A tail. I had a fucking tail. Sticking out over the edge of my pants, thankfully not exposing anything, was an absurdly fluffy yellow fox tail. I was too concerned with other things to notice earlier, but now I realized I could feel it, almost like another limb. Oh, and I also looked like a woman apparently.
“What the fuck does the transformation mean?!” I yelled at Xino, as the woman flinched.
“I’m sorry, it’s normal protocol for your contractor to inform you of this! When you become a guardian, your body transforms to adjust to using magic freely, and that transformation varies depending on each person. Contractor, would you explain why you didn’t tell her about this?” She said. Suddenly, I saw a glowing light appear at the desk nearby and jumped back in surprise. Out of nowhere a small cartoonish looking yellow fox that had stars for pupils appeared on the desk.
“Sorry, I was just getting used to having a physical form again. My guardian was in danger, so I had limited time to offer them the contract. We will be going over things now with you all. Speaking of which, I would recommend offering them physical aid, as they are quite injured."
"What?! Tritan, get the med kit, quickly!" Xino said, and her brother hurried into another room.
“Why is that fox talking and where did it come from?” I said, and it looked over at me, as I tried my best to not think about my injuries before the pain set in again.
“Since you accepted the contract, I can now take on a body using your innate magic.”
“Wait, hang on, she said magic earlier too. Is magic real?” I asked, and Xino nodded at me. I looked at her for a minute, before putting my head down on the desk in front of me. She could clearly tell I wasn't taking this information well and walked over with her brother's chair.
“I’m sorry if this is a lot to deal with. You want to sit down while we get you patched up?” She asked, and I eventually nodded, lifting my head up and sitting down. I accidentally sat directly on my tail, so I tried moving it out of the way. As it turns out, I did have a limited amount of control over it, and I managed to move it to the side. Her brother came back around the corner with a kit, and as he reached into it, he grabbed what looked like some kind of patch.
"Here, point out where you got injured- oh, never mind, that's pretty obvious." He said as a lifted up my shirt slightly, barely catching myself in time from lifting it too high. I saw the side of my stomach where that entity hit me was completely purple as he walked over to me and kneeled down.
"You know, I never thought I'd get to use that medical training! Guess that wasn't a big waste of time." He said as he opened some kind of patch before sticking it on my stomach, and a wave of coolness spread over the area before it went numb. Xino grabbed another chair and sat down in front of me.
“Okay, I think it would be best if I describe the basics of the contract you just entered, and later your contractor can explain the more detailed elements. As I said earlier, my name is Xino, and me and my brother Tritan are the official Guardian Relations Experts of your country. Normally there would be a much bigger team here, but Earth is a very low profile planet so Zenith presence is limited. I have a few years of experience working with guardians, but my brother just started last month, so you’ll have to excuse him on his communication skills.” She said, her brother making some kind of hand sign at her that, funnily enough, could only be equated to flipping the bird with his talons. The fox, who was apparently the voice that had made the contract with me, jumped over into my lap and laid down, which did actually comfort me a bit.
“To start with, yes, magic is real. We tend to keep it secret for a number of years after we first make content with a planet if they don't have any invasions, as it’s a hard enough adjusting period with just the technology. It usually gets revealed on the twenty fifth anniversary of our arrival on a planet, so you would have been informed in about a month or two anyways. Until then, please try not to say anything about it.”
“So, its full on actual magic? Not just like science or something?” I asked, and she thought about it for a moment.
“I mean, everything is science, and there are tons of fields of study related to magic. It’s best to think of it as sort of another force of the universe, like gravity and magnetism. Every species naturally collects mana in their bodies while they live, and with proper equipment and training anyone can use it to do basic functions like making small items or lighting candles. As a guardian however, you are special. Due to the transformation you went through, you can use magic much easier, and can use some spells without having to actually learn how to use them. In fact, guardians each have special magical abilities that can't be replicated by anyone else, but your contractor can tell you more about that. Would you mind showing her? Or them? I'm not sure what to call you right now." She said, and the little fox looked up at me.
“One second, let me check. Also, I will begin thinking of a new name so that you do not have to keep calling me contractor." As it said this, another box appeared in front of me, this time displaying some kind of information sheet.
