The reply made Ragnar doubt his hearing. He was forced to confirm it by reading the text. But it said the same fucking thing.

The words had left him flabbergasted, was that supposed to be possible?

When a person got Shift Mutation, then their only option was to turn into a monster or die. But this defied everything he had learned about the Realm.

How could this be?

But why couldn’t it be? If the Realm was not going to defy the rules it had set then who would?

Humans were still completely in the dark as to what the Rift and the Realm beyond it entailed. They did not know why it appeared. They did not know how its powers worked. How the Rift was able to cause mutations and turn people into monsters.

Most stuff regarding the Realm was still very much a mystery.

Who was Ragnar to question what the Realm could or could not do?

What he could do however, was to think of the things he had to do in the future, because now, it seemed like he might just have one.

Ragnar couldn’t help himself as an eerie, maniacal grin crept up to his face. If the Realm wanted to sow the seeds of its own doom, then why would he refuse.

As for the terms that the Realm might set, did it really matter? His consciousness was going to die anyway if he didn’t agree. Anything would be better than that.

Ragnar was never one to care for trivialities.

But he still inquired in a dark tone to humour the Realm and continue the conversation.

“What… might that condition be?”

His voice came out as a chilling whisper that felt quite scary with his grin.

But the Realm seemed unperturbed as it replied with its voice as well as the symbols.

“You will have to defeat one creature for us.”

Realm’s reply left Ragnar puzzled, since it seemed, a bit too simple, so he confirmed.

“That’s it?”

It replied in its emotionless voice.

“Yes”

Ragnar relaxed a little after hearing this much. He guessed that the Realm shouldn’t be doing things on a whim, or did it?

Well, he at least believed that if the Realm wanted him to kill something, then it shouldn’t be invincible.

Thinking up to here, he asked to confirm, although he had a clue as to what the Realm’s reply would be.

“So, who am I Killing?”

The Realm seem to take a pause as if considering things for the last time, before it answered in the monotone voice.

“You will know when the time comes.”

Ragnar scoffed at this, ‘Figured’

After this, he heard the Realm continue.

“If you accept this condition then we will reward you with a Lineage. However, the main use of that Lineage will only unlock once you complete the task.

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Then, what will be your decision human?

Will you accept this condition?”

Ragnar was sure Realm knew his answer already, yet he spoke up, still with the dark undertone.

“Fuck Yeah I will.

But what’s this Lineage you mentioned? If it will be useless now, just give it later.”

The Realm did not take long to reply this time as its emotionless voice came right after hearing Ragnar’s answer.

“We never said it’s useless and we think it sounds good with your name.”

‘What the fuck do you mean by that?’

But before he could raise his doubts, he heard the Realm continue.

“We wish you good luck on your endeavours then, Human. Welcome to the EtherShift Realm.”

Ragnar didn’t get the chance to reply. The black energies along with the white ones, rushed forward to devour him.

This time he couldn’t keep his mind stable as he felt his consciousness fading, but before he completely lost his senses, he heard the Realm speak, at least he thought he heard,

“Thank you for giving us priority on your list. You can have a head-start in your journey as our gratitude.”

Then his vision completely went dark and he fainted.

***

Ragnar was brought back to his senses by an intense throbbing in his head, like a hammer was continuously pounding against his temples. He groaned; the headache seemed to get more intense as he became more aware of his surroundings.

But once his consciousness returned completely and the pain was making him feel like he might fall unconscious again, he heard a roar.

The roar sounded majestic as if a lion was reminding the forest why he is the king. For a second, he thought that he was under attack but then he realized something.

He didn’t hear it through his ears, instead, it had echoed inside his head. The roar sounded like it came from within him. As soon as that it came, the headache disappeared as if nobody’s business.

These events left him baffled. Could that be the Lineage that the Realm talked about? Did he have a beast inside him now?

After the headache was gone it was clear to him what was causing it.

His bloodlust. He recognised it very clearly because of his experiences with it during the trial.

Even though he recognised it, this one was vastly different. Far superior in quality as if it had gone through countless years of refinement and reached the purest form. However, this bloodlust, being so pure, was still made docile with a single roar, whose origin he still remained uncertain of.

Even though the bloodlust had settled down, he felt that it was still affecting his mind somehow. As in, it was now a part of him and he would not be able to get rid of it no matter what he tried.

He could sense that a bubble inside him was leaking something at a slow but steady pace. He could not pinpoint at what it was even after he tried to focus on it. The only thing he could be sure of was the cause behind it, his bloodlust.

This made him uneasy, the feeling of losing something constantly but not knowing what exactly, was not a good one.

This series of event gave him a lot to think about. But he could perceive that what was happening was not an immediate threat.

So, he had to confirm his surroundings and make sure he was safe first.

He opened his eyes and was met with an unfamiliar scene. In a moderately spacious cave, the walls were adorned with viridescent crystals. The crystals were not enough to brighten up the cave, but they did provide a dim but ethereal ambience. Sharp Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water dripping from some of them.

‘This doesn’t look good now does it?’

Even though that was the case, Ragnar found that he could see everything perfectly as if the darkness was a concept that did not apply to him.

He decided to have a better look by sitting up but when he did, he found that he was falling backwards. As if unable to locate his centre of mass.

‘What the fuck!’

Baffled, he moved his gaze away from the crystals and observed his palms. What he saw made him curse under his breath. But all that came out of his mouth was a hiss.

Realising what was happening sent his mind into a frenzy.

He was inside the body of a Shifted creature, again. But wasn’t he supposed to have his human body? Was the Realm lying? Or, was this another trial? Ragnar had a lot of questions but they won’t answer themselves. So, he tried to calm down. At least he could control his body this time.

He tried to feel his body to find out what type of creature he was. He had two legs and two hands, or maybe he was better off calling them four legs since his hands also had claws similar to his legs.

His skin was covered in fur that were pitch black as if they were covered with ink. His intrusive thoughts won as he rubbed his head against the fur on his legs and found out that they were softer than silk. They were so soft that they made him want to snuggle with himself.

He tried not to indulge too much as he noticed that he also had a tail that he could control at his will. He could make it curl or he could make it straight. When he straightened it up, he deduced that it could cut through stone.

Seeing all this, another smile made its way onto his face, this time it looked beastly, literally. But this one was actually a smile of satisfaction.

He was a cat-like creature that was completely black. So, if Ragnar had to guess, he had the body of a Big Black Cat.

Ragnar was not smiling because he had accepted the fact that he was now a cat, no-no, he was happy with this new body because he could feel it, he knew that his connection with his human body was still there.