The ever quiet underground was surging with echoes of joy spreading throughout its tunnels.
Penta was running around and jumping up and down. Doing all kinds of different movements and was unbelievably euphoric. Though cramped, he was rather agile.
He felt his body in the darkness with his new hands and legs. He couldn't believe that he had regained something he thought forever lost. His human body or at least a resemblance of a humanoid body as he knew he was still his emperor roach self.
His multiple limbs had gone down to two legs and two hands. He was curious about what could have caused the change but he left it to the assumption that his soul was human and so his body was adapting to make his soul and body resonate.
The joy was still ever-present as he knew he was making progress and was finally seeing a little bit of light after dwelling in the darkness for so long.
The world seemed to be a little brighter to him regardless of the everpresent darkness of the underground. He finally had a way to meet with other humans and Old Ban's tribe. He wasn't sure how he would communicate but he would figure that out another time.
"H..Hello" A soft voice echoed in the silent underground. Tears were welling up in Penta's eyes as he could finally hear a non-screechy noise coming from his throat. He could finally speak properly again. He had been filtering out the screeching sounds he had been making whenever he talked in his roach body as it was gratingly annoying but he had regained so much.
He was extremely thankful to "Nature's Evolution" as this seemed to be a side-effect of having used the method to grow and finally reach the First grade. He still knew no spells or anything but just his body and energy were already on another level. He was extremely glad to have found that man's ruins.
There were many questions in regards to Old Ban but he had to leave it for when he was a higher grade shaman. Since he couldn't imagine what the Agaran plains held to kill someone that was so strong when Penta felt this much presence within him after just having reached First-grade.
"I wonder if I can get my roach body back...hmmm." He felt it odd that he just turned human and wondered if his roach body was still available. As it was the best for digging around the underground.
He sat down and tried to see if he could change back to his old body. However, it seemed more difficult. He did have a feeling it was possible though. So he tried to forcefully return to his roach body and after hours of trying and with immense pain. His legs had split from two to four and his arms lengthened and grew sharper.
This body felt similar to his old one but it felt disgusting a little. Penta was used to a roach body from his birth but for some reason after having returned to his human-like body, he felt uncomfortable turning into a roach. Including the pain and all, he decided once he got out of this hell he would just stay in his human form. It also felt like he lost some strength and that his body wasn't as easy to use as it was before. This wasn't something he was okay with. Maybe there was a way to more easily switch between forms but he had no idea if there was a technique or something for it as this body was only useful for this digging and maybe running but he felt that if his four legs were to combine back into two, he would have much more speed. The body of roach wasn't really meant for power in the first place.
"Maybe "Nature's Evolution" was trying to fix the lack of a proper future path by turning myself more human in resonance with my soul?" Penta questioned as an avid fan of fantasy, his mind could reason quite a few scenarios as to why this transformation had happened.
With that realization, Penta actually forcefully recombined back into his humanoid shape after another few hours of pain. The process of recombining actually felt much more comfortable as though it was what it was meant to be.
"I really can't wait to see myself in a mirror though, I hope I didn't mess anything up by undoing the human form, but I guess being able to do it is a bonus. Now let's head for the sky!" Penta excitedly started using his human form and started rushing through the tunnel.
As he was at the lowest part, the gravity that used to affect him was barely felt and his speed was almost twice as fast as he was before even without the extra legs. It was a happy finding.
Once he got back to the area where he had stopped digging the joy from all the achievements he had were immediately dashed as he knew to dig and eat was what he had to do. He felt hungry and quite a bit hungry too after everything that had occurred.
"Sigh, I swear once I get to the surface, regardless of whether people scorned or treated me like shit, I will eat nothing but meat, vegetables, fruit, and wine! No one will stop me." Penta solemnly declared with a tone that was as decisive as his desire for revenge upon the one who sent him here.
Digging was but a normal thing to Penta, even though his body changed, the speed at which he could break the different rocks and dirt and even digest them had significantly sped up. The perks of being at the first stage was honestly an amazing experience. His body felt condensed from the extreme gravity he had trained in and also from all the energy he had accumulated being, finally, available to use with his new body. It was an experience in itself to evolve like this. It felt a little like an RPG to him.
He continued on upwards and eventually when the gravity had returned to what it felt like near the surface of the Agaran plains, he simply bolted in a straight direction upwards. "Can't be too far away now," Penta mumbled in between bites of dirt and rock.
As he tried his hardest to speed up upwards and upwards, he eventually shot out of the ground at a very fast speed. The only horror was that immediately after shooting out of the ground, he rammed into a thick surface that enveloped him.
"Shit! Shit! I forgot about the damn ocean! ARRGHGHHH, my tunnel will be flooded!!!!" Penta didn't know whether to cry or laugh at his stupidity. Without much else choice, he simply decided to swim upwards, He didn't know how deep in the water he was but he could faintly see light on top of him shimmering so he knew he wasn't that deep.
"Oh, how fast." Penta realized he was like a torpedo in the water rushing straight for the bright light as he zoomed through the water that only slowed him down slightly. The powers he had gained were well rounded around his body.
The speed increased as the water pressure that would scare a normal man, felt like a warm hug from the ocean. After ten minutes of swimming at a ridiculous speed. He plopped out of the water in all his naked radiance.
"Feels like a deja vu when I come out the ground like this a second time. Should really control my strength but hey! Land!" The ever lonely Penta mumbled to himself as he started falling towards the water again. A few kilometers away from him he saw the land, and with his superior vision, he actually managed to catch a forest within his sight.
As he was closing in on the water's surface, he had finally caught a glimpse of what he looked like now. A full body with a mane of black hair, brown skin that radiated the light from the sun off him, well proportioned and very well-toned body like that of a slightly bulky swimmer. His face had an uncanny resemblance to his old face but slightly better looking as it was much more symmetrical.
He ignored the different thoughts rushing through his mind and decided to get onto firm land first.
"Yes! Ah loneliness, my dear friend, it seems I may be leaving you for a future of glory and revenge but do not worry as I will keep you with me in my heart and soul as I slumber every night." Penta laughed as he started swimming across the ocean at a speed that belittled the fishes.