Infinite Regeneration: Crash-Test Dummy Reincarnated as a Human

The storm was fast approaching, but my mind worked quickly.

Map!

I hadn't yet opened it up here in the Caverns, so when it opened up before me to reveal...a completely blank System Panel...I wasn't really sure what to think, except,

I'm screwed.

There was nothing. Just a plain black panel. None of my movements here in the cavern had been tracked. The map hadn't updated at all.

Is it broken? Or is something preventing it from doing what its supposed to?

It was the System's monotone voice that replied.

[Master, after extensive Analysis of all System Functions, I have determined that the cause is an external one.]

[Based on the information currently available, it is likely that there is a Region-wide enchantment preventing the use of map-type skills or abilities.]

A region-wide enchantment...

My eyes flew over the endless landscape,

How insanely wide must it be if it's covering all this?!

Infeasible. That was my first thought. But it did indeed appear to be the case. My awe-filled gaze fell upon the sandstorm once more, and I was forced to brush away the thoughts.

I can't outrun it...not even with mana channeling.

I swallowed hard. There were really only two options. Wait it out, or attempt to navigate through it...

The most logical, safest option, was, of course, to stay in place and wait it out. But that would really only be viable if I knew how long the storm would last. For all I knew, the storm could last a whole day, perhaps more.

This wasn't Earth. And after all I had seen in this new life, I wasn't about to delude myself into thinking such a thing wasn't possible.

But the truth was... more than any of the logic... sitting here and waiting out the storm...was boring.

I didn't like being bored.

Navigation it is.

I stood up from my crouched position beside the bird's corpse, watching the wall of black speed towards me.

My pulse quickened a little, heart thumping into my chest, excitement building as the surrounding winds grew stronger and stronger.

But there was something different. Something...off.

The wind... , I realized.

Something about the wind had changed.

But I didn't have the option to figure out what that change was.

The wall of black was already upon me, and it swallowed me whole.

Wind howled and ripped past me as I forced my eyes shut to shield them from the sands.

But then I realized what was different.

The winds were extremely strong. Strong enough to flip cars and uproot just about any tree---at least a couple hundred kilometers per hour, by my estimations. I could see it. Feel it. Hear it.

But my body...wasn't affected by any of it. The wind...curled around me.

What...is this?

Sand pelleted my skin and face in droves, but the wind itself, curled around everything. My brows raised, eyes still shut.

Wind Resistance...

If [Fire Resistance X] made me immune to all fire classified at the Bronze Rank and below...then [Wind Resistance X]...would made me immune to all wind classified the same.

I tried moving. Forwards. Against the wind.

By all logic, it should have felt much harder than usual. But I now found that it felt no different to moving as if there were no winds at all.

No, scratch that. It felt easier than if there were no winds at all.

I tried walking. Easier.

Then Jogging. Even easier.

I broke into a sprint, now, accelerating as I ran directly against the wind. And it was easier still.

Air Resistance...am I actually immune to Air Resistance now?!

Air Resistance was proportional to the Square of Speed. Meaning if one's speed increased by twice, then the Air Resistance you had to battle was four times the original. Three times the speed, meant nine times the air resistance, and so on.

And now...without Air Resistance to slow me down...

I zoomed across the dunes faster than I'd ever run before. Zero Drag. Everything felt faster. Smoother. Easier. The same feats took exponentially less effort. I could already tell this phenomenon would do wonders for my endurance at high speeds, since I no longer had to waste energy fighting the air with every movement.

And the sandstorm was subject to those same rules.

I ran and ran, basking in the joy of a world without Air Resistance. For hours, I ran, wandering across the dunes.

But I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me. The wind curled around me, sure, but the sand in the air didn't care for it. Hundreds of black sand grains continually jammed themselves in my eyes with every step I took, and as much as I would've liked my body to adapt to it, it wasn't classified as an injury.

There was nothing to heal.

And as such, no opportunity to adapt.

Besides, what would it even be called? "Dirt-in-my-eye Resistance"?

