Ch. 01 - Awaking in the Wellspring

Alright, I'll be as honest as I can here. Truth be told, getting wrenched out of your reality to be faced with two goddesses of darkness in the eternal void was not my idea of fun. They might have disabled the ability to feel pain, but the process of transforming me into a devil with a brand spanking new monster core was not at all a comfortable experience. That being said, now that it was over, it wasn't as bad as could be expected.

The angel was another matter. Seconds away from getting dropped onto a new world and then getting pulled into a domain of blinding celestial light was extraordinarily unpleasant proposition given my new body. But once my skin had stopped smoking and I had heard Ariel's propositions, I do have to say they were hard to pass up.

I had originally been planning on using my hybridization cheat to experiment with limitless tentacles across the land, but I'm a math guy first. And let's be realistic, those Heroes' stats are insane. Resistances to light magic? Invulnerability to insta-kills? Extra blessing powers? No way in hell (pardon the new pun's significance) was I going to turn that down. Ariel wasn't pleased that I was keeping the Devil side of my core, but there wasn't much he could do about it and he gave in.

What he didn't take so kindly to was my snatching up his diamond. That, he took personal. But once we were done he had **** and down I dropped with my new angel guide through a shimmering portal of swirling light.

__________________________________________________________________________

I wasn't sure what I had originally been expecting what would be there when I first appeared in Ruyanei. I knew I would have a dungeon of some kind, and then thanks to my new angel miracle it would come with a permanent xp gain and extra stat boost. For all I knew though, that could mean a forest in the middle of no-where, a literal dungeon in an old castle, maybe some old temple, anything really. What I got was an immediate near-**** drowning experience. Pesky fuckers those goddesses and angels.

What had started as a swirl of light quickly gave way to cold, dark, and more importantly, WET. One might say a little too wet. What I mean by that of course is that I popped out the portal at the bottom of a lake.

Cold, bitter, brackish water immediately crashed into me with the pressure of a brick wall. I doubt very much I would have survived in the first place if not for the new and improved devil body and my stacked physical defense buffs. Harder still was the whole breathing thing. Air, as it turns out, is still a critical factor for even unholy life.

The struggle with finding breath in the middle of a body of water also includes the side effect of not knowing where in the nine hells you are and which way would possibly be *up*. I.E. which way to swim and therefor not die. By some small miracle (I use that phrase lightly, as Ariel was of course nowhere to be found) my thrashing in the chilly water eventually led to my breaking the surface and taking in the biggest set of gulps for air that I could cram down my lungs.

Despite being free of the crushing weight of the water, my sight was not similarly relieved. The air remained as dark and unwelcoming as the depths. I was treading water at this point, gingerly so as I started to look around. Whether it was my new devil eyes or simply getting used to the dark I don't know, but eventually my vision become much clearer.

It was evident by now that I was in some sort of cavern. High above me, the slopped and jagged stone roof of a cave ceiling extended like a rocky umbrella. The next thing I pointed out was this was in fact some sort of lake. The water was freezing, but surprisingly I was fairly okay. My old human body would certainly have grown fatigued and dropped like a stone by now - but no point thinking more about that right now until we've reached safety.

After a thorough and frustrating investigation of what little I could see, the thought crossed my mind. _"Ugh, if only I could see better in the dark right about now" _and BAM. Everything winked into existence. As it turned out, Devil's sight was something you could toggle on and off at will. I could now perfectly see the nooks and crannies that made up every detail on the rocky ceiling above me. I could also make out a smooth shoreline about fifty yards to my right - and a slightly more jagged outcrop of rock in an island of some kind at an equal distance to my left.

My first inclination was to make for the shore. However, as my head bobbed up and down in the frigid waters I just managed to make out a structure of some kind and what looked like a set of what could have been pillars on the island. Without any further hesitation, I swam in a breast-stroke to the island.

Besides my own disturbances, the water of the lake was eerily still. Given that I had just dropped into a fantasy world of who-knows-what type of monsters exisit, of course my main concern at the moment was some kind of terrible creepy-crawly lurked underneath the surface somewhere - waiting to pounce.

