Another week passed as the [Reincarnated] Sorceress followed through its hated routine. It woke up, excreated, ate poisoned, bitter leaves, devoured non-poisonous tasteless leaves, then poisoned itself again before finally sleeping in its little hideyhole.

As much as the [Hungry] bug hated the routine, it followed through for reasons it couldn't explain to itself. It had nothing to live for, yet did its utmost best to not just survive, but thrive.

Such was the dissociation between its thoughts and actions that the [Immortal] Sorceress couldn't even notice the faultline in its psyche. Its [Mortal] side sought reasons to live, finding none. While its [Immortal] side sought to survive, for no other reason than survival.

Of the war that raged within its fragile mind, these were the two sides. Its [Mortal] side, which grieved over the loss of its old world, and the [Immortal] side, which longed to explore its new one.

In between these two, caught was the ignorant [Survivor]. The pawn of a great Being.

With its body still suffering from the after-effects of the plant poison, the [Immortal] caterpillar squirmed its numerous stubs in displeasure. Despite its best efforts, the bug had failed to Level up [Poison Resistance], which was still stuck at Level 5. 'It's not my only problem at the moment.'

'Just where have all the snails gone? Did the magically disappear? Did something else hunt them to extension in a single night? Just what happened?!' The [Hungry] pest's beady eyes darkened as it headed to its food source, the non-poisonous, flat and huge leaved young tree. 'If only I had my magic, I could collect them all up with a swish of my stub!'

Consequently, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress had gained merely two Levels in the last week, barely managing to reach Level 63.

'This just proves how useless [Hungry] is. Whoever designed it needs to have their privileges cut! Such incompetence!' Grumbling and cursing, it harumphed. 'If one of the researchers had made such a useless thing, they wouldn't be allowed to visit the city for a decade at least!'

'Just 34 days are left now.' Flopping down on its belly, the [Immortal] caterpillar's beady eyes gazed in the distance as its mind raced. 'What was I doing for two-thirds of my lifespan?'

Shaking its head, it got up to crawl. Instead of continuing on its way to its food source, the [Survivor] began searching for snails.

It crawled up and down various trees, looking for snails to hunt. In the meanwhile, the useless Title that was [Hungry] kept bothering it with insistent pangs of hunger, forcing the bug to stop its search and race to the nearest edible plant.

Its morning passed fruitlessly, but around mid-day, the bug finally found what it was looking for. Perched on a thin branch of a small tree which sported short but numerous leaves, was a Cracked Mouth Snail.

Its beady eyes shining with anticipation, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress crawled up the tree post-haste before following its usual strategy, the venomous potholes. The snail died, screeching and angry, but the [Survivor] didn't mind.

It had gained three Levels thanks to the shelled creature, bringing the bug to Level 65. It had increased its HP to 70 and HPR to 7 HP/day.

The rest of the day, the caterpillar found not a single snail more. Even as the Sun went down in the distance and the white moon rose in the sky, the [Immortal] caterpillar could only squirm its countless stubs in regret.

Returning to the poisonous plant, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress looked up to gaze at the moon.

'So familiar, yet nothing alike.' It couldn't help but sigh. Despite being milky white as the moon of its previous world, this newer moon lacked the spots that had given the other moon depth of character. This new moon was too white, too perfect.

The [Survivor] shook its head to clear it of the useless thoughts and ate the bitter leaves for its nightly dose of poison. Having eaten more than enough of the poisoned leaves, it crawled down-

Ting.

[Skill [Crawl Lv.3] had levelled up to [Crawl Lv.4]. Your crawl speed has been increased.]

Dismissing the screen, it reached the ground where it waited for the poison to hit it.

And it continued to wait.

'It really is taking a little too long.' It thought, beady eyes shining in anticipation. 'Have I finally become immune-'

The convolutions hit it then. Though, they were weak and lasted just for a few moments, causing the bug to chitter its jaws in joy through the after-effects. 'All my hard work has finally begun to pay off!'

Its mood lifted, the [Reincarnated] reached its hideout and began to widen it; something that it had to do often these days. After all, due to [Hungry], the bug had done nothing but eat for almost all its life. Consequently, its size had marginally increased, from a third of a mortal's finger, it had grown to two-thirds of a mortal's finger.

After the hideout had been hollowed out enough, it settled down in the tiny hole, before using [Survive] instead of [Moulting] due to its new Skill's low Level.

Ting.

