Liam doesn't know the last time his body didn't feel like garbage, constantly fighting to stay functioning. Bedridden for what felt like an eternity, he simply wanted his suffering to end no matter what. It didn't matter if he was cured by a miracle or if the plug was pulled; he just wanted his torment to end.
Every second, his eyes slowly blinked, staring blankly at the hospital room's ceiling. He didn't know what happened around him; the blurry figures of the nurses and doctors occasionally appeared in his peripheral vision, but he never paid them any attention.
He knew that his time was near, having been in Hospice for quite a long time. He just wanted it to be over with, having already resigned himself.
He was tired of his life, having no joy in it. Constant mistakes were made by him, mistakes that he regrets and cannot take back.
His life was over. He didn't want to be there anymore; the suffering a Human can endure is something he didn't want to experience anymore. He didn't want to be human, not anymore; he was tired of the pressures of life.
One may call him a coward, and he was fine with it. He wanted people to call him whatever they wanted. He didn't care; he was going to die anyway.
Not many of his family visited him; they didn't care to. His parents were long dead, and they were the only people that he truly cared for.
And he was happy that he was going to join them. He didn't believe in his parents' religion, but wherever they went, Liam hoped that he went with them. The rest of the people he left behind, he wished well in life; he didn't hate them, but he just wished that they would leave him at peace.
And that wish was granted; he was going to die alone.
At his final minutes, Liam stared at the ceiling, his face pale and his breath getting slower.
"I was nothing but weak." Liam's thoughts were loud in his mind; that was all he could hear in the cold room, "I curse my frail body, my weak mind, I curse it all. Everything I've gone through, I regret it.....I only wish.....that I could have been a better person.....and stronger...in body and mind."
After 21 years of living, Liam was about to reach his final minute.
Whether or not it was a good life, it was one that was already done. And nobody was going to be there to be with him.
Liam's final thoughts were this:
"Mother, Father...wherever I go....I simply wish to be strong..."
And his eyes closed.
And they never opened again.
In this world.
*************
In the Wildspire Waste of the New World, a herd of Apceros was slowly grazing on the grassy area of the region. They were immediately alerted by the distant roar of a Rathian, which caused them to huddle closer to each other.
They looked around to see that there was no immediate threat; the sounds of the roaring Queen of the Land were getting farther and farther away. The Apceros then resumed their mealtime, ignorant of a nearby threat that was not apparent to them.
The Wildspire Waste, home to many monsters but ruled by the Apex, the Diablos. Its desert areas were arid and harsh, making it a home to creatures that can endure such conditions. The Apceros, being sturdy herbivores capable of withstanding the conditions, were found in the Waste. They are territorial creatures, attacking any intruder on sight, working together as a herd.
But despite that, they are always cautious of powerful predators like the Rathian and even the Diablos, which is not a carnivore. Despite being a herbivore, the Diablos is incredibly aggressive and territorial, attacking anyone who crosses its path.
This world is not for the weak, as any monster that is born in it must survive no matter the cost.
The Apceros are aware of that, the instinct ingrained in their very being. Yet, despite that, they are unaware that not too far from them, a juvenile brute wyvern slumbers.
One of the apceros wandered into a small clearing past their grazing grounds. It then froze as it came across a sleeping Glavenus, smaller than the Brute Wyverns that normally pass through, clashing against the Apex Predator of the Region.
The apceros snorted and slowly backed away, having not alerted the juvenile Glavenus right away. The herbivore then stepped on a large branch, fallen from a distant tree that was brought forward by the desert wind. The snap of the branch was loud enough for the Glavenus to hear, immediately causing it to open its eyes.
The Glavenus let out a low growl, immediately standing up and shaking its neck. It then began to look around, sniffing the air out of pure instinct, before it looked at the herbivore.
"Huh?" Liam's thoughts filled the Brute Wyvern's head, "What is this? Where am I?"
He looked around, trying to make sense of where he was. The last thing he remembered was being on a hospital bed and closing his eyes for the eternal slumber that was inevitable. And now, he was standing up in the middle of what he assumed was a desert region, before a strange animal that he vaguely recognized.
"Wait...." he said, "Where are my arms?"
He looked to the side, his eyes catching a glimpse of his large body, covered in red and blue scales and spikes.
"Have I been reincarnated?" He thought to himself as he swung his tail slowly, bringing it to the side so he could see it, "This tail.....this.....am I a Glavenus?
At that moment, Liam understood what this was. His wish to be reborn as a stronger being was granted; he was given the body of a Glavenus, one of his favorite monsters in the Monster Hunter Franchise.
"This....is my second chance...." Liam said, "I was given a gift....anything but that bedridden body....."
"I am thankful."