《Reborn with a Spotted Back》


 Chapter 1 - A Different Life

    One of the big questions in life, in general, is ¡®What happens after death?¡¯ Well I¡¯ve found out because I went and died. It wasn¡¯t a pitiful death mind you, I went out like a badass some may even consider me a hero. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a film was made about the event.


    Not my life mind you, that¡¯s kind of depressing and boring. I come from a poor family of three, both parents were consumed with work to make ends meet. And I respected them for this, but I was saddened that I didn¡¯t get to spend more time with them. There was a gap between us, they would make time for me but the majority of the time they gone from the house make it a quiet lonely place.


    As such I spent most of my time outside of the house, either at the library, the mall or somewhere less than friendly on occasion. And would spend my time either reading and learning, stealing and pickpocketing, or fighting and running from fights. I managed to knick a few fancy things and earn a bit of money, I saved the money for an emergency though so I never got around to spending it unfortunately. The thing I was most proud of stealing was a switchblade, it had a little hilt and a red wood handle. I kept that thing on me at all times and well maintained.


    It wasn¡¯t an enjoyable life but it could have been a lot worse, as a result of it I¡¯ve learned not to form attachments easily. But thanks to this life I¡¯ve become somewhat athletic and fairly smart. Allowing me to earn a scholarship to a fancy school for the rich and influential in the town over, I¡¯m pretty sure it was also done to meet some sort of diversity quota. It had high walls all around the premises and a big metal gate at the front with guards as well, the guards were also spread throughout school as well.


    But I made the best of it by buckling down and studying hard. I didn¡¯t try to make friends as that could have ended poorly, the other students also made efforts to avoid me, not wanting to fraternise with the riff raff. But I did make a ¡®study buddy¡¯ we didn¡¯t see one another outside of the school library mind you and didn¡¯t discuss much beyond our work. It was like a comfortable silence, understanding one another without communicating.


    His name was Tony, a serious fellow never saw him laughing or hanging out with others, just concentrating on the task at hand. He was the son of some crime boss, he didn¡¯t tell me this mind you it was something I picked up from others conversations over time.


    Anyway you¡¯re probably curious as to what lead to my death, after all I¡¯ve dragged it out long enough. It was during lunch when I was out in the courtyard, not many others were out there when i was on my own snacking on my ham sandwich when gunshots rang out and the school alarm went off, but not the fire alarm this one indicated intruders on the premises.


    As such we all made our way to the auditorium, this place was actually decked out to be a bomb shelter with a month''s supply of rations, so in the event of a siege we could hold out and wait for rescue.


    This time however it wouldn''t go to plan, as I made my way there I heard gunshots and ducked for cover behind a column. Obviously something went wrong if they''re already inside. Hearing the gunshots sent me into overdrive and my senses heightened, not knowing what to do I decided I would still head to the gathering point but try and avoid any conflict. It was slow going but I eventually made it to the hall, I had passed five people on my way and thankful I wasn¡¯t noticed when I hid.


    As I approached the auditorium, the doors flew open and three men with flack jackets, knives, pistols, a belt of grenades and submachine guns walked out dragging three students, two boys and a girl, with them by the hair, they were struggling in vain though. I noticed that one of them was Tony, he seemed calmer than the others despite the situation.


    ¡°Stop your damn struggling or I¡¯ll cut you! Damn brats making this more troublesome than it needs to be. Let''s get these kids to the helipad and get the hell out of this place before things go sideways.¡± Says the lead mercenary.


    I waited till they passed and made my way to the doors and looked through, I saw over forty students and seven teachers all on their knees and with their arms bound behind their back, there was only one mercenary with them though he also seemed quite relaxed.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Ha as easy as this job is I want to get out of here before things get heavy. Once the three families find out shit is going to hit the fan.¡± Says the remaining mercenary.


    Seeing the opportunity I took out my switchblade and slinked up behind him, I then stabbed him the back of his left knee, as he fell yelling I clambered over him like a koala and stabbed in him the throat and dragged my knife through it; causing a spray of blood that covered my face.


