Several peaceful days have passed since it had awoken.

In that time, it studied its newfound abilities and confirmed that it somehow retained a loose hold over the uniformity of its genetic constructions.

It didn’t know what the creature it used as an anchor was, not even with the new knowledge it gained, but it confirmed that it was somewhat of a shapeshifter just like its original self.

The difference was that itself possessed a more structured and efficient transformation ability, while the other creature’s ability was more chaotic and only roughly copied the functions of the creatures it consumed.

It didn’t understand how, but somehow the creature it absorbed was capable of retaining a functional body despite the reckless way it could transform its anatomy and biological structures.

Its own ability on the other hand was the opposite.

It required a stable amount of genetic data to be able to completely copy forms and even then it was limited in the way it could enhance the body.

For starters, it couldn’t haphazardly grow chitin armor even if it absorbed enough small crustaceans or arthropods when it was in the form of a mammal. The reason for this is the same reason as to why these creatures didn’t evolve having chitin to begin with.

It would need to completely study the effects of doing so and experiment on it. Only then would it be able to combine several aspects of different species of creatures and use it in a stable manner.

It was heavily restricting, but it was completely optimized.

However, having selected this strange creature as its gene anchor, the resulting limitations of its powers have become… unpredictable.

Not to mention the potential of the mysterious energy that was known as mana that it had yet to figure out.

Standing out from everything it has gained, its morphing capabilities have become more streamlined. It no longer needed to carefully restructure the cellular bonds and manually convert its body. With just a thought, it could now somehow morph in ways however it wanted to.

If the transformation was beyond its current capabilities, its body would simply not respond or in other words, fail at the attempt. If it tried to force the transformation, it was either met with a painful sensory feedback or hit with a severe wave of exhaustion.

Also, despite all the benefits its new abilities have brought, it wasn’t all positive.

After several attempts, it had learned that it no longer possessed the means to completely transform into a specific animal.

This means its mimicking abilities have been permanently disabled.

No matter how much it tried to transform to an animal, it always kept some traits of its current passive form.

Most notably, the strange bone-like structure that covers the entirety of the upper section of its head and muzzle.

After using its morphing ability to form eyes on the palms of its hands, it gave itself a look over and found what appeared to be a wolf skull covering the top of its head.

Another distinctive feature that doesn’t seem to want to disappear with its transformations are the two leathery whip-like tendrils with spiked ends that seem to be growing from beneath the horns on its head.

It didn’t understand quite yet what purpose these tendrils served, but it could somehow manipulate them like its limbs.

While it could alter the rest of its body, these features seemed to remain the same, with the exception of the horns on its head which it could somehow replace with antlers but couldn’t be removed as well.

As for the rest of its body, it had the stature of a goblin, a bulky torso that’s mostly humanoid with thick furs on its shoulders and neck, and thick carapace-like plates that covered its back and forearms. Its forearms were also disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body.

This was its new passive state. In other words, it could no longer change back into a jelly.

…or perhaps it could, but it would look like a jelly wearing a skull mask with feelers and horns on its head.

Shaking the disturbing thought away, it then thought about its previous gigantic form which can be triggered by stressors.

It could now control the trigger and allow itself to change whenever it needs to do so, but it had a feeling that doing so would be detrimental to its current state. Its unfortunate, but it would need to experiment on it another time when it felt it was safe to do.

*bark**bark*

Turning to see the two little ones wagging their tails and staring at it, it turned to see the pile of corpses almost completely gone of substantial edible matter.

Seeing it as a waste, it moved closer and absorbed the remaining biological matter unto itself.

It also understood that it was time to go hunting. With the two pups still as small as they are, it would need to provide them with food.

Water seemed to be no problem as the pool near the entrance appears substantially full. Going above the cliff earlier, it found the source came from a large pond.

Ensuring the pups’ safety, it sealed the cave entrance with a thicker viscous substance that hardened like cement but was porous to let ventilation in. It also left them a few bones to play with so they’d be at ease while it was away.

Securing their nest, it sniffed the air to find any remaining scent trails. Locking onto several that seemed to be heading to a more wooded area of the plains, it morphed its body to something more lupine and followed the direction of the scents.

***

In a woodland much deeper and closer to the heart of Prismordia, there existed a large bioluminescent tree.

It looked like a giant willow with glowing white leaves that radiated pink-golden light.

Around it grew even more titanic redwood-like trees with massive leaves that formed a canopy around the glowing willow-like tree.

