《Hero or Monster》 Chapter 1 - Why Random Luck? - ...Gradually...I feel my body responding to me... ¡­Slowly...My brain...I feel my senses coming back to me... ...Why am I... So sluggish? ...My eyes...Are they working properly? ¡­!!!... ¡­I slowly look around, but all I can see is a never ending abyss. I start to panic right away since I have no idea where I am. I can hear the increasing soft beats of my own heart echoing in the darkness. I can''t see anything in the vast emptiness so I don¡¯t know if anything is wrong with my stiff body. Wait! Why should I be worried about my own body? There shouldn''t be anything wrong with it last time I checked. I know my eyes are working properly because I can feel myself blinking as I try to look around. I try calling out to anyone or anything in the silent void, but my mouth doesn¡¯t respond to my thoughts. ¡°Where am I?¡± Bit by bit I realize that for some reason I am confined in a small space of some sort. I tried to move around a bit, but nothing worthwhile comes out of my actions. I discover rather quickly that I am floating freely within the dark confinement. To be more exact, it feels like I am floating in some sort of liquid like substance... ¡°Huh? What is this feeling? It¡¯s...like¡­is this feeling coming from inside my mind or brain? Hmm. How can I¡­umm¡­know these things. I am pretty sure...I never¡­damn! It¡¯s hard to describe this sensation. Wait! What is that¡­transparent screen doing inside my mind?¡±
...Activating Creation Start Up Program...Confirmed activation! ¡­Loading Predesignated Stats. Stats have been loaded¡­Error! Special Skill has been activated! Randomizing Stats with Special Skill¡­Confirmed! All Stats have been successfully loaded with Special Skill. Congratulations! You have been born!
A screen pops up in front of me, but I get the feeling that the screen isn¡¯t in front of me, rather it feels like it is inside my mind. ¡°I have been...born? What are these Stats and skills? What Special Skill is it talking about? I am not familiar with those words. Wait?! I know words? How do I know words? This is so confusing. Why do I understand¡­things? It feels so...random. Just what the hell is going on?!¡±
Starting Name Generator... Creating or picking own name is unavailable! A name will be chosen for you. Activating new name¡­Loading¡­Confirmed! Your name is now Malas! /m?l?lahs/ Welcome Malas to this World!
¡°Huh? What is loading? My name¡­? So it is Malas? I am Malas¡­just Malas and nothing else? Should I be complaining why it¡¯s so short and dull? How come I can''t create or pick my own name? That is really unfair. What world? Nothing is making sense here. I am getting more confused by the second. WILL SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!?...I think my heartbeat just increased even more."
Activating and Determining Racial Characteristics! Loading Race¡­Confirmed! Stolen novel; please report.Congratulations! Your Race is now: Drazilcin! /dr??zil?kin/ Classified as Reptilian Humanoid! Also known as Lizardman. /liz??rd?m?n/ ...Error! Due to the "unnatural" location of your current species home¡­You have been given Special Racial Stats! Special Racial Stats Loading¡­Confirmed! Your Race is now: Arctic Drazilcin! /ark?tik-dr??zil?kin You are an Ice Variant (subspecies) of the Lizardman!
¡°So Race¡­is that what I am supposed to be? I am a Lizardman¡­no¡­I am an Arctic Drazilcin. What is the difference? What is a variant? Hmm¡­Special Stats¡­I guess that is a good thing? Damn it! Why am I slowly accepting this weird situation? It seems so natural that I know this stuff. D¨¦j¨¤ vu? Wait how do I know what D¨¦j¨¤ vu is?¡± I start taking a long deep mental breath to calm myself down. "All I want is to leave. Is that too much to ask? Can I leave this place? WAIT! WHAT DOES A DRAZILCIN EVEN LOOK LIKE?!¡±
Error¡­Due to your Special Skill *Random Luck* All Stats have been randomized including Special Racial Stats. Every Special Skill is very unique and one of a kind. The Stat Screen can only be seen by you in your mind unless using a special tool. You can command the Stat Screen to open up with just a single thought. To progress to higher levels of power, you need to gain Experience Points. Experience Points can be either "found" or "achieve" through various actions. Any other information can be found in the Info Tab on the Stat Screen. Any information not found in Info Tab, must be discovered on your own. All information will be automatically updated in your Info Tab. Ending Creation Start Up Program! ¡­ ¡­Loading Countdown¡­Confirmed! Countdown Engaging! Please escape before the countdown ends! Good Luck Malas! 10¡­9¡­8¡­7¡­
¡°Ok¡­So those are what I am guessing...are numbers? Countdown for what?! That doesn¡¯t sound good at all. Wait a minute! I can leave here? Finally! ...I feel like I am missing something important¡­whatever. Come on Malas. You¡¯re the one that wanted to leave, so let¡¯s get MOVING! Hmm¡­Why do I get the feeling that¡­what was that skill again? *Random Luck*? Why does it feel...like that skill will bring me more trouble than I want?¡± I start moving my body with seriousness effort, trying to escape the invisible shackles of my imprisonment. While wiggling around, I notice suddenly that I can move my own body with ease. There ahead of me in the distance seems to be a crack in the darkness. Light slowly filters through the crack and I waste no effort trying to move towards it. I begin to hear various crackling sounds all around me as I press on. I stop caring why I knew strange words, and various things for some strange reason. I just painfully accepted the mysterious knowledge. ¡°No! I can¡¯t be distracted at all! I need to leave before the countdown finishes. I have a bad feeling in my gut¡­If I don¡¯t escape on time...something bad is going to happen to me. I don''t know why I feel so desperate to leave. I JUST NEED TO LEAVE!!! WELL, FREEDOM HERE I COME!!!...wait¡­what is freedom?¡± Re: Chapter 1: - Why Random Luck? - ¡­Ugh! ¡­Why am I... So sluggish? ¡­Gradually...I can feel my body responding to me... ¡­Slowly...My brain...I can feel my senses coming back to me... ¡­Argh! Everything is aching and feels so heavy¡­ ...My eyes...Are they working properly? ¡­!!!... ¡­I slowly look around, but all I can see is a never ending abyss. I start to panic right away since I have no idea where I am. I can hear the increasing soft beats of my own heart echoing in the darkness. I can''t see anything in the vast emptiness so I don¡¯t know if anything is wrong with my stiff body. Wait! Why should I be worried about my own body? There shouldn''t be anything wrong with it last time I checked. I know my eyes are working correctly because I can feel myself blinking as I try to look around. I try calling out to anyone in the silent void, but my mouth doesn¡¯t respond to my thoughts. ¡°Where am I?¡± Bit by bit I realize that for some reason I am confined in a small space of some sort. I tried to move around a bit, but nothing worthwhile comes out of my actions. I discover rather quickly that I am floating freely within the dark confinement. To be more exact, it feels like I am floating in some sort of liquid like substance... ¡°Huh? What is this feeling? It¡¯s...like¡­is this feeling coming from inside my mind or brain? Hmm. How can I¡­umm¡­know these things. I am pretty sure...I never¡­damn! It¡¯s hard to describe this sensation. Wait! What is that? Is that a transparent screen? Where the hell did it come from?
