I drifted through the pale light I was in, letting the almost wave-like mist lap against my now translucent body. Ghostly pale fog dripped from me as if it was a liquid, dissolving into the lake of light I floated in. I lazily wandered, disturbing the mist as I went along. I was never one to crack under pressure. It's why all those "life-shattering events," as others would say, didn't bother me all that much. Some would even say I was uncaring of my and others' situations. But-

...

'Is there nothing else to do here?! Where the hell even am I?' I shouted in my head. I'd been coherent here for what I'd guess was a few days at this point, and this was the only thing I could do—pleading for answers sure as shit didn't help. Not that I had done that, no sir. Not me! Always calm. I do wonder where I am, though. Purgatory? I was never one for religion, but I played a bunch of games with a form of purgatory. They were all endless expanses as far as the eye could see. Wait, do I even have eyes anymore? How is light entering my retinas if my body is transparent?

A shudder destroyed the design I had started to make in the mists while I rambled in my head, waves of fog washing over me as I felt a voice sound in my head.

[Welcome, Aria.] A gruff voice said.

'Ah...hello?' I spoke in my head. I wasn't sure if it could hear me, but I didn't exactly have a mouth. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

[You have died.]

Shit.

I mean, I suppose it makes sense. Nobody wakes up in an ever-long expanse of liquid light and fog every Tuesday. Although, how did I die? I can't remember anything besides feeding Sebastian some crickets before I left for work. The cute little bastard always had to have me standing by, or he would eat them, and they'd roam his tank.

Still, my head felt like it was in a fog with this sudden revelation. 'I died.' I thought. I had assumed I was dead when I woke up here; I just hadn't wanted to believe it. The sudden realization was disturbing. I thought of Sebastian. Nobody knew my address, and even if they did, I doubted they'd check in on him—my poor little skink. My heart sank as my mind wandered to all sorts of problems people would have now that I was gone. I was never one to want people to worry about me, but I had a bad habit of worrying about others. My head swam with worries and useless issues before I snapped out of it.

'Now isn't the time for this, idiot.' I reprimanded myself. I took slow, deep breaths, like the ones I had learned in therapy. 'Guess all that money was good for something after all.' I thought. Slowly, my mind became less foggy. I pushed away the sudden dread and grief I had felt. I'd done this many times throughout my life, so it had become a sort of ritual, I suppose. Before I had the chance to formulate a question, the gruff voice resounded again.

[Be calm, you will soon awaken to experience life again in a new world.]

Startled, I asked a question. 'How did I die? And what do you mean new world?'

Silence. Great.

[You will be born into the world of Pangera.]

[Destiny and luck shall determine your fate.]

'Well, that's not ominous at all! What does that even mean? Am I going to wake up in some weird lab as a rat for not being pious enough in life or something?' I ask. I get no answers from the voice, not that I expected any in the first place. My mind's eye swims with words and numbers as the voice continues.

[You will be reborn with the following stats:]

So I get a status sheet? What is this, D&D?

[Level 1]

[Stats:]

• Might: 25

• Toughness: 18

• Cunning: 25

• Will: 15

• Health: 40

• Mana: 0

How very game-like! I didn't expect that. I can wrap my head around this, I think. There's mana too? Why is it zero? I want to be a dark mage, damnit!

[Skills:]

• Bite: Level 1

• Tail Attack: Level 1

• Hearing: Level 1

• Rake: Level 1

Wait. Wait a second. I don't think this is right. I don't think these are people skills. It's like-

[Species: Infant Sting Drake]

I knew it. Of course, I'm a weird monster; why wouldn't I be?

I was an avid LitRPG reader when I was alive, so at least the system is vaguely familiar. I can't say I'm thrilled with this. I have no idea what to expect from being a monster except that I won't have hands. I don't think a lizard would have hands, at least.

[You have one Skill point and one Biomass available.]

[Go forth and forge your path.]

A path? A path to what exactly?

I feel a change come over the mists as it rushes to envelop me, changing my body as it does. Large, amber-colored eyes adorn my face, sitting ever so slightly to the sides. Long black pupils are slitting them down the middle. Four fangs pop out of the sides of my new snout, and small razor-sharp teeth line the inside of my mouth. Two massive bat-like ears sit on the sides of my head, tipped with small scales, making them look like spikes. Four legs support a long, charcoal scale-covered body—five claws on the front, three large talons in the back. A large, muscular tail sits with a demonic-looking stinger on the tip, dripping with pale mist. My vision goes white as the changes continue to make me look like a mix between a crocodile and a dog. Before long, I feel enclosed by a soft, cold material.

