He couldn't breathe, couldn't see. In every direction he looked, all he saw was red. An endless mass of crimson liquid that pressed in on him from all sides, distorting his mind till he couldn't tell what was up or what was down.
It seeped into his skin, clogged up his lungs and burned his eyes, but there was no escape.
Morgan panicked, his heart beating out of his chest as his limbs flailed randomly for purchase, each frantic breath sucked more of the blood into his body, but he couldn't stop.
He felt it shifting beneath his skin as though it had a will of its own, and it itched, worse than any itch he'd ever had. There was no escape from it, he was trapped, suspended in a seemingly endless pool of blood as his body itched inside and out.
It was torturous.
He wasn't sure how long he spent suspended within the blood, trapped between life and death. It felt to him like forever, but he knew, it probably wasn't even a minute.
Then suddenly, he felt a change. A current washed over his limp body, dragging him randomly into the crimson sea. His eyelids grew heavy, drained of all energy as he struggled in vain.
He felt his muscles convulse randomly as his oxygen deprived brain struggled futilely to live, and then it was over.
His body tumbled to the rocky soil, the sun warm against his skin and the breeze cold as it blew over his blood-stained form.
Morgan sputtered a few times before he rolled onto his side and heaved. Liquid flowed from his mouth in a torrent that splashed against the discoloured soil as he coughed up litres of blood from his lungs, each attempt at breathing cut off by more coughing.
By the time he expelled the last of it from his body, he was entirely drained. Flopping against the ground with a wet squelch he greedily sucked in the clear forest air.
He'd never felt so thoroughly exhausted in his life, it was as though every last ounce of energy had been drained from his body, leaving him with nothing.
"Oi. That you Morgan?"
"What a stupid question, who else would it be?" Was what he wanted to say, but he just didn't have the energy for it, instead he merely turned his head to look in the rough direction of the voice, and grunted a response.
"…yesss."
While he couldn't see properly due to having an exorbitant amount of blood in his eyes, he could still roughly hear Wren shuffling his feet nervously. His voice, when he spoke again, was shaky and filled with nervous fear.
"Prove it, demons can take faces. Prove you're who you say you are."
He struggled to find any fault in his request, but lacked the energy to even consider it properly. So he did what seemed best to his clogged mind.
"…fuck off."
In hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea to antagonise the other man. The sound of footsteps drew closer, before he heard them step into some kind of liquid, likely the blood.
Something in the air didn't taste quite right, it was as though there was aggression in the very air. He wasn't sure why he felt that way, but didn't really stop to consider it as energy surged back into his body.
With trembling limbs, he slowly sat up into a cross legged position and rested his head on his hand while his other wiped the crimson liquid out of his eyes.
The first thing he saw, was the sharp tip of a blade levelled at his neck, the hand that held it shaking slightly as the red-headed man looked conflicted.
"For the crime of using blood magic, I shall sentence you to death. As dictated by the will of the Solarian church."
Morgan's eyes widened as he shot to attention, this man was crazy. He wanted to execute him simply for using the class change ritual.
"Wait, wait, wait! I didn't use any blood magic, it was a sssimple class change ritual."
"Lies! Everyone knows, the only way to change a person's class is with a change stone! You must have invoked demonic magic!"
"I'm not lying! I have a class now, and that was the method the sssystem gave me, I didn't know there was another way."
He could taste his hesitation, the way he was torn between what he was taught and what he wanted to believe. Wren was wavering.
"If you don't believe me, just ask the system how to change classesss! It might give you the same answer."
"No. That's not the way, everyone knows this."
That was odd, he seemed strangely adamant not to ask the system, and the way his emotions changed suddenly was also weird. One moment he was flitting between emotions, the next he was radiating pure conviction stronger than all his other emotions.
"The fuck you mean No? Do it. Ask the sssystem."
"No!"
"I said, ask the fucking system. NOW!"
For a moment Wren's eyes turned glassy and unfocused as he obviously interacted with the system. Then, the sword clattered from his hands as he radiated confusion so palpable it could almost be cut.
He looked broken, and torn as he stared off into space absently.
Unsure if his friend was okay, Morgan tried to stand but slipped on the slick ground and fell face first into the pool of blood. The noise of which seemed to shake the red-head from his stupor as he looked down at Morgan sliding around like he was on ice.
"How is this possible… Why has no one ever thought to ask about this method? But the class change stones? Why!"
