A good uncountable time later, Leo couldn't help but wonder if this was actually working.
'That God.. or System, wouldn't lie to me right?'
Although, it couldn't possibly done on purpose.. right? Well, for convenience sake, it did. A slight headache came in, resembling the pulsing feeling behind your eyes upon having a migraine, and then a trembling feeling spreading throughout his body.
As a real, piercing pain presented itself within him, his 'form' began making a significant change.
It was no longer just a few motes of light, a cloud of dust, or whatever else you could think of.
It looked as if it was being sifted through, leaving only the most fundamental essentials of his soul, and then expanding and contracting.
And then it sifted, again. And expanded, and contracted. Leo's Soul, from an outsider's perspective was becoming smaller and purer, yet the 'aura' around it no longer contained the humanity it once had. Not necessarily lacking in intelligence, but having instinct prevail.
As his Soul got smaller and smaller, the piercing pain became a raging blizzard from a light rain, increasing in intensity over time.
Finally, the pain stopped. As if the greatest relief washed over him, he felt as if he just finished a good book and didn't feel sad about it ending, but satisfactory. He felt as if there was a nice, subtle Rain, yet it wasn't too cold and wasn't too warm. There were rainbows in the sky, sunshine basking everyone in a little bit of needed happiness.
Except there was none of that, only no pain. Which was great, in his opinion.
[System has forced Assimilation with Entity [Grey Wolf]
System suggests Host not make any rash movements until Host is adjusted to the nervous system of a Quadruped species.
System will appear once again when the Host has truly Assimilated into the body you're currently in possession of.
Finally, System hopes that Host can keep in mind that you are currently the bottom of the bottom, not including small insects (some of which are still stronger than you), and the only safe area is your current immediate Environment. Good Luck!]
'Well, at least it gave me that encouragement.'
Slowly, something he realized a small issue, as a tidal wave of numbing feelings come in, as if he were sitting on his leg for hours, and has to move it. He needs to move it to get rid of that frigidly obvious feeling of nothingness. Except he can't. He doesn't know how to, and it wouldn't be safe to make any rash actions.
Opening his eyes steadily, Leo decides to inspect his surroundings careful instead of dealing with moving first. Moving his head is still doable, after all, he's had that function before. Yet, when he does it he feels the immense difference in his neck. What is comfortable, and what isn't.
For some reason, getting used to feeling his new neck, he gets lost realizing that he's already opened his eyes. 'Let's not make habit of that..' Everything that green, as you'd imagine the Jungle to be, yet it doesn't feel like a Jungle. Inspecting the surrounding environment he can surmise that it's a mix between Jungle and Forest, with lots of exotic weeds, plants, and grasses covering the floor of the terrain, along with dirt/mud patches from frequently trailed paths, by.. scarily 'abnormal' animals.
Realizing he was looking from inside a space, he decided it was best to know what it is. Although eh couldn't see behind him from simply opening his eyes, he could tell to his front is a small yet sufficient opening, and below him is uncut, trampled grass and some other strangely warm plants, acting as a sort of flooring so he didn't feel the rough even terrain.
'Sorta like a doggy bed, huh?'
Realizing that was insulting to himself, he couldn't help but Snort.. except he could, because he was physically incapable of a snort. He just looked like he was sneezing.
Looking a little further, you could see the little indent that he was in was at the bottom of a hill, seeing as from the outside he could he that he was uphill and so was the ground to the left of his opening. With a nice view to a path that he noticed not even a minute ago, he decided to entertain himself and see what WONDERFUL environment he was 'spawned' inside of.
Inspecting the smallest footprint he can see, from a distance he assumes it to be a Paw, the mud that was stepped on has a clear imprint like hundreds of pounds of pressure were put on it, and it was... seared. As if a fire was held to it just long enough to have it harden and crack instead of being pushed down by the pressure.
Noticing that there's similar traits in the environment from the other animal tracks, he also realizes that none of them are prominent. Green wisps in the wind, small crackles of electricity, seared terrain, and what looks like deterioration as if someone put something harmful into a plant pot, all present. Yet they look as if they're being suppressed by something natural, unforeseen. He can't feel it, see it, and the System didn't tell him, yet they were slowly flickering out of existence like a torch in a the rain, or more accurately, Ice under the sun, being whittled away like the power in a generator running only on a battery, and the power it puts out is equivalent to the energy left in storage.
Maybe that was an analogy that didn't really need to be made, but he truly couldn't 'describe' it, and he isn't able to tell you that it's something you'll never comprehend, because you do. Somewhere, at some time, you've seen something like this but nothing as.. Ethereal. Nothing that's real and yet fake to the reality we live in, or to put it simple, YOU live in.
