The sun had just risen when a very bright light appeared in the middle of one of the clearings in a certain grove.
As time passed, the glow began to fade, and it became possible to see the outline of a body taking shape within the light. But only when the light went out did the body, which until then had been inert, seem to gain life.
The being’s movements did not last long, and he thought: "My body feels very different. I can’t even move it the way I want to."
Surprisingly calm for his situation, the being began to check the changes in his body, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that he had become smaller. But not just a little smaller—small enough that his clothes hung very loosely on his body.
Even dazed by such a change, the being managed to confirm the authenticity of his body by checking his birthmarks. Which made no sense at all, since his age should have been 25 years old, but his body looked like that of early adolescence, around 13 to 15 years old.
When he forced his mind to remember what had caused his current situation, the being made a terrifying discovery: his memories had remained practically intact, but there was no trace of feeling or affection toward his past life. It was as if his memories were merely clusters of information stored in a data device.
That discovery led the being to make an even more frightening conjecture: that something or someone was punishing him for some reason.
He had no idea who was behind it or what their motivation was, but worst of all was the feeling of powerlessness when imagining that whoever did this to him was unreachable, beyond his comprehension.
With no way to confront such an existence, the being began trying to remember who he might have offended badly enough to deserve this. But even after thinking hard about it, he couldn’t recall offending anyone to that extent.
"The only different thing I did that day was that survey. But it can’t be that… can it?"
Ding!
As soon as he thought about the survey, a sound common to game notifications echoed inside the being’s head. The strangest part was that the sound came accompanied by some information that was “delivered” to him in an inorganic way.
[You can access your basic information by using the command "Status".]
[Access your class skill tree using "Skill Tree".]
[Check information about something using "|Appraise|". This skill only works against targets that are not concealed by an item or skill of a higher level than this skill… The higher the level of this skill, the more detailed it becomes.]
The information that accompanied the notification sound was so detailed and vivid that it seemed to create a screen in front of his eyes. With no other options or information, the being decided it was best to obtain as much information as possible and used the command that had appeared: "Status."
『 STATUS 』
Name: Alexander Ocean ♂
Race: Human
Age: 14
Level: 1/10 (0 XP / 50 XP)
Class: Water Mage (Apprentice)
Talent: Evolutionary Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis Species: Goblin
Condition: Good
HP: 20/20
Mana: 10/10
Stamina: 10/10
MP: 18/18
Attributes:
Vitality: 10
Strength: 04
Agility: 07
Dexterity: 05
Intelligence: 05
Charisma: -5
Luck: 01
Free Attribute Points: 0
Equipment:
Equipment Skill(s):
Proficiency Skill(s):
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|Throw (Beginner)| … |Run (Beginner)| … |Mana Control (Beginner)|
Scalable:
Passives:
Actives:
Spells:
Combat Techniques:
Growth Points: 1
Special:
Passives: |Attribute Control| … |Calm Mind|
Actives:
Proficiency: |Appraise (Beginner)|
Enhancements:
Titles:
Upon seeing the status information, Alexander confirmed that his current situation was indeed related to that “survey,” because most of the information in his “status” matched his answers in the “survey.”
"So my body was rejuvenated to fourteen years old…" Alexander analyzed as he looked at his body again.
This flood of information finally made the expressionless Alexander feel and display a sensation… fear.
The contradiction was that, despite fearing whoever or whatever had done this, Alexander felt neither sadness nor joy regarding the changes. It was as if he were completely indifferent to who he was now, or who he had been before.
Alexander even tried to think about his situation, but he ended up realizing it would lead him nowhere, because the more he thought about it, the more confused and frightened he became.
Trying not to think about it too much, Alexander began to focus on obtaining more information about his current situation. And the safest way to do that at the moment was to use the |Appraise| skill on his Status.
[Vitality: A stat directly related to HP amount, energy amount, MP amount, regeneration, and the recovery of energy and MP.]
