Monster Ascent

"Stop... Don't..."

Saliva flowed out of Ainsley's mouth as he lifted his hands.

"Try, try, try!"

"Put it in his mouth, hurry!"

"Hahahaha! So fun!"

Ainsley's eyes were blurry; he could only see the smiling faces of the demons.

Demons from hell came for him to make his life miserable as much as they wanted.

It's... painful.

"S-Stop... Please..."

As the gap in Ainsley's mouth opened, the demons quickly shoved something in his mouth.

"Gulu! Gurh!" Ainsley widened his eyes as his throat became hot as if he was about to exhale fire. He wanted to vomit, but the demons were holding his throat tight.

"So funny, he looks like the slave I brought earlier."

"Want to do it again! Please, brother!"

"... Alright! If we have a healing potion, you can do anything you want with him!"

"Yay!"

They are laughing and talking as if they were doing something fun. Well... from their point of view, this was something fun for them.

Ainsley was red with bulging veins, tightly clenching his fist as their words poured into his ears. Yet, he couldn't do anything about it.

He was there, lying motionless.

"Um... guys, I think we should stop. Look he was about to die."

"You are still soft as ever, Melori."

"Die? If he dies, we don't have one to play anymore."

"Melori and Evan were right; we will be in trouble if he dies, and if he dies, our toy will disappear. You don't want it, right?"

"Feed him the potion. Let's go."

A warm liquid poured into his face, and Ainsley subconsciously closed his eyes.

…

"Huff, huff!"

Ainsley's eyes shot open as he breathed heavily, sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing his temple.

"That dream again..." His voice sounded muffled, as though it was being swallowed by the darkness of the room. It's been 1 year, Ainsley thought for a moment, biting his lips and clenching his fist to where it created a small wound. Sighing, he stood up to take a bath to cool his mind.

After a while,

He stood before a mirror as it reflected his whole appearance. Even though it was dark, he could still see his appearance, white hair, glowing blue eyes, and a perfect body with some scars around his chest and arms.

He looked at the diary on the table near his bed, sat, and opened it, his eyes still glowing.

[Dear me

It's me again. It's already been 1 year since that accident. They called it a prank.

I don't know what to say, so I'll keep it short.

My nature was changing fast. I kept dreaming about that dream they did to me and the agony I felt.

I want to torture, eat, or do some cruel thing to them.

I've never been like this before. I just want to live peacefully, and I didn't think of any revenge.

I don't know who I am. Perhaps I'm too naïve or angelic.

Even so, if you read this future me, I hope you will not change.

Remember they are demons, not you.]

Sighing, he put down the pen as he looked in the mirror. What he saw was not pure or nave as he used to be before, but eyes filled with violent emotion.

"What did God give me? This is not a blessing at all, this is a curse!"

Ainsley's face was dark and filled with agony. He slammed his hand on the table, and the sound echoed in the room.

After his sibling shoved something in his mouth, he experienced pain that words couldn't describe. His throat was burning, his eyes were about to pop out, and his body was about to give birth. With endless pain in one body.

Ainsley subconsciously presses his legs against each other.

After that, he dreamt about six shining stars. As he kept dreaming about it, he gained information about it.

His body was like a universe, with stars on each limb, head, two hands, feet, and chest, all connected like a zodiac.

He woke up completely different.

He was not human, but a black cat.

Looking at the cat's paw with complicated emotions, he mumbled, doubting himself, "Is this really a curse? I don't have magic, and this is the only ability that can help me in this world. In fact, I should be thankful, but I couldn't just bring myself."

In this world, some people were born with superhuman abilities, but some were not. However, they were not hated by society because of magic.

Whether you had abilities, as long as you could use magic, you were welcomed by the world and considered an important person.

But some people were born, unfortunately; not only didn't they have super abilities, but they couldn't wield magic.

They were called the "Forsaken."

Forsaken by God, by the world, by heaven.

And Ainsley was one of them.

He was born into a legendary family, the family that produces a Hero and Sage throughout their generation. The Wind family thought their reputation was going downhill because they couldn't produce Hero and Sage anymore, and now adding a Forsaken into the family would destroy their reputation and make them a laughingstock.

(An: Hero and Sage are power ranks; for more information, see auxiliary.)

He had now become the hated child of this family, yet Ainsley didn't care about it since the time they treated him with cruelty, he lost his feelings for them.

He never felt freedom in the 18 years since he was born.

Sighing, Ainsley stood up and looked outside the window beside the table.

"Gorgeous..." He mumbled, his eyes reflecting the two moons which were still shining brightly in the world.

Gazing at the moons, determination immediately filled his eyes, "I... want to become free... First I need to become stronger... but how can I do that? That's right, my ability, as they said, everything comes with a price."

You must give something before you can receive something. It's just like an equal exchange, and the Gods gave their blessing for faith.

And he, a normal human, was no exception to this.

The ability to transform into any monster was powerful, but he would lose himself, becoming what everyone called him—a demon.

"I will become a monster just for a piece of freedom…" Ainsley smirked as he opened the window, letting the cold air in. "It's not bad. I have nothing to lose, anyway. I just hope in my next I will be reincarnated into a happy family."

His eyes became slits, his skin grew black fur, and his human ears were replaced by cat ears as his body shrank.

After a while,

"Meowww!"

Ainsley leaped into the air, running through the shadow of the night and then disappearing into the shadow of the tree.

…

The night was beautiful; it was like being in the middle of the ocean, so calm and so peaceful.

Hugged by the chill wind, a black cat was leaping from tree to tree.

"Wait..." The black suddenly stopped as it spoke in a human voice. A thoughtful look appeared on his face, "How do I get stronger…? In the first place, how can I transform into another beast?"

Because he thought this was a cursed ability, he didn't give it much attention; he didn't even study it.

His eyes glowed.

Apparently, he gained this ability when his demon bastard sibling shoved something in his mouth; he didn't know what it was, and it's not like he could vomit it now or ask them.

"Ask?" An idea suddenly appeared in his mind, but remembering all the things they did to him, he shuddered, "No way... I don't know what they would do to me if I suddenly came to them, and I have not forgiven them yet."

As far as he could imagine, if he suddenly came to them, they would 'prank' him, such as drowning him in the water or trapping him alone with a dangerous beast like a wolf in a cage.

When he grew stronger, he paid them back twice, feeding their limbs to the wolf, torturing them, and tearing their clothes in front of the crowd.

Ainsley glinted for a second before shaking his head, as he repeatedly muttered, "I'm not like them, I'm not a demon…"

"Killing is enough for them." His face was cold.

"Help!!!"

A cry for help suddenly went to his ears. Ainsley looked to the left as he sniffed some blood.

Cats have a good nose, especially beast-type cats, and Ainsley could immediately identify the smell as he was familiar with it.

Ainsley immediately ran, following the source of the smell. Until he reached the place where the cry come from.

The moonlight shone on his face as he smirked.

"What a coincidence."