Coughing, I waved my hand to clear the dust from the air, then stood up and dusted myself off.

“Chief!” A few nearby Orcs trotted over and helped steady me when I started to tip over again.

“I'm fine. Something like that won't hurt at all.” Even though I felt somewhat embarrassed, I smiled to thank them all the same.

“This evolution seems like a pain,” one man muttered. “What’s it called again?”

“Apparently, I'm a Dominance Orc,” I grinned sheepishly. “But I don't exactly feel like one right now.”

“Then it would seem like my time is now!”

Um… what?

I looked to see one of the three Orcs I usually take hunting with me on Zehnrekt. He’s approaching with a dangerous grin on his face. Um, let’s see, this one’s name was…

“Chief Vyra, I, Urmsur, challenge you for the position of chief!”

“Hahn?!” I should feel betrayed, probably, but I wonder why it just feels like a joke to me. No, this is definitely a joke.

“Hmm, you passed all the tests, but it seems like you were an idiot after all. Just because I haven't adjusted to this form yet, you think you can beat me?”

Was this guy there for the chief battle? I forget…

“Mock me if you like, but I'm tired of being your lacky! Carrying Beast corpses for you, acting as a decoy, you probably didn't even know my name before I said it just now!”

No, I actually already forgot again. Orsior? Umm…

“Fine. Chiefs don't turn away challengers.” I waved my hand and the Orcs who were helping to steady me took their distance. “Come at me, if you're ready.”

“Hmph!” The nameless idiot placed his hands on his hips and snorted impressively. “We will fight like true Orcs! None of that silly magic stuff--”

“Bullshit,” I said, firing a at his skull.

“H-hey! I said no magic!” The idiot had a panicked look on his face and he was sweating furiously.

“So if enemies come to the village while you're chief, I suppose you’ll just kindly ask them not to use magic?”

I continuously used , and the idiot dodged for his life as the ground below him conjured spikes and pitfalls. Finally, I had him trapped with a dozen jagged stones pressed close to his neck. He could only sit pitifully on the ground and try to be still, despite his heavy breathing. I came closer and knelt on the ground in front of him.

“There is no punishment for challenging the chief. It is a basic part of our culture. However, if you are unsatisfied, the first thing you should do is open up a path for communication. If we can't work anything out, and you don't want to stay here, you can leave the village. You're strong enough to be the chief of another village after hunting with me for so long.”

I stood up and took a few steps back, freeing the idiot from his deadly cage. He didn't say anything, just bowed his head slightly and trotted off. Are there any other seeds of insurrection in my village?

I turn around, keen to get to my usual training grounds to adjust to my body, but I see our three Human guests standing off to the side.

“Oh, good morning. Did you sleep well?” I smiled sweetly.

“You're Chief Vyra,” Armin furrowed his brows, “right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I evolved last night while I was sleeping.”

“Wings,” the ninja girl muttered.

“I've never heard of an Orc with wings before,” Samael blinked curiously. “What’s this evolution called?”

“It's a Dominance Orc,” I said, smiling uncomfortably. That ninja girl… she seems a little off today. She keeps staring.

“Umm,” I tilted my head, “Runa, right? Is something wrong?”

“Ah! No,” she quickly shook her head, blushing. “I just remembered I was going to go forage berries for breakfast!”

She just… ran off. She even used some kind of skill just to move faster.

“Well, I have to go adjust to this new body. Oh! First,” I might as well ask while I can, “do either of you know what was up with her this morning?”

“Sorry.”

“Not a clue.”

Samael and Armin shook their heads. Armin ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair and frowned. “She can be hard to figure out sometimes.”

“Is it fine having someone like that on your team?” I asked with a tense smile.

“How should I put it,” he lowered his arm. “None of the Rangers are normal. Runa is a pretty good balance between skilled and crazy, and she was looking for a team.”

Huh. Well, I've only met two Rangers, but it's true that they've both been odd. No, most of the Humans I've met so far have been eccentric.

Also, she wasn't a ninja?

“Excuse me,” Samael interjected, “may I ask something a little bit personal?”

“Huh?” That caught me off guard. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Um,” he lifted his hand to point at my side, where my new wings had pushed up my fur armor. “That scar looks pretty bad.”

“Eh? Ahh,” I looked down. True, there’s a horizontal scar there, digging a few inches into and around my waist. I forgot about it. “I got that during the chief battle.” So evolving didn't heal my scars, huh? Thanks to the way works--by accelerating my natural healing process, and a little more--I have lots of scars.

“Why don't you heal it?” he asked.

“Hmm,” I folded my arms and frowned contemplatively. “It isn't limiting my movements, so I don't have to heal it. Besides, an Orc should have a few scars, right?”

That was one of the pieces of lore about Orcs in my previous world: they were proud of their scars, sometimes treating them like beauty marks. Maybe it's different here, considering Samael is looking at me with the concerned look a polite person gives to a crazy person.

“Alright, I really had better go train now. The sooner I adjust to this body, the better.”

“Ah! Yes! Sorry for keeping you,”

The priest-like guy bowed politely to see me off, while Armin just gave a simple “Seeya later.” I feel proud because I managed not to trip again until I was out of their line of sight.

***

“Phew… haah,” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. My goal is simple, learn to control my wing movements. I'm going to do a simple flapping exercise while trying to remain standing.

Putting strength into my hips, I bring my wings up. They're heavy, but it's not something I can't handle. They're mostly made of muscle, anyway, so the more I use them, the more that feeling of heaviness becomes a feeling of power.

When my wings are raised nearly parallel to my body and perfectly erect, I bring them down with force to a forty-five degree angle. This is as low as I can bring them while they're straight without touching the ground. And again.

An impressive whoosh sound rings out as I stir up a cloud of dust.

Hm? They stretch wider than this, don't they? I remember that from when I was playing with them just after waking up. The muscles are all bunched up right now. How do I loosen them?

I bring my wings up in front of me and pull on them with my hands. They stretch about three feet wide like this. I do it a few more times until I get a feeling for the muscles involved, then I try it on my own.

Swoosh! My wings open up to full size. The feathers spread out magnificently.

Huge…

Maybe I can fly with these? Let's give it a few flaps just to see if I can get off the ground. One--!!

I yelp in excitement as my feet leave the ground. I didn't go any higher than a normal jump, and I came right back down again, but my heart is beating fast with excitement.

Okay, once more. This time I'll flap twice.

I psych myself up and flap hard. Before I can fall to the ground again, I flap a second time.

“Crap!”

The angle of my wings must have been wrong, because I suddenly tipped over backwards. I landed on my shoulder. That definitely would have been a bruise.

Maybe I should focus on walking first, I chided myself and let my wings bunch up naturally again.