"I am so unbelievably screwed. Seriously, couldn't this damn giant have choked on me first."
Rian inwardly cursed as the boiling stomach acid gnawed at his skin. Grumbling, his fist flew out into whatever little space was in front of him, striking a wall made out of blood and flesh.
A loud thump echoed through his surroundings. At the same time, the giant's stomach contracted around Rian like it was trying to give me a hug, the kind you'd get from a serial killer.
"Never in my two lives would I have imagined this is what being inside someone would feel like."
He groaned once again before another punch shook the giant's stomach.
His name was Rian Ashmere, a bastard from one of the minor noble families in the southern quadrant of the galaxy.
He was also Leo, a broke college kid who used to play a real-time strategy game called Siege Beyond Worlds, just before he was transmigrated into a world eerily similar to the game.
In fact, it had only been a couple of hours since he had awakened his memories of his previous life as Leo, before his teammates had fed him to this giant.
"Bastards, throwing me here like this." All he had done was accidentally wander into the princess's tent after drinking too much last night.
"I swear. If I ever get out of this situation alive, I will dedicate my life to making that bitch of a princess and her dog Zathiel suffer."
Calming himself down, Rian concentrated back on the situation. He didn't have time to curse at those bastards. Currently, the only way out was cutting through the stomach wall; unfortunately, using any kind of spell in this little space was going to hurt him as well.
==
[Congratulations. You have been chosen as an Heir to Godhood.]
[By decree of the Will of Vornak]
[You have been bestowed with the Divine Domain.]
[Title granted = Heir to the Flesh Throne]
[Abilities Granted = Biomastery- Gives the champion full control over their own body and some control over others. Can change themselves, affect others, and take useful traits from them to grow stronger.]
[Will of the World has been Extinguished]
[All planar penalties have been removed.]
[BONUS= WILL OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN EXTINGUISHED, ALL DIVINE ABILITIES HAVE BEEN AMPLIFIED BY X10]
==
"What the hell is this?"
Confused, Rian stretched out his hand, trying to touch the floating screen, only for his hand to slip right through it and press against the stomach wall.
At once, the stomach walls began trembling as the flesh in front of him bulged, before.
BOOM.
The stomach exploded, blood and gore ripping apart in a pulsing blast, as a wave of unimaginable pain and weakness rushed through Rian's body.
ROAR!!!
A bright flash of light pierced through the darkness at the same time as the giant outside roared, its equally giant hands reaching in, as if trying to make sure the insides of its stomach… remained inside.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
Rian cursed once again as the giant's pain-filled roars became louder and louder.
Unfortunately, the giant's efforts were all for naught. Rian braced himself as the giant's knees buckled before its body collapsed onto the ground with a series of roars.
--
Water Affinity Essence Fragments Acquired: (7/100)
Progress: 7% [93 more required to unlock Water Affinity.]
--
From inside the giant's now torn open stomach slipped out the body of a young boy about eighteen years of age, his eyes widened with shock as his gaze wandered from the barrage of floating messages to bits of the giant creature's insides, lying outside. His original raven black hair was stained in blood, his entire body was riddled with cuts and wounds, as if he had bathed in a pool of blood, flesh, and gore. Heck, the smell itself was enough to make his stomach queasy.
"Okay, what just happened?"
Rian looked around his surroundings, only to find himself standing in the middle of a now destroyed city, torn-down skyscrapers, broken-down vehicles, the entire place looked like it had gone through a war.
But it was something else that made his breathing quicken.
Thousands and thousands of dead human corpses were placed upon spikes protruding from everywhere his eyes could see, with some of them even suspended and floating in the sky. All of their blood was pooling down into the street, making a blood lake.
"Gods, the academies really slaughtered everyone in this world, didn't they?"
Taking in a deep breath and clearing his eyes of any blood, he placed his attention back on the status screen floating in front of him.
