Starting Out As The God of Beasts

Chapter 3: Varanus

[Player will now descend]

A systematic voice whispered into his ears. It happened so quick as Roy plummets out of the white void.

The air shook violently; Roy felt his muscles tensing up. "Fuckkk!" Roy screamed.

The sky did not fall; it parted for him.

He plummeted through the stratosphere, a streak of rogue starlight tearing through the atmospheric veil.

At first, it was just the brutal, chaotic physics of a terminal descent, but the wind roaring in his ears like a dying beast.

But as the cloud line shattered beneath him, the physics began to break.

The chaos of the fall smoothed into a deliberate, sweeping trajectory. The friction of the air stopped burning his skin and began, instead, to ignite something beneath it.

A profound, terrifying evolution took hold.

It started with his hair. The whip-thin strands caught the light, but instead of reflecting it, they began to manufacture it, spinning out into a brilliant, heavy mane of liquid gold that trailed behind him.

Then came his eyes. The panicked, human dilation of his pupils seized. The irises bled into a deep, predatory crimson.

His muscles expanded; he grew taller than he naturally was.

The violent distortion of the wind could no longer distort his features. As the ground rushed up to meet him, his face settled into a terrifying, flawless symmetry.

"That should actually hurt," He grumbled. The desperation of a mortal mind washed out of him, replaced by a vast, echoing vacuum of divine indifference.

He was no longer falling; he was arriving.

With the intense shockwave that rippled the horizon, he broke his descent, hovering a mere inch above the earth before his boots finally touched the ground.

He wasn’t naked during the transformation... He was putting on a plain black T-shirt and blue pants which he had instinctively created using the divine energy coating him.

The impact stirred no dust, because the heat radiating from him had already baked the air to a standstill.

"Where am I?" Roy’s eyebrows furrowed. He stood in the dead center of a vast, unforgiving desert.

Above him, a merciless crimson sun beat down from the cerulean sky. "Just as I thought, this isn’t Earth." He looked down at his hands, watching the last of the mortal pallor fade into a faint, golden luminescence.

"And I’m no longer human," He whispered, "If what that Administrator said is the truth. I’m a false god in this world."

"But what exactly is a false god?" He asked.

While he was in deep contemplation, a cerulean transparent panel flickered before his eyes.

[Welcome to the ’Arkan Unlimited’ Unregistered Player]

"What is this?" Roy stared blankly at the floating screen, "This is a status window, right?" He gulped, "I’ve seen it multiple times in those video games I played"

"To think I’ll be seeing one in real life," Roy stared at it, unable to contain his excitement.

The status window wasn’t done yet.

[Would you like to register in the ’Arkan Unlimited’ as a Player?]

[Yes] [No]

"If I click yes, would I be noticed?" Roy lingered; reluctantly, he clicked the [Yes] icon.

[Permission Received]

[Registering Player into the ’Arkan Unlimited’ League of Gods’ Server]

[Congratulations! Registration has been completed]

[Uploading Player’s Information]

-Name: ???

-Status: False God (Level 0)

-Divine Domain: ???

-Divine Authority: Transformation <Unique -class>

-Follower Count: 0/10,000

-Divine Essence: 0

-Divine Honorifics: Unregistered

"I have no name?" Roy widened his eyes in shock, "Isn’t my name Roy, or do I need a new name?" He asked.

[Warning Alert!]

[Time Remaining until Erasure: 9 Years, 364 Days, 23 Hours]

"The Administrator was right after all," Roy grumbled, "Everything is real—the fact that I’m a False God and I have ten years to accumulate ten thousand followers." He sighed.

His eyes narrowed as he went through the information displayed on the screen. "I’m a False God with a 0 Level and I have no domain."

"I have only one divine authority and zero followers," Roy giggled, "That Administrator only dropped some information and threw me down here with only a warning."

"I still don’t understand what a False God is and the difference between a False God and a True God." Roy moved his arms.

Naturally, he would have been pressured by the heat if he was still a human, but with this evolution, the heat had zero effects on him.

