It was dark. And warm.
< Calculating Relevant Data… >
Like a deep, deep sleep I didn't remember succumbing to and found myself unable to awaken from. I was tucked away in a deep, dark place, warm and comfortable in the confines of my bed.
< Running Pre-Diagnostics… >
It felt like I was there forever. Days, weeks, years, it didn't matter. Time stretched on infinitely as I lay curled, shifting under the warmth or stretching my legs.
< Analyzing Ideal Projected Scenario… >
< … >
< …Gender Confirmed. >
< …Species Confirmed. >
< …Projected Growth Pattern Analyzing…>
< …Confirmed. >
< … >
< …Destiny Confirmed. >
At some point, my bed began to feel…claustrophobic. Isolating. I was covered and trapped, and secured all at once by some hard thing that kept me bound in a tight ball. Shifting became a chore, rolling this way and that became strenuous, and I was always oh-so-tired.
< Planting Seed of Growth… >
Where was I? How did I end up here? I don't remember my bed or my room feeling this constrained and small. I pushed against the surface that kept me confined and felt my body conform to the wall and felt a small creak. Then, suddenly…muffled, hushed voices reached my ears.
"…-ved! Did….s…..at?"
"…my…will…-oon?"
Who were those people? What were they saying? I couldn't quite make out the words behind this wall. I shifted again, using more of my head this time and felt an even greater groan reverberate through the wall and return to me, covering my body like the blanket I thought it'd been.
The voices became more excited, and I turned my head slightly toward the sound. Near my head, there came the gentle shuffling and scraping of something soft running over something hard. I could feel the vibrations near my face and pushed my head in that direction, as tiring as it was. Here and up close, I could hear him better.
"Hey, little one…I'm here. I'm here for you…whenever you're ready…"
He sounded so…kind. Genuine in his gentleness. I could feel his warmth through the thin wall that secluded and separated me from the outside world. It felt like a thousand years had passed since I heard or felt that kind of…kindness.
But the question was…did I want freedom? Did I want to wake from my dreams? Why should I when everything was so easy and so quiet here in this…darkness? And it was so warm and I was so…so tired...
No! Snap out of it! I wanted this! I wanted freedom!
Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!
I'm awake! I want to be free! I can't move, I can't see. Everything is so cramped!
It's…it's time…!
< …Seed of Growth Initialized. >
< …Initiating Re-Birth... >
< Hatching Initiated… >
I stretched outwards again, trying to make myself as big as possible, trying to do something to shatter this wall or chamber I was secluded in.
And then…it happened.
A cracking rip sounded, and a wash of light flooded my world as the wall splintered under my strength. I flinched against the warm hues, trying to shield my eyes from the sudden intrusion that pierced them. I could hear the man again give a soft, joyful gasp as my wall started to fracture. With the break, his voice became clearer.
"It's happening! She's coming!"
< Hatching… 20% Complete... >
< Stamina at 30%... >
I rested for a moment but found myself frustrated. My body was so lethargic and useless. All those precious hours spent in my home gym were down the drain. Just that one push and I was already exhausted…But I couldn't stop now. I was determined to break free of this chamber.
My teeth still worked just fine, and out of frustration, I shoved my head in the direction of the faint crack of light and found an edge and bit down. It shattered easily under my teeth, and hope sprang anew just as more light flooded my little sleeping world. I flinched but continued, now using my head and hands to push myself free.
< Hatching… 60% Complete… >
< Stamina at 25%... >
The noise and cracking and shattering of my confinement fell away as a rush of cold air stung my skin and bright light flooded my eyes. I was wet and slippery and flopped into a pile of hay as soon as I pushed myself free. A whine and sigh of relief escaped my throat, coming out as a squeaky noise I wasn't familiar with. The sound startled me, and I opened my eyes.
< Hatching… 100% Complete! >
< Congratulations! >
< The Conditions Have Been Met. >
< [Nameless]'s Level Has Risen: Level 0 -> Level 1 >
< [Nameless] Has Gained 500 Skill Points >
< [Nameless] Has Gained the Title: [ Hatchling ] >
< Skill 'Survivor' Obtained >
< Skill 'Determination' Obtained >
< Skill 'Wail' Obtained >
A human-like creature loomed over me, easily twice my size. The first thing I noticed was his rich, evergreen skin and bright shock of white hair, but it was his kind, violet eyes that stopped me from running. His smile widened, and I glanced at his teeth – a mixture of human incisors with long, tusk-like canines – and found myself a little uncomfortable. The look he gave me, though, reminded me of my own father before his passing, during those rare, private moments when he'd tell me how much he loved me or how proud he was of what I'd become.