Leo, realizing that more than half an hour passed, decided to get used to these new Legs of his, and something he completely forgot out, his Tail.
Starting simply, he decided to move it at his joins, which, you should keep in mind, he didn't really know exactly where they were. As he slowly got used to moving his paws back and forth, with little tilts, and closely observed adjustments, he decided to go to the middle leg join, or so he thought, before discovering that there's a join slightly above the paw, which he realized wasn't actually the same as tilting his paw.
Imagine tilting your paw as if moving your thumb and pinkie side to side, yet moving that small joint that helps balance your simple walking on uneven terrain, as moving your wrist and making overall adjustments. Literally something even cubs can do.
Yet, that muscle memory from his previous life that he didn't even know he had imprinted into him so deeply, he had to marvel at how changed he truly was. He's but a husk of his previous self. None the less, he feels full. Nothing like a husk, but a man with aspirations literally given to him by a God. One which he doesn't know, nor care about, but that's something to brag about, right?
It took a total of 5 hours to be able to command his legs like an incredibly lazy dog. Which, now that he could move his legs into his view, might he add, is might unhygienic. Dirt and grass stuck inside of his fur, that was his legs and he understood, but somehow after getting feeling back into his body, he started feeling dirtier and dirtier, as if his pelt was just flowing with the most disgusting mud he could find.
Yet, strangely, his nose hasn't cleared up, feeling stuffed for some odd reason. He knew that the Wolf's strongest sensory organ was it's sense of smell coming slightly ahead of their eyesight. Which, by the way, is incredibly otherworldly to experience. In this world, things are different and he understood, but the eyesight of his body did not alter any colors from his previous experience, which he knew was different. Yet his vision was slightly narrower then he was used to, and much, much more keen. As if focusing into something is instinctual. Not muscle memory or something you can control yourself to do, but something that's built in for the species itself.
Sort of like when you fall down and try to catch yourself but can't really control it and turn your arm into a broken noodle. ;)
Finally, he could move his tail. It doesn't respond to emotion like he thought it would, but it's key to his balance. Or so he's told.
With no way to describe the feeling, it's better not to. Simply said, some subconscious movements with the tail could make or brake a hunting session for a Wolf without a pack, determining whether it stays on its feet and the terrain it wants to be, or falls over and loses everything it was there for.
Finally, 6 hours after his awakening, with it being high noon, he takes his first step. More accurately, his first attempt. And then again.
And again..
one more..
slightly better...
slightly better....
And finally, he made a stable looking step!
So, the System said that once he Assimilated to his body, and he'd like to assume that means gaining control over the nervous system. With a steady stream of steps, everything was getting much more natural, and he decided to change his positioning to prowling, which.. looked very disturbing seeing how the only thing he could see was his Den's wall. Making progress.
Peeping outside, he can tell the days flow differently from Earth. It's been 6 hours yet it looks like the lighting outside has changed very little. Looking through the leaves, with his head tilted upwards, he can tell from the sun piercing through the holes in the Forest.. or Jungle? We'll go with Forest, I suppose. With the holes piercing through the Forest leaves and other large, unidentifiable plants, the lighting went from Sunny to Sunnier, yet the atmosphere stayed Humid.
'Boy, this'll be one long... long day..'
And finally, what he predicted would happen, happened. It had to happen. If it didn't happen, he didn't really know what to do. How the hell else would I 'Assimilate'? He's starting to not like that word. Really, be more specific.
[Host has obtained rudimentary Assimilation to it's current body]
[Loading Host's Status...]
[Determining Host's Current Condition...]
[System Status
Name: Unknown
Tier: 0.0
Affinity: Neutral
Points: 0
Psychical Proficiencies:
◊Claw Proficiency 0◊
◊Fang Proficiency 1◊
⇓Claw Proficiency 0 Extras⇓
- The only way to advance into the first level of claw proficiency is to kill a prey by locking them down with swift movements. Keep in mind a Wolf's claws are for traction, not as a tool for killing. Priorities come first. As an animal in nature, you cannot rely on the tools of humanity, but only yourself. Only this way can you be acknowledged by [Translated to Host's Terms] the Mana in the atmosphere as a predator, acknowledged by the Gods, and most of all, acknowledged by the System.
Elemental Proficiencies:
>Host is lacking in Elemental Proficiencies<
System Evaluation: Currently, there's a Tadpole stronger then you. Step your game up.]
Huh.. putting everything aside.. I don't have a name. I'm Leo right? But.. am I really Leo? Should I keep it for namesake? Just because I was called Leo?
But... but maybe I should be something new. I mean, if I'm going to top this Hierarchy, I can't be called Leo. "Oh no, It's Leo!". That doesn't sound menacing at all. Well, we don't really need menacing. But... It's time for a change.