Dirt falls away as I push out of the wall I find myself in, claws gouging long lines in stone and earth alike. I stumble out of the wall, not expecting the three-foot drop as I thud onto the floor.

'Well, that hurt.' I grumble.

I push myself to my feet as I try and get used to my new body. It isn't easy, let me tell you. I stretch myself out and feel something sharp touch the back of my head, making me recoil as I paw at the attacker. I look around in a panic and see nothing there—no horrible monster coming to eat my heart or researcher trying to do experiments on me.

I notice a pale mist trail and follow it to see a devilish-looking stinger on the back of my new tail. I try and wag it, and it surprisingly responds to my commands. It's pretty cute in a weird way.

I look around to see where I've ended up. I'm not sure what I expected from being born in a new world, but it wasn't this. Long pillars of stone connect to the roof of a massive expanse of tall pine and conifer trees. Fleshy purple ferns sway lightly in the wind as howls, roars, and screeches sound in the distance. Large crystal nodes jut from the cave's ceiling, radiating blue light that pulsates ever so slightly.

Wait.

I step closer to the purple ferns as I notice an oddity.

'There's no wind here.' I think. I see now that all the trees and plants here wave in the same direction. Like they feel an invisible breeze nobody else can. I poke the fern softly with a claw, and it twitches away from me. It moved! I try and touch it, but it twists away, yet again, leaning away from my paw till I bring it back towards my body. Fascinating. It's like it's...conscious.

I jump back as the fern monster tries to grab me with its leaves, black ooze dripping off them. I land with a thud, unused to my new body and its powerful legs. Realizing it missed me with its surprise attack, the creature starts to pull itself out of the ground with a terrible rrrriiip!

In seconds it's out of the ground, and I can see it in its horrible entirety. It turns out the ferns were just its head! Three eyes open on each of the leaves, staring daggers as if I'm wrong for not becoming its lunch. A tangle of writhing roots supports a plump, yellow, bark-covered body, and circular jaws spin in the middle of its torso, gnashing in rage. Sticky black sap covers its body and leaves.

Scary!

I turn and race away from the fern from hell, making the monster pause before letting out a scream and chasing me. More cries sound off as monsters echo its call for food. I run for a while before dashing behind a tree trunk as my heart pounds; I look for any possible escape. I can hear the sounds of twisting bark and wood as the monsters try and find me.

My body freezes as I hear an ear-shattering roar at my side as a giant mammoth-like creature bursts into the clearing; the sounds of screaming ferns and titanic mammoth roars erupt as the two sides meet and start to battle. I can't help but peek my head out from behind the tree trunk. What assaults my eyes is the most gruesome scene I've ever seen.

Bits of monster fern are scattered everywhere as the mammoth creature tears into the horde with gusto. What I had assumed to be, at most, twelve ferns had turned into a little under a hundred of the freaks. Circular mouths shoot out on long, fleshy stalks, taking small chunks out of the mammoth.

The mammoth itself was a twisted being. It stood bipedal, with two arms and legs. At least twelve feet tall, its hands were easily the size of beach balls, each tipped with four jagged claws. Its body was covered in shaggy black and brown fur that seemed to move on its own. Skin the color of stone covered everywhere that didn't have hair, rippling with barely contained muscle. Two trunks hung from its face, grabbing and crushing the ferns before throwing them down its gullet—a terrifying scene.

My eyes wandered away from the battle as I searched for an escape. I might be able to handle one of those ferns, but the mammoth would easily squash me, and I didn't want to die again. My eyes settled on a tunnel in the wall. It seemed small enough that the mammoth monster couldn't get through, so it was my safest bet. I turned my eyes to the battle to see the enormous beast still in conflict with the horde. It roared as it slammed its first down on three of the ferns, squashing them flat.

Chance!

I dove for the cave tunnel as the slam shot dust and debris everywhere, obscuring me from view as I ran. A screech sounded as I made it halfway to the tunnel, one of the fern monsters having seen me. I looked back as two of the wooded devils gave chase, mouth stalks trying to reach me before being pulled back. I didn't expect to be concealed entirely, but I didn't think they'd catch on so fast!

I ran into the cave as the monsters were biting at my heels. Blue veins sprawled across the walls, ceiling, and floor, showering the tunnel in bright blue light. Stalagmites littered the tunnel floor in various sizes, light giving them strange, otherworldly shadows that shifted ever so slightly with each pulse.

I ran behind one of them just as the two fern monsters entered the cave, stalking me. I didn't know if they had a nose, but they definitely had ears. I tried to calm my breathing before I was heard. After a few terrifying minutes of searching in which I had to carefully reposition myself without my claws clicking against the stone floor, the monsters gave up the chase and exited the cave, leaving a shaking little drake who was sure she had soiled herself.