. It must’ve been my intelligent boost and vast knowledge base from [Sage’s Wisdom]. The engraving said ‘Garth Nix’.
Though I didn’t know who this Garth Nix was, I silently prayed for his soul and hoped that he was in peace where ever he was now. Because I may live longer now because of his belongings. I was holding the wolf’s skin the whole time I was running. Since there was enough space in the bag, I carefully rolled the skin before stuffing it into the bag. Though the skin had no holes or the fur no patches, anyone could say that it was skinned by an absolute amateur, not to mention the underside of the skin still needed to be dried.
I unrolled one of the papers and inspected it. The paper was coarse in touch and had turned yellowish with age. There was a drawing that took most of the space on the page with various strange writing scattered all over it. It took me a second to realize that it was a map. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of finding my way out of this forest. But the map seemed to cover a larger area rather than the place where I was, making it difficult to find the right way. I opened the second parchment and like the first one, it was also a map. But instead of showing a huge area, it only showed dense trees, lakes and a few roads. I smiled as I came to realize that it was the map of the surrounding area. The man, Garth must’ve come here searching for something, only to meet his demise. I silently prayed for the peace of his soul again and thanked him for unintentionally saving my life. There was a bright red dot glowing at the far left of the map. I tried rubbing the dot to see if it was some colour or mark, but it didn’t smudge. As I continued rubbing the mark with my finger Machina answered my query.
This is a Map of Being. It shows the current position of the holder.
I smiled, happy to know that I wasn’t going to roam the whole forest until I find some type of landmark to get out of this menacing forest. After moving a few time in multiple directions, I understood the ways and started walking towards the nearest settlement that was drawn on the map with a few houses clubbed together which was southeast of my direction. The name under it read Fallkirk.