I jolt awake and sit up. "Haah! What happened!? . . The last thing I remember is a bus? . . And I'm not in a hospital. . ." I look at my surroundings, my gaze sweeping across the area. Which looks like a forest with giant trees. And that over there looks like a mountain peak. "How did I get to a forest?" I reach up to rub my face, then pause when I notice that my fingernails are long, silver, and rather sharp looking. "What the hell?!" I flex my fingers, getting a better look at my, claws?

I jump to my feet and look around at myself more. I'm not wearing a shirt. And seem to be wearing silver striped black furred pants? Though when I look closer I find that I'm just furry from the waist down. "Whhhaaat's going on here!?" Looking further down, my toes also have sharp silver claws, but other than that and the fur my feet seem relatively human shaped. Something wiggly catches my attention from the corner of my eye, and upon a closer look, its a fluffy feline tail? "Okay. Sorry bout this mister tree, but I need your help to either wake up, or get my head on straight."

I walk over to a tree, rear my head back, then thrust it towards the tree's trunk. Which just results in the diagonally pointed bull like horns I hadn't noticed yet getting lodged deep into the wood. I jerk away abruptly, my horns tearing through the wood with shocking ease. An explosion of splinters raining down on me. "Alright, I'm, going to just sit down and think a minute. . ."

I step away, then flop down. I start thinking over my last memories more thoroughly while feeling out the dimensions of my horns.

Okay, so I was checking out the new exhibit on greek myth at the museum. I bought some silly little cheap 'Pandora's box' puzzle from the gift shop. Which is ridiculous, as Pandora would have had a pythos not a box. Anyway, I was trying to solve the puzzle while walking back home. Then. Gulp. I heard a horn, and turned towards a quickly approaching bus.

"So I, died? And now I'm some sort of demon somewhere else. . . Hang on. This is like those shows my friends are always talking about isn't it? Kinda wish I'd payed more attention. Or tried watching some of them even. He ha ha ha haa." With a wry laugh, I rub the back of my head. "Well, I'm sure I'll manage something. . . What was that one thing they were always on about?" I murmur to myself a bit before trying out the word, "Identify?"

"Aha, what? I don't match the description for Typhon at all. Still. Being the strongest monster doesn't sound half bad. But, I don't really wanna be a villain. So, maybe I'll just try to live quietly up here on this mountain and play around with that Monster Creation skill?" I tilt my head and look through the display again. "What's up with Legendary Monster Reproduction? Does that mean what I think it does? That's, pretty embarrassing. Luckily that shouldn't be an issue. I have no experience with women anyway."

"So, how do I use Monster Creation?" Nothing comes up so I figure I'll just daydream one up and see what happens. "I could probably make something from myth. But most Mythological monsters would probably be pretty dangerous. Which, wouldn't help with that quiet life idea." I shrug and think back to some of the video games I've played. "How about a slime? Small, weak. Only real power is HP regeneration. Guess I'll try to come up with my own unique appearance. So, how about making it a cyclops? An oblate spheroid, blue slime with one big eye and a goofy grin."

I feel, something leave me. Like a faint exhalation. Then my shadow stretches out before me, and a small blue blob matching the visual description I just came up with oozes its way out of the shadow. "Oh. That was easy. Identify?"

"Wonder what else I can do. There has to be some sort of limit. But, I can't just recklessly test it." I scratch my chin thoughtfully, surprisingly not cutting myself on my claws. Then I make a shooing motion at the slime, who happily bounces away. "I guess, I'll try to find some pants while I think on it. Or at least a monster or animal who's hide I can make something out of? Ahhh. But I'd at least need salt to cure hide? And, I'm not even sure how to Tan it?"

I stand back up and look towards the peak. "Maybe I can find salt deposits around here?" I take a deep breath, unsure of where to even begin. That's when I notice that my sense of smell is much stronger than when I was a human. I sniff around a bit, catching what I think are trails of animal's scent. Then a moment later I latch onto one smell in particular that makes my mouth water a bit. It's weird, but it smells kind of like pork chops and sauteed mushrooms?

