It wasn’t until about an hour after sunrise that Andrea and Julius went to check on their human captive. They were surprised to find Alyx not only awake but apparently practicing with one of his abilities, Andrea the first to walk into the jail nearly jumped back out of it at the sight.

“By all of the spirits that is disgusting! Stop doing whatever that is right now!” She barked at him as Alyx looked up from his hands, having been moving the bone plating from one arm to the other, and trying to figure out just how long it would take him to reposition the armor in case he needed to. To be fair to Andrea, bone plating shifting from one side of him to another like an army of ants probably did look pretty bad, but damn Alyx had, had enough of her crap attitude, he was likely to be sent out to fight some monster he wouldn’t stand a chance against anyway so without consulting the rest of his brain his mouth opened...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yeah? Well fuck you, your not exactly easy on the eyes yourself princess” As soon as those words left my mouth I was forced to conclude that I might have just made a mistake, further evidence to that was the way the elven ranger leaped across the room dagger drawn and slide four inches of a steel dagger into my stomach before I managed to back up out of her reach and back safely out of her reach. Arm blood flowed from the wound, staining my new tunic and down the side of my pants, I wasn’t particularly worried though, what with having spent all of yesterday being opened up by an Owlbear like a can of tuna over and over again.

Andrea now looking quite smug whipped her dagger down as her partner Julius came in, looked between us both, and let out a long-drawn-out sigh. “If you two are quite finished?” Andrea smirking and the happiest I had seen the elf since meeting her gave Julius a nod. “ Oh I’m suddenly feeling much better, maybe we should keep this human around after all? I’ve such a shortage of live training dummies.” Julius raised an eyebrow at that and gently placed a hand on Andrea’s shoulder.” We will need to talk when this is over, your hatred is one thing, but the goal is to rise above your enemy, not fall to their level. Go. I will find you when it is time to escort the human out of the village, but you will only be a detriment for what comes next.” To my surprise, the same woman who had just rammed a dagger in my stomach had it in her to look embarrassed by her actions.

“Fine, you won’t need me around to contain him with Leoric there anyway.”

After she had gone, Julius walked over to the cell and unlocked the door giving me a flat look. “Perhaps you can try to avoid antagonizing anyone else? You’re treading a fine line as it is and Andrea is hardly the only one of my people to have a distaste for humanity. Ah also here.” Reaching into his pouch Julius pulled out a loaf of bread and handed me a waterskin, both of which I gratefully took, before giving him a small nod.

“I can admit that antagonizing her wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, guess I’m having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I was shot, kidnapped, and am being forced into a life-threatening situation fighting some kind of monster because I just happened to be walking through the damned woods.” I may have let just a little bit of venom into my voice but Julius looked at me as if I were little more than a petulant child and chuckled before walking out of the jailhouse.

“Yes, woe is you, who would walk brazenly in contested territory between two peoples who have hated one another for centuries. Come and meet Leoric so I can be rid of you, your presence in this village riles up far too many souls best eft to peaceful thoughts. At least Leoric will enjoy your company, he loves shapeshifters of all races and has traveled outside the village many times to teach.”

Now that news surprised me, how could people leave at all if they were so scared of people giving away the secret of the location of the village? Well, this was a world of magic, maybe they had a way to keep people from revealing it. What I wasn’t surprised about was the level of distaste for humans, now that I wasn’t sheltered by the Elders wrathful tirade, I saw several of the elves we passed give me dark looks, and not a few rude gestures.

Eventually, Julius lead me out to a large clearing, where there was short kept grass, and several wooden training targets, though when I say targets what I really mean they were logs that had been put vertically into the ground so that six feet of them stood, sticking up out of the ground. Next to those logs was the first elf that really seemed like someone out of a fantasy. He was tall, easily over six feet in height, long flowing blond hair down to his waist, robes that seemed to be made entirely of leaves that rustled in a breeze all their own, the same chestnut-colored skin as the other elves and a beautiful staff that looked like it was made of roots circling each other to hold in an amber core that seemed to glimmer with its own inner light.

Holy shit, he actually looks the part, what do none of the other elves dress like him I wonder? That is what I wanted to ask, but having opened my mouth without thinking once this morning and the bloodstains to prove it, I wisely kept my mouth shut until Julius got introductions underway.

Julius bowed to the elf who had to be Leoric and motioned to me. “ [Druid of Change] Leoric I have brought you the [Essence Shifter] Elder Symphonia discussed with you.

“ AHAH! Welcome young shifter! I see that you too have decided to step down the truest and greatest of paths! I apologize for the treatment of my kin, they have yet to understand that all people are the same on the inside!” I’ve never seen someone move with such a flurry of kinetic energy, Leoric was all over the place, shoving Julius out of the way as he crossed the distance between us in what seemed more a spasm than a walk. I actually had to duck under his staff at one point as he swung it about. The man had such enthusiasm though that it was hard not to give him a warm smile.

“ Uh, hi, nice to meet a friendly face.” Leoric quickly and roughly grabbed one of my hands in one of his giving it a quick shake. “Yes yes! It is good for fellow practitioners to get together! And you are so new to the path! Why I can practically smell your tenth level still on you! Ahaha I’m joking of course! Now then down to business let us see that class of yours!” Raising his staff on high I was once again greeted by the familiar sensation of something tugging at the corners of my mind. This time I was quicker to consent and I watched as Leorics eyes glowed, moving from side to side as if reading.

