Getting to know the Neighbourhood

Groggily, shaking my now tiny head... I woke up.

'Hahaha wow that was some dream' I thought to myself, my eyes tightly shut, not because I couldn't open them, but because then my attempts at passing this off as a dream might work... it didn't.

I took a shaky breath, the absence of a nose was uncomfortable, I still breathed, but the sensation of air flowing into me was absent.

I opened my eyes.

Scattered around me were around 100 or so eggs, all identical to my "pod" which I had recently broken out of, except they had the shell completely intact, I saw a few eggs shaking here and there, but they stopped and came to a standstill soon after.

'What... what happened to me?'

I tried to say, but similarly to before, what came out was "yoochichi.. yuh"

Hearing my voice, one I would have considered adorable a few days ago, I shuddered, this was me now. I started to hyperventilate, thoughts running across my mind, of course, I was familiar with the concept of transmigrating via novels and the internet… but I was no cool-headed MC….

My tiny chick heart beat faster and faster, I felt stifled and weak in my small body, the feathers attached to my body felt hot, my eyes were seeing too much and my face, once full of features, looks like any other animal you might've seen, I didn't feel my ears, my nose, my hair… it was all just gone, I felt like a Mr.Potato Head whos features had been swiped by an unruly child.

Who made me like this? Was there some god, toying with me? Swiping away at what defined me?

I was alone, weak, and terribly afraid… before I could further drown myself in self-pity, I heard a noise…

*DING*

'Huh?!'

I looked up in shock and saw a slightly transparent orange interface, it had one word written on it, in a language I was very familiar with:

[-Congratulations-]

'What the hell… is this… congratulating me? For what…'

As if hearing my inner thoughts, the interface changed and displayed an explanation for my situation.

[Forged by the harsh difficulties of this world, through your own willpower and strength you have transcended from being a mere weak magical beast, to a "KRYPTID"]

[Expand information on "KRYPTID" ?]

[Yes] [No]

'A… A what?' I was distrustful of this new being that had appeared before me, nonetheless, I was thankful for it distracting me from my breakdown a few moments ago, I steeled myself and thought 'Yes'.

[Expanded Information-KRYPTID]

[->A magical beast, that through luck, skill, willpower, and strength, defeated powerful enemies and overcame difficult trials that it reached a high enough level for its wisdom to match any of the 5 races plaguing this planet.]

[->All KRYPTID's are given a system, to aid their rise in strength, the system is only usable when one's spirit has reached the strength of at least an average human, a feat that almost none of the magical beasts achieve]

'Woah…'

'Spirit of a human? Don't I already have that?'

The puzzle pieces clicked together in my mind.

'Ah! So because I was a human before, my spirit's "strength" stayed the same? I assume so at least, hmmm…'

From what this... 'thing' is telling me, normally magical beasts, only by going through arduous trials can gain full sentience. What surprised me more was that the system perceived me to be a powerful beast, knowing my size and that currently, I was too weak to even walk properly, I doubted the system's evaluation of me. Perhaps I'm a glitch? A newborn chick with enough soul power it takes magical beasts a long time to achieve?

All of this new information came at a perfect time, my panic attack had subsided, while I was still terrified of my surroundings, at least now I knew a little bit more about this new world, and what I was... wait what I was...

'AHH GOD I'M A MAGICAL BEAST?!?!' I exclaimed out of shock, only now fully digesting the weight of the system's words.

"YEECHHIICHICHIOOO?!?!" is how it came out though.

'A Beast?? Was there some old witch I offended or something? Do I need to kidnap a girl's father and then manipulate my way into her heart by means of Stockholm syndrome thereby reversing the cur-'

'What the hell am I saying.'

Crazy situations tend to make me crack jokes or sink into deep denial, I had tried to do both at the same time but this situation was too out of the book for my shallow pool of denial to be sunk into.

I tried to ignore my outburst and went on to think about this newfound 'power'.

'Let's not fall into despair just yet... C'mon man...'

I faced the system interface once again

'Hey uh system... can I call you that? System? Feels a bit rude to just-'

[Yes]

'Oh uh cool... alright then system, what kind of magical beast am I?'

[Would Owner like to open {status}?]

'Yes please'

Now, while I am still quite worried about my situation, the geek in me overtook at this moment, what kind of beast would I be? Since I'm a 'Kryptid', I would definitely be very strong right? One of those beasts that grow to level mountains and challenge gods? One whose breath could freeze the ocean? Set aflame the forests of man?!? I shouldn't be getting excited but... it's difficult not to! My once somber mood was overshadowed by my curiosity about this new scenario.