Near its roots and around the trunk of the massive trees were strange spherical and cubic structures with various openings and moss roofs. Each one interconnected by large vines that formed pathways.

Strange and exotic bioluminescent plants of varying colors grew all around, giving a mystic and mysterious air to this strange world.

This was the home of the Fae, creatures of varying size and shape born of the natural elements through the mysterious power emanating from the heart of Prismordia.

A mysterious region with even more enigmatic residents, the people of the outer rim have come to call this special region, the Faelands.

Near the edges of this region, one such Fae could be seen flying around and zooming over grass and trees, stopping every now and then to look into small holes and bushes as if in search of something.

It had the appearance of a small ball of light with the wings of a fly and it appeared very frantic in its search.

Just as it hovered over a small stump to rest, a shadow appeared behind it.

Sensing something behind it, it tried to fly away in a panic, but it was too late. Small vines wrapped around the tiny white ball with wings and was pulled towards the shadow.

Crying in fright seeing the shadow looming over it, the tiny white light ball struggled until it was then… hugged.

Squeezed was more like it, but the one that cradled it was another Fae. However, this one had the appearance of a small child-like humanoid plant with a featureless bark mask with eye holes for a face and green vine-like hair that fell past its shoulders.

The child-like Fae had a laughing expression with its eyeholes shaped like raised crescents as it rolled on the ground, while the flying light ball angrily buzzed around it.

As the two Fae seemingly played around, they were suddenly startled by the sounds of twigs breaking.

The little light ball bolted away into the trees while the little humanoid plant disappeared into the bushes.

“Dammit Gern! You scared the Light Pixie away! I told you to walk slowly!”

A small hooded figure with light brown hair and furry feet with no shoes chastised a large bulky man in dark leathers with short brown hair, a fuzzy mustache, and a sword on his back.

“Don’t get yer knickers in a bunch, Orsley. What’s a Light Pixie compared to the jackpot we found? Besides, if ya really want’a catch some Fae for quick cash, how bout the Boggart that ran inta tha shrubs?” Cackled the larger man as he rubbed his belly in his own amusement.

“Very funny. Anyways, are we getting closer to the place or what?” the small hooded figure said dryly as he turned to a tall and lanky robed man with short pointy ears and long pale hair.

“It should be close. If this dumb merchant isn’t leading us on, then his hidden stash shouldn’t be far from where we entered the Faelands.” coldly replied the lanky man as he glared at a portly man that was tied up with rope and had a face filled with bruises.

“Ha! I really don’t get wot this pig was thinkin when he tried ta undercut our pay.” said the large man while shaking his head. “Bad enough to try an get through Elgrex without alertin the Wargscale packs, but ta have us go through Noctalum and inta Faelands then try’n ta run away? Ptoo!”

“…don’t you find it weird, guys?” voiced the final member of their party, a woman with her brown hair in a ponytail and wearing green leathers with a bow and quiver at her side. “I get that this bastard tried to bail on us, but what good would it do to run away here? Even the bloody trees can kill here.”

“Who knows. All’s I know is this guy tried ta run without payin an’ he promised us loot.” shrugged the bulky man. “Sure, it could be a trap, but we’ve dealt with shit like that before. We can deal with it as long we’re careful.”

“You’d be the one to know, wouldn’t you, Gern?” snickered the lanky man.

“Come off it, Hox. You know what I mean.” harumphed Gern.

“I just hope we can finish this quickly. Noctalum always makes me uneasy, especially the Faelands.” said the woman worryingly.

The small figure patted the woman’s arm as he tried to ease her fears. “Come on, Delleen. You know we ain’t rookies no more. I get you’re worried, but like Gern said, we’ll just be more careful. If we’re lucky, we can all be at the mead hall later enjoying the night together. If not, then it’s just another bust. No biggie.”

With the little figure’s confident words, Delleen smiled with a little bit of ease.

The four-man party continued deeper into the Faelands with their prisoner. However, despite their caution they didn’t notice the child-like humanoid plant observing them from a distance using the plants as a medium.

The Fae knew these woods well and they understood the area the fleshlings were going to was a forbidden region even to their kind.

The little humanoid plant turned to the tiny white light ball at its side and seemingly communicated with it as it responded with a nod and zoomed away quickly. They needed to let the Elder Fae know.

If the fleshlings were going to where the little Fae thinks they were going, then it must slow them down as much as it can.

They must not interact with the sleeping evil there. These were its thoughts as it chased after them deep into the woods.

***