"Achoo!"

My naked body shivered. I've been squatting in this damp cave for a dozen minutes now.

 

It seems I got transported to another world. I accepted that rather quickly as all the evidence suggested. My mind was unusually calm too.

 

I can differentiate reality from lucid dreaming, and this place is real. My pale skin, firm hands, and my muscles. I did not have such muscles. This wasn't mine—

—Heck, I saw all this in a cave with no light nearby whatsoever. We had no dark vision on Earth, last I knew.

 

Anyways, I theorized that the site I stumbled upon was behind all this. I literally clicked my mouse. The world turned dark. Now I'm here.

Why a cave and not civilization tho? Or at least some clothes!

 

"WHY AM I NAKED!?" My voice echoed.

 

I vented out in a fit of frustration. It does not feel fun at all to be in your birthday suit in an eerie cave. Although, aside from the cold I don't feel that spooked.

Something flickered as my psyche wavered.

 

I didn't mind dying, but did I seriously have to get yeeted into a cave? a damn cave! The narrow entrance was a dozen meters away, I could even see the outline of trees. Darn it.

 

"What should I do now? Agh!"

 

I form a fist and hit the solid, uneven, ground. "Shit," I cut my hand on some sharp stone.

I was about to panic, bleeding in here would be bad. That is until I looked at my hand.

 

"This is totally abnormal."

 

The wound sealed itself in a few seconds. No blood leaked and it was a strange experience. I stood. Something flickered again. Darkness itself warped around me.

 

"I really want to cover myself..."

 

I close my eyes, feeling vulnerable the way I am now. My chest started heating up. I sensed something comforting around my heart.

This strange warmth calmed me. I open my eyelids and I'm left in shock. The cave was as dark as ever, I could still see it all except...

 

"Wow..." I waved my arms.

 

My entire body turned black. Covered in what seem to be shadows given form. As if dark smoke is stuck to my skin. I felt warm, like in a hoodie.

 

As I wave my hands around, this dark smoke leaks and drops to the ground. I notice it constantly going downwards from my front while crawling upwards from my back. 

 

I do not know why I wasn't afraid of this supernatural thing. Something in my head told me this isn't smoke but pure shadows. Darkness turned tangible and given form.

 

"Definitely not earth."

 

I bring my arms together, then apart. Shadows drip to the ground from between. Distorting on the ground before sliding and merging back with the dark.

I open my palms and close them, shaking my wrists a little. The shadows waver.

 

"Aha!" It retracts.

 

The shadows retreat up my arms, hands fully visible. I was feeling amazed by this seemingly alive substance, if I could call it that. It responded not to my words but rather my thoughts and will.

 

Raising a foot, I focus again. Trying to imagine what I want to achieve. The shadows slide down and cover the bottom of my foot. I place it back down on the hard stone and do the same with my other one.

 

"This is much better," I'm having a better time standing now. Like in running shoes.

 

I took my first step in this world after that.

I wanted to find out more. How's this supernatural stuff possible, what's powering it? I try to dust it off my chest. The shadows leak and drop in a puff but I'm still covered all the same.

I touch my face and it did not feel like It was covered with smoke, at least from the front. My intuition tells me this is just a visual cover with some temperature regulation. No real, defensive, protection.

 

"Shadow magic." I did not know how accurate my dub was.

 

---

 

I think an hour passed.

The light coming from the cave entrance felt a tad weaker in intensity. I just played with Shadow magic, trying to figure the ins and outs.

I also realized my voice was deeper. It felt fitting with my taller and more muscular body. (And larger Excalibur.)

 

Anyways, my imagination went wild as I played around with shadows and I discovered a few useful tricks.

Focusing on my palms, I can make an orb of dark smoke. Throwing it at a wall makes it explode in a puff of smoke that lingers for a few seconds before dissipating. Useful to blind someone.

 

Next was changing the shape. I arrived at an elongated oval the size of my finger. When thrown with all my might It left a small dent in the hard rock. Nothing much but my intuition once again told me this would be useful to stun someone temporarily.

 

The last and best thing I discovered was how well I could blend in with the surrounding darkness. I stood near a wall and focused on myself. The shadows on me twisted and I was blended with the darkness of the cave.

It was a peculiar experience. Not being able to see my body when I looked down. Just pure darkness. My black hair was a bonus point when it came to stealth. I wondered about my face though. I hope I'm not ugly, nor too eye-catching.

I liked mixing in with my surroundings. I was sure this ability would give me an edge when facing danger in the future. Why fight head-on if I can go sneaky-sneaky then stabby-stabby. Assassins always felt cooler than warriors to me. I'm not edgy though. I think.

 

On the unfortunate side, I wasn't able to make an orb with actual weight to it, a considerable physical force to make it a viable weapon. The max I achieved was the stun pellet. It was tiny and weak to be used for offense though.

But then again, these shadows I'm manipulating come literally from the darkness. The absence of light. They warp from around me and bend to my will. They have no solid material form. completely Immaterial.

