Most men in the world endeavor to obtain the manliest body possible; from bulging muscles to a towering physique. Thinking of them as a sort of badge of honor for only the most hardworking and honest of men.

But in Marcus’ eyes, being tall and burly wasn’t all that amazing. Being unusually tall and broad for a man that barely spent hours in the gym, it wasn’t easy for Marcus to go out without eyes instantly locking on to the brown haired giant that stepped out onto the street. It didn’t help that he was shy by nature, preferring to keep to himself than enter into conversation with others, but with his enormous height and well-built stature, the people he found hardest to talk to; girls,‘menacing’ bodybuilders and popular kids alike all flocked to him constantly.

He was the polar opposite of someone who constantly wanted to keep at the top of their game when it came to fashion and glamour. Whenever people asked him how he managed to keep his hair so clean and smooth or how he managed to get so bulked up, he didn’t know how to answer them at all.

It was all so tiresome for poor Marcus, the gentle giant sometimes wishing to nothing in particular for a ‘normal’ body to live normally in.

Unknown to the young man though, his chance would soon come, though not in the way he would have hoped for…

–

“C’mon…stop staring…”

Marcus breathed under his breath as he tried not to look back at the eyes he could feel boring into his back, struggling to shrink away in broad daylight as the hand clenched around the sling of his bag tightens its grip.

It was only the second day into the week and Marcus was already wishing it was Friday so he could enjoy the peace and comfort of his apartment like he had all those months ago when a virus had begun to spread rapidly across the world. Knowing it was selfish of him to wish for the lockdown to return, he couldn’t help but think back to how happy he’d been sitting behind a computer taking lessons from a screen where no one would be able to stare at him directly.

And through all that time spent at home, Marcus’ tall height and broad build hadn’t waned one bit, emerging from his hiding place the same giant he always was.

With lessons at the college Marcus attended returning to normal, the recluse had been forced to travel out once more, finding the intense gaze of the public even harder to handle than he remembered. Not surprising after all, considering how he had spent close to a year alone in his apartment ordering takeout and barely talking to anyone besides the landlord that still dropped by every now and then.

But there was one moment of safety where Marcus could always find refuge in; the bus, where there was always an empty space in the middle at the right time in the morning. Since the ride to campus was a short one, it had become a sort of refuge for the timid man.

Hailing the bus without lifting his head, Marcus stepped on board the bus as it’s doors hissed open, neglecting the new elderly driver as he greeted the young man.

“G’morning kiddo! Nice to-”

“?!”

With the old man’s voice suddenly cutting off suddenly, Marcus couldn’t help but turn around instinctively, eyes widening when he saw no one sitting at the driver's seat. In fact, there wasn’t anyone else around him at all, the seats lying empty as his gaze darted all around the vacant bus, the sudden bustle of the streets outside nothing more than an echo in his head as he backed up out of the empty bus…

Only to end up falling over as his feet fails to find purchase, neglecting to check his rear as he slips out of the floating bus and into an endless void, shouting in fear as he glimpses the strange environment that had replaced the busy townscape; pieces of broken building left floating in the purple sky, twisted branches that reached up from the massive forest below and what looked like a manor off in the distance behind the numerous broken tree tops as he fell rapidly towards the ground, darkness enveloping his vision as he crashes through the prickly branches and eventually into a patch of bushes that served to save Marcus from certain death, his shouts silenced with the impact as he falls unconscious, lying in a heap of shredded clothes, his bag long lost after being snared by one of the many wicked branches that formed the thick cover over the dark forest he had thrown into…

–

“Please let this all be a dream…ghhgh! T-This can’t be happening…”

Awakening to a sharp stinging pain all over his body, Marcus struggled to get to sit up, feeling the pincushion embrace of the shrubbery he had fallen into, their sharp spines scratching at his skin as he rolled off and onto the wet muddy floor of the fog blanketed forest.

He couldn’t even tell the time of day with how dark the entire place was, the skies above blocked out by the entwining branches of the many dead, twisted trees that sprouted from the earth, the stink of manure and other unmentionables rising into his nostrils as he inspected himself for any open wounds or injuries.

