With a groan he slowly sat up, looking up towards the night sky he felt the dull ache within his new body.

What in the fuck was that?

Slowly rising to his feet, he looked over his new body, despite the night's darkness his eyesight seemed completely unaffected. He slowly inspected himself, taking note of what he had now become.

At least it’s humanoid….and male.

His skin was an ashen gray and rough to the touch, it brought back memories of his visits to local fish markets on the coast, and the rough skin of sharks that were present there. Dense muscles rippled over his body, never being a large man, he momentarily admired the robust appearance of his much larger self.

Looking along his hands, he noticed large slightly hooked claws extending outwards from his fingertips. Quickly reaching down he picked up a small stone and drew his claws across it, with a slight grating sound they dug deep into the rock effortlessly.

Note to self….be careful when going to the bathroom.

In answer to his thoughts the claws quickly refracted into his fingers, the skin tightly closing behind them to hide their presence. Staring in bewilderment he willed them out again, watching as the skin opened effortlessly to avoid being cut as the claws sprung forth.

Well that’s convenient.

Mulling over how useful it would be to always have a hidden weapon on hand, he continued looking over himself. Feeling his face revealed it had standard human-like features, much to his relief, although his forked tongue and sharpened teeth made talking slightly difficult, speaking aloud he practiced avoiding unnecessary S’s and slurs with his words.

Bit of a chore in all honesty.

Finally, he reached his hands towards his bald head, feeling along the scalp he discovered the large horns that now protruded from his forehead, curling their way back to his mid-head.

“Does everyone have this fucked up shit? Or am I gonna be a freak in this world?” His deep voice rang out in the silence of the night as he patiently waited for a reply.

“Are you still here?”

Pausing, he waited for his Goddess to answer him, only to be met with silence.

Did she already leave me?

Furrowing his brow, he decided to continue without her, the fact that his true master had even brought about this was enough for his faith, expecting her to wait around while he slept all day was too much.

Inhaling deeply, he instantly picked up the scents of various animals and flowers residing around him, the lush woods offered an impressive selection of various smells, causing him to inhale and exhale repeatedly in short breaths before bursting out in laughter.

“Just like a dog! Hahaha! This is great! The smells, and this eyesight! What kind of body did she give me?!”

Spreading his arms out to the night sky above him he felt a rush as he took in his surroundings with his new senses, only as a slight breeze picked up did he finally stop and look down upon himself.

“I need some clothes.” Grinning wolfishly, he realized that he had completely forgotten basic modesty, if he had simply rushed off as he currently was the first maiden he came across would have either been horrified at his demonic appearance, or would be turning several shades darker at his lack of attire.

Swiftly approaching the tent, he flipped open its flap to find nothing, it had been nothing but a simple shield from the weather.

Those two really did pack light.

Looking around he searched for any other belongings, his eyes fell on the bloodied clothing the two had been wearing during his creation, for all intents and purposes it appeared as if an animal had chewed them up and spit the clothing out into a bloody mess on the ground.

Picking up a small pair of pants he examined the shredded clothing, taking note that his current height would have to be considerably larger than either of the women.

Well duh…I’m literally two of them, plus whatever they had caught that day.

Shuddering slightly at the recollection of that morning he continued his search, eventually finding a leather bag tucked within the branch of a nearby tree. Pulling it down he opened the simple buckle on top and began to rummage through the belongings.

Technically this isn’t stealing. Since I’m still them…sort of.

He had been many things in his past a life, a murderous shaman who sacrificed the lives he deemed unimportant to please a deity who fed on their very souls, reckless with little regard for the laws of man. However, despite all this he had always maintained certain morals, namely that petty thieves were scum.

A knife, some jerky, flint, water skin and…nothing.

Sighing he put the small pack down, the women truly had been minimalists in the very essence of the word.

What the hell am I gonna wear!? Even if they had any fucking clothes it’s not like I could wear them, I can barely fit in their god damn tent!