...And that's why making a gun of shadows turned out to be a mission impossible. Neither a shadowy sword. Not even a dagger.

But that train of thought let me down a rabbit hole with something quite impressive at the end.

 

"This is really sharp," I poked with some force and my nails left a shallow scar on the ground.

 

After failing at making a weapon, I tried using the shadows to elongate my fingers. That did nothing but something else clicked in my head. On an instinctual level, I knew what to do.

My nails grew. They sort of, extended. Becoming a dozen centimeters longer, like claws.

 

They were sharp and pointy, proven when I accidentally pricked my hand by closing it. Although, yet again, the wound healed in a few seconds. Blood seemingly holding itself from leaking.

 

All this should have been creepy, but I felt no fear. Something deep down within told me I'm not human anymore. I ignored it for now.

 

"At least I can stab with these if something attacks me."

 

I moved my fingers up and down, focusing on my nails and they reversed back to normal, looking like any normal person's nail. It took just a few seconds and I felt nothing weird. A few more tries and I became natural at it.

 

"Blind stun then stab. Guess this is my basic combo."

 

It was a funny idea. I also felt excited at the thought of killing something. More so when I imagined blood. I didn't even realize that about myself. I was a peaceful person my entire life.

 

My stomach growled and I felt somewhat tired. Maybe I was using stamina to control these shadows? Or maybe I had mana? I was just playing with supernatural shadows so maybe mana is real too.

 

My mind could fork on different thoughts no longer. I felt hungry and ready to go out of the cave. I slowly walked towards the entrance.

Light assaulted my eyes, blinding me for a few seconds before my vision adapted. It was past noon by a few good hours I assumed.

 

"Damn, I'm really stranded." Trees were everywhere. Huge trees.

 

I'm stranded in a thicket it seems. The trees looked like pine but much taller and thicker. Reaching up to what I think is 15 to 20 meters. That's a lot of height.

 

I wanted to test my nails. Elongated naturally, I swung my hand. 4 gashes were left on the trunk nearest to me.

The outer two were shallow and short while the in-between were much deeper and longer. A centimeter or two into the wood. I knew I had a solid weapon on hand now.

 

I noticed the shadows hanging on my body gradually disperse under sunlight so I move closer to the shade.

 

As my hand returned to normal, my stomach growled again. My hunger was sending loud alerts to get food. My thoughts were getting a bit slower.

 

"What's this aroma..." My head turned in another direction. I started walking without knowing it.

 

The idea of wild animals attacking me passed through my mind but I ignored it. I strangely did not feel any fear in this wild environment. I was not scared. I was distracted by something else. Something outweighing any danger.

 

I could smell and sense something appetizing in the distance. It was far away and the trail weak, but I had to go there. It was attracting me like a magnet would to iron.

 

---

 

Hours passed, and there wasn't much sunlight anymore. The sky was orange.

 

I haven't realized how far I walked because when I got out of my daze the cave was nowhere in sight. Intuition told me I could track my way back.

 

Something else, however, something deep down within my very being, told me I should follow this mouth-watering scent. It whispered into my mind that pursuing this scent would be beneficial to me, it would solve my hunger.

 

I felt anxious. Not because of what I deemed a very strong 6th sense but because I was feeling completely normal in this strange, wild, and totally different world. I was still practically naked, but I did not feel alert. My body was navigating this forestry like a walk in the park.

 

I knew for a fact that I am not human. My ears actually were slightly pointy at the tips. Though what kept my sanity in check was my human-like body. I do not want to think about what would happen to my psyche if I was some strange monster.

 

Maybe I'd devour and evolve? Anyways, my mind would shift back to this scent I'm trailing with my seemingly superhuman sense of smell every time I strayed into a different thought.

 

I do not know how far I walked. What I knew was that the trail was reaching its end. The scent was getting thicker in the air. Saliva dripped from my mouth as my being growled in hunger.

 

Carefully navigating uneven terrain in this boundless sea of trees, shrubs, and wild plants, I moved between sticks and stones. My body emitted almost no sound thanks to this very useful shadow magic.

 

"People?" I mutter.

 

Faint silhouettes, humanoid in shape, appeared far in the distance, coming and going into vision as I lost them between tree trunks.

 

The birds stopped chirping. Distant animals went silent. My senses turned sharper and more precise as they solely focused on the source of this sweet aroma, the humanoids in the distance.

My ears picked up some gibberish, varying in volume. There also was an almost inaudible sound of something beating rhythmically, multiple things.

 

My body that felt weaker and weaker as I walked suddenly turned much more energized. Adrenaline rushing through my veins.

 

I crouched, approaching what my 6th sense said would solve my loud hunger, moving from shade to shade.

 

A shadow with no sound.

 

The orange hue cascading the forest was disappearing as night began to fall. My dark vision working, the world turned monochrome. Except for a red trail leading into the distance, the scent turned visible.

 

...Black eyes narrowed, turning vertical then red.