Shapeless Hero

2 - Arrival

The closer stars have turned into streaks of light, moving the opposite direction of wherever I'm heading. Few minutes more of acceleration later, I see nothing except an occasional flicker in the direction I'm moving in. Am I  faster than light? Am I even in the universe which houses the Sol-system or is this a new one? I wish Hilda had explained a bit more about my situation. Even a mere tourist flyer would have been nice!

Being transported to another world is not as immediate as I thought. The books I read, usually portrayed it as this rather short process. Maybe you had a conversation with a divine being and perhaps the transportation needed a long and complicated summoning ritual, but the actual scenes, in which characters were sent from A to B, felt shorter than a minute. Unlike those stories, I have been traveling for what feels like an hour or two.

That doesn't mean I'm bored though. I don't think many people experience their own brain gradually changing the language in which their thoughts form. Unknown words with new meanings still enter my consciousness at this moment. I assume my mind is being altered to think in the languages that are used at my new destination.

The second change is an additional set of senses. I can now see, feel and hear a new form of energy, immaterial in nature. My best guess for what that energy is... probably mana—or at least I hope it is! It's like a layer on top of my normal perception, which illuminates the world passing around me.

The third thing is my body. While my senses stay stable, I can feel myself constantly change in shape and size. Sometimes, I stay in a form for a few seconds, get excited and... the form gets immediately discarded? It reminds me of having a clay sculptor work on and around you, except this clay sculptor is frustratingly indecisive. Hilda said, my body was already calibrated, so what is this constant change supposed to be? This is just part of the process, right?

At this point, I would have expected to know what I am at least physically—maybe even just a status screen to check and read about myself. Instead, I am stuck here in space. The only thing that prevents me from being too concerned is the lack of symptoms regarding my former body-disconnect and anemia.

After a few more minutes, my speed finally decreases to the point that stars become shiny dots in the distance again. I can see what my actual destination is: A planet with a lot of colors similar to earth. Its two giant moons are my personal highlight though. They are far from normal: Both moons have an atmosphere, mountains and bodies of water, just like the main planet. Do people live there? How does the sky look like from their perspective? I put visiting those moons on my new bucket list.

As I close in on my new home, I start to wonder about my starting area. It could be a happy tutorial town, or the summoning room in a royal castle. Maybe it's a peaceful meadow, an slick space station, or I get thrown straight onto a battlefield. Not that I would hope for the latter to actually happen though. 

I suddenly come to a halt, floating in space with a magnificent view of the planet, the giant ball flanked by the two moons. 

All those awe-inspiring views, but the universe has yet to reveal my new form. I am still an amorphous thing, constantly reshaping.

Moments later, a purple magic circle appears between me and the planet's surface. Runes hectically move around the edge of that circle, while the inside emits a blinding light. Once I am robbed of my sight due to the brightness, I feel a pull and get sucked into what is now a portal.

#

The sounds and scents of a summer forest slowly fade into my perception. I can hear various insects and birds, as well as the rustling of foliage all around me. I can feel a gentle breeze brush my face and upper body, but my lower body...

I open my eyes for the first time. What greets me, is the serene scenery of a small clearing in the woods of an unknown world. Before I take in the new plants and animals though, I really want to check something else first. I take a look at myself.

I have a head. I have two arms. I have two hands. I have a torso. My light gray complexion is something to think about, but that is the least of my worries: My upper body transitions directly into a puddle of thick liquid, spread on the ground, as if my lower half completely melted.

My heart sinks, as I notice the lack of sensation in my lower body. What's going on? Am I missing a step? I try to wiggle out of position to no avail. I try to claw myself out of the middle with my arms, but I stay where landed. I am stuck in the middle of my blanket of biological goop, the torso glued to the ground. 

I clench my fists. Evidently, my soul vessel remained an undefinable mess from outer space. A mess that landed in the middle of an uninhabited area with no way to move and no one to ask for help. The system fucked up—again! I should have known. It really was too good to be true. Thanks for nothing, Hilda.

Or is it me after all? Hilda hasn't mentioned much about the cause of the anomaly. And if the gods can mistakes, they could as well miss a broken soul here and there, thinking the problem lies with my old world. Maybe my damage is... permanent. 

I would cry, if I had tear ducts. I'm fucking done. I just want to disappear. I would mind less, if I was in, let's say, a library or any kind of place with people to interact and things to do, but I'm stranded in a forest. I should have asked for a painless death in that void instead of wasting my last living moments like that.

And as uncaring as my old world, life here just continues apathetic to my fate. Insects chirp, wolves howl and birds hop around me. At least I have some use as an interesting find.