There is no place for doubt anymore. Whatever might be happening, it was real as far as senses were concerned. The same logic he always used to judge reality applied to where he was at that moment. So, now, this was his new reality, in a new body. And with monsters.
SIGH!!
"Survive first, then ask later." He said to his new face on the reflection.
Not knowing when he'll get another chance, he gulped down all the blood he could get and made his way again.
...
A few hours passed since Kevin began his hike towards wherever he was heading. The fatigue and exhaustion were back onto him that he was crawling on all fours, again.
"My Blasted Reincarnation! Of all the people to wake as, I do it as a skinny brat with nothing but bones to him!!" Kevin lamented as he looked at his surroundings.
The earth was scarred with burns, frost and whatnot. Bodies lying everywhere. Humanoid bodies were torn apart. Monsters lay victim to several weapons and traps. With a shaky hand he picked a dull and battered sword from the grips of a fallen warrior.
"You don't need this, I believe." He said looking at the glassy eyes that were staring up at him.
'Talk about sightseeing. I wonder what this shit-hole is called.'
He pondered as he took a seat near the warrior while pointing the weapon at any direction that brought forth a sound of any kind. Which was practically nonexistent.
With peeled eyes and strained ears, he put his guard up as he took a breather. A few minutes passed and nothing changed. He was still panting heavily with cold sweat covering all of his body. That's when he realized it.
"!!!"
He ran his hand over the place he was bitten earlier. The popped veins were purple and sensitive to the touch. With a single touch sending shocks all over his body. He retracted his hand immediately regretting ever doing it.
"From death by a stabber to death through poison. Talk about a real, real bad joke." He spat out and rose up to his shaky feet. Determined to get out of there alive. Unfortunately...
CRACK!!
What would have been an inaudible sound of a twig breaking in normal circumstances, resounded like roaring thunder in the depths of the silence.
...he'd been followed.
Kevin shot upright. His heart racing, vision zoning in and out of focus and goosebumps crawling all over his skin, he barely hung onto dear consciousness.
'To the right!! No, to the left?'
He began circling around himself in hysteria as he tried to pinpoint where the sound came from. That's when he heard the crash, followed by the sound of flesh being pierced. Followed by a...whimper?
He waited for agonizingly long minutes, nothing came. One step at a time, he made his way towards the bushes, where the sounds came from.
Once there he gripped the sword so hard his palms hurt. He lifted the sword overhead for a vertical swing. Steeling his resolve to cut down whatever was before him he took a swift step forwards and-
He smirked.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here?" Kevin said as he took in the sight in front of him. The being from before, the same one that poisoned him, lay motionlessly and impaled by spikes rising from the ground.
Its neck, spine, the few limbs it had left and, ironically, the snake-tail that bit him were all pierced with blades covered in greenish ooze. What he assumed to be some sort of a paralyzing poison. The thing stared daggers as it looked up towards him with shallow breaths.
"How the tables have turned? How does your own medicine taste like, I wonderrrrrr~?" Kevin spat with venomous contempt seeping out with every word.
Without waiting for any more surprises, he went on to stab it near the flesh that's been pierced. The helpless thing couldn't even utter a single sound let alone react. It could only close its eyes, the only thing unaffected by the poison, as it awaited its fate.
"YESSSSS!!!" He hissed. "THIS IS WHAT AWAITS YOU WHEN YOU CROSS ME!!!!" He stabbed and stabbed and stabbed until the surroundings were all covered in red and he got too tired of it. He fell butt-first, giving in to the exhaustion and laying on his back. Waiting for his turn.
"It seems {HUFF} that {HUFF} this is it dor me as well, again." He chuckled as he held back his tears at the injustice of it all. To be stabbed to death because he was mistaken for someone else, an asshole. And then to die helplessly in this state? Was this not aa second chance per se? He shook his head.
"No matter. Everything feels good with right company! Don't you agree? AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!"
He let out a crazed laugh. Knowing that it was his last. At least, the last one in this body. That's when he heard it...
[Ding! You have defeated "Chimera of Gluttony Lv. 532"]
[Ding! You have fulfilled the requirements of the awakening!]
[Rewards are being calculated!!]
He felt warmth spreading all over his body as his eyes got assaulted by the barrage of system notifications. His fatigue was relieved, the poison got expelled and his mind became clearer as well. He sat up as he looked at the several screens in front of him and grinned.
"Yet Kevin Marks lives again! AHAHAHAHAHAH!" He howled in laughter not out of relief or happiness. But out of pure spite for the creature that dared to harm him. Because it tried to finish him off. And failed. And most importantly, because he was able to deliver his payback.
"If this is what I think it is...let's see if I can do it mentally first." He said. Before mentally calling out...
'[Status Window]'
Right before him, and as he thought, a [Status Window] opened depicting the information it knew about him.
[Status Window]
- Name: Tallaq James Wardock Lv 1
- Race: Human (Otherworlder)
- Class: Healer
- Attribute: Neutral
Stats:
- HP: 800 MP: 1780
- Strength: 5
- Agility: 5
- Speed: 5
- Dexterity: 5
- Intelligence: 5
Skills (Exclusive):
[Gaze Lv 1], [Scan Lv 1], [Heal Lv 1], [Stun Lv 1], [Fade Lv 1], [Link Lv 1]
Skills (Non-exclusive):
[First Magic Lv 1]
Utility:
- Map: ...
- Time: 03:43:12 | 04/10/532
- System Logs: ...
- Gold: 0
[End of Summary]
True to its purpose, the window displayed was, indeed, a summary of his identity and skills. With a detailed description popping out every time he either clicked on or thought of a skill.
"Okay... I might get the skills and stats section. But a [System Logs]? And what? [Time]!?!? So I don't get late? For what?" He asked incredulously. "And what now? I even have a middle name? Who does that? Am I really in the middle ages?"
"!!!"
As he said those words a realization came down to him. What if its true? But he couldn't confirm it yet, so he did what he could do best right now.
Find someone. Anyone at all, that has any info on this place. Thankfully his [Status Window] had the feature [Map]. And he skimmed through it.
"It seems like I'm on an island. A big one at that. And I think that I am the light blue arrow here. Hmm... And this little blue stuff is a lake I take it? Well, whenever there's water there's people. Let's hope they're good ones"
With his bearings found, and a sense of direction being established, he had a rough idea of what it is that he should do.
"Away we go!!"