Arvena was to guide the team across the micro-universe of Valporovus, she had taken over that responsibility. Now, regarding shapeshifting, she had to lead by example, because she was their guide!
Arvena had to show them what a goblin looked like, in detail, in order for her guests to assume that shape accordingly. She started shifting on a spot where the waters were pretty shallow. It was safer to shift in shallow waters, because as her mushy, shifting body became heavier, she only sank a couple of feet below the waters, which wasn’t problematic whatsoever!
It only took her a single minute to transform, so she managed to stand up at three feet tall in no time! She was only chest deep in the salt waters, so it was totally manageable for her, it was practically impossible for one to drown here.
Anyway, her quick transformation hinted just how powerful she was. Sure she was only a few levels ahead in mana quality, but even that gave her such a grand advantage. Her guests won’t be able to transform as quickly, no, they weren’t as powerful!
Skendus felt confident enough to be the next one to shapeshift. He was a huge, three-meter long sawfish after all, so it shouldn’t be difficult for him to turn into a mere three-foot tall goblin. He gave it a shot right away!
While his blobby body sunk a couple of inches within the sand, he couldn’t help making a couple of guesses. He may not shapeshift as quickly, no, but from the looks of it, he didn’t have to sacrifice another whole level from his mana quality either! This was what he was pondering over, and this was why he was so confident.
He guessed, “I already burned through a whole level when I turned into a sawfish, so, it would be dumb to sacrifice another one, right? Hell, I’m a large marine predator, so this shift is more of a downgrade rather than anything else, yeah! A goblin can’t be greater than a sawfish, never, that doesn’t even sound right.”
Such an attitude was helpful, because one would think that even his body adjusted in cooperation to this confident attitude. About five minutes later, after he successfully shapeshifted, it was easier to believe that concept about attitude! He looked great.
Skendus arose from the waters, at four feet tall. He was huge, gray, fat-ish, and also muscly! It only took him five minutes to achieve this great form, so one could say that his conclusions, and his exaggerated confidence were reasonable!
However, those things aside, he was also naked right now, so he emerged from the waters with his penis swinging around violently, as if someone owed it money! He met Arvena in that matter, right on the warmths of the dry sand, and it would appear that she was naked too! Her green body was really well-toned, as she was a warrior of sorts, but Skendus then noticed that this ‘warrior’ was acting a bit funny.
Therefore, he asked. “What’s the matter?”
It took her a moment to answer, but once she did, her answer didn’t manage to make the surrounding atmosphere any less awkward. She pointed at the main, embarrassing flaw that most conscious beings bore; Lust!
She admitted, “See I expected to see all of you naked, but I didn’t expect any of you to be bigger than me. You seem… ideal. I wouldn’t mind breeding with you if fate has appointed that to us!”
Just then, Skendus caught up with what was going on, he recalled that one way or the other, every creature had to breed. Although at first he didn’t understand why Arvena was so aroused, he then managed to read through her mind, with his illusion-based abilities, and he found some terrifying, sexual stuff in there! He understood her feelings now, but he wasn’t a fan of them, not at all.
He was quick to lecture her about it as well, he scolded. “Behave yourself, lady! We were butt-naked as fish as well, all fish are naked, but you didn’t act like this earlier.”
“I don’t want to hump no fish,” She answered, shamelessly, but then she calmed down a little bit.
She sighed, and said. “You’re right though, I’m sorry! There’s a barrack close by, so we can get clothed appropriately, soon.”
Anyway, while they bickered out here, Tim and Ortana were still in the waters, and they weren’t as lucky regarding shapeshifting! They both possessed the ability to shapeshift, however, they were far too weak to shift into goblins, not without sacrificing a portion of their mana quality, at least!
They didn’t have much to sacrifice either, as the level of their mana quality was pretty low already, but still, they had to act accordingly. They had to be sacrificial, because it was stupid to walk these lands as lesser beings!
Tim had been a spider before, for example, and he had tried to explore the lands in that form, but it wasn’t easy whatsoever, so he knew the challenges of being so small! Ortana had been a spider before as well, amongst other creatures, so she too was aware of such challenges, they couldn’t risk being so small again.
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With that considered, they decided to sacrifice most of their mana quality. Ortana’s mana was at level three, however, her tiny stingray body was so small and under-complicated, that it wouldn’t be enough if she sacrificed just one level of her mana quality! For that matter, she sacrificed two of them instead, by casting a spoken-word spell, which was far more effective than sacrificing just one level. She started shapeshifting accordingly right away, the gods were very giving!
Regarding specifics, the spell sounded like this. “My will is but mana, and yet I have to let it go… Hear my plea, gods, as I wish to assume a greater form. Take thy blessings, but replace it with another!”
