Will I Always Be Weak?

Chapter 4. Reborn

My body hurts, and it feels like my mind is broken. When I woke up, I was in a location that was unfamiliar to me. The land was lush with green, birds were chirping, and the wind was a pleasant feeling on my face.

As I took in my surroundings, I smiled, "I'm alive." I was so joyous, and while I got lost in the joy, I completely missed the most important part of this situation. I looked down, and I finally realized.

"My body! What happened to my body!?" I was awestruck by the change in my physique; my entire body structure had changed. In my past life, I was no taller than 5'3; now I am well over 5'7. I'm not too tall, but it's still a huge difference. I now have jet-black hair with blonde streaks throughout it. My hair reached down to my shoulders and felt very smooth. Compared to my past, when in the past life I had brown hair with a slight blonde tint to it, this was all very different. These changes were amazing and very surprising, but they don't compare to this.

"Why do I have scales on my body?" I said as I recoiled in fear. It was not just the scales, but also the black, jagged rocks sticking out of my head.

"Are these horns?" I wondered as I felt the protruding rocks; they felt surprisingly smooth and very hard on top. They are no longer than a few inches, and I couldn't even tell they were there; it was like I've had these all my life.

"Ouch!" I yelled as I felt a jolt of pain through my back. I looked back and saw a much larger cow than any cow I'd seen before.

"Can a cow even be that big?" I thought as I glanced at its face. It was chewing on something, or at least trying to chew it. As it kept chewing, another jolt of pain shot through me. When I gave the cow another look, I realized the thing that the cow was chewing was connected to something. It was connected to me from behind!

"What the hell?" I screeched as I realized I had a tail. It was starting to hurt and I thought this cow might bite it off.

"Stop!" I yelled as I tried to rip my tail free. With a jolt of my back, my tail, like it was a knife sliced through the cow. It felt as if I cut through butter.

!Ding! "Level up"

"Huh," I said as I let out a confused sigh. Is this a video game? I wasn't too familiar because my parents never let me do anything other than chores but I'm pretty sure this is something that would happen in a video game. And why am I some sort of animal? Does it have something to do with the voice I heard in the abyss?

!Ding! "Do you want to absorb the soul of the Alarian Cow?" Yes/No

"Absorb the soul?" What does that mean? I was starting to get overwhelmed. What is happening to me? What is this place?

"Breath, just breathe." I hardened my will and started to think about the situation. I died, killed by my father, and was reborn. I was reborn in a world that is not my own, and I have a new body that I'm not familiar with. I have skills like in a video game and I'm able to level up. It is like a dream, but this is my second chance. I can't waste it; I need to survive.

"With these new powers, maybe I won't be weak anymore; maybe I can protect the people I love."

!Ding! "Do you want to absorb the soul of the Alarian Cow?" Yes/No

"Yes," I said

!Ding! "Alarian Cow successfully extracted"

!Ding! "+2 to strength, +4 to vitality."

!Ding! New skill obtained: "Strengthen."

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