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  Chapter 19: Grove, Sweet Grove

  After parting with Jacobs, I had Celeste lead me back to the grove to resume my training. Rather than flying back there, I decided to test the armor out and walk. Of course, I still had my shiny new dagger ready to strike at anything that decided to eat me. For some reason, this didn’t happen as often as I had expected it to, and the first attack wasn’t until I was nearly halfway there.

  Though, that means that something did attack me. And it was even a familiar wolf, too. The first time Rita had brought me through here, I had seen this wolf guarding its pups. But now, those pups had grown quite large, far faster than they normally should have. Together with their mother, they decided to block my path and invite me over for lunch. Sadly, I was to be the lunch. And of course, my ‘shy’ birds had long since abandoned me to fight on my own.

  Altogether, there were three wolves, the mother and its two pups. The mother stood in the center, and the pup on the right was the first to charge at me, after emitting a series of threatening snarls. Perhaps a bit too overconfident in my new armor, I raised one arm to intercept its bite. It was then that I learned the primary flaw of flexible armor…. They don’t resist force very well. Sure, my arm wasn’t torn to shreds by the wolf, and I thought I even heard it chip its teeth on me, but the crushing power of its jaws were fully applied to my arm, making me curse under my breath.

  Thanks to the first wolf blocking my view, I wasn’t able to see as the second ‘pup’ charged up. Instead, I was busy pushing mana into my new dagger to activate the chainsaw function, then driving it into the throat of the first wolf before it could remove itself from my arm. Surprisingly, I was able to control my body much more effectively now thanks to the large dexterity buff.

  As the body of the wolf latched onto me became lifeless, I heard a growl off to my left. Unfortunately, that was the arm holding up the wolf, so I was not able to clearly see what was coming. I did, however, feel a strong impact against my side that launched me away and made me crash into a nearby tree.

  That’s not how you fly, you know better!

  -20 HP

  While the first wolf hadn’t actually managed to do damage thanks to my armor, the impact from this one had managed to. When I looked, I saw the wolf swaying lightly before finding his balance. If I had to guess, it had taken a running start and headbutted me. Finally, the mother wolf was watching me warily, as if waiting to see what I would do. Since I had already killed one of its pups, it didn’t seem to eager to rush at me. And that suited me just fine.

  I had already decided that I’d be keeping one of the wolf corpses to practice my Nature Magic with, so that of course meant that I couldn’t run away. And I knew that I was neither faster or stronger than these wolves, but I was better equipped. I could kill one with my dagger, or my magic. I really need to practice Earth Manipulation at some point.

  As the second wolf once again began its charge, I leapt forward as well. Though, again, it was far faster than I was. By the time I had made it three steps, it was on me, its claws swiping for my unprotected face. I had roughly half a second to decide what to do, so naturally I procrastinated.

  That could leave a mark.

  -25 HP

  I was thrown to the side with the force of the attack this time, but that meant little compared to the burning pain on the right side of my face. I could barely think to assemble an Alchemic Heal spell, which dulled the pain a bit. I’d need to do a more thorough treatment after this fight. And since they’ve seen I can bleed, the mother wolf seems more comfortable joining the fight.

  Well, screw that! I thought to myself, quickly pouring my mana to merge my signature with that of the snake scale, activating Aspect of the Armored Beast. The two wolves paused their charge as they saw me changing forms. From the earlier exchange, they saw that they could hurt me if they hit my bare skin, but now they had lost such targets.

  Deciding to take the initiative, I launched myself to the closest wolf, my blade in hand. Before I had gotten this armor, and this new spell, I would have been forced to retreat quickly against three wolves. But now, my equipment and magic were finally starting to match my level. There was still little hope of me mastering the use of the dagger, but if it’s just stabbing and cutting then I won’t have a problem.

  As soon as I neared the wolf, it had finally come to its senses and jumped away before I could swing down with my weapon. At the same time, I felt something slam into my back, presumably the final wolf. Since this was no longer simply armor, but my actual skin, the force of the impact was lessened a bit. That didn’t stop me from being launched several feet forward and losing my balance, though. At least I didn’t slam into a tree this time.

  I decided to try something new, mixing my Plant Affinity with a Nature Magic spell to get increased results. First, I slammed my fist into the ground, pouring mana into it while casting Nature’s Grasp. Here, I was able to see the result of my Nature Magic increasing from Beginner to Basic, as several thick roots sprang out from underground and caught the mother wolf. Then, I used Plant Manipulation to control the movement of those roots which already had been immersed in my mana.

  The end result was… not something I’d ever want to have happen to me. The roots all began stabbing into the wolf’s skin, making miserable whines emit from its mouth before one finally struck a vital point. After that, the roots just froze, holding the wolf a couple feet in the air. I had absolutely no desire to do anything about these roots that would make me see the results of my handiwork.

  Though, thanks to this scene, the other wolf decided I wasn’t worth the trouble, and ran off while its mother was being stabbed to death. And with the battle over, I was finally able to cast another Alchemic Heal on myself, taking care of the last of my injuries. When I looked over the result of the battle, I was a bit disappointed to find out that killing the two wolves had barely given me a ninth of what I needed to level up. I can either repeatedly fight wolves like this, or fight a single really strong monster. One of those snakes probably wouldn’t give me an instant level anymore.

