Chapter 8: Desert Merchants

After wandering for two weeks in the dry lands, Théoden was nearing his destination. A forest area he had set his eyes on as his first target. At the very least, a forest was the best place to secure food and water. It would only take a few more days at the rate he was traveling by. He had not gotten there earlier because of fear of meeting other humans in his demon form.

There was no way to fool any human, unless blind, with such eye-catching features. Most of them were his skin pigment changing to a red shade and sharp elongated claws and thin rough horns protruding from his forehead.

Later after full absorption, he realized he could go back to his human form. Of course, this was enabled by the system. Théoden's race was still the same, not a hybrid nor a demonic human. They were two distinct races labeled which he could switch with the help of the system. Over the two weeks, he used his time to understand better the system; An Artificial Intelligence which had superpowers. More accurately, gave him superpowers.

He was completely transformed into a demon when he reached a 100% absorption rate. He realized a few days after absorbing the demon core completely, he gained some more demon characteristics. However, he wasn't as revolting as the demon he had fought with that night. His skin simply turned a deeper shade of vermilion red and his horns grew a bit longer. He could elongate and shorten his nails at will. His hair had grown longer with apparent life of its own as it swayed in imaginary winds. He retained his human facials except for his corpse-like paleness, sharp ears, and sclera that had long turned dark as an abyss, leaving his red iris conspicuous, oozing with bloodlust.

That reverted when he was asked by the system if he liked to switch back to human form.

Théoden noticed apparent changes when he switched to his human form. With his physic that had been nourished by the demon's vitality, he gained a manly look, growing a few inches taller instantly. His muscles were more outstanding and chiseled with his newly acquired abs, biceps, and triceps. His body features, those of a human's were much sharper and more defined. This was apparently in both forms, so the two races had no major body difference.

He looked healthier overall with his malnutrition completely vanished. He resembled a completely different person.

There was one very noticeable trait difference between his human and demon forms. He could pull most of his strength in his demon form. His human form gained a huge boost, but at the end of the day, the demon form was almost twice as strong. This was something he couldn't explain or understand. It could be understood that demons were innately stronger species compared to humans.

Now there was a shred of hope moving forward as Théoden's former worries were erased. He could utilize his human form and demon form without any restrictions or downsides. Blessings in disguise. He was over the moon with things finally taking a turn for the better.

Over the time Théoden roamed the deserted wilderness he gained more stats; Strength stat +2 Stamina stat +3

That being said, his system was going through an upgrade.

[Updating system authority in progress: 37%]

He was eagerly waiting for what the benefits of the update would be. It could only be a good thing. His chances of surviving would increase at the very least. Meeting a demon as the first opponent made him wonder if things could turn for the better or if he would meet worse foes in the future. Théoden stared out at the horizon.

That was before a pleasant surprise met his eyes. A wagon fleet that was a few hundred meters away from him was crossing the wilderness. They looked like gypsy caravans.

A smile appeared on Théoden's chapped lips. He was never this happy with civilization in his life. The loneliness of the desert, the few mirages, and the echoing he could only get back from his frustrated cries in the night. He was finally going to leave all that behind. The fear of being alone and the hopelessness of the situation he was in itself were enough to drive any normal human crazy.

Not to mention, not a single day in his life had he needed to sleep outside or think too much about where to get food or clothing. He just needed to work for his comfort. Everything that he had viewed as suffering back on Earth currently looked like child play in Théoden's eyes.

There was a ray of light and hope at the end of the dark tunnel. He switched his direction with a 90-degree turn without thinking twice and headed for the caravan. The caravan seemed to notice him sooner. They drove the wagons in his direction.

His heart beat faster and faster and his fast strides soon turned to running. He stopped right in front of the wagon where he met with a few men's condescending gaze. Théoden leaned on his knees to catch his breath and fix up the overdrawn curve of his lips before standing back up with a gentle smile.

He first didn't say anything as he wasn't sure of their intention. He observed them one by one. Those he could see. Those were the coachmen sitting in the front exterior. It was a group of five. They had sabers on their waists and turbans wrapped around their heads. Their loose robes were tightly knitted at the ankles and wrists. Classical wear for traversing the deserts. Something he only saw in the tv programs back on Earth.

