I levitate the two of us into sight of the lawn outside my apartment, and sure enough, Leda is there. A bit away from her, hunkered down in their car, are some police officers. Since no one seems to be stupid enough to anger Leda, I decide to greet them, so that they can relay the status and maybe clean up this mess a bit faster.

On the way here I taught Tåke [Force Magic] and the [ - : Levitation] sub-ability via the mental bond as well as a mana link. She does not seem to understand it very well, but at least she has the ability now. I also had the both of us revert to our base forms. I felt my betrayal through the bond, especially when I removed the dress, but it faded when I convinced her she could take the form later, and that I will get her a better dress later.

…if you’re saying I’m gonna make her a spoiled child, shut up! You try fighting against literal puppy eyes! But ahh, I have no idea how to go about ‘raising’ her. I suppose no first-time parents do. I just went for a, uhm, unconventional adoption route. The touchdown of our man and wolf combo unsurprisingly startles the officers in the car.

“Uhh, hey, I’m Lars. Thomas from the military sent me.” The officer is about to start saying something, but I don’t give him the chance. “The wyvern over there is my companion. It’s safe for people to move about, at least as long as they don’t get too close.”

They relay the information, and it turns out Thomas is on the way- along with two armored personnel carriers of troops. Oops, I guess? With a sense of deja vu, I lead one of the officers over to Leda, warning him in time of the incoming mental bond. I meet her bond with my own. ｢Leda.｣ ｢Lars//Little one.｣ I note with satisfaction that she does not force the bond upon the officer, instead holding it within clear grasp for him.

…though that assumes he knows how to accept it. “What’s that magic?” He says, mimicking his arm motion towards it with a tendril of mana.

“It’s a mental bond. Leda -the wyvern- can’t speak, but she can communicate using the bond. Just sorta meet the mana with your own and she should do the rest.

｢{Surprised, curious}Woah, this is weird.｣

“｢Yeah, watch your thoughts. Surface thoughts will be transmitted, though you can send other things if you know how.｣” I say, sharing my experience with using the bond, and more importantly how to share what you want and don’t share anything else.

｢{Curious, inquisitive}Little one of moving box. {Uncertain}Greetings.｣ She says, and I send mental thumbs up of sorts directly to her.

｢{Amazed}Oh wow.｣ “She talks?”

｢Leda does not use little ones’ words. {Prideful}Leda uses [Mind Magic].｣

“｢{Lecturing}It’s less talking and more like what the [System] does, you know? Transmitting concepts directly.｣”

｢{Overwhelmed}Oh, wow. Wow. She doesn’t seem that dangerous.｣

｢Well, she is if she wants to. I think she’ll listen to me unless someone threatens her egg, though.｣

｢{Impressed}So you’re like a dragon tamer or something?｣

｢{Insulted}Leda is not tamed!｣ Leda sends, shortly followed by my explanation: “｢[Beast Companion], actually. Befriend more than tame.｣” After a pause, I continue: “She’s not a dragon, only a wyvern, though.” to which Leda snorts. I didn’t transmit that?

｢Anyway, this should show you what you needed to see. Shouldn’t you report that to the higher ups or something.｣

｢{Dejected}Aww.｣ “Oh yeah.” ｢She has such magnificent scales. And strong magic. I should protect the egg.｣

“Oi,” I reach out and break his connection to the bond. “Watch it.” Was he affected by the mental bond? “Those thoughts seem a bit…”

He blinks, then shudders. “Thanks, that was…” He trails off.

“It’s fine. You should probably not make another mental bond with her.” In fact, we should be careful about those bonds. Have I been affected? I have had a bond with her for a while, and tonight I had a bond with both her and Tåke. Didn’t I have some strange dreams? Well, not that weird given what I’ve been doing recently. Still, should probably be aware.

He walks off, a bit unsteadily, if I’m not mistaken. I take the chance to sit down in range of cuddling with both my companions. ｢{Curious, reprimanding}Leda, why did you go out here?｣

｢{Annoyed, ashamed}Nest too small. Other form too small. Pushing at all sides, Leda need air.｣

Ah, come to think of it, staying in the transformed forms feels a bit… unpleasant, confined. Like you’re standing in a closet or something. I haven’t held any transformations for that long, though, does it get worse over time? Or maybe it’s just the difference between the two bodies? It’s just size, though. Or maybe I am just better at handling it.

Right, ｢{Curious}How did you get out?｣

She elects to transmit it like a collection of scenes or images of sorts. She grabbed the egg with magic, and apparently learned how to use the door lock by emulating what she saw me do and a few tries. From the she went down the stairs, and a ‘little one’ screamed and ran away. The outermost door was easier to handle, since she already knew how to use it. From there, she went over here and reverted to her base form.

That’s… Impressive, actually. Though it still scares people, so not okay. ｢{Apologetic, stern}You scare humans. Even more when full sized. If you cannot stay in my apartment//nest, then you should stay at your own nest.｣

｢{Sad, stubborn}Leda wants a nest with Lars.｣

Don’t complain to me, complain to people who makes decisions. Actually, with [Mind Magic] that might just convince them… But that would likely cause me tons of problems. The other option is that I move, but I really don’t have the economy for that. I just bought this apartment, and despite it being pretty cheap, I did have to take a loan. And I don’t particularly want to live in the wilderness or something.