But besides the loss of his bag and most of his clothes, Marcus was relieved to find not a single speck of blood across his aching body as he eyed the ragged remnants of his clothes and the single necklace he had kept since his teenage days wrapped around his neck, the most the branches had been able to do were leaving red welts where they had struck him as he fell earlier. Despite the lack of cuts though, Marcus still didn’t feel safe leaving those red lines unwashed, fearing an infection as he looked around the strange place he had suddenly found himself in.

He remembered reading strange stories and rumours online during the long break at home about people vanishing with no discernible explanations or finding themselves stranded in ‘strange places’ with no way out, the exit being a rarity only revealed every so often as holes opened up to connect the two planes of existence. How any ‘doorway’ would serve as a viable portal between Earth and the twisted realm of the Otherside.

And matching his experience with the rumours and basis for all the stories, there was no other explanation besides finally falling into a state of psychosis; he had stepped through one of the many one-way gateways into the Otherside that had just so happened to open up right as he stepped through the otherwise normally functioning bus door..

Thinking hard to remember the stories, Marcus remained wary of his surroundings as he stood half crouched over, afraid of his massive height giving him away to whatever lurked this strange forest as he thought of what to do, remembering the massive manor he had seen while on his way down from the sky. According to the stories, exits from the Otherside were random and hard to chance upon, so the only course of action left to him besides daring to stay out in the open was to look for aid, remembering the accounts of clean water and food found in some parts of the broken world.

And with how the welts all across his body were beginning to flare up and itch, Marcus’ shaky feet moved with hurry as he stalked off toward the manor, wrapping his arms close to himself both to keep his ragged clothes from falling off and to reduce his overall silhouette as his eyes darted from shadow to shadow, panic in his eyes at the sounds of unseen insects chirping and the snap of twigs beneath his shoes.

Unbeknownst to Marcus however, the greatest threat had already made its way inside of his body, chemical changes occurring unseen as strange toxins and the thick mana residue in the air add further to the curse that had afflicted the unlucky human as he makes his way deeper into the depths of the dark forest…

–

“Getting hard…to breathe…why me…”

He had no doubt that whatever had inflicted those scratches were poisonous now after what felt like hours walking with no clear end in sight, not wanting to look down after what he saw earlier after he raised an arm to wipe away the sweat on his brow; the entirety of his forearm having turned a pale green shade emanating from the single stroke the trees had managed to mark him with.

Marcus had no doubt the same was happening across his body…

As if making his way through a dark muddy forest watching out for traps and sharp branches wasn’t enough, now his breathing had begun to turn ragged, each breath getting harder to take in, his already weary body growing even more exhausted as each step began to felt like lifting a sack of bricks with his feet.

But with his refusal to gaze down at what he assumed to be an ill-stricken body, Marcus had missed the gradual changes his body had begun to undergo; from a slow loss of height to the lengthening of his ears as the pale green hue his skin had taken begins to glow with a healthy sheen unlike that of poisoned flesh, vibrant creamy skin that looked as soft as it felt, free of body hair and blemishes as the red welts vanished, leaving only the fatigue as Marcus continued on unaware of the changes continuing to spread across his body.

With each foot forward, a slight jiggle begins to accompany Marcus’ momentum as fat begins to pile in where they weren’t before, as if years of being a couch potato had begun to creep up on his perfect body as his thighs, ass, arms and chest began to fill with a healthy layer of firm fat, jiggling with each step as his rags began to strain and chaff against his softening form.

“Ahh this is…getting so annoying!”

Marcus knelt down as his arms flew to action, shredding apart the lengthy remnants of his former pants, tossing aside the muddied end as dexterous hands moved with instinctual knowledge, tying the loose, frayed ends of the remaining cloth into a makeshift cloth that hung nicely around his wider hips, patting down the rear as it tickled his heart shaped rump, sending a throb of excitement to the tiny mound peeking out barely from underneath the cloth to be forgotten as Marcus hums a happy foreign tune of satisfaction,a first for the reclusive man that could barely be called a giant anymore as his stature of 7 feet had been cut down to a meager 4.

