《The Changeling》Chapter 3: The premier of skincare
Advertisement
"Youth."
"What?" I turned.
"That's you're Origin; Youth."
"... Huh."
.
.
My eyes open. I was disoriented. My mind tried to match what I expected to what I saw.
I expected stone walls lit softly by orange crystals, the smell of lavender and a wooden beam ceiling.
Instead I saw cream plaster walls and ceiling, lit by the light streaming through glass windows and fine fabric drapes.
'... Curtains. They are called curtains in the modern day and they're not particularly 'fine'...'
The clashing memories, old, new, modern and medieval, disoriented me a while longer.
I sat up on my bed, observing, somewhat nonplussed, as the softest thing I had felt in decades catered my weight.
'Decades… This luxury was once commonplace to me...'
I rub my forehead. Then blink at the sight of my hands.
Smooth, unblemished, hairless.
'What?'
They weren't like that yesterda- oh.
'Oh yeah, I remember.'
Throwing off the covers and standing up, luxuriating at the all too soft carpet beneath my toes, I walk to the full sized mirror in my new room.
The room feels bright, the colors more vivid than I remember, the feel of air passing my skin far more noticable.
Standing before the mirror I take in my appearance.
Possessing clear brown skin, jaw-length silky black hair, princely features, haunting golden eyes and dressed in a baggy black shirt and shorts combo was a boy around the age of ten.
'Me.'
I clench my fist before me, feeling the strength flowing through my veins. It gave me some much needed reassurance.
Looking at the mirror once more, I... willed it.
I grew.
Or rather, I aged.
A few inches in height.
Eleven.
Slightly more broad.
Twelve.
Delicate features hardening.
Thirteen.
Baby fate gradually disappearing.
Fourteen.
Muscle definition more obvious.
Fifteen.
Filling in the clothes.
Sixteen.
Scars surfacing on the skin.
Seventeen.
I stopped.
I had aged seven years in seven seconds.
'An Origin of [Youth] in the Age of Fae and a mentor like Merlin…'
"... If I couldn't do at least this much I'd be a complete waste I suppose."
What "prettiness" and androgynous there was to my ten-year-old form had completely disappeared. I looked very masculine.
The original jaw-length hair had shortened considerably as my scalp grew, the hair length was spread over surface-area. Still, it was long enough to run my fingers through it, and felt just a silky as before.
My jaw was strong and defined, eyebrows thickened, skin tone a shade darker and brow more heavily set.
I was rather handsome, but not disgustingly so (you know what I'm talking about). My good looks are "simple", not so much beautiful, but without obvious flaw.
Advertisement
Along with my new stature that strained in the, now too small, top and shorts, I would be the archetype ruggedly handsome man if not for my skin.
My skin, now slightly bronzed but still as soft and clear as it was in child form, gave a feel of someone well cared for. Unblemished, but not delicate, full of vitality and colour.
As a result you have a mixed appeal of a manly man and a cultured scholar.
'You could say the prince had become a king.'
"... Just kiddin'."
'No king is without wrinkles…unless you have Avalon...'
Magic: The premier of skincare.
I do faintly remember what I was like before, eh… "hopping". And I can still see it in my current face, but it's like someone took my old face and had their way with it using an "artistic licence".
'I.e: Photoshop.'
Magic: The premier in software editing.
I huff, feeling my jaw. My beardless jaw.
Save the hair on my head, all body hair falls off when I de-age, it wouldn't do to have a ten-year-old with a hairy chest after all.
After aging up to an age capable of body-hair I still have to wait till it grows if I want a beard.
Magic: The premier of shaving.
'Well… Merlin gave me potions to grow back hair rapidly for when I really wanted it.'
Magic: The premier of hair recovery.
'Whatever.'
My body is built far, far better than it was when I was actually seventeen. Almost two meters and broad, once again magic has airbrushed me, bringing out my very best.
I clench my fist, once more feeling the strength run through my veins, but this time, my arm bulges. Everything below the head is "thick".
My hands are thick, wrists are thick, forearms are thick, biceps are thick, shoulders are thick, chest is thick, neck is thick, trunk is, waist is thick, thighs are thick, calves are thick, ankles are thick, feet are thick… yet I am still streamline.
I give the impression of a tall tree. However... I know I am also as flexible as a cat, strong as an ox whilst retaining that steadiness of an ancient oak.
That is how I trained after all. Proportion, endurance, strength, stamina, flexibility and fortitude…
'Even if I don't remember that training right now…'
And I get even bigger the more I age.
After making a few more poses I de-age, my clothes are straining pretty bad right now.
Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen.
Stop.
At fourteen-ish my build had only just begun to truly expand in width, I looked more like a well built swimmer. Less stocky then when I was actually fourteen.
Advertisement
However my clothes now fit porpperly, this was the age I went to sleep in. Must have de-aged further whilst sleeping.
'That happened a lot I think.'
Smaller body = more body heat. Good for sleeping.
'Time to get the day started.'
I close my eyes for a second, focusing in on the connection with my dear Contractor.
