One With The Strange Cave Monster (Com)

A commission for last_of_workers

Xod was a member of the Knights Guild, which was a notorious monster hunter group that got paid by people or even sometimes towns to come in and wipe out monsters that may be causing a problem or are close to causing problems.

They had many members, each one specializing in a certain type of monster, but Xod wasn’t one such member, instead his specialty was investigation and identifying the type of monster so that the appropriate member could be sent out to slay it.

He was only really used when the clients couldn’t tell what monster was causing trouble, or when new and perhaps mutated versions of monsters appeared. Once he knew what it was, he usually left and sent a message back to headquarters to let them know who to send.

Of course, he may not have a monster specialty, but he’s still a seasoned knight, so if he should be backed into a fight, he can usually hold his own, but he prefers to leave it to those who are better at it to reduce casualties and injuries.

Today’s job was very strange, the villagers gave mixed messages about the monsters that were there. Someone said it was a mermaid, which couldn’t be possible this far into the woods, and another said it was a centaur, which was extremely rare.

They also said the monsters were stealing and breaking houses, which centaurs avoided doing. They mostly kept to themselves in their own territory, and this village had been here for a hundred years so it didn't make sense.

There were a few more rumored monsters, along with a made-up one. One of the village kids said it was a huge spider that had tentacles for a face, which sounded like an eldritch horror out of some storybook.

There was only one thing that every villager told Xod, and that was that the monsters all come from the cave at the base of a nearby mountain, so that’s where he went, as it was the best lead to figure out what was going on.

Reaching the cave Xod noticed right away that the ground had tons of different footprints, and was clearly used a lot. Around the cave several tree branches were broken up high along the path created by the monsters, likely meaning it was big.

Xod started to wonder if it was indeed a centaur, one acting weird. He then looked at the cave. It was very deep, which was yet again something a centaur would avoid, as they can’t fight in small spaces. Xod steeled himself and drew his weapon.

He started to walk into the cave, and after a few feet, he used a basic magic spell to light up the area around him. He then continued to walk down the path, which was getting steeper by the minute. That’s when the cave shook and a loud monster roar could be heard.

Xod lost his footing due to the intense shaking and fell to the ground, which caused him to start rolling down the remainder of the downward path. Once he stopped moving he groaned and picked himself up.

He was okay but with perhaps one or two bruised ribs. Xod looked up at the path he came from, it had turned into a straight cliff, which meant he wouldn’t be able to go back up the way he came, which was strange, as the monsters clearly could.

Xod found himself very confused as he continued to explore the cave and look for the monster he was tasked with identifying. After a few minutes of walking, Xod made it to a large opening in the cave, where a decently sized monster sat.

Xod hides behind a rock and watches it for a minute, and to his surprise, that kid from the village is right, it is a huge spider with tentacles for a face. It was nothing like he’d ever seen, which made it very dangerous.

Xod continued to watch it, to study it, in order to know more about it. At first, he thought it might have been some sich wizard work, perhaps they used magic or simply bred a giant spider with a Kraken, but the longer he watched the more he was unsure.

He seemed to be thinking, or perhaps speaking, despite having no head. That was quite powerful for a giant spider or Kraken, even if it was a hybrid or enchanted monstrosity. That led Xod to think the worst, that it was a prime evil from hell.

That would be an emergency situation that required the entire knight guild in order to defeat, and still, he wasn’t sure they’d win, as the last time a thousand years ago, a prime evil nearly wiped out all life on the planet.

Xod had gotten enough information and was prepared to leave, but the monster noticed him, and the two began to fight. It quickly overpowered Xod, and before he knew it, it had him in his tentacles and was undressing him.

Xod was yelling and screaming, but all he could do was watch as its tentacles covered his body like it was eating him, or perhaps merging with him. Xod screamed until he passed out. Xod never expanded to wake up, but somehow she did sometime later comply unharmed.