But while this might have been something to celebrate in Marcus’ case, the man had long since forgotten what he had been so afraid of, his shaky posture giving way to one of confidence as he did the final knot around his waist, slapping his dainty palms against his jiggly rear as the last bits of his manhood were slurping up silently into the vacant passageway beginning to open up in the flattening space where it once stood.

Not one to leave things half done, Marcus’ hands drifted on upward, past his softer, toned belly and tight waist as he did the same to the sweat soaked cloth that was all that remained of the baggy yellow shirt that now struggled to remain on his shapely torso.

“Weird…was it always this loose…ah well, it’s torn up anyway.”

Cutting the loose strap off with a sharpened fingernail, Marcus slings the remnants of the shirt into a budget crop top that showed off the beginnings of a valley where there was once a flat hairy chest, shiny green melons beginning to fill in the empty space of the shirt as they go from loose to form-fitting, a hefty set of healthy D cup breasts blooming forth to complement the alluring figure Marcus had since been blessed with as a weird sense of accomplishment and pride began to blossom in his chest as he cupped his breasts with a sense of familiarity, as if he’d seen them grow from small A’s to the proud milkers they now were, a feminine giggle escaping soft lips as Marcus watched hardened nubs tent the cloth as electric bolts of stimuli shoot through his body.

That’s…weird…why’m I even thinkin’ of myself as a ‘he’?

As the former human’s mind aligns with their new body, new memories take their place where the memories of one Marcus used to reside, foggy remnants of a life on Earth replaced with one in the primordial forests of the Mistresses domain, living an honest life hunting what little dwelled in the forest while maintaining the underground stores of Goblinite that kept the trees healthy and gave the forest it’s eternal fog layer. A nasty surprise for any human unlucky enough to wander in.

If the plants didn’t get them, the fog would.

But despite the dreary environment, things would begin to change for the better, the Mistress had said. With continued care and maintenance of the Goblinite and in turn the forest, life and color would soon return to the monotone grays and blacks of the dead trees and parched earth, already seeing hints of grass beginning to emerge from the choking mud that Maria had grown so used to stepping through with her bare feet.

Being a goblin herself, Maria had nothing to worry about, as long as she did her daily rounds, she was free to do whatever else she desired. The Mistress was so kind to let her wander as she pleased. But as she eyed the strange stone dangling off the loose necklace that hung around her slim neckline, Maria groans as she stumbles on her right foot, clicking her tongue as she kicks the strange rubbery things that had been wrapped around her slender feet for an unknown amount of time, sending them flying off into the muddy depths of the forest as the goblin girl struggles with the haze of static that had suddenly erupted in her mind.

Surmising the necklace to be at fault, Maria tears off the stone in her palm, feeling a bit saddened as she easily reduces the multi-colored rock to slag in her crushing grip.

Aww, the children would’a liked ta play with such a pretty thang…

With her survival instincts kicking in, Maria palms the remnants of the string still dangling around her neck once she dusts off the debris, tying the tapering ends of her raggedy hair back into a cute ponytail, giggling with glee as she bobs up and down in joy, her wagging ears a clear sign of her being unable to wait for the moment the rest of her family and friends saw her new hairdo.

Oh, ah bet…ahh~ that’s so lovely!

Squealing in joy as she tied the last bits of string into a decorative band of sorts, Maria dons the tiny hoop with tender care taken so her nails didn’t undo her hard work, smiling warmly as she snaps the thing in place over her lean biceps, watching it cinch the lean layer of soft flesh and fat as she did a small spin in the middle of the gloom, never feeling this alive before in her life as the newborn goblin skipped off in the opposite direction to where she had been heading previously, towards the place she now called home. It was getting late now and she wanted nothing more than to be with her loving mate in the warmth of their bed tonight.

Although Maria had a slight feeling she had forgotten something critical she needed to do, but with how thorough and clean her work record had been with maintaining the Goblinite, Maria paid those worries no heed as she continued on her merry way back to the den. Running a soft hand over her warm belly as another bolt of warmth shoots through her groin and up through her curvy back, her hazel brown eyes widening for a moment before a mischievous grin curls her smooth lips. Remembering what it was she had forgotten to ‘tend to’ as her pace quickened to a speedy walk.

“Ah hope hubby’s in the mood tanight…it’s that time of da month again~”

–

“And you’re certain this will work?”