¡­Congratulations! ¡­You have been born!
A floating screen pops up out of nowhere in front my face; however, I get the feeling that the screen isn¡¯t in front of me, but rather it feels like it¡¯s deep inside my mind. ¡°This is getting more random and stranger by the second. Why am I getting congratulated for? I have been...born? Something is off¡­¡±
¡­Activating Creation Start Up Program...Loading¡­Confirmed activation! ¡­Loading Predesignated Stats. ¡­Stats have been loaded¡­ERROR! ¡­Special Skill *Random Luck* has been activated! ¡­Randomizing Stats with Special Skill¡­Confirmed! ¡­All Stats have been successfully loaded!
¡°Start Up Program? What are these Stats and skills? What Special Skill is it talking about? *Random Luck*? I am not familiar with these words. Wait?! I know words? How do I know words? This is so baffling. Ick! This is hurting my head way too much. Why do I understand¡­things? It feels so...weird. Just what the hell is going on?!
¡­Starting Name Generator... ¡­Creating or picking own name is currently unavailable! ¡­A name will be generated for you. ¡­Activating new name¡­Loading¡­Confirmed! ¡­Your name is now Malas! /m?l?lahs/ ¡­Welcome Malas to this World!
¡°Huh? What is generating? My name? So it is Malas? I am Malas¡­just Malas and nothing else? Should I be complaining why it¡¯s so short and dull? How come I can''t create or pick my own name? That is really unfair. What world? Nothing is making sense here. I am getting more confused by the second. WILL SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!?...I¡­I think¡­I think I am hyperventilating?! Hmm, that is one strange word."
¡­Activating and Determining Racial Characteristics¡­Loading Race¡­Confirmed! ¡­Congratulations! ¡­Your Base Race is now: Drazilcin! /dr??zil?kin/ ¡­Classified as Reptilian Humanoid! ¡­Also known as Lizardman. /liz??rd?m?n/
¡°So Race or Base Race¡­is that what I am supposed to be? I am a Lizardman¡­no¡­I am a Drazilcin. What¡¯s the difference? Reptilian humanoid? Does that mean I am¡­there goes another queer word. Wait! Humanoid¡­That oddly looks familiar for some strange reason.
...ERROR! ¡­Due to the "unnatural" location of your current species home¡­You have been granted Special Racial Stats! ¡­Special Racial Stats Loading¡­Confirmed! ¡­Your Base Race is now: Arctic Drazilcin! /ark?tik-dr??zil?kin ¡­You are an Ice Variant (subspecies) of the Lizardman!
¡°What unnatural location? What is a variant and why Ice? So I am now an Arctic Drazilcin? Hmm¡­Special Racial Stats¡­I guess that is a good thing? Damn it! Why am I slowly accepting this weird situation? It seems so natural that I know this stuff. D¨¦j¨¤ vu? Wait how do I know what D¨¦j¨¤ vu is?¡± I start taking a long deep mental breath to calm myself down. "All I want is to leave. Is that too much to ask? Can I leave this place? WAIT! WHAT DOES A DRAZILCIN EVEN LOOK LIKE?!¡±
¡­ERROR! ¡­Due to your Special Skill *Random Luck* All Stats have been randomized including Special Racial Stats. ¡­The Stat Screen can only be seen by you in your mind unless using a special tool or skill. ¡­You can command the Stat Screen to open up with just a single thought.
