Chapter 1

John finally returned to his home after a long day. Especially long, as he has not left his house in years. Pressing the ice pack to his mouth, he shrieked in pain. It was this pain that lent him the courage to leave his home, after half a year of solitude.

John’s wife had left him months ago, and since then, he has been having a terrible pain in his mouth, causing him to leave for the hospital. This worked out better in his mind though, as the moment he entered the E.R., the nurses looked at him, overweight, eyes sunken in from his history of working the night shifts, and with a general, "sleazy vibe" around him, and they immediately added a, “drug seeker” addendum to his charts, ensuring he would not be receiving any care.

Chased away with a bottle of Advil and a few antibiotics, he was told to visit the dentist. John returned to his home, defeated, in severe pain, and saddened by his treatment. Coughing hard, he placed a cloth over his mouth, and when he looked back at it, he found his back tooth splayed on the fabric.

Fearfully, he examined the tooth and quickly rushed to the bathroom, where he was met with his reflection. At 5 foot 11 inches he was not a short man, but he was not exceptionally tall either. He had dirty blonde hair, and a double chin, reminding him what a failure he had become.

Barely able to look at his reflection, he opened his mouth and looked into the back. Sure enough, in the back of his right hand side, his wisdom tooth had fallen out, but the thing that surprised him, was seeing another, much larger molar, growing in its place.

Confused, he picked up his phone, turning on the light, and shone it into his mouth. Not knowing what he was expecting, he found a new molar breaking through his gums, two or three times as large as the one he lost. Surprised, but still not sure if he should be alarmed, he began to search the internet. “Is it possible to regrow a new molar?”

Typing in his question, he began receiving a flood of articles and sites from all over. Reading through them, he came to the conclusion that it was indeed impossible to regrow a back tooth, but, he had just experienced that very thing. Knowing he had already lost his baby teeth, and that humans only had two sets, he filed it under unknown, and went to bed.

The next morning he awoke with an exceptional hunger. Walking to his fridge, and dodging the minefield of cats and dogs that he and his ex-wife had accumulated, he opened it, looking around for something tasty. He usually had a sweet tooth, but today, he was craving meat. Looking in his freezer, he pulled out a few frozen pork steaks and chops that he still had from when his farm was still up and running, before the pandemic and the pricing of the feed went through the roof, shutting him and his neighbor’s down, and bankrupting everyone.

Feeding his animals, he began tearing into the meat. Usually one steak would fill him up, but he was soon eating his eighth serving, and tore through over seven pounds of meat. Eating his last steak, and finally feeling less ravenous, he felt a crack as he chomped down on the tough steak. Pulling it back out from his mouth, he found another three teeth from his left and right lower back molars.

Fearfully, he ran to the bathroom again, shinning a light in his mouth and was shocked to see two more large teeth coming through his gums, and taking the spots of the teeth he had just lost. Throughly examining his mouth, he was even more surprised to see other missing teeth he didn’t notice, being replaced as well.

Not sure how to feel about the situation, he looked towards the mirror, and noticed, he looked to have lost a few pounds. Also, he wasn’t sure, but it looked like he may have grown a few inches. Staring at himself intently, he went into his garage and pulled out a tape measure, stepping on it and measuring himself. Sure enough, he went from 5’ 11” to 6’1”

Thinking for a moment, he returned to his room, looking up late life growth spurts on the internet, and reading various conspiracies online, about the chemicals the government puts in the water. Taking his dogs to the backyard, he lowered his head as he passed by the neighbor. Hoping to not have to feign conversation and human interaction again.

Humanity, as he knew it, was terrible. He had become a recluse ever since the day that the world destroyed, and laughed at him, while his dreams slowly died. If he had the know how, he would have left to become a hermit in the wilderness, a long time ago.

The problem with that, was that, there was no, “true wilderness” around anymore. The world has been thoroughly explored and mapped, and even if you find a place that isn’t mapped, it doesn’t mean it’s, “unexplored.” I’m positive, the natives living in those area are very aware of their surroundings.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Walking back after taking the dogs out, he began surfing the internet and exploring useless skills that he would never use. The day passed quickly, as the sun set. John went to sleep, wondering if tonight would be the night, he would be freed from this hell, and not wake up again. Unfortunately for him, he awoke the next morning, but something was very different.

