Scarlet Asger

The heat grows even stronger not too long after we exchange names until it reaches a point that’s damned near unbearable. But soon after that, it somehow vanishes in an instant to be replaced with extreme pain that has me silently screaming with nothing coming out of my mouth for what feels like forever. The pain this time is focused on each of the same areas as before, but for some reason, the top of my head feels even worse.

Eventually, I find the pain too much to tolerate and pass out, only to wake up again who knows how long later to find that all of the pain is gone. Almost as if it were all a nightmare.

After a brief bout of confusion, I look down to find Tar – I am not going to bother trying to pronounce his full name, much less his first one – lying down on my chest seemingly taking a nap. And the sight of him there draws conflicting feelings out of me.

For one, he’s adorable. But for two, it’s an entity who threatened me earlier and likely knows more about me than it’s telling.

In the end I decide to get up, letting the tanuki fall to the ground without catching it.

But no sooner than I reach my full height, I notice something off. Kind of like an extra weight on my head, along with some strange… sensation? Some sort of… mental switch.

What is this?

I frown before shrugging and mentally flipping the switch. And almost immediately, everything around me grows much louder and more detailed. To the point that I can hear the footsteps of a spider demon walking down the hall on the other side of the floor from here. I can even hear a freaking conversation going on within the shielded barrier of one of the bunkers on the floor. The very one I was going to with the receptionist lady.

May she be at peace with the souls of the fallen.

Oh, I also hear the tanuki, err, Tar waking up on the floor, somehow having not been woken up immediately by falling onto the ground. But then again, it was a comfortable carpet.

Anyways, what’s up with my new hearing?

“It’s because you awakened. You’re no longer human, and your appearance matches that.”

It takes a second for his words to register in my head. Just a second. Then I scramble for my pocket to find my phone to use as a mirror before showing my face in its reflection.

I blink in surprise at the sight of red eyes. Ones that seem to be glowing in the darkness of the office. But what catches my attention more and has me groaning is the sight of what look like black and red wolf ears with small bits of white fur on the inside on top of my head.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like wolves?”

Without even turning to the creature, I answer, expressing my depression with this turn of events rather clearly in how my ears somehow follow my mood and droop, “Do you know how much of a pain these’ll be?!”

The tanuki, err, Tar. I need to stop doing that. Tar tilts his head and asks in a confused yet still robotic tone of voice, “Physical appearance changes are common amongst awakened humans. You won’t stand out. And creatures of the same race as you can’t identify you, therefore no human can see your identi-”

I cut him off as I turn to him and exclaim, “Now what do I do if people think I’m wearing a wolf ear headband wherever I go?!”

Tar just stares at me.

I glare back at him.

My pride is important, okay?! And animal headbands are not cool!

We continue our staring match for what feels like hours, but is in all honesty probably just like ten or so seconds, until he lets out a sigh.

I smile and give him a nod in triumph before going serious again as I ask, “You mentioned that the Guardians can’t just identify me?”

Tar nods his little tanuki head.

That’s good.

“Is there anything else you would like to check before we move on to your status?”

I blink in surprise at the question, wondering a little bit why he is actually being slightly considerate instead of the rudeness he was showing before. Either way though, I nod my head and ask, “Are there any other changes that I don’t know about?”

Something I didn’t notice before now thanks to my focus on my ears is that my eyesight seems to be improved a lot, and even has a bit of night vision. Although colors are a bit harder to make out. Whether that’s just in the dark or not is something to figure out later.

I hope it’s just like that in the dark though.

“Besides the change in your eyes and ears, you also gained a second heart, and the tips of your canines were sharpened a little bit. Beyond that, your hands were prepared for the possibility of transformation occurring in the future through your skills.”

That’s… okay, that’s pretty cool.

I raise my phone up to my face again before opening my mouth to look, only to find that my canines really were sharpened. Albeit not by much. Not even enough to be noticeable if you aren’t looking.

“If you are finished looking at your changes, I would like to bring you up to speed on your status. However, something-” he begins, only to cut off as I jerk my head towards the door at the sounds of that very same spider demon that I heard earlier approaching the door. “You can hear it already. We need to hurry.”

I nod my head, only for my eyes to widen slightly as a notification appears in front of my vision.

System Initialization is complete.

Welcome to the path of ascension.

May your rise be ever fruitful, lone half demon.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.