The scenery of the world was nothing strange; Murai saw enough worlds from his memory to know the worse or better. He could easily get familiar with any foreign land, as long as the world wasn't...something insane. He had done so in every life to the best of his ability. He held his memories in the biggest regard, but what about the first few of them? Those felt less than a dream, or a distant memory—if even that.
Looking around, there was no one and nothing around him that endangered his life. He felt nothing, but his feeling might be lacking. The world was huge. And even his new home, so his outlook changed in a heartbeat. My first impression was substantial. Behind the egg, he saw the bushes, trees, and overall forest that sidelined the view of the water or the cliff.
Not in a nest, huh? Murai thought, Are there some predators? What about the duck that laid this egg?
With these 3 questions in mind, Murai was yet to emerge from the egg. Instead, he turned his head around, since his neck had quite a bit of flexibility, and the opening he created was large enough for it.
This feels strange and...well, better than being a rock. I wish I was kidding, but... Nah. He thought to himself, noticing claw marks all around the outermost layer of the egg. It was dirty, laying in a bush for an unknown amount of time, but otherwise intact of any cracks. Something had poked it though, having some fun with this egg in an unknown past. Whatever it was, that created these claw markings, was no longer present.
It seems this egg was snatched by some predator from the nest. Murai smirked. Not like I complain about being out of the way of the nest. Having freedom and no mother around is indeed better. The family is... negligent. What I would do if it wasn't though? What... ducks family are like? Wait... No!
Murai suddenly recalled all the truths of how duckling followed their mothers like magnets. They were familial creatures since birth.
And he wasn't, or to be price, he didn't want to do anything with it. I can't imagine following the natural way of nature. It can disappear, again. Thank... nobody. No Gods, pricks.
Other than his eyes upon his egg, he looked more carefully around himself. Bushes surrounded most of the vision behind his egg, and it seemed there was nothing much else than some trees, wet soil, and crunchy leaves, yet noises of the forest were also coming to his ears.
Still no message? Should I break out of this egg as a whole or what? Murai assumed the Will of the Battleworld would give him the call of success. There was also that reward or something that piqued his curiosity all those days ago.
With thoughts put behind the potential rewards, Murai forced his whole duckling body out of this tight hole. It wasn't enough, yet he wriggled to success regardless of the hole that had been his work for many days.
His feathers slid through the entrance, yet his legs stopped by the hole, causing his beak and face to fall to the ground.
So clumsy... This will take some time. He complained in his head, but to his surprise, he couldn't get up. Wriggling his body, he fell down completely, bearing the weight and feel of the ground.
“Shit... CRAP! How do these things do this shit? W-walking... I mean. Am I a tortoise that can't flip itself when— Wait? What?!” He screamed on instinct.
To his shock, he opened his beak while he panicked and noticed he was speaking out loud. High-pitched quacks went from his beak instead of words of his mind.
“Ah... And I can't even speak like a man who I used to be. Quacking like a duck. Great... That's great. Quack this.” He cried for real and tried his best to get up, figuring that his mind was speaking sense, but his body couldn't. Those two didn't follow proper reasons; his soul was the reason why.
With his body on the ground, flipping there like a fish out of the water, he never felt more awkward.
There was some sense of instability between his legs and the rest of his body, causing this whole situation to annoy him to no end. The front of his head with a long beak added unnatural weight, his tail and wings around the side of his body acted like weight distributors, and his legs... were far too tiny. He couldn't even force a thing.
What was he supposed to do with such a foreign body that was far away from his norm? Well... that rocky life was as unsteady, if not more, frankly.
The first time out of the egg should be miserable for almost any animal in nature. That was one of the most perilous times for a new lifeform.
Before Murai knew it, the suns disappeared behind the horizon one by one. He struggled in the ground for a couple of hours, and soon, two moons were instead of the suns in the starry sky.
He was grounded, unable to move, but he was doing his best to move.
Murai looked helplessly ahead, taking the tall cliff for a potential goal, End, or... No. He didn't want to die like that. He might not even die, as there was water underneath the cliff. Thinking this was one of the prettiest skies he had seen in a long time, he altered his mind.
“NO! Fuck this! I don't care about this for god's sake... Screw all Gods, even. I can't get flustered by this. What if they are watching and laughing their ass out of my misery? I won't live this down... No way.” Murai cried out, and only quacking echoed into this starry sky.