"Welcome, little one," he said softly and gently. I felt comforted by him and relaxed a little bit, even as he slowly and carefully reached forward with a cloth and began wiping me clean.
But…this whole situation was way too weird! I opened my mouth to protest, but only let loose a strange squawk of indignation. I could do it on my own, thank you very much! But as I reached for the cloth to demonstrate, I was struck by just how…red…my arms were.
Looking down at my hands and arms, they were a brilliant red, covered in scales, and my hands…were more like stubby paws than anything. I squawked again, though this time out of terror. As the green man ran the cloth over my body, I could feel him rubbing against scales, then bumps over my spine, and finally, worst of all, some extension from my rear. I looked back and spied a fat tail attached to my hips, and the booty I had worked all my life to sculpt was nowhere to be seen.
It was that moment I realized my neck's flexibility was through the roof. I touched my face with my little paws and thumbs, feeling it was longer than it should be, with huge eyes. My little round ears were these long, twitchy things, and there were new protrusions on my head where horns and bony extensions along my cheeks made my face different than I remember…but it was all mine, attached to me, eliciting sensations every time I connected my paw to it. This wasn't a costume…
Panic rose like an electric heat in the back of my chest as my breathing became erratic and my heart thumped ominously in my chest. Looking back down at myself and then up at the green man, I realized something. He looked like an up-close version of a goblin from one of my video games, though arguably more adorable. Still, he was absolutely massive and as my fear began to overtake me, I leaned back, squawking again as my little tail flopped and my wings – wings?! – flapped.
He only smiled and shushed me gently, grabbing each wing in the cloth and cleaning them thoroughly. Admittedly, it was a strange and wholly new sensation having a third set of limbs be manipulated like that.
"Now, now, it's okay. No need to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay…," he cooed. He didn't seem to understand that I had extra parts and things in places that didn't belong. Where was my hair?! My arms?! My…my face?! He didn't seem to care, and I couldn't communicate my feelings, either way. Every time I opened my mouth to form words, I just squawked like a baby bird.
I was starting to lose hope when there came a loud, rumbling sound from my stomach, and I felt just how empty it was. A wave of lethargy washed over me, and I wobbled slightly. It gave him pause as he observed me and blinked, before his face split wide and he leaned back with a short laugh.
"My! You must be hungry, huh?" he asked, and I sighed. "I figured you might be, little one. Let's get you fed." He pulled the cloth away as he stood and walked toward the slightly blurry source of light and warmth. Without him in my face like that, I could get a better look at my blurry surroundings.
I was in some kind of shack, though obviously poorly constructed. There was a mix of planks and sticks that made up the walls, with some kind of dark, concrete-like substance stuffed into the fissures and cracks. The floor was hard and craggy, like some kind of stone, with some mostly decayed straw mats laid out to provide some protection. At one end was what looked like a poorly-cobbled fireplace with a warm fire crackling in it, while at the other end was what looked to be two cots of blankets, straw, and bundled up fibers, both of which looked like they'd been ransacked. Which made sense, considering the little 'nest' I was sitting in looked to be very old, frayed, overly-patched blankets that had probably been on those cots at some point. The whole place smelled like a combination of earth, wet stone, and meat…though the last one didn't throw me off nearly as much as I thought it would. In fact, as I sniffed the air a little more, my mouth began watering, and drool dribbled down my chin. My little tummy rumbled even louder as I sat there transfixed by the intoxicating aroma that assailed my senses.
I vaguely heard him chuckle as my eyes fluttered shut and I whined with anticipation. At this point, I didn't even bother wiping away the drool. I had NEVER IN MY LIFE been this hungry before!
"Okay, okay. I know you're hungry. But you have to be careful, it's hot! And, well…happy birthday."
As I opened my eyes, the sight before me stunned me momentarily. He crouched down with what appeared to have once been the leg of some massive animal, browned and sizzling, attached to a stick. It was longer than I was and thicker than his own thigh. I wondered what kind of terrifying creature this leg once belonged to…until the delectable scent of sizzling meat and bubbling fat socked me in the nose so hard, I felt the room spin for a moment.
My hesitation was over! CHOW TIME! I snatched it greedily from his hands and bit deep into the tender flesh. It yielded to my pointy little teeth as warm, meaty juices flooded my mouth. Tears sprang and spilled unbidden down my cheeks as I savored the first bite, not even bothering to chew before swallowing the piece and diving in for another.
I'm not proud of it, but I gorged myself on that spit-roast leg, and it was the best thing I had ever tasted. Drool, juices, and bits of food dribbled down my chin, and for the first time, I agonized briefly over my lack of proper lips. Human ones, at least.
