I felt my very being compressed into the shape of an orb as I was whisked away. I was moving so fast I could not even perceive what I was flying past. I caught glimpses of light and dark but nothing else. I heard everything and yet nothing simultaneously. I could not feel as I had no flesh. It was merely me for what seemed like ages, and then I was not alone.

The presence I felt had a vague humanoid outline but no feature. It was transparent like fog. The being in question had no distinctive male or female characteristics. It seemed to glow a very faint light blue. I took in its feature while the being appeared to be taken aback by my presence. It made a gesture with its body like it was trying to get someone attention and then there were two of them.

The first transparent creature pointed at me saying, "What is an Elf's soul doing here?" Its voice was gender-neutral and sounded like it had been garbled by a radio.

"I don't know, but it's clearly an infant's soul, look at the color and brightness," The second figure replied in the same static voice.

I was slightly offended by being called an infant and tried to speak out, but no words came out. Of course, I couldn't speak, I had no mouth. How do ghosts speak to humans then? I was asking myself. While I was thinking about that, I noticed that I did glow quite brightly like a small sun. Instead of a light blue glow, I was pure white light. "What the hell," I thought.

The first figure turned to the second, "Someone messed up! This soul is probably overdue. If we don't send it now the child will be still birthed and who knows what consequence that could have to the maker's plan."

"I Authorize that request!", the second replied in the same monotone.

I tried to tell them they were wrong, but then I began to move again, and they were gone. At the last moment, I saw the unknown beings I thought I heard sighs of relief.

I felt warm and wet for what seemed like only a moment. Then there was a pressure, and I started to cough and scream. There was water in my lungs. It felt like there had been water in my lungs forever and I was just now doing something about it. I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. It hurt to try and open them! I realized I was being held and then handed to someone else. The hands of this person were soft, and it felt like they were careful not to hurt me.

Only now did I notice words were spoken in a language I did not understand. They had not seemed like words to me at first, but background noise or the song of a wind chime in the breeze. I was embraced by soft hands and gently rocked back and forth. My recent experience with the fog people occurred to me, and I realized where I was. I was reborn as the member of a different species. Exhaustion overtook me as I tried to calm down and think and then I passed out.

I awoke to find myself wrapped in what must have been a silk blanket as it was too soft to be anything else I knew. This time when I tried my eyes opened, and I looked around. There was a goddess looking down at me. I looked away out of nervousness. On my second glimpse, I noticed her pointed ears. So she really is an Elf?, I questioned. Spending several minutes I studied her appearance, So this is my new mother.

The woman's face lit up when she realized I was looking back at her. What seemed like music exited her mouth, and a lean but tone man came running into the room. He looked like he came right off a magazine cover. Too perfect to be real and also too in shape to be anything but a physical fitness trainer. The man looked at me excitedly and embraced my mother. He then shared a passionate kiss with her. I looked away feeling like if I had any food in my stomach, I would vomit at this moment. Well, that must be my father, I thought.

When they finally separated my mother asked for something, and my father left the room excitedly. She briefly looked away from me seemingly reading from a book that was not there. She did something and some of the exhaustion I was unaware that she was feeling disappeared. What the heck was that? I asked myself curiously. It's like she was able to see information about her body from an invisible screen and make changes that affect her through it. It's like she has access to... a games status screen! I wondered if I had one.

Suddenly what looked like a transparent monitor screen appeared in front of me.

name

Juren

Knollen

traits

level

0

Elven swiftness

Elven talent

Elven longevity

Elven spirit

hp

5

mp

3000

Soul memory

str

0.3

Mp regen

240 min

Simultaneous Thinking

end

0.3

chosen

agl

.3x10 = 3

Soul vortex

int

30

Wis

24

Cha

1(+50)

Con

0.3

I was shocked motionless a moment. My mother checked me worriedly. I purposefully giggled at her, and she responded by kissing me on the forehead. I then went back to reading my stats. Next, to name, I noticed Juren Knollen instead of my original name Rick Evets. Level zero I guessed was because I'm still an infant. Five health points were almost laughable but once again makes sense for a baby. Strength and endurance were below one, but naturally, a newborn can't move, so it also made sense. I assumed my high intelligence and wisdom might be because I'm reincarnated with my memories. It was that or Elves usually have high stats in those verses other races. I did not know if my stats were higher than other babies of my race. My Mana point and mana regen looked high but were directly proportionate to my int and wis. Agility being three made no sense to me though. It was different being 0.3 times 10. What was the point of higher agility if I can't move. I wondered how it was higher, and then another screen popped up.

Elven Swiftness

Agility multiplied by 10 per point

Elves are the fastest race being ten times as fast per point in agility.

The message left an anxious feeling in my gut. It was a racial modifier. A significant bonus that made Elves the fastest. I examined Charisma and noticed a (+50) that was different than the others as well. I mentally asked the screen to show me why and another prompt came up.

Blessing of the Goddess of New life

All babies and adolescents gain temporary +50 charisma.

Well, it was just a temporary buff that increased my charisma. Must be why babies are so damn cute! I mentally noted. My regular stats were beginning to make sense, but my intelligence and wisdom didn't seem to be right. Curious I noticed my other traits. I commanded mentally for my status to show them to me. What I read next surprised me.