My name was Segawa Saori, or Saori Segawa if you use the western naming standard.
I was… in my early twenties and was a history teacher at Shirako High School. A rather prestigious college-preparatory school designed to transform its students, through a rigorous curriculum, into the elites of the future. While our ranking among our peers was nothing to scoff about, a gem among the rubble you could say, we were still not considered the shiniest among them.
Well, that was nothing for me to worry about. Regardless if we were the best or not, the environment of the school was strict but fair, which provided our students with the necessary requirements for an efficient academic life. It also helped that the pay was rather good… ahem!
Aside from my duty to teach history, I also served as the homeroom teacher for a 3rd year or, the equivalent, 12-grade class. On a usually normal day, I was concluding my class preparations and was about to head out of the teacher’s room for the first period. I was rather excited as the first class was homeroom for me.
… But, suddenly, everything turned dark. I couldn’t remember how it happened. I believed I couldn’t even leave the room. The moment I regained my consciousness, I was looking at a giant wolf licking me.
Frankly, the sudden change from sorting out my lecture papers to being covered in saliva and other fluids was mortifying, to the point I screamed and tried to run away from the wolf. I wasn’t thinking properly back then, but that was the moment I was born, or reborn seemed to be more fitting, so it made sense that my infant body didn’t have the strength to run or walk. That didn’t change the fact I struggled quite a bit.
The wolf seemed quite surprised when I panicked that much.
[“My child, you must stop fidgeting. You need to be cleaned.”] These were the first words I heard in this new world.
If I were a normal newborn, I would— actually, I had no idea how I should have acted. In any case, hearing a stranger’s voice inside my head was anything but soothing. It got to the point where I had a mental break.
[“Stop moving!”] Was all I heard before falling back into another sleep.
I didn’t know how long I slept but it felt like an eternity. Could this have been death? Swimming in complete darkness with no light to guide you anywhere, constantly wondering if you were going upwards or delving even deeper into this abyss. Creepy. Terrifying. The worst.
So, it went without stating that I felt liberated when an explosion shattered this haunting illusion of a nightmare. However, I was already shivering like crazy with all the roars and ear-shattering noises showing no signs of ending. It was hot, my nose picked up the smell of smoke, and I was constantly on edge.
When the sounds finally ended, I heard two loud bangs and the howling of a wolf. At that moment, I couldn’t remember the wolf mother that gave birth to me.
After snapping back to reality, the memories surged back to me. That was when she appeared.
A rather large being. I would guess around the size of a medium-sized dog like a husky or doberman. This lizard was covered in black scales, adorned on its head were two glistening horns and on its back were scaly wings reminiscent of a bat’s. An imposing western-style dragon with giant fangs growing from her jaw.
I was no larger than its scale-armored feet in my current situation. How could I not be fearful?
This, however, faded when she spoke and asked me if I was Japanese. The next moment, she mentioned that she was a reincarnator, who died on earth and that my situation wasn’t any different.
I was confused. I had questions. I needed answers. When I learned how to “speak” through my mind, I was given the chance to question her. Where was I? How did I end up here? Was this a dream?
Who are you? I wanted to ask her this when she didn’t give me her name.
So many questions that I had to save up for later when the dragon fell asleep next to me. Before it did, a bowl filled with meat suddenly appeared out of thin air, and the earth magically moved to construct an igloo made from earth. Even the blazing fire that suddenly grew before me was nothing but magical.
I had to wait. I had nowhere to escape after all. All I could hope in this situation was that the dragon wouldn’t suddenly wake up and try to eat me. It was scary. Just, I had no chance to feel any fear because my hunger compelled me to devour as much food as I could.
Itadikimasu.
It was hard to eat since my mouth was toothless, however, luckily for me, the meat broke down like butter. It was well cooked but it lacked salt. Actually, I couldn’t taste it at all. It was just filled with fatty juices and some spiciness.
Still, I had to eat it, and was thankful it was medium rare. That made it enjoyable to eat. With how arduous feeding myself was, I felt drowsiness and exhaustion catch up to me after only four bites. The dragon probably didn’t account for this.
When I woke up, the sun was already shining pretty high in the sky. The next thing I saw were the eyes of the dragon.
[“Good morning, Ms. Segawa,”] she politely greeted me.
[“Good morning… uhh.”]
I haven’t asked her name yet. How embarrassing…
[“You can just call me Miss or whatever you think is appropriate,”] she suddenly suggested, but I felt uncomfortable doing so.
[“Uhm, is it not rude to simply call you ‘Miss?’ I would like to learn your name.”] I took this opportunity to ask her.
“Miss Dragon” began fidgeting when I inquired, uttering “Ohh” and “Uhh” without seeming to know what to say. The many scales and bone plates covering her face made her very expressive; it made her emotions quite clear. They were moving around erratically as she continued to order her thoughts. I found it oddly adorable.
[“…You see. Compared to you, I can’t really remember my name. Neither can my memories nor the Profile tell me who I am, or, who I was.”]
[“… O-Oh, I am sorry,”] recognizing my mistake, I apologized to her for asking it.
[“It’s ok. Asking for my name is natural, after all. I still have my memories when I was a human, though, so it isn’t that bad.”]
[“I see…”]
It seemed I wasn’t the only one in a weird and unexplainable situation. Somehow, it made me feel a bit closer to her. Even if it was more rational to distrust her right now before I could assess the situation, how was I supposed to do the latter? My body was useless.
[“Oh, right. Did you enjoy your meal? You… didn’t take too many bites? Uhm, so, was it too tough?”]
[“Uhm, no, no, uhm. Well, my body, you see… I do not have teeth—”] I tried to praise the meal, but accidentally let my thoughts slip. I still needed to get the hand of this weird telepathy thing.
[“Oh… Schhhhhhhhhhhh, y-yeah. Ohm, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah…”]
This was not how you should start an acquaintanceship. Awkwardness was not good.