< Answer: The skill 'Gluttony' is available. You have 500 skill points left. Spend 100 skill points and acquire the skill 'Gluttony'? >
Eh??? What was that?! I squeaked in alarm and glanced around, subconsciously clinging to the leg bone and what remained of it. I turned my head around, flicking my ears everywhere I looked, but all I could see was the green man – sorry, gentleman – in front of me, now watching me quizzically.
"What's wrong? Did you hear something?" he asked curiously and then began to look around.
I could have sworn I heard a woman's voice –
< Spend 100 skill points and acquire the skill 'Gluttony'? >
I hesitated as the voice spoke again. She sounded robotic, but the slight lilt in her voice suggested it was a question that needed answering. But…skill points? Skills?
Come to think of it, the voice sounded familiar. I thought back to my time in the quiet space. Glancing around, it wasn't hard to spy the glossy red splintered remains of what could very well have been a large egg. My quiet space…the egg… I had heard her voice in my sleep. Before, I had brushed it off and ignored it, thinking I had imagined it.
It sounded like…a videogame? But where was the menu? The instructions? The cool opening cinematic?! I feel like I just woke up from a thousand-year nap in a weird body, in a weird place, and now I'm getting the level-up voice from some random video game?!
I squawked and shook my head in response to the woman, but it made the man in front of me blink in confusion.
< Understood. >
< Answer: The skill 'Appraisal' is available. You have 500 skill points left. Spend 25 skill points and acquire the skill 'Appraisal'? >
"Oh. Uh. Alright." The goblin hesitated, but I was more focused on the woman talking to me in my head. Evidently, he couldn't hear her voice. "Can you…understand me?"
Frankly, I was barely listening to him. I am proud to say that I was at least prepared for this moment. Having been an avid consumer of all manner of entertainment, I could recall that appraisal was actually an incredibly useful skill to have in any kind of video game or…isekai light novel, so the answer was obvious.
I squeaked and nodded my head in affirmation.
< Understood. >
< The conditions have been met. You have gained the skill 'Appraisal' at Level 1. Congratulations! >
Nothing really changed much in my vision, and I wondered briefly about how to access that ability as I looked back down at the shank in my paws. Then a little tooltip popped up in my vision with a thin white line pointing at the direct center of the meat.
[ ??? Meat, Medium-rare ]
It worked! I looked up at the kind gentleman briefly and saw another tooltip.
[ ???, Unknown, Goblin, Male ]
I guess it kinda had a point. Well, looks like Appraisal level 1 unlocks simple tooltips with information I already know. I wondered how many times I could level it up and how often I could as I took another big bite of meat and chewed thoughtfully. After swallowing, I looked back at the man, who still stared at me with a puzzled expression, and I tilted my head in the direction he'd tilted.
"What is your name?" I squawked while pointing at him. Well, I attempted to communicate, but it came out as…something less than dignified. I covered my mouth with a paw, and the groan of embarrassment came out like a high squeak. If I were imitating a teakettle, I'd be pretty on-point.
I should be grateful that this person was so kind. He smiled gently at me and chuckled as he reached out and put a hand on my head. He clearly hadn't understood my request, but that was okay. I had plenty of time.
"My name is Axel, little one," he said softly, his voice gentle.
As I looked up at him, eyes widening, I couldn't help but feel a swell of emotion in my chest. Warmth swirled within, and his tooltip changed.
[ Axel, Adult, Goblin, Male ]
"You need a name, too. One befitting a handsome creature such as you," he cooed, stroking the top of my head. A soft rumble echoed in my throat at the comfort his strokes offered. Suddenly, I began to feel bleary, and my eyes fluttered as I yawned widely. The warmth of his gaze intensified as he tilted his head the other way, watching me with a perpetual soft smile.
As the shank of meat slipped from my grip, he scooped me up and moved me toward one of the cots. Sleep was coming on hard and fast, and I could barely keep my eyes open. My limbs were beginning to fail me as my energy flagged.
"I think…," he murmured as he tucked me into a bed of warm blankets, hay, and pillows, "I will name you…"
I tried to stay awake long enough to hear it. My new name. What could a goblin come up with befitting…whatever I was?
As I struggled against the tide that dragged me under, I heard it in his soft whisper.
"Maevynonte."
< Congratulations! >
< The Conditions Have Been Met. >
< [Nameless] has received a name. >
< Now registered as [Maevynonte]. >
< Compiling current status data… >
< Complete. >
< Happy Birthday, [Maevynonte, the Hatchling Red Dragon]! >
…
…wait, WHAT?!