GUARDIAN INFORMATION Name: Liam Inoue Guardian Persona: None
Point Total: 150
View Purchase History
Sign: Event Horizon
Sign Abilities: Adjust Density
Class: Unavailable (Amethyst Rank)
View Class Details
Spells: None Tomes: None Catalogues: None Cybernetics Installed: None Condition: Moderately Injured
Note: Gravity Magic is normally an unusable form of magic and can be highly dangerous and hard to control. Any guardian with access to it is obligated to take as much care as possible when using this in the presence of civilians.
I was obviously confused by what I was seeing, but a few things stuck out to me in particular, and I looked away from the screen to the fox.
"What's up with gravity magic? And why don't I have a class?"
"I'll explain the classes first. There are different tiers of power to guardians, starting at Amethyst. Once you get more experience fighting the plague and using magic, you'll rank up to Aquamarine, where you'll get to choose your own class based off of how you fought up to that point. The classes provide specific buffs you can choose from and get more advanced as time goes on."
"Oh, so it really is like a video game?" I asked, and the fox nodded.
"Correct. The system actually changes visuals for each user to align with something familiar to them, which for most people on Earth would be games. As for your first question, I have disabled access to the ability you got to start out, as misusing it could injure you. Gravity is not normally able to be altered through magic, but many guardians have broken the established laws of magic in the past. The ability you started with allows you to change the density of your body, making you lighter or heavier at will. Later you’ll be able to make your own abilities.”
"That, actually sounds kinda awesome. But I don't want to just float off into space, so you should probably keep it disabled for now. More importantly, how the hell do I get back to my old body?" I asked, and the fox thought about it for a moment.
"It depends on what you mean by your old body. Certain elements of the transformation, like the ears and tail, are irreversible. However, with the right catalogues, you could purchase items that would allow you to look like your more masculine old form. You gain points whenever you kill an entity, or when you help save someone from the plague. You then use these points to purchase catalogues and tomes, which give you access to spells and items to purchase."
"I'm not sure how I feel about being stuck with a tail for the rest of my life, but I would at least like to go back to...hang on, did you say ears?" I said, reaching up to my head. Sure enough, I felt a pair of rather fluffy ears there, which moved when I touched them. Of course I had fox ears too, at this point that shouldn't have surprised me.
"Is there a mirror somewhere around here, cause I'd like to actually see what my body looks like right now." Xino nodded, leading me over to a bathroom nearby. She waited outside as I walked in and headed over to the sink and looked into the mirror. I don't know what I was expecting, but what I saw left me feeling very strange. My hair was still the same color, but it now went down to damn near the center of my back, and my face was much softer. All the sternness of the features I had gotten from my father had softened, and my pupils were now slits. Combined with the ears and the tail, I had to admit I looked rather cute, but something else about my face was throwing me off. I tried my best to ignore the other elements of my change for the moment, and looked for my contractor, who was currently on the floor next to me chasing their own tail.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Uh, can I ask a question? How does this whole, transformation thing decide what I look like?"
"That information is restricted. Any details on the selection process were locked by the people who created me and my family many years ago. What do you think of the name Celeste?"
"You mean, like the game? It's not bad, if you like it go for it. Wait, who made you, the Zenith?"
"No, it was many years before they began exploring the universe. Most just refer to them as The Ones Before, as we don't know what they actually called themselves. Well, I do know, but I can't access those memories. But they made us to help fight off the plague, and we allow you to break the rules of magic and purchase Zenith technology."
"Huh, well I guess if they're alive somewhere we owe them a big thanks. By the way, what should I call you right now, pronoun wise? Cause I have no clue what the difference between male and female foxes are."
"Over the many years and hundreds of guardians I've selected, I have been every gender that you have on this planet and then some. But I think I feel more female this time, so let's go with that. What about you?" She asked me, and I thought about it for a moment.
"...I'm not sure. I mean, I've been a guy all my life, but I don't feel very masculine right now. I guess I could try out being a woman. I'd probably want to choose a new name too then." I found it rather odd to say, but it was true. It was hard to call myself a man when I looked so, womanly. Celeste looked up at me from the floor.
"You can do whatever makes you comfortable. Although, if I could make a suggestion? A very popular Zenith name is Liara, in your language it roughly translates to Sky. It's also rather close to your old name."
