[System Assimilation to the host in progress: 88%]
The monotone voice said in a voice that of an AI bot. The progress filled up pretty fast than Théoden would have expected it to.
In the meantime, Théoden was consumed in his thoughts. A few pieces started piecing up the big puzzle in his head. The reason he survived falling into the new world and the comet-like light didn't kill him instantly.
He possessed another body so the fall wasn't his body but rather his soul which had collided with the body. A body which he took host off. It was the only deduction Théoden could make out with so little information
It seemed that that light that almost killed him was a system. The Omnipotence System. The synchronization of the system didn't take as long as he thought it would. Only roughly half an hour in Earth's time had passed.
[Assimilation completed]
[The omnipotence System has identified the host as a suitable vessel]
[System synchronization starting]
[System Synchronization to the host in progress: 1%]
The sync process occurred live in real-time right before his eyes. He decided to ignore it for now. He didn't have the leisure to give it any attention. The sky was quickly darkening and he didn't want to be food for creatures of the dark.
Growl!
Most importantly, he was starving. He needed food if he was going to make it anywhere. Both food and water were a priority to him.
The terrain was somewhat flat. There were hilly areas but not high enough to block his view to the ends of the horizons as he stood on relatively high grounds. As far as the eye could see, there didn't seem to be any human life. The area seemed like a wasteland.
'The perfect place to dump lives.'
The ground was of sand with a mixture of fine soil and small rocks, but it wasn't too hard to navigate over. The color of the soil was very light like that of beige-silver. The dark marks of blood on the ground were rather very highlighted with the color difference.
There was no sign of water sources anywhere. In a desert-like place, water was a must-have. The high temperatures of the day would cause quick dehydration. It was not a risk Théoden liked to take. He thought of many different ways to move from there but there was no silver lining to this line of thought.
Moving around he realized there was no other method but to get his hands dirty. Not dirty in the sense of dirt or stains but to search the corpses.
In truth, he knew it was a 'bit' disrespectful but was also highly aware of the benefit. A good stimulant. A low loss high-profit maneuver. He leaned down to one of his former fallen comrades in battle. He took a breath and tensed his muscles and extended his arms.
He went through their pockets and picked out anything that held some value. It didn't matter if it was inappropriate, it was more important to survive, right? He did this repeatedly until he had gone through twenty of the dead people.
He had met with women's corpses as well, but he didn't see any issue if it was stiff, cold, and dead.
In the process, he found out that the soldiers didn't have items much of importance to them except for a select few. They were dressed in much more convenient clothes that could carry things safely. Of course, this was after he had taken off their armor. A hard and tiring process.
It was something he normally would have never done, not even in the same situation, back on Earth. He could never have the courage nor the gut to approach a dead man. However, his heart seemed partial to this. It was like an every other day activity. There was still the pungent smell that haunted his nostrils but even then it didn't seem to phase Théoden.
His calm heart rate scared him a bit. Though he wasn't scared, his thoughts said otherwise. He was never this cold-hearted. Not to feel remorse, pitiful, or guilty while doing that. He knew well enough now, that he had drastically changed. He felt so unfamiliar with himself.
The reason was not something that anyone could give him. He came up with a few theories. Maybe, the death of the body made it so that he lost all attachment to his humanity.
It could have been the fact that he was still in a shock reactive state where his mind was pushed to the extremes causing a shutdown of certain body actions in the necessity to take certain actions.
Or...rather the third which he preferred not to think about and hoped that it was not the case. All in all, there was no definite answer. There was no conclusive evidence to confirm.
He gathered all the things he had collected together in one place and appraised their value and necessity. There were a few eye-catching pieces of jewelry made of gemstones, diamonds, and gold. A few random stuff like photographs, cigars, lighters, pens, and paper. Papers were scribbled something, but he could not tell what language it was. There were valuable things like a steady long sword, knives, daggers, multiple packets of grain balls, and water jars. He looked down at the things and sorted them out.
He had already changed his clothes to some cleaner ones at least those without blood. Speaking of blood. While Changing, he noticed something peculiar. There were large blood stains on his clothes but there was no open wound or scarring on his body.
'Was the blood his or another's?'
Théoden wondered. It came to make him question how the former host died, or rather, how he was still alive.
He wore warm clothes and kept minimal metal armor on his body. Just some chest chain vest and joint-protection gear. For his knees and elbows. He wore many layers to which he could still walk comfortably.
He was lucky that a person shared his shoe size and had worm leather boots on him. He had no idea how cold the nights in the new land were going to get but he hoped for the best or at least similar to that of Earth's equator.
His back hair was tied in a band he borrowed from a dead to keep it off his face. He also had a sack. There were no bags to carry, just a belt case for the sword and water and a sack for the rest.
"It's so quiet."
Théoden already started missing his phone. A high-end digital communicator and internet surfer for entertainment, but much more importantly, which was his window to his social life on Earth. The convenience of instant delivery was something that could make the Earth a paradise.
"Haah!" He sighed.
He took in all the things necessary and left those he could not carry with him.
Théoden thus, took his first step into the new world.
[System Synchronization to the host in progress: 32%]
The Synchronization process of the system took longer than the Assimilation process. His eyes looked at the hologram screen and looked back out to the world.
He thought it was best to leave his current position to find a place with fewer corpses maybe then he could feel safer in the night. There was the thing he had with superstition, that scared him witless, and to know or not know if it existed was even scarier. He had seen enough to assume the impossible on Earth could very well be a possible reality in the new world.
If Théoden was asked where he was, he would not know. He knew it was a new world but nothing other than that. There was no confirming if it was a parallel universe but this place was not like anywhere on Earth he knew of. He thus tried his best to walk in one direction without going in circles.
With the help of a rusty compass, he kept heading West.
The sun had set by the time he was done. The night was pitch black covered by a black thick blanket. It was a beautiful starry night. There was also something extraordinary in the sky. There was a double moon. They seemed aligned over each other and shone very dimly in the sky. The closer one was much bigger than the other moon at the back. They were huge as they were near and visible from where he was.
Théoden thought it was a nice night to bask under the night. The place he arrived at was another end of the field. The bodies there were not as many as where he had first woken up at. The place was less stenchful and had a nice smooth surface where he could lie down. He stared up at the sky which was not short of wonders.
The stars glittered and twinkled in the dark sky. It was like the sky was alive. It felt so unreal to Théoden. He was awestruck by the beauty the starry sky held. A beauty he wished to bath under for a lifetime. He ingrained that view in his mind.
This was in case any of this was a dream, then it would have one thing he would love to keep with him. The night sky view. The stars shimmered in his eyes as a reflection of the night and a warm smile appeared on his face. A shooting star passed by and he made a wish. To survive. Survive till the end. Not riches of gold or comfort of leisurely or his way back home but hope to live. Live a little longer.
[System Synchronization to the host in progress: 38%]
The sync was still not done. It was indeed very slow. After a short day of both mentally and physically tiring activities, he was beyond exhausted. His young, feeble, and malnutrition weak body could no longer hold the urge to rest.
'I will get some sleep first.'
He closed his eyes and let the soft winds drift him to sleep.