Jaune woke to pounding on his door, he flailed around in a panic wondering why he was so short until he remembered how he fell asleep in his rat form. The knocking on his door continued until Jaune shifted back to human and flung the door open. Standing in front of him was Jennifer, which isn’t much of a surprise since she’s the only family member that really cares about him.
“Good morning, are you alright? I’ve been knocking for a while.”
“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired.”
“You should probably take a shower and change; you’re still covered in blood.”
Jaune looked down and noticed that the top half of his shirt was indeed coated in a layer of crusty dried blood.
“Damn, why didn’t you tell me last night?”
“You seemed pretty messed up, that wound was definitely a bite mark and getting your throat chomped is pretty traumatic.”
“Guess you’re right, I’m gonna have a shower so I’ll see ya later then.”
Jennifer waved goodbye leaving Jaune to head into his bathroom, strip off and wash the blood from his body, after he stepped out of the shower he stared at the scar on his throat, the shifting healed it a bit but it was barely effective and left a huge scar, after Violet healed him the rest of the wound healed cleanly leaving a rough, oval scar with an empty centre on Jaunes throat, he shifted in his rat form and lifted his head up noticing a patch where no fur grew on his neck where the scar would be, he shifted into a moth and flew onto the mirror seeing another tiny patch of white on the moth equivalent of his neck.
That’s never going to go away, is it?
Jaune sighed and got dressed in some sports clothes, now that he has a skill, jaune’s determined to not waste it, but for that, he needs a plan. A plan consisting of killing, hunting and growing stronger. He opened his phone and downloaded the dungeon map app onto it, a useful little tool for adventures which marks known dungeons and pays users if they find and confirm the location of a dungeon. Jaune was still only an E rank so there was no chance he could fight in anything above low D rank, even though his skill was S rank it was still weak now, it has great potential but he’ll need to build an arsenal of forms before he can take on really challenging dungeons, he could probably nab some enchanted gear from the armoury but it would be only low levelled stuff since he’s low rank, an E rank cant just put on S rank stuff, the enhancements would overload their body.
Jaune looked through the map until he finally spotted an E rank dungeon in the Evergreen National Park, Parks and bushland tend to be hotspots for low-level dungeons, while higher ranked ones appear near landmarks and other important places, this dungeon had only appeared a couple of days ago, Dungeons always came and went, higher ranked ones tended to stick around a bit longer, the dungeons themselves were very adaptable meaning they’ll grow to counter against previous runs meaning the most dangerous dungeons are the oldest ones, but with danger comes rewards, as the monsters will have better gear and drop better stuff, though for Jaune that stuff doesn’t matter too much, he’s more interested in the monsters themselves.
With his destination set Jaune set off for the armoury looking for anything a rat could wear, after a couple of minutes searching through a small box of jewellery marked “E and D ranked neckwear” Jaune finally found something that would fit well with his furry form.
Woodsman Talisman
E Rank
+5 agility
+2 dexterity
It was a small boost, but anything is good. Jaune slipped the leather strap over his neck and settled the toothy piece of jewellery on his chest. He looked around a little longer before finding another piece of jewellery that would be perfect for him.
Earring of the Brute
D rank
+3 strength
Provides minor regeneration
Jaune threaded the hook through his ear, enchanted earrings weren’t uncommon so a lot of adventurers had piercings, Jaune himself had quite a few ranging from nose, to eyebrow, to lip, hell he’d even had a nipple pierced all for the sake of trying to load himself with enchanted gear, in the end, all he got was mana poisoning and a sore nipple.
Jaune checked outside the door and after seeing no one retreated back into the armoury and shifted to his rat form, to his relief the two pieces of jewellery were still there, the Woodsman Talisman had even formed into a collar to fit him better.
Jaune Blackwell Horned Hunter Rat Rank E Strength: 10 (17 x 0.59) + 3 Endurance: 15 (20 x 0.75) Mana: 2 (5 x 0.4) Dexterity: 24 (16 x 1.5) + 2 Resistance: 10 (16 x 0.625) Magic: 1 (3 x 0.33) Agility: 29 (17 x 1.7) + 5
The enchantments weren’t affected by the multiplier, which was a double-edged sword since the couldn’t be lowered but they couldn’t be multiplied either. Jaune had a thought flash into his mind and he shifted into a moth but sadly neither the earring nor the talisman stayed around in this form, he was pretty disappointed since being a moth with the strength of a 6-year-old would’ve been pretty fun. Jaune stowed his new items in his pocket and hurried out of the house, quickly stopping by the kitchen to grab a banana, nodding a greeting at his brother James who nodded back.
