Benjamin Vryce

Benjamin woke slowly, stretching as he came around. He felt a crackling across his body as he moved, like a thin shell was cracking and braking away. He opened his eyes in confusion and looked down at himself. He blinked a few times trying to reconcile what he was expecting to see, with what was actually there.

He was absolutely covered with dried blood. It had dried to a dark brown and was flaking away as he moved. He must have been asleep for several hours for it to have dried out so much. Why had he fallen asleep though? Hadn’t he been fighting? Now he was waking up covered in blood, cuddled up to…

He sprang to his feet in an instant as he saw what he had been clutching in his sleep. It was the corpse of the crocodile turtle, its neck to be more precise. It had been shredded, long cuts running in parallel lines. Closer to its head was a ragged hole where a chunk of flesh had been gnawed away. It looked like something had taken a bite out of the monster.

The ground around it was a veritable lake of dried blood. Benjamin stumbled to his knees and retched. Long gasping dry heaves, he hadn’t eaten a thing since he left earth so there was nothing in his stomach to come up.

He wiped his mouth anyway with the back of his hand, only to find more blood caked onto his mouth and chin. This caused him to start wretching all over again. What the hell had happened? There was a small stream running through the cave not too far away, he stumbled over to it and began giving himself a hurried bath.

As the caked-on blood was washed away he noticed that something was different. His fingers were longer than they should be, a bit under an inch longer. Every bit of that length made up of what looked like bone.

He stared uncomprehendingly for a long second before plunging his hands back into the small stream, franticly scrubbing them together to clear the blood away for a better look. Yes, his hands were indeed now tipped with claws.

Three quarters of an inch long, it looked like his finger nails and finger bones had both lengthened and fused together. Looked at from the end it looked a bit like a rounded triangle where the inside was sharp and tapered down to a point.

“Wwhat thew hwell!” he said, words coming out somewhat muffled. With a feeling of dread he brought his hands up to his mouth. Being careful not to cut himself he felt around in his mouth. His upper and lower canine teeth had also grown. Not as pronounced as his fingers, but enough that he had fumbled his words when his tongue came in contact with the foreign obstructions.

How had this happened? He pulled his armor off as he continued to wash himself. Watching the dried blood melt and flow away as the current took it out into the swamp, he tried to remember. He had been angry, he remembered that. Angry at the Erlking, at his situation, at how hard his new existence was. He wanted to be stronger and faster…he had wanted fangs and claws.

“Well, I cwertainly gowt my wissh,” he slurred out. He didn’t think it would take too long to get used to talking around these new teeth, as it was already getting easier. Did he want it to get easier? He was dead, and if the Yakuza was to be believed, in an entirely different universe as well. He had lost everything from his old life, how did he feel about losing his humanity too?

Having gotten most of the blood off he stood up, water still dripping from his hands and face. He flexed his hands experimentally. He wasn’t able to make a fist. He frowned at that, having claws was good for fighting, but how was he supposed to do fine manipulation.

He tried flexing his hands and forearms, thinking that maybe the claws were retractable. No such luck, there goes his aspirations of being a cigar smoking super hero. As he moved his forearms, he was shocked, the muscles there were bulging out as he flexed.

He followed the line of his arm upwards and flexed his biceps, it too was taught with new muscles. Having already removed the cuirass and tasset he unzipped his jumpsuit. His chest and torso were also corded with muscles. He didn’t look like a body builder, more like how he envisioned a hunting cat. Lithe, full of speed and grace, yet with the ability to rend its prey. A lot like the damned Erlking, now he thought about it.

Redonning his armor, Benjamin looked around for Silver. The spider drone was sitting next too the dead monster. Looking the same as always. Somehow Benjamin got the faint impression of approval from the little guy. That was new, part of the improvements Shipwright talked about, or does it have something to do with the transformation.

Shrugging it off Benjamin gathered up his weapons, not bothering with the broken Morningstar. Picking up the smaller of the two crossbows he slid his foot into the loop and heaved back on the string, in his normal cocking motion. The crossbow shattered in his hands.

Staring slack jawed at the wreckage that had been his crossbow, Benjamin re-examined his strength. He knew he was stronger but this was beyond what he had considered human limits. Not able to deal with any more revelations, he started walking toward the exit.

He had gone only a few steps when he stopped. His boots didn’t fit right, and seemed to be throwing his balance off. Sitting down he took them off and looked at his feet. They looked mostly the same. No claws thankfully, but they were wider and the toes more spread out. Looking at the soles of his feet they seemed thicker than before and when he stood back up the rocks didn’t hurt at all.