I drop to all fours, the position more comfortable than I would expect, if I had been paying attention to that. I sniff the forest floor, then start to follow that scent. The forest blurs around me enough that I stop paying attention to my eyes and focus on the smell alone. Within minutes I approach an interesting creature. It looks like a boar the size of a buffalo, and its back is on fire? Looks pretty comfortable with that fact though. Now that I'm in close I prowl slowly, trying to sneak up on it while it digs around in the dirt.

Once I'm about twenty meters away I feel my fur bristle and my body tense further, then I suddenly lunge across the distance. I latch onto it with the claws on my hands and kick at its side with the claws on my feet. My claws easily slash through its thick skin splattering blood across the freshly disturbed soil. It rears up and squeals before starting to buck and spin around, trying to get at me. A yowl rises in my throat and my claws dig further into its skin.

The boar charges towards a tree, turning away just a little at the last moment, running me into the tree rather than itself. Which doesn't seem to do any damage to me, but it is enough to drag my claws through its flesh, allowing it to slip away. But instead of fleeing it quickly turns about, bringing its tusks, which look like glowing hot iron pokers, to bear against me, then charging straight in.

I set my feet, lean forward, and grab the massive beast by the tusks just before it hits me. Then I lift it up hard, release my left hand's grip on its right tusk, and slash its throat with my claws. Then I twist the head and throw it to the side with my grip on its left tusk. I'm panting lightly after that, and once it stops moving I lunge in and tear into it with sharp fangs I hadn't noticed yet.

Then after eating a several pound chunk of its left shoulder I finally snap out of it and back away slightly. "W-whoooah no! I'm a human in here you know?! I can't just, tear into a raw monster like that!" I wipe at my lower face with a small part of my arm that is free of blood. Despite my resistance, it still looks delicious. And the scent of its blood seems to make my stomach rumble despite how much I had already eaten. "C-can't I at least cook it? Or find out what it even is first? . . Identify."

"Urk. It wasn't even dead yet when I started eating it??!" Despite my mental revulsion, my body seems eager to get back to it. "Nope. Nooo! Just. Gimme a minute to find some dry wood. Or, wait. Its back is still on fire? Maybe I can cook there?" I gather a bit of resolve and step in closer, then I use my claws to tear out another large chunk of its flesh, then I move around and lay the strip on its flaming hot back. It takes a minute before I start to smell cooking meat. But it does seem to be working. While that is going I look over to where it had been digging.

I quickly spot what looks like a giant truffle, half unearthed already, so I go ahead and pick it out of the hole. I sniff at it, and while not as appetizing as the boar, it is pretty appealing. So, I go ahead and cut it into strips with my claws and lay it alongside the large steak. The truffle seems adequately cooked within moments, so I pull it off and flip the meat. The first side looks nicely seared, but it'll still take a bit, so I go ahead and try a piece of the truffle.

Despite my obviously predatory fangs, the roasted mushroom tastes pretty good. Still has that earthy smoky taste you'd expect from what it is and how it's cooked, but its also got a chewier texture, and a richer flavor overall compared to mushrooms I know. I tear through the first piece in a moment, then lick my chops. "Mmm. Bet that'll be even better eating it at the same time as the steak." I set the rest of the truffle on a nearby freshly fallen baking sheet sized leaf. Then poke at the cooking steak. My body tells me its fine, but I carefully lift it up to look at the underside, still, kind of under cooked. So I make myself wait.

I stand there, tapping a foot and waiting for it to cook. I end up starting to lick at my right arm, getting it mostly clean before realizing what I'm doing and spitting a bit of blood back out, away from my cooking surface. "Blah. Next stop, a stream or something. Or maybe I should try skinning the boar when I'm done eating?" I haven't found salt yet, but the Inferno Boar is big enough that I should be able to make something from its skin despite the large areas I've already damaged.