I wanted to be a bit more reserved, but I guess my pride as a home cook showed a bit. Miss Dragon seemed understanding, but I guess she was annoyed she had overlooked I didn’t have the ability to chew. Soup would have been better… Although, it might be better to not talk about this topic for now.
[“You mentioned a forest?”] I decided to change the topic.
[“Uhh, yeah! Yeah, we are currently in a forest called the ‘Belzac Forest.’ That reminded me, you had questions, right? I think this would be a good place to start the Q&A, so don’t be reserved. I’ll try to answer anything I can.”]
[“Thank you very much.”]
And so, I asked. I must admit I wasn't able to accept most of the answers I got, so I had to question her again to make sure she wasn't mixing anything up. I recognized that she was feeling a bit annoyed by being asked a second or third time, but I appreciated her ability to calmly answer everything I wanted to know, despite that.
Naturally, I could relate to this considering my profession.
I learned quite a bit about my current situation. I died and was reincarnated as a warg, a monster wolf. This new world possessed a game-like system that influenced biological abilities with numbers and “skills.” Fantasy themes from fiction were real here, and all of it accumulated in a world where magic and superpowers were, probably, the norm.
Frankly, I wanted to write this off as a dream and go back to sleep to hopefully wake up… but after two tries already, I knew deep down this was reality for me.
I honestly thought this was too much information already, but she went even further, nitpicking the details in her excitement. She enjoyed talking with me, so I felt a bit guilty when I had to stop her. I had to explain to her how it was actually counterproductive to explain everything to somebody new to a subject. My “teacher mode” as you might say.
It might be important to her, but how could I know that exactly? Teaching was about breaking down topics into bite-sized chunks. Hand out the information concisely. Even if some old-school teachers liked having the students learn directly from the books, I preferred understanding the topics to teach more efficiently. Also… the bonus if your class did well helped my motivation.
… Gods, did this really mean I was dead? Like, actually dead? The realization and my slow acceptance made me gulp, pausing the Q&A.
How did I die? I-I couldn’t just accept this now. What about my life back then? My students? My mother? I was the only breadwinner in my family. What was my mother doing right now?! If I actually died, then the news would reach her…
… Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no.
But I couldn’t tell Miss Dragon about it. I couldn’t ask her all these questions. She wouldn’t have the answers, and I would only make myself look pathetic. Still, I couldn’t help but have these thoughts linger around in my mind. For now, it was best to hide them.
Having answered all my questions, she stood up and requested me to follow her, which prompted me to ask, “To where?”
[“Somewhere away from this area.”]
It was an extremely vague answer. She added that she only needed one more level to evolve and that she had to hurry. Leaving aside that I had no idea what she meant with “evolve,” I instead was reminded about what she said about this forest.
[“Isn’t this forest supposedly dangerous?”] I protested. [“You can’t possibly want to drag me through it?”]
["Yes, I am. You really don't have a choice in this. If I leave without you, you will have to fend for yourself. I can defend and support you if you come with me. Besides, wouldn't it be logical to travel together?”]
Urgh, wasn’t she imposing a rather harsh ultimatum? However, she did have a point…
[“Come on, it beats being alone, right? The more the merrier.”] She sent an image of her winking and smiling as she lowered her body, prompting me to climb up on her back.
I reluctantly agreed. She was right. I had no idea what this world was. If this forest was filled with dangerous and “kill or be killed” monster-like animals, then joining up with someone who I could communicate with was for the best. If this was reality, then I needed somebody to protect me until I grew large enough to defend myself.
After I nodded, she used her tail to gently pick me up and placed me next to her wings. She bent them, creating a tent-like cover for my protection. Fascinated by this, I tried to move around, but she suddenly yelped.
[“Ow, please be careful when you are on my back.”]
[“Oh! I apologize. Did I hurt you?”]
She bitterly told me that her left wing hadn’t healed properly. She was feeling sore and complained how her healing magic wasn’t curing it, before mumbling how “The matriarch was right.”
["So, magic has limitations, huh? That takes away what makes magic, well, magical."]
[“Tell me about it.”]
Upon descending the nest, Miss Dragon moved towards the corpse of a wolf, which I presumed was a relative of mine.
[“Who is this?”] I asked.
[“You don’t recognize her? She’s your mother. The person I fought on the night I met you.”] she said with a slight hint of sadness.
I didn’t feel anything from that information. I only knew my wolf mother for only a few second, and I was in such a panic I couldn’t bring myself to think about her. I still hadn’t registered that she was my mother to begin with.
When I looked down at her body, I noticed some blood around her crotch. If I thought back at it, I believed I saw some silent wolf puppies during my moment of birth. After I woke up to meet Miss Dragon, I didn’t see my siblings anywhere.
A still birth, I concluded. In other words, the wounds she had probably came from complications during birth. This realization… it was a bit hard to swallow, but my emotional attachment to her was minimal at best. So, I asked Miss Dragon if that was the reason my wolf mother died, and she nodded.
[“She told me to protect you. That was her dying wish…”] Those words made it even harder for me to accept everything, prompting me to push that information away from me. [“I promised her to do so. But… I do wonder if I’m doing this only for that. Before I met you, I thought I was going crazy from being all alone…”]
With downcast eyes, she answered. Her face began to grimace, and her voice wavered the more she spoke. Eventually, she went silent and kept staring at the corpse, non-responding to anything.
[“…Uh, are you ok?”] I nudged her, prompting her head to snap up and nod.
[“Oh, oh! Sorry, yeah, I’m okay. I think. Been four months since I spoke with anybody but myself, so I probably got rusty with social norms. Bwah! Anyways, do you want me to bury her?”]
What a weird question.
[“Why are you asking me?”]
[“Well, she is your current mother, right?”]
[“We only met for a few seconds. I don’t have any bonds with her. I only have one mother and she will be the only one I will consider my true mother.”] I dismissed her suggestion entirely. My familial fealty belonged elsewhere.
[“I see… You seem to love your mother. Do… you miss her?”] she asked another strange question.
[“Do you miss your mother?”] I responded, shocking Miss Dragon into silence.
[“I… Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I’ll just bury her then.”]