Finally, meeting with other humans, he was curious if they were the same as those of Earth. Well, they pretty much looked similar just of the Eastern race. They had slightly tan skin contrary to his pale white skin. Thin slightly open eyes under their thick eyebrows and a few almost unnoticeable freckles on their skin. They weren't as handsome as he would have expected those of fantasy people, but they were, in no way, ugly. Just average.

They held genuine distant and suspecting expressions on their face and Théoden could not feel any malice or threat from them. They didn't attempt to speak to him until a person emerged from within the most luxurious wagon with fine silk linen curtains. The cottage which he had just noticed had lizard-like creatures pulling it, but he didn't have the time to be surprised as he finally heard a fellow human's voice.

"Fellow friend, do you want to join the ride to the city?"

A young, darkly tanned man with more defined features spoke. His eyes shone with a bright hazel-green serenity of a person who had seen it all. He spoke with a warm smile as he gestured a welcome. He was very eye-catching compared to his fellow men. He wore robes adorned with golden trinkets and his face was especially painted with Egyptian-type art.

He looked expensive. Théoden stared a bit before replying so as not to come off rude and replied.

"I would love that if you don't mind having me of course." A slight smile hung on Théoden's lips at all times.

"Hahaha. Not at all friend. I go by the name Oman. How would I address you?"

"Theo."

"Welcome abode, Theo."

With the leader of the caravan speaking so cheerily and friendly, everyone else warmed up to him. Théoden didn't quite catch their names due to the rareness and difficulty. He soon forgot, but what was there the need for names when they could discuss openly? Théoden rode in the same wagon as Oman who was the caravan leader. The interior was even more spacious than it looked as they sat across each other inside. The wagon-pulling lizards started their move once more.

"Where are you heading, Oman?"

This was what Théoden had been most curious about. He wanted to know, at the very least, about his first destination without showing his ignorance of the world's geography. He had the memory but that wasn't enough. Mallory was not much of a traveler. His life centralized in one village, led by others, and never had the ambition to travel or go on adventures.

"We are heading to the capital of Slevaria Kingdom, Landus."

Oman began his explanation with a hand on his chin as if too bored to sit up without support.

"We don't usually frequent these places much, but kid, you are in luck. We found you in the middle of nowhere. If you continued on the path you were at, you would have met with the forest elves, and that is not something you want to do. They despise humans. A lot. "

He had a strong accent emphasis on the 'A lot.'

"Hahahaha." Théoden laughed weakly.

'I didn't know that.'

Théoden didn't have much to comment on that. He could feel his subtle anger rising but was forcefully calmed for the favor they had done for him. Oman had gotten too familiar too fast that he called him a 'kid'. Théoden didn't have the energy to complain but he wasn't happy with it either.

Theo learned a few things from conversing with the merchants. They said they were travelers who bought and sold things in different parts of the kingdom. Ornaments, fabric, and artifacts. The rarer they were the better. The merchants were affiliated with one of the major business guilds in the kingdom.

The kingdom which he was in was called Slevaria. It was a whole continent ruled by one king. The king didn't have much influence on all the places thus the dukes existed. The four Dukes; of the West, East, South, and North dukes. They each run their territories with the main castle being on the central plains. It was the central point of trade. The Merchants traveled in between these dukedoms for their business.

He found out about something else he had no idea on but to some level suspected. There were elves on this planet. Théoden could barely believe his ears. However, unlike what he had known of elves in the books and fairy tales, a race that secluded itself from the world and lived peacefully, the elves here were ones that not only secluded themselves but were also hostile to every other race. They would kill on sight making them a scary race to come across. So far, Théoden had met demons and humans and just found out about elves. This made him wonder if more races existed.

THE OMNIPOTENCE SYSTEM

[Name: Théoden Andras][Race: Human][Age : 16 years]

[Authority: Novice - Low]

[Attributes: Strength:10(+0,1) Dexterity:10 Stamina:10(+0,2) Mana/Magic:10(+0,4) Intelligence:10(+0,3)]

[Luck:???][Locked]

[Skills: Devour. Mind's eye.]

[Status: Normal]

[System Storage][Unlocked]