Like a dam breaking, he started to mutter question after question, too caught up in the world shattering revelation to bother helping Morgan.
Who, for his part, managed to slowly get his feet under him and stand.
"What are these change stonesss you keep mumbling about?"
"They're how a person changes classes? You buy one from the church for two silver, and it allows you one time access to the class menu. If you fail the change, or reach the limit of your current class, then you need to get a new one to progress…"
Morgan wasn't an avid conspiracy theorist, but even he could tell that seemed fishy.
"Is it one church? Or multiple, that sssell the stone?"
"Just one. The Solarian church, they said the method was gifted to them by their god…"
So it was a monopoly. The only thing Morgan couldn't understand, was why they did it, and how they enforced it. He'd seen Wren a few minutes ago and he'd seemed adamant there was no other method, he wasn't even willing to ask the system until Morgan had yelled at him.
The taste of his conviction returned to mind. It had been so strong, too strong even, and it washed out all other emotions. So perhaps, since magic existed here –
His thinking was interrupted by a hand wrapping around his wrist and pulling him towards the fire. Mildly annoyed, he took a look at the other man, who had his eyes set on the skeletal figure by the fire.
Oddly enough, the green glow they always had after every meal was far stronger now, and more structured. He'd need to ask about that at some point, maybe after Wren finished talking to them.
"You, Iskandar. Ask the blessing how to change classes."
"…why? Everyone knows… you can only… use a change… stone…"
"No questions, just do it."
"…No…"
Again, their emotions shifted suddenly and unnaturally. Morgan was unsure why he could taste their emotions, but he assumed it might have something to do with his new class, which he hadn't looked at yet.
"I said, ask the blessing how to change classes. Now."
Iskandar didn't show any outwards signs of acknowledging Wren's words, but Morgan tasted their conviction crumbling as shock and an assortment of other emotions flowed off them, though their emotions had an odd flavour that was distinctly different.
"I take it, you asked? Well, what type of answer did it give you?"
He was interested whether there would be any differences and decided to finally join the conversation. Iskandar seemed to ponder for a few seconds before their voice came out, tinged with confusion.
"…it gave me an incantation?... but how… how is this… possible? Everyone… knows, the… only way to… change your class… is with a… change stone!"
"Hmm, Wren said basically the sssame thing. Well, how about you Wren, what method did it give you?"
"I got an incantation as well, so I'm not sure why you were drawing runic sigils."
He shrugged, it wasn't like he knew the intricate workings of the system. He just used what he was given.
Still, he hadn't taken the chance to look at the many panels blocking his vision, and while the other two chatted, he took a seat by the fire – still entirely covered in blood.
[Class Acquired: T1 Mage
Mage: The foundation of all arcane arts, this class allows the user to hone their spell casting abilities. The user gains +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity, and +5 Random stats per level up. Grants Skill: Mana Manipulation L1, and Spell: Magic Bolt.]
[Skill (passive): Mana Manipulation L1 – Allows the user to slightly change the flow of mana within their own body.]
[Spell: Mana Bolt – Condenses an orb of mana before launching it at low speed.]
[Error: Unable to classify species!]
[Solution: Title: Pr%g^#(@r detected, reformatting…]
[143XP Acquired. Level up 4x]
[Stats Acquired: 8 Intelligence, 9 Wisdom, 5 Dexterity, 4 Strength, 6 Vitality, 5 Agility, 3 Endurance]
[Mana Awakened: Displaying Stat on Status]
Name:
Morgan Astraeus
Gender:
Male?
Species:
H*um#n?
Titles:
The Starman, Pr%g^#(@r
Level 5 (57%)
Class: T1 Mage
Mana 431/431
Strength
12
Agility
12
Dexterity
18
Endurance
12
Vitality
30
Intelligence
37
Wisdom
36
Charisma
6
Luck
9
A lot had changed, and despite his exhaustion Morgan's entire body felt stronger. Each muscle responded faster, with more accuracy than before, each thought was smoother and easier to hold onto.
It was unsettling.
He'd never gained a stat before, in anything, so he wasn't prepared for how much different it felt. It was as though he'd been wearing weights his entire life and suddenly taken them off, leaving him stronger than he knew how to deal with.
On top of that, his entire body felt energised, as though there was an invisible energy coursing through his body that he could at any time control.
Actually, that might not have just been a feeling. It could very well be whatever this mana stuff was.