Oh shit! No, no, no, that was a bad move!
I shouldn’t have been so prickly there. Four months, she said. She lived in this weird world for four months, and from how she explained it, all alone, too. If I was already feeling the effects, then how would she feel about it? I probably opened a sealed-off wound.
For me, my mother was my everything. My last family member and also the person I was dedicating everything to, just so we could enjoy a better life. With how everything went, I thought I could turn it around by getting that Job at Shirako High School, but why the hell did I just go and die before her? I child shouldn’t die before their parents! First, we lost Father… and now, Mother lost me.
No, no, calm down! Calm down. Not another mental break. I need to apologize to her.
After I hurriedly asked her forgiveness for my moodiness, Miss Dragon smiled and quickly made up with me, holding no grudges. What an angel this girl was! I would have reacted differently.
With the bad mood swept away, Miss Dragon went ahead and buried the wolf, including the other members of her pack, which included my older siblings and my father. Similar to my wolf mother, I felt nothing when I saw their bodies. Maybe I was being callous, but I was earnest about it.
So many burned down trees. Did she do it? Dragons should breathe fire, right? What sort of battle did she participate in?
A few days had passed since then. Miss Dragon has been diligently taking care of me during these past days. She went hunting and cooked up all the meat, so I could eat. I didn't really like receiving food for free like this. It felt like I was nothing but a leech, which I was due to this body, which made me feel even worse. I was feeling frustrated due to my weak body not being able to do anything.
I heard your body and stats could increase through training and practice. I didn’t know if I did it purely for altruistic reasons or if I only did it to escape from reality, but I made up my mind to mimic her daily training regimen.
From push-ups to handstands. The moment my body was strong enough to do something, I would copy Miss Dragon’s movements. It got to the point she decided to become my personal trainer, advising me on how to “bulk up” in stats. A strong body housed a strong mind, but for me, it was also a way to get away from all my guilt.
I made a promise to my mother to try my best to get us out of our debt-riddled situation and to help her recover. However, I broke it by dying. This internal turmoil raged on inside of me, pulling down my self-worth every night, with every nightmare. Miss Dragon’s little bits of kindness prevented me from losing my sanity. I was starting to get over it, you could say.
After more days passed, my teeth and fangs finally grew strong enough to be used. Just, to my surprise, Miss Dragon took this as the sign to take my training to the next step.
A bloody one, to say the least.
[“You need to kill it,”] she told me as she threw the body of a paralyzed horned rabbit in front of me.
[“Wh-What?!”]
Did I just hear this correctly?!
[“You need to kill it. As a monster, you need to kill. You can’t expect to grow fast enough with training alone since monsters grow the fastest by leveling up and evolving into new forms,”] she brought up a topic she explained to me a few days ago.
[“…”] I was baffled. I didn’t know what to say.
[“I know it might be daunting at first, but you will feel much better after you get a taste of leveling. This thing is completely paralyzed from the venom, so you only need to stab or bite its throat.”]
Recently, she has been collecting poison and venom from monsters and plants, alike. She mentioned having learned it from my wolf mother about using toxic concoctions to mix it with her combat style. After she tested it once too often, she found she liked how the correct mix could give her a drastic advantage, causing her to become giddy whenever she found a new poison or venom.
As she personally was on the receiving end of that tactic, she replicated and made that idea her own, with great success. Although, sometimes her childish excitement contrasted a bit with how scary her dragon form could look when animated.
[“Are you ok, Segawa-san?”] she asked worriedly, bringing me back to reality.
[“You may just call me Ms. Segawa, Miss Dragon. I am not very picky about which language we address ourselves.”]
Funnily enough, the Japanese and English honorifics weren’t translated to our preferred languages. To test this, Miss Dragon called me “Saori-chan.” Suffice to say it proved my theory after how embarrassing it sounded.
[“Anyways… Uhm, may I ask? What did it feel like when you killed your first living being? How did you make up your mind?”] I hesitantly asked Miss Dragon for some tips.
[“Survival and curiosity. I was running out of available food back then, so you could say my stomach made the choice for me. Being a dragon probably helped, too, as it slightly dulled the disgust I had afterwards. I was also curious about what would happen when I killed something. I knew the concept of leveling from video games, which I wanted to experience myself.”]
[“… Could you elaborate?”]
[“All I can say is to turn off the sympathetic parts of your head and do it. I can’t tell you anymore but to prepare yourself. Killing isn’t so simple that I can explain it in a sentence or two. The feeling of ending somebody else’s life is unique and awful at the same time.”]
Miss Dragon then went on to explain what she felt when she learned certain monsters like kobolds, orcs, and even the wolves from before, were all sentient beings. They could think, they could feel, and they had moments where they acted like humans. She got over the killing of a rabbit quickly, but it took her more time to digest the “murder” of the former.
[“I got used to it eventually as the more I killed, the more it was normalized into my life. The guilt has dwindled, and outside of the emotional baggage your parents gave me, I’ve written off their death as ‘just another day of survival.’ Sorry, I know this sounds psychopathic as fuck, but… that’s all I can say.”]
Miss Dragon shivered as she admitted all of that to me. Sure, we’ve been spending time with each other these past days and I have gotten slightly closer, but there was still this wall between us. Miss Dragon acted more as if I was some fragile creature she had to protect, while I was still cold towards her. I still didn’t know if I could trust her, or if this was all part of a ruse.
However…
Dying. Being dragged into a foreign world. Reborn into something completely non-human and then being forced to kill to survive. She had done her best to adapt to this world in the few months she’d spent here.
Could I fault her? No. If I were in her shoes, I could imagine myself doing the same. And at the same time, I believed it was due for me to finally stop acting so suspicious of her. The emotions and actions she showed me were genuine. Like a lonely girl wanting to find a single friend.
Should I take the plunge? Yes. Even if I only became a teacher out of necessity, I couldn’t just ignore somebody in need of support. If my body cannot help her now, then at least, I should repay my debt by being her emotional crutch.