“You’re… you’re a purist! Astounding! [Essence Shifter] Indeed! As a [Druid of Change] I have had to focus on certain things beyond just shapeshifting, but you! You can dedicate everything to it! The absolute focus! The sheer willpower to forgo so many abilities! My boy, you are a credit to shapeshifters everywhere! Oh, I can not wait to tell my students about this!” Leoric was starting to look just a little bit manic but I didn’t have the heart to tell him I got this class entirely on accident and had absolutely no idea what I’m doing. He...well he was just so excited, and I figured why ruin his fun right? Julius having recovered from having been shoved out of the way coughed quietly next to the overzealous Leoric to grab his attention.

“Yes..well despite the humans...dedication, in acquiring his class he himself has never changed shape, the Elder was hoping you could provide instruction on the basics.”

Leoric’s expression darkened at this and he waved Julius away dismissively.” You tell the Elder that I do this under protest, sending this young man off to his death is an absolute waste. Just the chance to study a new path should be more than enough to warrant leniency. Now get gone Julius, I’ll be perfectly safe. ”

Julius bowed much more stiffly to Leoric than before and set a quick pace away from us, though only to the edge of the clearing. I thought for a moment to try and use this to my advantage somehow, if there was a division in the elves then maybe I could argue for safety, the manic look in Leorics eyes as he regarded me though broke that idea upon the jagged rocks of reality, Leoric was obviously a bit on the obsessive side and probably would have done something by now if he could.

“Alright” Clapping his hands together Leoric walked over toward one of the tree trunks that had been rammed into the ground and gave the trunk a meaty slap.

“The first part is easy, you’re going to focus on [Essence Shifter], then you’re going feel two wells of power, one of them will seem connected to you, that will be whatever form you are in currently, in this case, your human form! The other well of power or Essence, in this case, will be what I am told is an Owlbear! To change forms you need to be focusing on that Essence and then want to change. This is particularly difficult as most people are comfortable in their own skin! Even would-be shapeshifters! HAHA! But if you can want to become the Owlbear more than you want to be human, then it just happens! No, the tricky part will be learning to move in a whole new body, it can take years to master the intricacies of a new form. Now get to it, I’ve spent enough time blowing hot air.”

Well, that sounds...simple? I mean it couldn’t be that easy could it?” What about uh, intelligence? Will I still be me or will my thought process change when I become an Owlbear?”

Leoric tilted his dead at me like a dog hearing something new.”That’s well I’m not sure how you don’t know that already but no that isn’t a concern, shapeshifting uses magic to alter a person’s form, while mind magics do exist, it would be quite an involved task to change someone’s personality like that. I would say it’s darn near impossible but Gregory loves to build matrixes that...no no never mind focus on shape-changing for now and we can discuss theory when you are done.”

“Well, then that’s a relief to hear” I chuckle and then set aside those worries, and focus on my class.

[Active]

[Inactive]

Ok, so far so good, now I just need to want to be an Owlbear more than I want to be human. That shouldn’t be too hard, as I am now I don’t have a chance of surviving any of this, but as an Owlbear, I might be able to survive. I focus on that thought, that I don’t just want to be an Owlbear, that I need to be one. It isn’t that different from activating my body modification honestly and I can feel the warmth in my heart swelling, the temperature rising before something clicks into place.

[Inactive]

[Active]

It felt like there was a fire in my heart, and from there it poured into the rest of me, I found myself falling to my hands and knees as my body began to expand, my bones growing in size and density as they shifted and changed within me, tendons detached and reattached in new places, even as layer upon layer of muscle began to cover my body, which was accompanied by a horrible itching sensation as fur began to sprout all over my body, all the while I doubled in size, then doubled again, It probably should have hurt more than it did, but I didn’t spare that much thought, as I watched the world seem to shrink around me, though I knew the reality was that I had grown in size. I tried not to think about the bones in my head, or how they changed shape and rearranged themselves to form a massive beak as it grew into view. Soon enough though, and sooner than I expected certainly, I felt the fire recede, the transformation was complete.

I was an Owlbear, and I was fucking massive!

~SCREEE--QUOOOONNNNK~

Heh, ok that felt good, I could literally feel the ground shake beneath me when I did that. Leoric for his part was clapping and grinning from ear to ear. “Bravo young shifter! I can’t tell you how many first-timers abort the transformation halfway through!” Leoric looked so small now, having been a good six inches taller than me at least when I was a human, and yet even while on all fours my head rose a good foot above his own. I wanted to know how big I was.”Squonk, Squooonk? Squonk!...squonk.”Ok, that’s...not ideal.

“Haha! Never fear young shifter I know what you want, everyone wants the same thing after they take a new form after all.” Waving his hands in the air, Leoric cast a spell, and from the ground rose what was for all intents and purposes a mirror, it had to be fifteen feet tall if it was an inch and easily just as wide. I was starting to get used to magic at this point so I didn’t question the idea that Leoric an elf known for teaching shapeshifters had figured out how to make a magic mirror.

No, what got me was how big I was, and how different I looked from the Owlbear I had fought to the death. Where it had been mostly a tawny brown, I had the same base coat, but I had white in my fur, namely around the eyes and along my limbs in great spiraling patterns, it..well heck it looked majestic, it was kind of hard to believe that it was me I was starring at. I also had a couple of other odd features, for instance, my horns instead of curving in a curling rams horn, curved straight up.

This. Was. Awesome. I wouldn’t say it made up for the last couple of days exactly, but I just turned into a massive fuck off Owlbear.

Things could be worse is all I’m trying to say.