I laughed at the thought as I continued running against the wind with surreal ease. But then a thought surfaced.

Why am I running against the wind? And why is the current...in just this one direction?

I started to think. And it made no sense to me. The pillar of light had been covered by the storm. And if the wind within only moved in one direction, simple Geometry stated that to reach the 2nd Circle---regardless of where in the storm the black pillar of light could have been---I'd only need to travel in the direction of the wind, and I'd eventually reach my destination.

And at least one of my two minds should have been able to come to that conclusion way earlier than this.

Why did it take me so long? This...is not normal. Its just not.

I stopped in place right then. Resisting the urge to push forward and against the wind. And it was only then that I realized...I felt an urge to push forward and against the wind. An urge, without reason.

What the hell is happening to me?!

"Ya done figured it out much quicka dan I expected, mon."

A man's voice, right behind me.

I turned fast, Axe already swinging in a wide horizontal arc.

But the Axe only met air. There was nothing to strike. No one, where I swore there had been.

Did I imagine that?

"I is not in yer imagination, child."

I paused for a moment, eyes narrowing at the voice in my head.

"Not in yer head either, heh"

My eyes widened.

You're reading my thoughts..?

"I is. 'tis not a difficolt ting to do fer one such as I...at least...when de target is one such as you."

My head swiveled in place, eyes forced to bear the pellets of sand as I looked into the storm, trying to find the source of the voice.

Who are you? What do you want?

"Who am I, he asks...hah! De question is, child, who're you? You are not of the Shavrak. Dis, I know. And yet here ya are, in grounds meant only for those granted safe passage here. ONLY the Shavrak."

I swallowed. You can read my thoughts, can't you? You must already know who I am.

"Mmmm, Great Abisai's ability does not work dis way."

I tested something right then, purely on instinct, I am here, because the Chieftain of the Shavrak brought me here.

No reply. Just as I suspected. That thought was created within my second mind. The one borne of Berserk Mana. And this... Abisai... couldn't hear it.

"Yer an impressive one...one such as you...capable of silencing ya mind...mmm yes...truly impressive. But dis will not do. Abisai will only end ya if ya don't answer his question. I is sure ya don't wanna be ended."

I repeated the thought in my first mind, It was the Chieftain of the Shavrak that brought me here...Great Abisai.

My eyes continued to scan the storm, though I still couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me.

"Mmmm...Intisak was indeed here in de Sands....but he is here no longa. Dat makes you unwelcome, child. You are not of de Shavrak."

All the alarm at that statement was directed straight into my Second mind. My thoughts raced one after another.

Intisak was the Shavrak Chieftain. Clearly, this voice knew of him. Which meant there was no way Intisak didn't know of this voice. Which meant he should've been fully aware that I would no longer be welcome once he left. So why? Why did he leave?

Have I been betrayed..?

The thought lingered for a moment.

No. He went to the trouble of bringing me here, of showing me how he had outsmarted me, and of how the dishonesty between us was hindering our relationship as Teacher and Student. If his goal had been to abandon me here...then he'd have had no reason to do that, no incentive to right those wrongs between us.

Which means...he knew this would happen...perhaps even counted on it happening...Why?

I continued to think of the possibilities whilst my main mind replied to the voice, trying to stall for time, You said I am unwelcome because I am not Shavrak...what is this place? Why is it that only the Shavrak are welcome?

"Dat is only fer de Shavrak to know, child. This will be yer final warnin, now. Tell Great Abisai who ya are, or ya will be ended most swiftly, yes."

My grip tightened around the Axe. What was I supposed to do here? Why did Intisak want me here? In this situation? When I'm not a Shavrak?

My second mind came to realization right then. I'm not a Shavrak, the voice had made that much very clear...but...what if I was? What if I could... become one?

My breathing slowed, fighting stance loosening as I let the head of my Axe come to rest on the black dunes, and I focused my thoughts back into my main mind.

My name...is Axel Vorous, Great Abisai. And I am here to become a Shavrak.

...

"Heh. Good."