I was standing in the middle of a large white room. There was nothing except the vast expanse of almost painful glowing white as far as I can see. Where am I? The last thing that I could remember was running after that dog who had broken free from that child and had run into the street. What had happened? No matter how hard I tried, nothing came to mind after my hand grabbing that dog’s collar. “A brave one with compassion. A good choice.” Startled I jerked my head in the direction of the voice, and stared. In front of me was what looked to be a cross of a man and a wolf? He stood like a man, on two legs and wore a robe, a dark one with maroon edging. He held a large leatherbound book under one arm and wore what looked like spectacles on his nose. His nose though looked more like a snout, his eyes behind the glass were the same yellowing orange that I had seen on a pitbull and every inch of visible skin was covered in dark grey fur. His fingers were tipped with what looked to be large black claws. I had never seen anything like him before, it was beginning to freak me out. Stunned by the sudden appearance of the man? Wolf? Thing? I just stood there in silence. “Saving a canine in distress. Would you happen to be very fond of canines?” Was I fond of dogs, well yes I was. I loved dogs, more than I did humans that was for sure. Why this thing wanted to know though was a mystery. I mean what kind of question was that and how did it know that I had run after that dog? Was it spying on me? That sent chills down my spine. I wordlessly nodded. The thing in front of me chuckled “Then that shall be your gift. Hmm, what would you like to be called child?” What the everloving hell was this thing talking about? What did I want to be called? How about my name nimrod? If it had been stalking me then it should know that much at least. Giving the thing my best suspicious glare I spat out “Elise.” It nodded “Elise. Good name. I am Darvin, one of the Patron Gods of Darva. I am giving you a place in my country of Darva. You shall be granted the right to try for one of the highest positions in the land and serve Darva with an extended life span.” Wait what? This sounded like one of those stories where people are placed in games or transported to other worlds. Why would I want to go there, could I refuse? What was going on? Where is that dog I was saving? How long have I been standing here in this white bright room talking to this total nutcase? I never got a chance to ask, before I could say anything else the white light in the room intensified and then ….nothing.

There was something hard beneath my back and something else was making my nose itch. I batted at whatever it was that was messing with my face and for a brief instant I had relief, before it came waving back more irritating than ever. My eyes flew open and I was giving my best most intense glare at...a long piece of grass. A quick look around showed that I was in a field of grass, a gentle but persistent breeze making all the grass move like waves in the ocean. I was lying on an outcropping of rocks in the middle of this field. It was one of the most beautiful sights that I had ever seen, the grass was a mix of colors, brown, orange, blue and green stalks blended together and in the distance a tree line filled with the colors of autumn leaves reflected the purple and violet colors of a setting sun. The sight knocked the breath out of me. I had never lived outside of a city before, the most nature that I had been exposed to had been at the park and there the people and cityscape had always been in the picture. Here the first dim glow of the stars could be seen as the sun began to fall. The air was so fresh and I could smell more clearly than I had ever been able to before. The sweet scent of the trees in the distance mixed the earthy smell of the soil and even the grass had a scent. It was nothing I could describe, no words could match the feeling it gave me. I had no earthly idea where I was, but in that moment watching the sun set I could not bring myself to care one bit. What knocked me out of my stupor was the feeling of something cold and hard bumping lightly against my chest when I shifted on the rock. Looking down at myself I froze. What was I wearing? Last I could recall I was wearing some very sensible jeans and my new red blouse. The leather and stone necklace that was my family heirloom around my neck. The necklace was still there but now I wore a short loose faded green dress with some, what looked and felt like leather leggings. As if things could not get any stranger than they already were. The cold metal that I had felt was not from my necklace, but from one that I had never seen before this day. It was some kind of pendant that hung on a thin silver chain the size of a silver dollar and held a yellow gold gem in the middle. The strangest thing happened when I looked directly at the gem, words began to float before my eyes:

Congratulations on being chosen by Darvin to be one of the Reborn! To give you a better chance to excel in your new life the gods have generously given you a few gifts. The first is this pendant. This marks you as one of the reborn and offers you sanctuary in the country and with the ruling government of the country the corresponding God or Goddess is patron of. For those chosen by Darvin or Verdin the Reborn is automatically given a place in the trials of the Avatar. The second gift is ten free levels to spend as they please. The third gift is the rare ability of Analyze so the Reborn may better understand and navigate the new world they find themselves in. Best of luck to you in your second life!

What the hell?! This little speech sounded like some lame announcer telling someone their prize on one of those game shows that my parents liked to watch. It kept mentioning being “Reborn” and a “Second life”. Those made it sound as if I had died. Suddenly I flashed back to the strange Wolf creature thing that had been talking to me in that white room “ A brave one with compassion” It had said, “Saving a canine in distress”... Did I die saving that dog?! The thought stunned me. I felt that if I had died then someone should have had the grace to let me know, not just spout off nonsense about dogs and if I liked them or not. Wait… he had talked about my liking canines and said something about how that was going to be my gift. What had he meant by that? The whole levels and Analyze thing sounded a lot like a game, so first thing first I should use Analyze on myself right? Get a feel for what is going on? Taking a deep breath focused on my hands, squinting hard trying to see something. Nothing happened. So I took another breath and thought hard: Analyze: Self. Like some kind of game menu. I had read enough books about things like this to know to give it a try at least. This time I was staring at a screen with my reflection on it. Wow, I looked like crap. My curly black hair that had always been a pain to keep in line was going all over the place, my olive skin was streaked with dirt and covered in grass, and my brown eyes had an almost manic look in them. It was a good thing that I was alone here, explaining my appearance to a stranger was not something that I wanted to do. A lady’s first impression in a new world should be a good one. Not looking like the crazy lady who lives by herself in the woods would be a good start. Above my head were the words:

