A flash of light covered the whole place and as it dissipates, a figure very new to my eyes surprised me. It looks some sort of a… monster. It has sharp teeth beneath its tentacle mouth; it is like an octopus kind of monstrosity. It has a lot of tentacle feet and he has two tentacle arms. One tentacle arm is consisted of three twisted tentacles.

I got nervous of course, it is like what should I suppose to do if it tries to kill me? I do not know this guy that much either which increases the chance of a surprise assault. I mean what would he even gain from meeting up with me just to give me information? There should be a consequence to this. I ready myself and proceeded to my alert stance by slightly bending my knees to be able to move away as soon as possible. As I think ways to get away from here if things became… horrible, the octopus monster spoke.

“To see the red moon means to awaken your powers as a specter, and specters are… this”

His voice became more deep and rough; you can imagine it to be a voice having a touch of a beast. If I did not see him transform, I would not have believed that this slimy freak is a human being.

“So do you mean that I can also transform to a kind of monster?”

I nervously asked him.

“If the moon is red to your sights as you say, then yes, yes you can.”

I actually do not want that with all honesty. So being awakened to being a specter is the reason why I felt so restless.

“Can I get rid of this power? Can I prevent myself from transforming?”

I asked again in a bit of a panicked state. It’s like, come on! What would others say if they see me transform into a monster? They would call me a freak and I might even be apprehended to be subjected to various experiments in order to identify the origin of this phenomenon. If someone ever knew, all my hard work to please everyone and establish connections would be ruined!

“Transforming is voluntary so you do not have to worry about transforming suddenly but as of now, a cure for this curse is not yet discovered.”

I see, so as long as I don’t transform, I should not be worried about destroying all my efforts. Well that is a kind of relief.

“But what you should be afraid of is not the disdain of normal humans but the danger other specters may pose to you”

“What do you mean?”

“Specters gain more power from killing another specter you see, and you are no exception from being a prey”

“And why must they seek for power? What would they gain from it?”

“The power of the red moon”

“Is it strong?”

“It is not strong by itself but if a phantom king uses its power, making the impossible possible will be as simple as breathing, or so they say.”

“And who the hell is this phantom king?”

“There is none by the moment, the phantom king will be the last man standing out of the eight king candidates, which is why the specters are striving to gain power in order to help their king achieve the title.”

“Then how will you know when someone is a candidate? Can everyone be one?”

“No, only the ones with the mark of the king tattooed in their body would be eligible to be king”

“I see, so in short, so these so called specters fight to gain the immense power of the red moon, correct?

“That’s right”

“Now that you told me what I need to know, what’s the catch?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it is obvious that you have an ulterior motive for meeting up with me at a time like this right?”

“Well yes”

“Then out with it”

“I want to talk with you for a bit longer but it seems you are too impatient to die”

“Die? Damn…”

So my guess was correct. He will try to kill me. I don’t want to die yet, I don’t, I really don’t. I look at my surroundings to find another way out but seems that the only way out is the door behind him, but how can I pass him? Damn! I should not have taken the risk of meeting up with a suspicious guy!

“So die for me so I can get stronger! Die for my king!”

He shouted as he swings his right tentacle arm towards me. I barely dodged the blow by diving to my right. Then I quickly stood up to dodge the incoming strike that came from above.

“Can’t we resolve this in another way? Money perhaps?”

I asked him in desperation but he continued on giving me blows. Since the place was huge, I ran away from him to produce a bit of space. But before I was able to increase the distance between us, one of his tentacles was able to grab my right foot and I stumbled.

“Don’t run kid, the more you struggle the more painful it will be.”

I kicked the tentacle wrapping my right foot with the other but it won’t untangle.

“Get off me you freak!”

He then lifts me off the ground by lifting my foot with his tentacles and hanged me upside-down just in front of him. He was very strong to lift me up so easily, it seems that his power is no joke.

“Hey, it seems you are even uglier when you are upside down, slimy freak!”

I insulted him with the desperation to survive

“Wait! Hey wait wait wait! Woooooaaaaaaaah!”