Walking out into the sunlight with Silver on his shoulder, Benjamin felt somehow free. Even though he was leaving more of himself behind. Along with a massive monster corpse, a pile of broken weapons and a pair of high-quality work boots.

* * *

Erlking

The Erlking watched Benjamin’s transformation with intent eyes. It wasn’t what he had in mind when he set up the swamp trial, but the results couldn’t be denied. He noted this new form bore a striking resemblance to that of his avatar. He didn’t know what to make of that. Instead of jumping to any conclusions he chose not to assume anything and just watch.

The next trail would probably be too easy for him now. That was ok though, let him have a breather, the Erlking decided. He would ratchet up the intensity of the next round to match his new power level.

Decision made he closed that screen and looked at the other one he had open. Jade Benz was in her void space, having picked a fight with giants it was no wonder. He pondered for a little while on what to do with her.

She wasn’t in the best state of mind at the moment. Giving her the ogres hadn’t helped her stability any either. After a little more thought he decided to leave her where she was for the time being. She hadn’t learned enough to be able to leave her void space without assistance, and her soul was still frayed around the edges from its rapid growth via ogre absorption. He would let her calm down and heal for now.

Pulling Benjamin’s screen back up the Erlking settled in to watch. He wasn’t the strongest, smartest or even the craziest of the souls Erlking had been given. He was certainly interesting though.

* * *

Benjamin Vryce

Walking out of the short cave Benjamin saw that he had left the swamp behind. The narrow trail made its way up a small hill and ended at another platform. Benjamin let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, if that turtle croc hadn’t been the boss monster of the swamp run, he didn’t know what he would have done.

Stepping up onto the platform he felt a wave of energy tingle over him. It was like a refreshing breeze that took any lingering aches with it, as well as mended his clothes and removed the last vestiges of blood.

He thought on it for a moment, the Erlking had said when he reached this platform his rebirth location would be reset. That must be what had happened, and in doing so he was reset himself as if he had been reborn.

He curled his still clawed fingers a few times, nearly confirming his guess that the transformation didn’t reset on death. Whatever he had done to himself was either permanent, or had to be changed personally with the energy charge he had knotted inside him.

He closed his eyes and looked at the knot of power. It wasn’t as…vibrant…as it had been, before he made the transformation. He must have used a lot of the stored power he had gained by killing monsters when he changed himself.

Did that mean that by killing more monsters he could further change his body? What about other changes, were other things possible too? He just didn’t know. Well, the Erlking had told him to learn and advance himself. It’s possible the World lord had expected something like this to happen and wanted Benjamin to figure it out on his own.

Setting aside what he couldn’t solve for now Benjamin explored the platform. It was set up much the same as the first one had been. A long table covered in arms and armor, surrounded on three sides by an endless plain of knee-high grass and a narrow trail leading into a deciduous forest.

Benjamin stopped, whirling around and staring back the way he had come. There was no trail, no cave, nothing but endless grasslands. Had it disappeared, was the field an illusion, or had he been teleported somewhere else when his rebirth location had been reset. Again, he didn’t know.

Shrugging it off, he looked over the weapons and armor available to him this go around. There was more of the same with a few added options. All the armor now had studs on it.

He picked up the index card in front of the studded cuirass. Apparently, this type of armor was called brigandine; and consisted of many small metal plates riveted inside a leather or cloth outer layer. Taking off his leather cuirass he slipped on the new brigandine cuirass. It buckled closed in the front vs the sides so it was much easier to get into.

Taking a few twisting bends and movements he was happy with how flexible it was. He also swapped out his leather bracers and greaves for ones with metal plates riveted into them. He didn’t like the thigh protection option though, too restrictive, so he kept his leather tasset. Sure, it looked a bit like a skirt but it didn’t hinder his movement much.

Eyeing the weapon options, he picked up a new Morningstar and tested its shaft. It came apart in his hands. He supposed he would be sticking with his claws for now. He did pause at the long bow for a moment. Picking it up, he took several test shots at a tree on the forests edge.

Pulling the bow was much easier, his fingers didn’t hurt at all and the strain of keeping the bow drawn was negligible. He was able to take his time and line up each shot on the trunk before he made it. After ten shots he had a better idea of how to aim the bow. It was easier to get a feel for it when his muscles weren’t protesting every second.

In the end he put it back on the table. He wanted to learn the bow but this one just wasn’t right for him anymore. He had to be careful every time he pulled the string to avoid a repeat of what had happened with the crossbow. Perhaps he could get a stronger one made in the future.

He hefted the large crossbow; it was still nearly as long as he was tall but now it wasn’t a burden on him anymore. He carried it easily in front of him as he stepped onto the narrow path. Hoping dearly that this time he wouldn’t be ankle deep in mud the whole trip.