When Zaruun opened his eyes, the world was darkness and mud. He couldn't feel his heart it didn't exist. No heartbeat. No lungs. Just a shifting mass of something dark and alive.
"Again..." he murmured.
He remembered it now. His old life pointless. A NEET, dead in front of a screen that still flickered with game stats and an unfinished game.
Yet here he was, reborn.
The mud around him bubbled as if repulsed by his very presence. He rose from it like oil rising from water shifting, pulsing, becoming. Pieces of a body took shape. Bones formed, wrapped in black sinew that writhed as if alive. Flesh knit itself from shadows. Skin smoothed over the monstrous frame until, at last, what emerged looked almost human.
Almost.
Zaruun opened his new eyes pupils like ink. He flexed his hands, watching black veins pulse under pale skin.
He could feel the forest around him.
A low growl echoed.
Zaruun turned. Three wolves hungry, mangy beasts, fur bristling with wild magic. They snarled, hackles raised. To them, he looked like prey.
He smirked.
"Perfect," he whispered. His voice was smooth now human, but too calm, too cold.
The wolves lunged. He didn't move at first. He watched, studying them.
When the first leapt, he blurred. One slash black tendrils tore the beast apart. Blood steamed as the pieces hit the ground.
The others hesitated. Too late.
Zaruun stepped forward. The second wolf tried to retreat its head rolled across the roots before it even yelped.
The last froze. Its legs shook. Zaruun's gaze locked with its yellow eyes.
"Go," he murmured. It ran. He let it.
No need to waste energy. He could hunt more when he pleased.
He looked down at his hands. Blood dripped from claws that faded back into fingers.
A new world new rules.
Zaruun smiled faintly, feeling power stir inside him regenerating.
The forest around him fell silent, as if nature sensed an apex predator.
Zaruun turned east. Somewhere beyond these woods, there is a village. He could hear the distant heartbeats, children, farmers, merchants.
His smile widened.
The dark mass that was Zaruun shifted once more, bones settling, skin tightening. He looked human handsome, even. Black hair fell to his shoulders. His eyes glowed red in the moonlight peeking through the canopy.
He took a step forward, then another. He felt the magic of this world tug at him, like fresh air filling empty lungs he no longer had.
He was ready.
"Let's begin," he whispered, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Leaves rustled. A distant owl hooted. he started walking toward the sounds he heard