He was over his misery. With the best and strongest aspect of his body—the support of his beak—he forced his upper body upward, while his weak legs were there for some minor support. His wings were looking dull, with soft feathers hanging around them. Stubbornly pressing his beak on the ground, he strained his flesh to stand up. Not only did his body remain standing, but he even forced some steps by power over his stubbornness.
Then, these steps caused the next course of action. A Will of the Battleworld made another call to his soul, indicating a successful mission, or how to even call it.
[Congratulation!] the mechanical voice cheered, sounding forced and dull. [You took the first step in this world. It is a clumsy one, but a step nonetheless]
[Getting out of the eggshell: Successful!]
[Rewards: Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality +10. A further section of the information about attributes will be stabilized in your soul in a bit of time]
[The next Major Step shall be achieved next]
[Goal: Reach the first evolution]
[Rewards: Increased attributes. Improved Species aspects and your first sub-species properties will strengthen your life. Added species abilities and further hope of bettering your life will give you a nice edge]
Murai heard the words and sensed it all with his being and soul. This sort of massage arose within his soul, coming from somewhere as if it were forced upon him. Yet, it still made him somewhat happy to see this small progress, and—unnoticed by his senses—a rush of outside force entered his body, nurturing his attributes.
Feeling how his attributes went out of the minus zone was great! He finally felt like a proper duckling; completely and utterly useless without any knowledge of what to do next. At least proper attributes acted as a good start.
The shift of his attributes changed his body in the following moments. Most notable things came from the Vitality, though it wasn't in minus before. He got 5 Vitality from eating his egg, yet none afterward. That was kind of strange, Murai figured, but didn't mumble about it later.
His goal was to get out of the egg, which he accomplished. 15 Vitality in total modified him with life, while the change of everything came up from below, comprising intangible waves that came from the earth itself. It developed his body and gave him a nice Boost.
Next was the Strength. The shift creaked his bones and muscles, forcing his neck to tense, and enabling him to stand better. Add to that the Dexterity—which he wasn't finding obvious— and he felt much better taking at least a few dozen steps.
Oh, those numbers feel great, even at zero. Rewards... This seems like some sort of game. What does evolution suppose to be in that word or context? He thought, figuring it was the end of the message. There was no indication of what to do next. The goal was just to reach something he had no idea of bearing.
With no choice, how was he supposed to achieve evolution, or what he needed for it?
He didn't know, but he wasn't upset by the lack of explanation, since the road of his living was one big adventure. Perhaps something more, but for him, there was nearly nothing worth shocking his mind. Well, hearing his quacking was weird for sure.
And a new life he never had before was before his eyes; he was a duck, and that was it. He might as well enjoy it somewhat, figure out more about this Battleworld he had never heard about, and see the value of this chance. It might not be as familiar a time as usual, yet the world might be similar to many of his past lives, albeit without the duck part.
The words that the Will of the Battleworld expressed echoed in his mind. The part about evolution was the trickiest, yet it was the most intricate word. A monster that could evolve wasn't strange by any means. In his head, change was evolution, and many of his lives were in places that took change for growth and stability. It was what strived the universe, so to speak. Evolution could be comparable to the Bloodlines that he had as a demon, or Pranja, a power that he had as a person in the Sky full of blissful heights.
Evolution could be that, or not.
There was surely some meaning to being in a world that held some system towards power. Levels and attributes were one of them. Duck might not. Reaching further heights of those numbers seemed to have very potent physical implications, the feeling of having the attributes felt great, and the growth of life seemed to be included in this too.
He wondered if higher attributes would change and evolve his body to incredible heights. If so... Wait a second. I think I get it. Numbers. Levels. These. Evolutions seem to be involved in that.
He looked at it from realism. Standing still, he glanced at his body for the first time. Hi feet, feathers, and flesh, it seemed to be a ducking in every point. 15 points in Vitality made his feathers somewhat healthier and full, but perhaps he was too mindless to even consider his feathers as a source of improvement. His body was steadier at least, and he felt healthier. That was a point he needed.
Still, he had no clue what kind of duck he was. Murai was so busy contemplating it that he forgot what should matter. The key to improving oneself was understanding what one knew about oneself, or what one had no idea about. He had the big advantage of having one of the most sturdy souls and memories. Then, there were even a pair of abilities about it: Soul-Essence and Soul Read.
