Tentacled Woods

He gives you an odd look, but Ariel turns toward a large forest and lowers you to the ground just inside the treeline.

As you land, you feel relief to be out of the sun...and not much else. As you look down at your new body you realize you are nothing but an inky black shadow. You are vaguely humanoid although you definitely have tentacles, but you feel...thin?

With a start you realize that you have actually sunk through the ground. This might be harder than you thought.

You arent sure if you still need to breath, but the action of focusing on breathing calms you. You reach out and feel your body reacting to your thoughts. Once you have a good feel for it, you mentally flex yourself and feel your body become harder and more corporeal. You slowly and methodically begin pulling yourself up through the ground, extending the flex as you go so you wont ghost through the forest floor again. As you stand up, you look over to see Ariel leaning against a tree watching you. This will take some getting used to, but you cant pull out all your tricks while that pesky guardian angel is watching. Easy Parker, take it slow.

Keeping your feet flexed, you begin jogging in place, then running, then jumping. Reaching out towards the nearest tree, you flex to feel it, and release and watch your hand go right through it. Well at least your body responds much like the lore you remember. Remembering your angelic blessing, you decide to test out humanity.

"Hey Ariel," you cringe a little to hear your new voice which has a slithering edge to it, somewhere between a snakes hiss and a sword unsheathing, "how do i activate humanity?"

"Simple, just focus on what you want to do and speak the word "Humanity" in your head.

With a nod you give it a try. As you speak, you feel your body start to harden as it takes on flesh and blood. Within a matter of moments, the process stops and you examine your new body.

Very nice. You were by no means a bodybuilder in your previous life, but you did plenty of MMA and it seems you kept your toned figure. While you cant see your face, you make out one discernable difference with this new body.

"Huh, I'm black."

Ariel rolled his eyes. "Well duh, you do keep aspects of your monster form. Since you are a shadow demon, it reflects in your skin tone."

Feigning ignorance, you look to him. "So I'm a shadow demon. What's that like?"

"Well the upside is that you can make yourself incorporeal and pass through solid objects. You can dissolve and pass up to a meter underground and most importantly, your species aren't particularly rapey, so count your blessings there."

So there were a handful of things that set you apart, but at least the benefits you wanted were there. While most shadow demons probably didnt care about procreation, you seem to have kept your libido, and with the full package, you were more than capable of delivering in solid form. But you definitely werent going to give that info to Ariel.

"Unfortunately, i wouldn't recommend you travel underground. While shadow demons are immune to physical and most magic attacks, a light spell or holy magic is instant ****. If you traveled underground and crossed under a church, the magic alone would destroy you like nothing. As such, you arent a particularly strong fighter. Who knows why those two bimbos designed you like this."

Well you do. You designed it. And like the fucking god you are, you created a monster worthy of being Darkness' Champion. Your elemental infusion was light magic, making you immune, meaning you had already eliminated the threat of an instant kill. With the immunities and resistances you possessed, any fight against you would be a long hard grind. Another little secret for your arsenal.

You shrug "fortunately, I should be fine with avoiding churches and since I'll be fighting with the light, it should all work out."

"Then why not go straight to the human settlement?"

"Because i still am a monster. Even if you vouched for me, that would be a hard sell. But if i show them what i can do, say by clearing these woods, my reputation will speak for itself."

Ariel nodded. "Thats not a bad plan, and levelling up will be a huge help as well. This place is called the tentacled woods. All manner of slimy evils live here and many travelers and adventurers have gone missing here. If you clear this forest, you will certainly be accepted as a champion of the light. It's fortunate i was able to get to you. Regrettably I won't be able to help you much going forward."