Day 1 of my life as a Zho wasn't too bad. It was mostly the responsibilities and perks of the job. I can sleep at the barracks as long and I have a trunk to put my things in. Food is prepared in the morning, at noon, at night before the sun sets, and once more in the middle of the night for the people that work nights. I am paid 6 gold a week (60 silver) and that is paid weekly. Not bad actually. I do well and that pay will be increased with time. Not every guard sleeps in the barracks. A number of them actually have houses in town. I have been given a spear and some padded armor. It's kinda warm but not unbearable. I will keep my quarterstaff under my bed and my other stuff in my trunk for now. Other than that today was mostly exercise and physical activity. All those nice meals I had eaten were thrown back up. Martel has been a bit of a hard ass but I don't let it get to me. This is how drill instructors are supposed to be right? Martel knows I can turn into animals but I don't think I understand the full extent. I don't even know the full extent but I am gonna find out. I really want to get a big mammal form and see if I can add muscle mass from it to my normal form.

The captain wants me to gain a bird form so dinner was a raven they had hunted. The raven didn't taste the best. I told them I would need to rest in order to connect and understand the form. All I need to really do is touch the animal's soul in my dreams and a mound will form on their souls providing me with the connection. So far it's only when I let animals interact with my memories that they become awakened. I had considered doing that but I decided it was better to move slowly.

There are about 200 Zho but the barracks were not that crowded. This was probably because some worked the night shift and others had houses. From prison cell, to stables, to my own bed in a communal living space. Nowhere to go but up.

Heading into my dreams I quickly found the raven sitting on a shelf near my memories.

"Rubert he hasn't touched any yet has he?" I asked.

"Not yet. Want me to keep him away?" Rubert asked.

"No, I will try and set something up," I said. I erased all the memory orbs first. The raven let out a loud CAW in my direction.

"Don't think he liked that boss." Rubert said.

"Too bad," I said. Now how was I going to prevent the bird from getting to the memories while still allowing Rubert access? I can't just make a key. Roob doesn't have hands. A doggy door won't work either. I could capture the raven and put him in a cage. Hmm, no that feels mean. Guess half measures then.

I create a full warehouse around the shelves. I make sure to get the raven out before I roof it. Then I create a door on one end. "Come on in, Rubert," I said.

"Sure boss." He said.

"You will probably be trapped in here while I am awake. Not much I can do to prevent him from getting in without keeping you out as well." I have tried making more advanced technologies but I haven't had any luck. I think I need a basic understanding of how an item works. I set up more chairs and some bean bag chairs and recreated all the memories.

"Have fun, I am going to connect with the other bird in my life now." I said.

"Say things like that, boss and I might start to get jealous." He said.

"It's okay, you always remember your first," I smirked.

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Finding the raven wasn't hard. I have begun to get a vague sense of where things are in this world. He seems to be in the trees near the river. Despite the earlier hesitation, I created a cage around the bird. He panicked a lot. "It's okay buddy this will all be over soon," I said.

My attempt at animal handling didn't work as he clawed and bit my hand. While the injury wasn't permanent here it still hurt. But he couldn't stop me and the connection was made. I unmade the cage and let him go. He continued to dive-bomb me.

"Sorry stop *ouch* just leave *ouch* ENOUGH!" I yelled.

CAW he screeched.

"Yea fuck you too," I said. I headed back to the new official warehouse of memories.

…….

"Alright go ahead and do a full form change. I understand you have expressed concerns as to what happens when you do so we are here to help you and keep you calm in case the worst happens." Martel said. We were at an indoor training area attached to the barracks. The walls had wooden weapons and practice dummies.

"Alright, I got this," I said pumping myself up. I willed my hands to become covered in black feathers. When that worked I replaced the rest of my body. First thing I noticed was the change in vision. I could see so much more now. It was weird. I tried calling my eyes but all I got was this weird gray-eyed kid. Didn't block much like seems to most be there to keep my eyes from getting dry.