Name: Rian Ashmere
Cultivation: 1 Star (High)
Affinity: Air (D+ Grade)
Beast Sigil: Skyrazor Falcon (Grade-1.3)
Skills and Spells: Swift Wingbeat (Short burst of speed to dodge attacks at close distance), Talon Rake (Hardens mage's arms and makes them sharper for five seconds)
Title: Heir of the Flesh Throne
Divinity Granted: Biomastery
--
"What in the world is this divinity granted nonsense?"
Now, Rian was aware of the screen floating in front of him, considering that in The Siege of Worlds, the screen was used to display stats of other Heirs to Godhood, who were chosen by the will of Vornak, their homeworld. In the game, they were treated as special in-game champions that one could unlock with gacha pulls.
The in-game explanation was that this was the will of their home world, Vornak, trying to communicate with these gods.
But that wasn't the question.
"Why am I even seeing this screen? What the hell is up with today?"
First he had received all these memories from what could only be called a past life, his current reality was being predicted by that god forsaken game, a freaking giant had swallowed him, and now he was seeing a floating screen telling him he had been chosen as an heir to godhood, which if the game's story was correct was nothing short of a death sentence.
Swallowing his saliva, Rian took in a deep breath, only to immediately reel back due to the stench.
Whatever it was, he needed to figure that out later. Right now, he needed to get to the finish line and to safety.
Thankfully, from what he could tell, the giant monster had been kind enough to escort him out of the most dangerous areas of the academy tests.
Let's just hope the smell doesn't invite anything else my way.
Muttering a quiet prayer, Rian took a step forward, limping his exhausted figure towards the finish line.
________________________________________
Flashes from dozens of cameras flickered across Princess Mirai's delicate face as she stood in the middle of a growing crowd of reporters, who were circling her like vultures, their microphones thrust forward while the event was live-broadcast across the galaxy.
"I told him not to be reckless," Mirai spoke, a glimmer of moisture trailing down her cheek. "I wish I could've done more as the leader… I'm sorry. He was so eager to prove himself to me… I just knew how much he wanted to participate in Taurent's invasion next week. But now..."
Looking at the crying girl, even the reporters couldn't help but sigh. The Planar Warfare Academies' Joint Exams had always been brutal, and normally, the death of a single student wouldn't have garnered such attention; the boy was just a bastard after all. The only reason anyone even cared was because of the woman in front of them. Mirai Stormwell, princess of the Planet Veilhym, and one of the most gifted triple affinity holders in her generation. To have her fail in a way to lose her teammate was quite a news.
Suddenly, the comm units strapped to several reporters' wrists chimed simultaneously as a new message appeared on the giant screen hovering above in the sky.
[Student Rian Ashmere has crossed the finish line.]
What followed was a beat of pure, silent confusion.
Mirai's comm buzzed too, as she glanced down, only to have her eyes widen in shock. The same was the case for her teammates, each of whom was busy checking their own feeds. Zathiel's eyes flickered with disbelief as he turned toward the entrance to the field.
"What, what is this? Is this a system error?"
"Who crossed the line? Did someone spoof the ID?"
The message repeated.
[Congratulations to student Ray Ashmere for passing the exam.]
The crowd of students and reporters, along with Zathiel, Mirai, and others in their team, surged toward the field's viewing platform with their cameras ready, only to have their eyes widen in shock.
There, limping across the finish line, was a boy drenched in blood and gore from head to toe, his raven black hair now covered in deep shades of red.
"Is… is that Rian Ashmere?"
"It, it can't be. Lady Mirai saw him die."
"He was swallowed whole. He, did he carve his way out? Is that what happened?"
The shock rippled through the onlookers like wildfire.
Even the news live feeds were scrambling with new headlines beginning to generate mid-broadcast:
BOY EATEN ALIVE RETURNS FROM THE DEAD.
Rian's gaze locked onto Zathiel's, then shifted briefly to Mirai's shocked eyes, and the teammates who had left him behind.
Rian clenched his teeth. Rage burned in his chest.