    With him dead I took his knife and pistol, then walked over to one of the teachers, everyone was looking at me with wide eyes most with fear, I then cut the teacher free and handed him the knife and left without saying a word.


    I then made my way to the helipad. As I did I wondered to myself ¡®why am I doing this?¡¯ and all I could come up with was that I felt invincible, like I couldn¡¯t fail nothing else. Even though an acquaintance was in trouble I didn''t really care all that much, I just felt compelled.


    I didn¡¯t come across any other mercenaries on my way. I eventually reached the stairwell to the helipad and slowly crawled my way up to remain as quiet as possible. I made it to the top and looked through the window in the door and saw the three children kneeling down with their hands tied behind their back. There are two mercenaries standing behind them and one standing before the helipad, all with their backs to me.


    Ducking down below the window I looked over my gun, checked it had ammo and was not set to safety, remembering all the motions I had seen characters make in games and the few films I¡¯ve seen. Steadying my breath I then gently opened the door and pointed my gun to the first man, taking my time I measured my shot and hit him straight in the back of the head dropping him instantly; I then unloaded shots in the man next to him as he turned around, hitting his left shoulder and upper arm lastly, before hitting him in the temple.


    I then ran towards the final man in an attempt to stab him, but he turned fast enough and shot me in the arm.


    ¡°Well, this is unexpected, didn¡¯t think it would be a kid of all things to fuck this job up. Don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ll tell me who you are kid?¡± the man asks.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not in case you get out of this and you happen to be the vengeful type.¡° I reply.


    ¡°Fair enough, fair enough. How about we make this fun, instead of just shooting you?¡± He says smugly.


    I nod and get into something resembling a stance as does the man with his knife in hand. I run at him and telegraph a thrust, which he swipes aside and then cuts my face. Pulling back from the cut, I try to size him up but find no obvious weakness. Realising I¡¯ve no chance of winning I think up a plan that¡¯ll cost me, but let me win.


    With this plan I smile and make to stab him again but this time I don¡¯t make to avoid the man''s attack. He ends up stabbing me in the kidney and pushes me back.


    ¡°What was that boy, were you tired of living? You may as well have slit your throat. That wasn¡¯t any fun at all.¡± He yells.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m smart enough to know my chances and to find a way around it, hehe.¡±


    ¡°The fuck you on about?¡± He replies with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Well seeing how fond you were of me, I went and put ring on it.¡± I say and show the grenade pin on my ring finger.


    With this he looks to his belt and makes to remove but isn¡¯t fast enough and suddenly explodes, the explosion knocking me back.


    Lying on my back I look up at the sky and see the clouds move about undisturbed by the explosion and make the comparison between my death and the world. Nothing will change with it, the world won¡¯t stop, people won¡¯t die, I will just be an afterthought in time. But I don¡¯t really care about it and even accept it as I hadn¡¯t really lived anyway, having no real connections to the world beside my parents.


    While I was busy philosophising a head appears in front of me, it¡¯s Tony, still bound though. I make to hand my knife and he turns around and grabs it, then undoes his restraints before tossing it to the others.


    ¡°Well fuck man, I don''t know what to say. Thanks would be to insincere and anything more would be disingenuous I feel. But regardless thank you for the save, we were going to get carted off to a warehouse and held hostage, likely ending in death. So truly thanks.¡± He said to me sadly, while taking my hand in his.


    ¡°Well I''ll be honest, I don''t know what I was doing. Just felt I had to do it, you know.¡± I said weakly.


    ¡°Well damn, life''s a mystery ain''t it. Got any final wishes? I mean you''re bleeding real heavy and you''ve got some big burns I''d be surprised if you pulled through.¡± He said straight faced.


    ¡°Well aren''t you a beacon of hope. I don''t know, a bit a money for parents to deal with the funeral and get through the coming years, is about all I can think of.¡± I said glumly.


    ¡°Well I don''t see the use in lying and money will be no problem.¡± He replied.


    With that the two of us remain silent, our piece said and simply look up into the sky waiting for what happens next. Before it all fades away from me.