¡°I am getting a lot of errors¡­Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Stat Screen in my mind huh? Well that makes more sense now. Out of all the Special Skills I could have been given¡­why *Random Luck*? What thoughts or commands am I supposed to use to open it up?¡±
¡­To progress to higher levels of power, you need to gain Experience Points (EXP). ¡­Experience Points can be either "found" or "achieve" through various actions. ¡­Any other information can be found in the Info Tab on the Stat Screen. ¡­Any information not found in Info Tab, must be discovered on your own. ¡­All information will be automatically updated in your Info Tab. ¡­This concludes the Creation Start Up Program! ¡­ ¡­Loading Countdown¡­Confirmed! ¡­Countdown Engaging! ¡­Please escape before the countdown ends! Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.¡­Good Luck Malas! ¡­10¡­9¡­8¡­7¡­
¡°Ok¡­So those are what I am guessing...are numbers? Countdown for what?! That doesn¡¯t sound good at all. Wait a minute! I can leave here? Finally! ...I feel like I am missing something important¡­whatever. Come on Malas. You¡¯re the one that wanted to leave, so let¡¯s get MOVING! Hmm¡­Why do I get the feeling that¡­what was that skill again? *Random Luck*? Why does it feel...like that skill will bring me more trouble than I want?¡± I start moving my body with seriousness effort, trying to escape the invisible shackles of my imprisonment. While wiggling around, I notice suddenly that I can move my own body with ease. There ahead of me in the distance seems to be a crack in the darkness. Light slowly filters through the crack and I waste no effort trying to move towards it. I begin to hear various crackling sounds all around me as I press on. I stop caring why I knew strange words, and various things for some strange reason. I just painfully accepted the mysterious knowledge. ¡°No! I can¡¯t be distracted at all! I need to leave before the countdown finishes. I have a bad feeling in my gut¡­If I don¡¯t escape on time...something bad is going to happen to me. I don''t know why I feel so desperate to leave. I JUST NEED TO LEAVE!!! WELL, FREEDOM HERE I COME!!!...wait¡­what is freedom?¡± ------------------- [Arctic Drazilcin Grand Elder Duleveros /Du:l?we:.rus/ POV] I sigh to myself as I see two Drazilcin Elders moving around the room nervously. "Be still you two. The new generation isn¡¯t going to be born quicker if you pace around like that. I know that this is the first time you are participating in a Hatchling Ritual since becoming the newest elders of this village, but what have I told you about being patience? We must set a good example for the rest of the village. If you don¡¯t heed my words, I¡¯ll have no other choice but to show my famous smile that even the Gorgon¡¯s fear." I chuckle to myself as I see two Drazilcin turn pale and took to their seats imminently without uttering a single voice of compliant. I return my attention back to the multiple of eggs that are packed tightly together in a perfect circle. Surrounding the eggs is a short snow wall made from magic that keep the eggs from rolling away. The eggs themselves are all the same shape and size, but each individual egg have unique markings on them. Only between siblings and other family members do they have slightly similar markings to each other. Shortly after my scolding to the two elders, one of the eggs near the center start shaking violently and the three of us snap our attention to the single egg. ¡°Hohoho. The young ones finally look like they are ready to hatch. These old bones of mine tell me that this generation will bring this village great fortune and success. That one in particular looks really eager to hatch.¡± I happily nod to myself as the female Drazilcin Elder named Maka /Mah¡¤Kah/ to my left voices out her concern about the shaking egg. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that one is rushing a little too much? It might hurt itself as it hatches. Oh no! It might even get horrible scars. Am I worrying too much? Grand Elder Duleveros, should I even cast magic to help them hatch? Ah! What if I cause more harm than good? No, its my duty as an elder and a mage to help them in their time of need." Before I could say anything reassuring to the female Drazilcin Elder, a loud bolstering laugh came from my right where the male Drazilcin Elder named Pharis /Feh¡¤Ri¡¤Hs/ was sitting. ¡°HaHaHa! What are a few scratches going to do? If nothing else, it¡¯s a badge of honor for its first battle coming to this world. Plus, having scars means your tough and strong. Only the strongest of warriors lead the way and get the greatest glory in battle. I look forward to seeing this egg hatch. I say let the hatchling hurt itself so it can learn a good lesson and become a great warrior.¡± I smile softly at the two Drazilcin Elders as they look at each other with raised eyebrows when their opposite natures clashed. Ever since their own Hatching Ritual long ago, they have been constantly fighting with each other. Its hard to believe that they are actually siblings and that they care deeply for each other even when they are mocking each other like children. ¡°Maka the kind mage and Pharis the ferocious warrior. They are in the complete opposite end of the spectrum of each other. I still can¡¯t believe it that they both achieved the status of Elder at the same time in their own respected fields, let alone being the the youngest ever to become Elders. I wonder if it is still too early for them to have such responsibility.¡± The two elders bickering brought me out of my deep thoughts. ¡°Hah! All you ever think about dear brother is glory, and food. The last thing we need in this village is more battle-seeking youths that do nothing else but eat and fight. Magic is much more elegant and useful on so many levels. Tell me something my dear Phairs, who heals the wounded, makes the village itself grow bigger, help clear horrible weather and help in the hunts?¡± Maka had a gentle smug look on her face as she retorted Pharis logic. ¡°Humph! Who needs hatchlings that hide in back when things look too dangerous or who use cheap tactics at the enemy. Where is the thrill in that?¡± Pharis grunted his reply before taking on a high pitch voice full of sarcasm. ¡°Ohh! Look at me. I am a sage that is too weak to protect myself in battle. I need a strong warrior to protect me while I take my time to cast magic. Pfft!¡± Then returning to his normal voice, he thumped his chest with pride. ¡°What we need are honorable warriors that know no fear!¡± Before the two elders could continue to bicker, the one egg that held our interest starts shaking even more violently then before like it¡¯s about to explode. Before we can do or say anything, egg shells and mucus burst all over the room. We all look down dumbstruck as this has never happened before in any of the previous Hatching Rituals. There sprawled out in the center of the eggs laid a very bewildered hatchling that looked very unnatural as its eyes dart around the room like it was searching for something. Before Maka or I could do anything, Pharis took the young one by its tail while using his free hand to wipe the mucus and shells from his face. ¡°Bah! This one is puny and looks weird. Here I was hoping for a warrior and all I find is a runt. There isn¡¯t even scars on it. What a letdown. I don¡¯t need this one, but I will admit this one has spirit. It will not pass as a warrior.¡± The hatchling is struggling around in frustration and glaring up at Pharis while giving soft cries of disbelief. It looks like its trying to get away from Pharis with all its strength. I can not help but smirk at its actions. ¡°Careful you brute! All hatchlings need to be treated with care regardless if they look...odd. Now let¡¯s see if you have what it takes to use magic.¡± Maka handles the young one with care like it was something very valuable unlike Pharis and starts chanting magic words. A blue circle with symbols appears under and over the hatchling as it looks scared to death at the situation. Maka closes her eyes and the magic circles glow brighter for a few seconds before the light disappearing completely. Maka frowns slightly and shakes her head as she hands the hatchling to me gently. Then she elegantly wipes herself from the drying mucus and shells. ¡°This one has too little mana to use any sort of spells in general. I am shocked to learn this one will be useless in magic and I sensed something not right with this one. It will not pass as a sage." I look down at the young one who is trying to squirm away and I begin to grin widely. I am very old and I have been told that my toothless grin or full smile with my wrinkle face could be counted as one of the northern regions most horrible terrors. The young one looks up at me and suddenly his skin color turns into an impressive pale blue. The young one chest starts fluctuating rapidly before passing out due to sheer horror. After chuckling a bit, I see the two young elders flinching at my toothless grin. I also notice that the pair lost a few shades of color and they were shaking a bit. Ignoring them and acting as if nothing was wrong, I use my Special Skill *Identifying Eyes* on the unconscious hatchling. A basic information screen appears before me in my mind.