[“… Okay, I’ll do it.”] I accepted doing my first kill, surprising Miss Dragon by my sudden approval. [“Uhm, could you show me how to do this properly?”]
[“Huh? Oh! Yes, yes! Absolutely! Leave it to me, Ms. Saori! Once you’re done, just let your emotions out. You will better much faster.”]
Seeing her so excited relieved me. I guess making my first friend in this world didn’t sound too bad.
Swallowing my spit, I turned around to the rabbit, watching Miss Dragon show me where I should slash at with my claws. I prepared my stomach and mind during this time. This wasn't a dream anymore. My pride wouldn’t let me leech off somebody who had shown me this much kindness. As such, I needed to adapt to my current situation, fast!
[“You can do it, Ms. Segawa,”] she cheered me on.
Ok, I can do it… I can do it.
I just needed to stab my claws into the throat of this monster. One stab and the rabbit would bleed out and I can let time take the knife. It will be quick.
…
[“Do you still need a second?”]
[“I…”]
["It's ok. It's hard. There is no need to push yourself if you can't do it today."]
…
Miss Dragon moved my frozen body aside and decisively slit the rabbit’s throat herself. She then held the rabbit’s corpse upside down, causing a river of blood to stream down, slowly creating a red puddle.
[“There, it’s done. I’ll prepare our dinner for toni…”]
Mrmmmph! Urrrrrghhhhhhh!
["Scheiße! Are you ok? Is your stomach not feeling well? Here, let me help you. Cure.”] She panicked as I suddenly puked out the contents of my stomach.
[“Urgh…Thank you.”]
Even without doing the deed, I guess both my mind and stomach were already too invested. The taste of my own vomit was terrible…
Well, I guess you could call this my introduction to this world. On the next day, I was able to kill my first rabbit with the help of Miss Dragon. After finding the confidence, she went ahead and hunted down a kobold for me to kill, reminding me what she said yesterday.
What she said was correct. This feeling of leveling up was amazing. Absolutely invigorating. Miss Dragon told me I only needed four more levels to evolve into an E rank monster. Progress was fast, I seemed.
What was also fast to develop was that lingering guilt she explained to me. The dead eyes of the rabbit and the wailing of the kobold grounded my senses, reminding me of the truth of the matter. I had killed. I had taken the lives of not one, but two creatures. And one of them was sentient.
At the very least, we weren’t eating the kobold. Miss Dragon seemed fine hunting them, instead of killing through self-defense, but she found it a bit too creepy to eat them. They reminded her too much of humans.
In any case, with my feeling of accomplishment slowly fading, Miss Dragon started her lecture on the skill system. As I needed to fully understand how it worked this time, she knew she had to go into detail this time. I could see that she was happy to finally share her knowledge. This enthusiasm was another cute trait of hers.
Under her instructions, I bought the skills she found to be the most usable in this situation. During this process, we learned that due to her title [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] the SP cost of skills was discounted on her side. A skill like [Enhanced Agility Growth] would cost 150 for her, while I would need to pay 300 SP for it. It wasn’t even restricted to a simple 50% discount; it could range from 70% to any other number. I couldn’t express how envious this made me.
Damn!
Regardless, I could only sigh. There was no point in complaining.
Once we were done, Miss Dragon asked if I was fine, mentally, and if I wished to finish the last four levels. With my interest in evolving intensified, I agreed. It made me realize treating the beasts in this forest as animals and monsters helped the mental acceptance process much faster.
Feeling I owed her for treating me this generously, I thanked Miss Dragon before we departed to search. Bowing with my new wolf body, I expressed my appreciation for all the things she had done for me in these past days.
[“Huh? Oh, you don’t have to bow. I was happy to help.”]
I shook my head. I insisted she heard me out. ["No. Please accept my gratitude. Taking care of me must have been nothing but trouble, but you have been very kind and patient with me. I cannot imagine surviving in this forest if it weren't for you helping me."]
[“He he hie, it’s really nothing to mention,”] she giggled, bashfully. [“Don’t forget that I promised your garm mother to do so, and I always keep my promises. But… I’m glad to have company. Finally.”]
She fidgeted with herself before straightening her pose with renewed vigor. With a loud [“Alright!”] she put me back on her back and began running around in the forest like an enthusiastic dog. It was really endearing.
If only her smile wasn’t so scary.
After our little talk, we wandered around in the forest until the afternoon, where we finally found something suitable for me to kill. This was my third kill. My stomach gurgled a bit, but I kept myself from vomiting. I will etch this experience in my mind. After all, today was a wonderful day to make fond memories.
And with this kill, I had reached the maximum level for my rank. Evolution. What will it feel like?
Evolution
[Young Garm]
[“I only have one option. It’s called [Young Garm]”]
[“Well, that makes your choice easy. You just need to confirm with System Voice that you have made your choice and the process will start.”]
Alright. System Voice I wish to evolve into a [Young Garm].
Hai.
Woah, how warm.
And then I lost consciousness.
[“Ms. Segawa?”]
[“Good morning, Miss Dragon. How long did I sleep?”] Fully refreshed, I stood up and inspected myself before asking a question.
[“It’s already noon of the next day. How are you feeling?”]
[“Honestly, great.”]
It was incredible. I was only a small newborn warg a few days ago, but I’ve grown up to become as tall as a Shiba Inu over a single night. I couldn’t wait to see my new status board.
Profile.
_________________________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 0 Race: Young Garm
Age: 0 Month
Status: Health: 309/309(+259) Mana: 156/156(+141)
Strength: 211 (+181) Intelligence: 52(+42)
Vitality: 128 (+113) Wisdom: 119 (+104)
Agility: 265 (+230) Stamina: 287/287(+247)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 700 (+700)
Skill: Physical skills and related:
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 2] (+1)[Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1]
Senses and movement skills:
[Primal Senses]
Stat growths and related:
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 1] (New)
Other:
[Telepathy]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
_________________________________________________
Still a long path until I can become useful.
AbyssRaven As I said, party member, getto! Also, tomorrow no chapter. I play Granblue and tomorrow is GW event. I need to grind.
