I stalked through the undergrowth, careful to avoid letting any of my skin show. The keelish bastards could see the heatwaves that radiated from people, so, as a hunter and chief candidate, I needed to set an example and blend in as best as I could.

After about an hour of following the pack's tracks, I could tell that I was getting closer to the den, and slowed my pace. As I continued forward, I could see a clearing in the trees ahead, and a hole the size of a human torso in the ground. Perfect.

Keelish weren't strategists by any stretch of imagination, so as long as I was careful, I was confident that I wouldn't be found by the pests. So began my preparations, withdrawing the flammable oil from the pack, and beginning to channel my flames. As I slowly muttered the words of power under my breath, I prepared myself for the quick dash forward to thrust the oil into the nest and ignite it before I fled back into the woods.

I bounced on my heels for a moment, got to the final phrase of the flame call, and began to sprint into the clearing. I readied the oil bladder in my left hand as my right began to spark with power. Then, I stumbled as a searing pain exploded in my right thigh. Looking back, I saw an arrow protruding, just an inch above the knee, firmly lodged in my hamstring. As I looked up, I saw the face of Viilor as he lowered his bow.

"Sorry, Ash. This needed doing."

"What are you doing?" I hissed as Viilor raised a horn to his lips... and blew.

With screeches, a veritable horde of keelish swarmed from the mouth of the cave and zeroed in on me. The hunched, bipedal lizards shrieked, and, accompanied by their customary shrieking babble, rushed headlong towards me. Realizing that they had seen the beginnings of flames sparking from my hand, I tossed the oil bladder at the incoming group, and immediately followed up with an intense, unnaturally red flame which ignited the bladder with an explosion.

As the more naturally hued flames enveloped the frontrunning keelish, I whirled to attempt to escape into the forest. After two steps, my injured right leg couldn't hold, and I fell to my hands and knees, but continued desperately attempting to crawl onward. I didn't make it far.

The first keelish's jaws sank into my calf, ripping and tearing the flesh and muscle there. I could hear their shrill, deranged laughter as I no longer could hold in my pained cries, and screamed. Then came the second, then the third, and the fourth. Two sets of teeth fought over the shredded remains of my right calf, while the other two began to set upon my torso. I stayed painfully and horrendously aware of everything, as more and more of the ravenous vermin found a place to rip into. Some of the smarter ones used their clawed hands to rip sections of my flesh from my body, and retreated to their feasts.

I saw it all, and watched Viilor walk away before the last of the keelish began to rip at my neck, then… nothing.

A blissful darkness overcame me as I was left to my thoughts. If Viilor was on this hunt, why wasn't I notified? Why would he shoot me? Why did he betray me? Why? Why? WHY?

[Bloodlust Skill Acquired]

[Keelish subrace, Bloodseeker, selected]

What is that? I thought as I observed the words hovering before me Is this some kind of sick joke?

[Time until birth: 00:00:31]

Birth? Did I not just die? What the hell is going on here?

[Time until birth: 00:00:27]

If I'm being reborn, I'll go to Hell itself to kill Viilor. God, you wanna give me that opportunity?

[Time until birth: 00:00:16]

[Evolutionary Path Foresight Skill Acquired]

What is this evolution bullshit? Am I supposed to understand what's going on here?

[Time until birth: 00:00:08]

Wait, what is this feeling? I felt my back arch, more than was ever possible when I was still alive.

[Time until birth: 00:00:02]

I felt my nose break through something. Nose? How could my nose break through something? I pressed my face through the hole I had created and opened my eyes, seeing the world now laid before me.

Unlike before, I saw the world presented before me generally in blue, with random patches of brighter yellows, some greens and one or two oranges. As I began to attempt to understand what I was seeing, I blinked repeatedly, and this sight was taken from me. After a couple blinks, the colors were back in their vibrant intensity, then a couple blinks they were gone again.

Disoriented, I looked around as best I could, finally realizing that I was underground, and that the bright colors were my way of seeing underground.

But why could I see in the dark? I didn't have much time to think about this, as suddenly, the roof above me began to cave in. As I blinked repeatedly from the dirt and rubble, I switched my view to see if I could see anything different. Upon doing so, I began to see very similarly to how I remembered sight, and was stunned by what I saw.

A gigantic keelish was digging me out of the ground. I hurriedly pushed myself deeper into the hole, hoping not to be found by the beast, but my movement seemed to call the thing's attention, as it immediately reached towards me, and, despite my best efforts, easily enough put its hand around my entire torso and pulled me out. I thrashed, again surprised by the flexibility of this body, and began to feel that something about my body was wrong, but I couldn't be bothered to think about anything other than not being eaten alive for the second time in as many minutes.

The giant shrieked the too-familiar gibberish cry, but, strangely, I understood, "I ain't gon' eat you, spawn, so don't fight me." The hand tightened cruelly around my ribs, "But, if ya keep strugglin', I may well find sometin' ta help ya not feel so lively." The keelish snapped his jaws with a frightening relish, as a new message appeared before my eyes

[Reincarnation as a Juvenile Keelish Bloodseeker, complete.]

[Would you like to view your evolutionary options?]

"… Shit…"