Endrian watched as his mom shifted into a new form right in front of him. The change was done in less than a second. It was much faster than he was expecting after watching all those werewolf movies. While expecting a slow and painful transformation and yet done before he could even blink. In hindsight he thought that there was a certain logic to being able to change quickly. He felt sure that in a life and death situation your opponent wasn’t going to say ‘Oh, you’re changing. Sure! You just take your time I’ll be right over here when you’re done.’ Smiling wryly as this thought went through his head he looked over the changes that occurred to his mother.

Her feet were now digitigrade. There were black claws coming out of each of the three toes and he could see that her hands still had five fingers but they were all tipped with black claws as well. She had grown by about 15 to 20 cm. Her hair was still red but it had become thicker and looked similar to dreadlocks. It was a little longer than shoulder length and was bound with a leather wrap. The strangest thing about her hair was that it appeared to be banded similar to how the metal bands looked on Colossus’ arms. The top of her hair and head was framed by by two horns that extended from her forehead and wrapped around the crown of her head. They were metallic in color with reddish tips. Her face had extended into a snout which was about 15 cm long. Her skin was covered in fine overlapping scales that were a dull steel color. On the upper part of her chest that was visible from the top of the robe up her neck there was a strip of scales that were colored a light sky blue. The sclera of her eyes was the same sky blue but the pupil wasn’t verticle like he expected. They looked more like the eyes you would see on a hawk or some sort of bird of prey.

She watched her son closely as her long thin tail lashed at the floor betraying her nervousness. Endrian didn’t show much of a reaction other than a slight widening of his eyes. While she also couldn’t smell any fear on him she also couldn’t really get any kind of emotional read on him. This caused her a lot of worry because most children would show a reaction of some sort, jumping up, running away showing some signs of fear or excitement. Not Endrian; he just opens his eyes a little wider. As she was getting ready to say something to get a reaction out of him he stood up and started walking towards her. Feeling that this was a good sign she shut her mouth and waited to see what would happen.

Endrian walked over and touched her arm and then placed his hand on her arm and started petting it. “You scales feel so amazing,” he said and then as if that statement had opened the floodgates he asked “Are you stronger in this form than your normal one? Is this your normal form and you have had to hide it from me for all this time? What does it feel like to change like that? Will I look like you? Oh! Look you have a tail! I wonder if it feels like your arm.” He rattled off some questions before being distracted by the sight of her tail.

Being hit with all of the questions rapid fire while having her arm petted was both awkward and confusing making her blank out momentarily. Then because she was distracted when he reached for her tail she reacted instinctively and lashed her tail away and then back towards him. He reacted by jumping up and back while pushing his hands out to meet the incoming tail. When Allyce realized what she was doing she pulled back the power but couldn’t stop it from hitting Endrian. Much to her amazement he took the hit by letting the power in her tail push him back with his momentum, cushioning the blow with his arms and then performing a flip before landing and then stumbling back until he hit the wall behind him.

Rushing over to check him while apologizing she looked him over to make sure that everything was okay and nothing was hurt. “I’m so sorry son. I didn’t mean to strike you like that. I just wasn’t expecting you to try and grab my tail and reacted on reflex.”

Shaking his head with a wry smile on his face “It’s not a problem mom. I let my excitement get the better of me and reached for your tail without thinking of the consequences. My bad for doing that.” He apologized and then followed up with “Okay, so don’t leave me hanging here I’m dying to know what all of this is like.” He promptly set down on his bedroll with an expectant expression. In his excitement over the revelation that his mother and by extension he himself was not just human he forgot to coach his words in the local terms. Luckily he still spoke in the local language as that had become the habit now even though he practiced english at least once a night.

“I’m sorry you are going to have to ask your questions again I was more worried that you would freak out and then was caught off guard when you started asking questions so I didn’t hear any of them. Ask me one question at a time I will do my best to answer all of them.” She said as she transformed back into her human form and conveniently ignored his strange use of words as he didn’t look like he was dying at all and he most assuredly wasn’t hanging from anything.

