Meow…
Hearing a cat's meow, Aiden, who was just sitting on a garbage sofa, turned around as he tried to look for the source.
Growl
But, as soon as he turned around, he didn't see who he hoped to see; instead, it was something he least hoped to see.
'YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS.' Aiden shouted as he looked at the panther eating something.
Gasp
Gasping for air, Aiden woke up from his bed.
'…You finally woke up.'
Eden, who was sitting on the chair beside him, sighed in relief.
'…What happened? How long was I out for?'
Aiden, confused, looked around as he tried to remember what happened.
'Gasp, what happened?'
Remembering the last memory he had before passing out, he hurriedly looked towards Eden and asked the question.
'We are safe.' Eden reassured him, calming him down.
'….I see.' Aiden didn't question him further, as long as they were safe.
'Who's outside?'
Looking at Eden, inside their consciousness, it meant they were unconscious outside.
'Oh… It seems like when I was running for my life, the incomplete human DNA somehow became complete.' Eden said as he left out some details.
I can't tell him that he had to feed on a dead body to do so. Thoughts like this ran through Eden's mind as he looked at Aiden.
'How did you do that?' Aiden asked, feeling somewhat disappointed as he didn't want to turn into a human. From the information he collected, he had a choice to choose another race, but he couldn't anymore.
Eden knew that, but he was caught off guard before stopping it.
'I don't know. The window just said so and suddenly kicked me here to transform.' Eden said.
Ding
As they were conversing and sharing what happened, a familiar sound rang out as they looked at each other.
'Go,' Eden said as Aiden nodded his head and slowly disappeared. Once he was completely gone, Eden laid on the bed as he fell asleep.
…
Ding
[Transformation complete.]
Ding
[Updating the system…Complete.]
'…Where did this cloth come from?'
Shifting his gaze from the window that appeared in front of him, Aiden examined his body.
'…Wait. Something feels wrong.'
Feeling something, Aiden touched his face.
Clang
As he moved, he felt bottles of glass tossing around as he moved his head towards them.
Seeing a gray bag, Aiden quickly went through the bag to look for something.
'Mirror!'
Catching a round thing similar to a mirror, Aiden took it out as he looked at it.
'Huh? I look different.'
The one looking back wasn't his face. It was an unfamiliar stranger's face.
'Did I change my face?'
He said this as he touched his face.
Ding
[The DNA host got was a complete one. Hence the appearance change.]
'…I see.'
Aiden thought as he looked around and stood up.
Picking up the mirror, Aiden observed his new face.
Just like in his previous life, he had black hair, but that was all.
He currently had a more defined face that had no scars.
'The clothes are ripped.' Examining his body, he felt more healthy than in his previous life.
He had fat. He wasn't skinny.
'Where did these clothes come from?'
Ding
[They were available with the DNA.]
'…I see.' Aiden thought, as he felt weird, that everything was just available with the DNA.
'Whatever… first, lets get out of this forest.'
Aiden thought as he tried to think of the future.
'Meow…'
Remembering the dream he had earlier, he wanted to think of the future.
'You are finally thinking about it.'
Eden, who was sleeping, said as he kept lying on the bed.
'You are very lucky. You got two chances. Although you threw away the first one he gave you, think of this one as him helping you twice and keep living on.' Eden said.
'That's what I'm thinking… and also…'
Aiden said, but he stopped in the middle as he hesitated and ultimately went silent.
But, even without him saying anything, Eden already knew what he was thinking, but he remained to keep on sleeping.
What he was thinking wasn't entirely crazy; they didn't know how long reincarnation could stretch. Although it was just a little, there was a possibility.
Looking at the bag, Aiden packed everything that he thought would be useful.
He found a necklace with blue jade on it, and he kept it thinking it would sell for money. He found a broken sword, which he also kept for later use.
'…This all should work.'
Ultimately, he picked it all up. He didn't know this world that much, so he didn't know what might come to use.
'Now, where's the exit?'
He thought as he stood up and looked around.
'Huh?'
As he turned his head around, he saw a beautiful woman with white hair and a white dress smiling towards him.
Tap
Taking a step back, Aiden's heart had nearly jumped, but he suppressed his fear as he looked at the woman with caution.
"Please don't feel scared; I took this form thinking you would feel at ease." The beautiful woman said as she placed her hand at her heart and tilted her head.
Aiden wanted to distance himself from the woman some more, but there was a wall at his back.
'Form? Is she not a human?' Aiden thought as he felt more scared.
The woman in front of him gave him a strange feeling.
He didn't feel any threat from her. None; he felt nothing from her.
She was there. Right there. But... she was just there…
'S-she is dangerous.' Aiden thought as he looked at the woman.
He wanted to run, but he couldn't. The woman in front of him wasn't going to let him.
"I'm not your enemy."
The woman said this as she moved to her side and sat on a rock.
"Please sit down. I'm here to talk to you. I promise I wouldn't harm you in any way."
She said this as she tried to calm Aiden down.
"…"
Finding no way to run, Aiden decided to obey as he sat down.
"…For a recently born young beast, you are very smart." The woman said this as she smiled again.
Aiden remained silent.
"It looks like you have finally found a physical body." The woman said this as Aiden nodded his head.
"But the form you have taken might get you in trouble in the future." The woman said this as she looked at Aiden's face.
"…W-why?" Aiden asked, as the least thing he wanted was trouble.
"Please let me introduce myself first." The woman said.
"My name is Biju. Everyone within and out of this forest, Frond Forest, knows me as the ruler of it." The woman said as Aiden understood why the woman, Biju, felt so untouchable.
"…My name is Aiden. Please forgive me for my rudeness from earlier." Aiden felt as though he also needed to introduce himself, as Biju chuckled in a little surprise.
"Aiden. It's a wonderful name." Biju said as Aiden kept his head low.
"As for what I was saying…
Since a long time ago, the city that resides at the top of this forest and we, the beasts of this forest, have always fought each other and hunted each other.
The hunters from the city would attack the forest for resources, while the beasts would counter them to protect this land.
This cold war had been continuing for a very long time.
I had faced all of these wars, and eventually, as time went on, I became the ruler of this forest.
As it so happens, the city's lord had also changed.
As rulers, we both knew that war against each other was unavoidable, but we both realized that we were destroying each other.
Few years ago, I went to visit the lord of the city with some of the beasts who served me.
There, I talked with the Lord, and we both decided to sign a contract.
The contract was simple: humans were allowed to hunt only in certain parts of the forest.
"…Why? I only see humans gaining the advantage. What did the beasts get from this?" Listening to the explanation, this thing didn't sit right with Aiden, as he questioned.
"Although it might sound like that, the parts of the forest where they could hunt were the places where the beasts were wild and unintelligent. Intelligent and unintelligent beasts, just like beasts and humans, are also kind of like enemies." Biju explained as she smiled.
"I see." Aiden said as Biju looked at him and raised her finger.
"As for the reason why your appearance might cause you trouble, it is because the appearance you have taken belongs to the son of the lord of the city." Biju said as Aiden froze.
"What?" he questioned.
"Yes. The body you have taken over belongs to the city lord's son, Aron Belur. Who died just before you took over his body?" Biju said as she pointed at something inside the gray bag Aiden was carrying.
"…I took over his body?"