Once the more unpleasant part of the conversation was over, the group chatted for a few more minutes, before I ended the group mental call. After all, there were other things I still needed to do.

“Let’s take a look at your face,” I said as I turned towards Felix. “I promised that I’d help you change it around, and now seems like the best time to get started. Are there any modifications you want me to focus on?”

“Hmm…” Felix took a quick look at his body, and then grabbed a bowl of water to use as a mirror. He inspected his face and his body from every angle, occasionally frowning, and occasionally nodding.

“I think I’d like a little bit more of a tanned look,” he said, after some thought. “I’ve noticed that in this country, people tend to have fairer skin, and more ‘tanned’ complexions aren’t very common. But I’m pretty used to it from our time on the islands, and as long as it’s done in moderation, it should look like I’m just someone who works in the sun a lot, rather than someone who moved here from one of the colonies. I’d prefer it if my skin was a bit more tanned, but I’d like to avoid getting discriminated against as if I were someone from overseas,” said Felix.

“I can do that. I assume you want a bit more of a bronze color?” I asked. That was roughly what I remembered people’s skin looking like while we had been on the islands.

“Yeah, that would be perfect. Apart from that, can you modify my cheekbones a bit? I don’t like how narrow they look. I’d prefer a bit more of a chiseled jawline,” said Felix, grinning. “Might as well set myself up to be handsome later, right?” I chuckled, and nodded.

“My muscles are also a little bit on the slim side. I mean, I know I’m not even five years old yet, but when I get older, I’d really prefer a bit of muscle definition, but not much,” said Felix, after some thought. “I’d like to keep my aesthetic as somebody who has worked out in the sun a little bit, but isn’t too muscular. Also, my nose is a little bigger than I’d like, and my eye color is completely wrong. Can you change my forehead a little bit, too? I actually like this shape, but it’s best to make me as unrecognizable as possible. Just in case the people from the base track me down later.”

I paused as I thought about Felix’s description for what he wanted his body to look like. A lot of the details he had mentioned were similar to the way his body looked in the Market - but there were some differences to it.

“Are you experimenting with a different look?” I asked. I was fine with helping Felix look however he wanted to look, but I was slightly taken aback by the changes to his facial structure and body shape he had proposed.

Felix nodded and grinned. “I’ve been experimenting a little bit with my body shape over the past few lives, to figure out what I’m happiest with. I mean, I think you also remember this, but in my first life, due to genetics, my body was really bulky, kind of like a bear. I wasn’t really happy with that, because if you look too muscular, people tend to think of you as a brute and not somebody very smart. A little bit of muscle is nice, but too much just looks off.” Felix said. ”I would prefer to look like I have a little bit of muscle and do some exercise regularly, but also have thinner and more dextrous arms and fingers. They make more delicate work easier. And I’d prefer it if people look at me and think that maybe I have some muscles to me, but if I also have a bit of a scholarly look. I haven’t quite figured out how to give off both a scholarly and a slightly muscular look yet, so I’m trying to balance body shapes until I figure it out,” he said.

I frowned, thinking about Felix’s request. “I’m not quite sure how to balance those two looks either, but I can try. Let me tap into your perception of your face while you look at your reflection, and I’ll start creating an illusion for you based on what I think you want. Let me know if you’re happy with that look, and if you are, I’ll start to use my alteration essence to make that illusion more permanent. Does that sound like a plan?”

Felix nodded. “Sounds good. Your illusion-perception ability just taps into my eyesight, right?”

“Yup. Just eyesight. No thoughts, feelings, or anything else,” I said.

“I trust you. Go ahead.”

I pushed my thoughts into Felix’s vision, and started creating an illusion for Felix based on his description. Felix helped me correct some of the final details, and we spent over half an hour trying to sculpt a face that Felix was happy with as my absorption essence slowly dribbled away.

Finally, Felix sighed. “I’m still not entirely happy with this illusion, but it’s at least closer to what I want. Do you mind going over my face with me a few more times in the future, until we get it right?”

“Of course!” I said.

“Then let’s go with this for now. We can always change more later,” said Felix.

I started using my alteration essence to make Felix’s illusory face more permanent. I kept a good amount of alteration essence laying around in case an emergency happened, but I still bronzed up Felix’s skin a little and straightened out his nose and cheekbones. Felix wasn’t completely unrecognizable yet, but he definitely looked different than he had last night. Another day or two of modification, and he would be completely unrecognizable.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but grimace at how inefficient it was that I needed to use my absorption essence for this. In the future, I really needed to set aside time for practicing shapeshifting using just alteration essence. Right now I was using the illusion rune ability as a crutch to make everything work, but that meant I was wasting a rune ability to cover up for my lack of practice and knowledge. Since the Orukthyri of my previous life had been created from shapeshifted Orthans, it was obvious that permanent shapeshifting WAS possible using the shaping magic system. I just didn’t know how to do it.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

In the future, I wanted to have good enough control over my abilities that I didn’t need to waste an ability slot and a bunch of absorption essence to make shapeshifting possible. Since I had lots of time to practice, I should make the most of it. It would be even better if I could figure out how to make illusions using alteration essence too.