 Chapter 2 - Whiskers

    After everything faded away I slept, only thing I could really call it as my consciousness came back. This was quite confusing because I found myself within a void, unable to move, once more alone and with plenty of time to think.


    Looking back on my life I can only look upon it with a hint of misery, seeing how much I missed out on. Sure I enjoyed learning but that was because I had no one to play with and no money for toys. I let it consume me and ignored the outside world and made no attempts to connect to people and find common ground. It¡¯s amazing I even managed to find common ground with Troy. I didn''t try anything that seemed bothersome like sports.


    I also realised that I had a weak relationship with my parents as they spent of their time working, leaving me to myself. Don''t get me wrong I know they did so for our sake, so we could keep a roof over our head and food in our bellies; but I would have liked to have spent more time with them and gotten to know them better.


    It''s as I''m ruminating upon my life that I feel a pull above my head, I try to look but find I still can''t move nor resist the pull. Things start getting tight, starting with my head it actually changes shapes of all things and soon after I feel a cold sensation upon me. The process then happens to the rest of my body as it is squeezed through some sort of tight hole. It''s about this point that I begin to breathe not realising I hadn''t been doing so before and the action is painful, eliciting a cry from me.


    Overwhelmed by all these sensations, cascading one after another I fail to realise what is going on until I find myself in someone else''s embrace. With a blurry vision I can slightly make out the haggard but warm appearance of cat, despite this oddity though I''m too tired to care.


    She then moves around a little and what appears before me is a breast, overcome by instinct I quickly latch onto it and zone out before falling asleep in this person''s warm embrace.


    ---


    So, things have taken a real turn since my death. Not only was I reborn but it was into another world. I figured this out from the fact that my mother is a walking talking leopard, golden fur, black horse shoe marks all over, with round ears and a long feline tail; though all the sharp teeth were a little off putting to begin with. But to sum it up we''re both true beast kin, furry all over and digitigrade legs. I even wet myself in excitement when I found out. We''ve even got the soft paw pads.


    Though I noted my new mother only has two breasts so I guess unlike their animal counterparts, beast kin don''t give birth to litters.


    I can only make assumptions at this point but I would assume that being leopard kin would give a person improved physical traits in almost every area, as well as a fabulous tail. Though it''s only been three weeks I''m able to sit up and roll over, but I¡¯m not to the point of crawling but definitely ahead of a human baby.


    As for my living conditions I know little about it beyond the fact that we live in a wooden house that''s a step above a shack, a similar sentiment can be said for our clothes. A green rough cotton dress for mother and a small cotton dress for myself, typical village garb from the medieval period, though our fur stops it from itching. It seems regardless of which world I live in I''m doomed to live in squaller. There''s even vermin scurrying around the house.


    Mother carries me with her most of the day, which is spent either doing house work or working the fields. I can only pray that we aren''t serfs otherwise that''s going to cause some problems for me when I''m older and want to leave.


    I''ve seen neither hide nor fur of my father, as there are no men around mother. Not that I''m complaining mind you, I''d rather keep my food source clean and untouched than dirty.


    As such my days have been pretty repetitive, wake up, change nappy, feed, be carried around, make noises and wriggle around, with bouts of sleeping, purring, feeding and relieving myself sprinkled throughout. But I did find out that my name is Adaman, don''t know about a surname though.


    ---


    It''s currently night time and I''m curled up against my mother, with my tail tucked in whilst I lay awake somewhat hungry, deciding whether to wake mother or go back to sleep. Not knowing what to do I lie there just thinking, until I notice something, a constantly moving energy within me. I follow it around my body and get a feeling for it, I then try grabbing it and concentrate, after a few seconds I succeed. The sensation feels warm and you could compare it to holding fire without being burnt.


    I open my eyes and see in my hands a red squirming energy, gelatinous in form. My stomach then growls and I stupidly eat it with little hesitation. I am quickly overwhelmed by a warm sensation and feel great but then feel tired and fall asleep.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    This marked the start of my midnight snacks. I hadn''t felt any detrimental effects and I figured mother would appreciate a good night''s rest, so I kept it up. Each time was the same a rush of euphoria followed by exhaustion and come morning I would feel better than before.


