You’ve got to be kidding me, right? Out of all of the things that could have happened, I was reincarnated as a damn wisp. What am I supposed to do with this? Can a wisp even do anything? What am I gonna do, glow menacingly at an enemy? As soon as I think that, I feel my mana deplete slightly, and the image in my head gets brighter. After only a few seconds, the light coming from me dims again to that pale, flickering flame. I focus on my mana, and sure enough, it’s empty. Glowing for a few seconds was enough to completely drain my mana. The only saving grace is that I can feel it replenishing at about the same rate it drained. So I don’t have much to burn, but mana replenishes at a steady rate, which might be a problem if I were anything but a decorative monster.
That god, goddess, devil, whatever it is, they said I would get to reincarnate, even if I have to face more hardship in this life than my last life. Who in the world wouldn’t interpret that as facing the threat of monsters and bandits in a technologically simpler fantasy world with magic? What does she even expect of me if I’m reincarnated into something that has no agency over its own life, if you can even call it that? What’s the point of trying against these odds? What even am I supposed to hope for as something as pitiful as a wisp?
If I can find a reason to live in this world, then I can find a reason to live in a new world. I won’t give up, not again. Even if they’ll never know, I’ll live a life that the people who loved me would be proud of.
Damn it, that was what I said, wasn’t it? I might be far from being considered alive, but I can still think for myself. I have access to magic in a new world, and I’ve already figured out how to manipulate it to interact with this world. I even have knowledge of all of the tropes of fantasy fiction from a much more advanced world. Hardship is an understatement; 'downright impossible' might be more accurate, but this is still my life, and I’ll choose how I want to live it. Even if it’s just to spite that being, I won’t just survive; I’ll learn to thrive.
Now, with a cool head, or rather spirit, I can analyze my situation better. I can manipulate mana to see the world and I can invoke the ability to glow on command, which drains mana quickly. Those are both things you’d probably find in any generic fantasy world, but they don’t scream video game mechanics. I believe that devil specifically mentioned this world as being like a video game. So, maybe I can see my own stats and skills, a common enough RPG mechanic. And just as I say that, a floating screen appears in my vision. It worked! Now let’s see what I’m working with.
?
Name: [Unnamed]
Race: Monster (Will O’ Wisp [Lvl. 1])
Blessing: Blessing of Chaos
Skills: Manipulate Mana [Lvl. 1], Glow [Lvl. 1]
HP: 5/5 [+1/s]
MP: 6/6 [+1/s]
Skill Points: 0
?
Okay, after taking a look at my stats, they’re as bad as I expected. I don’t have a reference for monster stats, but I don’t think single digit stats are that impressive. A whopping total of five health points and six mana points might be as low as a being could get in this world. But enough pessimism, presumably there’s a way to increase my health and mana if this world is similar enough to a video game to display detailed stats. I can test that later, my MP being six instead of five bothers me a bit. I might have already increased it without knowing. Anyways, getting to the surprising part, my name from my past life hasn’t carried over, and I somehow have the ‘Blessing of Chaos’. I can’t remember my name, which is strange enough on its own without all of the reincarnation stuff. No matter how hard I try, I just can't remember it. Not having a name would be inconvenient, but without anyone else around to even talk to, it isn’t really an issue. This blessing, though, might be a bigger problem. Was the being I talked to before my reincarnation Chaos, or is Chaos some sort of god for all monsters? I’ll need to see another monster’s stat screen to confirm which is true, but both are possible, or maybe it’s neither, and it’s just a general monster thing. Moving on, I seem to have already discovered both of my available skills. But they each have a level attached and a partially filled bar under each one. I’m willing to bet that the bar works like an experience bar, increasing with skill use until it eventually fills and levels up the respective skill. I can already see progress for ‘Manipulate Mana’, which might have happened when I was practicing with my mana strings. It’ll probably let me use my mana in more complex ways and with more power. And glow? I don’t know, it’ll get brighter or something. If I’m lucky, I can be a flashbang with a high enough level.
To top it all off, I am officially a Will O’ Wisp, as confirmed by that undeniable text, no matter how much I try. There’s even a level next to it, so I might be able to evolve if I get enough experience. If I were lucky, my skill level progress would be added to my experience bar under my race. Alas, there isn’t a single bit of progress on that bar. Not even a single speck. That only leaves one alternative to gaining experience in my mind, the most common, universal mechanic in fantasy games: getting XP from kills. That wouldn’t be too surprising, expected even with the sales pitch that devil gave me. There’s just one problem. I. AM. A. WISP. I don’t have a single way to attack or harm anything else, let alone kill. I don’t even know if I have it in me to kill whatever’s out there. If I have to face truly ugly monsters, I think I’d be able to convince myself long enough to get the job done. But if it’s humanoid, I don’t know. Well, waxing philosophy at myself won’t matter as I lack the means to even follow through with any convictions I could come to. I guess there’s only one thing left to do either way. It’s time to grind out my skill levels while drifting through this cavernous abyss.