My name was Segawa Saori, or Saori Segawa if you use the western naming standard.
I was… in my early twenties and was a history teacher at Shirako High School. A rather prestigious college-preparatory school designed to transform its students, through a rigorous curriculum, into the elites of the future. While our ranking among our peers was nothing to scoff about, a gem among the rubble you could say, we were still not considered the shiniest among them.
Well, that was nothing for me to worry about. Regardless if we were the best or not, the environment of the school was strict but fair, which provided our students with the necessary requirements for an efficient academic life. It also helped that the pay was rather good… ahem!
Aside from my duty to teach history, I also served as the homeroom teacher for a 3rd year or, the equivalent, 12-grade class. On a usually normal day, I was concluding my class preparations and was about to head out of the teacher’s room for the first period. I was rather excited as the first class was homeroom for me.
… But, suddenly, everything turned dark. I couldn’t remember how it happened. I believed I couldn’t even leave the room. The moment I regained my consciousness, I was looking at a giant wolf licking me.
Frankly, the sudden change from sorting out my lecture papers to being covered in saliva and other fluids was mortifying, to the point I screamed and tried to run away from the wolf. I wasn’t thinking properly back then, but that was the moment I was born, or reborn seemed to be more fitting, so it made sense that my infant body didn’t have the strength to run or walk. That didn’t change the fact I struggled quite a bit.
The wolf seemed quite surprised when I panicked that much.
[“My child, you must stop fidgeting. You need to be cleaned.”] These were the first words I heard in this new world.
If I were a normal newborn, I would— actually, I had no idea how I should have acted. In any case, hearing a stranger’s voice inside my head was anything but soothing. It got to the point where I had a mental break.
[“Stop moving!”] Was all I heard before falling back into another sleep.
I didn’t know how long I slept but it felt like an eternity. Could this have been death? Swimming in complete darkness with no light to guide you anywhere, constantly wondering if you were going upwards or delving even deeper into this abyss. Creepy. Terrifying. The worst.
So, it went without stating that I felt liberated when an explosion shattered this haunting illusion of a nightmare. However, I was already shivering like crazy with all the roars and ear-shattering noises showing no signs of ending. It was hot, my nose picked up the smell of smoke, and I was constantly on edge.
When the sounds finally ended, I heard two loud bangs and the howling of a wolf. At that moment, I couldn’t remember the wolf mother that gave birth to me.
After snapping back to reality, the memories surged back to me. That was when she appeared.
A rather large being. I would guess around the size of a medium-sized dog like a husky or doberman. This lizard was covered in black scales, adorned on its head were two glistening horns and on its back were scaly wings reminiscent of a bat’s. An imposing western-style dragon with giant fangs growing from her jaw.
I was no larger than its scale-armored feet in my current situation. How could I not be fearful?
This, however, faded when she spoke and asked me if I was Japanese. The next moment, she mentioned that she was a reincarnator, who died on earth and that my situation wasn’t any different.
I was confused. I had questions. I needed answers. When I learned how to “speak” through my mind, I was given the chance to question her. Where was I? How did I end up here? Was this a dream?
Who are you? I wanted to ask her this when she didn’t give me her name.
So many questions that I had to save up for later when the dragon fell asleep next to me. Before it did, a bowl filled with meat suddenly appeared out of thin air, and the earth magically moved to construct an igloo made from earth. Even the blazing fire that suddenly grew before me was nothing but magical.
I had to wait. I had nowhere to escape after all. All I could hope in this situation was that the dragon wouldn’t suddenly wake up and try to eat me. It was scary. Just, I had no chance to feel any fear because my hunger compelled me to devour as much food as I could.
Itadikimasu.
It was hard to eat since my mouth was toothless, however, luckily for me, the meat broke down like butter. It was well cooked but it lacked salt. Actually, I couldn’t taste it at all. It was just filled with fatty juices and some spiciness.
Still, I had to eat it, and was thankful it was medium rare. That made it enjoyable to eat. With how arduous feeding myself was, I felt drowsiness and exhaustion catch up to me after only four bites. The dragon probably didn’t account for this.
When I woke up, the sun was already shining pretty high in the sky. The next thing I saw were the eyes of the dragon.
[“Good morning, Ms. Segawa,”] she politely greeted me.
[“Good morning… uhh.”]
I haven’t asked her name yet. How embarrassing…
[“You can just call me Miss or whatever you think is appropriate,”] she suddenly suggested, but I felt uncomfortable doing so.
[“Uhm, is it not rude to simply call you ‘Miss?’ I would like to learn your name.”] I took this opportunity to ask her.
“Miss Dragon” began fidgeting when I inquired, uttering “Ohh” and “Uhh” without seeming to know what to say. The many scales and bone plates covering her face made her very expressive; it made her emotions quite clear. They were moving around erratically as she continued to order her thoughts. I found it oddly adorable.
[“…You see. Compared to you, I can’t really remember my name. Neither can my memories nor the Profile tell me who I am, or, who I was.”]
[“… O-Oh, I am sorry,”] recognizing my mistake, I apologized to her for asking it.
[“It’s ok. Asking for my name is natural, after all. I still have my memories when I was a human, though, so it isn’t that bad.”]
[“I see…”]
It seemed I wasn’t the only one in a weird and unexplainable situation. Somehow, it made me feel a bit closer to her. Even if it was more rational to distrust her right now before I could assess the situation, how was I supposed to do the latter? My body was useless.
[“Oh, right. Did you enjoy your meal? You… didn’t take too many bites? Uhm, so, was it too tough?”]
[“Uhm, no, no, uhm. Well, my body, you see… I do not have teeth—”] I tried to praise the meal, but accidentally let my thoughts slip. I still needed to get the hand of this weird telepathy thing.
[“Oh… Schhhhhhhhhhhh, y-yeah. Ohm, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah…”]
This was not how you should start an acquaintanceship. Awkwardness was not good.
