Answer [ Noble Coral-Dracaena, Monster-Girl Tamer, Goddess' Choice ].

The Goddess smiles excitedly, lifting me up and pulling me tight into her breasts.

"Yes! Of course, dear," and she spins around, causing my legs to fly outward from the momentum. "Oh, sorry, I'm just so happy. To think you'd like to be so close to me, to be so close to my children~♥!"

She gathers herself, and cradles me like a babe. It occurs to me, then, that it wasn't just my perspective earlier - this woman is enormous. Rather, she seems to be growing larger with every second.

"Don't you worry, we'll be skipping the parts of rebirth you'd find frustrating. Most Monster Girls born ex nihilo are fully grown anyway," She says conspiratorially, "it'd be hard to kickstart a population otherwise, you know? This is just my divine presence tricking your beautiful mortal soul's perception, since you're so perfectly attuned. As to be expected."

She hums delicately then, "Ah! I don't want to let you go... but you're ready, aren't you?"

Gently, tenderly, and reluctantly she stoops down to the water, "Then... have fun, and remember: Mama's always listening for her children's prayers, okay?"

Then, she lets me go. The water surges over me yet, for some reason, I don't feel even a trace of panic.

[ Year 3249 of the Age of Eina, Day 1 of Season of Renewal, 0 days since James' rebirth. Within a Mysterious Cave, Below ??? ???. ]

I'm curled up. My legs straddle a new appendage that feels perfectly natural as it, in turn, loops up and over one should to wrap around its base at the back of my hips.

Foreign muscles flex, causing a small 'flap' of some kind at this new tail's base to flip in and out as I breathe the warm, seawater around me.

My hair is long and silky, interwoven with some kind of filament that tells me the exact salt to water content of my surroundings, distance to some kind of thin barrier just beyond my immediate body, and a host of other sensory information I'm still adapting to.

I stir, somewhat drowsily, and - naturally - feel my breasts up with my hands. After I get done feeling the way my tail presses against them anyway.

They're soft and firm as is to be expected, but the surprising feature is the presence of gems inside into the apex of my cleavage, as well as my collar bone.

It's at this point the drowsiness is receding, and I realize a few things.

1) I still have my cock, and it's hard as rock. 2) That wasn't a dream at all, and I really did fall. 3) I apparently think in rhyme when I'm stressed, which draws some minor interest.

Also, I'm trapped in an egg.

Panicked, animal flailing ensues as my humanity asserts itself within my new body. My legs kick and arms are thrown wide and the tail which was casually wrapped around me twice uncoils.

It's the tail that does it, with single strike.

The bubble of water holding me aloft abruptly splashes away to either side and I fall to the surface of something smooth and floral - like a giant lily pad.

I'm sitting atop the stalk of a giant pond-flower, surrounded by the most clear and blue water I've ever seen. The pond is about twice the size of the typical free-standing home pool I've seen, which means - basically - that you could park two sedans inside it end-to-end.

My flower (egg?) seems to have a position of prominence, as it is the only one of its kind and looms from the exact center of the pond. All around the edges, meanwhile, are glowing pink fronds of... Something like an anemone? Except this is open air.

My tail slides, and my body elevates then leans outward as I try to look closer... and promptly slide right into the pond.

The water is just as warm as my egg, filled with numerous fish that don't seem bothered by my sudden insertion at all, actual anemones, coral, and a tunnel at the base leading off into the deep somewhere else.

Let's put a pin in that to explore it later.

Another beat of the tail brings me adroitly up to the edge, out of the water, and then slithering along the cavern floor with it rather than walking.

It's a motion so fluid and instinctive I don't realize I'm doing it at first, but a simple test reveals my legs do, thankfully, work. I can stand and support myself - I just can't pull the weight of my tail behind me without its help and... it feels weird. Like belly crawling instead of lifting yourself up.

Returning to my new species' preferred stance, I examine and explore the cave.

The anemone-fronds are friendly. When I lean in, so do they. When I lean back, they droop. When I sarcastically ask if they're going to do unmentionable things to me, they stiffen, then fervently sway back and forth at the tip as if to shake their 'heads' no. With a pause, and then a sly lean forward and playful flick of the end.

"...What the hell? No touching."

They droop again, but pull back.

Shaking my head, I look away from the pool and realize the mischievous and far-too-aware flora is emitting a subtle white glow, because that same glow is mirrored by similarly salmon-pink fungi and lichens strewn about the chamber. I say strewn, but it's artfully decorative in an overgrown botanical-garden kind of way. Things grow in orderly places, but they compete and overlap at the same time.

As I familiarize myself with the cave I find my hands wandering downward, my mind drifting back to beautiful women - such as the Goddess and my sexy teacher - and my face heating up. This is a survival situation, why am I so horny? Because the air is laced with a magical aphrodesiac which elevates the libido and mating drive to its utmost natural extent, and I was a horny guy even before asked a Goddess to put me into the body of a-

Wait. How do I know that? My sensory filaments, of course.

"Shit, no wonder the flora's so 'friendly.'" I murmur, pulling my hand away from my groin for the third time since I've noticed. Despite the sweet 'poison' in the air, it's not malicious and it doesn't really override my cognition. Instinctively, I feel this place is the safest a mortal cave could be without doors and guardsmen. The anemone-grass is probably a feature to help me deal with these urges, because other than the aphrodesiac the cave seems perfect for habitation. Food from a variety of sources, clean water - in an actual pool, which makes my Coral-Dracaena instincts happy - and... Really. "Why the sex perfume?"