This was a strong, spoken-word spell. Some might say that it was an emotional spell too, but that didn’t matter much. The gods listened to her, they were really merciful this time, so they granted Ortana’s wish in mere seconds. She was to assume the form of a goblin, surely!
Ortana came prepared when she casted that spell. She got a good look at Arvena and Skendus earlier on, when those two had shapeshifted, so she knew what goblins looked like, and was ready to join them in that exact form!
Tim joined the procedure last, except, he was a bit luckier because he only had to sacrifice a single level of his mana quality, simply because he was a large stingray already, which gave him a bargaining advantage! Things were easier for him, which was great, because he didn’t have anything more to give. He could only sacrifice a single, insignificant level.
However, since he and Skendus despised the gods, he simply couldn’t beg the gods for mercy in order to transform. He and Skendus were blessed by the ghostly, punished brothers some weeks before, and by accepting their blessing, they also accepted their cause!
Tim was a rebel, and he rebelled against the punishment that the gods bestowed upon the weaker, specifically, upon creatures who were still within the god’s punishment realm of mana. Creatures within this realm could die, brutally, anytime when they tried to level up the quality of their mana, and he believed that this was overly cruel!
Death was a common punishment of those who wanted to progress, and that was what Timothy was rebelling against! This explained why he couldn’t simply beg the gods to help him transform, he couldn’t. Instead, he had to ask them for tolerance, and in accordance with that plan, he was taught what spoken-word spell to use! Skendus taught him.
Tim was ready to cast it too, so he chanted. “My love for mana is radiant, but yet I have to let it go. Hear me, gods, and understand my motives! Show a rebel such as myself your tolerance, give me a greater body, and perhaps I may despise you less for the destruction you inflict amongst the weaker!”
This spell spoke of many volumes. One would even be scared to think about such a spell, especially if they were still within the god’s punishment realm of mana, however, Tim didn’t budge. He had memorized the spell, chanted it proudly, and his attitude allowed for instant progress!
The atomic shifting ability he bore was then activated, which meant that the gods had accepted his demand. He started shifting into a goblin, a blue one, to be exact!
Tim managed to transform after ten whole minutes. Although that sounded like a long time, it still wasn’t that big of a problem, because he didn’t really have to breathe while he was in this mushy, pre-transformation form! The timespan was just a minor inconvenience, as Arvena and Skendus had to wait for him topside for a while.
Tim transformed into a two-and-a-half foot tall, blue goblin. He was smaller in comparison to the other two that had transformed before him, but that was only expected, as he didn’t sacrifice much. He was pretty muscly though, which was useful in the long run as he expected that goblins used their limbs a lot, for fighting and things like that.
Anyway, ever since he arose from the seawater, he had cracked a lot of penis jokes. The three of them were butt-naked, so his jokes were only inevitable, he annoyed the two half-to-death!
Ortana was the last to transform. It took her twenty whole minutes to do so, because she was a far lesser being in comparison to the rest of her friends, it took a long while to work against that fact. She came out as a whole, healthy, and blue goblin though, which was what mattered the most! She was also as tall as Timothy.
The intense process she went through, however, didn’t spare her from Timothy’s jokes, he was direct with them! As a goblin, Ortana looked surprisingly young and healthy, so he worked with that.
“Wow, lady! I expected to see a pair of saggy, perky stuff, but you proved me wrong. The gods gifted you, far more than they gifted me...” He joked.
She wasn’t as forgiving, however, so she bit back. “What? You wanted a pair of boobs on your chest? That’s a weird wish, kid.”
“Now, that’s obviously not what I meant!” He panicked, slightly, but his vantage point escaped from his grasp already.
Tim was defeated. He couldn’t crack any other jokes without making a fool of himself, a.k.a without admitting that he bore a small shaft, in this goblin form. He had to give the jokes up, at least for now!
Anyway, they were ready to stride the lands of this micro-universe now. There was a barrack nearby, where they could get clothed with armor, and they wanted to do exactly that, they wanted to get clothed, which would help them feel a lot less exposed.
They needed armor, possibly more than any other goblins did, because they’ve stepped on this land with very low levels of mana quality! Skendus was at level three, and his friends were both at level one, so it was fair to say that they were very vulnerable out here! If it wasn’t for their powers, they could be killed by anything that moved, even by something as simple as a goblin with a dagger! They had to be careful in these foreign lands.
However, they also beached on this land with a goal in mind. Within this micro-universe, they wanted to propel through the god’s punishment realm of mana, as quickly as possible, and this universe gave them that opportunity, it was oozing with mana! So all-and-all, the risks they were taking, and the sacrifices they were making, were bound to be worthwhile!