  Taking my loot, in other words the dead wolf, I continued my journey back to the grove. Perhaps since I didn’t cancel the Aspect of the Armored Beast, nothing else bothered attacking me. Though, I found another reason why the beasts were being so timid as I had nearly gotten back to the grove. A certain loli elf was staring at me with a mix of curiosity and caution, and it was my guess that she had just finished leading another student to Jarl. “Who.. or what, are you?”

  “Well, Rita, is that any way to talk to a friend?” I tried to tease, but my voice sounded a bit different in this form. It was no surprise she wouldn’t recognize me, and the casual use of her name put her on guard even more.

  “I’ll ask again, who are you and how do you know me?” I could see her clenching her fists, and knew that if I didn’t give a good enough answer this time, she might attack. And unlike the wolves, she would certainly have a way to kill me in one hit.

  As such, I immediately canceled my Aspect spell, letting my appearance return to normal. “Better?” I asked with a cautious smile, ready to jump to the side if things were not, in fact, better.

  Rita looked at me, blinking for a moment as she seemed to be thinking of something. “Falenel… right? Guess you found an interesting snake, huh?” She asked, looking at my armor. Thankfully, though, she seemed to have relaxed quite a bit. She even giggled when the two lovebirds flew down from the tree to finally perch on my shoulders again. Maybe they don’t like it when I go scaly? I’ll have to remember that trick for the future.

  “Yeah, that’s me. Got another druid in training, I take it?”

  She nodded her head, relaxing a bit more. “Yeah, another traveler. Just dropped her off, and was on my way back. I think she should be one of the last ones in this group to have gotten her class, since she’s focused more on her skills than anything else.”

  Meaning I’m probably far we
aker than her… Great. I sighed, shaking my head. “Well, I’ll head on over then and introduce myself.”

  Nodding, she went on past me and let me go to meet the new girl. I was rather surprised when I found a stunningly beautiful wood elf sitting next to the pond, but it wasn’t the girl that had me most surprised. It was the fluffy white creature sitting in her lap, that familiar horn on top of its head…

  We meet again, my nemesis… I glared at the rabbit, and it glared back at me. The girl seemed to have taken note of this, and looked over to me curiously. Did I mention stunningly beautiful? I think I did. While she may have been lacking in curves thanks to the more streamlined bodies of the elves, she was still very well proportioned, with long golden hair and deep sapphire eyes.

  “Have you met Mr. Fluffims before?” She asked me rather cutely, and my brain froze. While I may hold a grudge against horned rabbits in general, that name was more than enough punishment. Combined with the fact that we were in the presence of a pretty girl, and I no longer felt the need to pummel it.

  “No… just recalling a bad experience.” I said with a sigh, moving over and sitting on the ground. “So, I take it you’re here to meet Jarl?” I looked around, not seeing the druid trainer nearby.

  She tilted her head slightly, but nodding soon after. “Yup. I sent the others to go look for him, so he should be back soon.”

  She sent others… so she has more animal companions… and is able to control them far better than I do mine. I lowered my head in depression at that, thinking how much I fail as a druid. Sure, I don’t want a lot of animal companions, but if I could at least get these two birds to listen to me, I’d be happy. “So… did you already choose your Sub-Class?” I had a feeling I knew the answer, but asked anyways.

  She nodded again, with a bit of a smile this time. “Yup! I got the option right after choosing the class, so I’m a Beastmaster now. How about you?” She asked, looking to the two birds on my shoulder, which had begun happily snuggling against the sides of my face.

  “Not yet. I’m aiming for a specific skill set, but the next part of training is… well, it’s rather terrifying to be honest.”

  She tilted her head cutely again. “How could it be that bad?”

  I sighed helplessly, shaking my head. She’ll find out sooner or later. “I’ve got to turn into one of these birds… but they are very… eager to see that happen. And for none of the right reasons…”

  She seemed to have trouble processing my meaning, but I could see her cheeks slowly turning red once she understood me. “Oh… oh, I see… yes, I could understand how that might be bad. Then… pardon my asking… but why did you pick female animals, if you didn’t want there to be a risk of that?”

  “I didn’t pick them… they picked me.” I then explained how I had picked their favorite apples, and the swarm chasing me to be fed. And how by that point I had practically no choice but to take them as animal companions.

  “Ah… I only take in female companions to avoid any risk of that when I learn how to transform. I’d rather not be ‘attacked’ by them.” She said, still blushing slightly. “But I will have to see about finding some for myself.. that is a rather interesting ability they have.”

  It was at this point I noticed I had fallen into one of my bad habits. “I’m Falenel, by the way, what’s your name?”

  “I’m Sharon.” She smiled warmly to me, which only made me feel even more depressed. Am I the only one that used a fantasy name when choosing the elves?

  “Well, Sharon… mind helping me out a bit?” I asked, seeing no other way I could do this safely. When she looked at me curiously, I explained. “I need someone to distract these two while I transform, so that they don’t ‘attack’ me…” Blush incoming…

  Blush sighted! She nodded, her cheeks turning red again. “Sure.. I can try to keep an eye on them.”