As for his body —and the duckling demonic beast he was supposed to be—there was nothing special about it. So far.
Murai stood with his beak facing the cliff after going over his body. The sight was good, but out of his touch. And behind him, he noted a rather big egg that was twice bigger than his height. It was thick, grey, and faulty in color. It looked old, yet he grew up in that thing.
Behind it, he observed the forest. One of the big sides was the perspective. He saw his height and mass as less than a squirrel, which was very little. It was indeed the case of a regular-looking duckling after he walked to dried leaves on the ground, but he lacked a more substantial look. What if this world were bigger than normal? He shouldn't be a gigantic duckling, however. That, he was sure of.
Two dozen centimeters of height was his guess. Still, something about him was odd. The appearance of colors around his feathers and his beak were also unlike what most ducks from his memory had. Well, he was never one to research them, but he had common sense. Colorfulness might be an aspect of his duck species and his beak might be important. It looked and felt heavy, more sturdy than rock, yet smaller and bigger for a duckling than it should be.
He could even see its tip with his eyes, which was a strange perspective to see, considering humans didn't have it this way. His beak was long like his whole head; its girth was wider at the start, with gradual thinner towards the tip.
He couldn't gather how duck's beaks were important in nature, but he figured out its uses for himself. It had a sharp tip and edges around the tip. Its use was apparent, as it was this beak that got him out of his egg.
Standing steadily, Murai did his best to move, and considering the sudden improvement of his Dexterity and Strength, he was able to do so better. Stepping and turning quicker was now possible, but his center of gravity was still rather lackluster, so he stumbled from time to time, hitting his head on the ground.
Murai decided to get moving and gain further familiarity so he wouldn't feel miserable. In the time that felt like a couple dozen minutes, he moved back to his egg, since his main goal was done. Crawling into the hole that was his egg home for more than 200 days, he had no willingness to sleep wide in the open.
It took well over 230 days for him to hatch, which was a long time, but he was only conscious for half of that time. That wasn't that bad, in his honest opinion. After all, how many years did he live throughout his Cursed Living? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
Those numbers were like a joke and reminder. It was more about cycles. Chaos ones. A literal flow of the universe that stretched to distant times and distances. Considering living as a god, demon, devil, or many weird ones, time was always hectic and weird when power flowed through them. Though, all of them had lovely Ends and New Beginnings.
Murai forgot about the past and wanted to get back to his egg. That proved to be difficult. With great effort, he reached the insides with his head first, but the lower body was stuck, so he jumped and wriggled himself inside after a dozen minutes of struggle. Resting his neck and eyesight out of the egg, Murai looked at his surroundings with tired, and expectant eyes.
The sight of the sea was great, so he tried to fall asleep since he felt the stamina of his body wasn't great. His Vitality was, but the Strength and Dexterity was at 0, so he wasn't all that strong, was he? As with all animals, careful rest was important in their earlier lives. It was as natural as it could be.
His body fell asleep, and almost the same thing happened to his soul as well. His awareness wasn't lacking like his body, but it seemed that both could act outside of the other, which was odd. Usually, sleeping was fundamental rest that connected everything like a rule and chains. But not here. Murai's soul seemed to have differences from the usual.
He realized that, knowing that it wasn't great or bad to be so clear-headed in the soul. At least his flesh was getting rest, but how about mental fatigue? With a mind on its own, it was like being stuck as an unmovable pebble. Who would want that?
However, there was some limit to his body and soul being active at the same time. When the body fell asleep, his soul could follow, but he could stop it and be active in his awareness, which he correlated to his overall soul space. It was kind of ridiculous, but consciousness and souls were full of mysteries. It was about a spirit, Murai figured. The kind that was even more complicated than anything in the universe.
Living, yet not breathing.
Existing, yet not ceasing to exist.
Enduring, yet yearning to exist.
That was the soul. It worked for others besides him. They would just lose themselves before reaching New Beginning.
Within his mental landscape, Murai was free to constrain his ideas however he could; curious about some experiments and further knowledge of the Will of the Battleworld. The successful Task was completed, and be it a coincidence or a rule, in the aftermath of going back to the eggshell, a series of information entered his soul. It acted as Will of the Battleworld said before. Those were outlooks of his attributes and their rules.
Strength was the first, poising as a generic attribute one would expect from its name. It was indicative of the physical strength of the body. That included muscles for the most part, some addition to the physical-based abilities, and strength that flowed through bones, blood, and muscles. In general, it seemed to influence and work head-to-head with Vitality and Dexterity.