"There are people called Liara on Earth too! I think so at least. But I actually don't hate the sound of that. Alright, for now I'll be Liara and you'll be Celeste. Let's just hope my father doesn't find out about this for a while, otherwise I'll just be dead."
"That's the spirit! Now, can we please leave this bathroom, it's rather disgusting." Celeste said, and I looked around for a moment before grimacing. I quickly headed outside, and Xino looked over at me as I did.
"You all good now?"
"Yeah, I think so. Just, call me Liara for now. Figure if I'm gonna be stuck like this for a while, might as well embrace it somewhat. So now what happens? It's not like Earth has a lot of plague for me to kill."
"Oh, that's actually the last thing I needed to talk with you about. Follow me please." She said, and we began walking back to the main area. I was still a little weirded out by the main area of support for guardians on Earth being a cramped office space.
"So, the way this works is, any planets that don't have repeated invasions, guardians from there are instead sent to other planets to help with their invasions. It works on a lottery system, so we check to see what levels and number of guardians will be needed and select random ones in a certain radius. Then you're teleported right there!" She said as we headed back into the main room, her brother still just tapping away at his tablet.
"Wait, so I could just get pulled away at any moment? What if I'm in class or something?"
"Well as a guardian, the excuse of being busy saving lives is basically enough to get you out of any obligation legally, but if that seems intrusive there is another option. Tritan, if you could show her?" Her brother looked over annoyed and leaned over showing me his tablet.
"Here, this is a list of current invasions happening close enough to this planet that we could warp you easily. If you volunteer to help out there, then when we randomly decide who gets chosen for an invasion and your name comes up, we skip over you once. Unless it's a planet destroying invasion, then we just call in everyone. If you wanted, we could send you right now. Did you have plans today or something?"
"Well I was planning on going to class, but seeing as I was almost killed, I don't think they'll care much if I skip today. What all do I need to do before I head out?" I asked Celeste, who began pulling up menus in my face.
"My recommendations would be to acquire a weapon and a translation device before we set off. There are over ten million different languages spoken across the universe, so a translator is necessary. And some new clothes, those aren't exactly your size anymore." I looked down at my clothes, which somehow looked smaller than they did before. Huh, who knew getting turned into a woman would make me taller. I looked through the menus Celeste had pulled up, which all had graphics of the different catalogues I was supposed to purchase from. I just went along with whatever was there and bought the three she had selected.
Battle Clothing Tier Amethyst Unlocked for 30 Points, New Total: 120
Weapons and Ammunition Tier Amethyst Unlocked for 30 Points, New Total: 90
Basic Cybernetics Tier Amethyst Unlocked for 30 Points, New Total: 60
"Alright, you'll want to purchase the Nano Translator Mark 1 for 10 points from that catalogue. Once you buy it, the hardware will be installed directly into your brain. Before you worry about that, the hardware is the size of a few grains of sand. After that, we'll need to discuss the type of weapon you'll want to use, and your branding." She said as I purchased the translator, feeling a slight headache for a moment.
"I'm sorry, my branding?"
"Correct. Almost every guardian has a specific theme to their equipment and clothing. It both inspires an idea of heroics to civilians and allows for easy sponsorship opportunities. Now, unless you have any major objections, I think it's fairly obvious we should play into the fox elements of your transformation. How would you feel about a shrine maiden style design?"
"Um, I'm not sure. To be honest, as a kid I always wanted to try on one of those outfits, but that does seem a little odd to be fighting in."
"Well, let me make up a mockup of the design I was thinking of for you, and we can go from there! Meanwhile, what weapon would you be thinking of using? I know you can shoot a gun rather well, but I would still recommend a melee weapon to start, as it helps you get used to them. In the later tiers melee weapons often highly outrank ranged weaponry due to the usage of magic."
"I guess any type of weapon would be fine? I'd prefer something with a longer range, I don't want one of those things slamming into me again." I asked, and Celeste thought for a moment before I saw a popup appear.
Basic Glaive Purchased for 20 Points, New Total: 30
Suddenly, a seven foot long pole with a blade attached to the end appeared in front of me, and I barely had time to catch it as it fell. I thought it would take me to the ground, but it was surprisingly light.
"You could warn a girl before you drop a weapon on her skull! Why is this thing not that heavy?"