[Strength: A stat directly related to the body’s physical strength and the amount of physical damage that can be dealt. It is slightly linked to speed and energy consumption when holding something.]
[Agility: A stat directly related to the ability to move one’s own body, speed, reflexes, and dodge probability. It is slightly linked to the ability to move other things with one’s body, hit probability, and the ability to parry attacks.]
[Dexterity: A stat directly related to the ability to move one’s own body and other things to attack, hit probability, and the ability to parry attacks. It is slightly linked to body movement, speed, reflexes, and dodge probability.]
[Intelligence: A stat directly related to damage caused by magical abilities, spells, and the like; mana amount; MP amount; mana recovery; MP recovery; brain capacity; and memory. It is slightly linked to overall damage and the accuracy of attacks or abilities.]
[Luck: A stat directly related to the quality of lottery rewards, critical hit probability, and other aspects in general that depend on luck.]
[Charisma: A stat directly related to appearance and charisma. It is slightly linked to persuasion ability.
Obs: anyone with a Charisma attribute lower than (1) will automatically be attacked and/or treated with hostility by “civilized” races.]
[|Throw (Beginner)|: Increases depth perception, strength, and accuracy.]
[|Run (Beginner)|: Increases movement speed, especially when running in a straight line. Cost: (1) stamina/minute.]
[|Mana Control (Beginner)|: A skill inherent to the mage class. Makes it possible to sense and control mana. Cost: (1) stamina/minute and (1) MP/minute.]
[|Attribute Control|: A special advantage of the Goblin race that converts attribute increases gained upon leveling up into free attribute points.]
[|Calm Mind|: An advantage of water magical affinity that increases MP by 20%.]
After “seeing” that the |Appraise| skill worked exactly as the information had stated, Alexander was forced to take this information more seriously.
"These details seem quite surreal from the perspective of the information stored in my memory. It’s as if my attributes and skills are quantified and described like those of an RPG character… and I’m not a strong one," Alexander pondered. "To make things even worse, my (Charisma) isn’t just low, it’s negative. And according to that note in the (Charisma) description, this will cause me to be attacked or treated with hostility if I try to approach any city and/or anyone from the ‘civilized’ races."
Without understanding the low value of his assigned (Charisma), Alexander began analyzing his body in search of an answer, but soon realized that although he wasn’t particularly handsome, it made no sense for his (Charisma) to be negative.
"Something must be affecting this specific attribute," Alexander concluded while thinking objectively.
After investigating his entire status using the |Appraise| skill, Alexander discovered that this happened because of his {Talent}, which—for better or worse—seemed to have a very incisive effect.
[Talent: A random power granted to members of “civilized” species to counterbalance the powerful innate physique of “savage” species, thus allowing them to protect themselves.]
[Evolutionary Metamorphosis: Allows its bearer to transform into an evolutionary species. The bearer also shares all attributes, some skills, and some enhancements with the species they transform into.]
[Condition: A textual description of your current state.]
[Health Points (HP): A quantified representation of health/life. A creature dies when its HP reaches zero. HP recovers gradually if there are no adverse conditions preventing it.]
[Magical Energy (Mana): A quantified representation of magical energy. A creature enters a weakened state when its mana reaches zero. Mana recovers gradually if there are no adverse conditions preventing it.]
[Physical Energy (Stamina): A quantified representation of physical energy. A creature loses the ability to move when its stamina reaches zero. Stamina recovers gradually if there are no adverse conditions preventing it.]
[Mental Power (MP): A quantified representation of mental capacity. A creature becomes lethargic when MP is low. MP recovers gradually if there are no adverse conditions preventing it.]
After reflecting for some time, and after one last pinch to try to wake up, Alexander decided to accept that this was his reality now.
With that decision in mind, Alexander made some adjustments to his clothes, even if roughly. And when he made sure his clothes would no longer fall off, he began to exercise lightly to get used to his current body.