Haah. Let’s unload the dilemma on Thomas once he gets here. For now let’s just enjoy my two companions. It struck me on the way here, but I decided it was not the time for it, but the lack of the [Aspect of the Human] was the limiting factor in many of my forms, wasn’t it? I couldn’t make any puppets with Human, meaning they’d at most be mixes of others. Now, though…

Actually, now that I am aware of my own aspect (which is annoying the same way being aware of your tongue or breathing is), can’t I change my body? I could… Hm, later. For now, can I make a Human puppet? Let’s make a child. That could be an interesting experience, I don’t really remember how it was being a kid. It would let me go places I usually wouldn’t easily go. Cheaper travel fare, too. Actually, when speaking of going places I can’t right now, if I made it a girl…

That has so much power perversion potential… Would be great for transexuals, I suppose. Let’s not go with female. Instead, how about mixing it with other aspects. Hmm, An elemental aspect that could be interesting… Metal? Slime? Actually, what if I start with an elemental aspect?

Slime. Make it vaguely humanoid, but with a sexless ‘Barbie physique’. Hmm Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Hm, so it seems all forms with elemental aspects as a base needs a core? I don’t lack mana crystals, but could I make a core using these materials, instead of using an external one? Hmm, I think I can create one from bone, and then I heavily imbue it. One slime person!

I inspect my creation as good as I can without summoning it outside. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Amorphous person, heh. As I think over my aspects, I notice one in particular that could mix very well with Human. I remove Human from the new slime form and dissolve the other. Oh, I can’t get the crystal back. I mean, I could make another form with the crystal, then summon the form and cut out the crystal, but just thinking about it feels unpleasant, so let’s not. I can just use it if I want an elemental-based form, anyway.

For the new form, I start by mixing Human and the secret ingredient in a form that would fit in my palm. I then infuse it with a touch of Air. The result… Yeah. Yeah. This is good. To finish it, I use a bit of Flower to cover the form up, then I hold out one hand, and summon the petite pixie. It has colorful butterfly wings in blue and pink tones and a tiny skirt and chest cover of blue petals.

With good timing, too, as my enhanced hearing picks up a heavy vehicle getting closer. My assumption is correct, and not long after, two military transports roll into the apartment area’s roads. Thomas and what I assume is a military officer has a bit of a chat with the police officers while I get used to the pixie puppet. Flying with wings on your back is hard, but luckily the form is light enough that correcting with some magic is easy.

Leda raises her head and lowers her body, covering the egg better, and Tåke is just lazily lying there as I pet her. For now the soldiers stay back while Thomas and the officer walk towards me. I retrieve the pixie and stand up, making Tåke first a bit unhappy, then alert, as I take a few steps to meet them.

I raise my hand in a lazy wave. “Uhh, hi.” I scratch the back of my head, glancing down at Tåke. “I suppose this is where I should explain what’s going on?

I quickly go over the events and decisions that lead to this situation, elaborating where they were not satisfied with my explanation. That means the quests, and my decision to bring a wyvern into my apartment. Thomas takes notes, but I think he also has a recorder.

I kinda glossed over it when I explained, since it wasn’t Leda, but I suppose now would be as good a time as any to mention that Tåke can take on a humanoid form. They’d probably get to know what happened earlier anyway…

“So, the quest about the wolves, uhm.” I grab the dress from the bag. “｢Tåke, could you take on the wolfkin form?｣”

She does as asked, and being prepared this time, I quickly put on the dress. She sends a tinge of sadness and betrayal regarding the dress. Did she expect me to have the ‘better one’ already? Whatever, catering to her every whim would be very tiring, and also a bad way to raise someone. Though, I guess she would be something akin to royalty when I succeed in uplifting the wolves.

“As you can see, well. She can’t talk or anything, but seems to mostly understand me when I use mind bond.” I look at Thomas to ensure he understands, and he seem to do. “In other words, it’s only a matter of time before we have non-human sapients. People.”

Thomas looks at me with an expression I can’t quite place, but I don’t like it. He sighs. “I am not sure how to respond to that. You are aware you agreed to not do any big projects without permission?”

I look at the ground. “Yeah. I was gonna tell you about the quest on monday. Tåke suddenly figuring out how to transform like this was an accident.” I blink. “No, wait. I meant for it to happen, but didn’t expect it to happen this fast.”

After a momentary pause I add: “Besides, no one defined what ‘big project means’, so it could be anything. Which reminds me, I have something that should definitely go through you, if nothing else because I need a nice, big, remote-ish area it doesn’t matter if I destroy a little. Uhh, possibly, a lot.

In fact, a large, empty area to test abilities would probably be nice for other people as well. I can’t be the only one who wants to try some very powerful magic. In a controlled environment, of course.”

Oooh, I recognize the look now. It’s, wassitcalled… exasperation, combined with defeat.