He gasped out another breath as he bit down on the leg. The meat tasted bland and tough but really fucking good. His stomach burned as it tried to keep down the food, yet he never felt full. It was as if the damn thing was digesting the food faster than he could eat it. A couple of minutes later he threw the bone aside, as clean as he could make it. He tore another piece off the deer, another one of its hind legs. After a bit of time haphazardly skinning it he placed it over the flames, his hand covered in the black blood to stop the heat from touching him. He’d have used his new fancy gauntlet but he didn’t want it to get dirty.

He was lucky that one of the goblins had some cotton and a knife on their person. All he had to do was slice against a rock until it made a flame. That took him a good, excruciating hour to do. He thought back to all the times his dad had told him how he should learn how to properly make a fire, and that only knowing the how-to by word would just get him killed. It had been such a dumb, niche thing that he’d never actually cared, though.

He always carried a lighter either way, so why did it even matter? He sighed, taking a bite out of the now well-done leg. His teeth were sharp enough to make mincemeat out of it either way. Dammit, how the hell was he supposed to know people could be sent off to some weird fucking world where little green men existed!?

Yeah, he had figured it out by now. He’d be fucking stupid not to after noticing the strange skeletal structure of the thing he’d unclothed. The thing had three giant fingers on its hands and toes. It did not take a scientist to figure out that something was wrong with that. Honestly, he was completely stupid for not noticing the moment his hands started turning into claws on command in the first place. He buried his head in his hands, ignoring the fact that it was getting the grease of the deer leg into his hair. Before this, he still had hope that he could just make it back to his house. He wanted to fall dead asleep in the entranceway only to wake up and go to the shower, never to come out.

But he’d be in this forest, probably forever. If the tribe of those green alien things was living anywhere near here then there damn sure as hell wouldn’t be any sign of human life… Maybe that had been the reason the old man had summoned him, out of loneliness. Hah. He still didn’t regret what he did. He remembered the dark world he’d seen after he died, the complete loneliness of the dark.

All the bastard had to do was ask him nicely, if he wanted out of that world. There was no way something malicious was going on. If there wasn’t there’d be no need to torture him until he had turned into a broken mess, in the middle of smack dab nowhere filled with green tribal midget aliens that were probably out to eat him.

…At least he had clothes now. Despite their small size, their clothes seemed to come from actual normal-sized humans, especially the black, thick coat and white shirt on the green thing’s upper body. The pants had some of the bottom cut off, though, only able to reach his ankles. And the underwear… he’d stick to his black shorts for that. There was no way he was touching some grody aliens undergarments. He’d gotten used to the tight feel of the shorts, too, as if they were slowly getting used to his body. No shoes, unfortunately.

but he managed to get some pretty sweet armor from them as well.

If only he knew how to fasten it onto himself. He had gotten too excited ripping off the armor that he hadn’t thought to check how they were fastened, or even if they could only be put on by one person. Every time he tried putting on part of a chest piece or something for the shoulder he’d always ended up making it too loose to properly keep it on right. It didn’t mean he wasn’t going to use it, though.

He had placed the pieces haphazardly on himself, more for the fashion than any actual protection. Especially since they seemed to actually hinder his movements. He’d just take them off when an actual battle happened. The best he found was actually a gauntlet for his left hand. He found two, actually… too bad they were both left.

He’d just taken the better-looking one and tossed the other. He chuckled, tearing off the final leg of the giant deer and preparing it, roasting it again over the flame. His hunger finally disappeared, and with it gone something else had replaced it. A certain confidence. He felt less scared, less insecure about the situation around him… It was nice. He honestly didn’t know if it was this weird supernatural body that did that or just the fact that he felt less anxious without the constant gnawing hunger in his gut.

It was good for him either way. He got up, yawning. Night had set a while ago, leaving the area around him dark. The only thing keeping him alight was the flame, so he was happy about that. Though, he did wonder if that only made him more of a target, though. It didn’t matter. He looked down at the leg that had had a spear go almost all the way through it.

Barely a scar.

Despite how uncanny the feeling of his legs felt when it had been regenerating, as if something slimy and warm was digging into his flesh, the fact that it had done so so quickly had made him so excited he had almost wanted to chase the green bastards down. It wasn’t until he realized that meant he was thinking of hunting and killing humans that he stopped himself. well… things that looked like humans, at least.

Soon, he was done with the last legs, throwing the bone aside and lying back with satisfaction. He was sure he’d eaten almost fifty pounds of meat, but his stomach hadn’t felt uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, it felt as if he’d finally barely managed to fill it. Now that he was no longer hungry he decided to sleep. He poured dirt over the flames until it died, making sure not to leave a single ember unextinguished.

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After that, he climbed a tree, properly far away from the stench of blood and battle. He made sure the trees were sturdy enough to hold him. It didn’t matter either way, since his new body seemed to be able to take a good thrashing. Even if he fell it probably wouldn’t hurt him, and if it did he could just heal it. He finally found a good and sturdy set of branches that seemed to intertwine with each other almost like a hammock. He tested it a bit by jumping on it and it didn’t budge. Perfect. He laid down, looking up at the stars with a satisfied expression.