'Asleep.' I grin. 'Gooood.'
Two doors down, Rin's eyes flew open. Completely awake.
'... Aww.'
.
.
Servant
Name: Artus
Class: Saber/Caster
Alignment: Neutral Good
Sex: Male
Height: 70cm - 250cm
Weight: 20kg - 120kg
Armament: Armour. Shield. Sword. Cape. ?
.
Parameters
Strength: B-
Endurance: A
Agility: C-
Mana: D++
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: None
.
Class Skills
Magic Resistance: A
Artus was a knight and warrior renowned for slaying the magical in life. He had also befriended the Elements, and trained with Fae offering them his hand in friendship and gained an eternal ally. Artus' Magical Resistance is not only empowered by his legend but also supported by the spirits themselves.
Item Enchantment: D+
A third-rate magus in life has just barely become a second-rate in death. However his speciality is tied to his fighting style closely enough to warrant the skill. A knock-off of the Item Construction Skill.
Independent Action: E+
Empowered and supported by spirits and fairies, they are able to supply minimal assistance. Has received a downgrade due to being summoned in the modern world. Stronger in places of greater magical concentration and nature.
Eye of the Mind (True): C
Artus has the skill due to his experience challenging a variety of Magus and Phantasmal Beasts. The mindset of a "challenger" was predominant in him even after his rise to power. His ability to learn was not to be underestimated.
Clairvoyant (Demon): C+
Artus understood space. Due to his Demon eyes Artus was naturally able to track fast moving objects, "see" around corners and grasp the space around him. He is able to increase the rank by applying Reinforcement to his eyes.
Riding: C-
As a knight he was relatively skilled at horseback riding, but due to his weight and stature it was difficult to find a stead suitable. Skill receives a rank down due to Artus' inability to ride all but specially enhanced steads in life.
.
Personal Skills
Comradeship of the Fairies: B
Artus retains the close ties he had with all Fairies, Fae and Spirits of Gaia he had in life. This can be said to be a superior version of Protection of the Fairies. The Fairies actively help attack and defend, gifting resistance against elements, illusion and magecraft, whilst also capable of using illusion to confuse, empowering one's mana and adding minor elemental attributes to attacks. With this skill one is equal as partners with the Fae.
Demon eyes of Dimension: C
The Demon is foreign. The Demon is alien. The Demon has golden eyes. It is unknown if Artus was born with the eyes or came to possess them later in life, they are largely responsible for Artus' reputation as a Changeling. The title "Dimension" in this case refers to layer, space and distance.
Protection from projectiles: C
A slightly superior version of the skill Protection from Arrows. Although both skills provide protection from projectiles, Protection from Arrows is of course obtained fending off arrows, where as Protection from projectiles is gained via fending off a greater variety of projectiles. This skill provides a larger umbrella of concepts that fall under the term "projectile". On an unrelated note, it was said Artus was often plagued by nightmares of flaming rocks and dead cows flying at him.
Bravery: C
The ability to negate mental interference, pressure, confusion and charm. Artus is used to fighting against greater odds with lesser tools or simply empty-handed, his "fortitude" is able to not only empower himself but also his Fairy allies. However that is not all, Artus is famously known to be belligerent. Defying lords, nobles and knights as a commoner and later being one of the few to talk down his King. Artus does indeed possess great Bravery on and off the battlefield.
Charisma: D
Although he himself never considered he was particularly charming, Artus possessed an unspeakable dignity at times. Steady like a mountain, his presence and abnormal stature calmed and fortified allies whilst stifling enemies. Artus' Charisma is focused on the concept of "reliability". That is... at least when he is in adult form. As he takes a child like form, Charisma tends to show itself in a drastically different manner...
Dual Summon: C
Granted the Class Skills of both the Saber and Caster class, an exceedingly rare trait. However Artus' qualifications as a Saber class has sufficiently close ties to his ability to use magic, thus granting the Dual Summon skill.
.
Noble Phantasm
Artus does not possess any Noble Phantasms, or perhaps one could say his Noble Phantasms is not having any Noble Phantasms? In place of a NP, Artus instead possessing drastically more skills than the regular Servant. The weight that should be a NP is replaced by more empowered qualities of his life, thus using up that "free weight".
.
.
Advertisement
-
The Guide to Murder
What started out as a simple vacation nearly twenty years ago snowballs into a tangled web of lies, secrets, and corporate ulterior motives. While they had become reknown worldwide for their part in resurrecting dinosaurs from extinction, InGen also played a crucial role in much more sinister things. Contrary to their claim of leaving Isla Sorna alone, Ingen still had a heavy presence years after they were supposed to have left. With their work hidden from the public eye, they continued to dabble with genetics and after many failed attempts, finally created what they were after. It was unethical. It was illegal. It was Murder.
