Novice Reincarnator

A blue transparent panel immediately appeared in the corner of my vision as soon as I entered Beast Den.

The broadcast ‘Fang Solo Delivery’ has been suspended for the duration of the intermediate explorer exam.

The usual broadcast menu and viewer count disappeared from my vision, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I wouldn’t be able to receive any outside help for the duration of the intermediate exam.

I was back on the first floor of Beast Den. My nerves settled at the sight of the familiar grassy plains. Unlike the entrance explorer exam I took to enter the Upper Realm, I was more than prepared for the trials that laid ahead of me.

The first floor of Beast Den was no longer a challenge. I leisurely walked through the plains while admiring how far I had come. Anyone of these monsters would have ripped Asta Ashford to pieces, but I handled them all with a single [Ki Claw].

I was no longer the novice that didn’t know left from right. Unlike my time as Ash, I didn’t need to rely on contracted monsters to fight for me. Fang could earn the qualifications to be an intermediate explorer all on her own.

“This is the last time I’ll enter these plains.”

I muttered to myself as a pang of loneliness filled my heart. My life as an explorer would change after the exam. There probably wouldn’t be a reason for me to come back here. Whether I continued to live as an explorer or not depended entirely on how my talk with Leah went.

I made quick work of the first layer of Beast Den and touched the teleporter located in the depths of the plains to teleport to the second layer of Beast Den.

[Ki Sense] picked up the life force of everything around me, including the strong life force of an instructor hidden in the forest. That life force trailed behind me, ready to intervene should I encounter a dangerous situation.

Although I had already entered the second layer of Beast Den a couple of times, I still hadn’t grown to like the forest one bit. I didn’t relax my guard for an instant during my journey.

I wasn’t invincible even if I had already beaten the king of the second layer. All it would take was a single moment of carelessness for me to be ambushed. Just as I was thinking that, a vine shaped life force detached from a tree branch and launched itself at me.

“Another Forked Tongue Viper, huh?”

They weren’t hard to kill. It was just annoying how they liked to try to constantly sneak attack me. I killed the Forked Tongue Viper with a [Ki Claw] and made my way to the teleporter. Signs of devastation were everyone in the second layer.

Some unfortunate explorer who started before me must have caught the attention of a Sharp Clawed Bear. I recognized the tell-tale cuts of the boss that destroyed everything in its path. This exam was more about reaching the third layer rather than defeating a Sharp Clawed Bear.

Explorer’s had to be able to traverse dangerous environments without alerting any of the apex predators in them. One wouldn’t always count on themselves to be the strongest as there would always be someone stronger out there.

An intermediate explorer was expected to be able to survive in the wild and make it back home safely under dangerous conditions. This exam was designed to weed out those who relied too much on their personal strength to brute force every danger they ran into.

The instructor following me was quite good, but it was obvious that he wasn’t a Beastman. His stealth skills were impeccable, but his life force was a huge flare to those who could sense it.

I couldn’t describe the mixed feelings swirling in my heart as I closed in on the end of the Beast Den’s second layer. I would confront Leah once I passed this test. That scared me more than anything else within Beast Den.

I broke through the trees into a small clearing with a floating blue teleporter. [Ki Sense] scanned the area, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. It seemed too easy, but I had cleared the intermediate exam.

My hand froze just shy of the teleporter. An ominous feeling welled up within my heart. I looked around a second time, but nothing had changed. Even so, it was like my [Instinct] was trying to warn me of something. No, that was silly. I was in the middle of the intermediate explorer exam, surrounded by trained instructors. What danger could there possibly be?

A buffet of food and an awards ceremony was waiting for me on the third layer of Beast Den. [Gluttony] kicked in and I could already taste the delicacies waiting for me. I pushed down my fears and placed my hand on the teleporter.

Like always, a prompt appeared in my head.

 

Teleport to the 3rd layer of Beast Den?

 

I mentally selected ‘Yes’ and the world blurred. A strange vibration shook my vision and suddenly, it was like I was in the middle of an earthquake. The world cracked like glass. That glass shattered, dropping me into darkness.