Basic Stats Screen
Name: MalasGender: Male
Title: NoneJob: None
Level: 1Special Skill: ???
Stats: ???
Information: An Arctic Drazilcin hatchling. Just born not too long ago in the Northern Region. It has passed out from a horrible sight. Currently in a comatose state.
¡°Oh! This one is a male and is named Malas. What an irregular name. Hmm, that is weird. I can usually see the hatchlings basic Stats and Special Skill, but I can¡¯t see his. I wonder why. I am very curios what his Special Skill is.¡± I begin to shake with anticipation that even my tail was thumping in agreement. ¡°Lets see. If its not going to be a warrior or mage, then perhaps a gatherer or a crafter? No. This hatchling looks too weak to do hard labor for long periods of time. Hmm, for now we shall put him as a Dovia /doe¡¤vi¡¤ah/. We shall see how he progress later.¡± The other two elders nod at my conclusion. After putting Malas down carefully in the nest, we proceeded to give jobs to the rest of the hatchlings that hatched one by one. Only I could see the basic information of the hatchlings, so I told my finding with the other two elders. Maka wrote down the names and stats while Pharis wrote down the jobs and any other note worthy information. I reminded the other two elders that there are only four jobs that can only be given out during the Hatching Ritual. Warrior¡¯s if they have high strength, Mage¡¯s if they have high Mana, Gatherers if they have high agility, and Crafters if they have high intelligence. ¡°Dovia is a term used for any Drazilcin that doesn¡¯t have a specific job that they excel in or are labeled undecided during the Hatching Ritual. It¡¯s not strange to change jobs later on, but for now we have to keep it simple.¡± It is not till the end of the Hatching Ritual that I wipe myself from the already dry mucus and shells. Besides Malas being the only Dovia and with unknown information, all the other hatchlings show great promise, but I still haven¡¯t found one to take my place. ¡°Well I still have a few more Hatching Rituals to go through before I have to take one under my tail. I just hope to find one with the right Special Skill or find the right successor before I pass away from this world. Hopefully nothing bad happens till then. I wonder¡­ What if¡­ Could it be Malas is the one I am looking for? I¡¯ll have to keep my eye on him for now.¡± Notice! *I apologize for the lack of content and the longest hiatus without saying anything. I was deployed where the last thing on my mind was writing this story or another story that I had brainstorm. Being deployed on a ship ¡°12 on 12 off¡± (military lingual for working 12hrs and having 12hrs rest), studying for school, studying for advancement rankings, getting surgery for both my knees¡­Yeah there hasn¡¯t been much time to do any hobbies let alone write for you guys. When I did have free time, writing was the last thing on my mind, but I did get a lot of new ideas for the story as I traveled around and talked to other people about the story. I am really sorry for not posting anything to give heads up. I tried to post, but the military internet connection wouldn¡¯t let me visit this page. Once again I apologize and I promise to put something out real soon and with a longer chapter to make up for my absences. Also I apologize for my possible not so good English writing, grammar, and spelling. I also don''t have anyone to proof read and edit any of my works, so please be patience with the wait. Thanks for the support. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. *Originally I made this story as a test run for a contest and people generally liked it. Well to be more exact, a sample idea without any actual writing. A kit of names in the story are mixed languages with made up ones. All of them have different meanings to their own names. For example, Malas is two Hispanic words added together which means literally "the bad ones" or "unfortunate one" from a different Hispanic speaking country. There is a method to my madness when it comes to naming things and sadly it takes a while to come up with good names. This Story does have an ending in mind and I am not sure how long the journey will last, but I can always add additional stories to enrich the world later on. Chapter 2: - Not In Kansas Anymore - ¡°Ugh. That was one really nasty nightmare¡­Huh?! Am I still sleeping or am I still dreaming? I still can¡¯t see anything but black. No¡­That can¡¯t be right. I do remember escaping from that dark place. There was that one small crack of light and then¡­oohh. That¡¯s right. I remember now¡­I saw several humongous monsters! Hold on! Don¡¯t tell me I got eaten by those titans and I am currently in one of their stomach¡­¡±
¡­Warning! ¡­Due to a horrible sight, you have fallen in a semi sleep state. You are vulnerable to physical and mental attacks. All defense stats are reduced by 50%. All stats will automatically recover once awake.
¡°Oh! So I haven¡¯t died yet. Thank goodness I guess, but how do I wake up from the semi sleep state? Well lucky me that my stats are reduced and I didn¡¯t even have to lift a finger to achieve it¡­Pfft¡­Well anyhow, let¡¯s get working on waking up. Hmm. Do I need to say or think of something? Hmm¡­I should probably look for the info screen. Let¡¯s see¡­Um¡­How do I open up the screen up again? ¡°Show up screen?¡± ¡°Appear before me?¡± ¡°Abracadabra?¡± No, that doesn¡¯t sound right. It did say it would open up with a single thought if I remember correctly¡­¡±
¡­Information Tab is currently unavailable. ¡­To access any type of screen, the user must be awake or be in a meditating state. ¡­To awake from an unconscious state, sleep state, semi sleep state, or from an unresponsive state, the user must meet certain conditions either from an outside source or from an inside source. ¡­More information can be found in the Info Tab.