    I am not sure what the red goo was but if I had to guess it would be magic, I haven''t seen any practiced so far; but that doesn''t mean it doesn''t exist. But it is kind of strange, what kind of magic is red goo? Maybe this world''s magic manifests itself in specific forms or abilities rather than the control over elements. This requires further study.


    ---


    I am currently in a sling around mother, as she moves up and down the field sowing seeds for the new crop. It has been maybe six months, if the seasons are similar to earth''s, since I was born. I am now fully capable of crawling and am starting to walk with the assistance of mother, she doesn''t seem surprised so I think this fast development is normal.


    Despite my mobility she still carries me around often, like today for instance. We''ve been up and down the field three times now and I''m busy looking up at the clouds trying to find interesting shapes. But then I notice birds circling in the sky and from time to time the dive down and peck at the seeds mother planted. I don''t know how I didn''t notice them before.


    Regardless of how they stayed unnoticed, these flying bastards have pissed me off and given me something to focus on, instead of the clouds, I want to strangle these flying rats. So I indulge in my fantasies and imagine a hand growing out of the ground and dragging the pests down into its depths.


    As I imagine this I feel the energy I use to make the red goo rush around my body and focus in my hands and before I know it, a hand made of earth wraps around the bird and drags it down into the ground without a single squark before it''s gone. Mother hearing the slight struggle looks back only to see some upturned earth and continues with her seeding.


    All the while I''m feeling slightly tired and unsure of what happened. I guess I went and cast magic but this time it was different to the red goo. Maybe the red goo is actually my magic energy as opposed to a spell or skill. Which could mean that manipulating the elements is entirely possible. Imagining all the cool things I could do with it, I begin to daydream. I could go and create hurricanes or high pressure bursts of water that cut through boulders or even body reinforcement or dare I dream ¡®telekinesis¡¯. *sparkle*


    In my opinion true telekinesis is quite an OP skill as it would allow you to dominate close to mid ranged fights, effectively rendering all but the strongest and fastest useless before you. With it I could become a jedi and just tear through droves of enemy''s. It definitely requires further study, for science, though that will have to wait for when mother gives me some space.


    The day carries on in a similar manner, seeds planted, seeds eaten. It was quite frustrating not being able to crush the birds again. But much to my amusement a lizard appeared from the bushes at the edge of the field, about the size of a cat and a long thin tail reminiscent of a Crocodile Monitor, with dark red and purple scales, it has a taller gate and rounder body a bit like a Komodo Dragon¡¯s.


    It began eating the birds, pouncing on them and swallowing them whole. It couldn''t eat them all as they kept to the sky''s but it eat three of them before they all left. I even ended up giggling at this outcome which got some cuddling out of mother and purring that sounds like a low growl.


    The last six months have been most enjoyable, all the love that has been given to me from mother is lovely, it has been a long while since I have been so close to another person. I''ve made the I could of this life so far, I''m like a koala hanging on when ever I could. I''m even pretty happy that I died and got this in return.


    Anyway after cuddling mother sat me down by the edge of the field where her basket was and began getting out her food. As she did so the lizard from earlier came out of the bushes. It then begins to stalk towards me flicking its forked tongue out in my direction mouth slightly open.


    Seeing it get closer and closer, it gets more menacing with each step. Growing alarmed and forgetting I could cry for mother or even crawl to her I begin flailing my arms around to discourage it from approaching but to no avail.


    I then unknowingly add energy to my arms and smack the lizard on the snout, when the energy within my hands transfers over to the lizard it halts, frozen in place. Then a bright light engulfs my left hand and the lizard''s snout forming a white mark, changing our fur and scales, into the shape of a lizard''s foot print. The pad and five claws. The lizard then moves again and goes to lay its head upon my lap and fall asleep.