8 100 -
Shifters Reborn
" I'm... 200 years in the future? Can a loser like me... really start over?" Lars the loser, was someone who nobody noticed nobody saw and no one respected. When his high school bully beats him into a coma, Lars draws his last breaths thinking."Am I going to die a loser?" When He awakes from his coma, he finds himself in a another world in a distant future, and that he is no longer a human, but he is now a Shifter, a being with supernatural powers. Lars, now in the body of a Shifter named Axel, sets out to become the strongest Shifter in his academy. Learning from the bullying he experienced in his first life, he sets off on an adventure to become the strongest. However, as he navigates through the academy he has premonitions of a great tragedy that he realized he had dreamt about in his previous life. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 189 -
UNSAID LOVE
➷Sometimes love is beautiful Sometimes it's painful But it always gives us something And takes something in return➹❝And falling in love made her fall apart❞ ︎ »»---->♡<>#5 in Poetry - [12/01/2022]#1 in poem - [27/02/2021]#1 in love poems - [09/01/2022]
8 126 -
YAOS 1 - Limitless Adventures - Yet Another OP Story Book 1
December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and at Amazon. December 30th 2018: V1.1.2 of YAOS Book 1 is out, some content additions, fixed typos. Amazon's enhanced typesetting now displays tables properly. YAOS is shown through the eyes of some genius athlete getting OP inside a VR, ah wait, Full Immersion game, ?F.I.O?. Not a Hero, not a Nerd, just a driven individual paying for mistakes made, biding time until he can return to the Real World. He isn't defined like you'd normally do it, you can pick his looks and name all on your own, just like you do in video games. Believe it or not, keeping his looks undefined is harder than you think. His backstory isn't expounded in detail, but it drives his choices. Book 1 isn't about depressing sob stories but about fun and rushing forward, pursuing new horizons. Oh, and you'll end on a cliffhanger! Well, most serials do, so you will probably expect that without being told explicitly. But it isn't that bad, there's a lot of reveals and more to come once this book, that is the first in a planned three-part series, is finally ready for release on amazon et al. The published version will have: 1.) Godawful speaker tags, I hate them, they make you stop thinking and speed up editing so much. In hindsight they should have been in to begin with. But I stand by my goals proclaimed earlier. You guys should think while reading, that is the whole point of the exercise. Apply the knowledge and ideas, improve yourself, get creative! 2.) Pretty colored tables, the damned blue boxes, a lot of work, 69 in one book. Finally fixed amazon's centering issue. Can't say I liked the hours needed to debug that. 3.) The promised Mitara chapters. 4.) A cover! 5.) And lastly, updated polished versions of several chapters. MC shares more of his past, some terrible chapters (esp. 32) finally work. Some new scenes, minor rewrites in parts. Text flow and other issues. The current challenge is to maintain essential ambiguity while satisfying people wanting to know more without thinking three steps ahead. Balancing one with the other is tough. The smut which was in remains, but the story told is not to be superseded by it. A 15+ rating for the first book is also important, not to mention, YAOS wasn't meant to contain any smut to begin with. If the Author can turn to writing full time his output should increase, so please support YAOS #1 once it does finally release. ~Thank You~ No maps so far, that should be in, but is really hard to get done right. Again, tips are appreciated. Update September 2017: Stubbed chapters, sorry guys, currently don't have time to upload them elsewhere, polishing book 1 and 2, writing 3, takes precedence. Book 1 is in heavy editing, too much to keep synced and continuing editing. I'd need a site which offers JS-free rapid managing of chapters and comments. Coding one myself or setting a premade up is out of scope until I'm done with the books. RRL-old offered that, nuff said. This is only here because the author believes in fairies, nobody reads this, most likely. October to December 2017: Life threw some curveballs. February 2018: Book 2 draft 1 completed, at ~150K words. Book 2 is fairly epic in scope, requires 1 rewritten chapter, some editing. Tables and miscellanea are in, but needs at least a grammar pass. March 2018: Book 3 at 28k words, first arc, rest needs serious planning for spin-off and satisfying conclusion. July 2018: Yet another proofing/editing session of books 1-3, 101+ chapters, ~300k words. B3 at 48k, starts out great, but no ETA, no wordcount limit, in flux. But prioritizing my writing cannot be done, I hate the delays as much as you, but you will prefer the whole released in a timely fashion rather than wait. Knowing myself how excruciating waiting can be, at least you'll get significantly polished versions and an ETA on book 2 by release of book 1. December 23rd 2018: Book 1 is now up at Smashwords and in the process at Amazon et. al.. . To all who wait patiently, offered feedback, thanks again!
8 141 -
Be Mine?|Tubbo x Reader [discontinued]
This is a Minecraft AU where you have only one life and can never respawn. Also there are not a lot of Tubbo x reader so why not. I will not sexualize Tubbo in any way even though in London kids 16 can have sex and get married it just doesn't feel right and I'm no good at Smuts.
8 183 -
Nefarious | ✓
Highest Rank: #8 in 'Killer' | Determined to have a good night, Scarlett Hayes heads home with a charming man she meets at the club, not realizing that he may or may not be the nefarious Brooklyn Ripper that's stalking New York City.
8 132