Tentatively he prodded the energy with his mind, it bent slightly around his mental probe but continued unhindered. Slightly more confident he wouldn't suddenly blow up, he decided to try the spell the system had grafted into his mind.
It required three main components. The first were the words – which might have been optional, he'd need to investigate – these were grafted directly into his mind by the system. The next was the structuring, he needed to visualise the spell forming and give it an effect, which was quite easy as he was attempting the simplest possible spell.
The final step, and the hardest one, was guiding the mana in his body.
He took a deep breath to steady himself as he raised his still broken and blood soaked right hand, and aimed it at a tree five metres away. Then he closed his eyes and focused. He imagined the energy travelling to his palm and seeping through his skin where it would coalesce into a ball.
He imagined the way the ball would travel in a straight line towards its target, and when there explode. It was so vivid in his mind that he was certain it couldn't fail.
With confidence he spoke the incantation, while pushing mana towards his palm.
The words took root in reality as the energy was sucked from his body painfully, and squeezed together into a ball. It hovered over his hand for a few seconds, before shooting out at the last word.
It wobbled through the air barely faster than he could walk as it made its way to the tree, all while looking like it was about to fall apart. Reaching the tree, it continued past it, having missed the mark entirely, and travelled deeper into the woods, where it hit a branch and popped, ruffling the leaves slightly.
Morgan's mind went into overdrive as he completely ignored the smoke coming from his aching hand. He'd done it, he'd cast a real life spell. Sure, it wasn't that good, but he'd done it.
This changed everything he knew about physics, the fact he was able to infuse his intent into a ball of energy and have it affect the world around him was baffling. How did it work? What else could this esoteric energy be used for? His mind raced with thoughts as a giddy smile crossed his face.
His day couldn't get any better, all he needed now was to do a few more tests and see if it was replicable.
"So… Morgan, I've been meaning to ask, but… what's with the tongue?"
"Hmm? Tongue? What do you mean?"
"Your tongue man! What is up with your creepy tongue!"
Tilting his head in confusion, he struggled to think of any reason his tongue might have been weird, it was after all a normal human tongue, just like theirs.
"What'sss wrong with my tongue? I thought it was pretty normal."
His tongue flickered out, tasting the air as he stared down Wren who looked at him appalled. He got the impression Iskandar was also pretty off put, based on the taste of the air, though he couldn't tell why.
Slowly, it began to dawn on him. That thought wasn't normal, he shouldn't have been able to taste the air, and his tongue shouldn't have flickered out of his mouth, that wasn't normal.
He suddenly became all too aware of his tongue, sitting within his mouth. It felt off, too thin, too long, too flexible. Too many things it shouldn't have been.
His tongue flickered out of his mouth again, almost as instinctively as he'd blink, its forked tip curling around the air for a moment, before it darted back behind his lips and pressed against the roof of his mouth.
"What the fuck is that!"
Shocked, he instinctively slammed his mouth shut, biting the tip of his tongue in his haste. It hurt, which meant he could feel it, which meant it was attached to him. The thought was almost as bad as the strange metallic skin spreading across his body.
That wasn't his tongue, it was closer to a snake's than a human's.
But it felt like his tongue, and it moved exactly as he wanted it too, same as any other muscle in his body. He felt the forked tip trace the inside of his teeth as the taste of blood filled his mouth.
He didn't want this, he was happy as he was.
His eyes traced downwards slowly as he finally became aware of other changes.
The ground seemed a slight bit further away, and he didn't have quite as much of a gut anymore. His nails tapered slightly to a point and he could feel they were harder than before, not to mention his skin. While old scars and wounds remained, most of the smaller imperfections were gone.
"What the fuck, what the fuck. Isss thissss normal?!"
Everything was wrong. Desperately he turned to the other two who radiated concern, the taste of their emotions didn't help his mood, and in his panic his words started to slur.
It wasn't his body. Or at least not how he remembered it. His panic started to warp into fear as his eyes flitted about.
A glint of metal caught his eye – a dull kitchen knife. Maybe it wasn't too late, maybe he could just cut off the excess and pretend he was still normal. He couldn't lose his humanity, it just wasn't something he would accept.
Wren followed Morgan's panic filled gaze to the knife. His thoughts were clear, plastered across his face like it was a billboard.
He lunged for the knife a moment too late. Morgan's hand closed around the handle first and raised it in a single, smooth motion to his mouth before slicing down, just as his tongue flicked out.
But before the blade could make contact he felt something slam into the back of his skull, his vision going dark as he toppled forward.