Chapter 09: Shapeshifting
I observed the wolf's body as the blood from his numerous wounds stopped flowing as there was no more pressure on his blood vessels. I carefully looked at the many lacerations caused by a sharp sword, but my focus was on his neck, precisely where I tore off a part of it. Guilt pressed on my heart as I looked at it. No, not guilt, but something close. I knew that weight would never leave my heart, and the scene where the wolf had finally stopped moving would be forever burned in my mind. I had killed him.
The sensation of it was completely different from when you crush an ant or smack a bug with something. I don't know how to put it into words, it felt more… real. My mind knew he wouldn't stop until he killed me, such was the mind of an animal, but I wasn't an animal. I was a dragon with the mind of a human. Choosing to kill was a conscious decision. I could have left him alive and run away, probably, but I chose to end his life all the same.
I was only jolted awake once the pain from my shoulders became almost unbearable and I collapsed on the ground. I groaned in pain as I felt my throbbing wounds leak my blood into the dirt. I couldn't even stand as I needed my four legs to stand, I wasn't biped anymore.
I pulled [Spell Planner] once more and made a basic spell targeting me with the healing element. I discovered it on my fourth day in the kobold village, but didn't have the chance to use it until now. Completing the spell I activated it immediately.
Golden pale light rained down on me as the spell circle appeared above me. The moment the light touched my wounds the pain began to fade, though it wasn't as fast as I'd like it to be, but it's better than something. A thing I noticed just now, actually using the healing magic, is that my wounds hadn't actually healed. They stopped bleeding, sure, but there were still deep lacerations on my shoulders and any movement or weight I try to put on them, they'd begin hurting again.
Checking my HP I noticed it went to 350, but didn't go any higher. There is probably a specific way to use healing magic to actually heal me, but I didn't know enough to do it.
[Information not available] was the answer I got every time I tried to ask [Knowledge Library] in the healing magic department.
With a sigh, I decided to test [Genetic Dysphoria], even though I had 100 MP currently after trying to heal myself, but I wanted to know what the skill actually did.
I opened the DNA List I got when I killed the wolf and instinctively knew I could select it, so that's what I did. I mentally selected the Lunaspectra Wolf' DNA.
Immediately after I activated my skill, a searing heat pulsated from my heart to every part of my body. The heat was almost unbearable, but I couldn't scream and not because I didn't want to, but because I literally couldn't. I lost all strength after the heat began and I collapsed on the floor.
My head was on the ground with my eyes wide open. I saw the scales on one of my legs becoming oily and literally start to melt. Panic grew inside me as I felt my entire body becoming a viscous liquid, though it, fortunately, didn't last. Just as my body began to melt away I saw it pulling back and growing fur all over and then the heat faded away and I felt my body solidifying.
After I felt my body solidify again the sensation I had for all of my life, that was absent since I was reincarnated, returned. The feeling that my body wasn't exactly my own. I had gone to multiple therapists trying to figure it out, but nothing came out of it. Even the weird holistic therapist my mom made me see only said some weird theories about my soul not being able to fit on my body or something like that, though, considering now I could see a wolf paw instead of human, or dragon in this case, hands made me question if maybe that guy was close on something.
As I took a look at myself, I could confirm that I had indeed become a wolf, just like the one I had killed. My sense of vision became weird, the colors were muted but my night vision had greatly improved, it was as if it was day.
Another thing that I noticed was that my shoulders weren't hurting that bad anymore, and one look at them revealed to me that skin had grown on the wound, though it was still obvious that it was still there, but it had at least stopped the pain and the bleeding.
I got up and felt an energy surging through me from all over my fur down to my heart. Opening up my Status I noticed some things that weren't there before:
Name: Age: 0 Species: Lunaspectra Wolf [Genetic Dysphoria: White Dragon] Lv. 3 |
Status: Normal HP - 350/650 MP - 150/700 SP - 90/300 |
Strength - 200N Defense - 200N Magic - 300 This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.Magical Defense - 600 Dexterity - 200 Stealth - 200 Precision - 200 |
Titles - |
Skills - [Racial] Moonlight Absorber [Genetic Dysphoria Temporary Skill] [Racial] Elemental Breath Lv. 1 [ Currently Not available] [Racial] Dragon Scales Lv. 1 [ Currently Not available] [Racial] Passive Growth [100% Remaining] [Unique] Knowledge Library Lv.2 [Unique] Genetic Dysphoria Lv.1 [Unique] Spell Planner [Normal] Appraisal Lv.3 [Normal] Magicule Detection Lv.3 [Normal] Magicule Manipulation Lv.2 |
I gained a new skill, although it said it was temporary, and my other racial skills aren't available…
Oh, wow. This skill isn't a simple shapeshifting skill you see on TV. I actually transform into the species I chose, and because my entire body changes, this effect won't be dispelled until I deactivate [Genetic Dysphoria] on my own. I even got the racial skill the wolf probably had, though I lost my own in the process, temporarily.
