My stash was empty so I had to hunt. I carefully stepped on top of the wooden edge of my roost and looked around. I knew the ocelot was sapient but I also knew it had hidden from the mountain lion so it could kill it with a surprise attack. Was it an [Assassin] too? It would not be unlikely. Similar to owls, wild cats were stealth predators. I remembered seeing it a few nights ago and identifying it, but of course, my Skill was not levelled high enough to let me see its Class. Or her Class. I did remember this ocelot was showing as female.

I listened carefully and made full use of my rotating neck to try and spot anything off nearby. This cat was small for a predator and very stealthy. I also remembered some flowing movement Skill it used to escape after our first meeting. Which reminded me that she fled when I first identified her. And, thinking a bit more, there was another tell I could have used to figure it out. She had identified as adult not mature as animals did. As did mine now that I was old enough.

I wanted to check on my notifications but I felt a bit unsafe with my roost compromised. So I took off and nearly fell to the ground immediately. A few frantic flaps and I somehow managed to take to the air. My new body size was throwing me off. Luckily it was still instinct to fly. I was still an owl, after all, just a little larger. After gaining some height, I spread my wings and started gliding. I was high enough to avoid any trouble for a bit. And while hunting would be great right now I wanted to get used to my body a bit first and this gave me a great opportunity to check my notifications while staying mostly safe. So I pulled them up.

~ding~ You have chosen to form a Core. Bodily functions will be preserved during the process of evolution. Gathering identity… Success! You will form a Beast Core to align your body and identity.

Okay. That could have come a little earlier. If I had gotten a warning I would have found a safer spot to evolve… A Beast Core, huh? So I did not qualify for that Progenitor Core? Was this good or bad?

~ding~ Evolution successful. Your race has changed from ‘Great Eagle Owl’ to ‘Sgiathan Dorcha Owl’. Your body was strengthened against flux. Unique race created, life span limit removed. Your genes will be ignored when reproducing.

A what now? Sgiathan Dorcha Owl? What? At least I was stronger against flux. More interesting was the removal of a life span limit. Did that mean, I would not die from age? Or did that mean I could increase my life span however much I want and I could not do so before?

~ding~ Due to the aspects forming your core your lifespan has increased to {max}. Mortality bound to Core. Keep it whole and live.

Wow. So I was immortal. Until my Core was broken. Which I had no idea how tough it was. And I had no idea if I could do anything without a body or restore my body when I lost it. This was kind of insane. And I did not want to experiment with my life. Wait, did this nullify the outside Status effect? Would my core stay in the real world no matter what? Before reading the next notification I wanted to figure this out. I willed my [Eldritch Shift] to activate and turn me into a metal bird. Relief filled me as I felt my Core leave reality and sink into my soul. Nice. And I could still shift without problems. I had not gained any more mana though. The resistance to flux would only allow me to use my [Owl’s Stomach] more to refill my stores. Onto the next notification. This was actually the last one.

~ding~ Congratulations! You have evolved your body to align with your soul. Actions granting race experience have been adjusted. You now gain one Attribute Point per level.

So… what? Could this be a little more detailed, please? As I understood it I now gained experience from what I wanted to do instead of what an owl was supposed to do. Otherwise the aligning of body and soul would not make any sense. That would be great. I could probably get experience for getting stronger and exploring new places. Instead of claiming a territory and hunting for proper food. The Attribute Point was welcome but I was already gaining one, right? Or was this one free for me to distribute? If so, what about the previous, automatic Attribute? Would I still get that? This notification was kind of confusing but also very promising. I had to go and figure out the details in the next few nights. Hopefully, I could get a good chance to do so.

It was time to take a look at my new status, though as I pulled it up I saw not much had changed.