He hurried to the bus stop but halfway along he realised he could probably just transform into a moth and fly there, he dismissed this thought as moths weren’t very fast or good long-distance fliers, he spotted a pigeon and realised he could kill it and use its form to fly but once again he dismissed the thought, Jaune could easily kill monsters, he’d do it happily but pigeons just wanted to hop about and eat bread crumbs, they were too innocent.
Jaune got on the bus with no issues and got off at the national park, he hiked his way through the bush for a while before shifting into his rat form, revelling in his speed and small form he threaded through the trees. He reached the entrance of the dungeon quickly and spent a little while sniffing around for the scent of other people, he didn’t really know what he was doing but it felt right to his skill. Reassured by the lack of scents besides regular bush stuff, Jaune scurried into the entrance moving quickly through the dark, his eyes adjusted quickly, and he could see clearly again, it slowly got darker but before long Jaune could see the flickering light of a fire.
He stuck to the shadows and looked into the room in front of him, inside were two spear-wielding goblins, they were grey-green, 5 ft and completely bald as well as the other classic goblin features like big nose and pointy ears, both goblins would glance towards the entrance occasionally, evidently they were supposed to be guards. Jaune tried to think of the best way to charge them, only to realise he could sneak up on them if he used his handy, little moth form.
His shifting was fast but it wasn’t even close to instantaneous plus the bones shifting tended to make a low cracking sound, if forms were similar it would be quicker to shift between them, like with rat and human since they were both mammals and it was much closer to human size than the tiny moth form, he could go from human to rat and vice-versa in a little under a second but changing to moth from either form took a bit over seconds, Jaune would have to properly plan his moves.
He shifted into his insect form and felt his eyes being drawn towards the fire before he shook himself out of his daze, he slowly flew through the air over the goblins, his tiny moth heart beating out of his chest in fear that the goblins would somehow know that he wasn’t just a moth, his anxiety was unnecessary as he reached the tunnel to the next room easily.
Of course, Jaune wasn’t going to let the goblins live, he needed the EXP as well as their species, he moved a bit deeper into the tunnel and shifted back to his rat form, he snuck back towards the goblins, they were too busy lazing around to suspect an attack from behind them.
Jaune slowly moved forwards, praying the goblins wouldn’t suddenly turn around, he got to around 3 metres behind one of the goblins before preparing to charge. Jaune pointed his horn towards the goblin and charged, he plunged the horn in and up behind the goblin’s ribs, slashing its lung open, Jaune backpedalled away leaving the goblin to wheeze and choke on its blood, the second goblin jumped to its feet and brandished its spear.
It’s a lot sharper looking when it's pointed in your face.
Jaune recalled is his training on fighting enemies with spears, it was mainly just avoiding the sharp bit and move close, so their range becomes a detriment instead of an advantage.
Jaune moved from side to side to hinder the goblins accuracy, the goblin then stabbed forward but Jaune slipped around it and charged forwards clamping his jaw around the goblin’s thigh.
The goblin screamed in pain and dropped its spear, Jaune pushed forward and tripped the goblin over, once it was down Jaune tore a chunk of its thigh off and backed away, the goblin flailed around trying to stand on its good leg but Jaune charged forward and stabbed it in the gut with his horn.
new species gained Form: Cavern Goblin
Jaune looked around the small, dirty room.
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Less of a cavern, more of a damp hole.
Jaune then shifted into his newest form, due to the close size he could do it in half a second.
He looked down at his body noticing his greyish-green skin, his eyesight degraded a little bit but not as much as turning human would do.
As he was looking over himself he saw that he was wearing a pair of familiar sweatpants, the same ones who put on this morning but they had been cut shorter and looked dingier, Jaune shifted back to human worried that his pants were destroyed but was relieved to see that the pants returned to their previous whole state.
So, Clothes and jewellery can readjust themselves to fit my new form better, but why did my shirt and shoes disappear instead of re-adjusting?
Jaune dismissed the thought, for now, intending on experimenting with it when he’s in a safer place and with more forms.
Jaune quickly picked up the spear, now that he could see it up close, he saw that it was the broken blade off of a knife or dagger strapped to a sturdy branch, despite the flimsy appearance it was actually pretty sturdy.