Pausing at the thought, he reached for the knife before flicking it aside.

“I’ll try out my own.” At his comment, the claws extended out from his fingertips as he eyed the tent up, the hide skin had been sewn together and appeared to be sturdy, reaching out he quickly cut the binds holding it to the tree and began his work.

Making a cloak.

What he thought would be an easy task soon had consumed an exorbitant amount of time. Laying out the tent he painstakingly tried to cut out a simple pattern, using his arms and several small rocks to get some sort of bearing of size to cut along. Finishing his task, he stared down at the cloak he had finally managed to piece together, draping it over his shoulders he fastened the front tight with strips he had cut from the excess tent material, the makeshift hood had also been secured using a similar means. Despite the crude and ugly appearance of the article, it had the desired effect of covering his exposed front, at least if he refrained from moving too quickly.

Hopefully the wind stays down.

Bringing the hood up he found that his horns were simply too tall, the material was unable to go up and over them, resulting in the hood draping just over his forehead before being completely stopped. Useless for trying to conceal his facial features.

The fucking horns literally keep it open.

Cursing under his breath he prayed that his appearance would be considered normal for this world, though his suspicions told him that was incredibly unlikely.

“Well…I guess I should get going” looking around he hoped to find some sort of signs of civilization, eventually spotting what appeared to be a small trail across the clearing, heading towards it he began his journey.

It was larger than a game trail, but still offered little for someone of his current posture, weaving his head between the low hanging branches he had to take careful consideration to avoid getting his horns snagged.

“Where the hells a road around this place?” Cursing to himself he continued walking, praying to eventually come across signs of civilization in this new world.

Minutes turned into hours as the sun slowly rose into the sky and began beating down around him, oddly enough despite the increasing temperature he felt completely fine, the heat of the day may have chased many animals to find shelter from the suns sweltering rays, but his new body shrugged off the heat like it wasn’t there.

After hours of walking, the trail merged with a small dirt road that cut through the thick brush, his joy at finding such a path however was quickly forgotten.

The overgrowth…I doubt this was used much recently.

The road was an older carriage path, with thick ruts in the soil showing years of use, however tall grass and small shrubbery had retaken much of the roadway, reclaiming it for the woods. Only the compacted soil from the wagon's wheels had remained untouched.

Sighing aloud he decided to begin walking east, away from the sun now beginning to set. The thought of spending the next few hours squinting into the sunset wasn’t exactly his definition of a good time.

Wait…does the sun follow east to west here?

Amusing himself with thoughts on what differences this world could have to his previous one, he solemnly continued along his path. Feeling a slight rumble in his stomach he pulled the bag from his shoulder, sorting through it to find the jerky he had spotted earlier. Glancing over the small bundle of meat he began eating as he walked.

“This won’t last long…I wonder how long before I can find a settlement…” mulling over his thoughts he continued along.

I suppose I could forage too, though…I don’t recognize any of these plants.

Looking over the overgrown road he spotted a small shrub with what appeared to be white berries. Kneeling closer he inspected the plant.

“It’s…mold?” Each berry had entered a decayed state and now had a thin layer of white fungus covering it, looking over the plant he could see several white spots beginning to appear along its stem and leaves.

Well won’t be eating that.

Straightening up, he continued along the road before noticing another tree covered in the same fungus, slowly the plants surrounding him were showing more and more signs of the parasitic growth.

This whole section of forest is sick…

As if walking into a new season, the surrounding area became whiter and whiter, until no other colors could be seen.

There’s not even animals around.

The playful chirps of birds had all but vanished, leaving nothing but silence as he walked through the white waste. The vegetation drooped under the weight of the fungal growth, with many trees now laying collapsed on the forest floor. Their trunks burst open with the fungal growth that had consumed them.

