Silence.
Time itself stood still.
Kayn's body floated somewhere between pain and oblivion, suspended in a weightless dark void.
The agony of being skewered by the roots still lingered, but dulled, as if a memory rather than a sensation.
Then came the surge.
A violent, blazing torrent of essence burst through his veins like molten steel.
It scorched his insides, but he didn't feel pain. Instead, he felt like his body was dehydrated all this time, and it just took its first sip of water.
The essence nourished his body that was starved of essence for years, filling him up with an indescribable sense of strength.
Kayn had never absorbed any essence before, so he didn't know how it actually felt.
However, the flood of power didn't feel normal. It didn't feel like he had absorbed an essence worthy of a single, or two, or even three monsters.
It felt so overwhelming that the nourishing effect in his body was just too much for his newly awakened core to handle, as it felt full just after a couple of seconds.
His barely conscious mind could barely grasp the influx.
He felt like he'd just consumed more than ten times the requirement for his first transformation. But instead of tearing him apart from within, they merged with him. Became a part of him.
Then came the voice.
"Demon essence consumed."
"You are the first human to absorb a demon."
"You have become the progenitor."
"You may customize your demon transformation."
Then… stillness.
Kayn didn't understand what all those words meant, with him barely keeping himself awake, but hearing those words made him relax.
Kayn's consciousness floated inside a dark space. A new window opened inside his mind, not another voice, but a projection.
A map of his body formed in his mind. His silhouette of an ordinary young-adult human was displayed in front of him.
But he wasn't alone, standing a few steps away from his own body were 5 creatur- 5 demons that looked different from each other.
One looked similar to the demon that chased him just a few moments ago. One was a humanoid snake that had an upper body of a human with four arms and the lower body of a snake.
Another one looked like a wolf, a demonic one, as it was as tall as himself standing on all fours, and fire could be seen swirling inside its mouth.
The last two also looked similar to the first one, but they had their own characteristics. One had wings on its back while the other had claws that were unnaturally long, as long as its own forearm, and came out from its knuckles.
Seeing all the demons standing all around him, Kayn thought that it was time for him to pick the creature he wanted to be in his first transformation.
However, a feeling inside his soul told him otherwise.
He wasn't being asked to pick one.
He could take pieces from all.
The swirling fire inside the wolf's mouth, the long claws from the humanoid demon, and the demonic wings from the other one, if he wanted, he would be able to add all of them into his transformation.
He didn't understand how. Only that he could.
But he couldn't focus.
His mind was barely hanging on. It was already an impossible task for him to form a single complete sentence in his mind.
All he wanted for now was to survive.
He needed to cut the roots binding him.
He needed to escape the deadly forest.
He had to live.
Although without the ability to think properly, the wishes coming from the bottom of his heart registered as his command.
His first transformation would enable him to cut the roots, move fast and agile, and finally escape the damned forest.
With those last thoughts in his mind, Kayn let go of the control of his mind.
Everything went dark and silent once again, but it didn't stay that way for long.
Kayn's eyes suddenly snapped open, his eyes in the real world.
A raw, tearing noise echoed as Kayn's body surged with newfound power.
Every fiber of muscle in his frame tore apart and built anew. Two new sets of arms grew from his shoulders.
Black claws burst from his knuckles, unnaturally long and razor-sharp, perfect for slicing.
His skin turned red, the same color as the demon from before. Black demonic wings sprouted out from his back, and a thick snake tail came out of his behind.
Fire started swirling on the top of his throat, just like the wolf demon.
As Kayn's eyes turned blackish red, the transformation stopped, and Kayn made his move.
Using his four arms, Kayn swung wide, cutting all the roots that had lodged themselves into his body cleanly with ease.
More roots came to try and embed themselves into him once more, but Kayn opened up his mouth and shot a breath of flame that scared the roots away.
His body still bore the wounds, and there were still pieces of the roots lodged into his body, but his muscles pulsed with vitality.
Kayn wasn't healed, but his body was now faster, stronger, and more dangerous.
He didn't even think.
His body moved on its own.
He kicked his feet and flapped his wings. He tore through the forest, slicing through the whipping branches and dodging the gnarled roots of the trees.
The roots tried again to ensnare him, but he was already past them. His wings, though not enabling him to fly, enabled him to freely glide through the air.
The thick snake tail consisted of powerful muscles, enabling him to whack the roots trying to come from behind, or even push the ground to help Kayn make a drastic change of direction in a split second.
For the first time since arriving, he was faster, stronger, and more agile.
He wasn't powerless anymore.
He didn't even realize he'd left the cursed grove until the crimson canopy above gave way to a darker, emptier sky as he ran towards one of the upward slopes.
Away from the cursed forest that was even scarier than a humanoid demon.
He staggered forward, collapsing against the scorched ground, his whole body trembling as if it had just been reborn, and there were still tree roots in his body.
But for the first time after the transformation, Kayn's conscious mind woke up and realized what he had done.
"I… made it…"
He had successfully made it out of the forest, and he was still alive.
He even succeeded in absorbing his first essence, not only awakening the core but also having enough essence to go straight through with his first transformation.
However, something was wrong.
A terrible pressure boiled in his chest, something that felt different than pain.
Emotion.
But it wasn't sadness.
Not fear….
It was…
Desperation.
The kind that gnawed at the edge of his sanity. It didn't ask. It demanded.
Kayn's heart pounded faster, and the desperation he felt began creeping up all over his body as it invaded his mind.
Rip.
Kill.
Feed.
Images flashed in his mind. Beheaded necks, stabbed hearts, souls torn from the owners' bodies.
Seeing the soul, his mouth unconsciously watered.
"What is…this…"
He stabbed his 16 claws into the ground, trying to hold onto his conscious mind as long as he could.
But this time, it wasn't a battle that he could win.
Finally losing control of his body from his own instincts, Kale's eyes turned vacant for a split second before they changed once more.
The eyes turned feral, it darted left and right, searching for something, anything that could bleed.
He wanted to see blood.
He needed to kill.
He must consume souls.