I wanted to be a bit more reserved, but I guess my pride as a home cook showed a bit. Miss Dragon seemed understanding, but I guess she was annoyed she had overlooked I didn’t have the ability to chew. Soup would have been better… Although, it might be better to not talk about this topic for now.
[“You mentioned a forest?”] I decided to change the topic.
[“Uhh, yeah! Yeah, we are currently in a forest called the ‘Belzac Forest.’ That reminded me, you had questions, right? I think this would be a good place to start the Q&A, so don’t be reserved. I’ll try to answer anything I can.”]
[“Thank you very much.”]
And so, I asked. I must admit I wasn't able to accept most of the answers I got, so I had to question her again to make sure she wasn't mixing anything up. I recognized that she was feeling a bit annoyed by being asked a second or third time, but I appreciated her ability to calmly answer everything I wanted to know, despite that.
Naturally, I could relate to this considering my profession.
I learned quite a bit about my current situation. I died and was reincarnated as a warg, a monster wolf. This new world possessed a game-like system that influenced biological abilities with numbers and “skills.” Fantasy themes from fiction were real here, and all of it accumulated in a world where magic and superpowers were, probably, the norm.
Frankly, I wanted to write this off as a dream and go back to sleep to hopefully wake up… but after two tries already, I knew deep down this was reality for me.
I honestly thought this was too much information already, but she went even further, nitpicking the details in her excitement. She enjoyed talking with me, so I felt a bit guilty when I had to stop her. I had to explain to her how it was actually counterproductive to explain everything to somebody new to a subject. My “teacher mode” as you might say.
It might be important to her, but how could I know that exactly? Teaching was about breaking down topics into bite-sized chunks. Hand out the information concisely. Even if some old-school teachers liked having the students learn directly from the books, I preferred understanding the topics to teach more efficiently. Also… the bonus if your class did well helped my motivation.
… Gods, did this really mean I was dead? Like, actually dead? The realization and my slow acceptance made me gulp, pausing the Q&A.
How did I die? I-I couldn’t just accept this now. What about my life back then? My students? My mother? I was the only breadwinner in my family. What was my mother doing right now?! If I actually died, then the news would reach her…
… Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no.
But I couldn’t tell Miss Dragon about it. I couldn’t ask her all these questions. She wouldn’t have the answers, and I would only make myself look pathetic. Still, I couldn’t help but have these thoughts linger around in my mind. For now, it was best to hide them.
Having answered all my questions, she stood up and requested me to follow her, which prompted me to ask, “To where?”
[“Somewhere away from this area.”]
It was an extremely vague answer. She added that she only needed one more level to evolve and that she had to hurry. Leaving aside that I had no idea what she meant with “evolve,” I instead was reminded about what she said about this forest.
[“Isn’t this forest supposedly dangerous?”] I protested. [“You can’t possibly want to drag me through it?”]
["Yes, I am. You really don't have a choice in this. If I leave without you, you will have to fend for yourself. I can defend and support you if you come with me. Besides, wouldn't it be logical to travel together?”]
Urgh, wasn’t she imposing a rather harsh ultimatum? However, she did have a point…
[“Come on, it beats being alone, right? The more the merrier.”] She sent an image of her winking and smiling as she lowered her body, prompting me to climb up on her back.
I reluctantly agreed. She was right. I had no idea what this world was. If this forest was filled with dangerous and “kill or be killed” monster-like animals, then joining up with someone who I could communicate with was for the best. If this was reality, then I needed somebody to protect me until I grew large enough to defend myself.
After I nodded, she used her tail to gently pick me up and placed me next to her wings. She bent them, creating a tent-like cover for my protection. Fascinated by this, I tried to move around, but she suddenly yelped.
[“Ow, please be careful when you are on my back.”]
[“Oh! I apologize. Did I hurt you?”]
She bitterly told me that her left wing hadn’t healed properly. She was feeling sore and complained how her healing magic wasn’t curing it, before mumbling how “The matriarch was right.”
["So, magic has limitations, huh? That takes away what makes magic, well, magical."]
[“Tell me about it.”]
Upon descending the nest, Miss Dragon moved towards the corpse of a wolf, which I presumed was a relative of mine.
[“Who is this?”] I asked.
[“You don’t recognize her? She’s your mother. The person I fought on the night I met you.”] she said with a slight hint of sadness.
I didn’t feel anything from that information. I only knew my wolf mother for only a few second, and I was in such a panic I couldn’t bring myself to think about her. I still hadn’t registered that she was my mother to begin with.
When I looked down at her body, I noticed some blood around her crotch. If I thought back at it, I believed I saw some silent wolf puppies during my moment of birth. After I woke up to meet Miss Dragon, I didn’t see my siblings anywhere.
A still birth, I concluded. In other words, the wounds she had probably came from complications during birth. This realization… it was a bit hard to swallow, but my emotional attachment to her was minimal at best. So, I asked Miss Dragon if that was the reason my wolf mother died, and she nodded.
[“She told me to protect you. That was her dying wish…”] Those words made it even harder for me to accept everything, prompting me to push that information away from me. [“I promised her to do so. But… I do wonder if I’m doing this only for that. Before I met you, I thought I was going crazy from being all alone…”]
With downcast eyes, she answered. Her face began to grimace, and her voice wavered the more she spoke. Eventually, she went silent and kept staring at the corpse, non-responding to anything.
[“…Uh, are you ok?”] I nudged her, prompting her head to snap up and nod.
[“Oh, oh! Sorry, yeah, I’m okay. I think. Been four months since I spoke with anybody but myself, so I probably got rusty with social norms. Bwah! Anyways, do you want me to bury her?”]
What a weird question.
[“Why are you asking me?”]
[“Well, she is your current mother, right?”]
[“We only met for a few seconds. I don’t have any bonds with her. I only have one mother and she will be the only one I will consider my true mother.”] I dismissed her suggestion entirely. My familial fealty belonged elsewhere.
[“I see… You seem to love your mother. Do… you miss her?”] she asked another strange question.
[“Do you miss your mother?”] I responded, shocking Miss Dragon into silence.
[“I… Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I’ll just bury her then.”]
