It was one of the other Elven Knights who helped Ryan back to his feet. "Chosen One, Joris said you are done with your trial?" He asked while gazing over Ryan's transforming body with hungry eyes.

Ryan was still embarrassed and turned away from the knight's gaze. "Yes," Ryan replied nervously.

The knight helped Ryan to stand up straight. "Your new body will need time to grow accustomed to your new form. You can stand by the exit door and wait for the other Chosen One to finish his trial." He commented with a smile.

"What happened to me?" Ryan asked nervously as he stepped outside the cage.

"Lady Yoona is the one who can explain in detail what the Goddess of Nils is doing to you." The Knight said. "This is my first time meeting a Chosen One, so your guess is as good as mine." He added with a chuckle.

Just as Ryan was finishing his conversation with the Knight, Ryan felt someone standing behind him in close proximity to him. And as Ryan turned to see who it was, a cute tomboyish redhead with red eyes, stared holes into him only inches away from his face. 'WHOA! Back off!' Ryan instinctively jerked back.

"You're not a bad-looking chick. Hmmm? Too bad you don't have tits though, but I'll make an exception for you baby. Do you want to come to my room after I finish my super epic trial?... I mean, it's the least you can do for your Chosen One, Right?" The feminine figure then gave Ryan the creepiest smile.

'Oh god!.... I've changed so much that Hiro doesn't know it's me!' As Ryan tried to hold back the bile in his stomach from the disgust he felt from the overly perverted and sexist comment.

"Oh, you think I'm some kind of pervert or something? Well, you may be right but I just wanted to check if you were a virgin."

"Wha... What are you talking about?! Hiro, it's me you IDIOT!" Ryan yelled out.

"Pfft! What? I'm just being friendly! I mean... uhm, you look kinda familiar, but I can't place where I've seen ya." Hiro said nervously as the spineless coward he was.

"It's me RYAN! From EARTH! YOU DUMB FUCK!" Ryan raged.

Hiro had a look of doubt at first but as he stared at Ryan you could see the gears turning ever so slowly as he put two plus two together as the realization came to him. Hiro then hyperbolically jumped back and pointed at Ryan.

"DUDE! WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE A GIRL!? ARE YOU GAY!?" Hiro shrieked upon realizing it was Ryan.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE NOT, DUDE?!" Hiro continued freaking out as he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off.

The shock of Hiro's reaction almost made Ryan boil over in rage.

'I really don't care if you're gay, straight or trans. It's none of my business what one does in their own private life, as long as it is consenting adults. But this idiot doesn't realize we are unknowingly being transformed into only, God knows what? And all he cares about is if I'm gay!?' Ryan concluded as he tried to keep rage at bay.

'The Dark Elves knew this was going to happen to us and they withheld that from us. We are their tools, their objects, to achieve whatever their goals may be. And they hide that from us. That pisses me off and Hiro is as much of the problem as the Dark Elves were.' Ryan's anger starts to take hold.

'Hell, maybe even more of the problem! By being the biggest oblivious narcissist I have had the misfortune of running into in my entire life! And my patience was gone, my anger was taking hold. I was tired of Hiro's bullshit!'

Hiro flinched when Ryan charged at him with a speed he never knew he had. His eyes widened in terror, his mouth open as Ryan grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him into the side of the stone wall of the dungeon which created a booming sound and made a Hiro-sized crater upon impact.

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He let out a gasp as blood was coming from his mouth as Hiro was pinned into the wall by Ryan. 'I have no idea that I have this much strength now. But I didn't care, I was going to beat some sense into him one punch at a time!'

All this happened within a second as Ryan pulled his right arm back making a fist ready to strike Hiro. Then all of a sudden someone grabs Ryan in some sort of body lock tackle move and yanks him off of Hiro.

"Stand down Ryan!" It was Joris. Ryan struggles to break free from his grip. Then another Knight helps Joris to restrain him.

"Argh! Get off of me!" yelled Ryan as he failed to break free. "I'm going to beat some sense into that prick!"