¡°Oh great, it¡¯s unavailable. That¡¯s just GREAT! Well that explains a lot, but at the same time it still doesn¡¯t explain how I can wake up. What conditions do I have to meet? I wish all these screens that have popped up so far can do a better time at explaining things. HUH?! What the¡­Something is touching me! Ew! Ew! EW! It feels so Slimy and Gross! AH! I can see a light at the far end¡­its coming at me pretty fast¡­Wow¡­Like really fast! That a good thing right?¡± -------------------- ¡°Ahhh! What in the world was that!?¡± Jolting up and trashing around like crazy, I quickly look around me to find what had caused the horrendous feeling. I notice right away that another Drazilcin was slobbering, gumming, and creating small bite marks all over my tail. Frowning at the sleeping Drazilcin who had a really content face, I yanked my tail away before the Drazilcin could do anymore damage. It was right there and then that I realize that I had a long thin tail, scaly blue skin, five finger claws, and three toe feet. ¡°So¡­This is what I look like. That¡¯s strange. I don¡¯t remember having a tail or blue skin¡­before¡­ugh. That¡­ bizarre feeling again. It feels like I am missing something but what is it? I should have a tail right? Yeah, it¡¯s complete normal to have a tail¡­and other things. Umm¡­I can actually speak? Is that the sound of my voice? It really sounds weird now that I am no longer speaking in my mind.¡± I laid back down trying to figure out why my body seemed strange to me, but before I could think even further, a giggle appeared near my head and broke my concentration. ¡°You¡¯re weird. Of course we all have tails and blue skin. We are Drazilcins after all. You know, you should stop trashing around like that or else you are going to wake everyone else up. Ah! I see now why you were screaming. I apologize for my twin brother trying to nibble on your tail. It looks like he was dreaming something yummy as you can see the drool on his face.¡± I look up and came to face with another Drazilcin with multi-color blue eyes who was looking at me upside down. I realize by its words that I was sleeping on top of a small pile of Drazilcins. Getting up slowly this time and I carefully look around at my surroundings and I discovered that I wasn¡¯t alone besides the twins. There were Drazilcins everywhere or to be more exact they were in very small groups scatter about. All of the small groups had created small piles that ended up looking like miniature hills. Enclosing all the small Drazilcin piles was a white wall that seemed to stretch really high. I wasn¡¯t sure what materials it was comprised from nor why it was keeping us inside to begin with. There was no normal blue sky to speak of, instead there was a crystalize, whitish, ice color looking sky. No sun, no clouds, no wind, but it was bright enough to be able to call it daylight. ¡°I was about to see if you had woken up yet. It is nearly our turn to switch to the bottom of the pile. Are you perhaps hungry? I got some leftover food or egg shells to share if you want something to munch on before dinner comes around.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I just stared at the Drazilcin dumbfounded. ¡°What do you mean switching to the bottom? What¡¯s wrong with the sky? Isn¡¯t the sky supposed to be blue? What egg shells? Is that what we eat? Where are we? Have you seen the transparent screen as well? Wait! Never mind the food or my other questions. Who are you?!¡± The Drazilcin looked at me tilting its head in confusion before laughing uncontrollably. It took the Drazilcin a few moments to calm down before catching its breath and wiping a tear away. ¡°You are sooo weird and you look weird too now that I take a good look at you. Ahhh. That was one good laugh right there. Well I am not surprise that you don¡¯t know anyone or anything here. You have been asleep for two days. You missed a lot of information they gave us.¡± I was shock beyond belief. ¡°Two days! You¡¯re kidding me right? How could I have been asleep for two days! Who¡¯s they and what information? Don¡¯t tell me that ¡°they¡± are those Drazilcin titans I saw when I was born. I do remember seeing them and I thought they were going to eat me.¡± My ever increasing volume of my voice began to stir the other sleeping Drazilcin underneath me. Once again the Drazilcin tilted its head and laughed uncontrollable. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at your crazy and wild imagination. It¡¯s just you say the weirdest things. We are not born, we hatched here. Hmm¡­Ok, it looks like it is about time to switch. I was getting cold staying up here anyways. Well my name is Sapphira /s?¡¤fa?r?/ and just in case you can¡¯t tell from my name, I am a female. It is kind of hard to tell our genders when we are only just hatchlings. I will tell you more and answer some of your questions once we get warmer, but for now just follow me.¡± I silently followed Sapphira as she crawled her way down the side of the pile and surprisingly the other Drazilcin also began to move as well. ¡°I see now. They are moving around so they can all take turns getting warm. I have seen this before, but from a different species¡­a black and white bird? No, more importantly where have I seen this before? I can¡¯t put my thumb on it¡­Thumb? What is a thumb? Wait! I think I am getting something¡­It¡¯s pretty hazy¡­Argh! It went away. How vexing¡­what another weird word.¡± I was brought out of my inner dialogue when we reached the bottom of the pile and I didn¡¯t notice Sapphira twin brother had followed us. ¡°You see, the trick to enter any pile is to go with the flow of the group. Doing anything that goes against the flow or doing anything on your own will make it harder to merge in with the group. Look, it¡¯s easier then it seems.¡± Sure enough I noticed that the pile simply reshuffled around and we merged with ease. ¡°You made it sound hard Sapphira. It¡¯s like merging in tra¡­Hmm that¡¯s strange. I can¡¯t seem to visualize the word.¡± No matter how much I tried to think of the word that escaped me, it wouldn¡¯t come back to me. ¡°What is going on? What happened to my mysterious knowledge?¡± ¡°You ok? You trailed off there. Are you perhaps hungry? By the way, I never got your name.¡± I couldn¡¯t move my head to look at her directly but moved it just enough that I saw her out the corner of my vision. There was another random Drazilcin foot in the way. Surprisingly the weight of the other Drazilcin on top didn¡¯t bother me at all. Right away I could feel the warmth of the others flowing into me and I began to feel sleepy. ¡°Sorry about that. My name is Malas and I am a guy. Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯m just too preoccupied with my thoughts right now to feel hungry now. So care to answer some of my question now?