Shit better not be contagious.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Bringing the corner of his cloak up to cover his face, he continued onward, taking special care to avoid breathing the spores that were now visible throughout the air. The stench of decay had begun to seep into the air around him, even when breathing through his mouth the smell remained.

I can taste it….

Cursing his forked tongue, he continued forward, increasing his pace in the hopes of finding an end to this diseased forest. With nothing to look at but a sea of white the minutes began to drag, as boredom took hold of him.

What’s that other smell?

Another scent had slowly begun mixing in with the stench of decay, it was a robust scent that brought a slight rumble to his stomach, although he had never had food with such an aroma before.

Some sort of meat? Or a soup?

Knowing that the smell of food most likely meant people he quickened his pace while straining his eyes, trying to spot signs of who might be in this wasted forest besides himself.

Following along the road he followed the aroma before coming to an abrupt halt.

That can’t be the smell…can it?

Kneeling, he breathed heavily reaching for the ground. He had finally found the source of the rich aroma he had been following, a small black pool had soaked the ground before him, vibrantly standing out from the white mold blanketing the area.

It was blood.

Running his tongue across his sharp teeth and enlarged canines, it did not take him long to realize why he found blood to be such an appetizing smell.

This body has to be carnivorous.

Standing, he looked along the ground, looking for the animal that had been bleeding here. It did not take him long to spot several large paw prints as well as a small trail of blood leading into the Bush.

Maybe a bear or something similar?

Never having been a hunter in his previous life he could only speculate as to what left the tracks, looking at the chunks of dirt that had been thrown from its path he suspected it had been running after or away from something at a considerable pace.

“I wonder if there are other tracks?” following along the bloodied path he began venturing off the road and into the woods. Roughly 20 meters in he came across two new sets of footprints.

People. Hunters perhaps?

The two individuals had come along parallel to the road, both sets of footprints had paused facing the animal before turning and fleeing away from its approach.

Perhaps a missed bow shot?

He had heard stories of hunters failing to hit the vulnerable shots of large animals, only to find themselves on the receiving end of nature’s fury. Quickening his pace he followed the tracks, hoping to find the would-be hunters alive and well. After all, he was in desperate need of information about this new world.

Forcing his way through the mold infested bush, he thanked whatever animal had been shot for clearing the way. Even with small shrubs and saplings ripped and torn out of the way it was still difficult to navigate in such terrain. Pushing into a small tree his eyes opened wide as it effortlessly broke under his grasp. Although the exterior was molded and decomposing, the core of the wood was still firm and strong.

“Where are they now?”

As if answering his question, a faint shout could be heard ahead, perking up towards the noise he began running forward, weaving his way through the trees.

That wasn’t a happy sounding shout.

As he continued his pace he marveled at how little fatigue he felt, in his previous life running hard while zig zagging through the Bush would have left him out of breath in a matter of minutes. Now he didn’t feel any strain at all, even while maintaining a speed far surpassing his past capabilities.

“Where are they?”

He could have sworn whomever cried out was close by, but as he covered more and more distance no one could be spotted.

Just a bloody trail.

The trees had begun to thin out, and a new sound echoed out to greet him, panicked voices mixed with a slow chunking noise. Like a woodcutter hacking down a tree.

Forcing his way through one last moldy hedge, he entered a tiny clearing no more than 40 meters wide. The grass had long since turned white like everything else, save for the dark red trail that crossed the opening. Directly across from his location a particularly large tree stood, now housing two hunters in full leather garb, the bulky armor was well padded and not a single bit of skin could be seen on either one, even their faces were completely covered with a crude leather mask as well as a black bandana each to cover their mouths.

Looking at their masks and the fabric covering their face he instantly cursed himself.

This shit probably is contagious!

Shaking his head slightly he knew it was something he would have to worry about later, right now neither the hunters or the white looking bear chopping at the tree they were in had noticed him. Walking forward into the clearing he decided a simple life draining spell should be the best course of action against a simple bear.

