A sudden and sharp pain to the face awoke Jaeger from his sleep so quickly that he jumped out of bed. This caused the perpetrator to fly across the room before hitting the wall and staying there.
“Mrrw. Well, that's not very nice, here I was waking you up so you wouldn't miss your breakfast, and this is how you pay me back.”
When he put a hand to his face, he saw it come away bloody.
“You scratched me?”
“Just deep enough to bleed and wake you up.” Mischief lifted his paw and began to lick it clean of the sparse red splatter.
“Why!”
“Because breakfast is coming up and you were going to make us miss it.” Deeming himself clean enough, the cat finally walked down the wall to the floor and then over to the door.
“Then go get the food yourself and don’t bother me!”
“No, your human hands are required.”
Ignoring the cat, Jaeger walked to the bathroom. He used the sink to wash his face and studied his reflection; something he hadn't done since he was brought to this new world. He turned his head from side to side, looking at the rough beard he'd grown, the pale hints of old scars that reminded him of his past, and then he noticed his eyes. He hadn't had much reason to look at his own eyes before, but more than one lady had remarked that they were the color of a thunderstorm. He'd seen his share of thunderstorms, and never had one been as dark or as glowing purple as his eyes.
“What the hell happened to my eyes?” He muttered.
As he considered this he waited for one of the magic memories to supply answer but none came.
“Manling hurry up I wish to leave.”
“Hold your damn horses or leave. I know you can just magic your way through the door, I got more concerns than your damn hunger.”
Mischief let out an annoyed huff before vowing to do something vindictive to the inattentive human and moved to the bathroom door. He found the man staring deep into his own eyes. While Mischief had found the man's eyes interesting, he didn't think they were worth such a deep look; they didn't even change color or shape. He walked over to the manling and was about to pounce on him when he heard him muttering.
“This is your real concern? Nothing has happened to them. Your eyes simply mirror your soul now. After all they are the windows to it.” He passed here, contemplatively. “Well, not windows. A window is simply another entrance and easily broken into, the eyes are more like a long-distance view of your soul.”
Jaeger turned to the cat in bewilderment.
“But they didn't always look like this. Are you saying that I didn't have a soul or that my soul has changed?”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Neither.” Seeing the fun vein begin to throb, the cat decided to explain a bit more. “Its magic, you didn't have it, now you do. Like a world without fish, you may have known about the scaly things that live in the water, but now that you are in a world with fish, they look different and more edible.”
Jaeger blinked a few times at that.
“So what does that mean?”
“It means I’m hungry for fish.”
“No, about my eyes. What does it mean for me that they are this color?”
“Nothing. It's just what your eyes look like; most humans don't even change. Unless you become more interesting, then maybe the color will mean something. For now, though, they are only slightly more interesting than a normal human's. Now no more questions, I'm hungry and this time I'm going to do some damage if we don't leave.”
Jaeger was tempted to call the cat's bluff, but he saw the claws on its paws lengthening and decided to put his growing worries to the back of his mind. He simply added them to his list of questions for Lisette.
“Fine. I’ll get dressed and we’ll have breakfast. I’m headed to the guild after that though. I don’t rightly care what you do.”
He moved to the dresser where he'd put his clothes last night as he spoke. Reaching in, he pulled out clothes that looked freshly laundered; more magic, he guessed with a shrug. He put away his old jacket and belt in favor of the new ones he'd gotten, slipping on the belt and opting for the sharkskin ability for now.
As he decided to do so, he felt a layer of goosebumps run over his entire skin, one of the most uncomfortable sensations he'd ever had, but it ended quickly. Once done, his skin looked and felt the same, but when he pinched it, he felt it had toughened. He pulled out his boot knife and ran the blade over his forearm, feeling the same sensation as if he were running it over leather, while his arm felt only the slightest discomfort. Satisfied with the test, he put the knife away and moved on to the last piece of new equipment he'd put on here; the large orc vest.
Even as he held it, the vest changed shape. From a large vest with an Orc skull on the back to a great coat unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The coat was easily the most impressive he'd ever seen, rivaling those worn by the old commanders he knew. It was a dark purple, almost black, with fringes of brilliant silver. The cuffs on each sleeve seemed to have a ring of metal or something similar. Its buttons were designed to look like generic skulls, except for two, one of which was shockingly similar to the skull of the orc Crusher, while the other was a graceful mix of human and feline.
When he put the coat on, it was different from the frock coat he'd been wearing, it was heavier, and for a moment it was much too warm. As he thought, it changed, losing some of its weight and warmth until it reached a familiar comfort.
“I love this coat.”
“Hrrm. That is indeed an entertaining coat, it also seems to be hiding what it truly is.”
“I'm not going to ask what you mean, because as long as this coat isn't trying to kill me or cripple me, I don't care. Now come on.”
With that, Jaeger gathered the rest of his equipment into his pouch, which he had bound last night but hadn't had time to go through. For now, he simply loaded it and put it on, the coat seeming to almost absorb the bag and the satchel attached to it as one of its deep side pockets.
A now familiar parchment unfurled in front of him.
Item synchronization detected.
Bag of Holding has attached to ### Coat.
Bag of Holding functions remain unchanged with the exception of its opening location.
Opening is now located through pockets of ### Coat.
If these changes are found to be undesirable by the user, then the user will be able to change them back to individual settings.
Changes are not permanent, and desired removal of add-ons is possible.
With that, the parchment rolled up again and disappeared. Jaeger was satisfied with the fusion, as he had always found a pouch to be awkward to navigate in combat. This coat was definitely more than he'd expected.
“Hurry up! You said we were leaving and now you are blocking the door to read your updates.”