Honestly, It felt good lying here, without any worries.

Sure, he had to wonder what he’d do tomorrow, especially since his life was on the line…

But those were all physical worries, thighs he’d be able to get done just by doing it.

There were quite a lot of things in his old life that required more than a bit of muscle to get done. This was a different world, though, so he no longer needed to worry about them. He chuckled, looking at the stars above. No Ursa major, no north star. Nothing he could use as a way to keep himself from going in circles. He wasn’t in a state to be relaxing, yet here he was, his eyes slowly getting droopier as he settled into the leaves.

He closed his eyes, the heavy feeling of sleep taking over as his head lulled back. As he drifted away he couldn’t help but think that this might have been the most comfortable sleep he would have had in a while…

Nowhere near the most comfortable awakening, though.

“Help! Please! Somebody!”

He jolted awake at the noise, almost turning right out of his makeshift bed. He looked around him before wondering if it was all in his head. Maybe it would have just been better to go to sleep, right?

“Aaaah!”

Damn, there it was again. Some girl was screaming for help. Accepting what he had to do, he jumped off the tree, using his claws to grab the bark and slow his fall. When he landed, he closed his eyes, focusing on the sounds of the forest around him. Surprisingly, the whole forest seemed to open up to him, as if he could hear everything. The shouting and sounds of gasping breaths came from his right. He grinned as he also heard the sounds of angry war cries, all sounding mixed and garbled. Non-human.

Probably Green nonhumans.

He bent his legs, feeling the intense power behind them. He tensed up a bit before releasing, exploding forward into the trees. Someone needed help probably, just because it happened to coincide with his feelings of revenge meant nothing. He kept focusing in on the sound, realizing that the sounds of the green monsters and the girl’s gasping had separated. She must have been successfully escaping the bastards.

He had to step in before she lost them completely if he wanted a reason to take them out. He got closer to the ground, seeing one of the green bastards lagging behind. They didn’t even get a chance to turn back as he raked one of his claws through its neck. He didn’t even turn to look at the now tumbling creature, bolting forward to take care of the rest. He could only hear three more, and they sounded like they were only a good 20 feet away.

His leg ached with pain despite it being fully healed, remembering how these bastards had skewered him just a while ago. He was gonna have a bit of fun, at least. The trees were a good place to hide, so he made his way up them, jumping onto lower branches and steadily making his way up. It was hard to do, and he had slipped a couple times until he started to get the hang of it. The process had slowed him down a bit, too.

Though that didn’t mean he hadn’t been catching up.

With as graceful a jump he could manage off a flimsy branch he landed on top of one of the grubby bastards. He no longer used his claws, wanting to keep their clothes non-bloody. He’d come back to those later. He slammed his foot down onto their back, hearing their gurgling cry before their chin hit the ground. Their necks were actually pretty small and stringy, so all he needed to do was wrap his hands around them and just… squeeze.

It wasn’t until he felt the snap in their neck that he felt satisfied. Well, as satisfied as doing such a disgusting action could make him. The other two had stopped chasing the girl, looking back at him with terror in their eyes. They remembered him.

He grinned, charging at one before they got their wooden spear up. He managed to stomp down on the shaft of it before he could manage anything, and in a flash, he reached for their throat. He pulled the green thing closer and smashed his fist into their face, knocking them out. A few more punches just out of spite, and he’d finished up with the thing. He turned to the next only to find it already gone. Those things could disappear at a moment’s notice, huh?

Well, it didn’t matter. He had to find the girl that was running now. Tell her that everything would be fine.

He focused on the world around him, listening in on the forest. He… didn’t hear anything. Weird. The girl must have been hiding or something, trying to keep the noise down. It wasn’t until he used his nose that he had some luck, smelling the blood escaping her. It was different from the scent of the green aliens, less coppery and more… sweet? Uh…

The poor girl must have been hurt.

He gingerly ran forward until he found the spot the trail led to, a large bush that seemed to have been disturbed and stopped. He sniffed the air and he was sure it was where she was hiding. The air was almost intoxicating him with the smell, making him feel just a tad bit funny.

Jesus.

He slapped himself in the face, mentally pulling himself together. “...Hey? I took care of those things for you. I’m not sure if you need help or not but I really could use some directions to… Hello?” He pulled the bushes away, trying to see if his nose had been lying to him. It wasn’t until he looked inside that a spear had pierced through, almost gnashing him in the stomach.

“Recede a me, creatura mala!” The girl shouted, looking at him with malice in her large, green eyes. Her hair was covered and twigs in leaves, yet it made her look more like a fairy than a disheveled, lost person. Then he realized he didn’t understand her. He laughed as realization dawned on him, remembering how the old man had used the same, weird language.

A language he couldn’t speak.