“That’s the last one.”

I can’t help feeling excited. After days of eating nightmares, all the pieces have been gathered and we are ready to assemble my prime form. I shift back to human and lie down, closing my eyes. I hear the clomp of Geneva’s hooves as she walks over before a soft hand touches my brow.

“We will start one at a time, from the inside out. First, the skeleton. The geodea.”

I think on the living crystal Geneva turned into. We rifled through Geneva’s expansive collection of forms, the succubus giving detailed explanations of the benefits and drawbacks of each one. The geodea has a skeleton that is both flexible and highly resistant to force. All while being incredibly lightweight. I may have also added an inch or two of height, letting Geneva make adjustments after the initial transformation.

“Good. Now, organs.”

This one is the strangest. To improve my internals, Geneva had to copy…me. Then, using her extensive knowledge, she improved on it, testing their functions personally. Then, she brought everything to its “optimal” state, without creating all new organs, I had to…eat my own body. Such are the ways of the shapeshifter.

Things become hazy for a moment while she replaces my brain but it’s over quickly. A tiny bead of dread remains. I know she hasn’t done anything. I drafted a paper full of thirty-six different commands to make sure she couldn’t, but still…

“The muscles.”

From the gangly. I immediately lose a dangerous amount of body mass as my muscles compact. Then Geneva does her work, filling out my deflated form.

“The eyes.”

While the many realms are varied and unique, they also contain a surprising amount of similarities. Not just in their rules but in the creatures that inhabit them and the generalizations that apply. Avian species are known for their vision and that holds true across the realms. I was shocked to learn they don’t have the best eyes. Apparently, insects do.

My new eyes are modeled after something loosely translated to “spirit-seeker”. A butterfly that is attracted to the dead. Geneva was interested in the creature because she thought they could see, or at least sense, souls. She never managed to confirm or disprove that theory.

What they can do is see mana. My new eyes don’t end there. There is also a transparent lid that can block the flows of mana, as apparently the sense can be disorientating in a fight where powerful spells are flying.

Once we came to the idea of using “films” for different effects, we got a little carried away. There’s a film to allow me to see better at night, one to allow me to see underwater, one to guard against bright lights as Geneva’s claims it’s a frequent tactic in battles, and, my favorite, a film that magnifies my vision. Each film is about as thick as a strand of hair so despite their numbers, they aren’t noticeable until I use them.

“Say ahh.”

I open my mouth as she works on my teeth, remaking them with the strongest biological material she knows. Which is…the teeth of a snail. I didn’t believe her at first. Then she showed me a picture of a horrifying realm. An endless sky of stormy clouds in the shape of anguished faces, bloody rain falling from the empty eyes into a roiling red sea.

Jagged, black rocks with glowing veins of silver rose from the terrible waters, the smallest one larger than any mountain I could imagine. Crawling over them were snails, though I hesitate to call them that. The only thing recognizable of the creatures were their dark, spiral shells but the things within…

A mere glimpse made me retch violently.

Ugh, don’t even want to think about it.

After the teeth comes the tongue. Made with a different muscle than the rest of my body, as the compact muscles of the gangly can’t provide the flexibility I want. I’ve also taken the liberty of increasing its length. Coincidentally, that required a bit of adjustment to my jaw that ended up giving me a more appealing jawline.

“The skin.”

Fun one. As the most visible and largest organ, it has to meet high standards for both appearance and durability. The creature we settled on was…a frog.

Normally, the thought of having frog skin would be disgusting. Luckily, this isn’t a normal frog. Geneva calls it a royal swamp smogger. It is the apex predator of its home realm, Sinking Swamp. The entire place is a disgusting bog filled with toxic air. Unsurprisingly, the creatures of the area are all venomous. The smogger stands out as it eats poison. Its skin is highly resistant to physical trauma and there’s also its ability to secrete poison through said skin, which we have a few uses in mind for.

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“Now, the fun part.”

I swallow as her hand moves between my thighs. This was an issue I spent months debating. The question of my sexual organs.

When you can be anything you want, who you are becomes very important. This prime form and how it’s recognized amongst shapeshifters makes that especially so.

As a shapeshifter, I’m not overly attached to my gender but I am attached to my image of myself. That happens to be a woman. Simple as that. Been one since I was born and feel no need to change that.

However, I have an appreciation for the male organ. Not enough to have one swinging between my legs. Besides the hassle of it, my wardrobe would have to be changed to accommodate it and no doubt my wife would have a field day exploiting the new weakness, it simply doesn’t match my image of myself.

Then Geneva, the embodiment of temptation, provides another option.

