Spectral Regalia

Ch 5: Survival Of The Fittest

A beautiful, pristine lake surrounded by an equally beautiful green forest, with frog like creatures croaking and birds singing their morning tunes. While nature was taking its course, a man was leaning back against a mighty oak-like tree trunk. He was quite handsome and unique. He looked like an elf but had a presence about him that would tell a wise person he was one that could match the gods themselves. This man, wearing white slippers, white pants, and a white shirt was in a slight slumber, stunned from his entry into a foreign world. It was none other than Former General, now Spectral, Avrin Sygin.

He slowly opened his eyes, then coughed quietly and clutched his chest. His pupils were a patterned black and shaped like a T, with a line at the bottom. His sclera were a deep, light azure and his irises were almost non-existent, with a yellow tint around the pupil. Avrin slowly recomposed himself. He stood up while stretching and looked around carefully. "It seems to be like earth or a fully terraformed planet. Quite interesting...then again I'm sure the gods have a love for this sort of feel."

Avrin continued over to the nearby lake and kneeled beside it to look at the nearly completely reflective water. He slowly touched his cheek and felt his ears nervously. "W-well this is different." Before he could continue, a frog-like creature with one eye looked in his direction and began croaking.

"Bleh...blehh...bleh!!" Avrin gave the creature an irritated look, as it seemed his ears were somewhat sensitive. He stood up and glared at the frog and then he kicked it. It gave a squeal as it flew over the lake. It was quite a sight. Especially when a large shark-like creature jumped up and ate the frog before it even hit the water.

Avrin tilted his head. "I guess I have a habit for accidently killing things. Sorry little guy." Avrin spoke in a half-hearted tone before gazing around, using his hand to block out the residual sunlight.

"Hmm. He could have at least put me near a village or something." Avrin began walking, just as he had when wanted to explore his surroundings in the military when using foreign lands as a resting spot. It was imperative to scout around before letting your guard down, that way it lessened the chance of something bad happening. Avrin had been walking for five minutes through the forest, which seemed to have gotten denser, when he found a small clearing. He was about to step into it, but then he stopped and hid behind a tree trunk. He saw two little creatures cutting up an animal that looked like a deer. They were disembowelling it - one chewed on its innards.

Both creatures were small, about three feet tall, almost like children, but skinny. They were hunched and had monkey-like faces, but long pointy ears. Avrin quietly narrowed his eyes. "For now I'll refer to them as goblins." He was about to walk away, when he heard a large roar coming from near the corpse. A large four armed gorilla-like creature came charging towards the goblins, smashing its hand down towards one and squashing it like a fly. The other tried to quickly scamper off, but the gorilla grabbed it and wasted no time eating it. The sounds of bone crushing and blood splattering echoed around the area. Avrin quietly walked off, quietly whispering, "Survival of the fittest. There isn't a universe where this doesn't apply. He reminds me of a Hecate, so that's what he will be."

Avrin knew that he was lucky to not have come across such creatures when he had arrived to begin with. He figured God had some role in it, but at the same time, he doubted he was so kind as to do that. It was as if he wanted Avrin hardened in this world's natural way and Avrin had no choice but to go along with it. Avrin's small journey, lasting of only an hour, led him to a small mountainous area inside the forest, littered with cliffs and rocks.

Avrin spotted a narrow passage that was natural and wide enough for him to fit, so he wasted no time cautiously entering it. It seemed to be quite spacey inside and it didn't appear to head anywhere else. It looked to be an opening were rocks were pressing against the mountain to form a natural manhole-type shelter. Avrin was thankful that he had come across such a thing.