Chương 2: Book 1: - Chapter 2: Oh Cursed Spite

Assuming these were the last gasps of his consciousness, Dominic waited for his awareness to fade, mourning what could have been but never was. Alas poor Dominic – a young man with his whole life ahead of him, now reduced to lion food…. As the moments dragged on, his grief for his own tragedy was replaced by curiosity, and then by impatience. If I'm dead, surely this isn't what I've got to look forward to for eternity, he thought a little crossly to himself.

If I haven't made it to heaven, I would have thought hell would be significantly worse than this. He ignored the uncomfortable thought that suggested an eternity of being unremarked and unable to do anything might actually sound worse than fire and pitchforks. Perhaps… perhaps dad was able to chase the lion off, Dominic theorised. Maybe I'm in a coma. In which case, all he needed to do was wake up.

Yet without any sense of his body, or a light to offer him direction, Dominic could only concentrate firmly on rousing himself – to no effect. Suddenly, he became aware that he wasn't alone anymore. He didn't know how he could be so convinced – he couldn't see or hear anyone – but he was. Hello? he called out. Or maybe he didn't – he had no mouth with which to make sound or ears with which to hear it. As if in response, that sense of the other intensified and pressed against him forcefully.

Despite the intangible blackness that surrounded him, Dominic felt distinctly shoved away. Hey! Dominic complained. Dead, dreaming, or drugged, Dominic had spent enough of his life being shoved around – largely into roles other people chose for him. He refused to let some invisible presence do it too. But how? With no body, he found himself defenceless and quickly giving ground. As the other pushed him further, Dominic felt a new sensation – cold. And it was increasing.

Instinctively, Dominic knew that if he got too cold, it would be the end of him. And he refused to let that happen. But nothing worked. Not imagining hands. Not imagining mental strength. Nothing but the cold closing in. If he'd had a body, he would be shivering uncontrollably by now. For a moment, doubt crept in. Then he rallied. No. This wouldn't be how he went. Not nameless, forgotten in the dark. This is not my final scene! he cried defiantly.

Forgetting all ideas of technique, he flung himself towards the other. Later, he couldn't have said how he did it, but the how was far less important than the result – that the iciness retreated. The move had exhausted Dominic. How that could be, given the circumstances, he had no idea. But he had found something that worked – repetition was the key. He once more focused on nothing more than the determination of surviving this to become something more, and flung all of himself at the other again.

By the time he had returned to the heat, he was barely hanging on. Some sort of resource had been almost entirely used up. But he suspected that the other felt the same way – it had fought back, but its struggles had become increasingly weak. And now, it sat in the iciness on the other side of the heat, unmoving. Dominic knew instinctively that he needed to push it only once more and it would be gone for good. But he hesitated.

Because something perturbing had touched him the last time he'd pushed – a desire to live that wasn't his own. Could the other be another person? A sense of urgency came over him, a certainty that time was running out. He needed to make the choice right now. He felt for the presence of the other with caution. It barely reacted to his contact, the same exhaustion he was feeling emanating from it too. He made his choice. He had won this battle. But heroes didn't execute beaten enemies just because they could.

At least, not in the stories Dominic wanted to belong in. So instead of pushing, he gripped it tightly. Just in time – a moment later, there was an impossibly strong tug. Dominic gripped onto the other, and bore the drag as well as he could. As the pull weakened and then released him, he suddenly realised he could see. Dominic blinked his eyes open, then shut them again at the sudden brightness of his surroundings – he had eyes again!

Squinting them open, he turned his head to see the savannah grass stretching out in all directions – he had a head again too! Though there was something impeding the lower inside corners of his vision – a tawny lump. He lifted his hands to feel for it, only to fall head first to the red earth in the process. He caught himself with his hands a moment too late, receiving a bump to his nose in the process. Turning his head to one side, he examined his hand. Except, it wasn't a hand. It was a paw.

Pushing himself slowly upwards again, Dominic became all-too aware that he wasn't standing on two feet, but on four. And as he turned his head one way and then the other, he realised that he had a long, sandy coloured body that ended with a brown-tufted tail. As for the brown lump that impeded his vision, it was a muzzle, longer than anything he was used to seeing. Oh, cursed spite! Dominic thought faintly. I'm a lion! A lion, of all creatures. A dream, it had to be. The lion attack. The black space.

Now being a lion. How could it be anything else? But it felt so real. He flexed one paw experimentally. Claws slid free, ivory-coloured, curved and wickedly sharp. Dominic stared at them, and, slowly, something broke through his numb astonishment: awe. Dream or not, perhaps there were worse things to be than a lion. This body was not scrawny like his own, and was certainly not as forgettable by those who had had a close encounter. Nor was it ordinary – at least not when controlled by a human intelligence.

