2 Chapter 2: A Monster in the water!

In an unknown place, Oden opened his eyes. The surroundings were unfamiliar. Wait, he wasn't wearing his glasses. But still, he was able to see things clearly. The first thing that came into his vision was a mountain, he lowered his head and turned it a little. He was resting his back on a tree. He could see trees in all directions, in unregular distances. A big questioned bounced in his mind, 'where was he?' 

Oden's memory was a little hazy, he could not remember properly. He didn't know why was he in a forest or how he had come over here. He even felt a slight headache, thankfully the ache that was going away, it was getting lighter. He observed the surroundings, he didn't find a single man-made item except for the pant he was wearing. At, least something was there to cover his lower body. As a scientist, it was logical to say that a camp or human settlement would be not far away. Otherwise, Oden wouldn't have come over here. He trusted his character even if his memories were not there with him.

The headache was lighted up, he focused on his brain. The body part he was dependent on for earning a living as a scientist. He tried to remember the last thing, he possibly could. He saw a glimpse, it was from his memory. The last thing, he remembered, he was in his dad's car. When he saw the headlines on his phone, He and his dad both laughed reading the headline on his lock screen. He checked his pockets, but nothing was there. He even doubted if he had ever brought such a pant. 

Oden was feeling better after a few minutes, he stood up. He felt good as if it wasn't his body. He felt stronger than ever. He was bare-chest, he had abs. As a scientist, he hardly worked out. He examined himself. He was having a lot more muscles than before. His hands were broader, even his height had increased. His vision was clean and clear. This was what Oden felt from checking his body, he wasn't sure. It can be all his institution. He looked down and wondered if it had increased or not?

Oden heard a sound from above the trees, his eyes moved in a jerry. There was a troop of monkeys hiding in the trees. They were staring at him from the top of the tree. They were wild mutant monkeys. The full troop was staring at him, Oden didn't count the number of monkeys, but they were more than 10. Oden was a little scared to think of the possibility of fighting all the monkeys alone. He quietly stepped forwards without trying to offend them. He wondered, why the monkeys were behaving so odd. why were they staring at him?

'They haven't seen a human before? Or what?

Maybe they have mistaken me for another hunter' Oden thought in his mind while leaving the place. If there were humans nearby, it was good for Oden. Oden turned to check on the monkeys one last time. They were still staring at him, he felt good that they were not following him. He ignored them and walked towards the mountain top. He wished not to see or meet any other living thing other than humans.

The mountain in front of him had steep slopes, with plants and trees growing diagonally on the mountain slopes. As a scientist, he enjoyed the view of plants and trees which were using science for growth. But Oden also realized the difficulty of climbing the mountain, just wrong step and he would experience gravity while falling down the mountain in his last breaths. But there was no other way, he had to take the risk. 

Oden gulped his saliva and jumped to catch a branch of a tree to start the climb. Oden felt it to be easy, plus he was able to take his body's weight on a single hand. In a few minutes, he had mastered climbing. He jumping from one branch to another, climbing the mountain. He felt like it was a piece of cake. He wondered how he got so good at climbing. As he was climbing, many a time, he got scratches and cuts while passing from bushes and thorny trees. Oden was not going to slow down as he needed to climb the mountain before the sunset, he didn't have food or water with him, it was hard to survive if he didn't found water. Oden tried his best to climb, his speed had increased, as his focus was on climbing. He failed to notice or track his speed. Finally, after a few hours, he had reached the top of the mountain. 

Oden had no idea of the time, he looked at the sky. The sun was almost at its peak which meant it was near 1:00 o'clock. Oden felt a little thirsty, but it was bearable. He looked around the surroundings from the tallest place possible. He could not see any human settlement. But still, he needs to live on. He needed to find water, as for food he had to hunt. There was only one rule in the jungle; the survival of the fittest. 

At this point, Oden wanted to drink water, as he didn't drink a drop of water after waking up.  He checked for the water body closest to him, he found one lake which was just below the mountain. Now he needed to get down the mountain to take a sip of water from the lake. He looked down, on the route he had taken to climb the mountain. It looked 10 times scarier from the top. Plus the bushes and thorny trees just added up to the trouble. Oden recalled, he had got scratches and cuts. He forgot to check it as it didn't hurt. He examined himself, but he could not find any wound or even a scratch. He didn't understand what had happened to his body, he wasn't a mutated human; how can he have healing powers? Oden was confused. 

Oden was about to get down, but he noticed something strange. A pack of wolves was staring at him, and a little far away from them. A group of bighorn deers was there. They were also staring at Oden. They were scared of him. The wolves and deers were in groups and were watching Oden from far away. This was the oddest thing Oden saw. They were staring at him as if they had seen some new species for the first time. 

The mutated beasts were scared, but that was not the only thing Oden was feeling from their stares. It also felt him, like they were admiring him. Dreaming to be like him. Usually, Oden used to get such feelings from young science students who came to visit his lab. Who wanted to become a scientist one day just like Oden. But now, even monsters want to become scientists? Oden was dumbfounded. 

Oden ignored the monsters and rushed through the mountain, he purposely got hurt to see if the wounds really got healed or something was wrong with him. As he was running down the mountain, he realized he was going a little too fast compared to his climbing speed in the morning. He was going too fast, as he didn't care about scratches and wounds in the way. Plus, gravity was supporting him, not like the last time working against him. Just like that, he had crossed half the downclimb. A few more minutes and he will reach the lake.

Oden had gotten down the mountain, he was thirsty now. He looked at the sun, it hadn't moved from the last time. Hardly a few minutes had passed. Oden ran towards the lake, it didn't take him a minute to reach the lake. He also wanted to check his body, in the reflection of the water. 

Oden went to drink water from the lake, as he was close to the lake. He looked at his reflection in the water. He was shocked. His mind went black, he could believe it was him. He was a monster!

Oden's eyes were of red color, he had small horns which were growing from his forehead. Even his skin was slightly dark red. Oden was perplexed to see himself like this. He felt like he was watching a demon in the reflection. Still not believing, he tried to touch his horn and he did touch it. It was hard as a rock. 

Oden freaked out!

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