I check the cooking meat again, seems done enough, so I cut a large piece off of it and sandwich it between two strips of the truffle. I bite into the sandwich, taking off about a third of it in one go despite its size, and carefully chewing through it. As I thought, cooked meat and mushroom together is great. Though, it kinda feels like I liked the taste even more when I was just tearing into it. I polish off the first sandwich quickly, and make another, when I'm done with that I make a third. And so on until the mushroom is gone and theres only a small piece of the meat left, which I go ahead and pop into my mouth on its own.

At this point, the flames on the boar's back have started to die down, and I seem. Well. Not full, yet. Exactly. Just, not so hungry. So I set to skinning the beast with my claws, carefully pulling the hide away from the body and setting it aside. with the exception of the parts that seem too damaged to work with. While I'm working I end up breaking off one of its metallic, now slightly cooled tusks. And I have a weird moment where I want to eat the tusk. But I manage to hold myself back and set the tusk with the hide before breaking off the other one and adding it to the pile.

Once I'm done with that I stare at the exposed meat of the corpse, and my mouth starts to water again. "Seriously? I just ate like, twenty pounds of meat. And a mushroom the size of a beach ball." I gulp, then on my next breath I drift a little closer to the body. "Come onnn man. Get a grip!"

I hear a light yipping noise nearby and abruptly turn to look in that direction. I spot the intruding scavengers instantly. A light growl rises in my throat as I look upon a family of small blue foxes. Then I cover my mouth and take a deep breath through my nose. Their scent doesn't entice me the same way the Inferno Boar's did, so I decide not to kill them despite my initial reaction. When I get my head on straight again. I cut off one of the Boar's hind legs and carefully toss it over near the foxes. The largest one seems hesitant, but the others rush forward, eventually she follows them and helps them drag the leg away.

I feel a little, sad. My mind tells me that it's because I accidentally threatened some harmless exotic wildlife. But my instincts tell me that I shouldn't have let them have some of my kill. "Damn. I have some issues to work through. No way I'm eating this whole thing, no harm in sharing." I shake my head and watch the retreating foxes, then I decide to use identify on one of them.

I snicker lightly. "Bet I scared the crap outta them when I spotted them despite those skills!" I sigh softly, then look back at the boar's corpse. Guess, I'll just leave the rest here for other scavengers? I feel a rush of adrenaline when I decide that, apparently my body trying to object, but I shake my head and grab the tusks and salvaged skin before walking off.

This time I don't have any specific direction in mind. I just wander off, hoping to find salt or something else that catches my attention.

A young woman wearing a sturdy and well made if rather plain wool outfit, is walking through the woods. Her white hair is kept short, and her pale eyes are only barely open. She has already walked well beyond any familiar trails. Who can say what drives her on? Determination, or pride? Perhaps she is only seeking a good place to find her end. Regardless, onward she walks, deeper into the the evening darkness.

The woman pauses when she hears a rustling noise, then branches shifting. Something that doesn't know what it's doing wandering through the woods. Finally, whatever it is stumbles onto the faint path she had been walking along. Her nearly lightless eyes settle on the figure before her. Despite the darkness around, he seems clearer in her vision than anything else she has ever looked upon. He almost seems to glow with an internal light in her eyes. Even then, the figure is rather blurred. Still he seems to be a young man, perhaps a little shorter than the woman herself. Though something on the sides of his head seems to rise a little higher. Aside from that, he looks to be wearing black pants, and no shirt.

The man speaks up, startling her. "Ah! S-sorry." The man moves something hes holding in front of himself, though he is clearly holding it a bit away from his body. It is then that the woman notices the scent of blood. "I uhmm, meant to make some clothes before I met anybody."

The woman tilts her head, a bit uncertain, then she speaks up in a soft voice. "It's fine, I can't really see anyway." 

The man leans in a little closer, giving her a bit of an impression of the structure of his face as he looks closer at her. "Oh, I didn't realize. . . So, what are you, doing out here when the sun is setting if you can't see? Do you at least live somewhere near here?" She shakes her head. "I see. Erm. Sorry. I mean, I understand? You don't have a reason. Does that mean you're just enjoying the night? Seems like a dangerous hobby, given that there are monsters out here."