Almost immediately he noticed a difference in his clothing. What was baggy, and loose, became tight, and almost ripping. Standing up felt weird too, as if he were on stilts. Wobbling to the bathroom, he was shocked to find his previous growth spurt had just been a teaser of things to come. Standing in front of the mirror was a six foot six inch man with a defined jawline and somewhat muscular body.

Lifting up his shirt, he was shocked to see his fat had been thoroughly distributed all around his body, and he felt, and looked, like someone who almost went to the gym every once in a while, and was no longer massively overweight. His double chin had disappeared.

Unsure of how to react to his new body, he searched his clothing and threw on his biggest jacket and sweat pants. Looking at his new, almost rugged looks in the mirror, he opened his mouth to see more of his teeth fallen out and being replaced by new much larger ones. “Was I abducted by aliens or something?” “If someone finds out about me will they try and dissect me, or do I just have some weird gene that isn’t common?”

Thinking for a moment, he decided to go to the nearest clothing store and buy some new cloths. Getting into his car was much harder and he had to put his seat back almost the whole way. Fortunately when his dad passed he left him this truck.

Well, to be honest, it was more like a bribe from his brothers, not his father, to not sue them when they stole his inheritance. Pushing those deep rooted feelings of sadness and grief from his family’s theft of his birthright down to the bottom of his soul, he twisted the ignition key, and began to drive.

Pulling into the clothing store, panic and sadness rolled onto him like a wave as he tried to hype himself up, to get out of his truck. Imagining the sales clerk looking at him like a lowlife and getting the security to escort him out of the store, this scene looped in his mind over and over. “Maybe, she was right, maybe I can never change.”

Thinking back to his wife, as she had tried to help him, over and over, year after year, he knew she was right. He desperately wanted to change, to do something different and give her the things she needed. She was always his rock. No matter how bad things became with his family, she was always there, the only thing keeping him alive and sane, and now she too was gone. Nothing is without limits, he knew that, but he always hoped he was wrong. Staring at the store from the truck, thinking of his failures, he finally got angry for once, and opened the truck door.

Walking into the store, bursting with determination to prove everyone wrong, he began slowing down once he noticed the whole store staring at him. Walking past the front registers he went into the shirt sections and began looking through them as the employees and customers finally turned their heads from him.

Looking lost and unsure of what to pick, a young blonde girl came over, asking, “Can I help you find anything” Stunned at the pretty girls attitude towards him, he spoke, “I’m not sure what to pick, my wife used to pick my cloths, and it’s been a while.”

Smiling, the young lady actually took him by the hand and pulled him to a shirt section, showing him a wide variety of cloths that she thought would, “look good on him.” Unsure of what to do, he simply bought everything she recommended, picking up extra cloths in case this wasn’t the last of his, “late growth spurts.” Walking to the check-out counter, the same beautiful blonde checked him out, and when leaving, put her number on the back of the receipt.

Rushing out in tears, john was sure that he had received another rejection hotline number, and that the woman’s kindness was just so he would get his hopes up, and then later be cruelly crushed. "Who would ever want to be with someone like me?" This wouldn’t be the first time he had received such a number. Once his wife left him, he tried internet dating a few times and had the misfortune of receiving the rejection hotline number on multiple occasions.

Making his way back home, his stomach started rumbling, and he felt a deep weakness that he had not experienced before. Once he was back home he took out dozens of pork butts and steaks, almost devouring them before they could cook, but managed to hold himself back. That day he devoured over 25lbs of meat and still hungered for more. Going into his garage he began taking in all the old pig meat he hadn’t eaten and devoured it all whole.

On the last pig roast, he suddenly felt the desire to bite into the bone of the roast. Biting down, he heard several cracking sounds and looked down to see the majority of his teeth shattered from the bone. “AHH! What have I done?”

Running to the bathroom, he looked into the mirror to see the majority of his front teeth were shattered, and only a few side ones were left with his newer, bigger teeth. Thinking about calling an ambulance, or rushing to the doctor, he felt a sudden wave of sleepiness and barely made it to the bed before passing out. Waking in the morning with a splitting head, he heard a sudden automated voice. DING….

“Welcome to the Titan God System”

System binding…

System bound.

Creating system panel….

Calculating…… calculating…….complete.

Welcome:

Name: John Thornheart

Race: ½ Human ½ giant

Height: 7 foot 6 inches

Skills: None

Life expectancy: 45 years

Evolution points: 0/10