"That's part of the transformation, it brings you to the peak physicality of your species. If you want to store it in your inventory just put it behind your back and let go, and you can retrieve it later. You can store almost anything in there, but it's mainly for weapons and outfits. Speaking of which, take a look at the design I made for you." As she said this, a model of me appeared on a computer nearby, wearing the newly designed outfit. It was clearly inspired by a traditional shrine maiden dress, but it had a few clear alterations. It had black and gold accents all along the red and white base and opened up on the sides to show my legs, which were covered up by a pair of sleek black leggings. While it did make me blush rather heavily, I had to admit it looked good. Tritan whistled when he saw it.
"Wow, looks amazing- OW! I was just complimenting her outfit." He said as his sister smacked the back of his head. I looked at it a little more and turned to Celeste.
"Well, it's a little revealing. I mean, half of my arms are exposed in the sleeves, wont that get me injured?"
"You'll quickly reach a point where your body is more durable than any non-specialized armor once you begin using magic. Here, if you want, I can buy it right now and it will auto equip to you. Don't worry, it creates a visual so no one can see you change."
"Well, I guess so-" Before I could finish my sentence, a white light flashed around me, and when I opened my eyes again, I was wearing the outfit.
Outfit Set Purchased for 10 Points, New Total: 20
"Okay, new rule, you'll give me some notice before buying something! I'll die of a heart attack before I can even see an invasion! Anyways, how do I look?" I asked. Tritan opened his mouth, but his sister moved towards him and he stopped before he said anything.
"You look great! Now, do you two have everything you need? Once you're in there, you won't be able to purchase anything unless you’re not in danger. You get one purchase per day mid combat, it has to do with warping technology and movement. The death toll for guardians went up one percent when they introduced that rule."
"What? Then why the hell did they keep it?"
"The death toll for civilians went down by forty percent. Trust me, you don't want to mess with warping tech, much less the magic. Well, you both ready?" Xino asked, and me and Celeste both nodded. Tritan grabbed his tablet and showed me a few possible invasions I could help with.
"Here, how about this one? It's on a planet called Aurelon, just started a few minutes ago, atmosphere and gravity are about the same as Earth's.” Tritan said, pointing it out. From a larger view the planet looked a lot like Jupiter, but smaller and with a single ring around it.
”And a it's not entirely made of water! The last guardian I worked with on Earth complained about the water planets a lot. I miss that guy." Xino said. I tried to remember who the last guardian on Earth was, but I wasn't able to, so I just nodded and looked over to Celeste who did the same. Tritan hit a few buttons as he and his sister backed away from us.
"Alright, and... done! Good luck!" He said, and I looked around for a moment.
"Nothing happen-" I realized while I was speaking that I should really learn to keep my mouth shut. Another portal opened up underneath my feet as Celeste disappeared, and after a few seconds I fell on the ground. I grabbed my glaive off the ground and looked around, realizing I was on top of a building. The architecture seemed to be similar to skyscrapers back on earth, but the planet was clearly different. The sky was an odd green color and the air felt odd to breath, like it was heavier than normal. I walked over to the edge and looked at the city.
"Welcome to your first invasion Liara. There's a reason I called these battles a fight against hell." Celeste said in my head as I watched the streets from above. Plague entities walked around in large groups, and across the city I could see some kind of mech suit flying overhead raining bombs.
"This is insane, how am I supposed to help here?!" I asked, admittedly extremely frightened. The monsters down there looked absurd. There were giant spiders, some kind of insect thing with giant pincers. I mean, one of them was at least thirty feet tall!
"Don't worry, street clearing is only recommended for guardians Jasper rank and above, and only if their skillsets are suited for it. For lower level guardians, your priorities should be clearing out buildings where civilians are and getting them to safety. Looking at the camera feeds in the building below us, there are around three hundred people hiding in shelters. They don't seem to be in immediate danger, but that could change any minute, so let's move quickly now!"
"Any chance I can take back this contract and just go home?"
"You already bought the outfit, you're stuck now." She said, and I was starting to get rather annoyed of her speaking in my head.
"I should have just taken the death by flying cat."
"Oh, well there's actually a few flying overhead right now if you want-"
"Okay, lets head inside this building and help people now!" I yelled, sprinting for the door that led off the roof, as I swore I was hearing some kind of howl behind me.
"Knew that one would work."