3 Chapter 3 Evil Witch

[Congratulations on receiving the opportunity to fuse with System #1. Do you accept? Y/N]

When Kegan heard the voice, he glanced around as if to confirm he was not hearing things. But there was not a being in sight.

Kegan felt confused by the abrupt sound he had just heard, but he decided it was just his imagination.

[You have one more chance; do you accept? Y/N]

Kegan suddenly felt a bit frenzied at the words that had just contradicted his thoughts. He thought about the words for a few moments. He might as well say 'yes', after all, if nothing happened after, then he would know it was all just imagination.

("Yes.") He thought in his mind, if not just to confirm he was crazy, but also a bit out of curiosity. He had just experienced a mysterious transmigration of some kind, so it wouldn't be to surprising for more strange events to pop up out of nowhere.

[Congratulations, you have successfully fused with System #1, you are the first host of System #1.]

Kegan felt a bit suspicious about the voice, maybe it was just his imagination. He hadn't felt anything when the voice told him he had fused with the System.

He sighed, maybe he was just imagining things due to the shock of waking up in a foreign place. But he might as well test it, even if nothing happened, it wasn't like he would die.

("System, or whatever it is I should call you, are you real?")

[I assure you I am real, and I can help you survive in this new world."]

Kegan felt a bit of shock at the reply, but it was to be expected. But he couldn't help but feel a bit of suspicion. And he didn't feel necessarily assured by the voice.

("So what can you do, or are you even alive?")

[I am an AI that will help you gain strength and survive in this new world.]

("Wait, you're saying I'm in a different world than earth?")

[Yes, we are in a different world than the planet you lived on previously.]

("No, what about my parents, and my friends, will I never be able to see them again?")

[You will not, at least as far as I know.]

Kegan felt a tinge of sadness and loss at the unexpected revelation. But he was soon chastising himself for believing an artificial intelligence that was most likely not even real. He sighed deeply once again.

Oh well, he would just have to worry about finding civilization for the time being, and worry about if the system was real or not at a later date. After all, he didn't have time to question if an imaginary voice in his head was real or not.

Crack!

The snap of twigs and branches that lay atop the drying leaves randomly broke Kegan from his thoughtful stupor. He suddenly realized he was in a foreign place that could have many dangers and unknowns. This was no time for dazing off. He would have to be more alert from now on.

He immediately twisted around to where his back was pointing before, to where the sound had come from. He scanned the trees and thick shrubbery for any sign of a living being.

Trees, bushes, flowers, grass, wood mixed with leaves and a face... he jerked his eyes back. He could swear he had seen a face. He looked closely and slowly made out the outline of a person--mixed with a tree. This was bound to be the most confusing thing he would see today.

Suddenly the tree person moved towards him. He jumped back in surprise as his mind tried with utmost capacity to register what he was seeing.

As he backed up, he tripped over the log he used to be sitting on, and he was soon lying on his back in the tall grass and leaves. The tree person moved closer, allowing him a closer look at the creature.

Wings of wood and vines looked to be growing out of the person's body. The figure looked female, and she had a lithesome body that would make any man gulp. She had grass skirt covering her lower body, and a simply woven tunic combined with bits of finery gathered from a variety of sources. Leaves, grass, and a variety of other strange plants he couldn't recognize. She was also carrying a long twisted wooden staff with a strange bell shaped object dangling from the tip.

Kegan froze as he laid in a disgruntled heap on the ground. His muscles wouldn't move, and he seemed to enter a trance.

The tree lady walked over to him, and bent towards him. She looked to be studying him curiously, and reached a brown hand towards his face as if to inspect him more closely.

Kegan watched with horror as the hand of the evil witch drew closer and closer to his face. His mind was reeling with the fear of death at the hands of a evil witch. The tree girl was the most beautiful person or creature he had ever seen in his entire life, but his thoughts that were still trying to rationalize his situation told him that it was an evil beauty meant to draw in men so she could suck their life force away.

His mind wandered back to the many horror movies he had watched in his days, and the fear that racked his body in cold chills seemed to grow a bit deeper. The surroundings seemed to enter slow motion as his sole concentration was on the evil fingers that grew closer with every millisecond.

Kegan reacted with blazing speed, at least that's what he thought. He shoved himself backwards out of the reach of the hand, and brought himself to his feet. He scanned the surrounding ground for some kind of weapon and his eyes soon locked on a long thick branch a few meters away.

He ran for the stick, half expecting the evil witch to make a move to stop him. But the girl didn't move, but instead moved back a few steps and watched Kegan with a look of curiosity and intrigue in her bronze-colored eyes.

Kegan felt the strong branch in his hands, and a small sense of security entered his body. He had made up his mind to at least die fighting. He was a introvert in his previous life, and so he was never physically strong, but he had to try.

Kegan turned and pointed the stick towards the witch in an attempt to look strong, but from the girl's view, he looked like a small child trying to show off to his parents. When Kegan met the girl's gaze with his own, he suddenly felt small, as if he was just an ant under the other's feet. But something was off with the way she was looking at him. Her gaze was not that of a predator, but of a curious kitten.

Kegan suddenly felt a burning sense of shame as he realized how pathetic his actions were. But he tried to reassure himself that anybody else in his position would have done the same thing after seeing something so unexpected, at least he hoped.

"Hahahahahaaa..." a burst of peeling laughter echoed through the clearing. The girl laughed with fervor at Kegan's actions. Kegan could swear his face had just turned red in shame as the laughter of a girl around his age entered his ears. The laughter was tantalizingly beautiful and sounded as if nature itself reveled in the sound.

Kegan eyes shifted nervously to the stick in his hands and then to girl. He dropped the branch in an attempt to save even a tad bit of his pride.

"Siftu tughds fugsd ghufgheer!"

Kegan heard an unfamiliar language come from the girl's mouth. "What, who are you, and where am I?" he questioned.

The girl's eyes widened in shock, and she suddenly fell to the ground and started kowtowing in a series of rapid movements.

Kegan watched the girls actions in a stunned stupor. There was something seriously off about her. He suddenly felt the urge to turn the other way and run in order to escape from the crazy girl. He was expecting her to try to kill him or something, but to kowtow in a manner of complete reverance, this was not something he could handle at the moment.

If his overheating mind didn't get a break, he would very soon have a mental breakdown. His thoughts spun around in chaos, before his vision turned black, and his muscles lost all strength. And following right behind, his consciousness soon gave way to dark sweetness.