"Ryan, eerrr, your punch would have killed him!" Joris kept a firm grip on Ryan. "You don't realize how much stronger you are compared to Hiro!" Joris yelled.

"You have basilisk mana in you! He doesn't!" Joris tried to reason with him. Until Ryan finally got control of his rage a bit when the realization of almost murdering Hiro sank in.

Ryan finally stopped struggling in Joris' grip.

"Are you going to stand down?" He asked Ryan.

Ryan signed and calmed himself before answering. "I'll stand down if you keep that piece of shit away from me." He said in a firm voice, looking at Hiro coughing up blood trying to recover from being smashed into a stone wall. With a couple of knights guarding him to make sure Ryan doesn't try to do anything.

" You swear?" Asked Joris.

".... I swear not to harm him," Ryan answered, still frustrated.

Joris nodded. "Good, now I'm going to release you slowly. So don't try anything." He said as he and the other knight released Ryan. Then Ryan slowly walks away from Hiro and the guards stand between them.

"..."

"..."

"I wish to leave if my trial is done?" Ryan asks.

"Yes, you may. Asher, escort The Chosen One to Lady Elianna." He told one of the knights who led Ryan out of the dungeon. As Ryan, Asher, and one other Knight were leaving the dungeon.

***

As Ryan was walking through the dungeon with the Knight and Asher. He had some time to reflect on what had transpired a moment ago with a clear head.

'I almost murdered Hiro.' Ryan came to the conclusion and started feeling sick to his stomach from almost doing something so terrible. And it wasn't Ryan's intention, but with all the events leading up to that point, his anger got the better of him.

'I'm going to have to apologize at some point.' Ryan told himself with a grimace on his face.

'But my priority is to escape from this place. Then, I need to reverse whatever is happening to me. After that, I have to find a way back home.' Ryan figured he would start with the most important issue first. As he walked he tried to think of what he could do to reverse whatever was happening to him and Hiro.

He was lost in thought until he felt a tug on his shirt sleeve. It was Ellianna. 'I didn't realize we came out of the dungeon already?'

"Ryan, you seem to be coming along nicely," Ellianna said as her eyes scanned my body. Analyzing the changes that were happening to me.

"Why is my body transforming, Ellianna," Ryan said in a demanding voice.

Ellianna looked at him with pity in her eyes. "You were brought here to be our champion."

"Ellianna! You already told me that crap already! Why am I turning into a girl!" Ryan was clearly frustrated by Ellianna's non-answer.

She sighed and said, "Only Female Dark Elves are able to use magic, gifted by the Dark Goddess' chosen ones."

"..." Ryan was silent, his stern look faded into confusion upon hearing the new revelation.

"What's done is done. The sooner you accept the better Ryan."

"Is that why Yoona was disappointed when she saw I was a male not because I was human?"

"Yes, we were concerned at first the summoning ritual failed. Luckily the Goddess connected with Lady Yoona and told us, 'All would be fine' if we let you absorb mana when slaying the beast from our forest." Ellianna explained. "But we needed to be sure that your bodies could handle absorbing the mana of our world since you two were manaless beings."

"Why did the Goddess choose me? What makes me so special?" Ryan asked.

Ellianna shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's a mystery. She just does."

"Can the Goddess change me back to normal and send me back home?" Ryan asked.

Ellianna shook her head and said, "I do not know. Only the Goddess can answer that."

Ryan sighed and sat down on the ground. He was tired of asking questions and getting no answers. All he wanted to do was go home. To see his girlfriend and family again.

"Listen, Ryan, all will...." Ellianna gets interrupted when Sehranya, Yoona's loyal retainer, comes rushing in with a concerned look as she comes over to Ellianna. She then whispers into her ear. Whatever Sehranya said to her seemed crucial because Ellianna's face shifted to stern upon hearing whatever she said.

"How long ago?" Ellianna asked with concern.

Sehranya sighed and said, "We think a few hours."

"Ryan, I have some important business to deal with. I'm going to have Asher escort you to your room. May the Dark surround us." Ellianna said as she turned on her heel and started to walk towards the door and up the stairs.

"..." Ryan was feeling something was off.