"I don't understand your meaning. Only weak monsters would even want to attack a human, and I can defend myself a little bit at least. Still, you're not wrong. It is dangerous. But, well. I can't. . . " The woman's eyes tear up slightly. "I'm sorry. I mean, I cannot return home. I'm, tired of being a burden on my father and younger siblings."

"Ohhh. . . Uhm. I, could try to help you. And, I think you could help me. I, find myself unfortunately lacking in knowledge. Maybe you could teach me a few things? Or at least be somebody to talk to out here."

The woman furrows her eyebrows, then uses the Identify skill on the man. He twitches and mutters something under his breath a bit too quietly for her too hear. The menu has always been something she could see with perfect clarity, and her thoughts after looking upon it. . .

He's a monster?! I've never heard of a Mythic Rank monster, wasn't Legendary the highest? . . Wait, maybe my Essence Sense skill is why I can see him so clearly? Well, I guess I'll play along. I, wasn't planning to survive out here anyways. . .

I wander around aimlessly throughout the day. I manage to catch another mouthwatering scent, but I decide to hold off on following it until I'm hungry. Though my satiety doesn't seem to reduce at all throughout the day, so I wander off enough to lose track of it anyway.

As the sun is setting there is another scent that catches my attention. Though I can't figure out why I like this one, I follow along anyway. After getting my horns caught a bit in some thicker underbrush and tearing through I come out onto an open space, seems like some kind of trail? My eyes settle on a girl, who I'd say is a bit pretty. Her hair is white though. Is she an albino or something? After a moment I realize that I'm still not really, covered up.

"Ah! S-Sorry." I shift the crudely bundled hide in front of myself, holding it about at waist level and a ways away. "I uhmm, meant to make some clothes before I met anybody."

She tilts her head in a cute gesture, then speaks in a voice that seems a bit melancholy, but is still soothing to hear. "It's fine, I can't really see anyway." Wh-huh? Is my fur thick enough to hide stuff down there? I glance down briefly, then my face grows a bit warm and I look back at her. Then I notice her eyes and lean in for a better look.

"Oh, I didn't realize. . . So, what are you, doing out here when the sun is setting if you can't see? Do you at least live somewhere near here?" I hope she can get home quickly. Most of the things out here seem too dangerous for a blind girl to handle. But she shakes her head, so I think a moment. "I see." Ah! Crap! "Erm. Sorry. I mean, I understand? You don't have a reason. Does that mean you're just enjoying the night? Seems like a dangerous hobby, given that there are monsters out here."

"I don't understand your meaning. Only weak monsters would even want to attack a human," Huh? "and I can defend myself a little bit at least. Still, you're not wrong. It is dangerous. But, well. I can't. . . " Tears well up in her eyes and I feel an instant of panic. "I'm sorry. I mean, I cannot return home. I'm, tired of being a burden on my father and younger siblings." Oh, oh no. That's not good.

"Ohhh. . . Uhm. I, could try to help you. And, I think you could help me. I, find myself unfortunately lacking in knowledge. Maybe you could teach me a few things? Or at least be somebody to talk to out here." Hopefully I can convince her to not just wander off into the wilderness.

Her eyebrows furrow as if shes thinking. I feel a creeping sensation along my back and shiver in response. Then mutter. "Gaah, somebody just walk over my grave back home or something?"

After an awkward minute, she sighs then speaks up. "I suppose I'll stay with you then. What sort of things do you need to know?"

"You will!? Great. Uhm. For starters, do you know where I can get some salt to dry out this hide I got? And, do you by chance know how to tan leather after drying it?"

Her eyebrows shoot up. Apparently she really didn't expect that. "Well, I believe the sand along river beds up here in the mountain are salty enough for the drying. And, I'm not an expert, but I think the juice from under-ripe fruit can be used to tan leather?"