After about an hour of applying the 5th degree to interrogate his mother what he found was that the new form was generally stronger, faster and had better hearing, sight and smell. Though his sense of touch was greatly reduced except for certain areas like the pads on the feet. Also the sense of taste was greatly altered. She did say that the transformation did hurt but it got better as they became more accustomed to it. The first transformation is the worst and after he transformed he would have to stay out of sight of his younger sister who would not go through the transformation for another few winters. However, he should learn to control the change within a week at the latest after his initial transformation so he would only be in seclusion until he had proper control of his form. This was due to the fact that after the first transformation you would not revert and had to learn to control the change.

He also learned that the transformation was viewed as primarily a form for combat and she refused to go into what other things the form was used for stating that they weren’t necessary to know at this point. Society also viewed walking around in your fighting form all the time as very bad manners. It would be similar to walking around flipping the bird to everyone in his old world. As to whether he would look like her or like his father that was unknown. The change is different for each child and some look like their parents while other looked like their grandparents and there were some cases where they looked more like some ancestor from generations back. This was referred to as the bloodline awakening. Interestingly when the transformation takes place often then color of the child’s hair and eyes would change to match the elemental affinity that he or she had.

That discovery lead to another round of questioning about what elemental affinities there were and the colors associated with those elements. He got a small list of the different elements that his mother knew about and an explanation that there were often many elements that were unheard of. However the known ones were:

Air - Purple or Blue Earth - Brown or Black or Copper Fire - Red or Pink or Orange Water - Teal or Sea Green Light - Blonde or White Dark - Black Lightning - Blue with White or Blue with Purple Wood - Brown with green Metal - Steel or Silver or Platinum Ice - White with light green

There were also very rare occasions where the awakening and transformation wouldn’t change the color of their hair or eyes. This was often because their fighting form would have the colorations of their element and they were typically a single element user. Allyce pointed out that Elva was one of these types. They also weren’t sure how the elements were chosen or what the racial traits of the child would be beyond the general subspecies. Typically each person would get two elemental affinities. Sometimes they would only get one where others would get three. From there understanding three elements was pretty rare and they had never heard of anyone having more than three affinities.

After his mother left he let his imagination go wild over his options and what he would be able to accomplish with given affinities. He also pondered the impact that his meditation to feel mana had on him. He had never tried to actively draw in mana since he was busy trying to feel the different elements. Maybe if he tried to picture the mana or energy that was all around him entering into his body and cells he could speed up the process. Since he had thought of it he figured he would try it. What could it hurt, right?

After he sat down and started to meditate he pictured the mana as a gas floating all around his room. After getting that concept in his head he then pictured that the gas was moving towards him. When it reached him it was absorbed by his body like a sponge absorbing water. After getting comfortable maintaining this mental image he then pictured the gasses being dispersed into all of the cells of his body strengthening and nourishing them. He pictured all of this in his mind and tried to project his imagination on reality. Not sure what would happen but looking forward to see if anything would happen. That was when something unexpected occurred.

His curtain door was shoved aside and his mother barged in asking “What the hell do you think you are doing?! Are you trying to kill yourself?!”

Surprised by the sudden intrusion he lost his concentration on the mental image he had created. His mom stormed over to him and flicked his forehead. “Whatever you were doing do not do it again until after you have gone through your awakening. You must promise me this.” She said this with both worry and determination.

Giving his mother a somewhat bitter smile he said “I promise not to do that again until after my awakening.” He was also thinking ‘It’s not like I felt anything anyway.’ As that disgruntled thought went through his head he also suddenly had an epiphany. Maybe because they couldn’t feel what was happening when they were bringing or attempting to bring mana into their bodies they would over saturate them and cause damage. Though this didn’t make complete sense because if you were over saturating your body to the point of breakdown you would probably feel pain. So he determined that it was one of the following: either it was that without proper levels of understanding and awareness you could either seriously hurt, cripple or even kill yourself. Or, it was a silly superstition that people have because they have not tested and verified the costs and benefits of this. Or, it wasn’t possible to control the mana, though the fact that his mother barged in and was aware of him doing something suggested that this was not the case. ‘Hmmm, something to see about testing.’ He thought to himself.

