When Corvus regained consciousness, he panicked for a brief moment, not because he recalled his last descent to Belys, but because even though he was awake, he couldn't open his eyes. He probably would have completely freaked out if he hadn't remembered what the lady of the void had said about the windows. 'Goals' he thought while desiring to see the task he needed to complete bringing a window up.

Inheritance Test GoalPrimary ConditionSurviveSub ConditionsTaskCompletionHatch000%Feed000%Fledge000%???????????000%??????000%????????????????000%???????????????000%????000%Total Completion000%Participant NameCorvusGoal StatusFailure

'What the hell!' was the first thing that crossed his mind. 'This is way more complicated than before.'

Still he was a little relieved by the first sub condition. It explained why he couldn't see anything. 'One more thing,' he noted to himself. Everything Corvus had experienced since that day, had made his whole life spin entirely out of his control. He was mature enough to know that there were some things nothing could be done about, but he couldn't help but get frustrated with all the things he had no control over and just had to accept. 'One day there'll be a reckoning, you old bastard.' he shouted upwards. Corvus had started to keep a count of the number of times events had been yanked out of his control and he intended to make sure his grandfather answered for all of them.

The question marks were a little concerning, but Corvus concluded that knowing them wouldn't serve any purpose if he didn't accomplish the first three. In fact the most worrisome entry was fledge. Corvus didn't know what it meant. 'Hatch and Feed are easy enough, but to do something I know nothing about?'

Having taken the time to absorb that information Corvus decided to take a look at the other window. 'Hmmm, the others were Skills, Traits, Titles, and Status. I'm pretty sure I don't have any Titles or Traits, but is there a chance I still have my Flight skill? Skills!'

Skills

Void ResistanceThe Void is a place outside of the physical Realms. The nature of the Void is governed by a Void Lord. However, there is one trait that all Voids share, that is the cleansing of one's most recent identity. Your memories and emotions are slowly wiped away as spend time in the void. Through sheer force of will you have managed to create a bubble of protection that allows you to carry through the reincarnation process the equivalent of a few days worth of memories.Skill RankAmateurRank Progress10%

Flight (suppressed)This skills is for those who wish to take to the skies. While it won't help just any Dive bombing dunce become an aerial ace, for any species that commonly flies. It is the quickest way to become an Adept Avian, even more so if it wasn't your original form. Requires a winged form.

*You have retained this skill from a previous life, however due to your current form's inability to support it, the skill has been suppressed. It has also been reduced from Skill Rank Novice due to time spent in the Void.Skill RankAmateurRank Progress95%

He reread the information presented in the skill windows several times, trying to be sure he caught everything. Corvus didn't find anything that surprising in the details of Void Resistance. The only surprise he had discovered was that it only tried to remove things from the most recent life. He'd only lived as a crow for a few days the first time so he remembered it all, but he knew he could only recall a minuscule fraction of his original life. For that reason alone, he was relieved and happy about the tiny bit of information it had provided.

Flight was similar. The information the skills window shared wasn't all that surprising and what surprise it did have was all positive. 'It's the piece of information deduce-able from what's stated that's worth noting.' he reasoned. 'No notification will be given on ranking up, meaning if I want to know I'll actually have to check my skills.'

He took the suppression of Flight in stride because it indicated that it would cease to be so when his body was capable of it. Imagining himself swiping away the window he thought, 'Vanish.'

Taking this cue the skill window shrunk to side and disappeared, leaving the goals window floating there. 'Interesting,' he mused to himself. Previously he had simply thought go away to get rid of the windows, but this time he imagined a manner for them to disappear. While it wasn't exactly the same, the window had still reacted his imagination.

He reopened the skill window, this time he imagined both the skill and goals windows being swiped away to the left. Sure enough, both windows responded. 'That would have been nice to know sooner.' Corvus complained. 'Well, I know it now. I guess all that's left is Status.'