¡± I could hear Sapphiras voice get louder as she inched her way towards me. ¡°Are you male or female? What is a gai? Ah, is gai a title? I thought you were a Dovia. Lucky! You actually have a title so early on. Well actually it is really a lot of information to say and I don¡¯t think I can repeat everything without missing something. Sorry for getting your hopes up, but..." She stopped moving and paused for a bit before she began to whisper as she got closer. ¡°This is a secret, but I can show you what you miss.¡± She looked around to make sure none of the other Drazilcin were eavesdropping and waited a bit to make sure the rest were sleeping. I was sure I was going to pass out as well if Sapphira hadn¡¯t begun to talk once more. ¡°I¡¯m not suppose to tell others this right away, but my Special Skill *Yielding Fragments* allows me to share my own memories with others. Not only that, but I can also see the memories of others as well.¡± She paused once more and I could tell she was debating with something, because she was fidgeting. ¡°Well to be honest I haven¡¯t done this memory sharing with anyone yet, but it should be fine. All I need to do is to be actually in contact with you. Well you can trust me after all. I trusted you with my secret, so that makes us even. Just close your eyes and let the mana do its work. This is totally not an experiment what so ever. Hopefully it works and I don¡¯t burn your mind...¡± I wanted to say no right away, but Sapphira reached me first before I could resist or say anything. My vision went dark and my sense went numb. The weird thing was that I felt something roll in my mind before Sapphira started to touch me. It was so quick that I almost didn¡¯t notice it at first. I felt something roll and land, but I couldn¡¯t tell what exactly happened or what the end result was. ¡°Not again. Why do I have to return back to the darkness? I don¡¯t want to be a guinea pig¡­What is a guinea pig? That word sounds yummy for some reason. Sapphira! Huh?! That roll feeling¡­Don¡¯t tell me its rand¡­¡±
¡­Warning! ¡­Arctic Drazilcin Sapphira had used *Yielding Fragments*. ¡­You are now in a forced meditating state. ¡­You will now see selected memory fragments from Sapphiras mind. ¡­Warning! Sapphira can also see fragments of your memory as well. ¡­*Random Luck* has failed to prevent Sapphiras Special Skill.
Chapter 3 part 1: - The Oldest One - [Malas is seeing Sapphiras POV. ¡°Seeing through Sapphiras eyes¡±]
¡­Sapphira has shown you a memory. ¡­One day after the Hatchling Ritual.
Everything was black once more, but this time I felt that I was looking at the darkness rather than being physically inside the darkness. Soon a semi oval shape of light began to shutter slowly as it gradually became bigger and more light began to filter through. Soon everything was bright and an image began to clear up. The Image was of a single, huge, and old Drazilcin looking straight down as if it was making eye contact with each hatchling. ¡°Ugh. I can still see that ugly grin even now. Hopefully that face doesn¡¯t scare me for the rest of my life. I am going to have nightmares for a while now.¡± The old Drazilcin nodded happily and then cleared its throat after it looked around for a bit. ¡°Welcome Hatchlings to this world called Terragem / ter¡¤?-d?em /. I am Grand Elder Duleveros, the head leader of all the Arctic Drazilcins in this village. There are other leaders that you haven¡¯t seen yet, but eventually you will get to meet everyone. This wonderful village is located around the Northern Region of the Eosgaia /Ee¡¤ose-guy¡¤ya/ Continent. It is the 145th year of the Second Age and it is early Dawn Cycle. He paused a little before continuing. ¡°You who have just recently hatch into this world, it may seem a bit strange and too much information for your young minds to handle yet, but do not worry. The information we Elders give you will automatically be updated in your own info tab so you may review the information at your own pace.¡± ¡°Sweet! I finally have some information that makes actual sense about what is going on. At least now I know where I am and the date. The date looks weird, but at the same time it looks natural. I wonder why?¡± ¡°Now, you may wonder how to view your own statistics also known as Stats or other information from the information tablet also known as the Info Tab. It is very simple to open up either one of the information screens. You just have to ¡°think or imagine¡± the action without saying anything out loud. It may seem strange and confusing at first, but it will come naturally to you like how we all can naturally breathe without thinking. There is no specific command to open it up unless you customize such actions yourself in the Info Tab. Unless you have certain tools or a Special Skill that allows you to see others information, only you can see your own Stat Screen and Info Tab.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Oh how convenient. I wish I was told this earlier when I was being born except for the last part. Hmm. I wonder if everyone else saw what I saw at the beginning.¡± ¡°Since we are classified as part humanoid, we have higher intelligence then some other monster species or wild beasts, but at the same time¡­There are other more highly intelligent beings out there. Some are friendly, others will not hesitate to end your life without mercy. Heroes are such beings that go out of their way to "hunt" or "subjugate" anything that isn''t Human like. Wild Beast are another group you must be wary of. In a few days¡¯ times, you hatchlings will grow up quickly due to our special species race and being part monster. We live in a dangerous world so our beginning growth rate is high, but once that growth period is over, we slow down and have long life spans compared to short life span species like the evil humans, but not long enough compared to the tolerable Demi-humans. ¡° ¡°That¡¯s interesting. So, there is more than one type or class of species. I wonder how many more are out there. I wonder if my mysterious knowledge is due to the high intelligence of my race. I have to be careful of the so-called Humans. They sound very dangerous.¡± ¡°Now not to bore you to death, I will leave you to use my information as you see fit. I hope you do not waste such gifts. Ah before I forget, you will need to discover and mature your Special Skills on your own. I cannot give you any more information regarding that. You must be careful who you tell and show. One last thing, each one of you who hatched together yesterday are like family. Unity within this village is very important as our village saying goes like this ¡°one is weak, however together we are strong.¡± Never forget that. Once again the old Drazilcin looked around satisfied before something caught his attention. "Hmm¡­That one hatchling in the back¡­Malas was it? To think he is still sleeping¡­I guess my smile was super effective¡­Well whatever, I must get going. My old bones tell me that it is time to take my nap.¡± ¡°No thanks to you Grand Elder. You better take responsibility for your actions.¡± Chapter 3 part 2: - The Kindest One-
¡­Sapphira has shown you another memory. ¡­One day after the Hatchling Ritual.