Every fiber of him wanted to scream. To shout the truth to the cameras. To tell the galaxy how he had been betrayed. But he couldn't. Mirai was no ordinary student. She was their planet's princess, a prodigy with three elemental affinities, a hero in the making for the planar wars.
Rian? A bastard from a minor house with a reputation so flimsy even his own family would probably cast him aside to protect her and Zathiel's name. If he accused them now, he wouldn't just lose. He'd be buried and labeled a liar. Even his own house would probably side with the princess to appease the royal family.
No. Not now. Not like this. Revenge would come. But for now, he was going to have to settle for this.
"I AM SO SORRY FOR LETTING YOU DOWN, LADY MIRAI!!!"
He staggered forward, dragging himself with a limp.
Rian reached out, his arms trembling. He hastily dodged Zathiel, who was trying to stop him, and jumped forward, grabbing Mirai's armor.
Then, he tightly latched on to it and didn't let go.
"MAY THE HEAVENS STRIKE ME DOWN, REVIVE ME, AND STRIKE ME DOWN AGAIN! MAY MY ANCESTORS RISE FROM THEIR GRAVES JUST TO SLAP ME ACROSS MY UNWORTHY FACE!"
Mirai's gaze wavered for a second.
"What the hell are you…"
Then he lurched forward. Making sure he was in a clear shot for the cameras, he stopped holding back the roiling sickness in his gut and let it surge free, vomiting a stream of blood and breakfast, combined with the remains of the giant's sickly insides, all over Mirai's feet and chest, aiming especially up toward her face.
The first thing Mirai registered wasn't the smell, it was the weight, the sheer force of the splatter hitting her like a waterfall. Gasps ripped through the crowd. A girl shrieked, stumbling back with both hands over her mouth, while several reporters swore under their breath, camera lenses snapping forward to capture every dripping strand of gore in his hair. A dozen onlookers recoiled at once, their faces twisting in horror, and even Mirai's own gagging drew another round of shocked sounds.
"Wh…what the f*ck?!"
By now Zathiel was trying his best to pull Rian away, but Rian didn't move. Still clinging to her armor like a leech, with his nails burying deep enough into Mirai's legs to draw blood.
"Oops," he muttered. "I think I ate too much this morning. Sorry about your armor. Oh wait, there is more…"
In the end, not caring for the cameras around them, Zathiel was forced to use some of his 2-star strength and lurched Rian away from Mirai, only to have his face scratched in the process.
Seeing that, Rian, who was wiping his mouth on Mirai's coat, finally let go and began limping toward the exit.
"You… you bastard!" Zathiel shouted.
Rian didn't blink. He turned to the crowd instead.
"DOCTOR!" he shouted. "Where the hell are the doctors? My body is killing me!"
Then, brushing past Zathiel without slowing, he muttered, "Excuse me."
That finally snapped Zathiel out of it.
"You disgusting son of a...!" he screamed, voice climbing into shrill fury.
Rian didn't respond.
Besides, his attention had already shifted towards the two healers rushing towards the castle carrying a student's corpse over a stretcher.
"Hey, you there, stop."
He hobbled over towards the stretcher before kicking the corpse away and collapsing onto it with a groan.
"I'm the scion of the great clan Ashmere," he declared, sinking into the stretcher. "Take me to the best healers, doctors, or whatever you have in this place. Now."
With that, he let his eyes drift shut, just for a second, when suddenly some of Zathiel's blood between his finger nails began to tremble.
==
FOREIGN BLOODLINE DETECTED
BLOODLINE ABILITY DETECTED = MANA DISTURBANCE
Fire Affinity Essence Fragments Acquired: (0.2/100)
Progress: 0.2% - 99.8% more required to unlock Fire Affinity.
YOU HAVE RECEIVED =MANA DISTURBANCE (temporary)
[WARNING: Extracting the Affinity would result in a permanent affinity loss from the target.]
[WARNING: Extracting the Affinity would result in a permanent affinity loss from the target.]