There were also some other things and knowledge, but Murai was either unable to get them, or the timing wasn't right. At least Will of the Battleworld affirmed the way of Strenght. One either increased it by training or using strength-related guidelines. It didn't mention anything specific.
Next came Vitality, which was the most important factor in this whole message. It had many characteristics that fundamentally changed the living things in the Battleworld. Will of the Battleworld spoke of it with fervent ideologies as if it were priceless currency. It led to bettering one's life's expectancy, improving aspects of Dexterity and Strength like fuel, and according to his careful consideration—and Will of the Battleworld's explanations—it was one of the key attributes to follow up with any evolution.
That was the only helpful hint for something called Major Goal, which was beast-related according to some snark comments he heard in this passing comment.
Overall, Vitality suggested a stronger life and quality that could influence Bloodlines and various powers one could unlock or get out of them. That was an interesting implication that Murai recorded with high interest.
15 points to Vitality already changed him, growing him up from inside or outside, and getting him a better grasp.
Dexterity might be a speed in its sense of purpose, but its effectivity was in the flexibility of muscles and reflexes. If Vitality fueled the flesh, Strength increased the density and mass, then Dexterity provided the signal between them. Thus, balance was important.
Murai knew how important one's speed could be in combat. The broad routes of the movement were wide and various, and Dexterity was exactly that: very universal like the rest. It should allow him to improve his stability and overall living steps.
It seemed that all of them surrounded his body functions, so all of them were important.
Maybe down the line, there was something about Dexterity and the flight, since the ducks have wings. Will of the Battleworld hadn't mentioned anything about it though. Murai considered it was too soon to consider any flying since he was still a duckling. They weren't flying anyway; he might not even like it.
Considering he was completely helpless when he was immobile a while ago, the ability to move quickly—let alone it in itself—felt great.
Murai also understood the aforementioned attributes indicated the overview of the Body Attributes. There may be more things like these. He just didn't discovered them yet, as some unlocking and systematic approaches implied possibilities, training, and acts.
So far, he wasn't sure how to approach them, yet hadn't he unlocked a pair of something soul-related? How? He didn't know, nor Will of the Battlewrold talk about them.
Unlike Body Attributes, Wisdom wasn't part of it, yet it was at least included in this overview as something... bizarre. The things that Wisdom involved stunned his soul, surprising even his vast experiences. The fact was, he was already at 100 points, so what to make of it? That was a lot then nothing, or 15.
According to the Will of the Battleworld, the importance of Wisdom was something out of the physical function, implying something about souls and other things that it couldn't—or shouldn't—mention. It drove clearer thoughts for unkept minds, the ability to perceive the world to greater effects, and even outside and inner influences. Whatever that meant was a bit vague since the messages weren't too specific or mentioned greater details about it.
Still, this call was more than enough for him. Body Attributes were a great way to perceive himself, and there was sure to be something other than this group. For example, the Soul? He was sure it would be a great way to be powerful since his soul was one of a kind and pretty damn powerful. Will of the Battleworld thought so too by giving him a pair of gifts.
I do have the numeral value of by Wisdom at 100. Is that great? Stupid? Masterful!? What's up with the attributes and their number if their improvements are so significant? I already woke up with that number, so I bet it's already affected by my soul, so there is there something else about them than this voice told me? Murai wondered.
After doing so for a while, he couldn't come to any conclusion, so he shut his senses completely.
Even his soul was due to some sleep. There were no dreams within his mind tonight.
After an unknown time, he woke up to some thuds and movements outside of his egg.
“Huh? A danger!?” He exclaimed, looking out of the hole in the egg. Above him... No. Not above. Everywhere. In front of the egg and above was quite a big monstrous fox, salivating over the egg and trying to bite through it with its fangs. It clawed around with its feet too, growling and moving the heavy egg.
It didn't notice the small duckling inside of it, or it did, but did it want to eat Murai alongside the egg? It was hard to tell since the fox had some wounds around its body, and its red eyes lacked calmness and reason. It looked like a devilish creature with spiked red fur, a tight frame, yet wild movement and mouth gave it a very quick and powerful feeling.
And it wanted Murai dead.
Huh? What does this cat think it does? I will butcher you like no duck ever could! Don't touch my damned home. Murai thought, panicking inside his egg.