This time I didn¡¯t see Sapphira own vision slowly waking up. Rather I was shown she was already wide awake staring¡­at her twin who was just as equally starting back at her. His eyes weren¡¯t exactly the same as Sapphiras. His eyes were multicolor orange instead of blue. They looked very hypnotizing. Her vision quickly looked away as if something caught her attention. ¡°Hello hatchlings. Nice to meet you all. I am Elder Maka, leader of the Mages in this village. This is my first time doing something like this, so I ask you if you could please bear with me. Thank you. If you could please pay close attention to the information I am about to give you. No doubt that Grand Elder Duleveros has told you certain things, so this information will be things he didn¡¯t go over with you like magic, mana, and some general information about our home. If I go too fast or the information is too much, please let me know.¡± ¡°Oh she is quite polite. I like her lot compared to the Grand Elder.¡± She waved her one of her claw fingers around in the air in a specific pattern. Soon three small orbs of light appeared out of nowhere and hovered around randomly. ¡°Ahem. Now let us start with the very basic stuff. Magic! Mana is a very special raw energy that every single being in this world has. The plants, animals, wild beasts, monsters, various foods, water, certain tools, the very air we breathe in and even the earth itself has Mana. Of course, there are some beings that have higher amount of Mana even among their own race.¡± ¡°The recovery rate of MP also known as Mana Points, the cost of using MP and how much MP a being has, depends on certain conditions usually set at birth or at Evolution. There are a few objects out there that can temporary or permanently increases your MP. Such things are very rare and very expensive. You can see your own Mana information in the Stat Screen. My brother will explain evolution later on.¡± ¡°So I can use magic too even though they said I had too little Mana? I guess I can change that when I¡­ Hmm¡­ Evolution¡­That word¡­ It looks oddly familiar, but why? Wait! Don¡¯t tell me that the evil humans will catch us and force us to fight and evolve against our will. That¡¯s messed up! Who said that ¡°got to catch them all¡± was a good thing? Wait¡­ What does that phrase even mean? My knowledge¡­ Why is it so hazy?¡± ¡°Magic itself is the product of three certain must conditions. If you do not have one of these three conditions, then magic itself will not activate and you will waste precious MP. The three conditions to use magic is the raw energy Mana, a magic conduit, and a spell. We naturally have a magic conduit inside of us that is called a magic core. A magic core is the physical representation of MP.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°So the higher amount the MP is, the bigger the magic core will be. It is a blessing and a curse at the same time. While races with internal magic cores can cast magic faster and have stronger overall magic¡­ Magic cores are sought after by not only races that don¡¯t have internal magic cores, but as well as those who have internal magic cores like wild beasts. Those that don¡¯t have internal magic cores usually use tools like wands, staffs, and magic gems as a means of a magic conduit.¡± ¡°Spells come in all shapes, colors and sizes. It can be activated either by internal or external verbal chants, pre-written or drawn out spells, or by enchanted tools. My Special Skill allows me to use drawn out spells without the use of a surface or without physically drawing it out like you just saw. Oh, my! I could ramble on about magic all day, but I will go into more detail to those willing to learn about magic. All are welcome to join my classes.¡± ¡°Interesting. I wonder if we can increase our own MP by eating other magic cores. Would that make me a wild beast? Seems like I can learn a lot by joining her classes even though I have no future as a mage.¡± ¡°Now the last things I want to go over before I leave. First of all, don¡¯t be scared by the color of the sky if you have noticed it. Well technically it is the sky, but what you are looking at is a ceiling made up of ice and light magic. Normally you can see a blue sky, but it¡¯s snowing outside. The village itself is actual a huge ice fortress that has multiple chambers and passageways. Since the weather can change on a whim, we have been forced to use magic to create a livable environment since there are not many building materials near our home to make sturdy houses or walls.¡± ¡°Plus, sever weather can inflict damage to anything so by using magic we can fix and enlarge the village without worrying about insufficient building materials. We have four seasons throughout the year, the Dawn cycle, the Mid cycle, the Dusk cycle, and the Dark cycle. Right now, we are in the early stages of the Dawn Cycle. By the time the Mid cycle comes around, you Hatchlings will become Younglings. We have a huge wall surrounding the village that keeps wild beasts and certain weather condition at bay." ¡°Once the weather gets better and you get stronger, you¡¯ll be able to explore outside the village. Now please excuse me for I must get going. I hope this has been pleasant and educational for each of you. I look forward to getting to know each one of you¡­My, oh, my! It seems Malas is still asleep. I hope Grand Elder Duleveros didn¡¯t cause long term damage to him. Let¡¯s see¡­Sapphira, I do recall that you in particular have a huge amount of Mana and have a Special Skill that will be useful so I will give you instructions to carry out once he has awakened. I am sorry to be giving you such a burden so early on, but please let me know if he doesn¡¯t wake up soon. I will heal and wake him up if necessary.¡± ¡°Now I understand a little as to why Sapphira was laughing at me. I freaked out for nothing. Good! So, I wasn¡¯t an experiment for her. Well that explains why she opened up to me so quickly. I wonder if she would have talk to me if she wasn¡¯t order to?¡± Chapter 3 part 3: - The Loudest One-
¡­ Sapphira has shown you yet another memory. ¡­ One day after the Hatchling Ritual.