    Not knowing what to do I sit motionless in fear that it might attack, hoping mother will turn around and save me. She soon does with a plate of food in hand, but seeing me she puts down her food and sweeps me up in her arms in a swift motion and steps back protectively looking me over for injuries. She then notices my hand and sighs in relief and smiles joyfully.


    ¡°Ha¡­ I was so worried Kitten, but to think you went and tamed that nasty lizard so simply and so young. You''re only six months old for crying out loud, you''re ridiculous you know that? But this can only mean great things for your future.¡± Mother proclaims while snuggling me.


    I am unsure as to what happened but I can surmise that the lizard will now do as I say and is no longer a threat to me. Mother then puts me down grabs her food and sits next to me as she eats, then she feeds me after which I fall asleep.


    ---


    I awake in my cot, back inside the house and see mother doing some sewing. I sit up and see the lizard simply lying on the floor by my cot. Wondering if I do have control over it, I tell it to wake up and it does then I tell it to hunt the vermin in the house. At which it promptly walks off.


    ¡°Here kitten let mother feed you.¡±


    Mother says this and smiles then picks me up to feed, thus continuing the cycle.

 Chapter 3 - A Great Discovery

    ¡°Ooh that feels magnificent, scratch right there¡± I purr.


    I''m currently sitting in a throne surrounded by maids, ready to fulfill my every whim. In fact one of them is acting as my chair and scratching that perfect spot on my ears. I don''t know how I got here but it is complete bliss.


    ---


    ¡°Ahh! God that hurts, what''s going on? Where are my maids? My ear scratcher?¡±


    I''m suddenly awoken from my dreams and find myself in bed tucked up to mother, with her nibbling on my ear. It seems that she went and nipped it with one of her fangs and now my ear is soggy.


    This isn''t even a rare occurrence, mother seems to have a habit of chewing in her sleep, her pillow even has a few patches in it. I bet my father has received some scars from her. I crawl out of mothers clutches and wake her up.


    ¡°Mother wake up it''s morning.¡±


    ¡°Morning Kitten, did you sleep well?¡±


    ¡°Fairly well yes.¡±


    ¡°That''s good to hear, now go get ready for the day and I''ll make breakfast alright.¡±


    ¡°Yes mother.¡± We then go off and get ready for the day.while eating breakfast mother asks about my plans.


    ¡°So anything special planned today? You know Mrs Wilmer asked if you want to play with Sarah today.¡±


    ¡°I just plan on doing the usual, walking the fields and exploring. And you know I don''t want to play with Sarah, she''s too energetic for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now, you''re missing out on your childhood. I just want my little Kitten to have some friends to play with, you seem lonely.¡±


    ¡°I''m not a kit. And I''m not lonely, I just think in a different way to the others and just aren''t interested in befriending children.¡± I huff finishing my food and make to leave.


    ¡°I''m leaving, have a good day.¡±


    ¡°Stay safe Kitten.¡± Mother calls out. I don''t hate being called ''Kitten¡¯ but it''s embarrassing you.


    ---


    ¡°I¡¯m on the road again, I can¡¯t wait to find my way again~¡± I sing while riding upon Yvon¡¯s back, that¡¯s the name I gave my lizard. I was tempted to go with Silver but ultimately changed my mind because it would be silly. Two and a half years since I tamed him and we¡¯ve both grown, despite only being two, I look like a four year old and Yvon is as big as a middle sized dog, he grew quite fast. Now I¡¯m both able to ride him and run with ease, he¡¯s surprisingly strong for his size seeing as I¡¯m not that much smaller than him. I¡¯m three now if you suck at maths.


    As for what I¡¯m doing right now, I¡¯m heading towards the forest outside the village after my day of hard work. Well I say work I¡¯m more like the foreman, I tell everyone what to do, well I tell Yvon what to do. Our work is eating the pests and vermin around the village and fields, I¡¯m pretty sure that Yvon has eaten the vermin population twice over by now, but they keep coming back but in smaller numbers so I think they¡¯re learning to stay away.


