The Calarin council hall
The court mage casts light, illuminating the council of nobles, murmuring amongst themselves.
“This is outrageous! The forests belong to us!” shouted a noble.
“We have to kill those elves,” sneered a noble. “They have killed so many of our citizens!”
“We deserve to occupy the rich forests of Calaran,” agreed another. “Our citizens need the rich forests to prosper.”
Although the Calarin Kingdom owns the forests in name, the elves are the ones who actually occupy the forest, stating that it’s wrong to destroy nature in the pursuit of profits.
The king releases a short, powerful burst of red aura.
The council falls into silence.
He gazes upon his subjects silently, sighing.
He sat in deep thought about all the lives lost to the war. “Can I really rule as well as my father, though I have been touted as the strongest king yet?”
The kingdom is in shambles, suffering from overpopulation and the lack of resources. After the long war against the demonfolk, much of the land is polluted by miasma, uninhabitable by most races aside from monsters.
“The elves speak of rubbish about honor and dignity, yet we were the ones taking most of the damage in the alliance!”
The nobles are practically drooling while gnashing their teeth, thinking of the elves sitting on their high horse (giraffe?) and snickering as they got away with suffering minimal casualties, with their traditional enemies of humans and demons destroying each other.
“We demand land and compensation!!”
Of Course the elves were not going to give up their land.
“At least some elven medicine to cure our soldiers?”
Nope.
“As expected of the Conqueror King! All hail!”
“Hail!” they shouted in unison. “Long live the king!”
Deep in the Calarin Forest, a black mist envelops the aftermath of a battlefield, smothering the remains of dead human and elven soldiers.
The bodies twitch, then disappear into dust.
The traces of greenish bluish hues of mana condenses into a shadowy humanoid form.
A male soldier, around his mid twenties.
A youthful female elf.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Degraded Basic Swordsmanship obtained!]
[Degraded Intermediate Bowmanship obtained!]
[Degraded Basic Magic Mastery obtained!]
[Degraded Basic Language Interpretation obtained!]
[Inherited partial traits of elves and humans!]
It seems to look around.
Wandering through the forest, it chanced upon a child.
Her small frame, bent over, gathering herbs and mushrooms.
She seems to be around six or seven, dirt speckled her white dress.
An instinct to consume comes over the shadowy form.
With one short scream, the girl was dragged into the form, disappearing.
Only the dirty, ripped, rags of a dress remain.
Moments later, the mist dissipates, revealing the child.
It flexed her hands, forming it into a fist and opening it, inspecting the body, putting the clothes back on.
[Basic Herbal Knowledge obtained!]
[You may transform into “Michelle!”]
[Degraded basic language interpretation has been upgraded to Basic language interpretation!]
A sharp pain echoes in her skull. A flood of information and memories.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
[The penalty is mild]
“Remember to not go too deep into the forests Michelle! Have ## playing ### -end!”
It found out that it was mom.
She felt warm.
Later on, mom could be seen crying. 2 soldiers were speaking to her.
“### was ##od man.”
She felt sick.
She blinks. The village is burning.
Run away… Run away…
[The penalty has ended. Returning to first person point of view]
I received fragments of the child’s memory.
In this world there are skills.
Each creature, from the weakest slime to the strongest dragon has a skill. Each kingdom possesses unique skills, producing valuable trade commodities.
The elves in particular protect the world tree, which can be made into special medicine that can cure fatal wounds and regain youth.
After the fall of Demon King Asmodeus, the humanoid nations fell into a massive race war. Humans seek to gain new territory and treasures, as the invasion from the demons left trace amounts of miasma, leaving most of the west uninhabitable.
She learned that the dwarves, secluded in the cave systems in the middle of the continent, remain as a neutral trade nation.
The elves occupy the forests in the center of the continent.
Human civilizations unite around the west consisting of the Kingdom of Calarin.
The neutral federation of beastfolk scattered in the east, far away from the other races due to discrimination.
Nobody dares approach the north, where the dragonkin resides.
Race: Progenitor Shapeshifter
Title: N/A
LVL: 2
HP: 200
MP: 50
ATK: 5
DEX: 12
Racial trait(s):
Shapeshifting lvl 1: Depending on the condition of the corpse, you can shapeshift into your target. No limit.
Sublimation lvl MAX: Turns into an intangible cloud of black mist. Physical attacks have no effect, but are susceptible to magical attacks and receive more knockback.
Notes: Current copy is imperfect. Stats of copy are reduced, and copies abilities are degraded.
I wandered through the remains of the battlefield.
Equipment lay strewn all over the place.
Not like the dead can use it, she thought.
From one soldier, a white cloak. I brush the dirt and leaves off.
I pulled it tight.
‘Cold.’
From another, a slightly chipped dagger. I can’t wield anything bigger.
Some wooden sandals.
Some woolen socks.
A potion with a reddish hue.
A silver necklace, inlaid with a blue jewel.
[Sapphire Necklace]
Enchanted by a mage, it has a slight protection to all elements, with a slight boost to MP. Perfect for a mage. “RM” is engraved in the back. Feels warm to the touch.
Suddenly, a few black masses rush out from among the trees.
“A child?”
“Just a child.”
“Where are the bodies?”
“Forget it, the monsters probably got ‘em.”
“Hey, where you from?”
“Probably just a refugee.”
“Heyyyy buddy, you lost?”
“I- I came from the nearby city, I was out gathering herbs for my ... .Sick mother.”
“Come with us, we’ll help you get back,” he said with a wink. “We just came from there, as a request from the guild to retrieve the remains.
He glances over. “Come on, I don’t bite!”
Reluctantly, she trailed behind them.
I fidget, a nervous habit carried over by Michelle.
After around an hour of walking, her tiny legs ache.
I began slowing down.
The man from before offers to carry me.
It feels nice.
“Hey wake up, we are here. The city of Wesclim.”
The city bustles with adventurers. Blacksmiths and merchants hawking their products. All kinds of races. Beastmen, humans, a dwarf here and there. It seems lively. I watched on quietly, wondering if I could ever fit into this world.
“Not much of a speaker huh? Well whatever.”
‘That startled me.’
I stare blankly.
Blinks
“Th-thank you, let me down please.”
I smile.
“Lets go report back to the guild. Don’t stray too far, ‘kay?”
I nod and wave.
I start messing around with my skills. Magic? It seems like I have been a mage all my life, tiny flames and droplets of water dancing across my vision.
The adventurers were busy cheering on a duel with swords. I can instinctively trace their movements. Feint left. Push him, knock him off balance. Strike his torso with the pommel.
Success!
I slip away quietly into a back alley.
‘This child seems to have a strangely detailed idea about these shady areas…’
As a shapeshifter born out of magic, I don’t feel hunger. I don’t need sleep.
But most of all, I was afraid. Afraid of what others will do if they found out my identity, afraid of all these foreign emotions.
‘Who am I?’
Days turn into weeks turn into months. The war rages on, as the leaves turn golden brown and fall off the branches.
I spent my days training my magic and hunting monsters late into the night.
[Lesser Direwolf has appeared!]
The dagger glances off its tough hide.
I jump back, starting to blast it with magic.
It charges towards me.
‘Perfect.’
With a yelp, it fell into my trap dug from earth magic, formerly covered with leaves and twigs.
[Level up!]
I gasp for air. My MP is running low again. I got an inexplicable joy from leveling up.
[Keen Smell obtained!]
[Night Vision obtained!]
Months drag on to years.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Shapeshifting has leveled up to level 2! You may consume blood to get a glimpse into the person’s past. Requires 10% of max MP. Memory fragments depend on the purity and age of the blood]