Once again I was shown Sapphira wide awake looking at something strange, but before I could tell what I was looking at. The vision shook like crazy and Sapphira began to search for the cause of the disturbance. A loud voice pierced the quietness and soon all the Drazilcins were wide awake and starting at a large bulky Drazilcin. ¡°Bahahaha! Good! All of you are awake¡­ Except for the Dovia in the back. Bah! Leave him be. I am Pharis, the Drazilcin Elder of all the warriors. I am the holder of the title [Strongest Warrior]. I am here to tell you some important information so listen up, because I won¡¯t say it twice. Your jobs, titles, and of course the most important thing of all¡­getting stronger by evolving.¡± ¡°Woah. This guy sure is loud. What is a Dovia? I get the feeling that this guy isn¡¯t really smart¡­or rather he doesn¡¯t bother to think about things too hard. No, he is smart. I can tell from his tone and body language. Nothing in his movements and words are wasted. Everything he does is clear and straight to the point. Hmmm¡­ Why did I notice something like this?¡± First is Jobs! Jobs are important for everyone in this village. If you look at your Stat Screen, you can see what your Job is. We already gave you Jobs the moment you hatched based on your Stats and Special Skill. You can change or get more Jobs later as you grow up, but only if you meet the requirements to do so. Some Jobs can be combined together to either create an entirely new Job or become a Sub Job.¡± ¡°Example a Drazilcin can have the Alchemist Job by combing the Crafter and Gather Job. The Scout job is the combination of the Warrior and the Gather job, because they don¡¯t collect materials, they gather information instead. That is why it becomes a Sub Job instead of a new Job. As long as one has the necessary requirements, they can have as many Jobs as possible, but it becomes increasingly difficult as one gets more and more. We as monster have more freedom when getting Jobs compared to the demi-humans and humans, but we rarely specialize in a specific Job.¡± ¡°Demi-humans have fewer jobs they can have at one time, but they can specialize. Example Dwarfs have the Blacksmith Job but they can specialize in what they create with that Job. Humans can have at most two Jobs at one time, but they can change Jobs with no problems and they can specialize as well. Example a human can have the Mage Job, but specialize in fire in which the Job becomes a Fire Mage. Also if the human wanted to, he can change jobs to something else like Arcane Blaze Blacksmith which requires understanding of fire magic and blacksmithing.¡± ¡°I am not sure if that is the way he speaks, but it really sounds weird. At least the information itself is educational.¡± ¡°Second is Titles. Titles are automatically obtained when preforming an achievement, completing an unknown feat or doing certain actions. It can be given out as a reward like when the Human Kings knight someone or gives out nobility. Not all titles are good ones. They can be insults, maybe funny ones, or to show intimidation. Like the monster species known as Demons. They usually have titles like [Evil], [Chaos Maker], [Malicious Lier], or worse¡­ [The King of Evil].¡± ¡°Titles can be good, neutral, bad, or plain weird. Each race has their own unique Titles that only they can achieve. Humans have [Hero], Demi-humans have [Grand Master] which means they are best in whatever they do, Wild Beast have [Astral] and Monsters have [Legendary]. Every living thing like animals, plants, and relics have [Heavenly]. Only non-living things don¡¯t have Titles.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°We know of some Titles that you can earn, but mostly they are mysteriously given and achieved. The Goddess is the one that gives out Titles so you can say that she watches everything. So do be careful on what you do. If you have more than one Title, only the most recently achieved Title is shown in the Stat Screen. You need a special tool to allow you to freely change Titles.¡± ¡°There is a Goddess? What is her name? I don¡¯t feel comfortable knowing someone is always watching me. Where is my privacy? Hmmm? What is Privacy?¡± ¡°Now the last thing I am going to go over. This is really important and can be complicated. So listen up. Only Monsters and a few other exceptions can ¡°Evolve¡±, ¡°transform¡±, or ¡°change¡± into higher level beings. How to meet the requirements for Monster Evolution is even more mysterious then trying to achieve Titles. All we know is that A LOT of Experience Points also known as EXP is needed to evolve at each stage.¡± ¡°The most common evolution branch for an Artic Drazilcin is something like this: Hatchling => Youngling => Mature => Lesser => and then Greater.¡± ¡°Incidentally all Elders are Lesser Drazilcin and above. Grand Elder Duleveros is the only current Greater Drazilcin we have in this village. We can even grow wings and become a Winged Artic Drazilcin, but the requirements must be achieved before becoming a Mature Artic Drazilcin.¡± ¡°Then the branch Evolution for a Winged Artic Drazilcin would be: Mature Winged => Lesser Winged => Greater Winged => then depending what happens, it can be either a wyvern, or a Draconian which is like a half dragon or nothing happens at all.¡± ¡°Each branch Evolution is unique and mysterious in its own way. Environment, Affinity, Ethical Choice, and Experience Points are the main requirements in order to evolve. This is where it gets a bit confusing. A normal Drazilcin that lives near certain environment areas becomes or changes into something else. Example our ancestors moved away from the swamp areas and ended up becoming Artic Drazilcins once they settled here." ¡°We gained higher Ice Affinity and so from now on, our evolution branch heavily leans toward the Ice Element. Legends has it that once an Drazilcin wandered into a cold region and eventually evolved into an Ice Dragon; However, it spent most of its time flying up in the sky which in turn evolved into a Frost Dragon. Having enough of the open air, it came down and fell in love with the ocean. It evolved once more and became the Legendary Subzero Dragon.¡± ¡°Sometimes if the Affinity is balanced and the environment plays a larger role in surviving, Drazilcins are known to become Horned Drazilcin or Armored Drazilcin. Even we Artic Drazilcins can get horns or armor plates. Ethical Choice does play a major part in evolution, but it is more important to species that completely change in who they become. Example once the monster species known as Sprites choose good or bad, they can evolve into either Arch Angles or Arch Demons.¡± ¡°All monsters start out neutral but certain evolution branches require beings to choose between good or evil. Yes, you can change back and forth but once you past a certain evolution branch, there is no going back on your Ethical Choice. Be warned that if any Drazilcin in this village becomes evil or good for any reason, they will become exile forever even if you become neutral again. It is one of the laws that has been passed down since our ancestors settled here. It was one of the reasons why our ancestors had to move in the first place.¡± ¡°I think I got most of the stuff out of the way, but in case you want to learn more about anything I said. Talk to Grand Elder Duleveros as he has more knowledge about what I said. Now get some rest and become proud warriors for our village. I look forward in training you Hatchlings. No pain, no gain is my motto. Bahahaha!¡± ¡°Wow that was a lot of information. I take back in what I said about him. He truly is a battle maniac with some brain. WHY is he sooo loud? I feel like he going to break my hearing. What is wrong with being good or bad? I am curious as to what the real reason why the ancestors left their homeland.¡±
¡­ Sapphira *Yielding Fragments* has ended. ¡­ Now waking up from forced meditating state.