    I get payed by the village chief, for the services I provide the village but mother is the one who is given my money, she keeps it in a jar for me till I¡¯m old enough to spend it properly. Thanks to me and Yvon the food production of the village has improved quite a bit as well as the hygiene, the amount of sick people has lessened as well. It¡¯s nasty to think how much vermin there was, just thinking about it makes me want to bathe myself in a tub of hand sanitizer.


    But as a result of my work I have become well known throughout the village and am occasionally gifted food by thankful farmers and their families. For the village itself there are a little over 200 families in it, surrounded on three sides by farmland and a forest on the other, all while sitting atop a hill. It¡¯s a really good spot fertile land and easily defensible. As for the inhabitants there is a mix of races from the ever titular humans, the odd dwarf here and there and many beast kin.


    But I found out that the beast kin as a whole are called ¡®Ohamba Izilwane¡¯ which sounds so much better than ¡®demi-human¡¯ it always sounded derogatory to me, you know saying that they are half human, and it''s not even imaginative either. It¡¯s nice to know what to refer to myself as. There isn¡¯t even any prejudice between the races here.


    As for my particular race mother told me I am a cross between a jaguar and leopard, mother being the leopard, which should make her smaller than my father. It should also mean he is larger bulkier and braver than mother if they are similar to their animal counterparts. Though she stands at a good 180 cm already, so I can only assume my father is really tall. Speaking of my father mother says he is a great warrior and works as an adventurer and has been out on a long term job with high pay for our sakes. I just hope he hasn¡¯t gone and abandoned mother, I mean we¡¯re getting by quite comfortably now with the increased crops, but it would hurt mother a fair bit.


    Now besides from going around and having Yvon eat small creatures, I have been learning to read and write from mother, she has also begun teaching me how to wield a dagger, they were short lessons seeing as I am still young, but I¡¯ve taken to both lessons quite well. And when I¡¯m not with mother I¡¯m with my new friends playing games like tag or football or just generally running around. We even fight on occasion, I win most of the time because of my superior intellect, out witting them when I can¡¯t over power them. But these little fellas have improved a fair pace so I keep pulling out new tricks.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Despite me playing with them I haven¡¯t made any meaningful relationships with them yet as our minds and priorities are different, when we¡¯re older though I¡¯ll hopefully make a ¡®best friend¡¯.


    I¡¯ve also taken to exploring the forest to the west, not to deep mind you in case there are any monsters inside, I mean I¡¯m only three and Yvon isn¡¯t that big either. The trees are pretty similar to my previous life as well as the flowers and small animals when magic isn¡¯t involved. When magic is involved they tend to become bigger and more colourful.


    Speaking of magic I¡¯ve conducted some experiments and found that when I eat the ¡®red goo¡¯ it increases the amount of magic I can use, though only noticeable after a week. I started off with making little one cm cubes, from the earth. The first time I did so I made 233 before I was tired. I could still move but running was out of the question, the number of cubes I could make increased by at least three cubes a day until it plateaued, the last I checked I could make 6708 cubes and that was about three months ago.


    I decided that I would count the energy required to make a single cube as a single unit of magic or a ¡®mana point¡¯. I have also tried other elements besides earth, I started with air magic seeing as I am surrounded by it. What I found was that it needed to be constantly moving, so an orb of air was a ball of moving air. A wind scythe had the air moving up and down the edge. As such it required more mana to use. I found that the other two main elements were similar in their requirements, needing magic to keep their form unlike earth.


    I have also tried out other elements like metal and electricity without success. I think it¡¯s due to lack of understanding rather than it not being possible. As for body enhancement magic so far I have found that by coating myself in mana it can act as a shield if I punch a wall it isn¡¯t going to hurt or cut my skin. A similar method works for increasing my strength. I coat my insides with mana, focusing on my muscles and I can punch a hole into a tree, not all the way through yet but I¡¯m making progress.


    As for telekinesis it does exist but I haven¡¯t reached a sufficient level yet. I can lift pebbles spin them around and throw them, but not through a tree or a person, it¡¯ll leave dent or bruise but nothing more right now. I think I¡¯m lacking speed and control at the moment, instead of mana. So all it will take is time and practice.