I also noticed my MP was increasing steadily and way faster than it normally did, probably because of the skill
[ [Moonlight Absorber] is the racial skill of Lunaspectra Wolves, enabling the species to draw magicules from moonlight. These magicules can be utilized to enhance their reserves and/or empower their illusions. It is said that when the moons align, the power of the Lunaspectra Wolf increases exponentially]
[Knowledge Library] just confirmed to me. I was gaining more MP because of the moonlight being absorbed by this skill and transformed into MP.
"Makala ha Nita rah" I hear a voice coming from a dozen of meters in the direction the wolf came, and then I heard the footsteps. They were approaching my position.
I looked at the wolf and saw the blade marks again. Whoever they were, they were looking for the wolf that was dead right beside me, meaning I couldn't stay here else the next one full of blade cuts would be me. I turned away from the direction they were coming and started to run away, the wound on my shoulders not bothering as much.
I didn't know if I reverted to my dragon body the wound would return, so I didn't to avoid risking it. And if returning took just as long as transforming in the first place, I would be incapacitated for a few minutes, a time I didn't have if I wanted to avoid being spotted.
[Mavi's POV]
"Take the position, they said. It'll be so easy, you won't even need to leave the city, they said. I'll fill their mouths with goblin shit the next time I see them" Mavi, the current head attendant of the youngest son of the Darnas House, said to himself as he trod through the forest with the same name of the noble house.
He was currently with a small squad of knights in a mission with the youngest son of duke Darnas. The child, who was eight years old, had recently learned of the unique species of wolves that inhabit the forest, the lunaspectra wolves, and decided he had to have one as a pet. Mavi had all but pleaded to the duke to make the child reconsider, as the wolves were dangerous to have near such young kids, but the duke encouraged it instead.
"He's in the last position in the succession order, a lunaspectra wolf can help him overcome the cliff between him and his brothers and sisters. I agree, the wolves are way too dangerous for a child to try alone, so I'll lend you one squadron of knights to accompany you to the forest" The duke had said, much to the dismay of Mavi.
They were deep in the forest already, and if it weren't for the support class knight that is accompanying them, they would already run out of supplies and be lost without knowing the way home. The deeper they go in the forest, the stronger the monsters get, with the exceptions of a few transitory lines in between the territories of stronger monsters. They were currently in one of those transitory lines.
"Where are you?" Mavi exclaimed, exasperated, as he walked behind a knight that was tracking one of the wolves they had come looking for. They had found one earlier, and they were lucky as it was one of the low level ones, it was perfect to subdue and have the duke's son come over with one of the various taming scrolls they brought and tame the beast. Unfortunately for them, when the beast became too wounded, it ran away, shooting illusion after illusion to distract the knights and to throw them off its tracks.
Passing through an overgrown shrub, they saw the wolf they were looking for, except it was dead with a missing chunk of its throat. Seeing this, Mavi lost it. He started to curse the wolf, the forest and even the duke himself, but he managed to regain his calm breathing in and out before looking at the knight who was looking at him.
"Not a word, okay? So, what do we have here? Another monster came to finish what we started?" He asked the knight.
"Right. Yes, the wolf was obviously attacked by some other monster, the bite marks on the throat indicate that it's not much bigger than a goblin" The knight said.
"So, a goblin" Mavi stated.
"No, while it's around the same size as a goblin, the marks reveal the teeth are straight, unlike a globlin's. And, there are a few burn marks on the fur and skin, consistent with lightning magic" The knight explained.
"Oh great, so we have a monster capable of lightning. We better be prepared. Anything else?" Mavi asked.
"Actually, yes. There are signs of battle all around here, but they aren't quite right" The knight said.
"What do you mean?"
"From what I can see, the wolf attacked the mysterious monster with a lunar beam, judging by the hole in the trees" The knight pointed. "The monster fell from the trees, hitting this spot. The wolf then attacked the monster, hurting him" He pointed to the blood marks on the floor. "I can determine that it's a quadruped monster, but here it's where it starts to become weird. The back legs of the monster are what you'd expect from a quadruped, that is, it walks on its tiptoes, but the front legs look like a hand, almost like a humanoid hand, but not quite. Do you know any monster that have this kind of anatomy?"
"Not that I'm aware of"
"Continuing. The battle continued. The wolf tried to attack him from his back, but was repealed, probably the lighting, then kept his distance. Until the creature advanced on it and killed it. The creature took a few steps back and then collapsed on the floor. Then a quadruped that walks on tiptoes on its four legs, a wolf, ran in that direction"
"Huh? Where does the second wolf come from?" Mavi asked.
"Exactly! It doesn't make any sense! Where is the creature that killed this wolf? And where does the second one come from?"
"Let's go back to camp and sleep. Now that the wolf we attacked is dead, we can rest and look for this second wolf tomorrow" Mavi said and they both started going back to the camp they erected a few days prior.