“In a sense. She is being reborn much in the same way you are, though her body will remain closer to her original form. She likely will not be human once she’s been reborn. Possibly an elf of some kind? As for where you can find her, I am not sure. My ability to foresee the future is quite limited at this time. I have a feeling you’ll run into her eventually, though I’m not sure when or where that will be.”
The cold reached the underside of my eyes and my vision began to blur. “Will she have the same name? Will she remember me!?” I frantically asked.
“Mm... I think her new body will be called Reina. As for whether or not she remembers you, well, we can only hope—”
All sound came to an end as if someone had hit the mute button. Darkness crept into my head as my mind blanked under an onslaught of ice.
I’m unsure of how long I floated in the icy abyss. Time seemed to matter little there, not that I had any way to measure it even if it did. Then something extraordinary happened.
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Welcome to Planet Rualea
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Chapter 1
I was unsure of exactly how much time had passed. Could’ve been a few days, or a few weeks. During that time, I came up with a plan. That... thing said that I could become more powerful here than I ever thought possible, which also meant that other beings could do the same.
What would happen if Sar—Reina was killed by one of them because I couldn’t protect her? What would I do then? I lost her once because some little brat decided to play tag with cars. I... I couldn’t afford to lose her again.
So, my plan was twofold and as simple as I could make it: Become something capable of living just long enough to meet her again, and amass as much power as possible, as quickly as possible.
Not long after I’d decided on my future course, I was finally told what race I was to be born as.
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Congratulations on your new life! To accompany your new body, you have been given a new name befitting that of your station/race.
Name: Torga
Race: Non-Venomous Serpent
Classification: Tier 1
Skills: Minor Stealth, Heat Detection, Lesser Gluttony
Traits: Gluttonous
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Although I didn't care about the new name, since I doubted anyone would use it, the rest of the information displayed did pique my interest.
I would have preferred to be a venomous snake, rather than a non-venomous one. But I'd take what I could get.
The so-called Tier 1 classification also made sense. I wasn't venomous, nor did I feel as if I was all that big, so my choice of prey was limited. That meant my overall power level was, without a doubt, on the lower end of the spectrum.
As for my skills, Minor Stealth and Heat Detection were ideal for an ambush predator, I supposed. I certainly could have gotten worse skills to start out with. Seeing Lesser Gluttony in my list of skills was weird, though. And aside from the Gluttonous trait, which I didn’t understand either, I didn’t know why I had it.
Focusing on the “skills” in question caused additional windows to appear.
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Minor Stealth: Your ability to remain undetected is always at its natural peak and will not degrade through aging or lack of practice
Heat Detection: Through the use of the pit organs located above your mouth, you have the ability to sense sources of heat in your general area.
Lesser Gluttony: Your stomach acids are capable of dissolving much denser materials than usual. However, you must also eat more frequently lest you starve to death.
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And that left me with only one question for the moment. "How do I get rid of this window?" As if it’d heard me, the window vanished just before I felt a pulling sensation near the rear of my body... which, I assumed, would be where my tail was?
A silver portal opened beneath me and I was dropped onto a soft, damp surface. After shaking off my initial surprise of actually being alive again, I took my first cursory look around.
I was in a small clearing surrounded on three sides by trees so tall they blocked out the sky and swallowed the area beneath them in shadows. Luckily the Heat Detection skill activated immediately after I landed and, after a brief feeling of vertigo, I could... er... “taste” the differing heat levels in the area. Currently I was tasting, for lack of a better word, a monotone flavor of nothingness, which led me to believe that I was probably alone.
The sound of flowing water caught my attention. It sounded like it was coming from immediately behind me, but that didn’t mean much at the moment since I wasn’t sure how much I could trust my ability to detect sound.
It took a surprising amount of effort, and multiple failed attempts, to move my body into a position where I could see behind me. Who knew snake bodies were so awkward to move?
"Maybe there's fish?" I hoped. I could tell my new body was already hungry, which wasn’t surprising considering I hadn’t eaten in god knows how long. Although, that did lead me to another thought, one I was slightly surprised hadn’t occurred to me before now. "What do I have to do to evolve?"
A window appeared before my eyes in response to my question.
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Consume 50lbs of meat to unlock: Water Boa
Consume 100lbs of vegetation to unlock: Tree Boa
Consume 200lbs of stone/dirt to unlock: Stone Python
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"That's rather convenient. Can I have a description of each evolution?" Though I waited for a minute or so, no new windows appeared. A disappointed sigh escaped me, and I