"My divine authority is unique-class; what does that mean?" He decided to explore what he could; he found the description bar.

-Divine Authority Description: "Transformation" Player can transform into anything and everything; transformations are restricted to Player’s current level.

"I see." Roy gently stroked his chin. His golden hair fluttered in the wind. "It’s just like Talents in those video games, and this Transformation could be considered the highest class shapeshifting talent." He sighed.

"Unlike Shapeshifting talents on VRs, I’m not bound by restrictions and limitations but can only transform into something higher depending on my level."

"I should check it out." Roy smiled; he had anticipated a reaction the moment he activated that authority.

But nothing happened.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the unique-class authority humming within his soul.

At first, the transformation didn’t fluidly slide into place. When he willed himself to become a falcon, a sharp, disorienting pressure clamped down on his chest.

His divine essence flared erratically, and for a terrifying second, his bones cracked and shifted too fast, threatening to trap him in a grotesque half-human, half-avian shape.

Grit-teeth, Roy forced his racing gamer mind to calm down.

He stopped fighting the magic and simply envisioned the anatomy of a predator—the hollow bones, the razor-sharp vision, the instinct of the wind. freewebnoveℓ.com

With a sudden, violent snap, the golden light imploded around him. The brutal desert heat vanished, replaced by a sudden, weightless freedom as his perspective shattered into a thousand hyper-focused details.

Where a god once stood, a sleek, sharp-eyed falcon burst from the light, cutting through the desert thermals with its very first beat of feathered wings.

He soared across the sky.

"Wow," Roy exclaimed. He glided through the sky with ease, his mind clearer than before. He made his descent.

Only when he was a few meters from the ground did he transform back.

"I can transform into any mammal of my choice; I guess those animals are too insignificant to restrict me even as a Level 0 False God," Roy giggled, "Now, what exactly is a False God?" He thought.

He found the description icon on the status window and clicked it.

-Description: "False Gods" are transcended beings with divinity engraved in their souls, yet incomplete to be a true god. They can be classified as divine spirits who aren’t bounded by the laws that restrict true gods and can directly interfere with the mortal planes.

"Oh?" Roy raised an eyebrow; he couldn’t hide his shock. "There are laws restricting true gods from interfering with the mortal planes directly?" Roy asked.

"Then as a false god, don’t I currently have the advantage?" Roy grinned, "True gods may be all-powerful and all, but if they’re restricted by laws governing this world..."

"I shouldn’t be in danger if I move undetected." He turned his gaze. "Right now I’m a divine spirit who can wield divine powers."

"But against a true god, I’ll be crushed by their might." His eyes flickered. "I have ten years to ascend into a true god."

"Gathering ten thousand followers undetected won’t be easy. I should start making my move." Roy’s eyes slightly furrowed, he recalled something.

"Divine Honorifics? What exactly is that?" he clicked on the description icon once again.

-Description: "Divine Honorifics" is the sacred incarnations prayed by a believer, establishing direct connection with their god. It must be chanted in ancient Lydora Language which resonates with the spirit realm.

"A sacred incarnation huh?" Roy gently stroked his chin, "This must be one of the few ways True Gods use to interfere with the mortal planes" he sighed deeply.

"It shouldn’t be hard creating one" his lips curled up, Roy stepped forward.

[Alert!]

The status window flickered.

"Huh?" Roy frowned. "Is there an issue?" He asked.

[Warning: Player has no name]

[A False God with no name will be banned from ’Arkan Unlimited’]

"Ah?" Roy chuckled. He gently caressed his sleek golden hair. "I had totally forgotten to give myself a new name."

"Roy Vance is dead." He paused. "This is a new life, a new me... hehehe it’s just like I’m in a virtual reality simulation.."

"My mom has my siblings who are more successful than me. I bet they’ll make her proud" a sad smile escaped his lips, "I should make this my new life starting now"

"I’m not a human anymore, I’m simply a living divine spirit." His lips curled faintly. "If I must give myself a name..."

"Shouldn’t it be divine?"

[Please Select a Name]

"A name, huh?" Roy hesitated for a moment. "Varanus. That’s my name"