[Skill [Survive Lv.1] has levelled up to [Survive Lv.2]. HP Limit has been increased by 1. Current Time Limit: 1 minute. Current HP Limit: 2 HP]

With a scoff, it dismissed the notification before checking its Status to find its HP reduced by a solid 37 points, leaving it at [HP: 33/70].

The tiny bug chittered its jaws in joy. The ever-increasing value of HP sacrifice gave it a strange sense of accomplishment; even the Level notifications didn't give it such a sense of achievement.

'That I can now afford so much HP is just precious!' It thought, its mood improving. After all, only a few months earlier, such a loss of HP would have left it gasping in horror and awaiting death.

0.0

With its skin tingling in frustration, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress fruitlessly crawled down its seventh tree of the day. Yet again, it had failed to find any snails.

Not that it had had much success in the past two weeks, forcing it to rely on [Hungry] which had yielded merely five Levels in fourteen days. As a result, it had reached Level 70 with HP reading [HP: 75/75] and HPR being [HPR: 8 HP/day].

5 Levels in 14 days.

The [Immortal] caterpillar now had just 20 days to gain 25 Levels.

Its jaws chittered at the absurdity. 'Just where have the snails gone?! Did they realise I was hunting them? That makes no sense!' It had begun to lose its already fragile mind.

Never had the [Hungry] bug felt so desperate in its life. Not even when it had been hiding from the bird. At least at the time, the [Survivor] could have done something. And it had done something.

But at this time, the bug could do absolute jack shit. 'What could it be?! Why are they hiding? There has to be a reason!'

The desperation added fuel to the fire that was the war going on within its mind.

By the time the sunlight dimmed, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress had nothing to show for all its efforts.

0.0

Merely 14 of lifespan remained.

76 days had passed since its rebirth.

And the [Reincarnated] Sorceress now stared at death once again.

The past week was one of the most fruitless weeks it had even lived, earning it just 2 levels. It was Level 72 now. 'What a joke...'

No matter how much it searched, or where it looked, there were no snails to be found. 'Why had those snails come out at that time? What could it be? Is there a snail lifecycle that I am unaware of?'

With each passing day, the [Immortal] caterpillar grew increasingly desperate. It wanted to live but it had no reason to live.

And the more desperate it grew, the more its mind frayed and the more the war tilted. The world, annihilated. The knowledge, erased. The life, sundered.

Now that the bug had reached the twilight days of its lifespan, its body had begun to show its age. It had slowed down. Despite the increase in Level and Skill Levels, it took more energy for the [Survivor] to move while tiring it out quicker.

It slept a lot more too. And now that the weather had begun to change as it grew colder, the creature felt the shackles of age and death tightening even more.

0.0

The [Reincarnated] Sorceress stared at the overcast sky. It stared at the dark clouds, resisting the increasing humidity.

Slowly crawling down another tree, it turned to the next. Another day, another tree, another failure.

'Just ten days are left now. Ten days to live and ten days to die.' It sighed and began its journey to return to its hideout-

Ting.

[Skill [Crawl Lv.4] has levelled up to [Crawl Lv.5]. Crawling speed has been increased.]

The [Immortal] caterpillar sighed. Even the Skill Level up notifications that had been the sight of joy once, brought it no joy anymore.

Instead, the notification seemed to mock it these days. ‘How has my speed increased? Hasn’t it decreased instead?’ It snapped back.

Ting.

[The Skill [Crawl] has reached the Level limit of your current Vessel. Evolve further to increase the Level limit of your Skills. Current Skill Level limit: Level 5]

‘…’

The [Reincarnated] Sorceress' beady eyes darkened.

‘…’

Its skin tingled as if it had been struck by lighting.

‘…’

Its jaws fell open. Its numerous stubs stilled.

'Just... what am I reading?' It almost refused to comprehend the implication of the message. 'There is a Level cap related to evolution for Skills? Does that mean…’

Its body chilled. Its eyes dulled as an all-consuming hollowness assaulted its mind. Its body twitched but the bug didn’t notice. Its mind frayed like a ball of string unravelling. ‘Doesn’t that mean…’

‘…’

The [Immortal] caterpillar’s fragile mind reached an edge and war within its mind began to reach a crescendo. Meanwhile, it chittered its jaws madly in laughter.

For more than half of its new life, the [Hungry] bug had been torturing itself by poison. Twice a day. Everyday. Just to increase the Level of [Poison Resistance].

But the Skill had never Levelled. ‘Now I know why!’ the [Hungry] pest continued to chitter its jaws in laughter.

The war intensified.

The Skill, [Poison Resistance], was its highest Levelled skill. It had always been its highest levelled Skill. It had been like that since it had received it when it had been born. It had always been at Level 5.