There exists species where the males’ sexual organ is hidden inside their bodies until stimulated. Typically, it’s a trait seen in reptiles but, well, we’re shapeshifters. I wouldn’t be embarrassed to call Geneva a flesh artist. Silly things like nature and precedent aren’t going to get in her way.

Despite the solution presented, I continued to waver. Shapeshifting into a troll to rail my wife is one thing. It’s almost like picking up a tool for a specific job or donning a change of clothes. What she suggested was permanent. It dangerously threatened the sense of self I’m trying to maintain.

What sways me is the prospect of a family. Not just a fleshy tool, but a fully-functioning baby maker to one day pop out little Tomes in the future. In the current generation, I’m by far the superior option to continue the family legacy, which I do take great pride in despite my distaste with dealing with my family.

I thought shapeshifting was difficult. The spell for magically impregnating a female truly, as in the child having my blood despite all my modifications, is so incredibly complex, if I write it out, a single book won’t be enough. It could probably fill the entire first floor of the Grand Library. Geneva couldn’t show me the full thing, my eyes swimming after the first three minutes of scrolling numbers and variables.

If I want a family, I’d have to use it multiple times per “attempt”. The mana requirement for the spell would be immense, the mental strain easily able to kill any mood, and a whole host of other unpleasant details.

Or Geneva can spend an equivalent amount of mana making it work indefinitely.

Not a hard decision.

“Details, details…”

A few important things to satisfy my vanity. I mean, I’m comfortable with my looks but there’s no harm in sprucing up a bit. Thicker eyebrows, longer lashes, and a few other minor things. The only blatant change is my eyes. The normal brown color is replaced by a deep violet with thin streaks of silver in the iris. Homage to Cosmo, may he stay forever glossy.

“There. All done.” Geneva stands up, smiling down at me. Somehow, she’s made all the different parts fit together seamlessly. “Your turn, Lou.”

Right. I turn a hand into my elemental form. Then, I separate from the rest of my body, losing a substantial amount of mass in the process. Luckily, there are three corpses on the ground, monsters of course, put here for just this occasion. I swallow them, gaining much more heft.

I take a moment to observe my new body. I look remarkably the same despite all the changes. My face has gone from “casual handsome” to a well-sculpted work of art. Dare I say it, stately. Amazing what a little proportion balancing, as Geneva calls it, can do. My dark hair has light purple and silver highlights which match well with my new eyes. I don’t look taller despite the extra inches I gave myself but my body looks sleeker and…my chest larger.

I couldn’t resist. Nothing much, I prefer putting my face in pillows rather than carrying them around. Just a few more curves to soften the rest of me.

After admiring myself for a while, I get on with it, enveloping the living but lifeless doll, consuming it. I instinctively feel a new form available to me and choose it.

A moment later, I’m staring at my new hands, taking stock of everything. Like always, adopting a new form this way gives me all knowledge of it and how to use it. I raise a foot and bring it down with force. The stone floor cracks. “Ooh. Going to have to be careful with that.”

“Your physique alone is stronger than even your wife’s.”

“All according to plan.” I flex everything, making sure I have full range of movement. Then I stretch. There’s only so much I can do having to accommodate bones but I feel much more limber. I was flexible before, thanks to Kierra’s attentions, but now I don’t feel any strain.

I sniff, smelling myself. Mm, I smell like sun-warmed sheets, a hint of an exotic meal, and a horny woman. In a good way. I don’t know what magic Geneva used to make the musky scent of sex into a delicious perfume but I appreciate it.

With a new internal flex, my scent becomes stronger, filling the air around me. “And this is—”

“Yes, it contains the pheromone that attracts your wife. Along with several other aphrodisiacs throughout the realms.”

“…I’m not going to have random monsters trying to hump my leg, am I?”

“Only the most attractive ones.”

Oooh, fun for the future. For now, back to my new body. “Make me sweat.” I sigh at her grin. “In the non-sexual way, please.”

“But we have so much fun together~”

I glare at her as her hand touches my abs, trying to hide my trembling resolve. Hold strong, me. I’ve got to use a firmer hand with these elementals, especially if I want to add more in the future. I’m the summoner here.

Her magic courses through me and my palms start to sweat. Geneva raises my hand to her lips and I jump as she licks it up. “Mm.”

“Good?”

“Yes. Casual contact is fine but be careful who ingests it.”

“Anyone who is licking the sweat off my body is who I want feeling the effects.” Why stop at a smell? Every part of me is meant to arouse. Best part, I won’t stink no matter how much I sweat, only more attractive. Haha, I’d hate me if I weren’t me.

“Alright. Let me move around a bit and then we’ll go home and show Kierra her…present.”