Species: Sgiathan Dorcha Owl (adult)

Age: 0

Name: Fio

Gender: female

Status: sapient, healthy, Beast Core (unique)

Level: 20

Class: [Assassin lvl 51], -

Strength: 18

Constitution: 16

Dexterity: 25

Perception: 24

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 32

AP: 0

Skills:

Racial:

Utility: [Owl Senses lvl 5], [Preening lvl 4], [Owl Stomach lvl 5], [Soundless Flight lvl 4]

Offensive: [Solid Grip lvl 4], [Intimidating Screech lvl 4], [Owl’s Shadow lvl 6], [Aerial Combat lvl 4]

General:

[Maths lvl 4], [Identify lvl 5]

Assassin:

[Sneak lvl 5], [Surprise Attack lvl 4], [Mingling lvl 3], [Eldritch Shift lvl 5], [Winged Death lvl 3]

My new race was showing, as expected and my Status no longer had ‘mana enriched’ and instead showed ‘Beast Core (unique)’. Only as I was about to dismiss it did I see [Identify] had somehow reached level five. That had me really confused. Did it not have a Breakthrough? Why was there no notification? What about my stealthy version? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. This was a lot to take in. More important right this moment was getting food. Or it should be, but I had shifted to my metal form and all my hunger had disappeared. Was I able to just stay shifted and never have to eat? That answer was one I got very soon, as from within my soul a pang of hunger struck my thoughts. A quick introspection showed I was still using energy from my real body. I would have to eat. But instead of shifting back immediately, I decided to try sating my stomach while in a non-living form.

It took me an unexpected three attempts to successfully hunt some food. My new dimensions still threw me off sometimes. I was almost as clumsy as when I started to learn hunting as a child. Trying to snack on the rodent turned out to be futile. I needed to go back to my real form. This was confusing for a moment. When I had first gotten the effects of metallized and crystallized I could eat just fine. But there was a difference. Outside.

Outside: This individuals body is outside of this reality and has been replaced by a mana construct. On death, the normal body is restored.

My body was not in this reality so of course, it could not eat food in this world. It seemed pretty obvious on second thought. Trying with [Owl’s Stomach] there was no difference to the Skill. I still only got sustenance in the form of mana flowing into my body. At least I confirmed the flux resistance to be a decent improvement. My body dissipated the surplus energy rapidly.

I had gotten a good amount of distance from my roost so I was feeling reasonably safe for now. Before shifting back to my real form I decided to hunt a bit more. This way I could quickly get used to moving with my new size. I tried figuring out my new height as well and came to the conclusion I had grown by almost twenty centimetres and was now about 75 centimetres tall. Maybe a bit less, but, to be fair, I had no measuring tape. My wings also grew out a good bit now reaching about two metres from tip to tip when I fully stretched them out.

As I shifted back I noticed my colouring had also changed a little bit. My red-brown and white feathers had turned a decent bit darker with the tops of my wings turning almost black. I should still be difficult to spot from below in the day but it would be a little easier unless against darker clouds. My talons had also grown along with my feet and I was now able to retract them about two-thirds of their length. I quickly realized this would let me hold onto softer objects and people more easily without damaging them. Did I really want to integrate into society? After the orks had betrayed me like that? It could be possible. Maybe. One day. For now, it would suffice to sometimes connect with it at the edges. Maybe I could get some resources if I wanted to make a magical item or a few books for my travels if I was bored. Yes, there was a definite need to be less destructive and I was glad I had the option.

I wanted to spend more time in the wilderness now but there was the threat of the ocelot. If it really was a threat. I was confident in escaping almost any wild animal I had seen up to now but for someone sapient, there was an obvious difference. The biggest issue I had was that it knew about my roost but I did not know where it slept. This created a difference in knowledge unbalancing the power between us. I had to find a new roost and make sure the cat did not find it. At least until I found its home.

For that purpose I made got some distance. I flew away from the dwarven town keeping the probable ocelot territory between me and the buildings. After crossing over two forested hills I found myself a new spot to rest. This time it was once again a cave, though it had two connections to the outside. The side of a hill was cracked as if a large part of it had been broken off. I suspected weather as the most likely culprit with how smooth the stone had been polished and the rocks and boulders sprawled across the forest nearby. One entrance was slightly higher and only really easy to reach using wings. I knew cats could climb well but this would most likely be my personal entrance. Anything threatening my home I could either take out or I could escape where it did not come in. The rest of the night was spent building up a small stash once more. I suspected my larger body needed more food so I hunted quite a bit.

The next few nights I would try to find the cat’s home and hopefully get some leverage. It was sapient but it did not appear to have had much contact with civilization. This was a danger but it was also a chance. It may simply not think about betrayal without having experienced it. And maybe a friend would be nice to have.