I woke up with a headache. Lucy was lying beneath me. Her body had cooled and she was breathing normally. Good. I stood up and looked around. All the plants, even the trees, were wilted. Everything around us was dead. I was horrified looking at the destruction I caused. This was not supposed to happen.

When I heard Lucy stir I knelt next to her. “Are you alright?”, I asked.

“Everything hurts.”, Lucy groaned. Her eyes widened in shock while she noticed her surroundings. “What happened?”

Looking into her eyes I realised they were purple with a slit pupil. “The ritual did not go as planned.”, I admitted. “Somehow you absorbed a lot more mana than expected. Even the plants around us were drained. While I fell unconscious I did not suffer any permanent harm. Also my gear seems fine. I assume it was only deadly for weaker lifeforms. How do you feel?”

“The pain is getting better. My body feels… lighter, stronger. I can feel magic inside of me. I know spells! I can cast magic!”, Lucy exclaimed with joy. “Wait… I know 9th circle spells?!? How is that possible?”

How indeed? It seemed that the ritual consumed a lifetime's worth of magic and pumped it all into Lucy. I am still not sure why or how. It was probably a miracle that she survived in the first place. It was also the kind of information people would kill for. As far as I knew, what we did here was believed to be impossible.

“Lucy, we need to keep this a secret. Every nation would kill for that information. If people figured out a way to replicate what we did they could create an unstoppable army.”

Lucy was still shaken. “You are right Amaya. What… what will we tell people? Should I hide my powers?”

I thought about that. “You do look slightly different. There is the tattoo on your forehead, the change in your eyes, your skin is smoother, you gained some muscles and I think your hair is… fluffier. We could always pretend that you are a different person.

In the end the truth is rather unbelievable. So people will make up their own stories in their mind. We can just act mysterious. With the power we wield, people can’t put too much pressure on us.”, I reasoned.

“Ok. So we just say my name is Lucy and don’t answer any questions related to the old Lucy?”

“Yeah, let’s go with that. We should also consider travelling elsewhere. Maybe we should visit the Dominion?”, I pondered.

“The fastest way would take us through Iron Rock to enter the dwarven roads beneath the mountains. Do you think the duke will cause us trouble?”

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“I am not sure. I doubt he would start a fight after my show of power. And people still believe I am part of the Dominion. Actually, I might have started a diplomatic incident with the Empire. Does the Dominion have an ambassador in Iron Rock?”

“No. The elves have no direct border so they don’t care too much. Before we went to the meeting Sir Meissler was pretty concerned about your presence. I have no idea what the Empire has planned but there is something going on.”

“Hm. Ok let’s go back to Iron Rock. With your new strength we should not have to worry about the Empire targeting you. Assuming you wish to travel with me. And you need some gear. I am afraid I do not have any armour that fits you. I might be able to help with a weapon though. You said you were in the army?”

Lucy looked around, then she looked at her body. She gently stroked the skin on her hand. “You have given me more than I could ever repay. I will follow you.” Then she stood up and stretched. “The army mainly trained me to fight with a spear.”

I looked through my storage amulet. I did have a nice adamantium spear. Adamantium was black and the strongest known metal. It was heavier than mithril and had a similar weight to steel. For a normal human a full metal spear might be too heavy but Lucy should be more than strong enough. The spear was covered in golden runes. It could be used to channel spells just like my sword. It also carried a sharpness and self repair enchantment. I handed the spear to Lucy.

“Take that. We need to buy a spatial storage for you so you don’t have to carry it in your hands all the time. Give it a try. I will pack up our camping supplies. We should probably leave this area before someone investigates. It’s also rather creepy.”

Lucy took the spear and stared at it in awe. “I… I can’t take that. This must be worth a fortune!” Lucy complained.

“You need a strong weapon and I have no use for it.” I shrugged and left to pack up the tents. When I had everything stored and came back Lucy was going through a combat routine. A thought struck me.

“So we don’t know all the powers you got from becoming a warlock. I assume we are going to discover them in time when you get used to your new body. But there is one thing I am curious about. Can you turn into a fox?” I asked.

Lucy stopped and looked at me. “I might be a fox kin but we cannot shapeshift. There are magical beasts called kitsune, who can take the shape of a human or a fox. While it is theorised that our species are related there is no proof.”

“Maybe you should give it a try. Go into your mind and picture yourself becoming a fox.”, I suggested.

Lucy stared at me. Then she sighed and closed her eyes. Suddenly magic engulfed her and she changed into a beautiful white fox. A fox the size of a wolf. Her spear dropped to the ground and she was standing on her clothes. “What…How? Why? This…” A bewildered Lucy was twisting her head around looking at her new body. “I can speak. Why can I speak? Why am I a fox?!?”

I just laughed. Then I transformed into a black panther. “I suppose I never mentioned my transformation ability.” I said, looking smug. Looking smug was a core ability of any feline creature. “I was hoping you would inherit something similar. This will make travelling more fun!”

I went over to her and collected the spear and clothing with my amulet. Lucy’s eyes narrowed. Suddenly she pounced at me. I ran away laughing. It was a surprising amount of fun to play in my cat form. After the initial shock Lucy seemed quite pleased with the transformation. We finally left the area and started travelling back to the city, still in our animal forms. I was happy to see living trees again. The area that my ritual killed was not that big thankfully.

Since we had not eaten yet we used our animal forms to hunt. Then we continued to travel at a rather fast pace. I was still processing what happened yesterday. Lucy got a lot more power than I thought she would. I wondered how she would use her strength. For now she was willing to follow me it seemed. While the pact stopped her from betraying me, it would not hinder her if she decided to slaughter a city.

I suppose I did get the powerful companion I wanted. I liked Lucy and I think we started a friendship. Our return to Iron Rock would be interesting. I wondered what the future would have in store for us.