Looking towards the creature he paused, first wondering why a bear would start feverishly chopping a tree down before repressing a gag as he realized what exactly he was looking at.

What…the fuck is that?

At first glance what appeared to be a small white bear was actually much more sinister. What he had mistaken for white fur was in fact a thick matting of fungal growth now covering the animal, small moldy tendrils had grown out from its flesh and now wiggled in the air like half exposed worms.

As he stared dumbfounded at the creature one of the hunters lined up their bow, releasing what appeared to be their last arrow into the creature's back. It sank deep into its flesh, joining several others that now riddled its back like porcupine quills. Even as the arrow sunk into the creature it made no reaction at all but continued its rhythmic hacking at the tree currently providing its prey sanctuary.

Looking at the ever-increasing pool of blood forming under the beast his suspicions grew that the mold had taken control of the animal in some way.

Nothing bleeds that much and lives.

He had never been a hunter in his past life, but he had witnessed and dealt death enough to know just how fragile life could be.

“WATCH OUT! IT'S LATE STAGE!” One of the hunters had finally spotted him and was now frantically waving in his direction in an attempt to warn him of the obvious danger.

Women’s voice…are all hunters here women? What the hell are the men doing? Staying home playing housewife?

Shaking his head, he nonchalantly waved back.

“No problem! I got it!” as his voice carried over the clearing, the rhythmic pace the beast had been keeping came to a halt. Slowly backing up it twisted around to face him, causing his guts to twist momentarily.

It’s….face.

What had originally been concealed due to the animal's bulky body could only be described as pure disgust. The bear's face had become host to a fungal pod of considerable size.

The front of its skull had long since ruptured out under the force of the growth from within, it’s hollowed eye sockets now completely grown over with the white infection, from the center of the mass two tiny appendages waved eerily in the air, revealing tiny eyes that focused in on his position.

Although the monstrosity opened its rotting mouth to reveal a row of blackened teeth, no noise escaped from it. As if the moldy parasite was incapable of performing the fine control needed to make the poor animal breath or roar.

Looking over the damage it had done to its mangled paws attempting to cut down the tree, he felt an uneasiness building within him. The creature had no sense of self preservation, since the moving corpse had long since been hijacked for a home and food source for the fungal parasite, it most likely did not care for the shape of the body.

I definitely won’t feel bad about this.

A simple drain life spell would draw the very essence of life out from the organic fungus, he had seen the spell work on plants or flesh alike, death cared little for the source of life it rightfully took.

As the creature began lumbering his way, he felt within himself, sensing for his soul.

As he tapped into his mana pool he felt an oddity within himself, the mana filled within him as it always did, but it felt different, almost alien like it did not belong.

Willing the strange mana within himself he tried to form the basis of the spell, only to find no meaningful reaction. He could draw from his soul to readily produce mana, but when he willed it to cast it reacted so differently to what he was used to that he simply could not manipulate it.

Like learning how it flows all over again…

Feeling a sense of dread fall upon him a sudden realization befell him. Without a proper way to discharge the mana it would cause a severe backlash within his body, all shamans spent many hours learning to draw forth and manipulate miniscule amounts of mana into simple spells before they would draw large quantities of it into themselves, there had been many cases of young mages causing significant harm or even fatal damage to themselves by overdrawing from their mana pool only to find themselves unable to cast a spell capable of using it all in a timely matter.

Shit shit shit!

Trying to force the mana into any kind of spell he attempted everything that came to mind, finding the mana so foreign that even the simplest spell was completely out of his reach.

Life drain! Soul manipulate! Shit! Soul burn! Damn it! Mind burn! Fuck!

Feeling his body tense up as the mana began to reverse its flow back into his soul he shuddered as his strength began to quickly fade. His muscles became instantly fatigued as his body unnaturally absorbed the mana it had just produced, causing a swirling turmoil within himself.