Oh shit! No, no, no, that was a bad move!
I shouldn’t have been so prickly there. Four months, she said. She lived in this weird world for four months, and from how she explained it, all alone, too. If I was already feeling the effects, then how would she feel about it? I probably opened a sealed-off wound.
For me, my mother was my everything. My last family member and also the person I was dedicating everything to, just so we could enjoy a better life. With how everything went, I thought I could turn it around by getting that Job at Shirako High School, but why the hell did I just go and die before her? I child shouldn’t die before their parents! First, we lost Father… and now, Mother lost me.
No, no, calm down! Calm down. Not another mental break. I need to apologize to her.
After I hurriedly asked her forgiveness for my moodiness, Miss Dragon smiled and quickly made up with me, holding no grudges. What an angel this girl was! I would have reacted differently.
With the bad mood swept away, Miss Dragon went ahead and buried the wolf, including the other members of her pack, which included my older siblings and my father. Similar to my wolf mother, I felt nothing when I saw their bodies. Maybe I was being callous, but I was earnest about it.
So many burned down trees. Did she do it? Dragons should breathe fire, right? What sort of battle did she participate in?
A few days had passed since then. Miss Dragon has been diligently taking care of me during these past days. She went hunting and cooked up all the meat, so I could eat. I didn't really like receiving food for free like this. It felt like I was nothing but a leech, which I was due to this body, which made me feel even worse. I was feeling frustrated due to my weak body not being able to do anything.
I heard your body and stats could increase through training and practice. I didn’t know if I did it purely for altruistic reasons or if I only did it to escape from reality, but I made up my mind to mimic her daily training regimen.
From push-ups to handstands. The moment my body was strong enough to do something, I would copy Miss Dragon’s movements. It got to the point she decided to become my personal trainer, advising me on how to “bulk up” in stats. A strong body housed a strong mind, but for me, it was also a way to get away from all my guilt.
I made a promise to my mother to try my best to get us out of our debt-riddled situation and to help her recover. However, I broke it by dying. This internal turmoil raged on inside of me, pulling down my self-worth every night, with every nightmare. Miss Dragon’s little bits of kindness prevented me from losing my sanity. I was starting to get over it, you could say.
After more days passed, my teeth and fangs finally grew strong enough to be used. Just, to my surprise, Miss Dragon took this as the sign to take my training to the next step.
A bloody one, to say the least.
[“You need to kill it,”] she told me as she threw the body of a paralyzed horned rabbit in front of me.
[“Wh-What?!”]
Did I just hear this correctly?!
[“You need to kill it. As a monster, you need to kill. You can’t expect to grow fast enough with training alone since monsters grow the fastest by leveling up and evolving into new forms,”] she brought up a topic she explained to me a few days ago.
[“…”] I was baffled. I didn’t know what to say.
[“I know it might be daunting at first, but you will feel much better after you get a taste of leveling. This thing is completely paralyzed from the venom, so you only need to stab or bite its throat.”]
Recently, she has been collecting poison and venom from monsters and plants, alike. She mentioned having learned it from my wolf mother about using toxic concoctions to mix it with her combat style. After she tested it once too often, she found she liked how the correct mix could give her a drastic advantage, causing her to become giddy whenever she found a new poison or venom.
As she personally was on the receiving end of that tactic, she replicated and made that idea her own, with great success. Although, sometimes her childish excitement contrasted a bit with how scary her dragon form could look when animated.
[“Are you ok, Segawa-san?”] she asked worriedly, bringing me back to reality.
[“You may just call me Ms. Segawa, Miss Dragon. I am not very picky about which language we address ourselves.”]
Funnily enough, the Japanese and English honorifics weren’t translated to our preferred languages. To test this, Miss Dragon called me “Saori-chan.” Suffice to say it proved my theory after how embarrassing it sounded.
[“Anyways… Uhm, may I ask? What did it feel like when you killed your first living being? How did you make up your mind?”] I hesitantly asked Miss Dragon for some tips.
[“Survival and curiosity. I was running out of available food back then, so you could say my stomach made the choice for me. Being a dragon probably helped, too, as it slightly dulled the disgust I had afterwards. I was also curious about what would happen when I killed something. I knew the concept of leveling from video games, which I wanted to experience myself.”]
[“… Could you elaborate?”]
[“All I can say is to turn off the sympathetic parts of your head and do it. I can’t tell you anymore but to prepare yourself. Killing isn’t so simple that I can explain it in a sentence or two. The feeling of ending somebody else’s life is unique and awful at the same time.”]
Miss Dragon then went on to explain what she felt when she learned certain monsters like kobolds, orcs, and even the wolves from before, were all sentient beings. They could think, they could feel, and they had moments where they acted like humans. She got over the killing of a rabbit quickly, but it took her more time to digest the “murder” of the former.
[“I got used to it eventually as the more I killed, the more it was normalized into my life. The guilt has dwindled, and outside of the emotional baggage your parents gave me, I’ve written off their death as ‘just another day of survival.’ Sorry, I know this sounds psychopathic as fuck, but… that’s all I can say.”]
Miss Dragon shivered as she admitted all of that to me. Sure, we’ve been spending time with each other these past days and I have gotten slightly closer, but there was still this wall between us. Miss Dragon acted more as if I was some fragile creature she had to protect, while I was still cold towards her. I still didn’t know if I could trust her, or if this was all part of a ruse.
However…
Dying. Being dragged into a foreign world. Reborn into something completely non-human and then being forced to kill to survive. She had done her best to adapt to this world in the few months she’d spent here.
Could I fault her? No. If I were in her shoes, I could imagine myself doing the same. And at the same time, I believed it was due for me to finally stop acting so suspicious of her. The emotions and actions she showed me were genuine. Like a lonely girl wanting to find a single friend.
Should I take the plunge? Yes. Even if I only became a teacher out of necessity, I couldn’t just ignore somebody in need of support. If my body cannot help her now, then at least, I should repay my debt by being her emotional crutch.