"Thank you! That'll be a huge help. For now, lets walk on this trail until we find a decent clearing. Then, I'll try to build a house to keep you safe in when I need to run off somewhere quickly."

She giggles softly. "You don't even have a house but asked someone you just met to live with you?" Shes, got a fair point there.

"Aaaaaaaah. Sorry. I haven't really needed a house so far. I just, figured you would need one? Eeeemm. Anyway, are you okay walking on your own behind me, or would you like to borrow my arm and walk side by side?"

"Pff, I think I'll be fine. I'm used to walking without really being able to tell where I'm going. I should be able to keep track of you. And it'll be even easier if we talk while we go."

"O-okay. Then I guess we'll just keep going in the direction you were headed?" I turn away and start walking along, taking care to go slowly so she can keep up. "Oooh, also. My name is. . . Tai. I guess."

She follows, walking with more confidence than I could likely manage in her situation. "You guess? Is that a nickname then? Well, that's okay. My name is Laurana. I guueeess you can call me Lara, if we're using nicknames."

"Right. Nice to meet you Lara. Now, I suppose my next big question is, what's the deal with monsters? What are they, how do they work, ranks, and all that?"

"That's quite the question, Tai. Well, I suppose I can tell you about everything I learned about them back in school." Huh, like a public school? Guess their culture probably isn't too bad then. "Well. The main thing about monsters is that they are largely comprised of a special substance called 'Essence'. All things tend to have at least a little of it. But monsters have relatively much more than anything else. And rank is determined by how much Essence a monster has."

"Huuuuuuh. So F-Rank monsters only have a little bit then?" And Mythic ranks probably have waaaaaay too much.

"Yes. Essence can be measured by volume. An F-Rank monster has about ten full ampules of essence within itself. Though the density of Essence in the body is also important. Specifically, even ten full ampules of Essence won't make something a monster if it's too big. And if it gains enough Essence to become a monster, then it'll be a higher rank because of the amount needed. Because of that F-Rank monsters are always Small or Medium in size."

"I see, and higher rank monsters tend to be larger?" Seems simple enough.

"Well, not always. Even monsters aren't pure Essence after all. Though they do trend towards greater size at higher ranks. I think E-Ranks are the same as F. But D-Ranks are Small through Large, C are Medium or Large, B are Medium through Giant, A are Giant or Titanic, S are always Titanic, and Legendary Monsters have higher density, and can be anything from Medium through Titanic."

No mention of Mythic? IIIIIII might be a little abnormal there after all. "Aahh huh. So you can usually judge how strong a monster is by its size after all. As long as it isn't all the way at the top of the ranks."

"Well. Yes. More or less. Though Essence is mostly about a monster's raw power. Physical strength is still affected by size. So a Medium B Rank monster would be just as powerful as a Giant one, but not as strong physically. Oh! Almost forgot. The amount of Essence increases by a minimum of ten times per rank. Or, no? I think the number is bigger between Rank S and Legendary? I don't remember the exact number though."

So the jump is larger between S and Legendary than between any of the earlier Ranks? Huuuh. What about Legendary to Mythic? "Okay, and why is Essence measured in 'Ampules'? Also, why did you say only weak monsters target humans?"

"The first one is because Essence can let humans and the other races use magic. Its measured in Ampules because you can't take in more than one injection worth at a time. If they do take in more a person might become a monster themself. As for why stronger monsters don't hunt humans, it's because Monsters only care about Essence when it comes to what they like to eat. Humans just don't have enough to appeal as food for anything higher than an E-Rank monster. Though monsters still probably wouldn't like humans getting too close most of the time."

Oohh. That's why the Inferno Boar smelled good? Because I need at least C-Ranks to be my food? "One more question. How big are the Size categories, relative to humans?" I think I've already got a guess for some of them, but might as well ask.

"Small monsters are smaller than humans, medium monsters are about the same size, large monsters are a few times larger, giants are as big as houses, and Titanic Monsters are just, even larger than the giants."