Name: Elise

Age: 25

Mind: 80/90

Str: 12 Spd: 6 Int: 15 Res: 3 Def: 8

Race: Human (Earth)

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Level: 10

Gift: Shapeshifter

Titles: 4

Abilities: 3

Skills: 3

Skill points: 100

That’s right, the pendent, and I cannot believe that this is an actual sentence, told me that I had been given ten free levels. What was this Shapeshifter gift thing though? Wait… a feeling of dread washed over me. The wolf thing, Darvin, said that my gift was something to do with canines. With great trepidation I focused my thoughts on the words shapeshifter. The whole image in front of me blurred for an instant then showed a page filled with question marks and one image with the title German Shepherd written in gold letters. . I focused harder on those words:

German Shepherd: A species in the canine family from another world. Form gained: conditions met: saved canine. Rarity S. Basically the only thing that I could turn into was the dog I died saving. At least it seemed to be a full grown one and not the puppy looking thing that had broken free from the child. Running around as a puppy would definitely suck. If all the question marks were things I could change into then, I did a quick count and there were thirty seven types of canines that I could transform into. I have no idea how I am going to transform into anything, and wasn’t really sure I wanted to. Would it be a quick and painless thing like in some shows? Or would it be messy and slow and painful like some movies? I was not sure I wanted to find out. Would I lose my clothes, or would they magically appear and disappear each time I shifted. A lady should not go running around naked, it is improper. There seems to be a lot of things that I need to figure out before meeting other humans. I focused on my name in the top left hand corner of the screen and it brought me back to the image of me. I shuddered again because wow I looked bad and looked at the other things under my name. Titles, it says that I already have four. I have no idea what titles are but I should know what I have. I focused on the word.

Title: A name or designation that has been earned that allows access to certain skills and/or events/ areas. Okay, that kind of makes sense. So what ones do I already have?

Titles: Reborn, Touched by Darvin, Shapeshifter, Trial participant

Reborn: One who has been chosen by a God to be reborn into a new life after dying in another world. Conditions met: Picked by Darvin after death. Rewards: New life, 10 levels, 100 skills points, skill Analyze, skill either Arcane or Language Translation.

Touched by Darvin: A mortal who has received a blessing by the God Darvin. Conditions met: Receive blessing by Darvin

Shapeshifter: One who can transform themselves into another creature. Reward: Transform (canine)

Trial Participant: One of five people in Darva who are competing in the Trials to win the right to be either the Avatar of Darvin or the Avatar of Vedrin. Other three will serve as esteemed Guards. Conditions met: Be chosen by Darvin to participate. Reward: Trial entry.

Staring at the explanations for my titles and what they did was making my head hurt. This Darvin guy never asked me if I wanted to compete in some stupid trial thing and what the hell was an Avatar and why are people fighting over the right to become one? There is just so much that I don’t understand. I went back to the main screen and looked at the header of abilities.

Abilities: Unique skills that a person can use.

Abilities: Analyze, Transform (canine), Language translation

Analyze: The ability to look and see the description and status of self, other things and people. Rare. (Level 1) Points to next level 20

Transform (canine): The ability to change into another creature. Restricted to canine species trees. Cost 20 Mind. Rare. (Level 1) Points to next level 20

Language Translation: Automatically understand the verbal language of all speakers. Ultra Rare. (Level --)

That last skill Language Translation sounds very useful. I was worried about being able to understand the language of this world. I have no idea what kind of language that they speak. I much rather have this skill rather than the other one Arcane. Sure it probably would have been cool to be able to use magic, which is what the skill sounds like, but knowing what people are saying seems much more important. It seems like I can level up my skills and I was given a lot of skill points, but the levels seem expensive. Maybe 100 skill points isn’t that much after all. I brought myself back to the main image and focused on skill points.

Skill points: Points earned with each level up a creature undergoes. Points can be spent on new skills or on leveling old skills. Points needed to level each skill vary on skill level and how much experience that skill has gained from use already. New skills area available depending on the level of the creature and their gifts.

Obtained skills:

Analyze: Rare. Level 1. Exp (0/50) points to next level 20

Transform (canine): Cost 20 Mind. Rare. Exp (0/25) points to next level 20

Language Translation: Ultra Rare. Level --

Skills not yet obtained:

Cooking: Enhances one’s ability to cook. Common: Points to obtain 10

Woodcraft: Enhances one’s ability to work and shape wood. Common: Points to obtain 20

Metalworking: Enhances one’s ability to work and shape metal. Common: Points to obtain 20

Hunting: Enhances tracking skills, supplements knife skills, supplements bow skills and gives the user heighted danger sense. Unusual: Points to obtain 30

Scavenger: Allows one to use items, objects and corpses around them to greater advantage. Unusual: Points to obtain 15

Herbology: Enhances knowledge of and collection skills of plant life. Common: Points to obtain 15

Mineralogy: Enhances knowledge of and collection skills of minerals. Common: Points to obtain 15

Farming: Enhances ability to grow crops and raise animals. Common: Points to obtain 15

Crafting: Enhances one’s skills in creating weapons, armor, cookware, flasks, and other objects. Common: Points to obtain 40

Alchemy: Enhances one’s understanding of poisons, magic, illnesses, wounds, and the creations of potions, antidotes and other tonics. Unusual: Points to obtain 25

First Aid: Enhances one’s knowledge of injuries, assessment of injuries and ability to treat them. Unusual: Points to obtain 30

Zoology: Enhances one’s knowledge of creatures, ability to communicate with creatures and more success with raising creatures. Rare: Points to obtain 50