His legs buckled as he tried desperately to steady himself, his racing mind pondering how best to prevent further damage to himself from his mana backlash. Only as a stick snapped directly in front of his position did he snap back to focus on the threat that had been steadily running his way. He had nearly forgotten about the infected animal in his haste to correct his faulty casting.

“Ah fucking hell” he barely had time to speak the words before its charge rammed into him, feeling himself momentarily go airborne he tried to cover his head before the hard impact of the ground met his back.

Rolling over he attempted to rise to his feet, only to feel the weight of the beast lurch onto his side, pinning him to the ground mid roll. As he struggled to free himself with what little strength he had remaining, a flash of pain burst forth from his shoulder, tilting his head he could see the moldy head biting into his flesh as a dark, nearly purple fluid flowed from his skin around its teeth.

Not wasting time contemplating the color of his blood, he extended his claws out and forced himself to half roll, freeing his arm to properly strike. Reaching over he shredded into the exposed fungal spores of the creature’s head, clenching and unclenching his hand repeatedly to slice into its head. Despite the damage he was inflicting on the creature it didn’t react at all, simply choosing to continue biting into his flesh painfully.

“Fucking GET OFF ME!” Feeling a surge of anger build in him at its indifference, he put as much power into his core as he could muster. Forcibly rolling the bulky creature off him and to the side, as its teeth pulled from his shoulder, they left streaking wounds as they cut at his flesh. Finally rolling on top of the beast he began relentlessly striking down at it. As it tried to squirm over to get its feet on the ground he savagely tore into its exposed limbs, slicing through the soft flesh like it wasn’t there, even the now exposed bone cut apart as his claws dug deep into its arms.

With a final surge of strength, he ruthlessly detached its arms in a final swing, before clawing out its throat, with two quick swipes the beast's head detached from its battered body, flying off to the side from the force of his swing.

Panting hard he rose to his feet, feeling the effect of his mana burn combined with his physical exertion taking a massive toll on his body.

“Idiot…Should have tried out magic beforehand…”

He slowly shook his head thinking over how foolish he had been, if he had not tried to draw such a large quantity of mana into himself he could have dispatched the creature easily. His new body's physical strength and speed was leagues above what a normal human can perform at, the creature's clumsy charge could have been avoided and the fight kept off the ground. With his superior speed, slashing apart the clumsy beast would have been much easier than turning the fight into a wrestling brawl on the ground.

Glancing down at his shoulder he could see the exposed muscle under the skin glistening wet with his blood, although the pain was minimal, he knew such a wound was likely to get infected. Looking down at the moldy ground surrounding him he felt another wave of remorse flow over him.

This body had best have a good defense against disease.

The thought of becoming infected with such a parasitic growth sent a shiver down his back, he couldn’t imagine the process was anything but painful for the unfortunate host.

“What race are you?” a woman's voice spoke out to him, he couldn’t help but think that her voice had a certain sweetness to it, even if it currently was filled with a cautious warning.

He felt his legs start giving way as he tried to fight off the mana still burning within him, dropping to his knees he lazily looked up towards the hunters that were now standing a short distance from him. The one he assumed had spoken held her bow notched towards him. The arrow was bloody, but otherwise fine.

“Had enough time to pull one out of that thing, but couldn’t come give me a shoulder to lean on?” he tried sarcastically joking with the duo, but due to the harshness of his voice it seemed to come off more as a hostile remark than a teasing joke.

“I won’t ask you again. Who, or what are you?” She pulled the bow string back slightly to emphasize her words.

Looking up at her he could feel his vision tunneling, his mana feedback now overtaking him

I’m gonna pass out…and this bitch is on the verge of killing me…

Racking his mind for a suitable answer to her question he settled on a simple half-truth.

“I’m just a traveler…passing through…” As soon as the words escaped his lips he felt his world spin, followed by the ground rushing up to greet him as he collapsed over. Only darkness remained as his consciousness left him.