  Alright! Now, with that taken care of, I can finally take my next step towards becoming a Xeno-Shifter! And thankfully I’ve got a cute girl here to help. Possible love interest?! No, not likely. Still, good to have friends!

  Chapter 20: Third Wheel?

  With Sharon’s permission, I had Yang go over and play with her, while I used Yin to study her mana signature. Yang was predictably reluctant, but after some coaxing she agreed and flew over to nestle against the nearby elf. Meanwhile, Yin sat between my hands as she had the first time I studied her aura, waiting for that uncomfortable feeling she felt last time.

  I don’t think I’ve ever really properly described what mana signatures are like, have I? Well, that’s because it’s a bit hard to explain. Remember how I said that analyzing that herb felt like feeling deep inside of it? That’s actually only a small part of it. The entire mana signature itself is like a massive array of various strands of light.

  Each section of the array contains different patterns and colors, determining different things. For instance, the scales I got from the Great Boa are like a braided pattern of silver and green light. In order to copy that onto my skin, I had to identify my own skin’s signature, which turned out to be a series of straight, dark blue lights. Once I overlaid the two patterns across my skin’s entire mana signature, the Aspect of the Armored Beast would activate.

  On the other hand, the bird wings had to be grafted on, rather than overlaid. Thankfully, a creature’s mana signature seems to vaguely match up with their body shape, which makes it easier. Strangely, the lovebird’s camouflage ability was an overlay like the snake scales, but was a graft like the wings. In essence, I was adding a layer of paint to my mana signature.

  The texture, such as feeling the wet rose when I explored the herb, comes from a deeper exploration of the signature. Each part of the mana signature has a different feeling, usually related to what the signature corresponds to. So, the wings had the feeling of stroking feathers, while the snake scales were more rough. It was the mix of associated feelings that helped me remember the patterns more clearly.

  And for those of you wondering, yes, I did inspect Celeste’s mana signature, or at least the one from my bracelet. It was strange, rather than the natural, gentle formations that were in plants and animals, the mana signature of my companion bracelet was rough. Not rough like the snake scales… more like jagged, as if I were staring at a crushed car in a wireframe view. I guess that was the difference between something natural and artificial.

  Anyways, enough about my little procrastination rant. My point was that it’s difficult to truly understand an entire aura, but once you have, it’s not nearly as difficult to remember. And that rather helped me when analyzing Yin’s mana signature, because I already had pieces of the puzzle that I could fill in, her wings and skin. Using that as a starting point, I was able to much more quickly finish analyzing her aura, after only 45 minutes or so.

  Once I had finished analyzing the aura, I had Yin go over and play with Yang and Sharon. For some reason, though, I could feel a sense of anxiousness from them as they watched me. I really hoped that they didn’t realize what I was about to do, and were simply putting on an act to have me hurry up! They shouldn’t be that smart yet, right?!

  Shaking my head, I quickly dispelled that thought. I had other things to worry about right now. What I was about to do wasn’t grafting a mana signature onto myself, or even overlaying an aspect. I was completely changing my mana signature to match another. For that, I had to be very careful, because if I messed up the positioning of the mana, then I might end up with my foot in my mouth.. literally!

  Thankfully, I didn’t find it too hard to reshape my own mana signature, so I just had to take my time. At this point, it was like shaping clay. If I was careful, and took my time, then I would get the result I expected. If I rushed it, everything would collapse.

  The entire process took nearly five minutes, during which I felt almost nothing. My eyes were long since closed to concentrate, so I saw nothing different until it was over. Once it was done, I opened my eyes carefully, and saw two giant birds charging over tow
ards me! Wait, they weren’t giant birds, that was Yin and Yang! I was suddenly tiny!

  There was a ding in my head as a notification appeared, but I did not pay attention to it. Turning around, I attempted to immediately fly away, but I was not used to this body yet. As such, I fell flat on my beak after jumping into the air. I could only weep silently as my doom flew closer and closer… and then stopped.

  After a few moments of not being molested as I had expected, I turned around and saw the two lovebirds collapsed on the ground, their heads down with their upper wings covering their faces. The two of them just looked so pitiful for some reason… and that’s when I noticed it.

  I… I was not a male bird! Mini-me was gone! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I finally had a chance, so I immediately began the process of changing back into my half-elf form. This time, the process was faster, only taking one minute to complete itself. However, changing back and forth once had used almost my entire mana pool! It was also at this time that I noticed the windows that had appeared earlier.

  Congratulations! You qualify for a Druid Sub-Class!

  Wild Shaper

  Masters of their own bodies, these druids study the art of changing their forms to gain the abilities and traits of other creatures. Unlike other druids, these are not limited to beasts, but may also learn to harness the powers of magical beasts, and even monsters!

  Advanced Class path: Xeno-Shifter, able to further extend their art to copy the properties of other sentient species, mixing and matching to create an ultimate form.

  Do you wish to accept? Y/N

  Mana Signatures has increased to Basic

  New Spell Unlocked!

  Form Shift – Nature Magic – ★★☆