A lion was built for strength and speed; equipped with dangerous teeth and claws. The King of the Jungle was worlds away from the barista serving coffee at eight am Monday morning. He imagined walking into his workplace of two years in this form and an amused leonine grunt escaped his mouth at the thought of their reactions. He might not yet be able to slay an audience in their seats with a masterful script, beautifully executed. But slaying them in other ways? That, apparently, was now a distinct possibility.

For as long as this dream lasted. Dominic had never experienced lucid dreaming before – when someone recognises that they are in a dream, yet they don't wake up – but he was perfectly happy for this to be his first time. He marvelled at how real everything felt. There was none of the distortion he remembered from other dreams. As he returned his hand – paw – to the earth, Dominic exhaled slowly. He jumped a little as it came out with more of a rumbling growl than the soft breath he was expecting.

Shifting his head to look around threatened to put him off balance again, so he carefully kept his head level even as he took his first tentative steps. Though awkward in a way due to his arms – front legs – being rather longer proportionately than he was expecting, and his legs being shorter, Dominic felt another thrill of excitement at just how fluidly this body moved. He felt so much like a predator, he was tempted to practice stalking.

Losing concentration turned out to be a bad idea – he almost tripped over his own paws. Maybe I should get used to walking around before I do anything more complicated, he told himself sheepishly, slightly surprised that a dream would be so realistic. Wanting to take a look around, and not keen on tipping over while he did that, Dominic worked to sit down to make himself more stable.

That turned out to be rather more complicated than he was expecting – a lion's legs worked differently from a human's in some key ways, and his mind apparently wasn't making it easier on him. But he managed in the end. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Looking around, Dominic saw he was in the middle of the savannah, the long grass and mixture of trees and undergrowth very similar to several areas he'd seen the day before with his father on their game drive. I…

guess that makes sense? If I imagine myself as a lion, I'd surely imagine myself in the savannah. But the explanation seemed to be wearing thin. The savannah was vivid, sounds and smells invading his senses now he was paying attention to them, and the landscape went on for miles in each direction. It was just as he remembered it from the previous day, except with no sign of car, game track, or camp. Then his stomach gurgled, hunger clawing at his belly.

That was also very realistic – he didn't remember ever feeling hungry in a dream. For the first time, unease curled through Dominic. Is it possible that this isn't a dream? As if in response to his question, a wall of text suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, floating in front of his vision like it was written across a screen a foot or two in front of him. It was weird – he could read the text, but also somehow knew the gist of what it was saying even without actually reading it.

[Congratulations User2T54631F2547O895632, you have been given the marvellous opportunity of joining the multiverse as a Sapient Being. You, your planet, and everything on it has been absorbed into the System.] Wait, what the hell? Dominic demanded. His imagination was good, but he'd never imagined a game-like wall of text projected in front of his vision. Especially not one with such a dramatic announcement. Nothing responded to his question, though the text was replaced by a new message.

[All natural beings, biomes, and structures have been reconstituted, with the natural beings, biomes, and structures of three other planets added in to expand land mass, number of available biomes, and species in the newly initialised world. Necessary physical limitations have been changed to enable a smooth transition. Congratulations, you and your planet are now of use to the System. To aid in this, you have been given access to a new way of increasing your power: a levelling system.] [Grow stronger by earning XP in two ways: craft, or kill.] [Think 'status' at any point to access your status and see your progress towards your next level.] [Grow in power and achieve your wildest dreams.] Grow in power and achieve your wildest dreams…. Dominic's questioning of whether this was real or not came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly he found himself hoping that it was. Because Dominic's wildest dreams were very wild indeed, and being human had offered him nothing but disappointment so far.

But if this 'System' offered a path to previously-unachievable success…? Wanting to reread the text in more detail, Dominic blinked when it suddenly disappeared entirely from his vision and was replaced by a single word. [Error] What? No! Dominic cried out, a pain-filled grunt emerging from his chest as a sense of loss ripped through him. Bring it back! Dream or not, the disappointment was overwhelming. To have lost the path to his dreams within seconds of gaining it….

And then he considered the implications of an 'error' in the context of any kind of technology, and a chill of fear went down his spine. But the word didn't linger long. Instead, it was quickly replaced by another wall of text. [Congratulations User2T54631F2547O895633, you have been given the marvellous opportunity of joining the multiverse as a Beast (predator).] [Grow stronger by earning Evolution Energy in one way: kill.] [Evolve as you grow in power, and claim your destiny.] Evolve. Claim your destiny.

The words washed away the concern he'd been feeling after the error message. Once more, he found himself hoping this was real. Evolve meant growth, change – right? The opportunity to become something more. And more meant special, recognised, respected. Dominic, fresh off two years of working as a barista, was hungry for that. Even if it meant he had to kill to get there. [Error] When the word appeared once more, the disappointment was utterly crushing. Was this a nightmare instead of a dream?