StatusNameCorvusAge0y 0m -19dGenderMaleTest StageOneSpeciesCrowSpecies RankAnimalSkills2/3Titles---Empty---Traits---Empty---

Three words stood out to Corvus, as if they had been written in burning letters: "Test Stage One." This was something he had never considered. All he could do now was stare at it dumbfounded. He'd asked the tree woman about how to get to her stage, but looking at this window he realized that he had been assuming clearing the goal would be the end of the test. It was really starting to sink in that this wasn't going to be quick.

Corvus began to feel as though he couldn't breathe as wave after wave of emotion broke forth. Shock, Dismay, Frustration, Helplessness. Everything he had been suppressing since this whole mess started surged to the surface, demanding to be felt.

With his spirit a bit broken, Corvus swiped the Status window closed. He wasn't sure what his form was like right then, but he imagined himself curling up into a ball. "Heh, heh, he*cough*cough*" sobs broke forth. Corvus clutched at his chest, managing to breathe evenly as tears silently rolled down his cheeks. Losing track of time, Corvus was unable to stop it so he just let himself cry. When he stopped, he was exhausted and it didn't take long for him to drift off.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out of it when he first came to. Even after waking Corvus just stared off into the dark. He just let his mind drift not thinking about anything. Time seemed to stretch on forever, and that suited him just fine. He just let himself float there until he was able to fall back to sleep.

Corvus woke again. 'How many times does that make? Ten? Fifteen?' he wondered idly to himself. Lifting his faux arm above his face he stretched his hand out as though he was reaching for something. He remained just staring vacantly at the back of his hand, his thoughts flitting about. 'What's the point of trying? Even if I complete stage one who knows how many stages there are. On top of that I have no clue how long it will take to complete each stage.'

'Fuck,' he whimpered, 'It's not even like anyone tricked me. I was just deceiving myself, thinking I could finish this quickly.'

Corvus let his hand fall. 'Whatever, I don't care anymore.'

Sensing rather than seeing Corvus noticed a small flickering light. It would strobe on and off annoyingly, never giving his sense time to get used to either it's presence or absence. Angry, Corvus reached out his imaginary hand wrapping around the source of the light. As he did he felt a burning sensation run up his arm, through his chest, before finally arriving in his head where it exploded.

"Aaarrrrghhhh!" Corvus screamed in pain, grabbing at his hair. His mind seared as he felt a memory reform in his mind. Looking for an escape, any escape from his suffering Corvus dove into the memory.

"Hahahahaha," a child's playful laughter split through the air.

Following the sound to it's source, Corvus saw himself. His younger self, Corvus wasn't positive but he thought this might has been around the time he was eight or nine. He watched as the dark haired boy ran off through the field of tall grass. Bursting through his ghostly form, another child ran after the youth that was him.

'Leilah,' Corvus reminisced, with a sad smile. Trailing the children he just observed them as they played. He remembered how much he loved it when Leilah and her father would come visit. Living outside the city as he did, their visits were the only time he really ever got to play with someone his age.

When Leilah tagged his child self, she turned around running back towards his house. Her dirty blonde braid of thick, coarse hair floating along behind her revealing the caramel skin on her neck. "Pfft," Corvus chuckled to himself mildly as he recalled how this scenario almost always went.

As a youth he had learned early on, that he just wasn't anywhere near as fast as Leilah. The first few times they had played tag he would chase straight after her, but even if she stood still until she saw he was an arms length away she would be able to get away. That had been frustrating, to be so close only to have victory snatched away from him so easily every time. He'd finally gotten smart about it though, and instead of immediately following he would dart of to the side. Normally this would have made the situation worse but every time Leilah noticed he wasn't chasing after her she would stop and look around. Only then would he pop out of the tall grass and tag her back.

In the end, both Corvus and Leilah ended up playing for different reasons. Corvus just played for the fun of it, but Leilah seemed to play for the challenge. She watched her surroundings like a hawk when she stopped, seemingly looking for any signs of which direction he was going to come from. This forced him to come at her from all different sides, sometimes he would even double back coming at her from the same direction.

