Joey's new life started in darkness but then a red light engulfed him. At first he had not been able to feel anything but slowly his ability to do was increased but this only caused panic in his mind. Joey was barely able to understand what had happened to him when everything changed again. The light faded away and he saw large clawed hands, hands that were his to move.
There were not many things Joey was able to focus on. His mind was a mess. The feeling of his body was new, weird and most of all disorienting. The blurry red demons around him were not helping with his focus.
"Your souls were picked to be reincarnated for achieving the most extreme levels of degeneracy and detachment from the gods," came the first words Joey heard and understood. The voice was distant and not human at all.
Joey remembered his past life, how he died. Things he did not want to remember. Nothing in it was like the voice kept telling him. He had never committed any of the actions the voice was praising, it must not have been talking to him Joey concluded. The speech was long and he was barely able to focus on the words. The bulky red demons around him were cheering and hitting each other as their forms became more defined. Joey had done his best to move away from the fights.
"You were given these bodies so you could carve the name of your new lord with blood to a weak world not worth invading. If you prove your value you will be given more and more chances from our great lord. Go forth and make that realm your playground." When the words stopped the name, "Lord Bunxamar," flashed in Joey's mind.
The world around Joey distorted and when it returned normal the wall of red flesh was still around him. Just the sun shining brightly above him had changed. It looked weird, more orange than the sun he knew. Not that he had the time to focus on it. Screams and yells filled his surroundings. The demons were charging away from him to all directions and Joey could see the stone buildings around him. They were small, the doorways were way too short for him.
"Kill, kill," echoed in the air. Joey did not know what was going on, he was barely able to think but he knew he had to run away.
Joey ran past many demons, he ran past many humans who all ran away from him. The screams of the humans and grunts of the demons echoed behind him as he ran away from the village to the open fields. Looking to hide he ran to the forest nearby but he did not stop, he kept running. At some point two legs were not enough, Joey wanted to go faster. On four strong limbs, his speed almost multiplied and the trees just went past him. A smile of glee appeared on his red lips. A long tongue started to hang out of his mouth but it became dry from the wind.
Longer Joey ran more focused he became, like all the anxiety and mind-numbing pressure was leaving him. Though other feelings came, like thirst. Joey headed to the first lake he could see.
Just when Joey was about to drink he saw his reflection from the water's surface. Large and sharp tusk cornered teeth were smiling at him. Nothing in the body was what he recognized as his. He even thought he had three legs but it was his tail. The red bulgy demon he saw was straight from grittiest fantasy games or nightmares but oddly enough he felt no fear.
"I have muscles now," Joey said in disbelief. His voice was hard and commanding, something a made to be a soldier would have. His massive muscles bulged as he moved his body.
"So unreal, I guess my grandparents were right. I was made a demon, haha." The demon's laughter echoed across the lake. Birds flew away from him and some fishes rose to the surface. Joey's hand went to feel his strong lined face. His tusks were large and enough to the sides not to affect the mouth or biting but they definitely were not meant for normal eating. His large dull teeth and strong jaw were more than enough to bite meat and bone to pieces.
"I wanted to see the next episode, damn cliffhangers, haha." Joey kept laughing to himself all the while he moved his body, slowly becoming used to it. Part of him really liked running with so much strength behind him and the new body acted mostly as he wanted it to.
"My parents were right, I did not last till retirement, haha. I guess I'm retired now. I wonder if this place has wifi, haha." This time Joey's laughter was more forced.
Joey knelt down and started to drink from the lake. The water was syphoned down his throat and his black horns scraped to the rocks as he dipped his head into the water.
After having enough Joey stood up and looked around while talking more to himself, "I feel so strong, I wonder if I could get hired for construction now."
"I guess I can't smell or demons don't stink. Ooh well," Joey muttered, all the running had come into Joey's mind and he was trying to smell any sweating.
Joey stepped into the cold water and tried to swim. It was a struggle but he used brute force to stay afloat. In the end, he simply walked along the shore, only his head above the water.
"Feels nice," Joey muttered, his hot body made steam rise from the cold water. Leaves were falling to the ground and there were no green trees. The cold breeze that was hitting Joey's face was heralding the coming of the winter but his large body felt oddly comfortable.
Clinging of metal interrupted Joey's aimless walk through the lake. A group of armed soldiers were running along the rocky bank. They were going after a single cloaked figure that looked slightly taller than them. Joey didn't want to fight even though the humans looked small to him. The demon wanted just to stay still until they ran past him but he was spotted, being large horned head in a mostly calm lake and all that.
"Look, a demon head," one of the soldiers pointed out.
"Demon brute, retreat," yelled the soldier with the fanciest looking tunic. They all had green dominant colour and chainmail that glistened weirdly in Joey's eyes.
Joey watched the men leave but before he could get out of the lake a frustrated female voice yelled at him, "Idiot, you brute will pay for that. You understand how much magic enhanced armour is worth?"
"What?" baffled Joey responded like a reflex.
"You can talk?" came an overly shocked reply. Joey was able to see an ebony-skinned figure partly hiding behind a tree. Only her hands and part of her face was visible from the green robes.
"You understand what I say?" the woman insisted.
"I understand what you say," Joey replied with robot-like pacing.
"Haha, you sound silly." Feminine laughter echoed in the air.
"What is it that you require of me," Joey continued with the same pacing trying to break the ice. He had not flirted successfully with women that often but for some reason, this was working as far as he could read the cloaked figure.
"You are willing to trade your services?" the female asked.
"Depends on the value provided by the transaction," Joey replied completely changing the way he spoke but he still had the strong voice. Having worked for marketing and having economics degree had instilled some innate phrases he liked to use as jokes.
"I have silver and magical items, though I don't think demons have much use for those things," a seductive tone answered.
"How much bread can I buy with silver?" Joey was wondering out loud. He had not really thought what he should be eating as he had not felt the need yet.