Getting his promise, Allyce felt much better and went out of Endrian’s room to let him get some sleep. She went back to her room but made sure to pay attention to the state that the free mana was in to make sure he didn’t go back on his word or do something foolish. ‘I will have to let Davian know so he can talk to Endrian about this if necessary and to make sure it doesn’t occur when I’m not around.’

Over the next few days Endrian’s routine was pretty normal. Nothing unexpected happened and he continued his weapons training even though he had mastered the basic forms with the different weapon combinations. He also continued helping Davian with the house finances. His day was filled with Tai Chi in the morning, then a parkour run through the obstacle course with no competition allowed, he would do a quick wash of his face and body then eat breakfast, after breakfast was weapons training for a few hours which involved forms, and sparring with his mom. Once done with weapons training he would take a bath and change and wash his dirty clothes. He would then go and help prepare lunch, then he would be helping his dad with the ledgers and store inventories and new request. After that change back into workout clothes and it would be hand to hand combat training, then more weapons training, finally he would clean himself one more time and then help with dinner preparations. After eating a hearty dinner then he would head to bed get a good night’s sleep and start it all again the next day. He had hoped that he could get some more reading in but the other books in his father’s office were either ledgers of sales and business accounts or they were cultivation techniques which he was not allowed to even touch until he had gone through his awakening.

It was about three days after he had had his discussion with his mom about the awakening and everything. He had just finished lunch and the cleanup afterwards and was heading to his father’s office when it happened. It started out as a slight discomfort in his stomach like he had a stitch in his side from running too hard or he ate something that didn’t agree with him. However it quickly got worse by the time he arrived at his father’s office it felt like someone had hit him in the stomach with a baseball bat. Stopping outside the door he bent over double and puked up all of his lunch. As he doubled over in pain his younger sister Ethese ran over to him. Being a little over 5 winters she had no knowledge of the awakening. She yelled for her dad and mom to let them know that something was wrong with Endrian. When Davian came over and checked Endrian he also asked Endrian what was wrong.

Clenching his teeth and glancing at his little sister he waved for his father to come near him. He then whispered into Davians ear. “It’s starting.” Davian was confused at first as his son started to puke again. Then it dawned on him. He wanted to ask whether Endrian was sure but since Ethese was hovering around worried he asked her “Ethese can you got let Allyce know that Endrian is not feeling well and to get his robe that she just made for him?”

At this time Vanya arrived by them so Davian said to her in a low voice after Ethese was out of earshot “Help me get him in the office, he said it’s starting. I need to stay up here as I sent Ethese to get Allyce.” Nodding to him Vanya picked up Endrian and carried him into the office. She didn’t fully understand what was going on but decided that it was better to just help than question since Endrian appeared to be sick. When Davian went inside in front of her, he headed to the bookcase where he moved it aside to reveal a set of stairs leading down. Vanya had a startled look when Davian moved the bookcase as realization dawned on her and said “It’s happening now?!”

“From what I can tell yes. He told me it’s starting. I’m not sure how he knows what to expect but I would assume that Allyce had the talk with him far earlier than we had expected. For right now can you take him down to the circle I will wait here for Ethese and Allyce. Once Allyce arrives I will send her down after distracting Ethese.” Davian said as he made some educated guesses.

Vanya headed down the stairs with Endrain in a princess carry as she rushed down to the awakening room. Davian moved the bookshelf back to it’s former location and waited for Allyce and Ethese to arrive. It didn’t take long before Allyce came rushing in without even knocking. She had a wild look in her eyes that really told of the worry and fear that she was feeling.