Jaune Blackwell Cavern Goblin Rank E Strength: 15(18 x 0.83) + 3 Endurance: 22 (20 x 1.10) Mana: 5 (5 x 1) Dexterity: 21 (17 x 1.3) + 2 Resistance: 14 (16 x 0.875) Magic: 3 (3 x 1) Agility: 27 (18 x 1.5) + 5
Skill List
Morph (S)
Minor Night Vision (F) *
-improve night vision slightly
Goblin Language (E) *
-Naturally, understand, speak and read all goblin languages
Species List Human B Horned Hunter Rat E Moth Un-Ranked Cavern Goblin E
Jaune sighed, he had 4 different forms, yet they were all pretty bad, he reminded himself that the skill will keep growing and will become much stronger.
Although it’s a bit weird how fast I’m gaining stats, I’m getting at least 2 points from fights with E rank monsters.
Jaune noted that the asterisk next to the skill indicated how the skill was only available in that certain form. A person's status always appeared in a way the person can best understand it, like how Jaune had the additional column for his collected species, another person may have a bunch more columns filled with information they believe is important, like age, height or weight.
The shape shifted goblin picked up a rusty dagger and a belt from the corpse of one of the goblins and strapped it on his hip, now he was ready for what comes next. Jaune made his way through the tunnel to the next room, this room was similar to the last but had 6 goblins instead of one and had a few tents around the edges. From his place in the entrance, Jaune could hear the language the goblins were speaking, to anyone else it would sound like grunting and screeching but to Jaune it was as clear as English.
“Oi Tonk pass me some more rat meat!” yelled one goblin
“Not a chance Gonk, I hunted this rat.” Responded presumably Tonk
Gonk then started growling at Tonk.
“Shut it you two, before I crush your skulls.” Growled a much larger goblin, the other goblins were all around 5 ft, this one, however, was around 6 ft and had much thicker muscles.
“Ooooh, ya think your so tough now Zonk ever since you evolved to hob, you’re still just as cowardly before.”
The Hobgoblins response to Gonks insult was to cave in the goblin’s skull with his fist.
The 3 goblins that hadn’t said anything scooted backwards, away from the corpse; Tonk however pilfered a pouch from Gonks belt.
Jaune quickly devised a plan that would put his newfound goblin charm to the test, He walked out of the tunnel and waved to his fellow goblins.
“Hello, mind if I join you by the fire.”
The goblin nearest him jumped up and pointed a short sword at him “What the? Who the hell are you?”
“My names uhm… Donk”
The goblin to the right of the one standing jumped up as well “You can’t be Donk. I’m Donk!”
“Well, I’m the better Donk.”
Donk pulled his club off his back and started growling, the other goblins looked to Jaune then at Zonk the Hob.
“Let them fight, it’ll be fun.” Grunted Zonk
The other goblins started chanting “FIGHT” as Jaune levelled his spear at Donk
Donk in return raised his club and charged, all while screaming.
As Donk came in range Jaune thrust his spear but Donk surprised him by sidestepping it and grinning.
Not as stupid as I hoped.
Jaune tightened his grip and stepped forward, stabbing towards Donk twice.
The first Donk sidestepped once again but the second scored a gash across his ribs, the goblin screeched in pain and backed away.
The goblin spectators all cheered, the hob was lying down and watching while eating the torn off leg of the dead goblin.
The casual act of cannibalism shocked Jaune for a moment and Donk brought his club onto Jaunes arm.
Jaune had reacted quickly enough to avoid serious damage but the spear was knocked from his hands, Jaune backed away and pulled out his dagger, Donk laughed at him thinking he had one but Jaune had one more secret weapon.
Jaune crouched down holding his dagger in front of him, in his other hand, a tiny ball of mana, his entire pool, was being channelled. It was nothing but a ball of force and it wasn't strong at all, closer to a strong wind than any actual magic but it was the best he could do.
Donk lunged forward club raised, that was when the ball of mana hit the foot he still had on the ground, causing him to stumble a bit. It was enough for Jaune he leapt forward into the gap in Donks defence and plunged his dagger into the enemy goblins neck, all Donk could do in defence was lie down and bleed.
Jaune was surrounded by cheers of the goblins as they welcomed as the new Donk.
One of the unintroduced goblins put his arm around Jaunes shoulders.
"That was one hell of a fight, might I say. I gladly open my arms to my newest brother in arms, ah but where are my manner? The names Bonk and the silent fucker over there is Conk, he's a bit of an idiot so don't let him disturb ya."
Jaune was almost flabbergasted at this goblin, it spoke better than half the people he had ever met, Bonk's voice was smooth and rich yet it still had that goblin raspiness.