A transparent, blue screen popped up in my vision.

 

Warning. Dimensional Interference detected. Please evacuate to safety.

 

The darkness disappeared just as quickly as it came, leaving me in a forest that was similar to the one I just left. Dread filled my heart.

“No way…”

I muttered in disbelief. The last time I got that message, I was suddenly transported into the Crystalline Caverns.

My heart hammered in my chest. My eyes darted left and right as I desperately searched for danger.

[Ki Sense] picked up a strange absence of creatures around me. No matter how I looked at it, there was a decidedly lack of food and people around me. Even the life force of the various instructors scattered throughout the forest had vanished. This wasn’t the 2nd or 3rd layer of Beast Den. Of that, I was certain.

A furious roar shook my thoughts. The world trembled and trees slammed into the ground as something crashed through the forest.

[Instinct] screamed in warning. All I had time to do was turn my head to the source of noise. A giant, fiery blur reached me in an instant and I blacked out.

When I came to an instant later, I found myself underneath a tree with a giant red fox standing where I used to be. Beautiful blue flames coated the claws and tails of the monster. Something was burning in front of the six-tailed fox.

I struggled to make it out through my blurry vision. It looked like… a pair of legs. That was all I made out before the silhouette swayed and collapsed onto the ground.

…Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t feel anything below my chest. Oddly enough, there was no pain. My thoughts grew sluggish. My body was terribly cold, but my chest was incredibly hot. That heat climbed up my chest and soon, my vision was filled with beautiful blue flames.

Just before everything went dark, I saw the Six-tailed Red Fox lose interest and leave. I would have drifted off into nothingness if it wasn’t for [Instinct] screaming at me to do something.

Detailed Status.

I tried to say the words, but my mouth didn’t respond. Even so, a familiar transparent, blue screen appeared in my mind.

 

Name: Fang

Gender: Female

Race: 0 Tailed Beastman

Class: Adept

Level: 20/20

Personal Skills (5/5): [Ash Demon Princess], [Ki II], [Ki Sense II], [Ki Kick II], [Ki Claw II]

Racial Skills: [Instinct II]

Class Skills: [Adept], [Growth II]

Option to reincarnate or ascend is available.

 

…What was it that [Instinct] wanted me to do?

The once loud [Instinct] grew quiet. Silence returned to the world.

I floated in darkness with my status as the only source of light. My memory was hazy and I couldn’t remember how I got here.

With nothing else to do, I examined my status. All of my hard work was recorded on it. Even so, some part of me was unsatisfied.

My eyes skimmed over the gender and race and fell on the fifth and sixth line. Level 20/20 and personal skills 5/5. My status was saying that I was at my limit. There was no more room for me to grow stronger.

I would never reach the heights of Cecilia Snowlight and it was impossible for me to be her equal. It was as if that was what my status was trying to tell me.

Darkness encroached on my mind. I began to hear voices telling me that I had done enough.

Ash's voice whispered that I had accomplished my goal. I had changed beyond belief.

Asta's voice told me that it was time to rest. There was no reason to continue struggling. The only one who thought I needed to prove myself to stay by my friend’s sides was… me.

No matter how long I waited, I never heard Fang’s voice. Asta was always quick to take the easy way out and run away from his problems. Ash was willing to die trying to accomplish her objectives.

Fang was different. Unlike Ash who had nothing and Asta who abandoned everything, Fang had found a warm place to call home. Cecilia and Byleth were waiting for her to return. There would be a huge party to celebrate.

Fang… no, I could almost taste all the savory food waiting for me. It was bound to be a bright, joyous occasion that I would remember for the rest of my life.

My friends were waiting for me. No matter how heavy my thoughts grew, no matter how sweet the siren call of death was, this was not the time for me to rest.

Level 20/20 and personal skills 5/5. No matter what my status wanted to say, this wasn’t my limit. I wouldn’t let things end here.

I was weak. Because I was weak, I could take advantage of the unique privilege belonging to the weak.

I selected the reincarnate option. Pure white heat burned the world of darkness and then I knew no more.