Fortunately, nothing immediately made itself known and my swim to dry ground proceeded un-interrupted. The rocks on the shoreline were sharp, but yet again my improved devilish skin seemed to provide far more protection than that of a human's. Wrenching myself out of the freezing waters, I flung myself forward onto the rock, pulling my legs fully onto stable ground.

Not gonna lie, the amount of time I spent just laying there like a dead fish was bordering excessive. Not proud of it, but if you managed to avoid being drowned in the first 10 seconds of your new life you'd take a breather too I'd imagine.

By the time I stood up, I was mostly dry. With a functioning set of devil eyes, it was also a good a time as any to get a better inspection on myself.

My skin looked pale, but there was no way to see what color or shade I actually was. The devil's sight really only operated on shades of grey. I had short, sharp nails on each finger that almost resembled talons. Simple clothes, shirt, a tunic of some kind, trousers, and a belt.

Seeing as I had been promised quite the list of sexual benefits by those two goddesses, no time like the present to inspect the goods. It took a minute to pull away the drawstrings that tied down the trousers, but there it was. My old package had been perfectly respectable. Anywhere between 5.5 and 6 inches at full mast. But this, my new cock swung free of its restraints completely soft and still 7 inches proud. In normal circumstances I would be tempted to drop everything and experiment further, but with some regret I popped it back into place and laced myself up to continue my inventory search. (I was only fully aware I had been promised tentacles and shit, but that complaint would have to take some lesser importance just now.) I continued my evaluation.

No robes, bag, tools, boots, or any equipment it seemed. Except...wait...there was something. Around my neck was a lightweight (almost imperceptible) chain of fine metal links. Wrapped between two of the links was a familiar looking diamond.

"Ariel's Alma", I said as I identified the object. The words scarcely leaving my lips before the stone started to glow. With a "pop" I saw the accursed angel guardian materialize into existence before me, shedding a bright glow of white and golden light throughout the cavern.

"Calling me already? That's got to be a bit of a record if I do say so myself." The feminine angel stared down at me in annoyance. There was also a significant possibility that he was still less than pleased at my selecting his jewel as a divine miracle reward. (Although if he wasn't fully prepared for that then really, how is that my problem?) He looked first at me, then around to survey the area. His haughty smile quickly turning to a frown. "Wait a second, where have you taken me? This doesn't look like the starter's village those demented bitches had picked out for you."

I was still shaking slightly from the lake swim, but I gathered enough breath to voice my reply. "We're underground somewhere. Not sure where." I gestured over to the water, which by now had returned to a glasslike state of calm. "Your little portal trick put me right at the bottom of that damned lake. I nearly died! I thought you were supposed to be my protector and crap. Where were you?!"

Ariel huffed at my accusations. For all of the annoying brat of a femboy he looked like, he was still apparently quite proud of his position. "I AM your protector! I am the Lion of Heaven, the-"

I cut him off before he could list the accolades. "Lion of heaven my ass. You dropped me in a drowning pit! You were going to let me die rather than hold on to your end of the bargain!"

"No I didn't! You weren't supposed to end up here! This isn't my fault," he flustered. "And absolutely not. An angel like myself would never besmirch their honor by trying to off their ward." His turquoise eyes blazed with the indignity of the suggestion. "I came as soon as you called. Did I not? Granted, it would have been easier to explain all of this if you had gone to the starter village like you were supposed to, but I would never abandon a sacred charge."

Behind his little speech I did still manage to make out the words "even a corrupt sinner" being muttered, but I decided to let it slide. After all, he had a point. I had said his name and poof, there he was. Not exactly a sinister action. But that didn't explain where we were or what to do next.

As I contemplated my next move, I noticed in the distance the structure I had seen from the water. Ariel's light extended over the island to reveal a circle of pillars shaped roughly like a gazebo. Those pillars were hardly natural. I would have to investigate further and see if there were any clues to my predicament there.