“Wayde!” Wolf shouted when Wayde entered the private room at Will’s. “Thank you for taking such good care of my lands, my friend!”

Wolf got up, reached Wayde in two strides and hugged him. He smacked his back, producing thunderous claps with his giant palms. Wolf never considered giving Wayde a man-hug before. He’d be pressing his face against Wayde’s navel and patting his butt. But with his enhanced height, Wayde’s cheek rested against his shoulder.

The rightful Duke’s face kept a warm smile; not even his eyes showed a hint of his true feelings as Wolf slapped his back and pressed his head against his bosom.

“Don’t mention it.” Wayde managed a suave voice, despite mumbling the words into Wolf’s torso.

Four years of managing a large territory, which developed at unprecedented speed, gave the young Duke plenty of experience and helped him attain a true regal bearing.

After three breaths, he pushed Wolf away, showing his teeth in a perfect politician’s smile. “So, what should we discuss?”

Wayde didn’t beat around the bush. He knew Wolf’s social skills were abysmal and wouldn’t force him into awkward situations.

Wolf smiled. He loved it when people spoke straight with him. “We’re going to conquer Northshield.”

Wayde raised a brow. He examined Wolf’s face, but the man seemed serious. “When? Do you have a plan?”

Wolf nodded. “We leave now. You should become the Duke in a week or five. How does that sound?”

To Wayde it sounded like Wolf had no strategy, nor information on their enemies.

“Wolf, Duke of Northshield spent a fortune three years ago to hire an Eighth Order Sword-Sage bodyguard. He also has two First Order True-Namer court magicians…” Wayde listed their enemy’s defenses, but Wolf didn’t bat an eye.

Seeing how unimpressed Wolf was, Wayde had no choice but to state the obvious. “And your Mage Order is useless at the moment, because of the baby.” He paused. “Congratulations on becoming a father.”

“I’m not a father yet.” Wolf grinned like a fool, beaming with pride.

“It’s only a matter of time. I heard Mandy has more guards than Duke Silverhound.” Recently, Wayde’s spy network underwent a fundamental reformation. Instead of servants sometimes feeding him questionable information, he had proper informants in high places. Beside influential agents, Wayde bought countless commoners serving in noble households around Silverhound and Northshield, who feed him sensitive data they were privy to.

Wolf nodded. He had informed Lord of Steel that Mandy’s safety took priority over his, and the old loon took Wolf seriously for once.

“I’ve already recovered. The only reason we’re not using the teleportation Spell Formation connecting Mage Academies is because it could land us in a lot of trouble. Involving Mage Academies into wars between higher nobles is a capital offense.”

Wayde’s mind spun, but he remained silent. He knew better than to pry into others’ secrets. Especially Wolf’s.

Instead, he focused on practical matters. “You believe you can handle those three, plus any Archmages standing in our way?”

“I’m almost certain.” Wolf wanted to say yes, but choked, realizing he wasn’t one hundred percent positive. “We’re jumping into a tiger’s den, aiming to execute a Duke with one billion subjects. But I think the odds of something going wrong are slim. Besides, I’ve primed twenty sacks of apples.”

“Apples?” Wayde allowed himself a blink of confusion.

“Doesn’t matter. Come, sit. We eat and drink. Then, we fly and retake our home.” Speaking like a barbarian conqueror, Wolf considered fate and its twists. I ran into him so far from my native frosty Northshield. Dad never would have believed if someone told him I would encounter his benefactor’s great-grandson in Silver City, let alone that we would become classmates and that I would help him reclaim his throne.

Wolf and Wayde shared a meal, drank, and took a coach out of Silver City. Wolf insisted on transforming outside the city. He didn’t want to cause a ruckus when he morphed into the legendary Roc, or at least a creature resembling it.

Out in the open field, Wolf waved Wayde to move back.

“Watch this.” Wolf chanted Myriad Forms and turned into a golden eagle with a wingspan of thirty meters. However, there was a problem.

I’m too light. Myriad Forms stretched his body’s volume two hundred times, but only doubled his weight. A Tenth Order spell can only simulate so much matter. I should keep this weight, but halve my size.