As I fell into thought about my future plans for what I needed to learn and master this life, my illusions faded away, leaving only the permanent alterations I had made to Felix’s face. Felix inspected the changes, before he nodded. “Not bad,” he said, grinning into makeshift mirror. “Thanks, Miria. For everything. Rescuing me from the base and helping me disguise myself, it just… it means a lot to me.” He gave me a quick hug, which I happily returned.

“I’m happy to help,” I said. “Besides, if I was in a bad situation, the three of you would do the same for me.”

Felix nodded. “Of course. That’s what friends do.” He smiled at me, and then fell into thought, as he looked at the makeshift mirror again.

“Out of curiosity, Mir, have you had any thoughts about experimenting with your body shape? I’ve noticed that you tend to use the same face and body structure from one life to the next, while I’m still actively experimenting with what I want. I’m just curious.”

I thought about the question.

“I don’t know if I want to experiment, much,” I said, as I took a glance at my own face in the makeshift mirror. “I’m pretty happy with how I look right now. I was… really happy on the islands, for the most part,” I said. “Keeping my face and body at least mostly similar to what I looked like back then helps me remember. If I was ugly, I might have been more tempted to change things, but…” I shrugged. “I’m pretty happy with how I look now.” I looked at my childlike, pudgy limbs, and then snorted. “Or at least I’m happy with the way I look when I’m grown up.”

Felix nodded, and then laughed. “I was just curious. Sallia has also been changing her body a bit from one life to another, but I’m pretty sure she’s optimizing for swordsmanship instead of trying to hit some sort of specific beauty standard. Her reach and balance seem to get a little bit better every time.”

I grinned. I had noticed that Sallia’s swordsmanship was getting better every life. I had assumed that was just the process of Sallia memorizing and learning more, as well as her stats and abilities improving, but it might also be from her optimizing her body a little every life.

“So, you said that you were working at Old Mo’s to get food, right?” said Felix, his tone turning a little more serious. “Is there anything I could do to help? I don’t want you to be responsible for feeding me. I’d at least like help out.”

I thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. “I have no idea. Honestly, given Old Mo’s personality, I doubt he’d accept another helper. He’s a bit soft-hearted, but he is still someone who lives near the slums. There’s a limit to how much kindness he can afford. There is something else you might be able to do,” I said, before I pulled out some of the guns I had stolen last night from dead soldiers while rescuing Felix. “If you can find a way to start making guns, or something else that can be sold that would help a lot. I originally wanted to become some sort of shady-slums healer or doctor, but the logistical difficulties are hard for me to fix right now. It’s probably easier to sell fully-made products, as long as I can find a good way to sell them off. Sallia could probably help with that. Do you have any ideas?”

Felix paused, and then started grinning. “You know, I’ve been rather curious about how gunpowder and weapons work in this world. I’ve noticed that bullets are a bit slower but pack a bit of a bigger punch when the soldiers fired at us last night, and the way gun triggers are constructed look a bit different than they did in my first life. I would definitely like to take a look…”

I grinned, and pulled some of the guns I had swiped last night out of my backpack before handing them over to Felix. I also gave him the swords, although I left the lightning bolts in my backpack for now. I didn’t think it was a good idea to let Felix investigate them until we had an area that was more isolated from other people, just in case a passerby noticed the manifestation essence in the lightning bolts. It was unlikely, but there was no reason to take the risk right now.

Felix looked at the guns and then grinned. “I can work with that. How about the potions, too? I might be able to figure out what they do, and maybe find a way to make more of them-”

I froze.

Felix looked a bit awkward. “Ah… I mean… the lightning bolts?”

I winced.

“You knew?” I asked.

“Sallia told me to help you if you couldn’t sell them,” he said. “And she also said that you should try selling the potions you stole to Old Mo. He seems like the kind of person to have a few shady connections, and be willing to help you out.”

I sighed. “If you and Sallia already know, why did I put so much effort into trying to hide it…”

“You’re…. very bad at keeping secrets from your friends, Mir,” said Felix.

I drooped. “All right, fine. Take a look at the potions and get back to me on them. I was planning on giving them to Old Mo to take a look at them, but you can probably get more out of studying them than we would get from just selling them.”

Before I had time to think further about potions, moneymaking, and supplies for the future I heard the front door swing open.

“Miria!” said my mother.

She sounded different than usual. She still sounded hazy and floaty, as if her mind wasn’t all there. But it was rare for her to call out my name, since she usually wasn’t lucid enough to recognize whether I was there or not.

My mother sounded partially lucid. It was more than I had seen from her in months. I had wanted to talk with her for a long time, but she had never been present enough to hold a conversation with. Until today.

I looked at Felix, who had frozen in surprise, and then quickly pointed towards the worn-out closet. He nodded, and quickly hid as I made my way out of the room.

It was finally time to have a conversation with my mother.