"Okay, with that and everything else. I've got a lot to think about. Gimme a bit to process it all." While I'm busy thinking we make a little small talk as we walk. Then, we happen across a clearing that seems about large enough to me. I look around. "Seems okay? But, maybe I should wait till morning to try and build a house? I could at least make a bed out of some leaves for you in the meantime though? The trees around here have huge leaves."

She snickers, apparently finding the idea, or my reaction to the leaves, to be quaint. "Well, that would at least be better than sleeping directly on the forest floor." Huh, come to think of it, I don't feel tired at all. Still.

"Alright, I'll be back in a second." I set my luggage aside, and climb one of the shorter trees, using my claws to help me grip it even without any handholds. I grab as many leaves as I can then shimmy back down. Finally I pile the leaves up next to one of the largest trees on the edge of the clearing. "Okay, over here. I'll keep watch for tonight, in case anything gets close."

She walks over and holds out her hand. My face grows a bit warm as I carefully take her hand, keeping my claws away proves a slight challenge, and help her down onto the leafy bed. "Thank you. Though you could insist that we sleep in shifts if you're so worried about keeping watch."

I take a step back, then sit on the forest floor. "No. Don't worry about it. I'm, really not sleepy anyway. And, I think I have pretty good night vision. Ahh, no offence." I tilt my head back and look up. There are two small moons overhead, one white like the one from Earth, and the other a faint, rusty red, like Mars in photos. "Huh. Two moons?"

"None taken. And, there are only two out tonight? Obviously, I'm not very good at keeping track of the lunar cycles. But from what I've been told there are a total of ten moons." She shifts around and pulls some of the leaves over herself. "Apparently they come out in certain groups on a set schedule. Though it's rare for all of them to be out at once."

"I se- er. I mean I understand. That is pretty interesting. That aside. Are you cold?" It seemed perfectly cozy out to me, but since she covered herself with some of the leaves I was a touch worried.

"Huh? Oh, no. It's fine. I'm just used to covering myself up when I'm going to bed." I make a noncommittal humming noise, then let the conversation trail off so she can settle down. It doesn't take long before I hear her breathing level out. She must have been pretty tired.

I slowly stand back up and soundlessly walk a few more steps away. Then I start pacing in the clearing. I think it would be best if I could somehow convince her to go back. But I'm not at all confident that I could do that. If I tried, I'd probably just cause her to run off on her own again. Better to take my time and learn more about her so I can make a better effort. And, for all I know she didn't tell me everything there. She might even, have the right idea by running away. Uncomfortable as that idea might be.

A couple hours later I hear a yelp, and quickly turn to look. I see another blue fox a short ways into the trees. Or, more likely the largest one from the group I had seen earlier. This time she is holding a branch covered in small, ripe looking red fruit. Not sure how she yelped that loudly with a branch in her mouth, but still. Interesting. I cock my head to the side while looking at her. She carefully walks to the edge of the clearing and sets the branch down on one of the large leaves before backing away while keeping an eye on me.

My tail sways side to side, and I offer a slight smile and a nod. For some reason she bolts into the woods when I nod. . . Maybe my horns seemed threatening when I lowered my head? Oops. Either way, I walk over to the branch and pick it up. I sniff at the berries on it. They smell a bit like cranberries, but sweeter. And, they don't seem appetizing to me quite like how the boar or mushrooms from before had been. Still, Lara might like them. I wonder, did the fox give it that much thought?

I hang the fruit laden branch on one of the lower branches of a nearby tree to keep it off the ground, then sit in the middle of the clearing and decide to wait out the night there.

Chaos_Sinner777

Well, here we go. There are a couple more tags/genres I think will end up involved. For instance, it is entirely likely that he will end up with a Harem, and potentially a male lover. But I'm not yet certain, so I left them off. For now. Oh, and I don't intend to write actual sex scenes, but there will likely be references to such things, so I went ahead and added that content warning. Lastly, I used a pic of Kuro, basically as a placeholder. Plus, feline with horns?