Wolf shrank his wingspan to fifteen meters. Better. I don’t feel like the wind will topple me.

Wolf flapped his wings, but his movement was awkward. He manipulated them like they were arms, failing to produce lift. I’ll need a running start.

Wolf tried to take off after dashing to pick up speed, but failed miserably. Eagle’s knees bent differently, causing Wolf to stumble on his first step. Instead of mastering his new limbs, Wolf reshaped them into human legs and dashed, focusing on flapping his wings.

Wayde wordlessly observed for a quarter of an hour as Wolf grasped the basics of his temporary form. Despite the apparent struggle, Wolf enjoyed comprehending his body’s workings and delighted in how his world changed simply because of new sensory organs.

Finally, he took off. After flying two circles in the sky, he crash-landed. The eagle stood up from the crater, dusted himself with his wings and morphed back into a hulking human.

“I think I got it.” Wolf grinned proudly, then added, “Prepare Fly; just in case.”

The lie didn’t choke him, but the key word was ‘think’. ‘I got it’ was a lie.

“Do you want me to climb on your back?” Wayde asked, leaving his mouth open a crack and lifting his eyebrow.

“I’ll make a seat for you. Come on.” Wolf reverted into the grotesque eagle with human legs and sprouted an armchair from his feathery back.

He lowered his wing and screeched towards Wayde.

“Ahem. Sorry about that.” The eagle’s head turned into Wolf’s, making the grotesque creature even more bizarre. “I meant to say hop on.”

The monstrosity chuckled, then changed its face back into an eagle’s. After Wayde boarded, Wolf flapped his wings. He dashed in his abominable form and leaped. Human legs melted, merging into the eagle’s body, forming a legless bird. And as soon as he took to the sky, Wolf realized Wayde and his seat caused an awkward drag pulling him back.

To prevent flipping over, Wolf drew Wayde and his chair into his body and melded his feathered flesh into a rudimentary windscreen.

Unfortunately, nobody invented magical flying devices. Wolf imagined how simpler life would’ve been if some genius made a flying artifact through a complex combination of Spell Formations. It would burn Monster Cores like crazy. Alternatively, we could tame flying Monster Beasts, but they require food and rest. Even then, flying creatures suitable for mounting are too high Order. Few could control them.

Wolf wanted to form a mouth next to Wayde so they could converse, but realized it would substantially alter the golden eagle’s physique. Arbitrarily changing the respiratory tract could cause unknown complications. Even sinking Wayde into his body decreased Wolf’s speed by a fifth. Instead, Wolf spent his hours carving his Mind Hall’s column, thinking and digesting knowledge from various books on anatomy and healing he had read.

Ten hours of flight later, Wolf slowed down

“Cast Fly, Wayde. I’m going to land.” The eagle’s head morphed once more, and Wolf warned his friend of the imminent crash landing. While Wayde chanted, the legless eagle flew down to the ground, staying just above the treetops.

As soon as Wayde jumped off, Wolf reverted to his original body, then shrunk it further. He fully awakened his senses while decreasing his size until it grew tinier than his original figure. He struck the ground with his right leg reinforced by Internal Energy. Earth sprayed, and an explosion echoed as the diminutive manling’s step formed a crater.

It’s working. Wolf monitored his body during the impact. His skin and tendons were fine, his bones rattled a bit, and he used Internal Energy to coat his insides. The backlash should’ve scrambled Wolf’s organs, but thanks to his protection, he suffered no harm.

Then Wolf took the second step. He tried to brake, but couldn’t fight inertia. With his legs slowing down, Wolf’s upper body leaned forward, and his momentum forced him into a roll.

I’ll appear like a fool if I crash, and I can sense Wayde’s watching me. Wolf kicked off the ground and spun midair like crazy, releasing a portion of his energy through spinning.

Wolf’s legs moved so fast that even in the altered flow of time, his stomach rose and all his blood ran into his feet. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of whirling torture, Wolf reached the peak of his jump and tumbled down.

He tried to fight it, but smashed into the ground back-first, blowing up a dust cloud, forming a man-shaped hole in the crater he had made.

Wolf watched the billowing dust obscuring the sky. That’s what I get for showing off…