    ¡°Ah you¡¯ve got to love that fresh air, so nice, better than the village wish their was a sewer system or something to deal with all the waste.¡± I say as I reach the border of the forest. Jumping down from Yvon¡¯s back i break into a run to practice my free running over un-level terrain and practice my balance. Having a tail is a major advantage when it comes to balancing. As I¡¯m ducking and jumping over and under the fallen trees branches and rocks, I slip on a moss covered stone and fall down a hole that appeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°Umph¡­ ohhh that hurt, that hurt. I did not like that, god I hope I didn¡¯t break anything. I wonder where this hole came from? I mean the damn thing came out of nowhere. So much for increased sense and reflexes, I thought that cats were supposed to land on their feet. God this sucks.¡± I mumble to myself trying to catch my breath.


    It takes a minute to get up and start looking around, it seems I fell about five metres. I can¡¯t see any decent hand holds to grab and climb back up with. So I decide to look further into the cavern hoping there isn¡¯t a bear or something in there. As I head further into cavern, the walls gradually became smoother, same with the wall and ceiling. This indicates that someone has put time into making this place, maybe it¡¯s a hermit wizard¡¯s cave. The cavern then slowly becomes a hall with a level floor and ceiling, columns supporting the ceiling. At the end there is red wooden door with a golden door knob in the center. I reached out my hand to grab it, expecting something sort of spell to go off, but before I can clasp my hand around it, it just slowly opens from the light touch.


    On the other side is a lone wooden table, with strong thick legs about three metres by one metre. Atop the table sat an envelope with lovely detailing, written on it was ¡®Please read me¡¯. To the left of the table is a single bookcase filled with old leather bound books.


    ¡°Welcome traveller to the ¡®Vault of Immortal Knowledge¡¯, I made this place eons ago to hold the collective knowledge of my life, as well as those that found it. The fact you are here means that you are eligible to learn the knowledge stored within these hallowed walls. There are four requirements for entrance but you need to fulfill only one. They are to be a higher being in a mortal vessel, given a blessing by a higher being, given a blessed weapon or armour, or being reincarnated. This room is filled with the knowledge of lost civilisations and what has been learnt by other users, collected over millenniums, it is the greatest repository of knowledge within the galaxy as well as teacher you will ever find. Do with this knowledge as you wish.¡± I read the note allowed shocked at what I was reading.


    ¡°Well fuck me sideways, this just screams destiny in bright neon lights, no doubt it will be troublesome. But I¡¯m not one to let such a chance pass me by, especially if it¡¯s free. Heck I could probably find some cleaning magic or even enchantments. I¡¯ll finally be able to bring up the standard of living in this dirty village. Maybe even make some better clothes. Let¡¯s get started.¡± I say and then head to the bookcase and start looking at the titles.


    But I quickly realise that I can¡¯t understand them, so I grab one and take it to the table to see if I can figure out the language, which could likely take me years. As I return to the bookcase to grab another I see that the place I took the book from is filled with another book, I then take it out to see if it would be replaced, but see nothing move and turn around to take it to the table. I go to grab one last book and see it happened again. Annoyed that I didn¡¯t see it I take another book and spend five minutes staring at the spot before giving up and turning to the table, but then I turn around again only to see that the book was replaced.


    ¡°Oh my god. *sparkle* A magic bookcase this is awesome¡± I then go back to the table to place the book on the table, only to see that the others are gone replaced by a red leather bound book with two gold clasps at the front and golden tips on the corners with some sort of symbol on the front. I then place the book in my hand on top of the new one, nothing happens but then I get the idea to spin around and see that it is gone. With my eyes opening wide enough, I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t fall out, I run to the bookcase and start pulling out book after book putting them on top of the red book. I quickly lose track of time not knowing how many books I¡¯ve pulled out, my hands have turned raw and are bleeding a little, I am also exhausted in every way possible and am huffing as I move the final book over. As I place the final book down the red book begins to shine and levitate facing towards me.


    Chains shoot out from behind the book and wrap around my arms, I was too tired to react and just let it happen. I then quickly collapse, passing out.