Xod was lying on the ground, with the monster continuing to do what it was doing before she arrived. Xod had no idea why it didn’t kill her, but she wasn't going to complain, she was just going to leave. As soon as she thought that, the monster turned around and pointed at her.

It told her not to leave. Xod was confused, how could she suddenly hear the monster? It wasn’t just this monster though, Xod could hear several others approaching them. Xod looked towards where she came from and more monsters appeared.

Again it was as the villagers said, a mermaid, a centaur, a harpy, and a dragon, though they all seemed to resemble humans more than their species tended to. For example, the dragon stood like a human and had human features, but with stuff like dragon horns, tails, and wings.

Even stranger than all of that was the mermaid. She appeared exactly as she should, but she was flying around, without wings, or any source of magic. It was baffling and was beyond anything Xod had ever encountered.

As Xod sat there looking at them and thinking all kinds of things, they turned toward her and looked annoyed. Then she heard them all tell her to stop thinking of them like that. Xod got nervous, not only could she hear them telepathically, but they could hear her.

They all then surrounded Xod and started talking about her to each other, all while she could hear them. It was thanks to that ability that she learned that she was no longer a human, but instead an Arachne female.

Xod stood herself up, and sure enough, she had eight legs now, with the two in the front feeling the most natural like they were her old human legs. Once she was up, she slowly stepped over to a crystal on the wall.

She was able to confirm her new body with her own eyes. Her lower half was monster-like, the same as the majority of the others here, and her top half was female. Xod now had long black hair, a girl's face, and decent-sized breasts.

Once she calmed down and came to terms with her change and that this was really happening, she faced the others and asked why the hell that big monster did this to her. That got the harpy to snap at her and tell her to address him as The All-Mighty.

The Mermaid told Xod she best respect him, or else she would starve. Xod looked at her confused and asked what that meant. The centaur who was surprisingly the nicest among the group began to explain.

The All-Mighty was a powerful god, and it had chosen each and every one of them to join its cause, but in doing so, it ate each one of them, merged them with itself, and spit them out as reborn creatures to serve it.

So they were all connected because they were all an extension of him, so in order to get the nutrients they needed to survive, they had to serve The All-Mighty, or else it simply wouldn’t keep them alive.

Xod gulped, she had become a monster's slave… The group told her it wasn’t really like that. Xod felt embarrassed, she once again forgot they could hear her. They then explained it was actually more of a partnership.

The All-Mighty treats them well, and along with their cool powerful new bodies, they also gain special abilities, and each time they get a new member, the whole group gets a new power. Xod was actually quite interested in that.

She asked them if that’s how the mermaid could fly and they confirmed it. Since the harpy and dragon had the ability to fly, the whole group could do it. They then told her that the centaur gave them great strength and speed, while the harpy gave them sharp retractable claws and flight.

The dragon gave them flying as well, but with it came a strong body from the dragon's scales and the ability to breathe fire. Finally, the mermaid gave them the ability to breathe underwater, a minor control of water, and the ability to swim at great speeds.

They then said that they should all have gotten new abilities from Xod as well, and since she was an Arachne, it was likely the ability to climb walls and shoot webs. Xod couldn't help but be amazed, but why was The All-Mighty doing this? Well, Xod was connected to it, so it told her.

It turned out that it was a prime evil, but one that betrayed the others and tried to be good. The others turned it into the monster Xod was looking at, and all it was doing was preparing to stop the others from entering this world to destroy it.

That was a cause Xod could get behind, and if being turned into a monster girl was the prince to pay to keep the world safe, she was willing to pay it. When she thought that, the rest of the group got silent. It turns out that the rest of them had already been female when they turned.

So it seems regardless of their original race or gender, The All-Mighty turns them into some sort of monster girl, so obviously it has a preference when it comes to the gender of its minions, but as embarrassing as that was, Xod still stood firm on her previous statement. She was okay with it, as long as they saved the world.