But the [Reincarnated] Sorceress had been trying to increase its Level. ‘Obviously! I couldn’t have done it!’

The war intensified.

It had been going through hell and back for this. It had suffered so much for this. It had gone through so much for this. ‘It was all for nothing...’

The war intensified.

All that effort, for nothing. All that pain, for nothing. All that agony, for nothing.

Half of its life, for nothing. ‘Is everything that I do, for nothing?’

The war intensified.

At that moment, the sky that had been overcast all morning roared.

THHHHNNNDDDDDRRRRRR

The rumble of the clouds brought some sense of sanity to the [Immortal] caterpillar and it resumed its march back home. It was halfway through the route when it started raining and the green bug hurriedly climbed up the nearest tree to seek shelter.

It could no longer go back home. Not with the rain and mud blocking its path. It would drown if it tried. Or would be swept away by the current. 'It wouldn't be that bad, now would it? I have already died once...'

The [Reincarnated] Sorceress sighed.

But its sigh seems to contain exhaustion. Exhaustion from having died. Exhaustion from having been reborn. Exhaustion from the near-death experiences. Exhaustion from the constant hunger.

The [Survivor] was worn out. Its body was failing. Its time was running out. And it could do nothing about anything.

The [Immortal] caterpillar, for the first time, felt the twilight that its body had already reached. It stared at the falling rain for a moment before it dug into the bark of the tree and made a temporary shelter for the night.

As it fell asleep, it gave no thought to the rain.

However, if the [Reincarnated] Sorceress had been poetic in nature, it would have felt the heavens sharing is sorrow, weeping.

0.0

When the [Immortal] caterpillar woke up the next day, it was greeted by the beautiful sight of a refreshed forest. The pouring rain had washed away all the layers of accumulated dust, making the colours seem brighter and the air fresher, while the slight drizzle continued to the temperature cool.

Beautiful as the sight was, it didn’t cause the [Hungry] pest's beady eyes to shine. Instead, it gazed at the sight with dark eyes; for what it saw was not beauty, but the end of summer. And its life. 'A season of life. What a pitiful existence...'

Shaking its head, it turned to crawl down the tree. But, at that moment, it caught of something that made its dark eyes shine with unexpected light.

The [Reincarnated] Sorceress' skin tingled in anticipation as the lethargy which had been haunting it for the past few weeks instantly dissipated.

Chittering its jaws in anticipation, the [Survivor] locked its hungry gaze on the snails which seemed to be everywhere. Let alone other trees, the very tree in which the green bug had taken shelter in sported a couple of Cracked Mouth Snails.

Tearing its eyes away from the gift-wrapped Levels, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress gazed up through the canopy to the grey clouds. 'So that's what it was,' it thought, realising what was required for the snails to emerge. 'I should have made use of the humidity back then to hunt...'

Shaking its head to clear it, the [Immortal] caterpillar chittered its jaws in anticipation before it went to town. It had snails to hunt.

At that moment, the war within its fragile mind slowed down, unable to reach the crescendo that it had been preparing for. The clash between the [Mortal] and the [Immortal] had been worsened by its desperation but with this new lease of life, the desperation died and the war slowed.

But the [Reincarnated] Sorceress knew nothing, remaining ignorant.

Meanwhile, snails after snails were baited and killed by the [Immortal] caterpillar, granting it a bunch of Levels each time, as if they had been gift wrapped for it. The drizzle sprinkled still, and its beady eyes took in the beautiful sight. 'Rain.' It reminisced before its thought turned to the present, '...it seems to be my lucky charm.'

By the time the ambient light dimmed in the evening, the [Survivor] had reached Level 100; all within a single day.

Ting.

[You have Levelled Up! Level up bonus of +1 HP granted.]

As the final snail fell, shrieking in agony and anger, the green bug dragged the snail carcass to the edge and pushed it down.

Crunch!

Surprised at the sound, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress look down to find the snail corpse burying a scorpion beneath it. The massive, black scorpion, though injured, was still very much alive. It was also the same scorpion that had earlier shrugged off its venom like oriental spice.

With its legs squirming in nervousness, the [Immortal] caterpillar retreated, hoping to hide from the 8-legged monstrosity's vision. After having seen the black creature survive its poison earlier and the current damage, the green bug wanted no trouble with the clearly stronger [Immortal] scorpion.

Fortunately for the green bug, the scorpion didn't seem to be sapient, or intelligent for that matter, as it attacked the dead snail with its stinger in retaliation.