I shouted as he swings me up in the air. I did say wait but it is actually quite fun! He swings me up in the air in circular motion for about five times before he loosened his grip and sent me flying into the other side of the warehouse.

“Hraaaah! *cough*”

I kind of vomited a bit of blood due to the impact. Luckily I landed on the bunch of crates which kind of reduced the impact but it still hurts! My chest hurts and makes me struggle for air. I stood up while heavily gasping while holding my arm full of pain. My vision is a bit blurry but I cannot die yet, I just can’t die yet! Come on! Think! I tried running, I tried begging and I even resorted to insults! Come on Rei, think! Wait there is something I haven’t done yet.

“Wait… You said that… I can also transform… right?”

I smiled after saying those words while trying to catch my breath. He said that it is voluntary so maybe if I just concentrate…

“No you won’t”

His tentacles are flying right towards me when I tried to imitate the stance he just done when he transformed. Light also surrounds me, it is quite an extraordinary feeling. When the tentacles are just about to take hold of me, a large flash of light appeared and deflected his tentacles.

“So this is what it means to transform”

“Transform? You called that transformation? Having marks on your face, scarier eyes and longer nails do not make it a transformation you know.”

Well I looked at myself and yes, he is right. Those are the only things that changed, physical features that is but I kind of felt stronger. Maybe, just maybe I now have a fighting chance. I ran towards him with the intent to kill him.

“So you got confident with that poor excuse of a transformation”

He uttered as he makes a sweep with one of his tentacles which I dodged by jumping then I sidestepped the next strike that came from above. Then I jumped and tried to slash his head with my well… long black nails which he dodged by bending backward and then he captured me with his tentacle legs.

“Is this the best you can do? Then maybe I’ll just end this”

Somehow, my strength seems to leave me, it is as if it is being sucked out of me. I tried to push him away with my hands but as my palm touches him, a bit of electricity shocked both of us which made him to let me free and move back for a bit. Somehow I kind of felt a new kind of power so I tried to concentrate.

“What is that trick you did there? Nevertheless, it won’t work the next time.”

“Don’t worry, It will be different next time.”

I tried to concentrate and my right hand started to morph. My skin goes up and down then ripples and moves and ripped my jacket sleeve off…. It is a bit disgusting. Then my arm became the same as Mr. Octopus right here. So this is my strength.

“Copycat? It would be nice to see you get stronger especially with that kind of power but I guess It won’t happen.”

“Why is that? Because I only have one and you have two?”

“It is simply because you are still weak!”

I ran to the other side of the wall while deflecting his attacks with my new found tentacle hand. I was running because I knew I still won’t win against him unless I find something that I can use to restrain at least one of his tentacle arms. Luckily I found an Iron pole leaning to the walls which I might be able to utilize with my current strength.

“So you think a weapon will help you win?”

“Yes, yes I do.”

I told him while pointing the pole in my left hand against him. I then started running against him.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

I shouted to increase the dramatic effect of the scene. He then strikes me from above which I evaded by jumping sideways and then I threw the pole to his arm which pinned it to the ground.

“Grrraaaaaah!”

He shouted with pain while I continue to shorten the distance between us. He swings his other arm against me which I deflected with my tentacle arm. I grabbed a crate blocking my way and threw it against him. I then jumped and sat in his head. His head is also quite slimy and it is gross. I held his chin with my left hand ready to twist his neck anytime he tried resist and my tentacle arm was used to restrain his own tentacle arm.

‘’Hey… You passed the trial. You are really great as I expected.”

“So it is just a trial? That really scared me!”

I told him with sarcasm as I snapped his neck. His body did not return to normal. I guess it stays as it is when it is killed. I did kill him decisively but I was still shaking for a while after I return to my normal body. I was on my knees and looked at my hands. I mean, if I had not killed him, I will be the one who is dead. It is just normal to kill to survive. And to prey on those who are ignorant of the things that are related with the red moon is just unfair. As those thoughts fill my head, I regained my cool and escaped as fast while acting normal as I can. The ripped sleeve of my jacket and bruises and wounds are the things that worried me that would make me seem suspicious. Luckily I got home safely and without any more problems. It is the first time I saw the red moon, the first time I transformed and the first time I killed someone.