[“… Okay, I’ll do it.”] I accepted doing my first kill, surprising Miss Dragon by my sudden approval. [“Uhm, could you show me how to do this properly?”]
[“Huh? Oh! Yes, yes! Absolutely! Leave it to me, Ms. Saori! Once you’re done, just let your emotions out. You will better much faster.”]
Seeing her so excited relieved me. I guess making my first friend in this world didn’t sound too bad.
Swallowing my spit, I turned around to the rabbit, watching Miss Dragon show me where I should slash at with my claws. I prepared my stomach and mind during this time. This wasn't a dream anymore. My pride wouldn’t let me leech off somebody who had shown me this much kindness. As such, I needed to adapt to my current situation, fast!
[“You can do it, Ms. Segawa,”] she cheered me on.
Ok, I can do it… I can do it.
I just needed to stab my claws into the throat of this monster. One stab and the rabbit would bleed out and I can let time take the knife. It will be quick.
…
[“Do you still need a second?”]
[“I…”]
["It's ok. It's hard. There is no need to push yourself if you can't do it today."]
…
Miss Dragon moved my frozen body aside and decisively slit the rabbit’s throat herself. She then held the rabbit’s corpse upside down, causing a river of blood to stream down, slowly creating a red puddle.
[“There, it’s done. I’ll prepare our dinner for toni…”]
Mrmmmph! Urrrrrghhhhhhh!
["Scheiße! Are you ok? Is your stomach not feeling well? Here, let me help you. Cure.”] She panicked as I suddenly puked out the contents of my stomach.
[“Urgh…Thank you.”]
Even without doing the deed, I guess both my mind and stomach were already too invested. The taste of my own vomit was terrible…
Well, I guess you could call this my introduction to this world. On the next day, I was able to kill my first rabbit with the help of Miss Dragon. After finding the confidence, she went ahead and hunted down a kobold for me to kill, reminding me what she said yesterday.
What she said was correct. This feeling of leveling up was amazing. Absolutely invigorating. Miss Dragon told me I only needed four more levels to evolve into an E rank monster. Progress was fast, I seemed.
What was also fast to develop was that lingering guilt she explained to me. The dead eyes of the rabbit and the wailing of the kobold grounded my senses, reminding me of the truth of the matter. I had killed. I had taken the lives of not one, but two creatures. And one of them was sentient.
At the very least, we weren’t eating the kobold. Miss Dragon seemed fine hunting them, instead of killing through self-defense, but she found it a bit too creepy to eat them. They reminded her too much of humans.
In any case, with my feeling of accomplishment slowly fading, Miss Dragon started her lecture on the skill system. As I needed to fully understand how it worked this time, she knew she had to go into detail this time. I could see that she was happy to finally share her knowledge. This enthusiasm was another cute trait of hers.
Under her instructions, I bought the skills she found to be the most usable in this situation. During this process, we learned that due to her title [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] the SP cost of skills was discounted on her side. A skill like [Enhanced Agility Growth] would cost 150 for her, while I would need to pay 300 SP for it. It wasn’t even restricted to a simple 50% discount; it could range from 70% to any other number. I couldn’t express how envious this made me.
Damn!
Regardless, I could only sigh. There was no point in complaining.
Once we were done, Miss Dragon asked if I was fine, mentally, and if I wished to finish the last four levels. With my interest in evolving intensified, I agreed. It made me realize treating the beasts in this forest as animals and monsters helped the mental acceptance process much faster.
Feeling I owed her for treating me this generously, I thanked Miss Dragon before we departed to search. Bowing with my new wolf body, I expressed my appreciation for all the things she had done for me in these past days.
[“Huh? Oh, you don’t have to bow. I was happy to help.”]
I shook my head. I insisted she heard me out. ["No. Please accept my gratitude. Taking care of me must have been nothing but trouble, but you have been very kind and patient with me. I cannot imagine surviving in this forest if it weren't for you helping me."]
[“He he hie, it’s really nothing to mention,”] she giggled, bashfully. [“Don’t forget that I promised your garm mother to do so, and I always keep my promises. But… I’m glad to have company. Finally.”]
She fidgeted with herself before straightening her pose with renewed vigor. With a loud [“Alright!”] she put me back on her back and began running around in the forest like an enthusiastic dog. It was really endearing.
If only her smile wasn’t so scary.
After our little talk, we wandered around in the forest until the afternoon, where we finally found something suitable for me to kill. This was my third kill. My stomach gurgled a bit, but I kept myself from vomiting. I will etch this experience in my mind. After all, today was a wonderful day to make fond memories.
And with this kill, I had reached the maximum level for my rank. Evolution. What will it feel like?
Evolution
[Young Garm]
[“I only have one option. It’s called [Young Garm]”]
[“Well, that makes your choice easy. You just need to confirm with System Voice that you have made your choice and the process will start.”]
Alright. System Voice I wish to evolve into a [Young Garm].
Hai.
Woah, how warm.
And then I lost consciousness.
[“Ms. Segawa?”]
[“Good morning, Miss Dragon. How long did I sleep?”] Fully refreshed, I stood up and inspected myself before asking a question.
[“It’s already noon of the next day. How are you feeling?”]
[“Honestly, great.”]
It was incredible. I was only a small newborn warg a few days ago, but I’ve grown up to become as tall as a Shiba Inu over a single night. I couldn’t wait to see my new status board.
Profile.
_________________________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 0 Race: Young Garm
Age: 0 Month
Status: Health: 309/309(+259) Mana: 156/156(+141)
Strength: 211 (+181) Intelligence: 52(+42)
Vitality: 128 (+113) Wisdom: 119 (+104)
Agility: 265 (+230) Stamina: 287/287(+247)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 700 (+700)
Skill: Physical skills and related:
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 2] (+1)[Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1]
Senses and movement skills:
[Primal Senses]
Stat growths and related:
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 1] (New)
Other:
[Telepathy]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
_________________________________________________
Still a long path until I can become useful.
AbyssRaven As I said, party member, getto! Also, tomorrow no chapter. I play Granblue and tomorrow is GW event. I need to grind.
