2 Forest of Death.

The walk to the forest wasn't long for an adult man, Darius was a small boy with the undeveloped body. It took him more than an hour as he walked with his slow pace.

The forest was visible from the city, so he couldn't actually get lost. Darius never left the city before, everything was a new experience for him. His sense of direction wasn't so bad as he needed to run around the city very often.

He finally reached the outskirts of the forest. The forest wasn't looking dangerous or evil. It was actually opposite. It was luring with pleasant scents and colorful flora. The boy was overwhelmed by sensations. New smells, new sounds and a lot of wonderful sights.

(Wow. It's so nice here. I don't understand their fear of this place.)

There were many stories about rumored Forest of Death. Evil beasts, demons, witches eating children and murderous plants. Most of the people that were spreading rumors never ever visited the forest. The kid wasn't aware, despite that rumors were exaggerated, there is the basis of truth in them.

(Maybe it wasn't the trap. What could possibly happen in such a beautiful place like this.)

Darius didn't know, the forest is like rose and every rose has its thorns. Kids can follow the pieces of advice from adults or learn their lesson through their own mistakes. It was time to look around for this herb that these pigs wanted.

(Now. If I think about it more! They told me nothing! "Flower with red petals and yellow leaves". There could be thousands of flowers like this. What's funnier? I don't see any flower fit to this description. )

There was no trace of such flower but he found very appetizingly looking berries. There was none to teach him so he wasn't aware of poisonous plants. He put few of them into the mouth. The taste was sour and sweet at the same time. It was a new taste for Darius, his diet was made from mostly tasteless food like black bread. His luck was pretty good these berries were safe to eat.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of birds flying away. Instantly every sound in the forest was silenced, he had a feeling that even leaves stopped rustling.

ROAR!!! He stopped thinking about this and started running. It wasn't long before he heard noises of breaking branches behind him. The speed of his running wasn't fast and obstacles on his path didn't make it easier either.

It was a big canine, with wolf life appearance. Its eyes were big and gray, looking at Darius with a scary look. The fur wasn't long, but its color was black like the darkness of the night. In the middle of the forehead, it had a short horn growing out. Entire scene looked like a demon get out of the hell for the stroll in the forest.

The feeling of tiredness and pain in the legs disappeared and were replaced by the will of survival and high adrenaline. Although, the speed up a little, the difference between him and the beast was too big. It didn't need even run to catch up to him.

"Leave me! ALONE Beast!"

His shouts were useless, beast watched his desperation and it was enjoying the fun.

Ultimately, one of the legs got tangled in vine-like plant. He fell on the ground and his entire hope disappeared.

(It's the end. I would be eaten by the beast... I shouldn't go farther into the forest.)

He was shaking and thinking about his mistakes. The beast stopped and watched him like it was waiting for him to stand up and start running.

(I am its plaything... Fuck this I will run away from it.)

He stood up and started running but after few steps, he felt that ground under his feet collapsed and it wasn't long to make him slide with it into darkness. During the fall he lost his consciousness.

A few hours later...

His eyelids moved, and he slowly started to regain consciousness.

(Am I dead? Arghh!)

His entire body was in pain. Boy's left leg was broken, and he was covered in bruises.

(IS IT HELL? MAKE THE PAIN GO AWAY! WHY THIS WORLD MAKES ME SUFFER AGAIN AND AGAIN!)

It was the moment when he couldn't handle it anymore. It was too much. He was beaten by thugs many times but not to this extent. He was struggling in pain, while his hand touched a circular object. It wasn't long before boy lost consciousness again.

[System bound to the new host. Scanning consciousness of the host...]

[Error found. Consciousness mental state is not suitable for being Host...]

[Another consciousness found in the body of the host. Scanning...]

[Consciousness is in a dormant state. Initializing the waking up...]

(Where am I? Didn't I die in the explosion? Is it an afterlife?)

[Consciousness suitable for being the host. Do you wish to become a host?]

(Who the hell are you? Where am I?)

[You are a strand of consciousness in the body of a candidate. Another consciousness in this body is not suitable to become host due to mental state. I am artificial intelligence made to assist host. Do you wish to become a host?]

(Hmmm. What happened to another consciousness? I don't want to steal a body from anyone.)

[Second consciousness lost the will to living. If you don't take its place! Estimated time for this body to die is 12 hours.]

(OK. I will become your host.)

[Binding with consciousness...]

[1%...20%...100% Consciousness bound]

[Error. Consciousness isn't bound with a body. Attempting binding with the body.]

[Binding is possible. Merging suitable consciousness with the body...]

[Error found. Absorbing memories of previous body owner and erasing his personality from the body.]

[Done. The host is now in control of the body]

(Arggggh! You should warn me that this body in this state.)

(Broken leg. Many cuts and bruises all over the body, and I am in some kind of cave.)

He watched his surroundings he couldn't see much because there wasn't much light. He heard dripping of water somewhere close to him.

(Water. It's not far, hmm. In this way!)

He couldn't walk so he started crawling. It was painful but the water was crucial for survival, so he endured it. Luck was on his side because it was a small pond, and he could reach it.

(Now crucial question! Who am I? I am not Darius because he is already dead.)

[Host's memories cannot be absorbed by this body yet. It will cause overheating of the brain and death.]

(I don't know but I feel it's reasonable. I feel that I could handle this kind of situation but I cannot recall how... If I was able to do something but I don't remember it now. That sucks hmm. Can you make me remember?)

[It's possible to fuse part of your memories but it will be risky and it's possible that part of memories will not help in this situation.]

(Don't mess with me. Even If, I don't risk I will die here anyway. Just Do it!.)

[Fusing part of memories...]

He felt a strong headache, and he got a nosebleed but it wasn't the main problem he saw countless memories in his brain. It didn't take long only a few minutes, but he remembered a few random years from his previous life.

(I risked and it was the right choice. I can survive now. I need to clean the body and think about how to stabilize the broken leg. There is a food problem. It's not most important now, so I will take care of it later.)