Davian rushed up to her and hugged her while whispering in her ear “You need to calm down, there is a little one present.” Then looking over at Ethese “I need you to go to Shyael and help her with her work for a little bit while we take care of Endrian.”

Looking a little distraught “Is there anything I can do?” she asked hopefully.

Smiling and shaking his head no, Davian said “No, he is just sick. Much like your sister got sick when you were little. He should be fine in a few days.”

She was only 2 winters old when her big sister got sick but she was sick for a week where she couldn’t see her or visit with her. She also had to spend her time with moma Shyael then because her birth mother had to help take care of big sister Elva. So she nodded her head obediently and headed for Shyael’s workshop while promising in her heart to bring some food for Endrian. She couldn’t help her big sister when she was sick but she was a big girl now and could help Endrian. Plus it was a woman’s job to look after a man so she should practice with her brother.

When Ethese left Davian couldn’t stop Allyce from rushing to the bookcase to be with her son. She hurried down the stairs and around a corner before light started to diffuse throughout the passageway. Davian followed behind her but not before closing the bookcase cover. Hurrying through the passageway they arrived at a large circular room that was filled with light. In the room Vanya was moving around grabbing items from the shelves and placing them at certain points on a large circular formation drawn on the floor. In the center of the formation Endrian was sitting down cross legged and breathing in a controlled and rhythmic pattern.

Allyce moved to where Endrian was and disturbed him from his meditation. Telling him that he needed to change. He opened his eyes with a wince of discomfort and then quickly started to disrobe. Allyce stood up and held the robe that she had brought or him open to shield his modesty as much as she could. Once he was changed she took his other clothes and exited the formation. By this time Vanya had left to go take care of her daughters and her other responsibilities.

Not to much longer Davian and Allyce had finished placing the various different items at certain points on the formation. The formation itself was three concentric circles. The smallest was only a little larger than a meter in diameter. The next outer ring was roughly 3 meters in diameter and the final ring was about 9 meters in diameter. There were three smaller circles that were about 10 cm in diameter that were attached to the smallest inner ring in a triangular pattern. On the secondary ring there were 6 of these small circles attached to it. The final ring had 9 of the small circles attached to it. Each of these small circles had something in it. Some were crystals, some were different plants some were even bones.

Endrian saw none of this. He was focused on what was happening in his body. His mind was consumed with the image that he had had those few nights ago when he had visualized mana as a cloud that was circulating around his body and then being absorbed by each and every cell. Strengthening it and helping it to grow stronger. While he wasn’t to worried about how strong he became when he awakened doing these visualizations actually helped alleviate the pain his body was feeling. When he had entered the circles with Vanya there had been a slight difference and with each item she had added to the different circles it had reduced the load on his system. But when he had stopped his visualization to change his clothes the amount of discomfort he was in had risen dramatically. So he finished changing as quickly as he could and went back to focusing on his visualization.

After sitting there for who knows how long Endrian was still doing his visualization when all of a sudden he felt full and realized that he couldn’t absorb any more. Yet his body was still filling with the cloud which was no longer under his control. It filled his body completely, he could sense the mana in his body reaching a critical point. The pressure and pain built up in his body. Then it just stopped. Confused and surprised he thought ‘Was that it?’ Opening his eyes to look around he saw his mom and dad as well as some of the other mothers there. Shyael and Ratrece as well as their three daughters were there as well. Smiling and starting to stand he said “That wasn’t so bad.”