This time Corvus could see as the child him approached her from just to the right of her back. Just as the boy was about to strike forth, tagging the little girl.

"Leilah! Time to go!" a male voice boomed out.

Young Corvus had frozen for an instant at the shout, allowing the girl to notice him. Smirking she proudly declared, "I win," then grabbed his hand, pulling him along as she ran to her father.

He was a tall man well built man. He kept his head shaved, apparently because he too had thick rough hair. His skin was darker than Leilah's, having more of a copper tone. Zahid rubbed his hand through his daughters hair as she hugged him before greeting, "Good Day, Corvus."

"Good Day, -" he heard himself say, before he tuned it out. Moving his ghostly form over to the house he tried passing through the wall. He felt a chill as he passed through, before him a surreal scene. A scene he knew he hadn't seen. All around the cabin every bit of color he could see had been washed away, leaving only grey. In this memory he shouldn't have, he saw his mother crumpled on the floor sobbing. This pained him in a way he couldn't explain, to see his mother hurting and not to be able to do anything for her.

Kneeling his form near her, he sunk into the ground so he could look at her face. There were tears streaming down her face, but what really stood out was the pair of shining blue eyes the tears flowed from. The only color in this entire space. Her head snapped up, forcing Corvus to look around for the reason, before he realized it had been laughter from outside that caused it. He watched as his mother stood wiping her tears with the sleeve of her dress, and patting the dust of her apron.

Corvus moved himself over, floating in the counter as his mother began preparing their evening meal. He heard the door creak open, looking over to see it let in a flood of color.

"I'm back," young Corvus announced walking in.

"How was your visit with Leilah," his mother asked as she turned around. The only trace of her previous state being a slight redness around her eyes.

"It was fun. We played tag, I was just about to win when her dad called her."

"Win?" his mother asked bemused, a loving smile on her face. "How does one win at tag?"

Corvus knew his youthful self would go on to explain how they played cheerfully, but the memory faded to white then black around him, once again leaving him in the darkness that was his unhatched egg.

'What was that?' he thought to himself. A thousand questions ran through his mind; Why had she been so sad? Why didn't she tell him? Was what he saw real? If it was how did he see it? 'Did I ever really know my mother at all?'

Corvus wanted answers, but it was clear to him that their would only be one way to get them. He needed to play their game, clear their goals. Resolving himself Corvus thought 'Status' bringing up the window.

StatusNameCorvusAge0y 0m -2dGenderMaleTest StageOneSpeciesCrowSpecies RankAnimalSkills2/3Titles---Empty---TraitsInsomniac

Most of the information provided was useless as he already knew them or had no clue about the context of them. Knowing what testing stage he was on was only helpful if he knew how many testing stages there were. Beside the point that had sent him spiralling into depression, there were three other bits of information that caught his attention.

His age was a little confusing, until he realized that he hadn't technically been born yet. As such, Corvus started thinking of it as his hatching date. He wasn't positive but it seemed like a reasonable assumption to him.

'Two days until my new life,' Corvus mused to himself. 'That gives me plenty of time to think, to plan.'

Having a Trait was a bit of a surprise. Waving away the status window he brought up the Traits window.

InsomniacTrait DescriptionYou have been granted this trait as a result of an excessive, unnecessary, lack of activity and an excessive, unnecessary abundance of sleep. As such your system has been knocked out of balance. You will find yourself unable to sleep easily or for long until you reduce the number of stored hours by a large margin, unless you exert yourself heavily. Unlike true Insomnia, you have some control over the effects of this trait.Stored Hours153

'Pft. Hahahahahahaa,' Corvus began to laugh maniacally, amused by the absurdity of what his life had become as much as anything else.

When he eventually settled down again, Corvus began to form his own goals for his upcoming life.