Because - I realize as I finally conclude the sex-fumes are the only threat inside the cave - this place is so close to the Primordial Sea; the flora naturally evolved in a manner which closely resonates with the Goddess' domains of fertility and monster girls. In short: lewd oceans lead to lewd tidepools.

"...I'm going to get annoyed by these instinctive lore drops for a while, aren't I?" I murmur, hands working my shaft despite myself. The pink fronds beckon invitingly, but I've consumed too much media to really trust them even if my instincts say they're perfectly benign.

After release, cleaning, preening, and then eating and drinking and other assorted bodily necessities. I take a look in the pond.

{reveal "James - Noble Coral Dracaena version"}{endreveal}

Long hair, larger cock (why's it bigger now?)... my new body is surprisingly well proportioned until you get to the giant tail. If it weren't for it, I'd probably pass for an elf just fine. As it is, it's hard to pretend to be human when you're propelled around but... what... I guess it's like, three times my length? Something like 16' of tail makes it hard to pass as human. The fact that it's nearly thick around as my entire torso for most its length just drive the point home.

Having examined my reflection, taking in my still-brown hair at-odds with the pearly, iridescent scales of my arms, legs, and tail, the brilliant blue gems inset on my chest, and less obvious features such as my subtly pointed ears or the pale, translucent nature of the sensory filaments in my hair... I set about carefully exploring the cave's boundaries.

Not necessarily to find a mate, like my instincts are demanding, so much as to understand my surroundings and maybe find signs of civilization.

The cave splits three ways. North, Northeast, and Northwest.

North smells strongly of plantlife. Northeast of earthy, almost-mildew odor. And Northwest-

-I recoil, hip-flaps flaring out as I release a full-body hiss of revulsion.

...I didn't even sample the scent enough to really identify it before my body reflexively said 'Fuck that!'

{reveal "Revolting sensory details; James does NOT like whatever he smelled, so skip these if you're sensitive to that and want to keep your 'vibe' going."}It was like seeing a roach suddenly skitter onto the counter mixed with the abrupt scent of expired meat while someone cracks open a rotten egg.{endreveal}

Saying it was multiple flavors of 'bad' feels like an understatement, and I make a mental note to try and obstruct this entrance with- Oh.

Before I know it, I'm busily conjuring coral-like growths out of thin air, slithering back to the pool, guzzling water, and returning to the entrance to do it again until the Nope-Tunnel is walled off.

My body sighs in relief, but I still don't want to get too close to it. And that was... exhausting. I probably shouldn't run a marathon construction project like that, even for something so simple - I feel like it's meant to be a joint effort rather than the act of a sole architect. But I'll get better at it with practice.

I should probably wall off the other tunnels with doors and the like later, if I'm going to stay here, but for now... I can explore.

Tentative exploration down the three remaining tunnels yields simple preliminary results.

—North leads to some kind of underground jungle, complete with vines, vocal fauna, and irritating small insects.

—Northeast leads to a lot of mushroom. Mushrooms growing on the floor, lichens growing on the walls, overtaking the stone entirely as one would proceed (which I don't).

—And the pool's tunnel, which I swim down to out of curiosity, just... keeps going down and south. My gut instinct mixed with the sensory details my filaments can detect is it'll lead out into the deep ocean somewhere.

Race & Class (Level #): Noble Coral-Dracaena, Monster-Girl Tamer (Lv. 1)
{reveal "Core Stats (Scaling from 1 to 5 within mortal limits)"}
Brawn: 4
Skill: 3
Constitution: 4
Willpower: 2
Academia: 3
Insight: 5
Affinity: 5
Spirit: 2{endreveal}

Skills
{reveal "Skills"}►Race (Noble Coral Dracaena)
Hypnotic Gaze: Implant potent suggestions into target's mind - more easily detected if they don't align well enough with pre-existing thought-patterns. [Scales off: Insight, Spirit.]
Constrict: Bind and wrap the target, preventing movement, crushing or holding at your mercy. [Scales off: Brawn.]
Coral-Growth: Conjure dead (open-air) or living (in water) coral in form of the Wielder's choice. No more durable than typical coral by default, can be reinforced with effort. [Scales off: Affinity (in water), Spirit. ]

►Class (Monster-Girl Tamer)
Appraisal: Intuit basic information about Monster Girls and Monster Girl ecosystems on sight. [Scales off: Academia, Insight]
Method: Intuit basic procedures for interacting with Monster Girls and Monster Girl ecosystems on contact. Internalize new ones rapidly. [Scales off: Academia, Insight]
Bond: Bond with and domesticate a Monster Girl, works best if on friendly terms. [Scales off: Insight.]{endreveal}

Status Effects: Goddess' Affection
{reveal "Goddess' Affection"} Status: Goddess' Affection. Type: Nascent Divine Blessing (Luck, Love, Fertility) Description: Even the sea once fell as rain from a distant star. Effects: —Higher Base Affection with ??? —Higher Magic Affinity (Divine) —Good fortune. —Goddess has dibs on your soul; corruption and mind-control from unnatural sources is completely negated so long as you don't renounce this defense. {endreveal}

[ AN: Micro-Vote. Ends Saturday at 6 Central-Time. ]