"Esdom, do you understand me?" Martel asked. We had drawn a crowd at this point. Some people were wondering why Martel was talking to a crow. The ones that had been watching from the beginning were shocked. Guess people don't see druids and their animal shapes normally. I seem to be able to think clearly. Does this mean my theory of thought being at least partially disconnected from the mind is true? Interesting.

"Alright let's see you hop around now. Follow me outside." Martel said. Once I get in more practice I am gonna try and salute him in front of everyone. Some of the crowd follows us outside. Guess they have nothing better to do. “Alright, go ahead. Fly,” he said.

“Caw,” I said sarcastically. Like it was that easy. I stretched my wings to get a feel for them. They felt light. My whole body felt light. Do crows have hollow bones? Anyway, I put strength into my legs and flapped as hard as I could. Lift off. I kept flapping as I began to rise out of the barracks courtyard. I don't know if it was instinct but I knew how to position the wings for the best amount of lift. Higher and higher I rose. I began to see the entire city. Feolinn is built around 4 main roads making the shape of a square. Suamalie Way, Alt'afi Avenue, Minceli Road, and Sayer Street . From up here I can see all of them and the surrounding vineyards. I can see the docks with tens of ships either coming in or out of port. I have seen people gush about the joy of flying but now that I can actually do it. I understand why people say birds are symbols of freedom. I cut my first flight short by returning to the barracks. Martel is there looking for me so I swoop by his head and land on the ground.

“Caw caw,” I say.

“Welcome back, good job. I am sure this is exciting but I can talk to you like this.” He said. I did as he said. In the game when people shapeshifted they had the option of having their clothes merge into their form. I am happy to see that is the standard here because I wasn't paying attention to if I had lost them a few minutes ago.

“How was it? Think you can do your duties while a bird.” Martel asked.

“Yes sir. The amount of things I can see at one time will take a small adjustment but I believe I can excel.” I replied.

“Good. We are going to have to get you a different bird. Most of the Zho saw you transform or they will know soon enough. Some idiot is gonna end up blabbing in a tavern about how the birds themselves have joined the Zho.” He said this part quietly to me.

“All right. I guess I will need a dinner of rats and seagulls then.” I said. Martel looked at me and then began to think. Oh shit, he was seriously thinking about it. “Look if I actually get that please drown it in cheese and spices please,” I begged.

“You will be fine. Don’t worry about anything. Hehehe.” He laughed maliciously.

And like that, my first week on the job passed quickly. I acquired 4 more forms, a rat, a seagull, a cat, and a dog. I really didn't want to get those last two but I had to balance their use versus my feelings. Luckily the Zho seemed to benefit from some of the finer wines available in town. It's weird being a cat. I feel an instinctual need to sunbathe, knock things over, and sleep. It was nice. Being a dog seemed to amplify my need to impress everyone and make them like me. I wasn't called a bad dog at any point but if someone had done it I might have cried buckets on the spot. Once I was given some time to get used to each form I was made to really exercise my abilities. My number one responsibility is to find danger, criminal activity, or people that are hurt and report back to the nearest Zho as fast as possible. We trained with me spotting as a bird, scent tracking as a dog, infiltration as a rat, blending in as any of my forms, and when I wasn't training with Martel, I was training on my own. I practiced using animal parts on my normal body. None of the animals had anything strong enough to keep up with human-sized enemies but I could practice having multiple eyes and brains. I kept the extra brains near my spine to help with sending signals along my nervous system and put the eyes on gaps in my armor or on my hands. At dinner time I tried using several kidneys to process alcohol faster to see if I could maybe fight poisons better. Two extra hearts from the dog and cat to help with blood flow during combat and the lungs to get more oxygen. With how much I am trying to change my body I am probably going to end up needing to not wear armor. But to do that I need either a troll's regeneration or some kind of scaly or stony skin. But so far I am feeling great. Tomorrow is the day of the festival and we are going to be busy. It might be fine at first but there's no way it won't end with several drunken brawls and at least a dozen break-ins.