However, there were no signs of happiness from the gathered group, and right as he was standing up it felt like he had been hit in the nuts by a baseball bat. Doubling over in pain he curled into a ball and laid on the ground. Panting as the pain only increased and spread from his groin to the rest of his body. He felt his muscles ripple, his bones grind and his organs shift. He watched his hands as they transformed. The fingernails turning into claws. He watched his skin split open and then shiny silver scales blossomed on his hands. The closest analogy he could come up with to how that felt was like someone had shoved his hands into a bucket of broken glass and then poured battery acid on them and then rubbed salt into them for good measure. An involuntary scream ripped from his mouth. ‘I know she said it was painful, but what the FUCK!’ As he thought this he felt his feet start to transform and he yelled in English “OH FUUUuuck!” After his feet transformed it slowed like it was giving him time to breath. Then the next wave began. It was back to his arms again. Wave after wave of pain assaulted him; arms, legs, chest and back, groin and base of his spine, and finally his head. Everytime he was about to pass out from the excruciating pain the transformation would stop temporarily as if it knew the point where he could no longer stand it and it rode that knife’s edge. After everything had transformed he fell to all four hand and feet again as pain ripped across his back. It felt like someone had taken a knife and sliced open his back on either side of his spine. It went from his shoulders all the way to his hips. He heard a ripping sound as his robe was shredded. After just a few more minutes it was finally done.

Panting heavily at the memory of the pain and feeling joyful that it was finally over. He wasn’t sure what he looked like but he was just happy that it was over. Finally! As he stared at his hands he heard his mom’s voice as she said “Endrian you need to prepare yourself. The next part of your awakening is the baptism of your elements.”

‘OH. MY. GOD! Who in their fucking right mind came up with this ridiculous method of getting powers. Whoever it was needs to be drug into the street and shot and then run over with a steamroller.’ He thought this as resolution flashed in his eyes. Nothing to be done but to suck it up and get this over with. Adjusting his emotions he prepared for whatever was about to happen. Some gallows humor appeared in his mind as he briefly wondered what the bleeding heart people from his old world would do about this. How would they denounce the gods and say that each awakening was unfair on torturous to children which left mental trauma. Darkly chuckling to himself the first influx of mana came.

The mana in the air gathered and surged towards Endrian. Kneeling down in seiza position since he could no longer comfortable cross his legs he focused on the mana coursing through his body. As he was absorbing the mana there was a sudden influx of the mana. It felt like it was 100 times more dense than it was just a moment before. What he didn’t know was that while he was focusing on the mana that was ravaging it’s way through his body. He had just been hit by a lightning strike. It was so strong that it blasted the formation destroying the first ring. The blast wave and report were not heard by him as he was briefly stunned by the influx and then had to focus desperately on absorbing the suddenly increased mana.

The next wave of mana that came made him feel like he was as strong as he had ever felt and he felt invincible. It was a highly addictive feeling and very distracting for him to be able to absorb the mana as he just wanted to bask in this invincible feeling.

After the second wave of mana had been absorbed without the crazy influx like the first. He could feel a third wave building. As it rushed into his body it gave him a very weird feeling. Like he could feel gossamer strands floating all around him. They pulled in different directions as well. He also felt undercurrents that seemed very powerful pulling away from him primarily in one direction.

After he had finished absorbing the third wave. He relaxed. Letting out a deep sigh he thought ‘Finally over.’ Yet as soon as he had that thought he felt another large wave of mana gathering. ‘Please. Just make it stop.’ He pleaded silently. He was so tired he just wanted to pass out. However, he knew that he couldn’t stop. If he didn’t properly absorb the mana it could wreck his body. As the mana crashed into his body he felt as light as a feather. Almost like he was floating. He struggled to absorb this last one like his body said ‘Nope. All full here.’ After an unknown amount of time he was finally able to absorb it all.

Cracking an eye open to cautiously look around, in case there were more unexpected events, he was flabbergasted by what he saw. The room he was in was destroyed. It looked like a tornado had had it’s way with the room. The formation circle and the ground underneath him was blackened and charred as well as cracked like someone had set off an explosive. The first ring and the items that were attached to it were gone. The shelves had fallen over and in many cases were broken and debris was strewn all over the room. His family was standing in the doorway looking in with eyes as wide as dinner plates. After a few more breaths of time and no more mana surged he smiled weakly at his family and then closed his eyes, promptly passing out. The strain of everything overtaking him.