Surrdon stared at his stats window till his eyes could no longer widen further. Could it all be a dream? The last thing he remembered was...
Vague memories were all there was in his head.
But he was certain that everything around him was a lie. Maybe he had fallen asleep and this was a beautiful dream to escape his pathetic life.
With his mind dissolved in an abyss of endless questions, the stats window suddenly emitted a red light. Surrdon quickly swung his arm up to shield his eyes against the blinding light, but it still hurt a little.
When the light faded, his arm fell.
In place of the stats window now levitated a small immature red snake with its body covered by hard scales. It had a pair of adorable black horns sticking out from its head like a crown. A pair that matched the horns on Surrdon's head.
"Aaah!" Surrdon's screamed scurrying back against the headboard, frightened by the flying snake. He grabbed a pillow and threw it at the snake, but the tiny creature wriggled to the side and escaped the attack.
"Die you-" he threw another pillow...then another until the bed had nothing left but the covers.
"Humans are so stupid," the snake mocked.
"It can speak!" Surrdon screamed, his chest heaving from all the activities he had undertaken. Unnecessary and energy-draining activities
"Yes, idiot," the snake squeaked. "Now you better act like your current self, the previous Demon Lord would be embarrassed to see his body running around like a little powerless human."
"Wh-what?"
The snake floated closer to Surrdon's face and caressed his cheek with its warm hard tail before pushing his head to the side to observe the Demon Lord's horns.
"Everything looks good. Undress!"
"Huh?!"
It slapped his left cheek with its tail, leaving behind a red print.
"Ow! Why do I feel pain?" Surrdon moaned rubbing lightly his assaulted cheek.
"That's because you are alive."
"But this...this is a dream."
The snake sighed hysterically before lowering its body to rest on the bed. "This is not a dream human. Do you remember that game you were playing? Darkest Demon Lord?"
Surrdon stared, refusing to answer, and instead kept massaging his cheek.
"That game is a portal to this dimension, one that was created by- that's not important right now. Anyway, when a powerful practitioner from this world is on the verge of death and has some unresolved conflicts, they can choose a human to replace them. You were chosen by the previous Demon Lord of Drolis to take his place and finish his goals."
Dropping his hand, Surrdon asked, "What goals?"
"You are too weak to handle any of them. Your priority from now on is to grow stronger."
Surrdon sighed.
"So all of this is real? Then what about my body?"
The tiny creature smiled, "Don't worry about that, this-" it eyed his chest with a dark glim in its eyes, "-is your new body from today."
Surrdon moved his hands around his body, feeling the leanness of its muscles. They stopped right on his groins and his eyes widened with anticipation.
"It's even better than before," he accidentally whispered out loud, forgetting about the little invader on the bed.
"Dear me, you have a nasty mind, I like it."
"Ahem!"
Surrdon cleared his throat to distract them both. "What are you anyway?"
"My name is Anya, I'm a navigator, a divine pet, a messenger, a doomsday harbinger. I'm anything I'm asked to be," the creature answered with a smile that exposed its tiny fangs.
"Then what happened to the previous Demon Lord?"
Anya dragged herself off the bed and flew towards the large windows. She pushed one of the curtains open with her head in small struggles that somehow appeared hilarious to Surrdon.
He smiled watching her wrestle with the curtains till they were drawn.
Weak sun rays suddenly flooded the room, brightening it just a little more to enhance Surrdon's vision. Right under the light, a full-length mirror stood there proudly.
"Take your clothes off. I need to confirm something," Anya instructed flying back to the bed.
"I am not doing that."
Frustrated by his endless whining and resistance, Anya bit the coat he was wearing and thrust him out of the bed.
Surrdon screamed falling in the air before landing on the cold floor, right in front of the mirror. "How can you be this stro-" Words disappeared when he laid eyes on the dashing face looking back in the mirror.
His eyes were a charming shade of blue-gray, and his silver hair was tied back in a ponytail, with a few strands escaping to fall on his temples. He did not possess any fat on his face as compared to his previous body. The frame was lean and light, with his overall appearance too handsome for any lady to refuse.
"Take off your clothes!"
Anya interrupted his manly moment.
And when he hesitated, she breathed out a gush of green flames that immediately consumed any clothing on him.
"You beast!" Surrdon cursed throwing his hands to cover his loins while his eyes glared at Anya.
She simply laughed it off and flew to him.
"What are you looking for?" Surrdon enquired as the creature flew around him in circles, her round bright eyes roaming on any exposed skin.
"His sigils."
That was never mentioned in the game. Demon Lord Surrdon's history had been vague and mysterious.
Now that he was thinking about it, why had the game creators never provided a deep history for his character?
"Here they are!" Anya beamed staring at his lower abdomen. "Could you move your hands?"
"What? No!"
"Don't make me do-" Anya winded her tail around Surrdon's wrist and started pulling up while he fought to have it remain there, "-it."
Their struggle was interrupted when the door flew open.
"Pardon my late- My Lord?" That voice sounded like...the one he had heard when he first regained consciousness.
It was from a pretty blue-haired girl who looked nothing more than seventeen. Her eyes were the same color as her hair.
But what caught his attention was the clothing she had on...a black minidress coupled with black stockings and red garter straps that ran over her delicate white skin to vanish under the dress.
Her cheeks turned pink as the two stared at each other. He was distracted by her beauty, and she was flushed by his nakedness.
"I am so sorry My Lord!" the girl squealed embarrassed as she ran back to escape the image of seeing her Master without a single cloth on.
She abandoned the mage at the door, at least he was a man, he could deal with their Lord on his own.
"That went well," Surrdon murmured to himself.
He then eyed Anya whose cheeks had grown round from the suppressed laughter threatening to explode.
"This is your fault you damned-" Surrdon grabbed Anya by her neck, "-beast."
"My Lord? I am here to check if you're feeling alright," an older male spoke, earning Surrdon's attention.
From Surrdon's view, he could see a thin cloud of black energy hovering around the short bearded man. A cold air slipped into his lungs, alarming him of danger.
"Send him away," Anya instructed in a serious tone.
For once, Surrdon agreed with her. Whatever the old man was radiating was dark negative energy that could only mean he wanted to harm him rather than treat him.
"I am feeling fine, you may leave."
The old man frowned.
"But My Lo-"
"Leave!" Surrdon hissed frighteningly.
Bowing defiantly, the old mage bid his farewell, "Take care of yourself, My Lord."
The door clung shut, and the large room fell into a silent pit.
"Who was that?"
Anya released his wrist and flew up to rest her body on Surrdon's shoulder. "One of the mages serving your palace. But he is a bad man. He betrayed the previous Demon Lord and helped the enemies try to steal those sigils."
Surrdon looked down at his abdomen without moving the hands from his manly parts. There were seven strange symbols carved into his skin.
"Why did they want to steal them?"
Anya snorted. "How could he choose such a stupid human?"
Out of anger, Surrdon kicked Anya off of his shoulder before getting up.
He faced the mirror, internally happy about his new appearance. "How tall am I? Six feet?"
"Six foot five," answered the beast curling lazily on the floor.
When he was done admiring himself, he turned to look down at the snake. "You're my system, right?"
"Oh jeez! Is it sinking in right now?"
"I have power over you. You're supposed to do as I tell you."
Anya opened her eyes halfway to say, "You're too weak. You cannot command me to do a thing."
Surrdon's lips parted, then joined. He was yet to grasp everything wholly. It would be useless arguing with the little monster.