A gloomy fog sets down eerily onto an enormous forest. The sounds of animals scampering about, winds blowing through the trees, insects buzzing, all seeming to have been muted.
The center of this forest, a clearing lie, usually beset with deer and hare frolicking about the Dryad whose home was the giant tree at the center. A tree at least three times larger than others about this forest.
The tree, usually a beautiful deep red, with leaves of purple, and fruits an otherworldly violet color, now shriveled with no leaves to be found, a far more than sickly black the barks' new shade.
The north side of the tree lies a hole barely a meter wide and tall, once where the Dryad helped animals of the forest that were injured or nursing, now sat a cross-legged young human boy, around 15, with hair a horrifying obsidian, like looking between the stars at night.
His head down, the boy sat in an old tattered leather robe, seeming like a statue, unmoving. If not for the rustling of the muted wind on the grass, one would think it was a painting.
Suddenly, like a switch was flipped, the boy shook, the sounds came back to the forest all at once as if it were waiting for him to awaken. The boy's head slowly raised, and his eyes flashed open, irises as obsidian as his hair with white specks, as if his eyes were the night sky.
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My consciousness suddenly returned, I felt the wind, the chill of the morning fell on me as I slowly opened my eyes.
I found myself in an awkward position. This is not my place of servitude, my Masters nowhere in sight.
I stood, my body much smaller and seeming weaker than what It should, the cold getting to me, as if my scales no longer--
I exclaimed, "What is this?!" My arms no longer carried the crimson scales of my father, my hands no longer my mother's dagger claws.
This is not my body! My voice is low but soothing, my skin white and arms scrawny. I feel no mana inside me at all... My astonished expression slowly turns to one of relief. I am no longer bound by their hideous mana.
Putting the spinning questions of what I am and the uncertainty of what my future holds without their shackles binding me to their servitude, I step out of what appears to be the hole of a dead plant of some sort. Though I've never seen a plant of this size.
Looking around myself I see a beautiful sight, plants as far as the eye can see, both large and small. What seems to be a haze of smoke, but not nearly as grey or polluted as what I have seen before.
My gaze goes skyward, and instead of the red of the stars that surround my planet, all I see is beauty, several large porous rocks in the sky, and glinting diamonds throughout a black scape.
"Wow... This... Is not my home... Where am I?" Confusion sets in slightly, then the realization that I'll never see Them again sets in, and I start to laugh then tears fall from my eyes, my laughs turning to sobs.
Minutes later I calm down. The stillness that surrounds me giving me peace of mind. I reach out my right hand and make a fist with my first and fourth claws pointing outward, my dew claw sticking out to the right.
"Ou," I exclaim, a familiar ding rings out, a hollow feeling throughout my body. Do I really have no mana? I was one of the strongest of my kind when it came to mana...
The Ou, ignoring my sidetracked mind, feeds information into my mind.
[Name: None] [Race: Jiur] [Class: {Select through action}] [Level: 0]
[Strength: 1] [Agility: 1] [Mana: 0] [Physique: 1]
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[Skills: None]
Name? I have reverted to level zero as if a child and my mana is zero, and seems to be inaccessible. I don't see how that's possible, all life has mana, without mana, how am I even alive? I come to a realization immediately and calm myself.
If I have no mana, I cannot be enslaved again. My body will never be under their control, feel the searing pain of my mana lashing me from the insides when I disobeyed... No more chains and loved ones being injured or worse with me able to do nothing but watch... Tears once more fill my eyes as they glaze over.
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Several seconds later I come out of my daze. I smile for the first time in what seems like an eternity and sigh deeply before looking into the many plants that surround myself and moving into their embrace.
Paying attention to my surroundings finally I notice, despite my race staying the same my body is weak, fleshy, and easily injured, my perceptions dulled severely. I hadn't noticed before the large menacing roars that send my body into heartwrenching fear.
Coming to grips with my possibly looing death I lean against a plant near me and sigh. Cold sweat drenched my odd clothing. All this is tiring me out, I can't handle many more surprises, and those roars turned my legs into boneless meat.
I hear something moving in the nearby plants, swaying back and forth. Something is probably coming out soon. Sliding down the plant in frustration and panic I force my legs to listen to me by hitting them as hard as I can several times, gaining control as quickly as possible, I see a shadow slipping out of the thick plant.
I ready myself as much as I can as a medium sized creature on all fours with an elongated nose and sharp teeth inside a mouth with saliva dripping down stared me down. A menacing growl exits it's throat as it readies itself to pounce, its hind legs rearing back.
I force my body to move and lower myself till I'm even with its eyes. Calmness ebbs throughout my being, my battle instinct taking over.
The creature moves through the air, it's mouth wide snapping at my head, I duck and slash at it with-- my non-existent claws, simply injuring my clawless hand and angering it, as it bit the air and hit the plant hard, head first, yelping.
Rolling to the left I quickly grabbed the ground as much as I could with my hands and feet and leaped at it before it could stand, and bite at its neck as I hit with closed fists as hard as I can at its body, my knees on its front legs, it's back legs trying fruitlessly to remove me, leaving cuts on my back, my clothes blunting most of it.
The creature struggles to roll sporadically to get me to release it, my teeth catching hold through the fur and ripping skin and meat from bone.
It yelps loudly as I continue punching, spitting out the meat and fur at it I go back down for another bite still hitting it as hard as I can, it cries loudly as I rip another piece of flesh from it.
Balling up both hands I begin to beat its head until it stops moving.
Breathing heavily I fall onto my prey, a bitter smile lay upon my face. My first kill, quite pathetic... This body is so weak... My consciousness fades away as I pass out from the pain of the scratches which while minor, were many.
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I slowly come to, my body refreshed, the smell of fresh blood flowing through my nose. It hasn't been long, I must've leveled up to have reawakened so quickly. The smell of blood will attract predators, I need to eat quickly.
I get up from the creature and grab its skin where I ripped it off before and stretched it as much as I could and dug in.
The taste left much to be desired and not cooking it is not healthy for this weak body, I just have to hope my level and subsequent fighting will allow me to work through it.
After finishing all I could from my less than satisfying meal I picked a direction opposite of the large plant and moved as swiftly as I could without making too much sound.
I find a pile of mud a few tens of meters away and roll in it to rid myself of the thick iron smell that surrounds me. My back stings in agony at the mud digging into my wounds, but I ignore it, hoping once again that the Ou protects my body.
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An indeterminable amount of time later I slow down and sniff at the air, my body still smelling of Iron even with the help of the mud, but it's not nearly as pungent as before I climb the tallest plant I could find and settle in it.
My breathing rough from running and my body aching all over I lie on an outcropping of the plant and try to calm my breathing.
I once again raise my hand at the sky that seems to be brightening and whisper, "Ou."
[Name: None] [Race: *****] [Class: Brawler] [Level: 1]
[Strength: 3] [Agility: 3] [Mana: 0] [Physique: 1.5]
[Skills: Unarmed 1]
I smile bitterly as my head starts to ache a little more. As I look at myself through Ou I remember my father's words when I got my class the first time, "Son, the Ou simply provides you with the answers to questions when you ask them. It sets you on the path it has chosen for you, but you must walk that path. Never mistrust the Ou."
I slowly fade into unconsciousness on the plant, my fathers' words resounding in my mind. I whisper, "Even so, father, why must I never use a weapon?... Or wear armor?..." My bitter smile still tugging at my lips.