My illustrious king~ Have I ever lied to you?

“Ah cut the niceties…friggin weird hearing you say that…you sure you still in there alright after all those years sleeping?”

Deep underground beneath the primordial forest, two individuals bickered in the dark, the hallways barely lit by the ceremonial scones carved intricately out of raw stone, a forgotten part of the goblin’s vast history before they were erased from Earth…with that little remained of the former subterranean empire escaping with a being foreign to both humans and monsters alike all those years ago, where she had entered a deep sleep when a band of humans had invaded their domain, striking a blow despite their certain doomed fate to join her ranks. Leaving the goblins to fend for themselves in the small portion of dying forest she had taken with the remnants of the goblins.

In saving his people twice, the newly crowned king had pledged his people’s service under her banner for eternity.

And while the goblin king had grown from a scrawny young shrimp to a young handsome man of his kind, the blue woman he still remembered from the time she had offered to save his people had not aged one bit, her luminous blue skin reflecting the shine of a dozen stars still as vibrant as ever, her rock like hair still as mysterious as it always was, reshaping constantly into new shapes, morphing between fluid and solid as she flitted about his chambers, feet never touching the ground as she carelessly went through the kings belongings.

Have I changed that much Renad? You certainly have, though I don't think I've lost touch with myself after a simple nap much like you have…

The goblin king sighed at the mention of his change of heart, remembering the fury of revenge for a moment after memories of the human siege had claimed the life of his parents, the then king and queen of the goblins.

But with time, the fires had dwindled away, focusing on his people. He had come to his Mistress once he received news of her awakening, calling in his one favour by asking her for something that could ‘alleviate the pain’ so he could better focus on his kingly tasks.

With so little of his people left with none of them having the knowledge to maintain the ancient core that lay at the heart of his city, it seemed like doom was all that awaited his people.

And so she obliged without giving much of an answer, only telling Renad to wait two nights before his reward was ready, leading to current events with his Mistress suddenly blipping into existence in his chambers, claiming it was time.

But she bore no gifts, only starting up some idle chatter to pass the time and reminisce as she said it was on the way, leaving the goblin intrigued as to what it was she had prepared for him.

Ahh, best I make my leave now, your juicy little reward is on her way~ Have fun now!

“Wait, ‘Her’? Whaddya mean?”

Just as the Mistress vanishes in a blink, the door to the room opens slowly, drawing Renad’s attention as a female goblin walks slowly into the room, her voluptuous body barely hidden behind her ragged clothes and motherly features drawing the king’s undivided attention as both stared at one another in silence as the new arrival drew closer, the dim light of the fire illuminating her sweat slick body and heaving breasts that rose and fell with each breath, the fragrant aroma of berries and fruits wafting into the air as he eyed up her enticing skin and the accessories she wore that only served to show just how huggable she was despite the firm muscle she sported across her body.

“Sorry for makin’ ya wait hubby!”

New to the arts of seduction and sex, the virgin king swallowed hard as the bewitching beauty climbed onto his bed, her perky ass in the air as she prowls slowly up his legs, undoing her clothes with a practiced hand as the other begins to probe at his loincloth, stroking like she knew what made a man tick as her eyes burned with a lust Renad had only ever seen in Succubi.

Making a mental note to thank the Mistress when the night was done, Renad the goblin king would soon learn the heavenly pleasures of having a loving woman by his side. Feeling like all his worries had been lifted off his back when the two became one in bed.

And as he gazed into her adoring eyes when she leaned in for a kiss, the urge to explore every inch of this woman’s body exploded, he wanted to know her better, to take her as his wife, and to give her everything she wanted in life; simply love at first sight as they made out slowly in the comfort of their bed.

Needless to say, Renad had been eager to get to know all about his newly wed wife; Maria, the surprised goblin maiden going along willingly with the second wedding ceremony her husband had claimed to be for their honeymoon. Even better; the primordial forest would soon see a sudden growth in life and greenery as the cursed trees regained their former glory, all thanks to the lone caretaker that had seen personally to ensuring the healthy growth of the Goblinite that had laid dormant for years in the heart of the goblin city underground, spreading her knowledge and teachings to the next generation that would come after.

THE END