The orange interface expanded in length transfigured into a rectangle about the size of a regular TV.

{STATUS}

•Race: Magical Beast (KRYPTID enhancement [SYSTEM ALPHA] )

•Species: Ignison Chicken ( F )

[A race of chicken common in areas of a warmer climate, they are the most common type of Magical Beast within the (BIRD) category. The young are usually helpless for the first year of development, if the young chick is unable to evolve, it's lifespan is less than 5 years. Once matured, they are a delicious meal no gourmet would decline, especially popular among adventurers, the meat from the beast comes flavor-packed. No additional spice or salt is required to make it a hearty and mouth-watering meal. Often kept by farmers in 4/5 Kingdoms, special conditions are used to prevent evolution when in captivity]

[Active Buffs Amount : 1]

• Protection of the Mother Hen (Temporary, 3 months) : Bearing the blood of a powerful C+ Class Magical Beast, if danger is encountered within a 10 km radius of the Mother Hen, she is alerted and will come to your rescue.

[Would you like to extend {status} screen to show your power levels?]

'...'

'are you kidding me'

'WHY THE HELL IS 1/2 OF MY DESCRIPTION TALKING ABOUT HOW DELICIOUS I AM?!?!?' I cried in a protest, "YEEHCHICHIHIOO CHIOO CHIAAO?!??!!?"

My immature wings flapped and my tiny feet stomped, goddammit I was weak but I wished I could see myself right now... I bet I was adorable.

And that "mother" of mine... is C+ class a strong beast? I'm unsure how strong she could be if she gave birth to a measly being like me... that buff does sound helpful but considering I haven't even seen her yet, I shouldn't rely on it at all.

'Sigh, well we all start somewhere right? Let's not get too down on ourselves ... and evolutions? Seems like there is some room for growth!' I perked myself up and looked at the bright side of things. My habits of thinking out loud to myself had proved to be very helpful in keeping myself calm, perhaps if I were more normal, I'd have had a heart attack by now.

'Okay system, show me the power levels... I'm ready.'

[Assesing strength. Please wait, the longer it takes to assess, the more powerful you are, and as you are a KRYPTID level magical beast it will take a considerable amount of time. Your PL should be ready to read within a few day-]

[Assesment complete]

'Huh well I figured I was weak but-'

[Showing PL (power level) now]

Rank F

• HP : 2/2

• Attack : 0.4

• Constitution : 0.1

• Dexterity : 2

• Wisdom : 52

• Intelligence : 2

• Magic Power : 3/3

• Spirit Power : 500/500

'Oh my god I'm so fragile' I let out an exasperated sigh, or at least, the chicken equivalent of that. Everything except that last stat and wisdom was absurdly low... Depressingly low even.

'Hey system, are these numbers normal?'

[All stats besides Wisdom and Spirit Power are within the average scope of an Ignison Chicken Chick]

'I see... so it was my species' inherent weakness...'

Terrified at the prospect of a particularly strong breeze breaking my neck, I vowed to increase my constitution stat ASAP! In fantasy novels and whatnot, danger could come at any time, if I want to survive, I need to minimise the amount of damage I take, you can't lay out the pain onto your enemy if you're dead! I'll prioritize defense over offense!

Perhaps I was getting too ahead of myself but while being bombarded with all this information, keeping my mind occupied helped, and it didn't hurt that this was satisfying the more child-like aspects of my personality with all the game-like features. Reality hadn't fully sunk in yet and I was well aware I was looking at this world with rose-tinted glasses but I pushed that thought away for now.

Besides that, my Spirit Power and Wisdom immediately drew my attention. Let's look at the bright side of things for a while.

'Even if everything else is pretty much pathetic... if this Spirit Power can be used to my advantage somehow... maybe there's hope for me after all!'

I felt a freeing feeling in my chest, the despair that once consumed me had long since left as I explored my future prospects... if I had a mouth, I bet it'd be curled in an excited but shaky smile right now.

Before I could think to order the system around a bit more and satisfy my growing curiosity... I felt incredibly tired. This body was still that of a newborn and standing up for that long and thinking that hard must've taken quite the toll on it. I slowly lowered myself, only now noticing the soft hay that covered the floor, I rested my tiny bottom on the hay and leaned against an egg, one of my future siblings no doubt.

Sleep came to take me, and after such an exciting yet tiring few hours, I accepted it and dozed off into dreamland.