He could do nothing to prevent being dragged to the fire and Bonk pulled him down to sit next to him all while Bonk spoke of his great exploits of killing giant dragons and bedding beautiful goblin women. Jaune couldn't help but believe the goblin next to him, they probably weren't dragons Bonk was killing and the goblin women probably aren't that great but the confidence and fervour at which the goblin told his tales definitely indicated that the goblin himself believed his stories.
Bonks tale of a particularly nasty 4 headed rodent was interrupted by Zonk.
"Are you one of the great shaman apprentices?"
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.
"I saw you use mana to trip Donk."
"What! Seriously? you can use mana? But you don't have the crystals on you." Bonk exclaimed.
"What crystals?" Jaune questioned
"Y'know, the ones all the shaman's have in them."
"Uhh, I guess I haven't grown them yet." Jaune lied.
"Shamans grow them soon after their birth." Zonk said.
"Well, I haven't." Rebuked Jaune.
"Can't argue with that," Bonk said.
Conk stood up and walked towards the tunnel leading deeper into the dungeon.
"Hey, where are you off to?" called Bonk
Conk just grunted in response and kept walking.
Soon after Zonk stood and headed towards the biggest tent in the room, leaving just Jaune, Tonk, and Bonk at the fire.
Jaune looked around then stood up "I've gotta go take a leak."
With his excuse done Jaune wandered over to an outcropping of stalagmites that seemed could cover.
Once behind them, He crouched down and shifted into his rat form, he kept low and to the shadows of the large room and slowly made his way over to the tents, once there he poked his small head under the flaps of Zonks tent finding the hobgoblin asleep on his side.
Jaune sliced a hole in the tent with his horn and slipped inside, he quietly stalked over to the pile of furs the hob used as a bed, once next to the hob Jaune brought himself onto his hind legs planning out his attack.
He then pounced, his claws gripped onto Zonks neck and his mouth clamped over his throat, with a push from his paws he tore out the now awake hob, Zonks struggles died off quickly after being stabbed in the back a couple by a shape-shifting rats horn.
new form gained Form: Cavern Hobgoblin
Jaune was excited, not only because of the new form and organization but because he felt something form within him, a distinct pool of energy where the power left over from the dead hob rushed into, it meant he had become a D rank.
When an F or an E rank killed a monster, the energy from the monster would flow directly into their stats which would result in a loss of the leftover energy, however, a D rank and above have a unique pool of energy where that energy would go to and when that pool filled it would burst, granting a much larger boost to stats at the cost of needing a certain amount of energy that was dependent on the person, officially it was called the Energy pool and power spikes but most of the internet just called it Experience and level ups.
Jaune could feel his Experience pool, it was around 25% full, he shifted into his new hobgoblin form and admired the much bulkier build compared to the regular cavern goblin body.
He looked pretty similar to the goblin form but a foot taller, much thicker and toned muscles and larger jaw, his clothes were the same as when he was a goblin but his sweatpants hadn’t been cut short this time.
Jaune Blackwell Cavern Hobgoblin Rank D Strength: 29 (19 x 1.5) + 3 Endurance: 24 (20 x 1.2) Mana: 7 (7 x 1) Dexterity: 18 (18 x 1) + 2 Resistance: 20 (16 x 1.25) Magic: 6 (6 x 1) Agility: 25 (21 x 1.2) + 5
Skill List
Morph S
Lesser Night Vision F *
Goblin Language E*
Strong Limbs D *
- Hardens and thickens the skin, muscle and bone on the arms and legs, boosting defence and attack
Species List Human B Horned Hunter Rat E Moth Un-Ranked Cavern Goblin E Cavern Hobgoblin D
The newly shifted hobgoblin broke into a grin, not only did Jaune finally have a skill that could be used in combat, his magic related stats almost doubled, it had never levelled up once before even when he actively tried training it, something about his Morph skill had improved his rate of growth.
Jaune wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, he'd gladly accept the additional power.
His magic stats still were low, only just reaching an average F ranks. The gap between F and E rank were pretty small with D rank being almost twice as far but the gap from D rank to C rank and above is much larger.
Jaune grabbed the pouch hanging from Zonks belt, he emptied it of the cheap, copper coins and randoms stones the filled it with the few low-quality mana stones Zonk had hidden in his tent, the coins were worthless but mana stones could always sell, even the lowest quality ones, as they could be merged, refined and were used in practically anything that needed mana.
Jaune stretched out his muscles and reached for his dagger, he realized that it wasn't there and came to the conclusion that while the morph skill could convert and store equipment he wore anything he carried like, pouches, weapons or items would be left behind.
The hobgoblin in disguise pulled open the tent flap and walked out, he was ready to test his newest bodies capabilities.