Or was some sort of system judging him and deeming him unworthy of the opportunity? I'll show you what I can do! Dominic shouted in his mind at whoever might be listening, as he wished he could have shouted at so many others who had dismissed him without a second thought. You'll regret rejecting me! A series of lines then wrote themselves across his vision. At first hopeful that he'd got a response, Dominic was puzzled as soon as he actually read them.

[User2T54631F2547O895632 and User2T54631F2547O895633 minds simultaneously present: Existence validated] [Checking for bodies.] [Processing] Bod ies? The confusion over the plural distracted him from his earlier disappointment. He had just enough time to feel uneasy at the 'Existence validated' – and the implications of the reverse – before the message cleared and the next appeared. [User2T54631F2547O895632 and User2T54631F2547O895633 bodies both present and absent: Error.] [Checking for souls.] [Processing] Again the plural? And ' Error'? [User2T54631F2547O895632 and User2T54631F2547O895633 souls simultaneously present: Existence validated] [Anomaly detected] Wait, anomaly? Dominic wasn't sure how to take that. Anomaly meant something that deviated from the norm. That was good, right? But it also often meant that something had gone wrong, which sounded far less good for Dominic. And why the plural on body, mind, and soul? [Starting Anomalous Protocol] What protocol? Wait, don't… what's happening?!

The world started fading around Dominic again, like he was going to sleep, but without closing his eyes. Actually, it kind of feels like I'm faint….

Dominic blinked his eyes open. His chin was resting on something soft. Half-expecting to see the inside of the hut in the camp, the sight of the savannah before his eyes gave him mixed feelings. Lifting his head and looking down, he saw the soft thing he'd been lying on were his own paws. He was still a lion. And he was getting the very distinct feeling that… this was real. Though it felt incredible to consider, there were too many pieces of evidence that pointed towards that.

He'd felt the lion's jaws tighten around his throat – he'd faded to black rather than waking up as would be usual if someone died in a dream. The savannah had been too realistic. Moving as a lion had been too realistic. Then there had been those message boxes that appeared before his eyes – comprehensible, logical, well-written, if a bit robotic in tone. But if this was real, then the disappointment at losing the promise of the messages was even more gut-wrenching. Because it had actual implications for his life.

And the messages about bodies, souls, and minds were even more disturbing – as was the one about an 'Anomalous protocol'. Perhaps that's something better than the standard? he thought hopefully. If this were a book or play, this would be the moment the character was challenged and discovered that he had more to offer the world than he'd thought. Maybe I'm in whatever the Anomalous Protocol is? he wondered, pushing himself into a sitting position and looking around.

To his surprise, nothing about his surroundings seemed to have changed. Dominic stood up, feeling on edge for some reason. At first he put it down to being out in an unfamiliar environment, one that he'd been warned was dangerous. But when he considered how he hadn't felt that way before the messages, he realised it must be something different. Yet it still took Dominic a bit of time to put his finger on the source of the unease. It was too quiet. Too still.

Though he hadn't seen any humans since he'd woken up in a lion's body, there had been the sounds of cicadas, the chirping of birds, the breeze rustling through the grass and undergrowth. Not since he'd opened his eyes the second time, though. Besides the quiet snarling rumbling in his chest that was the outward expression of his unease, it was utterly silent. Dominic suddenly knew he needed to get out of there. This place was dangerous. Possibly more than he was now. But that was easier said than done.

Getting to his feet was one thing – if he didn't think too much about it, he managed well enough. But walking with any sort of speed? That was another question. He set off regardless, managing to move a single paw at a time – the coordination of moving more than that took a good deal of concentration. Still, the more he moved, the faster and more fluid he became. His speed increased from a slow walk to a faster one, and from that to trotting.

His unease at the situation was temporarily pushed aside as he felt the thrill of moving in a lion's body once more. And then his tail got involved and sent him completely off balance. Dominic tried to compensate, but tripped over his own paw and fell onto his shoulder. He just about managed to tuck his head into his chest, rolling over himself in a mess of limbs, fur, and tail. He glared at the offending appendage that was dangling before his eyes, unable to resist batting at the dark tuft with a black-padded paw.

Contempt welled up in him, an unexpectedly powerful surge of it. Odd. At the same time, he heard something that sounded distinctly like laughter, but a quick look around confirmed that there was still nothing but savannah grass and unnerving silence for miles. Uneasiness replacing the excitement once more, Dominic twisted and carefully regained his footing, now feeling sore spots everywhere he had impacted the hard, dry ground.

At least he felt more stable on his four paws now – moving with them had helped him get used to them. Twisting, he stared at his tail. You will help me, not send me off balance, he ordered it firmly. Though, the way it twitched and swayed without his conscious intent seemed more mocking than obedient. About to set off, Dominic abruptly froze. Not because he had decided to – not consciously. But because instinct far older and more powerful than his thinking mind had just sent undeniable warning through his muscles.

An instinct that he'd last felt just before he'd been attacked by a lion. There was a threat nearby.