'This idiot thinks that the carcass attacked it?' Taken aback for a moment, the [Reincarnated] Sorceress quickly changed its tune. 'You go Mr Scorpion! Teach that dumb, dead snail the lesson it deserves! How dare its corpse fall on you? It should have managed its corpse better! Yes, poke it! Poke it with your deadly tail. So powerful and shiny! Poke it!'

Chittering its jaws in glee, the [Immortal] caterpillar retreated completely as the scorpion began to eat its 'prey'.

At that moment, it turned back to the notification that sent its skin tingling in excitement.

Ting.

[You have reached Level 100. Do you want to Evolve now?] [Yes] [No]

Staring at the screen with its shining, beady eyes, it rejoiced. 'Finally! I can evolve!'

Apparently, its mental shout of joy had been considered as agreement by the notification as a new notification appeared. But it hastily dismissed it.

Ting.

[You can evolve later by selecting the 'Evolve' option from your Status window.]

'I need to prepare before evolving,' it thought. 'And I have to finish it soon. Can't take too long.'

Though, that was easier said than done. As the rain would have flooded the old hideout since it was -quite literally- a hole in the ground. Not wanting to evolve underwater, it removed burrows and pits from the list of possible locations.

Looking around, its beady eyes locked onto trees. 'Trees are not safe places either. With squirrels, birds and who knows what other creatures making them their home, trees were dangerous spaces.'

The former sorceress squirmed its numerous stubs in displeasure, feeling homeless for the first time since its rebirth. Turning around to look at the shelter it had made for the night, which was but a hole in the tree, an idea formed in its mind.

Marching within its temporary shelter, the [Immortal] caterpillar began to dig deeper, to create more space. At the same time, it also widened the radius which keeping the entrance untouched. 'Old and sturdy tress would be dangerous for sure, but young ones such as this would do.'

After making the shelter at least five times larger than its original size, the [Reincanated] Sorceress began the second step of its plan as the green moon rose into the sky.

Carrying mud up to its shelter, one mouthful at a time, the [Hungry] pest collected clay in its shelter. Keeping it wet by mixing the mud with its venom, the green bug forewent sleep to collect mud over the course of the next day.

It was not the amount of mud collected that caused the [Immortal] caterpillar to take so much time. Rather, it had been its slow speed and easily tired aged body.

With its preparations complete, the [Survivor] sealed up the entrance from the inside using the venom laced mud. It took quite some time for the green bug to accomplish the task but it was still completed within a day.

Thus, it was on the 83rd day since its birth, and only 7 days before its lifespan ended, that the [Reincarnated] Sorceress finally felt prepared to evolve and called up its Status.

[Unnamed] [Skills] [Spells] [Dharma] [Evolve]

Trembling in excitement, it focused on [Evolve].

Ting.

[Do you want to evolve now?] [Yes] [No]

Chittering its jaws, it focused on [Yes].

Ting.

[Choose your form.] [Butterfly Lv.1: Inherited Vessel.] [Moth Lv.1: Variant. Granted due to your unorthodox methods.]

It read both the options and its body twitched in confusion. ‘What does it mean by 'unorthodox methods'?’

‘The only thing that I can think of is the usage of traps to kill the snails? What caterpillar goes around killing its predators?' Shaking its head, it dismissed the notion.

'Inherited Vessel...' Reading the options once again, it tilted its head to the side. ‘Does this mean that I was supposed to evolve into a butterfly? Hmm... Given how it considered my methods unorthodox, the butterfly option wouldn't match well with me. Hmm...'

'It's pretty clear then huh?' Nodding to itself, the green bug called out, 'Moth it is.'

Ting.

[You have chosen Moth as your evolution. Are you sure?] [Yes] [No]

Ting.

[Evolution will begin now. Time Remaining: 30 days.]

Before it could even dismiss the screen, an overbearing urge to spit emerged within the [Immortal] caterpillar.

Straightening itself, the [Survivor] began to spit a white fluid around itself in a circular manner. The fluid solidified surprisingly fast, leaving behind a papery film, using which the caterpillar raised the height to make a hollow sphere, sealing itself within.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-

Name: Unnamed

Race: Immortal

Species: Insect

Vessel: Caterpillar

Level: 100

HP: 105/105 MP: -

HPR: 11/Day MPR: -

Lifespan: 6 days

Titles

[Reincarnated] [Hungry] [Survivor]

Skills

[Crawl Lv.5] [Moulting Lv.3] [Pain Resistance Lv.4] [Poison Resistance Lv.5] [Survive Lv.2] [Venom Creation Lv.4]

[EVOLVE]